Have you ever felt a sudden urge to leave somewhere immediately but you weren’t quite sure why? It’s not unlikely your subconscious mind was looking out for your physical body, without you even realizing it. There are countless stories of people trusting their gut and managing to escape bad or dangerous situations. Your instinct, or sixth sense, is like a silent alarm. You might not be able to hear it but you can feel it. Often, it manifests as fear.
Someone recently asked “What’s the most terrifying 'we need to leave NOW' moment you’ve ever experienced?” and people didn’t hold back. They shared some truly terrifying tales of the times they trusted their gut, and got out real fast. To be honest, many of them are lucky to be alive today. Bored Panda has put together a list of the most incredible answers. From narrowly escaping mass attacks, to stepping out of a bank seconds before a robbery, a few of these stories might have you on the edge of your seat. Hopefully, they’ll encourage you to trust your own instincts and listen, next time your inner alarm starts blaring.
#1
I was at an outdoor music festival as a teen, in the heat of summer, with a delay in the set up of the next band. We were in the middle of the crowd and the energy was becoming very tense. People started throwing flattened water bottles across the crowd and at the stage hands that were moving as fast as they could to fix whatever the issue was. By the time the preshow music started, the crowd began to sway involuntarily from a******s pushing from the back. We agreed it was time to go, but then the band came on as we were trying to move sideways out of the crowd and everyone rushed forward. A 300lb dude fell on my friends and I and it took five men to get him off us while others around us were trying to hold back the rush. Once we were up and moving again, a mosh pit broke out around us. I will never forget the 6'5" punk with a red Mohawk that saw our trouble and shouted "THE ONLY WAY OUT IS UP" and offered us his laced hands for us to take a step as he tossed us up to crowd surf out. I almost lost my shoe while crowd surfing, but we made it out safely and hung back for the rest of the shows. God save the punks!
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126points
#2
January 1979, Iran. I’m 9 years old. My mom is a low-level diplomat. She comes home from work and says, “We have 90 minutes to get to the airport to get out of the country.” She knew the shah’s family was getting on a plane and that the overthrow of the government was days if not hours away. We got on the cargo plane with one suitcase between the four of us and maybe $500. Sure enough, next day was the overthrow and lots of people were k**led or executed. That’s how I wound up in the United States.
123points
#3
Years back, I was walking into a bank. As I pushed on the door, I locked eyes with a teller inside. She was looking at me shaking her head "no". I then saw a person with a gun was robbing the place. I quickly backed up, ran to my car, and called 911.
Someone may have s**t in my pants. Not sure who, though.
Someone may have s**t in my pants. Not sure who, though.
120points
Many of us have been there. We're in a place and something just feels "off." We can't see any immediate threat or danger. But somehow, we can feel it. We're uneasy. Or weirdly afraid. Or, maybe we can't even place what it is our mind is trying to tell us. But we instinctively know it's a warning.
That feeling is often not just paranoia... it’s a survival mechanism built into our ancestors, millions of years ago.
#4
I'm from Kyiv, Ukraine. February 24th, 2022. My parents wake me up at night, and the first thing I hear is "pack up, the russians are already here". We expected them attacking, but we didn't expect them to get to Kyiv in a single night, which was only possible because they launched this attack from Belarus. After a few seconds of horror, an adrenaline rush had followed. I barely remember anything that happened that day or the following 5 or 7 days that we were on a bus to the Polish border
107points
#5
Passed out on the El in Chicago. Red line heading south. A very old homeless guy woke me up and told me he was getting me off this train,walking me across the platform to go north again, and would stay in the car for the next 4 stops. He did and I got home safe and sound after a night of reckless partying. I've been grateful to him for the last 2 decades.
107points
#6
I was 8 at a restaurant with my cousins, mom and aunt (also the same age as us kids at the time, 8 to 12). We were celebrating birthdays.
This was a hole in the wall restaurant. Two guys came in acting suspicious. They kept looking over at our table. We were the only ones there other than the two people working. One kept feeling around his pocket.
The one guy was very, very nervous. He went outside and threw up. After a little while, his... Partner?... Went out and seemed to be trying to talk him into going back in, but he wouldn't.
The partner came back in by himself for a while but eventually left without ordering anything.
My mom was on alert and was telling us 4 kids to get up NOW and leave, which is what I think prompted the guys to leave.
