Haunted Spots Tours: Copper Queen Hotel & Bisbee

Mike and I are adding a new blog called, "Haunted Spots Tours". Every time we take a day trip or spend the night at places that are known to be haunted, we will take a video of it. We will give you a tour of the place and note the hot spots. The icing on the cake will be if we can catch some type of paranormal activity or perhaps an apparition. Hey, one can hope, right? Our first two videos are from our visit to the Copper Queen Hotel and a night walk through Bisbee.

This video was taken at nighttime while some of the group was walking around Bisbee. Towards the end of the video, off to the right, there are stairs shown in a well lit area. The picture below the video was taken in that exact spot. As you can see the photo is dark with a white ghost figure in the center. It looks to me like the figure was moving quickly. None of the other pictures taken in that area had anything unusual in them so we can't explain this one.

This video was taken inside the Copper Queen Hotel by Andy checking out the third and fourth floors. This gives you an idea of what the hotel looks like in the hallways, above and around Julia Lowell's room 315. Right after he gets to the fourth floor, you get a quick glimpse of Albert's corner where I smelt cigar smoke. Our room, 401, was near that corner.

Haunted Phoenix: San Carlos Hotel

San Carlos Hotel
Downtown Phoenix, Arizona

The San Carlos Hotel is essentially one of those unknown haunts of the country. Generally speaking, only people like us know that it's haunted because we have a keen interest in the world of ghosties and ghoulies! Even more truthful, San Carlos Hotel really isn't inhabited with a plethora of spirits; it only houses less than a handful. The hotel itself doesn't even have that much amazing history behind it. It's really just an old fashioned hotel still kickin' it in the busy downtown Phoenix area.

Before it was even a hotel, the San Carlos was actually a school (seems to be a common thing with older buildings) that was opened up in 1874! In 1879 the school was replaced with a larger structure, and would actually continue to be enlarged many different times until finally it was condemned in 1916. During this time a great deal of children were dying from the flu epidemic.

In 1919 the land the building was on was purchased by the Babbitt Family. However the hotel project didn't even break ground until 1927 after the land was purchased from the Babbitt family by Charles Harris and Dwight D. Heard. It was constructed and designed by the nations best architects and they used an Italian Renaissance theme. It became a state of the heart hotel with the very first use of air conditioning for a hotel in Phoenix. It's a good thing they did, seeing as how it get's to be about 358 degree's on a good end of winter day here. Of course I exaggerate a tad bit. The hotel finally opened it's doors on March 19th, 1928 and the final cost of the building was over $850,000. There are houses these days that cost more than that to buy!

Just a year later, construction on the Westward Ho hotel was finished and now the San Carlos had some stiff competition! The Ho had a slew of the rich and famous come stay, including John F. Kennedy and Jack Dempsey. But don't put down San Carlos yet, it too had a nice list of celebs come visit including: Mae West, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Gene Autry.

On May 7, 1928 the Arizona Republic came out with a news story: "Pretty Blonde Jumps from the San Carlos Hotel Earlier Today". The woman was 22 year old Leone Jensen, and she apparently committed suicide by jumping off the rooftop of the seven story building. In her "death note" she stated that her boyfriend, who was a bellboy at the Westward Ho, had been physically abusing her. People also speculated that Jensen had become pregnant and that her boyfriend was having an affair with another hotel employee. Due to these speculations people have argued that Jensen did not commit suicide, because they feel she was pushed off the building by her abusive man! However none of this has been proven, and her death is still ruled as a suicide.

Leone is San Carlos' most famous haunt! Ever since her unfortunate death, guests have claimed to still see her roaming the halls. The most common sighting is said to be a cloud of white haze in the form of a woman. Leone has become such an accepted ghost of the hotel, that the hotel had to change policies. It is now required that all staff travel in pairs or up to three at a time, due to superstition. She is definitely a main fixture at the hotel. It has actually been reported that she did not jump from the roof, but from room 720. People have stayed in this room and have reported phantom breezes and faint whispering in their ears. This cloud of white haze has also been prominently seen in this room.

Leone is not the ONLY ghostie walking the halls of the hotel though! It has been reported numerous times, that guests have seen and heard the playing of three or four children in the halls and rooms. They are heard running down the hallways and laughing and playing when no children are present in the entire building! Apparently there was a well on the school grounds before the hotel was around. It has been reported but not confirmed that the four boys drowned in this well in the late 1800's. Not to long later, the school was deemed unsafe and then condemned.

**Interesting side note: the well the boys supposedly drowned in is still apart of the hotel! In fact, it is the sole source of water for all the guests staying there. The San Carlos is the only building in Phoenix not connected to the city's water supply.

