February 24, 1983

Twenty-one year old Donald “Don” Decker of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania was serving time in county jail for receiving stolen goods. A furlough was granted for him to attend the funeral of his grandfather, James, who had recently passed away, and he was given permission to stay in the home of his friends Bob and Jeannie Keiffer after the service.

Though he attended the funeral, Don and his grandfather were anything but close. From the time Don was seven, his grandfather had been physically abusing him. At the service, the way people spoke highly of the man who had tormented and assaulted him made him uneasy. He did, however, feel that with the passing of his grandfather, the evil was finally gone.

That evening, Don was in an upstairs bathroom at the Keiffers’ home washing up for dinner when suddenly the energy around him shifted. He claimed that he felt as though the air went out of the room, and he fell to the floor, deep scratches appearing on his arms. When he looked up, he thought he saw the face of an old man in a crown laughing at him in the bathroom window. He was confused and shaken, but continued downstairs to join his hosts for dinner.

At the table, Bob and Jeannie noticed the scratches and expressed their concern to Don, who (surprisingly?) told his friends exactly what he’d experienced. They were skeptical of their friend, but knowing he’d had a long day and had been going through a lot, they continued with their meal and then the two men relocated to the living room while Jeannie straightened up.

The men were beginning to relax when a sudden chill surrounded them.

THUMP

A loud noise came from upstairs.

The pair were startled, and as they began to settle back down, they noticed water dripping down the walls of the living room.

Bob called to his wife, and asked if she was running water upstairs, and she replied that she wasn’t. Assuming there might be a leak, Bob began searching the house for the source. Around this time, Don entered what he and his friends would later call a “trance-like state”.

Meanwhile, Bob and Jeannie, unable to find the source of the dripping water, decided they needed to contact their landlord, Ron, for help. This (believe it or not) is the first time I questioned the story. Supposedly, Bob and Jeannie refused to tell Ron what the emergency was, only that he needed to come right away, and Ron did notdo what my landlord would have done and said “tell me or I’m not coming out there”, he just rolled right on over.

Once he arrived, he was as bewildered and disturbed as the Keiffers, unable to pinpoint the source of the leak, and noting that not only was the water coming down the walls, but it was coming in all directions - sideways out of the walls, up from the floors, etc. On top of that, they weren’t sure it was even actually water, as it left behind an oily residue when it hit something. Knowing this was out of his depth, he called for backup - reaching out to his wife, Romayne, and two police officers, Officer Baujan and Officer Wolbert.

ALL of them experienced the phenomena.

The officers left to go make a report about the strange happenings to their boss, and the Keiffers and Don left to get something to eat down the street. That’s when Ron and Romayne claim that the living room “rain” stopped falling. They became convinced that either their tenants or their guest were behind the mysterious event.

February 25, 1983

The Keiffers and Don were eating at the nearby restaurant when the owner, Pam, suggested that they contact a priest. She had gone across the street earlier and seen the indoor rain, and felt that Don still looked like he was in some sort of trance. It was then that the strange liquid began falling inside the restaurant.

Pam grabbed a crucifix from near her cash register (because of course there was a crucifix at the register, at the ready for such an event) and held it to Don. The group all claim that it then burned his skin. Even Don couldn’t ignore the obvious at this point - something strange was going on, and it seemed to be coming from him.

Upon returning to the Keiffers’ home, the women began to accuse Don of being possessed and demanding that he stop the activity that was plaguing the home. In that moment, everything escalated.

Pots and pans and dishes clattered in the kitchen. They heard loud bangs and thuds. The power went out.

Then the unthinkable - Don levitated off of the floor, and was suddenly thrown like a rag doll across the room, landing in a corner, with new scratches in the shape of a crucifix appearing on his body.

Jeannie grabbed a bible and began reading from it, attempting to rid him of whatever evil was causing this to happen. The “rain” began pelting her, and her alone, but she kept going. Officers Baujan and Wolbert returned with their boss, Chief Roberts. The chief is the only witness from this event who held so tightly to skepticism that he will deny that it ever happened. The others, however, claim that as soon as he entered the home, the rain began to pelt him too.