I knew as a kid something was very wrong. As an adult I 100% believe it was a planned armed robbery, but the one guy had second thoughts seeing a mom with 4 cute little girls there.
If they're out there, thanks for not traumatizing us. This was 30+ years ago.
This was a hole in the wall restaurant. Two guys came in acting suspicious. They kept looking over at our table. We were the only ones there other than the two people working. One kept feeling around his pocket.
The one guy was very, very nervous. He went outside and threw up. After a little while, his... Partner?... Went out and seemed to be trying to talk him into going back in, but he wouldn't.
The partner came back in by himself for a while but eventually left without ordering anything.
My mom was on alert and was telling us 4 kids to get up NOW and leave, which is what I think prompted the guys to leave.
I knew as a kid something was very wrong. As an adult I 100% believe it was a planned armed robbery, but the one guy had second thoughts seeing a mom with 4 cute little girls there.
If they're out there, thanks for not traumatizing us. This was 30+ years ago.
96points
Once upon a time, there were no phones, alarm systems, sirens, televisions, radios or even cities with emergency personnel or police. People relied on their senses and intuition to stay alive. They were constantly scanning their surroundings to pick up any sign of danger. Maybe a wild animal, or an angry person was about to pounce from the shadows. If something didn’t feel right, our ancestors fled. Or risked being eaten alive. There was, of course, also the option of fighting. Hence the phrase "fight or flight."
#7
I was out on a run, and I noticed this old woman (probably 60-70) sitting on the curb. She waved me down and so I ran over to her. She needed help getting up but as we were talking I just got this feeling in my gut that something was off. I felt really horrible abandoning an older woman who claimed to need help, but I couldn’t shake that feeling so I apologized for not being able to help and ran off. I looked back just a few seconds later, and this dude in a black truck pulls up to her and she gets up and gets in no problem. I probably broke a PR I ran home so fast.
Maybe I was just a paranoid female teenager, but to this day 15 years later I still get chills thinking about it and feel like it may have been a ploy to try to kidnap me. I was training for a marathon and ran that route a lot, so they could have been expecting me.
Maybe I was just a paranoid female teenager, but to this day 15 years later I still get chills thinking about it and feel like it may have been a ploy to try to kidnap me. I was training for a marathon and ran that route a lot, so they could have been expecting me.
90points
#8
Got a heavy hitter for this one.
Managed to find myself sat in the front carriage for a 60mph train crash. Which is about as fun as it sounds.
After derailing, we came to rest on our side in a tunnel, can't see a thing, dizzy, ears ringing. You check your limbs are still in the right places, and start trying to grasp what just happened, but you realise smoke has started filling the carriage. Doors obviously didn't open, couldn't kick the windows out. Cue panic like you can't imagine, grown men losing their s**t, hysteria, absolute bedlam. Half the passengers were strewn around the carriage, half were climbing over eachother trying to get out.
Figured that was me done, once I realised our goose was cooked I called the Mrs to say the train had crashed, there was a fire, I don't think I'm getting out and that I love her.
The fire never really caught, we just stood huddled in the wreck trying to keep eachother talking until rescue came.
Wound up with a severe PTSD diagnosis, stopped going outside, could never feel safe, couldn't sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time, so just completely stopped functioning for a year, and then another year of gradually improving. Was self employed at the time so nearly lost everything in the process.
It's been a handful of years now and it still f***s with my head on a daily basis (albiet in largely managable ways).
Life is good now, and somehow nobody died, so no dramas. Hell of a night, though.
Managed to find myself sat in the front carriage for a 60mph train crash. Which is about as fun as it sounds.
After derailing, we came to rest on our side in a tunnel, can't see a thing, dizzy, ears ringing. You check your limbs are still in the right places, and start trying to grasp what just happened, but you realise smoke has started filling the carriage. Doors obviously didn't open, couldn't kick the windows out. Cue panic like you can't imagine, grown men losing their s**t, hysteria, absolute bedlam. Half the passengers were strewn around the carriage, half were climbing over eachother trying to get out.
Figured that was me done, once I realised our goose was cooked I called the Mrs to say the train had crashed, there was a fire, I don't think I'm getting out and that I love her.
The fire never really caught, we just stood huddled in the wreck trying to keep eachother talking until rescue came.