Another ghost frequently mentioned is that of a little girl. She is guessed to be around 5-10 years old and is heard and seen crying in the rooms at night time. Some suggest she was a girl who died in the building from the flu epidemic or she was a distraught girl when the school was closed.

The hotel has gone through many renovations, (including a $1,000,000 one in 2003) and has to compete now with numerous "luxurious" hotels in the area such as the Phoenician, and the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. The San Carlos is only a few blocks away from such places as: Chase Field (home of the Arizona Diamondbacks), The US Airways Arena (home of the Phoenix Suns) and places like Dodge Theater and the Orpheum Theater. So maybe you aren't into ghosts...but if you are even in Phoenix, your stay may be best complimented with the classic feel of an old hotel at the San Carlos! And who knows...maybe after a night...you too will become a believer!

--Mike--

Episode One: Above the Norm or Below the Norm?

I had this fun idea for us to discuss! I have come across some videos on YouTube of people claiming they have caught a ghost on camera! I will tell you right now that none of these are those stupid videos of something jumping out at you at the end of it. I hate watching a video and being scared s**tless, so I had to watch these videos on silent the first time just to make sure!! So we will call this the first part of a series! I will find some videos, post them on here and I will give my personal opinion if it is fake or real. Then we can discuss the videos through comments! So to quote Heath Ledgers joker from The Dark Knight, "And here, we, GO!"

1. Security Camera Hallway Ghost



OK, so I'm pretty convinced this one is fake. I think this so called "security camera" footage is a little to clear. The image of the supposed ghost looks to me like a woman edited in with some neat fading technique. I say: below the norm. What do you think?

2. Parking Garage Ghost



This is actually quite a famous video. Well it was at one point. This was the famous ghost woman caught on a parking garage security camera. People have analyzed the video a lot and we have many explanations going both ways. Some say it's a person who just walks behind the concrete beam and the distance from the camera just makes it look like a "ghost". Some say it's a rewound tape of a person walking from their car. I've actually always thought this one felt legit. I say: Above the Norm! What do you think?

3. Gas Station Ghost



This one was on the news for a while not to long ago. This is a very recent ghost sighting. An odd blue "blob" like thing was seen floating around a gas station and was caught on camera. I actually don't know where to go with this one. I mean it seems a bit strange for a ghost. It's a hazy, blue blob...not something we typically think of as a ghost. Then again, I've never really seen a legit ghost before, so how should I know?? I do think it is out of the ordinary though. Just don't know what. I say: Slightly Above the Norm. What do you think?

4. Crying Girl Ghost



This video spooked the hell out of me the very first time I saw it. On the youtube page a commenter said that these videos were recently debunked, but I haven't actually seen anything on that. However I do believe it is fake. Because of the reaction of the guy. If I saw that, I would piss my pants, drop the camera and run away screaming at the top of my lungs (but I'm kind of a wuss). I say: Below the Norm. What do you think?

5. The Ghost Car Chase



This is a cool video, that I think is just weird. This was on some police show, and they nicknamed it the ghost car. The cop is chasing the car, which is weaving like crazy, then starts driving normal, then goes back to crazy. Suddenly, the car makes a turn, and the cop turns with it but as the cop turns there is a fence. But somehow the car he is chasing is on the other side. A story came out that said the car was found a few days later in a lake with a skeleton inside and that the car had been missing for years. That story is probably fake. But I think this video is legit! I say: Above the Norm. What do you think?

And that concludes episode one! Stay tuned for me in the future!

Spook Searchers!

So we posted this video on our TAGO blog many months ago, but now that we have more readers, I thought it might be fun to post it again! This is a little movie called "Spook Searchers" it's a spoof of Ghost Hunters. I actually star in it (I'm the chubby white guy ha!) along with my two sisters. My brother plays the ghost, and our friend Robert plays the landlord. We had fun filming it, and I think it turned out pretty good! So check it out and let us know what you think!

If you enjoy this video, please visit my brothers film making page on Myspace by clicking this link: SRM or they also have a youtube page which you can find by clicking this link: SRM Youtube! They have been making these mini-movies for a while now, and have about 25 or so under their belts. They are pretty much all for comedic purposes, but I have to warn you: a lot of them are pretty vulgar! There is some heavy language throughout most of them, except this ghost video which there is only or two "bad" words. But yeah...enjoy!

Can Animals See Ghosts?

