"Unlike some of your other experiencers, I'm actually thrilled that the
marks are back, their appearance has reopened a chapter in my history. A
mysterious one to be sure, but something I've been fascinated with for
30 years."-Brian J. on his decades of grid mark recurrences.
New Jersey - Very few of the cases we've seen have recurrences of the RGMP. Of those that do, only Brian J. can boast his 33 years of experiencing these grid marks. At age 59, retired, Brian also happens to be one of the oldest experiencers in our records. His unique lifelong history, detailed record of each recurrence, and open enthusiasm to disclose his logs has made his case a veritable goldmine of information in our investigation.
His first mark appeared in 1982 on the front of his left shoulder. Since then, a new mark appeared every year on average, until in August 1997, they stopped. It wasn't until July 2015, 19 years later, that a new set appeared and led him to my team.
Brian took investigative journalism in college, so recognizing the need to keep a detailed log of the recurrences felt natural for him. He's summarized his journals into a timeline document for our research purposes, recording each year, location, grid specifics, and circumstance surrounding the appearance of his 20 or so mark occurrences:
"Brian J. - Timeline of RGMP
*1982 - Oakland Ca. (time of year unknown)
Walking with a friend when a small, half dollar size red triangular mark made of dots was noticed on the front part of my left shoulder. The dots weren't raised, weren't indented, didn't hurt, itch, or burn. There were approximately 10-12 small red match head sized dots in a perfect triangular shape. They seemed to fade and disappear after about 3 days and I didn't think too much about it.
*1983 - Oakland Ca. (time of year unknown)
A very similar small red dot triangle appeared on the front of my right shoulder. It was nearly identical as far as I remember to the mark the previous year, the only difference being the location on my body. Again it didn't hurt, itch, etc and it faded away after a few days. Again I do not recall anything that preceded my noticing this pattern that would explain how they got there, it was as if they just appeared and I happened to notice them. It was also in a very precise triangular pattern about the size of a half dollar and comprised of red dots that seemed to be slightly under my skin.
*1984 & 1985 -
I moved to New Jersey in March 1984 and though I have a recollection of the dots appearing again during this time frame, I do not remember any specifics.
*April 6 1986 – Clinton NJ
Red dots appeared on my body again on this date. By now I was very intrigued and curious, and began keeping written notes about the appearances of these marks. It was obvious to me that something unusual was taking place and I wanted to record what was occurring. They were on the front part of my shoulders and faded after several days.
From my notes: “Dots on my shoulders appeared again today. A difference this time however, in that they're on both shoulders. Also, instead of a triangular shape, they're more of a square. The constant is that it's a definite geometric shape, reddish dots, not raised, non hurting or itching.”
I made a sketch of these marks.
*April 3-6 1987 – Clinton NJ
I did not make a sketch of these, but the marks appeared again, seemingly overnight.
From my notes: “Dots again in a square pattern on my right shoulder only.”
The pattern faded away over this time period and disappeared.
*April 9 1989 - Absecon NJ
In 1988 I moved to Absecon from Clinton NJ and did not record the appearance of any dots until April 1989.
From my notes: “Dots again on my right shoulder only, in a square pattern. Very well defined – four rows of three. It seemed a couple of dots tried to come through a week or ten days ago, but then disappeared after 2 days.”
I did not make a sketch of these dots.
*January 20 1990 – Absecon NJ
From my notes: “I'd had the feeling that dots were about to appear, and had in fact looked for them in the usual spot for a couple of days. Then I noticed them on the back of my shoulder, instead of in front (right shoulder). Again they were in a well defined square, either 4 rows of 4, or 4 of 3. They faded after about a day.”
(because I had the feeling they were there but I hadn't looked at the back of my shoulder, they could have been there for more than the 1 day I noticed them)
Sketch of the dots was made.
