I used to work as a Cinema Technician in a 12 auditorium multiplex cinema; I worked there for about ten years. Firstly, this story does not directly involve me; however the people involved are credible and are not the type to spin fantastic yarns for no reason.
This story takes place a few years ago, as part of my job, I assemble movies by joining the reels together, once assembled, I view these films to make sure that all the joins (splices) are ok and the soundtrack and picture are all up to scratch (and I like to watch films for free). The film I was checking was Monsters Inc., a Pixar film; a projectionist was sat in the auditorium with me. After the film finished, the projectionist left and I returned to the projection booth to wait for the bulb to cool down before turning off the projector. The only people left in the building were the General Manager and a supervisor, at night they total up the days takings and count the stock; they spend the final few hours in an office next to the entrance to the Projection Booth.
The time was roughly midnight, I got on my pushbike which I leave always at the foot of the stairs on the employee entrance side of the cinema, I cycled home, and that is where this story ends for me.
The following evening I came in for my evening shift which starts at 5. No sooner was I through the door, the supervisor came running over, all excited, at this point I will point out that this supervisor has barely said a word to me since she started working there, so this was quite unusual. She asked me where I disappeared to last night, I explained that I left about midnight and I cycled home, nothing unusual about that, she disagreed with me about how I left. She went on to explain, about 1am they had finished their shifts, they had no way of knowing who was left in the building, so they put out a page asking anyone left in the building to call the upstairs office, with no reply they had their answer, they were alone. Suddenly, the manager noticed someone passing the camera outside the secure office, he got up and went out into the corridor, no-one was there, he walked in the direction the person was walking, with only one door in that direction, the door to the projection booth. The projection room is one long corridor with eight projectors down one side and four down the other, there is a small open office area down the far side, at that time, the only lights on were the permanent emergency lights, it is fairly dark but you can still make things out.
The manager claims this, he walked into the booth and saw me walking in the direction of the small office, he called out to me but I did not turn around, I will point out at this point that I am quite a lot larger than all my projectionists and staff, he is 100% positive that it was me in there. He called out again as this person who looks exactly like me was getting close to the fire exit. The fire exit door is sideways on to the manager\'s line of sight, as my twin approached it, the manager was joined by the supervisor, they both got a good look at the persons face as it was lit by the emergency exit light above the fire exit door, and they both agreed that it was me. They followed as the person went through the door, just a few meters behind; they both went through the fire exit door. Beyond the door, there is a spiral staircase, one door above, one below. When they got to the spiral staircase, there was no-one there, the upper door leads onto the roof and is alarmed, the lower door leads into the car park and is also alarmed, if either door had been opened, the alarm would have sounded. Whoever they had followed in there had vanished.
I understood what they were telling me when they told me this story, but the fact is, I cycled home at midnight and I left through the staff door, not a fire exit.
This story takes place a few years ago, as part of my job, I assemble movies by joining the reels together, once assembled, I view these films to make sure that all the joins (splices) are ok and the soundtrack and picture are all up to scratch (and I like to watch films for free). The film I was checking was Monsters Inc., a Pixar film; a projectionist was sat in the auditorium with me. After the film finished, the projectionist left and I returned to the projection booth to wait for the bulb to cool down before turning off the projector. The only people left in the building were the General Manager and a supervisor, at night they total up the days takings and count the stock; they spend the final few hours in an office next to the entrance to the Projection Booth.
The time was roughly midnight, I got on my pushbike which I leave always at the foot of the stairs on the employee entrance side of the cinema, I cycled home, and that is where this story ends for me.
The following evening I came in for my evening shift which starts at 5. No sooner was I through the door, the supervisor came running over, all excited, at this point I will point out that this supervisor has barely said a word to me since she started working there, so this was quite unusual. She asked me where I disappeared to last night, I explained that I left about midnight and I cycled home, nothing unusual about that, she disagreed with me about how I left. She went on to explain, about 1am they had finished their shifts, they had no way of knowing who was left in the building, so they put out a page asking anyone left in the building to call the upstairs office, with no reply they had their answer, they were alone. Suddenly, the manager noticed someone passing the camera outside the secure office, he got up and went out into the corridor, no-one was there, he walked in the direction the person was walking, with only one door in that direction, the door to the projection booth. The projection room is one long corridor with eight projectors down one side and four down the other, there is a small open office area down the far side, at that time, the only lights on were the permanent emergency lights, it is fairly dark but you can still make things out.
The manager claims this, he walked into the booth and saw me walking in the direction of the small office, he called out to me but I did not turn around, I will point out at this point that I am quite a lot larger than all my projectionists and staff, he is 100% positive that it was me in there. He called out again as this person who looks exactly like me was getting close to the fire exit. The fire exit door is sideways on to the manager\'s line of sight, as my twin approached it, the manager was joined by the supervisor, they both got a good look at the persons face as it was lit by the emergency exit light above the fire exit door, and they both agreed that it was me. They followed as the person went through the door, just a few meters behind; they both went through the fire exit door. Beyond the door, there is a spiral staircase, one door above, one below. When they got to the spiral staircase, there was no-one there, the upper door leads onto the roof and is alarmed, the lower door leads into the car park and is also alarmed, if either door had been opened, the alarm would have sounded. Whoever they had followed in there had vanished.
I understood what they were telling me when they told me this story, but the fact is, I cycled home at midnight and I left through the staff door, not a fire exit.
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