In the 1990 movie, “Ghost”, Sam Wheat, played by Patrick Swayze, was murdered on his way back to his loft with his girlfriend Molly, played by Demi Moore. He finds his spirit in their loft, having unfinished business to take care of. After Molly leaves, he sees a man, Willy, rifling through his and Molly’s things. He realizes that this is the very man that stabbed him. Molly arrives back at the loft while Willy was still in there. Sam starts to panic, tries to punch Willy and knock over other objects to get Molly’s attention. He was unsuccessful in moving things with his spirit hands. Not knowing what else to do, he sees their cat, stares into its eyes and yells. This startled the cat and it jumped on Willy, scratching his face. Is it possible for that cat to have seen or sensed Sam’s presence? I know this is a movie but it still begs the question, can animals see ghosts?

I have seen this odd behavior with our Golden Retriever, Dusty. We had Dusty since she was eight weeks old until she died at the age of 13 years. Dusty was a beautiful, smart dog. She knew how to get the better of us and her buddy Shadow, our Black Lab/Chow mix. She would watch Shadow spend several minutes burying a bone or treat; then waited for her to leave and would dig it up. She even went as far as showing Shadow what she did. Her main form of exercise besides chasing Shadow and being walked was stalking pigeons and grabbing them out of mid-air. She was amusing to watch. Dusty had this low bark that was followed by a growl which made her sound more vicious than she really was. On many occasions I would hear her constantly barking at something and would check it out. Some of the times she would be barking directly at Shadow being bossy or holding her head up looking towards the sky to bark at the neighbor’s dogs. Then there were other times where she would be looking at a section of our yard or patio, with the hairs up on her back, barking at nothing. Her bark sounded different almost like she was scared. This would occur often during any part of the day and she would not stop until I told her to. Part of the time I thought something might be wrong with her. Then, there were other times when I got chills and wondered if she was seeing something I couldn't see. There was no cat, pigeon or any other reason for the behavior that was visible to me. All of Dusty’s barking odd behavior occurred outside. With our current two dogs their odd behavior has been noticed inside the house. Our Chihuahua, Booger, is usually seen staring at the dark entry room near our kitchen and growling. When I investigate the room, there appears to be nothing unusual that can be seen. He has also done this while looking down our hallway with the hairs up on his back. He appeared to be intently staring at something or perhaps someone. Our American Cocker, Lucy, was lying on the corner of my daughter’s bed looking out to the dark hallway and growling. There was nothing there and this gave my daughter an uneasy feeling. I don’t think my house is haunted but I do feel the presence of spirits from time to time. It just makes me wonder if my dogs were seeing something beyond this realm, perhaps a ghostly presence.

I researched my question online and found more stories than answers. Don’t get me wrong, the stories were interesting, but I wanted answers. Some of “experts” said that an animal’s senses are more keenly developed than a human’s. They are able to see things that we are unable to see with our naked eye. Animals have been known to alert their owners of dangerous situations even before the owner is aware that something is wrong. They can sense danger, even know who the bad people are and when you are feeling upset about something. I know that when I have been feeling bad or upset, my dogs will sit by me as if they know that I need some comfort and love.

And so I put this question to you: Can Animals See Ghosts? Do you have any interesting stories about any unusual behavior by an animal or animals in your life? My only experiences are with dogs, so I am interested in hearing stories on other types of animals.

--Julie--

Skeptics Vs. Believers

Pictured above is what is commonly known as the most famous and most authentic image of a ghost ever captured on film. It is the picture known as, "The Brown Lady", taken from Raynharn Hall in England, in 1936. In this era, it was a tad more difficult to deliberately alter a picture to make an image like this appear. Was it impossible? NO. There's always the double exposure factor. Experts have diligently investigated every aspect of the photo, and most of these experts have yet to be able to completely "debunk" this photo. However, there is a slew of skeptics who have done all they can to prove that this picture is as false as their imaginations. I look a this picture and I only have one conclusion.....It's a ghost!

My name is Mike and I reside in Phoenix, Arizona. I have some family members and a number of friends, like my blogging partner Julie, who share this same paranormal interest. My sister Kelly and I first took a serious interest in the ghostly world about seven years ago while we were still living in southern California. It was around Halloween and I remember that we saw some Travel Channel special that talked briefly about a house in Old Town, San Diego called The Whaley House (pictured below). Check out my blog about it: America's Most Haunted: The Whaley House. We realized how close it was to us, just a forty minute drive from our house in Oceanside. We went there, learned more about the history, and have been hooked on this paranormal field ever since.

Being a believer in ghosts is like being a believer in anything that's a little out of this realm. You have to deal with you share of people who believe the exact opposite (known as skeptic). There is a fine difference, in my opinion, between believers and skeptical people. Believers in ghosts just believe. Sometimes these believers have had some kind of experience in their past with an actual spirit. some, like me have never had any true contact with a ghost but I still believe because I have no reason not to believe. I fell like it's a much easier path. I was once quoted as calling skeptics close minded. I still believe that to a degree, but have slightly changed my view.

