move - One of the two New Orleans mansions once owned by actor Nicolas Cage has everything you could want in a historic building – and then some. It comes with its own ghosts. And not just one.
The property at 1140 Royal Street in the French Quarter, which Cage lost in foreclosure last fall, is the infamous LaLaurie Mansion, reportedly one of the most haunted houses in the city, if not America.
The house’s notorious past began with the arrival in 1832 of Dr. Louis LaLaurie, a prominent dentist, and his wife Delphine. While Delphine was considered a charming hostess to the city’s elite with her weekly parties, her inhumane treatment of slaves was noticed by neighbors, who witnessed her chasing a young girl on the balcony. Accounts say the girl fell to her death and was quickly buried on the property.
A judge ordered the slaves removed from the LaLaurie’s property (although relatives bought them and returned them to her).
In April 1834, a slave chained to a stove in the kitchen started a fire. When the fire brigade came to extinguish the blaze, they reportedly made a gruesome discovery in the attic involving the mutilation and torture of at least a half-dozen slaves.
The New Orleans Bee, the newspaper of the time, reported that seven chained and mutilated slaves were found on the property. Though the paper compared the atrocities to those committed by Roman emperors Domitian, Nero and Caligula, it did not describe the later lurid details of the LaLaurie legend.
Nonetheless, a mob descended on the home and the LaLauries fled New Orleans, never to be heard from again. A copper plate was found in the early 1900s by a sexton of the city’s St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 with Delphine’s name on it as well as when and where she died – April 1842 in Paris.
Since then, the mansion has been the site of many hauntings, according to residents throughout the years, and human remains were found under the floorboards during a renovation. Cage himself acknowledged its past.
“(It’s) in the Vieux Carre – which is called the French Quarter,” he said in an interview. “It’s a very notorious house, it’s a very famous house – meaning it’s allegedly the most severely haunted house in the United States of America… that’s what they tell me. So at any given moment, I have five or six ghosts surrounding the house, all looking up at this haunted temple, and I’m in there.”
Cage bought the 10,284-square-foot , 6-bedroom, 7-bath house in 2007 for $3.5 million and put it for sale in 2008. He lost both of his New Orleans properties in November of last year in foreclosure. A financial group bought the Royal Street house for $2.3 million.
This second New Orleans house is located in the Garden District and was once owned by author Anne Rice, who wrote “Interview with the Vampire” and other novels in the Vampire Chronicles series.
It is also for sale, listed at $2.9 million. The 13,176-square-foot house was once Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel.
Talk about angels and demons. Cage owned them both.
Puerto Rico has been a hotbed of alien abduction experiences, especially encounters that involve women.
Delia, a Puerto Rican woman, is just one of many women who have been abducted by a UFO. Delia is married and has two other children, one is 16 years old and the other 5.
The following is a narration of Delia's extraordinary experience. She describes how she was abducted, got pregnant by an extraterrestrial, and finally gave birth to a child which she describes as "half human and half extraterrestrial."
Here is her story.
"One day during the month of October, a friend and I were at a Yoga Center. In this place various yoga activities are celebrated and also people go there to meditate. It was 7:30 p.m. when my friend and I decided to retire and go to sleep.
Then, all of a sudden somebody put their hand on my face. I couldn't see who it was because the room was dark.
Suddenly, I was suspended in the air flying towards a direction that was totally unknown to me. While I was being transported in the air, I could see below myself houses and trees. At that moment I was so scared that I couldn't move, speak or scream.
I calculate that the time had elapsed while I was being transported was approximately from 7:30 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. I was in my room when I woke up at 5:00 a.m. Immediately, I started vomiting and all my body was in terrible pain.
After a while, I felt a little better and I went to talk to Swami, who is the director of the Yoga Center. I told him how terrible I felt and what had happened to me. He told me to go back to my room and sleep until 12:00 noon and that when I woke up I would feel much better, which happened.
