Spooky Flame

Today my wife left around 10:00 AM to visit a friend, leaving me as the only one in the house, which no one else was in between 10:00 AM and 4:45 PM. Today upon arriving home about 4:45 my wife complained that the gas was burning underneath a pan. I explained to her that I had not used the gas all day long, and had last been in the kitchen around 1:00 to make lunch, without using the gas, and without seeing it on. At first I thought of some "accidentally brushing by the gas knob around 1:00" explanation, but soon I heard something that ruled out such an explanation. My wife said she found a little water in the pan above the burning gas. If the gas had been on for more than 10 minutes, the water would have boiled away.  There was no sign of a burn on the pan's bottom. 

We are left with an anomaly I cannot explain. Somehow a gas knob on our stove seems to have mysteriously turned on only a few minutes before my wife arrived, while there was no one on the floor that has the kitchen. The gas burner knobs are all a type that cannot be turned on accidentally, as they require a simultaneous turning and pushing in to turn on the gas flame.  The incident reminds me of strange events I have reported here and here and here. In all of these events it is rather like some invisible presence (nothing to be afraid of) is trying to leave some sign of its existence. If such a thing seems inconceivable to you, you may think differently if you read some of the posts in my "Spookiest Years" series  (here, here, here and here and here). I am never alarmed when things like this happen, as I've seen many things like this happen over the years, such as (in a different residence) a light turning on by itself, a locked door opening by itself, a toilet flushing by itself a few times, and a coin rolling up from behind me (on its edge) when I was alone in my residence. 

In some religions, flames are symbols, and candles are burnt in churches to symbolize spiritual themes. There could be some symbolism in the strange event described above.