Wound up with a severe PTSD diagnosis, stopped going outside, could never feel safe, couldn't sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time, so just completely stopped functioning for a year, and then another year of gradually improving. Was self employed at the time so nearly lost everything in the process.
It's been a handful of years now and it still f***s with my head on a daily basis (albiet in largely managable ways).
Life is good now, and somehow nobody died, so no dramas. Hell of a night, though.
90points
#9
Was part of a wilderness/camping trip as a kid with counselors in the mountains. We had just set up camp when all of a sudden people from higher up were fleeing down and everyone was in a panic. There was a forest fire rapidly descending down towards us. The counselors basically threw what they could back in the vans and wrangled up ~15 kids and got us out. We ended up at some random restaurant, as an adult I think about how terrifying it must have been for those young counselors responsible for a bunch of 10 year olds lives to get us to safety
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83points
According to VeryWellMind, intuition is the "innate ability to know something without having to consciously think about it." Some people are better at listening to their gut, or trusting their instinct, than others. Experts say it's not necessarily a skill we learn from scratch. But it is one we can hone.
It begins with self-awareness, explains psychotherapist Keanne Owens. "Being self-aware allows an individual to know and understand their mannerisms, thoughts, and emotions. Once you are self-aware, you can identify those ‘gut feelings’ clearer.”
#10
Me and a friend were playing along a river bend in Michigan after a modest rain. The river curved at this spot and carved into the sandy hillside and the sand made this really nice almost beach like cove.
So we are sitting there playing making sand castles and such and we hear this series of :snaps: and look up and the trees on the hill top are just sort of "shivering". We both just sorta panic bolted, not even understanding why and about 5 seconds later the entire hill top just sort of liquified and slushed down over the bank and into the river. I'm talking like maybe a 40 by 100 foot area, trees and all just collasped.
So we are sitting there playing making sand castles and such and we hear this series of :snaps: and look up and the trees on the hill top are just sort of "shivering". We both just sorta panic bolted, not even understanding why and about 5 seconds later the entire hill top just sort of liquified and slushed down over the bank and into the river. I'm talking like maybe a 40 by 100 foot area, trees and all just collasped.
68points
#11
20ft deep in a slit trench with my buddy repairing drainage, banksman repeatedly wandering off (unqualified 16yr old) i saw the soil shifting. Told my buddy out now! We emerge and are arguing with the boss who wanted us back in as the trench collapsed with tones of soil and rubble. Look on his face....
67points
#12
The Seoul Halloween crowd crush in 2022. I was there with my friends, surrounded by dead people, it took us about 5 hours to leave the scene. I still can’t get over it.
RIP to the victims.
RIP to the victims.
64points
When something feels "off," often a little part of our brain called the amygdala is at work. Think of it as a threat detector, or a silent alarm. When the amygdala senses something strange or scary, it sends a signal to our body to either prepare to fight or, as the people on this list did, flee. Our heart might beat a bit faster, our breathing is different, our muscles could become tense and our adrenaline spikes. All we can think is "we need to leave right now."
#13
Not as ominous as the rest, but I was in a pet store [passing] time before an appointment. Suddenly, I was filled with dread. As an anxious person, this isn’t totally usual, so I initially tried to talk myself out of it for a minute or two, which of course felt like forever. I was so uncomfortable that I thought, “Screw it, I don’t need to be here” and went down the aisle to the side of the store, to loop around back to the front door in the center. As soon as I got to the side of the aisle, a BMW suv came crashing through the glass windows, knocking over the aisles, straight into the cash register. It would have hit me dead on. Astoundingly, no one was injured. The driver hit the gas by mistake, she was horribly upset.
I walked in a bit of a daze. Still creeps me out as I’m typing actually.
I walked in a bit of a daze. Still creeps me out as I’m typing actually.
63points
#14
Hiking in the mountains, sun was setting, and we heard this low, guttural growl that just vibrated through the trees. No idea what it was, but the hair on my neck stood up, and we booked it down that trail faster than I thought possible. Felt like something was hunting us, and it wasn't friendly.
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57points
#15
When my friend was groped in the woman's bathroom in Juarez Mexico (border to El Paso) me and a friend grabbed the guy and beat him up. When the door man saw what we did he went white and immediately told us to run back to bridge (the crossing point to US). We had beat up a notorious gang member, and he knew we'd be k**led if we got found.