After this I was left with a strange sensation which is difficult to explain. One of the sensations was in my vaginal (area), the other was in my mind... my way of thinking. Before I didn't give too much importance to the simple things that surrounded me, and now all of a sudden I began to notice how beautiful the sky was and also feeling a great amount of love towards other people. In other words, my life had changed completely.
Time passed by and it was already December - three months after my extraordinary experience. During these three months, I had noticed that my period occurred every 50 days, not every 27 days, or so, as would normally happen. Also, my stomach had enlarged just a little. Time passed by and then I had another encounter with a UFO.
Suddenly, I found myself in a metallic room where there were 12 small men (not human) all dressed in grey. In this room I was lying in a metallic bed where I can clearly remember giving birth to a child, just like a normal birth to this child, because my two other children had been born by Cesarean. Then suddenly I fell asleep. when I woke up I saw one of the extraterrestrials with a child in his arms.
When I saw this child something deep inside of me told me he was my child, but I also remember being afraid. I remember telling one of the extraterrestrials that I considered this child strange (because he was "half human and half" extraterrestrial)
Also, I can remember telling myself that even though this child was strange I had to accept and love him because he was my child. Also, the way he looked at me and the expression on his face confirmed this to me. After a moment, the extraterrestrial brought the child to me so that I could hold him.
Even though I know he belongs to me, I cannot have him. And, because of this, my pain and sorrow cannot go away. They told me that he could not live with me because he could not eat the food that we human beings eat. While I held him in my arms I didn't want to let him go. I held him very tight. Then the extraterrestrials took him away from me and escorted me to the entrance of the flying saucer.
After these two experiences, I have had two more. The other two occurred when they brought me the child so that I could be with him. They do so by transporting me by air, holding the child in my arms.
While I am being transported, I have noticed that they make like a certain experiment with me. I remember feeling fear, like if the child would just fall right out of my arms. I suppose that they do this to see how mother human beings instincts are towards their children.
At the present, my two children have also had UFO experiences. They both have developed a certain kind of mental abilities and presently are being studied by them. I can't help worrying that probably one of these days my children can also be abducted."
Sources: Willie Durand Urbina, Puerto Rican Research Group
NOTE: I have been privy to several strange encounters in Puerto Rico. The most astounding is detailed below, though MUFON refused to investigate regardless of the credible eyewitness account and evidence...Lon ______________________
Alien Close Encounter / Abduction - Aguada, Puerto Rico - Updated w/ Video
From Maria M. Rivera, Aguada, Puerto Rico:
Submitted herein is this UFO sighting/alien encounter story which occurred here in Aguada, Puerto Rico (a U.S.territory). This alien encounter and subsequent abduction was reported to several UFO/extraterrestrial investigator websites. However, it was so frightening that it reminded me of the "Amityville Horror" story. We had to abandon our house after we bought it in August 2005 because no investigator came to help us, and recently sold the house to move away from that rainforest. The following 11 paragraphs were reported, however, included after that are additional occurrences that were not reported to any other websites before and which occurred after May 1, 2006.
On November 10, 2005, at approximately 3:00am, my daughter and I heard a weird humming sound like a hurricane wind going by my house. The sound was so strange that penetrated our ears. When my daughter and I looked outside, we observed what appeared to be a disc-shaped object moving westward towards the rear of the house where an enormous rainforest and a huge antenna are located and which leads all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The disc was silver in color with a row of windows around it and had a greenish haze or aura covering the craft. All the windows appeared to be a darker greenish color. The craft appeared to be descending as though it was about to land somewhere behind the house. We lived in Brooklyn, New York near Kennedy Airport for over 20 years and the airplanes flew low over my house 24 hours a day. I know what we have seen and the sound it made were something very unusual, something we've never heard or seen before. After that, my daughter and I heard the same sound at least twice a week. I used to go to sleep at 3:00am watching (Novelas) Spanish soap operas.