Roberts demanded that his officers leave, claiming the event was a “plumbing” issue, not a “police” issue, and telling them that not only were they not to make a report, but they were not to set foot in that house again.

February 26, 1983

Naturally, after being told not to do something, the local cops said “hold my beer”. And by “hold my beer” I mean three more officers (Rundle, Davies, and a third officer) went out to the house to investigate against orders. They witnessed even more activity from Don including him levitating and being thrown through the air, holding another crucifix that burned his hand, developing three scratch marks on his neck with no explanation, and yes - the rain.

The officers left, with no way of rationalizing or explaining what they’d experienced.

February 27, 1983

After multiple exhausting days of puzzling phenomena, Ron finally found a clergy person - a female evangelical pastor - who was willing to come and help. Ron, Romayne, Bob, and Jeannie joined in as the reverend began to pray. As she continued, Don convulsed and shook, but she persisted. Within an hour, Don had relaxed, the energy in the home had shifted, and the mysterious rain had stopped.

Don’s furlough shortly thereafter, he returned to Monroe County Jail, and the Keiffers claim the rain never returned.

The End.

…

Just kidding.

Within days, Don had been placed in a maximum security cell along with another inmate. While in his cell one day, he wished he could make it rain in the cell…

…and the rain began again. Seeing that he could “will” the rain to happen, he also realized that he could control the rain in other ways.

Don’s cellmate rightfully freaked out and demanded to be moved, and other inmates were frightened by Don’s behavior as well. And they weren’t the only ones. Guards report seeing water come up from the floor and horizontally from the walls in the cell. One guard, not believing that this was something under Don’s control, suggested that if he actually could will it to rain, he should make it rain in the warden’s office.

Warden Keenhold at that time was sitting alone at his desk doing paperwork, when a guard came in to talk to him (coincidentally?) about Don. In that moment, the men noticed a large spot of water on the warden’s shirt, and then watched as a “large ball” of water came horizontally through the air between them and right onto the shirt.

Keenhold had a plumber come to investigate, but he turned right around and walked right out, just moments after arriving.

Seeing the plumber’s reaction, it seemed the only option was to call in religious reinforcements - the jail chaplain Reverend Blackburn.

The reverend met with Don, who admitted that he needed help. After telling the chaplain what was going on, what he’d been experiencing since the funeral, Reverend Blackburn demanded that Don admit he was making everything up. In an instant, everything shifted.

The smell of death came over the room and Don insisted he could control the phenomena. He snapped his fingers, and the rain fell.

In that moment, the reverend knew he was in the presence of something dark. He began to pray for Don, and after opening his bible and beginning his prayers, he claims that the pages never got wet, despite the rain persisting in Don’s cell. Just like the experience at the Keiffer house, after a period of prayer, the energy in the room changed and Don seemed to return to normal. Reverend Blackburn says that Don thanked him and the two were able to pray together.

Where is Don now?

Don claims that since that day with Reverend Blackburn, there have been no further occurrences, and he believes that he was overcome by the spirit of his abusive late grandfather, James. Some of the paranormal researchers on the case claim, however, that the event may have been spurred on by Don’s exposure to “black magic” in his youth. Truthfully? We may never know.

I am sorry to report that the short 1983 jail stay was not the last run-in with the law for Don Decker. In October of 2012, authorities said a restaurant owner paid him to burn down their restaurant in the Poconos.

So… what do you think? Was Don “making it rain”? Have you heard of similar mysterious phenomena like this? Comment below and be sure to let us know if you want to hear more stories like this from Spooky Sisterhood.

Written by Melanie Moses

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Sources:

unsolved.com/gallery/don-decker

unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Don_Decker

wnep.com/article/news/local/monroe-county/rainman-charged-with-arson/523-34b367e9-9450-4cbf-a1ea-362c2bd0a52d

Paranormal Witness: Season 1 Episode 6 “The Rain Man”

The Rainman of Pennsylvania

Women of Gettysburg