I think I sometimes have premonitions (in dreams) of bad things that happen. I'm quite "scientifically" minded and don't believe in anything supernatural, but having these dreams is a bit weird. I don't mind them though. Was wondering if there was a forum to chat about these things and that's how i got here!!

Anyway, the latest dream was of a plane crash. I had this dream in the past 10 days, (can't remember when exactly). In the dream the plane had an eagle decorating its nose, a bit like old ships used to have decorations at the front. When I woke up it felt like I had had "one of those dreams" so I went on the internet to check for any news but there was nothing about plane crashes. Then, today, there was a plane crash in Spain with more than 100 casualties. (My dreams often "tell" of things that happen a few days later.) I was still puzzled about the eagle. So, I googled the words "Eagle" and "Spain" and it came up with an old flag of Spain. Until 1981 the Spanish flag used to have a big eagle in the middle of it! There were some other things in the dream too, but I didn't write it down and have now forgotten the details. There was another plane - it was a bit like a story about a successful flight (the other plane) and an unsuccessful flight (the plane that crashed). Having other planes would make sense because the real crash happened soon after take-off, so there were many planes nearby the airport. But I can't really take these things too seriously as they are just dreams...aren't they?!?!

In the past couple of years I dreamt of a postal bomber near me and a gang vandalism in Italy. Both of them were also in the media shortly after. (I can tell you about them if you want.) I have these strong dreams a couple of times a year, maybe more. Does anyone know if there are other good web forums where people can talk about the details of these dreams without boring everyone else!!

Most European nations, and many descendant nations have eagles associated with them in one way or another. The take-off is quite possibly the most dangerous part of a plane flight. It wouldn't surprise me if most accidents happened at take-off. Yes, there were other planes around the one that crashed on take-off. You will also find automobiles gathering in parking lots all over the world, and some of them will soon be involved in accidents, with a few fatal. Gang violence has plagued Italy for decades. Postal bombers have been in the news since America's Unibomber and the various bomb/poison scares associated with terrorism.

I'm sorry, but I really don't see that you did anything but incorporate everyday life into a dream. That is pretty much what we all do, but few remember much of their dreams.

Thanks for your thoughts Dorian. Actually you are wrong about many European flags having eagles. I know it is not true because I live here. Out of about 45 flags I can think of only two that have eagles (Moldova and Albania).

Anyway, I think maybe you read my post too quickly because I wasn't saying those things. Like the take-off wasn't in my dream (as far as I can remember), and that's not what I was saying. I was just telling about my dream and saying what links I was making with it. This process of sense-making is interesting in itself. Was hoping to find people who also think it's interesting. You did that in a way but you seem to have read the post too quickly, or maybe it wasn't clear

By the way, the postal bomber incident here in the UK was before your unibombs. So, those definitely didn't affect my thoughts. Gangs and Italy are probably associated in your mind but not in mine as I have visited the country many times and have lots of memories. (In that dream the location was not specifically Italy. It was just some mediterranean country. The actual incident, which had elements of my dream, happened in Italy.)

Another thing I disagree with is that only a few people remember their dreams. Lots of people remember their dreams. I remember my dreams almost every morning, they're often long and complicated. A few times a year they are special, feel different (those I mentioned here). Would be nice to have a website where people describe these strong dreams when they have them.

I didn't say anything about European flags. You made that connection, and not in your dream, but afterward. Your dream had the eagle on the plane.

You also mentioned take-off and other planes, as if this somehow validated your dream. Most plane take off from airports. Most airports are not devoted exclusively to one plane. Thus, once you decided that a take off is in any way involved, you will have other planes around.

In your first post, you said "In the past couple of years I dreamt of a postal bomber near me" but you find my mention of the Unibomber as too recent to be the inspiration. The Unibmber started bombing in 1978, with his first serious injury caused in 1985. He was arrested in 1996. Just how long is the period you call "the last couple of years"?

It really doesn't matter how many times you've been to Italy. Italy has still had gang violence associated with it for a long time. (I assume it is unrelated to your visits.)

You did to my post what you did to your dream; made connections that weren't really there. There is nothing wrong with that, nor is there anything wrong with posting about your dreams here. But don't expect people here to look upon you or your dream in awe. Generally speaking, members here have a critical eye about the paranormal. Most approach events such as this with the attitude of "Don't tell me it was wondrous; prove that it was wondrous." This may be why people seeking validation for their ability to "see the future" don't frequent this site. We tend to deal with facts and logic.
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Other equally reasonable interpretations of an eagle appearing on the nose of an airplane -

A connection to the moon landing - "The Eagle has landed."

A connection to the Soviet cosmoonaught German Titov _ "I am Eagle."

A connection to Mexico, whose flag has an eagle on it (and whose people speak Spanish!) (There are also a few other countries whose flag have or had an eagle on it.)