Almost exactly two years ago, on Friday, April 28, 2006, at approximately 3:00am, I heard again the same sound going by my house. At about 10 or 15 minutes later I heard my dog (Dora) barking continuously in my backyard. When I went to investigate by turning on the backyard light (the light in the house was off) and by looking through my dining room window, I observed my dog lying on her back with her 4 legs up apparently unconscious. The dog was chained to a metal pole next to the back fence which separates my property with the rainforest in the back. I called her name, "Dora, Dora, what's wrong Dora?", but she did not respond. When I lifted my eyes and looked at the back fence, which is about 25 feet from where I was standing, I observed two creatures (extraterrestrials) standing close to and behind the chain-link fence looking at me. One of the aliens was about 3 feet from the dog and the other alien was about 5 feet away from the other alien. They were about 3 and a half feet tall with a large oval head and big black slanted eyes. They had pale grayish skin and a barely visible slit for a mouth and two little holes for a nose. They also had very skinny arms and they seem not to have any clothes on. Their legs were not showing because under the fence there was a cinder-block wall about one and a half feet high. I could only see them from the waist up. The aliens were staring at me and I was staring at them. I think that they were communicating with me telepathically because they were reading my mind when I said mentally, "I'm going to wake up my husband, Nelson," I left the window and walked through the hallway leading to the bedrooms. On the way to wake up my husband, they detoured me to the other bedroom to wake up my daughter instead. I woke up my daughter (17 year old at the time) and both of us went to the dining room window where we observed the creatures still standing in the same place. Again, they stared at us and we stared straight into their large black eyes for a while. My daughter said to me, "Mommy, I'm going back to bed because I'm scared, then I won't be able to sleep." I then followed my daughter to the bedroom because she was afraid to go by herself. Approximately 10 minutes later I returned to the dining room window, the aliens were still there in the same location. While staring straight into their big black eyes, the one closest to the dog was telling me in my mind to open the door leading to the backyard. I said in my mind, "I'm not going to open the door." He demanded telepathically, "You're going to open the door." I then felt myself moving towards the door and was getting drowsy.
I don't remember what happened after that. I woke up in my bed. I asked my daughter if she had seen the same thing in case I was imagining things. She described the incident and the creatures the same way and manner I described them. We then told my husband who slept in a separate bedroom facing the backyard. He slept there because my daughter was afraid to sleep by herself so I had to sleep with her. My husband stated that he did hear the dog barking wildly at about 3:00am. He said that he looked out the bedroom window, without getting off the bed, since the bed was against the window. He saw the dog barking towards the rainforest in the back, but thought that she was barking at a cat. He stated that he did not look at the fence or the rainforest and was so sleepy that he immediately went back to sleep. Please be advised that behind the back fence, where the aliens were, is an enormous rainforest that leads all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, where a huge antenna is located and is pitch black at night. I later found out that the antenna and the land where it sits are federal property and the area is fenced in.
What concerns me the most is that my husband informed me that he discovered the back door opened when he got up at about 8:00 in the morning, but did not know what happened. My daughter informed me that she opened her eyes about 5:00 in the morning and did not find me next to her in bed. She thought I was in the bathroom or somewhere around the house and went back to sleep. The dog did not want to eat or drink anything for days and was lying down apparently sick.
On Monday, May 1, 2006, at about 12:50am, while sitting in the living room and while talking on the phone, I saw a bright light, like an enormous light bulb, moving through the woods (the rainforest). I informed my husband and we immediately closed all the louver windows in the kitchen and dining room. I became hysterical and began to cry because I thought that they were after me and my husband had to calm me down.
At approximately 2:00am, the same night, I heard the same sound again over the house. Seconds later, while lying in bed, my husband and I heard a loud crashing noise like something hitting the flat concrete roof and shook the house like if something had landed there. We were afraid, but did not call the police for fear of being ridiculed and not come to investigate. It was such a terrifying experience that we didn't even considered to go outside and check it out. Instead the three of us huddled in one bed.