Personally, I still do think most skeptics are closed minded, because they only believe one thing and that's it. This makes them stubborn. Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm stubborn, but isn't everyone to a degree?? Anyway, these skeptics, they do all in their power to prove every bit of ghostly evidence that is caught is something explainable (refracted or reflective light, a camera malfunction, etc.). These people analyze ghost pictures for hours on end, doing fancy tricks on photoshop and other computer programs on the sort, just to prove us believers wrong. Funny thing is, us believers will look at a picture for about twenty minutes, do a photoshop analysis and still come to the conclusion it's a ghost. We (at least MOST of us) aren't out to prove skeptic wrong, but to just show evidence trying to prove our case. Skeptics do the exact opposite....they try to suck the fun out of our experiences. What's their motives behind that? I may never know, but I just want to have my fun!

Yes, close minded skeptics sole purpose is to prove us wrong. Why? What is your reasoning for this? Do you feel you have to be right? Because on my end, I don't have to be right. I am fully aware that a lot of evidence can in fact be explained to common every day, human factors. I understand that reflected light can appear in a photo in the form of ghostly face. That's what separates some of us believers, like me, from those skeptics I deem as close minded. It's in my opinion, that to firmly believe in something, you have to willing to accept the opposite could be possible. I am an avid believer, it would take a lot to change my mind on the subject (there's that stubbornness we all possess) but I am open to the fact that this whole world I've immersed myself in has been one giant hoax.

I may get criticized for this, but I'm going to say it for the purpose of this article. I am a believer in God. I'm a believer in Jesus and a Divine power. This isn't my point, however, Religion is one of the most debatable things on this planet. There are so many religious beliefs, so many supposed God's, no one really knows what's true and what's not, but we all still have our beliefs that every other religion tries to point out as being the wrong one. Thing is, I've never seen Jesus, I've never seen God with my own true eyes, but I still firmly believe in them and you won't alter that belief in me. I'm sure most people in most religions have never physically seen their "God", but they still believe. It is a big thing with skeptics to say, "Well I don't believe because I've never see it"......Psh. I can believe in a divine power such as God, why is so hard to believe in things like aliens and ghosts, and why is so hard to accept that we believe in them? Most of us won't see God while living on the current Earth, but we know we will see Him in Heaven, that's SUCH a strong thing to believe in even though I've never seen Him. Are you getting my point?

Question, aren't there a lot of physical thing in this world you haven't seen? How many of you have seen an actual two headed snake? Like, in person? Well there's a picture below for you to see. A common thing for skeptics is they have to see it to believe it. Which is perfectly fine and understandable. But it's the skeptic who use that as their crutch in being so defensive that everything I believe in isn't real. Just because YOU haven't seen it and choose not to believe in it, doesn't mean I'm not allowed to believe in it for my own reasons. If I asked that question, have you ever seen a two headed snake, some would say, "well that's stupid". There are hundreds of pictures of them, hundreds of accounts of people who have actually seen them, there's video, articles, on and on they would go. that's weird, isn't their thousands of article , book, first hand accounts, pictures, videos, etc. of ghosts?? Hmm.

I'm not trying to point fingers and call all skeptics idiots. I have skeptical friends. None of them are these close minded ones. they are all at least open to the possibility. That's all I ask for. I will reiterate my point: To be a true and honest believer in something, you have to believe that there is the slightest potential of the exact opposite of that belief. If you believe in Heaven, you have to at least thing there could be a Hell. If you believe in ghosts, you have to at least think it's all been a world full of fake. We can't all just believe in the light and bubbly side of things. I mean, we CAN, but just at least stretch that belief a smidgen. Same goes true for non-believers: If you believe ghost aren't real, you have to at least be willing to think they could be real. If you cannot believe in the possibility of an opposite, you may be close minded. That is the kind of skeptic I can't stand.

I guess you could argue that I'm being one sided here. I'm really not trying to come off that way. Every single human being is entitled to their opinions and beliefs and every one of those people should stay true to those beliefs. I'm not saying you have to read this article and change your mind if you are a skeptic. That's the opposite of what I want. I'm just trying to enhance my point and my opinion on that matter, and take it for what you will. I just get a little irritated at the people who are only willing to accept one side of something and not even give a single thought to the other side.

I hope I haven't come off as being mean, I'm really a nice person. A nice person who loves ghosts! This blog will be dedicated to that. With the help of my best friend's Mom, Julie, my sister Kelly and maybe some other guest blogger, we will provide enough knowledge on the world of ghosts. We aren't here to rub these things in your faces, we are just here to provide what we have.