A connection to any of the several political units in history who used the double-headed eagle on its crest (Czarist Russia, the Habsburg Dynasty, the Holy Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, Patriarchate of Constantinople (Istanbul), Albania, Armenia, Montenegro, Serbia, The Russian Federation, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It's also on the coat of arms of the National Guard of Cypress and the unofficial flag of Mt. Athos. (If you wonder "Why the double-headed eagle? I only mentioned 1 eagle" you are forgetting the eagle on the other side of the plane. Besides, eagles gather together often n the wild, just like planes and automobiles.)

A single eagle has a connection to so many coats of arms that a complete list would take months to compile. There is also connections to several peoples throughout history who used an eagle on their coins.

Apparently, an eagle can connect to almost any country in the world. Giving a dream with an eagle in it validation simply requires one to select which country was in the news shortly after the dream.

I am not saying that a dream can't be some kind of predictor of the future. It's just that attempts to register such predictions before the event have met with failure, except for the predictions such as "I dreamt of a plane crash, somewhere on land...or maybe water." When someone tells me about their dream of a koala attacking a kangaroo, and a few days later, a Qantas planes crashes somewhere in Australia, I will accept that dream as proof of something.

Well, I absolutely don't want people to "look up on me in awe". Yuk. I don't take my dreams seriously either as I have always been a skeptic, atheist, don't believe in any paranormal stuff etc. Also, have two degrees in psychology so do understand how human mind explains things. And I work in maths and science, so am not your typical person who chats about these things. If I had to cast my vote, I would say it's all nonsense.

But wouldn't it be fun to have a forum where people describe these special dreams before the event and then people can chat about the similarities btw dream and reality and if there were any? That's what I was trying to do.

For me the most powerful experience with this dream was that it felt so strongly that something is going to happen. It was haunting me for several days. If you had asked me in the past week what bad thing is going to happen soon, with no hesitation I would have said a plane crash. If you'd asked me on a different week, I wouldn't have said a plane crash. It would be fun to record these dreams and record if any similar incidents happen within say 10 days.

I totally agree with you that the eagle could be linked with almost any country. I always thought that anyway. I was just describing how vague the details in these dreams can be, and if for a moment we think that there could be predictions in dreams, it would be impossible to make any use of them anyway since they can't be linked to anything specific. Also, in my dreams many of the details were different. For example, I don't think it happened at take-off.

About the bombings, I had no idea about your unibombers in the 70s, only know about the recent once. That dream was not about a person going into a building. It was a bomb in an empty dark office space and for the whole night I was trying to get this man (who was not present) to tell me how to make the bomb safe. It was one very very long night and he never told me!

Gangs and Italy - still don't know what you're on about.

Koala attacking a kangaroo?!?! Pleaseeee...I would never believe that as a premonition of anything else than a koala attacking a kangaroo!

I have dreams of plane crashes often, and nothing ever happens near those times.

It's a shame you didn't post your dream before the recent crash.

"But wouldn't it be fun to have a forum where people describe these special dreams before the event and then people can chat about the similarities btw dream and reality and if there were any?"

Feel free to start a thread about just that. If, after a few months, it becomes too long, too crowded, etc., I can make it into a new forum. (And I promise not to be such a putz should I post in your thread. Sorry.)

You post from Britain, Lumi, so you may know the expression 'You just broke my dream '. We say it when someone does or says something about which we have been dreaming the night before.Of course, they're doing so may be pure coincidence or it may be that they are psychic and have read our dream and speak to it, or it could be that we dreamt, as forseeing, in advance of the thing they report.Point is, we all dream a lot and it's only when something happens 'to break our dream' , bring it to mind, that we are prompted to recall that dream.Most of the time that doesn't happen and the dream is forgotten or not even called to mind. So the chances of our having these 'premonition' dreams are high, since most, or nearly all, of our dreams don't coincide in any way with some significant later event. When they do occasionally coincide or have similarities with real, later, events we invest them with a quality of premonition which they do not merit.

I know what you're saying Fred but this was different. If I kept a dream diary (which I don't as I'm too lazy to write all my long dreams down) I could put a star to those dreams that were 'strong' and felt like they were telling me about something real. It doesn't happen often, but is a very strong feeling that haunts me for days. I've probably pretty much always had such dreams but didn't pay any attention to them until more recently. I saw an American program about people who "have premonitions" and they said that the dreams were almost always about bad things. I thought that was interesting, why not good events? Why are all my 'predictions' also of bad events? (Remember that I was looking for having 'premonitions' so wasn't thinking ' oh yeah, it's good to dream of bad stuff because that gets in the papers and people will be interested'.) But my dreams were about little things where people didn't die, like vandalism and postal bombs that didn't hurt anyone. So, I was still thinking it's all a big joke. Then came this plane crash dream. I really felt like writing down the details but thought "why, it's only a dream". But it was very, very strong and I swear if you were my closest friend I would have told you about it before the event. (I have spooked up my good friend with some of my earlier dreams, but she believes in horoscopes and stuff so doesn't count as a proper witness!!)

In the future, I think I'll record my dreams on a tape which takes less time than writing them down.