I feel relieved to know that I was not the only one seeing those alien beings. My 17 year old daughter saw them too. Otherwise I, myself, would think that I was hallucinating and imagining things. Could it be possible that I did open the backyard door and was abducted by the aliens? I don't know, my husband found the back door opened early in the morning. In addition, I have dotted puncture marks on my left hand which is circular and had a slight burning pain which diminished as time went by since April 28, 2006. Although faded it is still visible, especially when observed in person, after almost 2 years. Please see enclosed pictures and drawings.
We moved from New York City and bought that house in August 2005 when my husband retired as an Assistant Deputy Warden after working for 20 years for the New York City Department of Correction (Riker's Island jail complex) and after getting a heart attack. I am a serious woman who doesn't like to lie. I never thought that we would go through something like that. But what my daughter and I saw and what my husband and I heard is the truth. Never in my life did I believe in UFOs or aliens. I never cared, seen, read or even heard anything about how they look like until we witnessed the unexplained here on the island. We moved to another house that we own in Aguada which is pretty far from the beach and that rainforest. And my daughter was so traumatized that we sent her to live with my sister in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Since we sold that house now we're planning to sell the other one to return to the U.S. mainland because I fear they're after me.
Several days after our encounter with the alien beings, on May 9, 2006, at approximately 1:00pm, we went to see Mr. Luis A. Echevarria, the mayor of Aguada. We were informed that he was not at City Hall, but attending a meeting in San Juan. We instead notified Mr. Martin Concepcion, who works for Puerto Rico's Civil Defense Agency in Aguada, and handed him a written copy of the incident. He stated that he will investigate, will put a request to the Municipal Police to patrol the area and will make a copy for the mayor. He also stated that he will get back to us, but he never did.
On May 11, 2006, at approximately 11:00am, we went to the channel 5 television network located in the city of Mayaguez. At the television network, we were interviewed by a young man who stated that here in Puerto Rico people are superstitious or when they report that they saw a UFO/extraterrestrial it is later dismissed as a hoax. My husband and I were so upset, we told him that we are "Nuyoricans" therefore not superstitious and just because someone lied, doesn't mean that we are liars.
We even sent emails to several Puerto Rican UFO investigative organizations, but they didn't email us back. We did not know who to turn to since we were not getting help from anyone here on the island. So my husband and I started sending emails to the U.S. mainland to see whether someone or some organization would help us. We are not seeking publicity but the truth.
Please note the following other incidents which were not reported to anyone before:
On June 5, 2006, at approximately 3:00am, after watching television, I proceeded to the kitchen to get a glass of milk before going to bed. As I walked through the living room on my way to the bedroom, I observed an alien peeping through the glass-pane window on the main entrance door. Outside that door is a balcony and obviously, he was standing on top of a patio chair next to the door, because being a short creature, he shouldn't reach the high window on the door. This one really scared me a lot because he looked older, meaner and had a mark on his forehead. The two aliens I saw behind the fence in my backyard looked like little kids with a serene look on their face. But not this one, he had a sinister evil look on his face. I hurried to my husband's bedroom, woke him up and he grabbed a machete in case it was an intruder, and proceeded out to the balcony, but no one was around. Could this alien be their leader?
On October 22, 2006, at approximately 11:00pm there was a 3 hour blackout in the town of Aguada (which is located in the northwest corner of the island). At approximately 1200am, I awoke my husband so he could hear a weird humming sound coming from behind the house in the rainforest. The whole backyard surrounding was pitch black when we went out with flashlights to listen closely. I called my sister on the cellphone so she could hear the weird sound coming from the woods, but suddenly we got frightened and hurried back inside the house.