We have called ourselves TAGO, which stands for The Arizona Ghost Organization. The picture above is the TAGO group that went with us to the Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee, Arizona. Not all in the picture are true believers but are open to seeing the posibilities. We are all however fans of TAPS, The Alantic Paranormal Society, led by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. They have a show on Sci-fi called Ghost Hunters. It's one of my favorite shows.

It is sci-fi's most watched program and deservedly so. Their technique on Ghost Hunting is very effective and very smart. They go into a house, or old building that claims to be haunted and try to debunk every claim. doors that open by themselves, phantom smells of cigar smoke or perfume, voices, phantom footsteps, etc. They do all they can to prove those things are happening for human or physical world reasons. A lot of the time, MOST of the time they are able to debunk these claims due to bad plumbing, or maybe wood expanding in the humidity to make a door open. These are smart guys, and also, they are not skeptics.

They set up an average of four digital video cameras throughout the place they are investigating. They do walk through with thermal imaging cameras, electronic voice recorders, hand held video and digital still cameras. After their investigation, they go over everything and try to catch evidence of a ghost. Whatever evidence they can't debunk, is evidence of the paranormal. It's a very noble way of ghost investigation, and one I love.

TAGO is just getting started in investigating haunted places. Last August, 2008, we stayed the night at the haunted Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee, Arizona. Click here to read about what happened. We hope to go back there and other haunted places Arizona. We also hope to expand to other states as well.

BOO....

--Mike--

You know what they say about BigFoot right...

...Big hoaxes. At least that's what a lot people believe.

In 1967 two men by the names Roget Patterson and Robert Gimlin took what is considered the best and most convincing evidence of the creature we all know and love as Bigfoot. The picture above, taken is Bluff Creek, California, is directly from the famous video footage by the two ranchers. The video can be seen below. Bigfoot, also known at the Sasquatch in some places, had been sighted well before this footage, but this really brought the legend to a whole new level.

In fact this creature had been spotted dating all the way back to 1924! A man by the name of Fred Black claimed he and four other miners were attacked by such creature in Ape Canyon in Washington state. The story goes that they saw large ape like creatures chucking rocks at them and their cabin. They went out and shot at what they described as "mountain gorillas". The next day they saw extremely large footprints.

Of course people have tried to debunk this event saying that a story came out that at the same time a group of young people were around throwing rocks in the canyon. Also it is reported these young people drew such footprints in the mud to prank the miners in the cabin. Thing is, we will never truly know.

In 1941 a woman named Jeannie Chapman and her young daughter claimed they had to escape their home because a 7 1/2 foot Sasquatch approached their home and tried to attack them. No one has been able to debunk this story.

In 1958 a man named Jerry Crew brought a large casting of what he claimed was Bigfoot's footprint, to a newspaper office. He claimed this print came from their isolated work site in Bluff Creek, California ran by a man named Ray Wallace. However when Wallace died, his children came forward and revealed a large wooden footprint that their father used to fake the Bigfoot's big foot.

Since then their have been HUNDREDS of sightings all over the world. Most of them brushed off as being hoaxes. The only evidence that has truly stuck is the footage from Roger Patterson. This footage has been picked apart like crazy. People have claimed it is simply a man in a costume. Which by the way, Patterson's friend Robert Gimlin came out many years later saying it really was him in a costume. People still don't believe that. The fact is many people have tried creating such costumes and have attempted to walk the same way, and have been unable to recreate the footage exactly as it was.

Some analysts point out if you look real close, you can actually see the movement of muscles on the creatures legs. Now if a man was wearing a costume, like Gimlin ultimately confessed he was, you would not be able to see his leg muscles move. Costumes don't have such detailed leg muscles, especially in the late 60's. Also some scientists who have willingly analyzed the footage claim the creature's stride is very much not like a human. They say it would be near impossible for a man to create the form of stride.

Most men and women in the science field have blatantly laughed off this Bigfoot drama, saying it's just impossible for such creature to exist. But the fact remains, most of these scientists have not even given much thought or scientific analysis to any of the claims. They just automatically say it's all a great big hoax. There are the rare few, including Jane Goodall, who firmly believe Bigfoot is real. She says she has spoken with MANY Native Americans who have heard the sounds of Bigfoot as well as seen them. Some people in this field are just open to the possibility.
Of course though, there are plenty of hoaxes inside the Bigfoot world. One came very recently actually! Watch this video below to see the actual news footage of the men who claimed to find the body of Bigfoot.