I can remember some details of the plane dream. There was another dream around the same time of the plane crash dream. I was working in an airfield. It was almost like a military airfield, but on the other hand I was waiting for a plane to take me home (it was not in the UK). There was a lot of sand and little portable cabins. I was near the runway, just to the right side of it where there was a cabin. A plane was landing and obviously that was really loud. There was another person working there with me. Other details too, but have forgotten.

So, I definitely dreamt of an airfield too. Not sure if I had the dreams on consecutive nights and thought "bloody hell, something really is going to happen" or if they were part of the same dream. Usually I'm very clear-headed but like I said the crash dream was so 'real' that I was a bit upset about it for several days.

Another thing I know I remember from the plane crash dream was that it wasn't a sad dream. That sounds awful when we are talking about a real tragedy. But it was almost like in a comical movie. The plane was definitely in the air (which I don't know if was the case for the real plane) but flying low. It made sort of a nose dive to the ground, (which of course planes do not do in realitywhen they crash). This bit I'm not sure about, but it could be that the plane took off, then sort of ran out of fuel immediately and made a comical nose dive to the ground. There was a good feeling to the dream that there were at least some people that didn't die. It was kind of like comical, then shocking, then relief. Feel bad saying these things because the real event was not comical at all!!! I also think that in my dream there were passengers from different nationalities (nothing unusual in an airoplane) and there may have been Scandinavian passengers, but that bit I'm not sure about as it was part of those details I should have written down. But in the real accident one of the 19 survivors came from a country where I orginally come from. She was the only passenger on the plane from that country and our total population is also very small, so that's a big co-incidence. Especially since that airline doesn't get used by our citizens. Anyway, that's a spooky detail for me, I don't expect you to believe what some stranger writes here! It's been good to have talked about this with someone anyway as it was really playing on my mind but now I feel better. thanks

People are more likely to remember the bad dreams vs. the good. If you have a very lovely dream you might just remember the feelings it evoked, but frightening or sad situations evoke a stronger emotional response and you are more likely to remember the details if something sticks with you.
I have had some very specific terrifying dreams which I can remember in detail to this day. Luckily, only one of them has come to pass but I would gladly give up the memory of these dreams if that one hadn’t come true.
If you truly feel you are having premonitions, you must keep a dream diary otherwise you will have nothing to refer to or fall back on. Your memory of your dreams will improve as you start to write them, and it may help you to release the particularly vivid dreams.

Today the BBC website released new information saying that "The airline involved in the Madrid plane crash had considered switching aircraft at the last minute." This matches with what I said about my dream 08-20-08 02:37 PM "There was another plane - it was a bit like a story about a successful flight (the other plane) and an unsuccessful flight (the plane that crashed)." That is the feeling I had in my dream - that the flight could go like this (then I saw the good flight) or like this (then I saw the crash).

Also on 08-23-08 03:47 AM I said that "The plane was definitely in the air (which I don't know if was the case for the real plane) but flying low." I think that the investigators are now sure that the plane was indeed in the air. Whereas the very first animations shown on TV at the time of my posting did not show the plane taking off but instead veered off to the right of the runway. So, at the time I thought maybe this was a "wrong" feature in my dream.

Also I mentioned above that in my dreams I was working at a runway. The runway was a major part of that dream (which I'm not sure if was the original crash dream or not). It was a really, really long night as I was working there and there was a lot of sand everywhere and I was looking forward to getting a flight home. I remember the runway very well. Incidentally, in the real crash the runway is a key scene where things started to go wrong. In today's BBC article they say that the plane ran a lot further on the runway than usual as the engine did not seem to have enough power. (In the description of my dreams earlier I say that it was a bit like the plane ran out of fuel.)

Finally something slightly different. In the news I have heard about two passengers, one who survived and one who didn't. It is natural for people to get mental images of things they hear about, so I'm not sure if I have dreamt of their faces or if I just imagined them afterwards. I could be totally wrong, but here goes!! I imagine the man who wanted to get out of the plane but was not let out (and died) as having dark hair, narrow rather than round face, wrinkles going up-down direction in his face, brown eyes quite close together and eyebrows drooping a bit, not very tall, quite thin, a little bit hunched shoulders, wears a dark suit. I imagine the lady from my original country who did survive as having a round face, oily skin, hair kept tied back so that it is very close to her head and looks thin, eyes quite wide apart, blonde, blue eyes, plump, wears a long shirt and a long skirt both with some colours (eg blue and other colours). Not at all sure these were in my dreams as my dreams are not usually very visual, but wouldn't it be eerie if they did look like that?!

It would be eerie, and your statements would be more plausible had you posted them before the fact. I imagine you believe your dream is linked to this crash, and you probably feel very strongly about it, but it is difficult to expect others to accept your interpretations when they come after the incident. You remember very specific similarities, certainly, but again these are all coming after the fact.

In the future, for yourself, you ought to right down your experiences at the time of the experience. You may not find anyone who believes you, still, but you will have your own record of the data.