On February 25, 2007, at approximately 4:00am, I was in my bedroom which faces the front of the house. I looked through the window and observed a disc-shaped craft, similar to the one my daughter and I saw previously, hovering motionless about 40 meters from the house and about 40 meters from the ground. The craft was about 30 feet in diameter. It was so low and so close that I was able to observe curious extraterrestrials watching me and the house through viewing ports surrounding the craft. They were silhouetting through the bright greenish blue background and appeared very inquisitive looking out the windows and passing a long rod to one another. My immediate reaction at the moment was that it may have been a telescope or some other device. Unlike the others I've seen and heard, this craft was hovering silently. The whole event probably lasted about a minute. I ran to my husband bedroom and woke him up. He immediately grabbed the camcorder next to his bed. Unfortunately by the time we got to the window, the UFO was nowhere in sight.
On May 21, 2007, at approximately 1:00am my daughter, Barbie, was on her cellphone in the living room by herself talking to her friends in New York. The lights in the living room were off except for a dim light on a table lamp. Suddenly she heard the humming sound again and a greenish blue light flashing through all the windows.The light flashed in sequence starting from the front windows to the back windows. It looked like something had flown low by heading towards the back of the house. My daughter screamed and ran to the bedroom where she was shaking in fear. It may have been nothing, but it showed that she was traumatized after what she had seen on November 10, 2005 and April 28, 2006.
My 21 year old son, Jonathan, came to visit us from New York. On June 2, 2007, at approximately 2:00am, Jonathan explained that while in his bedroom, which is located downstairs, a very bright beam of green light shone through the window and through the glass-pane door lighting up the whole bedroom for a few seconds. He was so frightened that after the light vanished he hysterically ran upstairs in his pajamas to inform us. He refused to sleep in that bedroom again.
On August 14, 2007, early in the morning, we noticed that our dog, Dora, was gone. We do not know if she had come loose and ran away. We do have a high fence that goes around our property and the dog was kept chained overnight, so I don't see how that's possible. We looked all over our neighborhood, we asked our neighbors if they had seen her and we even searched throughout the town of Aguada, but to no avail. I do not know if it had something to do with those aliens, but after what happened to me and my family in that house, anything for me is possible.
In this house where we live now, on November 3, 2007, at approximately 2:00am, while in bed before I fell asleep, I saw a small blueish green neon light, about the size of a penny, coming from the window, moving through the bedroom in the dark and I was being paralyzed while looking at it. Suddenly my bed was being surrounded with those creatures. Obviously, I was made unconscious because when I opened my eyes I found myself naked in a different cold room and lying face-up on very cold "stainless steel" platform. This platform seem to be floating on the air without legs or anything supporting it. It was narrow enough that each arm hanged on each side. Still feeling paralyzed but conscious they commenced injecting me with a long needle or something. I begged them with my thoughts, to please not to do it, but they ignored me. I also felt that they put something metallic, like a round suction cup about 5 inches in diameter, on the right side of my abdomen. It felt like my flesh was being stretched and my inside was being sucked out like a powerful vacuum. I was in excruciating pain when they did that, but I was unable to scream or move. About 5 or 6 creatures surrounded the platform, one being taller than the others and the rest were the short grays I previously saw in my backyard. This time they were not communicating telepathically among themselves because I heard a weird incoherent mumbling sound coming from them. However, I didn't see their mouths move. I remember calling them "marcianos" (Martians), they revealed telepathically, in Spanish, that they don't like being called Martians, but preferred to be called creatures. When I got up the next morning, I still had pain on the right side of my abdomen, but no mark was visible. Since my daughter doesn't sleep with me anymore because she now lives in Pennsylvania, I now sleep with my husband. He keeps telling me to wake him up when it happens, but I could not move or speak. Many times he stays awake late at night in bed, but nothing happens so he falls asleep. I do, however, feel or have a sense when they're around.
