I was walking home today, when suddenly a smell of something vanilla-like with a mixture of smoke came toward and down on me. It was a beautiful smell, something familiar but something I've never quite smelled before. Almost like incense but very much not.

So I slow down because of the scent that came toward me, then I hear a man yell a very loud "HELP!". It was very clear and unmistakable. I actually stopped and looked around and upward (as it seemed to come almost from above but to my left). And looked around to see if anyone else walking along had noticed, because it was quite distinct. I only saw an old man sitting on a bench with a young boy, and no one else seemed to be reacting or to have heard anything. I didn't hear anything else after that, but I was hesitant to keep walking because I felt in my body/intuition that someone was or had been in trouble. Something fire-related came to mind, and I got the sensation that something was on fire or had started burning in a house, except that there were only apartment complexes around.

Looking it up once at home, I learned there was a fire in three houses on that location back in 1909.

So I'm wondering if I glimpsed momentarily into someone's distress related to that event?
And do some spirits tend to smell very fragrant? I wanted to smell this particular smell forever, it smelled so unusually nice and present.

Thanks if anyone answers.

-E

Ghosts or spirits can and do have the ability to let you smell unusual scents. And they have the ability to let you "see" the past under certain circumstances like the traumatic fire scene. Many years ago I had a little girl aged around 4 or 5 come to me in a long frilly white dress of the 1860's style and hold my hand while I walked down Fifth Avenue in NYC for one block. She would not crosss the street with me but stop at the curb. I had the impression she was run over by a horse drawn vehicle and killed and stayed in that area until someone like me came along and would hold her hand. I had her come to me every evening when I walked that stretch of Fifth Avenue for months and she always appeared and held onto my hand so daintily and then would skip happily away when I started to cross the street. This area of Fifth Avenue was all rich homes back in the 1860's. She did not emanate any smell but I have had ghosts in my home (I have about 5-7) and they emanate wonderful perfumelike smells that waft around. Sometimes I can only smell it and sometimes my son can only smell it. And you are correct - the unearthly smells are truly wonderful and I'd like mine to last forever also.