In 2008 Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton claimed they stumbled across the deceased body of a Sasquatch in a forest in northern Georgia. They put the body in a large ice chest and froze it to keep it safe and intact. They contacted Tom Bicardi, also known as the Bigfoot Hunter and asked him to come see for himself. Dyer and Whitton received $50,000 from Bigfoot Inc. as a good faith measure. In their press conferences and interviews, all 3 men boldly stated they wanted to make as much money as possible off this discovery. After their big press conference, the body was thawed and left in the hands of the Searching for Bigfoot team. It was soon discovered that the hair was not real, the head was hollow and the feet were made from rubber. Dyer and Whitton had no choice to finally reveal it was a hoax.

So you see, there are in fact people trying to make bank of this Bigfoot madness, but not all of it has to be fake! Like I've stated, there have been MANY respected scientists who have just brushed off Bigfoot without actually really looking into it. The fact remains there is more proof he exists then there is that he doesn't. You can't just look at a video and say, "oh that's not real" or "that's obviously a man in a costume" and then have no physical proof to back it up! That's stupid! People say these things to come off smarter than they actually are. They just want to be right and sound sophisticated when really they have nothing to actually give us. I'm sorry if that sounded rude in anyway, but it's the case in anything paranormal.

People just beat us down by trying to make us think these things aren't real and don't exist but all they have is words. They rarely come forth with evidence and samples, and what not. We have WAY more proof that these things are real then skeptics have that these things are not real. That's a definite fact folks! This battle between skeptics and believers is very one sided in my opinion. Now by no means are we right in every case, I'm not an idiot! I know that people do fake evidence (like with Bigfoot) and I know we can't physically prove everything, but dammit at least we try!! We at least analyze pictures and videos, and even try to recreate and debunk things. Skeptics just look at something and say, "I know that's not real, just because it isn't possible". That's weak! Yes there are some who do try, but not enough! Oops, I've ranted, sorry!

There have been way to many eye witness accounts of Mr. OR Mrs. Bigfoot. There have been TONS of pictures taken of him or her! There have been plenty of videos. Plenty of documentaries! Now about 90-95% of all of this evidence can probably be brushed off as a hoax or just debunked, but that still leaves a small percentage of evidence that leaves us wondering if the big guy himself really is wandering the woods of the world, just waiting for the next person to come by with a camera and snap a nice little picture of him! Is he really out there? I say hell yes, but I'll let you be the judge!

--Mike--



This is the original footage of the Patterson-Gimlin sighting of the world famous "Bigfoot" creature. Is it real? You be the judge.

The Famous Toys R Us Ghost

I thought that I would add a Part 2 to Mike's Toys R Us ghost story. This is the famous ghost picture taken at the Sunnyvale, California Toys R Us. The story goes that in 1978, psychic Sylvia Browne was conducting a seance, at this particular store, for the TV show, "That's Incredible". She said that the ghost's name was Johnson and was murdered in the orchard in which the Toys R Us was built on. Many pictures were taken during this time with a high speed camera and no one showed up in any of the photos. But, the image caught on infrared film during the investigation, showed the a man leaning on the wall. They had no explanation for why he was in this photo and not the others. This Toys R Us had many stories of things being pushed off the shelves and walls, and objects moving on their own. None of those people felt like they were in any danger, just scared by things suddenly moving. Apparently Johnson likes to play practical jokes.

If you take a closer look at this photo, it appears that he is casting a shadow on the ground and wall. Humm, this is interesting to me because I don't think ghost cast shadows.

What do you think, real or not?

Toy's R' Ghosts?

Don't let that cute little giraffe (who goes by the name of Geoffrey) fool you! Toy's R' Us can be a spooky little place! It's not just full of toy's and games, it's also full of spooky goings on! OK maybe not every Toy's R' Us (Or, TRU as it is known on the streets) is haunted, but the one I was fortunate (actually unfortunate is the better word) to work at for two and half years had some un-welcomed visitors! Of course none of this is confirmed by anyone other than myself, but hey you can just take my word for it right?

I worked at the TRU by Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix, AZ for two and a half years, and I started off working the overnight crew during Christmas. My job was to unload dozens of pallets of boxes full of toys and stock them on the shelves. It was a tough job, but someone has to do it right? Well within a week of me working there, creepy crap began to happen. I was putting some boxes away in the storeroom, which was a huge room full of boxes. I was alone in the storeroom when I suddenly heard a loud but muffled voice coming from over in the bike assembly area. Where I was, there was no door between me and the bike area so no one came in. I hesitantly walked to the bike area and realized there was a CD player back there that had turned on. When I inspected it I noticed it was one of those where in order to turn it on, the power button had to be pushed in, not just clicked. Somehow that radio turned on by itself.