It is important to be noted here that I've had ovarian cancer, and have had several operations to remove parts of my intestine. I also received several operations for breast cancer. I flew occasionally to New York City to see my private doctors since here on the island private doctors are reluctant to accept Blue Cross and Blue Shield or GHI which I got from my husband retirement. I was informed by my doctors in New York that the cancer had returned and that I urgently needed another operation. I used to be in constant stomach pain and noticed blood in my stool and urine when I went to the bathroom. It was not the first time, the cancer has recurred before and they operated me after each recurrences. But after the encounter with those creatures on April 28, 2006, I returned to New York, several tests were performed and no cancer was detected. The pain and the bleeding had stopped. I truly feel that those creatures had cured me. What is my opinion of the creatures? I sincerely believe that they're benevolent and compassionate creatures, but I'm afraid of them. They do not have my permission to do with my body whatever they please. Although I believe they had cured me, I am not their guinea pig.
I have something in my right lower back that has been bugging me for a long time. It moves when I touch it and I know it was not there before. I saw on the History Channel the program called UFO Hunter when Mr. Bill Birnes took a man who was abducted by a UFO to Dr. Roger Leir. The man had an alien implant in his leg. When Dr. Leir put a powerful magnet where the man had the implant, to our amazement, the object inside his flesh moved towards the magnet and the skin bulged. Like that man, I don't have an entry wound or a scar where the object is. That prompted me and my husband to do the same experiment. Unfortunately, we do not have a powerful magnet like the one used by Dr. Leir. The mark on my left hand and the object on my back have been noticed by me since my encounter with those aliens on April 28, 2006.
We recently learned that here in Puerto Rico this type of phenomenon occurs all over the island, especially in El Yunque rainforest where people get lost for days and come back with incredible stories. El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the United States National Forest System. Could there be an extraterrestrial base in the El Yunque rainforest? Could there be an extraterrestrial base in the woods behind my property or somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean? Since the town of Aguada is situated in the northwest corner of the island, could that be a route for UFOs to fly towards the Bermuda Triangle? My daughter and I did hear a weird humming sound very often and very close to the house. The craft we observed on November 10, 2005 appeared to be descending as though it was about to land somewhere behind my house. Let me reiterate, we lived in Brooklyn, New York near Kennedy Airport for over 20 years and the airplanes flew low over my house 24 hours a day. I know what we have seen and the sound it made were something very unusual, something we've never heard or seen before.
I have tried to write a thorough and detailed story to focus attention on what my family and I went through in that house and to demonstrate our reason for moving. What happened to me and my family is no hoax, it was a terrifying experience. To prove this, I am willing to submit to a polygraph test, go under hypnosis, be under oath or whatever. I sincerely say thank you for reading this long written story and hope for your understanding.
UPDATE: Maria M. Rivera was kind enough to contact me in order to explain the story behind this video she captured by cellphone.
Dear Lon,
As per your request, I do have one more thing to show you. You might have seen it before because I did send a copy of this video recording to Ufodigest.com and it is now all over Google.com.
Enclosed herein is a recording of a saucer shape object for your observation and analysis to supplement the UFO sightings and subsequent alien abduction story you have on your website.
On June 11, 2008, at approximately 2:52am, I was alone in the living room when I suddenly got a feeling that I should go outside onto the balcony and there it was again. My camcorder was not in the immediate area, but luckily I had my cellphone with me. It appeared to be a saucer shape object, similar to the UFOs I've seen previously, with lights around it. It was hovering motionless.
Listen carefully at the background noise. You can hear the crickets chirping mixed with the sound that the object is making. The sound is similar to the other UFOs I've seen before. It was over the wooded mountains near the other house I moved to.
The reason why I send it to you now was because it was recorded on my cellphone. We didn't know how to transfer the recording into my computer or burn it on a DVD disk. A friend transferred the information on a disk and then into my computer. I recorded the object for approximately 15 seconds before I feared to be alone on the balcony and in the dark.