*February 13 1990 – Absecon NJ
From my notes: “Dots on my right front shoulder again. Never have they come this close in appearances. Was its usual square pattern, although the bottom was faded, making it almost 2 lines and a reflection. They appeared overnight since I know for certain they weren't there the night of 2-12. They lasted a good 4 days before fading out.”
“ALSO – the night of 2-12 I had a very localized but definite OBE – didn't do more than disassociate in the bedroom, but it's the first time I've been able to link anything with the dot appearance.”
I made a sketch of these dots.
(I have had both spontaneous and consciously controlled out of body experiences on a fairly regular basis since 1977) This was also my birthday.
*April 4-6 1990 – Absecon NJ
From my notes: “Dots reappeared again and lasted 3-4 days. Same pattern, squarish, and same location, right front shoulder.”
No sketch of these marks.
*May 3 1990 – Absecon NJ
From my notes: “Getting ready to take a shower at night and there are dots again on my right rear shoulder. The pattern is a little changed though. There is still a vague square shape, but this time it seems more like pairs of lines of dots.”
A sketch of these dots was made.
*January 10 1991 – Absecon NJ
From my notes: “Had been sort of feeling the appearance of dots for maybe a week, then this morning they appeared on my front right shoulder. This time however their pattern was 3 rows of 6. They lasted about 3 days and then began fading and by the 16th they were almost gone. Then however, there was a faint similar pattern on my back right shoulder which only lasted slightly more than a day.”
A sketch was made.
*April 7 1991 - Absecon NJ
From my notes : “Had been expecting dots for days now that it's early April. They appeared on my left front shoulder again in a smallish and somewhat lighter than normal pattern.”
A sketch was made.
*April 25 1993 – Absecon NJ
From my notes: “More than 2 years had gone by and I was beginning to suspect the dots wouldn't re-appear. Then, on my right shoulder side a messed up 'blotch' of dots appeared. They lasted 3 days and then faded like normal dot material.”
No sketch of these marks.
*April 29 1993 – Absecon NJ
From my noted: “ Clearly and distinctly, on my left shoulder were dots that were not there the night before. Very simple – just those seven dots that lasted 3 or 4 days. Showed them to Rob (my brother).”
A sketch was made of this pattern of dots.
*March 8 1994 – Absecon NJ
From my notes: “A smallish, vaguely squarish blotch again on my right shoulder side with an extra blotch over top – lasted 3 days.
A sketch was made.
*January 30 1996 – Absecon NJ
From my notes : “Just happened to notice, before taking a shower, a pattern of dots almost smack in the middle of my back. They were already slightly faded looking, as though they had been there for a few days. Later (my wife) said that 3 or 4 days earlier, I had awakened with one of my 'episodes' of moaning and stuff, and had mumbled something about people with big heads and large eyes.”
A sketch was made of this pattern of dots.
*August 1-5 1997 – Absecon NJ
From my notes: “ Just beginning to wonder again and then here they are splotchy dots on my right arm/shoulder.”
No sketch made.
*July 28 2015 – South Brunswick NJ
Although I still occasionally looked for dots on my body, it had been 18 years since they had appeared and I assumed they never would again. In an odd way I kind of missed them; I had come to look forward to seeing these strange marks on my body. (I had come to refer to them as my personal crop circles) Since they had never seemed to be detrimental to me in any physical or psychological way my interest and curiosity about what they could be was always piqued when they appeared.
On the morning of Tuesday July 28th I was lying in bed with my wife Penny, on my left side facing away from her. She remarked that I had some red marks in the middle of my back and asked me what they might be. I got her to take a picture with my phone. These were the same type of red marks I had previously, only larger. It was a pattern or grid of reddish spots just to the right of my spine, measuring approximately 4” high by 3” wide in the middle of my back. By Sunday August 2 they were almost entirely faded and by the morning of August 3 were gone completely.