Numerous other times I had been putting boxes in the storeroom after cleanup and I heard the sound of boxes falling to the ground. When I would go look, low and behold one box was always fallen off the shelf. Our boxes were pretty securely on these shelves as well, they had to be for safety reasons. This occurred like...one every few weeks, at least for me. Other employees whom I worked with, also told me about instances when they would hear boxes falling of the shelf. A lot of people were spooked to go back in that storeroom by themselves. It was a very dimly lit area, seeing as how there were no windows and only a few lights. One time I actually saw a box slip off a shelf on its own, and it nearly gave me a heart attack. From the moment on, I too was very nervous to go back there alone. Because after that, I always had that eerie feeling that someone was watching me or even felt someone following me around when no one was there. It was a VERY powerful feeling to, like I could almost feel the "person" right behind me. Gives me the heeby jeebies just thinking about it!

There were times where I even heard coughs and talking from within the storeroom during my overnight shifts. They always sounded like male coughs and talking, but most of the time I was the only guy working. We had this machine called a "bailer" it was used to crush and compact all our empty boxes and make them into a giant block of boxes. It was a huge chunk of machinery. I was putting some extra pegs away towards the bike area (which at this point, I rushed through that, not wanting to be back there) and I heard the machine going off. I just assumed someone was crushing boxes. When I got to the bailer, no one was there. The gate was closed (it had to be closed to work it) when before it was opened. You have to push a big green button to make it start, but again, no one was there and the machine was fairly empty so there was no need to turn it on. Could have been someone messing with me, I will never really know.

There were also numerous instances of toys falling or flying off shelves in the actual store. I myself saw items fall off our pegged walls. These things had to have been touched by "something" because there was no way they could simply fall off the pegs the way they did. One of my co-workers told me they saw an action figure toy (which was pegged) literally fly off a peg. They said they saw it shaking slightly on it's own, then suddenly flew off the peg. That co-worker was terrified after that, they hated being anywhere in the store by themselves. Again, I did not witness that particular event so I do not know how credible it was.

*This was one of my bosses, Mitchell. I know he kind of looks scary in this picture, but I assure you he was not one of the TRU ghosts. Pictured behind him is part of the storeroom I was previously talking about.




A co-worker of mine once told me they saw a man who was not an employee, walk into our breakroom area. There was only one entrance to this room. My co-worker was walking in there close behind this man, because they were taking their lunch. When my co-worker got to the breakroom, the man was not there. They checked the little computer room that's in the breakroom, and again no one was there. This co-worker is not a believer in these sorts of things, so they just brushed it off. They told me the story because they knew I was into spooky things.

During an overnight shift, my co-worker and I were putting things on our overstock (which is the very top shelves for extra merchandise) and I was on top of the ladder. From this view point I could see a good portion of the store. My co-worker was handing my toys to put on the overstock when I saw what looked like a short person walk by about 30 feet away. Our supervisor (who the only other person in the building with us, and the store is locked at night) was a pretty short woman. Before I could say anything, my co-worker said "Cathy is that you?" (our supervisor was named Cathy). I didn't realize she saw what I saw. When I looked back over, the person I saw walk by was gone. I yelled "CATHY!" really loud and she responded right away (when the story was empty, you could communicate by yelling across the store haha). When I heard her, I was able to locate her because I was on the ladder. She was in the complete opposite of the store, and she was cleaning shelves. There was no way she walked by us, and then got over to where she was in that time frame (which was maybe thirty seconds). Me and my co-worker were spooked!

We went over to her a few minutes later and told her the story. She said that was funny, because she said around the same time I called her name she thought she saw someone walk behind some aisles near her and she started talking because she thought it was one of us. We were all very confused but also very scared! That night we took our lunch around 1 AM which was usual. (we worked 9 PM to about 8 AM). Halfway through our lunch we heard an extremely loud crashing noise. It made us all jump and my workers even screamed. We immediately went out to the store and searched it for twenty minutes. We saw nothing that had fallen. All the windows and glass (which there wasn't very much of in that store) were in tact. No shelves had crashed down, no bikes were on the floor. Nothing. The crash we heard was VERY loud, VERY VERY loud. It came from within the store, but we could not find the reason behind it. Needless to say, that night was one of the spookiest nights I ever had at TRU. Someone was working with us...who wasn't on the clock if you know what I mean.

*Me on the left, and my co-worker, best friend, and Julie's son Andy on the right. We are in the R-Zone, which is the department I would end up working in until the end of my days at TRU. Some uneasy things happened in there as well.




