Can children perceive things we cant?

Shehla's blog made me remember this and I guess I didnt post about it, but it makes for some very interesting theories...

Recently we had to go to NY for the death of my great aunt Janet. We stayed in her house while there for the funeral. I was unhappy to find that we were actually sleeping in her room, but just because it felt weird. The 1st morning, Big Ray wakes up and at breakfast asks if Aunt Janet had cats. No, she didnt. At one point in her life she started feeding a white cat on the back porch but it was never allowed in the house. The dream he described to me was disturbing and we never shared it with anyone else. This conversation and his initial question took place outside of RayRay's hearing.

That same night, as I was putting RayRay to sleep (in our/Janet's room) we are laying on the bed and he pops up and is looking at the wall very close to the bed. I ask him what he's looking at. He replies "the kitty cat, it came out of the wall." (huh!)

I see nothing, not even a peculiar shadow. I asked him what color it was and he says "black". I let it go. I didnt want to freak him out. But I couldnt help myself and a few minutes later (maybe 5) I asked him if it was still there. He pops his head up and looks at the same place and says yes. So I asked him what it was doing "Looking at us."

Shortly after this, he tells me he doesnt like this room, it scares him and he wants to go downstairs. (a little house history. My Aunt's house was built in 1890 and has had a few layout changes upstairs. I found that behind the wall was the entrance to the attic which is now accessed from the hallway and 2 rooms were made in to one big room so this is probably where the old door was.)

We go downstairs for a little bit and on the way stop at moms room. He tells mom (No prompting) that the room was scaring him. I asked him if moms room scared him and he looked around and says no. About 30-45 minutes later, we tried again to put him to bed. This time he falls asleep. We never have a conversation about the cat amongst ourselves that he can hear (I dont want to scare him) but I tell my father about it (He's my aunt's executor). We also find out that my uncle had his heart attack and passed away in the bedroom. A few days after we got back, I asked him about the cat and he repeated that it came out of the wall and then tells me that the room scared him. I asked what scared him and he didnt answer. After a few prompts, I decided to offer some options (I hate to lead like that but I was interested in his answer) so I asked if it was the cat or the dark or the people. He says "the people" and goes right on playing with his bath toys. Thats the last conversation weve had about the cat or the trip to aunt janet's.

 If you ask him about the cat at Aunt Janet's house, he will tell you exactly the same details, that it was a black kitty cat that came out of the wall. He doesnt embellish or omit anything. And he will tell you that the room scared him. What makes this even stranger is that Ray, at that point, had not really started being imaginitive. Even now, his imagination sticks to real world things like catching a fish or hopping like a frog. He knows (because I asked in the "isnt that silly" conversation) that things cant go through walls. He pretends to call grandma on the phone and drive his car places (yes, upon our return, he did "drive" to aunt Janet's waving goodbye to us all and going around the yard once)

Anything like this ever happen to any of you with children???