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57points
There are usually subtle clues that we subconsciously pick up just before our fight or flight mode kicks in. It could be a person acting out of character, a sound that shouldn't be there, someone's tone of voice, a flickering shadow, a glance from a stranger or an eerie silence.
Your brain is working in the background, piecing the bits together, before it tells you it's time to go. Ignore it at your own peril...
#16
I flew into a smaller terminal at the Cancun International Airport with two friends. I'm American and they're European nationals. After passport control, a border patrol agent says they have a taxi waiting if we'd like to take it. I decline, saying I'd rather take the shuttle to the main airport but my two friends tell me I'm being paranoid and get into the car. It was locked from the inside but "luckily" the Mexican police show up before the car starts driving. They tell us it's an illegal taxi and *they* offer to give us a ride to our hotel instead. Before my friends can answer I say thanks but no thanks and we finally take the shuttle. Called a real taxi and made it to our hotel safely.
It was one of the few times being a paranoid American really worked out.
It was one of the few times being a paranoid American really worked out.
54points
#17
At the beach with my little brother and dad. We wandered into the ocean, maybe a little further than we really meant to. As we are hanging out in the water, suddenly a fish jumps out of the water right near us. We chuckle at what we thought was a funny moment. Then another fish jumps out of the water even closer to us. Then a third. As my dad and I looked at the water a very large shadow swam between my dad and me/my brother. A fin broke the water surface around us and another fish jumped between us. Dad and I locked eyes, and without saying a word, I understood I was to grab my brother as we tried to get back to the beach with dad following us. Right as we were about to move, it turned out to be a dolphin. Never been so scared and relieved within a few moments.
53points
#18
When I was 11, we were at the beach and the day was good but not exactly sunny, there was a rain forecast but only for later in the day. Far away in the horizon I saw a black line in the sky, I counted a few minutes and looked again. The black line was now a thick black bar, couple minutes later it was THE darkest storm cloud I've ever seen. I went to my parents and said the "we need to leave now" line and pointed at the cloud, right when I pointed we could she the flashes of lightning in the black cloud.
We barely had time to drive and stop under a bridge when the town was hit with (according to the radio) 80mph winds and hail the size of eggs, storm didn't last 10 minutes and the sun was back.
I felt bad for the people at the beach, the hospital was so packed with people in need of first aid for cuts and bruises that they installed a tent in front of the hospital for the smaller injuries.
We barely had time to drive and stop under a bridge when the town was hit with (according to the radio) 80mph winds and hail the size of eggs, storm didn't last 10 minutes and the sun was back.
I felt bad for the people at the beach, the hospital was so packed with people in need of first aid for cuts and bruises that they installed a tent in front of the hospital for the smaller injuries.
52points
#19
My mom and I were in Dubai in the middle of the night. This guy on a corner stopped my mom and started trying to sell her a purse for cheap. I don't know why she agreed--to be polite? He said to follow him and led us through dark deserted alley after dark deserted alley. The whole time I (15F at the time) was tugging on my mom's sleeve telling her we need to go, we need to go, stop following him, this is creepy. I wasn't about to leave my mom, but in hindsight if I had she probably would have followed me. But she was saying it would be rude to leave. Finally, he led us to the back entrance of an unmarked building and started up the dimly lit stairs, and I absolutely refused to let go of my mom's arm or let her take another step. Thank god her common sense finally kicked in and, from outside, she said no thank you and we fast walked the f**k out of there.
And to think this woman was a refugee. How she survived all those years, I'll never know.
And to think this woman was a refugee. How she survived all those years, I'll never know.
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52points
#20
My friend and I went to a Boston Red Sox game on patriots day years ago, also happened to be day of the Boston marathon, we found a parking spot a little ways away from the marathon finish line. I’ve been to several games with this friend and normally we like to sit in the stadium and wait for the majority of people to leave at the end of the game before we head out but I really wanted to leave immediately this day. So we did and walked along the marathon finish line and past it to get to our car, right when we got to our car we heard loud bangs and screams, we just got in the car quickly and started to get out of there, few minutes later my mom called me asking if I was ok, she said she saw there was explosions and knew we were at the Sox game. It’s crazy to think that if we had waited like we normally do that extra 10 minutes we would have probably been right at the finish line when the explosions happened, we were so fortunate.
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47points