I was working in the R-Zone, and we had our own storeroom, it was called the "booth". It was very small, it was like a hallway. One day I was working, just straightening shelves when I heard what sounded like a lot of metal clanging to the ground from inside the booth. I went inside to check and a bunch of pegs that we had in a box had falled off the shelf and onto the ground. Kind of weird because this box was very securely on the shelf. I've had other experiences where I've heard other things fall of the shelves in there with no reason.

One day I was in the R-Zone and we had just opened about two minutes prior. I was doing some stuff at the register when I noticed a man at the back of the R-Zone playing our Playstation demo. I didn't notice him come in, but I really thought nothing of it. I walked over the Playstation wall to start pricing some games. He was still there playing the system. Suddenly he asked me "where are the movies at?" and I told them where they were and pointed over to them (the moves were right outside the R-Zone). He said thank you. I went back over to the register to do some more things. I was right next to the entrance, mind you. My head was down so I could not see him over by the Playstation, but I also never saw him leave. I would have noticed because I would have been more attentive at that point. About three minutes go by and I see that he isn't by the Playstation anymore. I look out by the movies, and he isn't there either. I look all around the areas outside the R-Zone (as far as I could wander out) and he was nowhere to be seen! It kind of made me uncomfortable seeing as how that store already had spooked me enough.

Well later in the day I kept thinking about it and I just had to know where he went. Honestly he was a very straggly looking fellow, and we were having theft issues in the R-Zone so I was curious to know if he was one of these bad people. I had my manager look up the video footage from the security cameras and we finally got to the time of day this happened. The video never showed a man walking in the R-Zone at that time, never showed anyone leaving around that time. When we got to the part where I was talking to him, all you could see was me talking to nothing and pointing in the direction of the movies. Now it was kind of a bad angle, so you couldn't see all of the area by the Playstation demo, there WAS room for him to be there without the camera spotting him. My manager got creeped out, as well as I. I will honestly never know for sure if what I saw was a ghost, or a hallucianation (which I later found out I suffered from hallucinations at times due to my bi-polar disorder), or if he really was there and the camera just did not see him.

Metrocenter Toy's R' Us was a fun place to work, mainly because I met so many great people there. It's basically where my life in Phoenix began. I appreciate what the job did for me for my personal life, but actually working there was not my cup of tea. In April of 2006 I walked out and quit withouth notice, it got to be too much for me. But along with my new friends, I will always remember those unsettling moments I experienced, that really set me off in my pursuit of ghosts!

*Metrocenter Toy's R' Us I believe is officially closing here very soon. An end to a chapter in my life.

--Mike--

Bird Spirits

I either read or heard somewhere that birds symbolize the presence of a spirit. The dove has been seen as a spirit messenger between two worlds and represents peace. It soothes and quiets our troubles and helps us to find that peace. A hummingbird is seen as a messenger of love and joy. It symbolizes energy and is associated with the Ghost Spirits of the native American religion. I have a few experiences where a dove or hummingbird was present but two incidences stick out in my mind.

It was December 2004 when my Dad caught pneumonia, then congestive heart failure. After five years of many health issues, he couldn't fight back from this illness. We got the news on a Tuesday and on Wednesday they made plans to put him in the hospice area of the hospital. The next day he was weaker but still able to talk with us. By Friday, he just laid in bed, peaceful with his eyes closed. There was something different on this day. On the window seal was a dove, pacing back and forth. Every time it got to the end of the window seal, it would look inside while bopping its head up and down. It kept it up all morning, not missing a beat, while we sat by his bed and told stories of his life. We all left for lunch but the dove kept up his vigil on the window seal. When we returned from lunch we noticed another dove was with him. The two of them were marching in formation, stopping at the end to bop their heads while looking at us in the room. They never missed a beat. Around two in the afternoon, the priest came to administer the Last Rites. Sometime during that time while we were all praying, he passed away. After grieving, we noticed that the doves were gone too. Were they the spirits of family members that came to help my Father on his journey? I believe they were.

Another time was at my Mother-in-law's grave site. It was a crispy Christmas morning, after opening our presents from Santa (yes, I said Santa), we ate breakfast then went to visit our loved ones. After my daughter and I went to decorate another family member's grave, we met my husband and son back at his mother's grave site. As we all stood next to each other talking, a hummingbird buzzed around us. It started by circling each of us several times. Then it would hover in front of our faces coming very close. It kept up this vigil for several minutes before it flew away. I didn't think that hummingbirds went near people but this one did. To me it seemed like it was trying to communicate to us. I told them that it was Darlene and she was saying hello. Was it the spirit of my Mother-in-law in that hummingbird? I believe it was her bringing us love on that Christmas morning.

--Julie--