In 1966, Eryl Mai Jones, a preteen girl from Wales, had a dream that her school building disappeared because something black ran down and over it. The little girl was terrified of what she had dreamed and tried to tell her mother about it. However, her mother listened with only half an ear because she had many things to do and sent her daughter to school as usual.
A couple of days later, Eryl’s premonition came true in a very tragic fashion. Some sources say the tragedy happened the very next day after Eryl had the premonition. On October 21, 1966, the coal tip located on top of the hill overlooking Aberfan–the town where Eryl and her mum lived–suddenly gave way. Tons of rocks and sludge demolished just about everything on its way down the hill, finally sweeping through Pantglass School. The above photo shows the area before the incident. The school is the red brick building on the left.
Eryl Mai Jones was one of the 144 that lost their lives that day. It has been claimed by various sources that Eryl had told her mother earlier that month that she was not afraid to die. This was even before her startling dream. Was the dream merely a coincidence or a definitive sign of what was to come? Whatever the answer, the story of Eryl Mai Jones is certainly one of the eerier ones out there.
The ability to predict the outcome of an event through a vision or dream, otherwise known as a premonition, is among the most ancient and widespread of human activities. It crosses so many different cultures involving so many different time periods that it might even be be considered synonymous with the word human. From tribal shamanistic predictions of the success of a hunt, to a person foreseeing a plane crash, premonitions are seen in all levels of society and still happen abundantly in the modern world. They have even served to shape western civilization, and the ranks of the prophetic include everyone from emperors and popes to the common man.
History is full of visions and prophecies that seem to have accurately foretold the future. Some may be folktales, invented after the fact to embellish a story, but some are much more difficult to explain. Either way, they are fascinating reminders that prophecy and humanity go hand in hand.