The night before they appeared, shortly after I had gone to sleep, I experienced another “episode” of a menacing, bad dream. In my dream it was night and something was trying to push open our sliding glass door in back as I was struggling to close it. I moaned in my sleep until my wife heard and tried to wake me. She said that it took her a considerable time to rouse me, as I was in a very deep sleep.
Several digital photos over the course of this appearance were taken."
(Color and font size altered for distinction.)
1990 saw the most occurrences at four separate incidents. January, February, April, and then May. According to his timeline, the marks only ever appeared between January and August. For whatever reason, September through December (4 month span) never saw a mark. This fact is shared throughout this whole investigation. Most of our cases occur within the first 8 months of the year.
Here's a quick breakdown of his mark shape, year/month, and location with changes in the patterns marked in red:
Shape Location Year/Mo
triangle front L shoulder 1982
triangle front R shoulder 1983
1984-85
square both shoulders 1986 April
square R shoulder 1987 April
square R shoulder 1989 April
square back R shoulder 1990 Jan
square front R shoulder 1990 Feb
square front R shoulder 1990 April
square-ish back R shoulder 1990 May
front R shoulder 1991 Jan
blotch front L shoulder 1991 April
7 dots L shoulder 1993 April
square-ish R shoulder 1994 Mar
middle back 1996 Jan
R shoulder 1997 Aug
middle back 2015 July
He came to expect them in the first week of April each year, if they hadn't appeared already. He'd check his body in the mirror following an intuition that they may have appeared. It's instinctual now for him to check his body.
In 1990, the pattern changed when a mark appeared in January, then again in February, April, and even in May of that same year. What was special about 1990? Why do his patterns change at all? As far as I could estimate, the 1990 appearances seemed to be reactionary to his previously held belief that they would only appear in April. Each change may have been a correction to his current theory, much like how my own investigation has progressed, with each new case answering a poignant question I had just arrived at. Brian answered my question of whether there was a target age range of those who experienced the phenomenon, and more importantly, it addressed my wonder of how common it was prior to the start of my investigation. At each new step we are rewarded with a new case with specific differences that adjusts my theories and expectations.
I searched for other patterns.
Jenny: "Which position do you tend to sleep in at night?"
Brian: "My back or one side or other. Never on my stomach. I favor my left side because of how I share my bed with my wife."
We could find no explanation in his bedding that could explain the marks. He was surprised when the marks 'traveled with him,' continuing to appear even after he moved from California to New Jersey in 1984. "[I] tried to debunk it. Tried sitting on things, looking at objects and materials. But it's in the skin somehow."
It wasn't until his 3rd recurrence in 1986 that he began keeping track and writing notes about them. Judging by his laid back attitude and his overall reaction to their appearance, it seemed fitting that it would take a few times before he would see them as something unusual and thus worth documenting. He saw an episode of "Sightings" (1991-93; -97) featuring a similar case study that "validated what I was going through." Brian was referring to the 1967 case of Stephen Michalek at Falcon Lake, which is well known to my team because we recognize it as the first documented RGMP case. You can read our summary of that incident in our Summary of Symptoms and History investigation intro.
"I sent pics [of my marks] to Dr. David Jacobs (an abduction specialist, http://www.ufoabduction.com/), but never heard back." Unfortunately, those were his only copies of his early marks. "This was before digital cameras."
He made sketches as best he could from '86 on, and made sure to take many photos of his most recent 2015 recurrence. View one example sketch of his 1986 marks here, scanned from his personal record, as well as another page from that journal with written description and a sketch of his Jan/1990 mark here.
[Interview via Skype August 2nd, 2015 10am/1pm (PST/EST)]
To be continued in Part 2: Brian's 2015 Recurrence.
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If you or someone you know have experienced the RGMP, please contact our investigative team by using the contact form in the right-hand column of this website. We also ask you fill out a General Info Collection Form here to help us expedite the process and get to the details of your case.
See the Investigations Page for an archive listing of all posts and published case reports on this phenomenon.
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