MUFON witness report (unedited): While traveling to Korea I took a picture of a cloud that to me looks like Abraham Lincoln. The picture clearly shows why I took the picture but what I found many years later was some what confusing. Now I do know what the two beings in the photo as well as the aircraft is. In the Army I was a Top Gun M1A1 Abrams Gunner, and until the photo thought I was trained on all vehicles of this world whether foreign or domestic. I did not see this vehicle in broad daylight with the naked eye and it was hoovering right next to my plane as we flew over the ocean. The object in question is clearly shown on the picture. I have been trying to get MUFON to analyze the pic but have been told that unless I have the negatives that my case is of no importance. If MUFON is on a quest to find out the truth not only do I have more evidence but I have also been visited by the visitors and now dream dreams of end of the world destruction and things to come. I have had white liquid leaking form my eye sockets from being visited and objects around me being picked up by the visitor who presented themselves to me invisible. My son has also been contacted by the visitors. He since seeing them has been confused ever since. I am not trying to make a name for myself but am interested in what MUFON opinion is of this photo. The object is blue/ black/ and white. The beings on the picture have double eyelids bird like features and the look somewhat like humans. In my dreams they look the same. All I would like is someone from MUFON to look at the pic. I will even bring the pic to MUFON. This is not a hoax. I am also positive that I can help with your research of demensional travel as well. I have given a picture to the U.S. Airforce and was told if I value my life, that I will not show the picture. The airforce did tell me that it is one of the militaries AUROA PROJECTS and they do not know how I got it. Interesting huh! The bolts from my government vehicle when I was in the Army was also stripped from my vehicle and in an attempt to take my life. So why am I trying to be silence for coming forward with this truth. I am now a disabled Vet and have nothing else to lose. The people have to know the truth and I have some evidence to help my claim. This Is not a HOAX!
NOTE: well, don't know what to make of this one....but the witness definitely photographed 'something'. Though I have no idea who this person is, I truly hope MUFON looks into these claims...Lon
If you’re going to drive six hours for an overnight investigation and drive six hours back home the next day, it better be worth it…
Our six hour trip complete with arguments and wrong turns was worth it. Our friend Doug had visited Whispers Estate a few months prior to our investigation and came back raving about what he had experienced. Disembodied voices heard with the actual ear and all sorts of other activity.
Whispers Estate is on Warren Street in the small, quiet town of Mitchell, Indiana. The first thing I noticed when we turned onto the street was the funeral home across from Whispers. It was the brightest place on the block with ornate light posts along the road and Christmas lights on the building. I got a kick out of that.
Walking up to Whispers, two cement angels stood at the front walk-way silently looking up, offering a prayer for the spirits left behind. Warm light spilled out onto the wrap around porch from the front window, seemingly making this place appear to be the coziest house on the street. We peeked inside like a couple of stalkers and saw everyone inside already.
The inside of Whispers Estate is lavishly decorated with antiques and replicas in the Victorian style. Crystal chandeliers hang in the parlor and dining room. The furniture, four poster beds and stained glass make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. Eerie paintings by the owner of Whispers grace the walls reminding you that the homes’ cozy interior masks the ghostly activity that lurks. The home was built in the early 20 th century and it’s believed the ghosts of past owners Dr. John Gibbons and his wife Jesse, along with their adopted children Rachel and twin brother Enus haunt the old home. On Christmas day in 1912, a fire started and took Rachel’s life. Burn marks from that awful day still remain in the home. A pocket door hidden for years between the parlor and dining room showed burn marks from that terrible day. When owner Jarrett Marshall bought the home and began tearing up the carpet to expose the hard wood floors, he found pressboard on the parlor floor and under that were burns as well. It’s reported Rachel’s brother died two years later and that they are buried in the backyard of Whispers.
Our Investigation Begins…
The first thing we did was arm the house with recording devices. After what Doug had witnessed on his last visit, we wanted to be ready if the activity started to happen. We had a condenser microphone upstairs and downstairs. There was a video camera running along with another digital recorder in Rachel’s bedroom upstairs and more handheld digital recorders downstairs with people. We dimmed the lights in the parlor and started talking to the air around us. I always feel stupid at the beginning of an EVP session because it feels like your talking to nothing… until it answers back. I was completely stunned when we started to hear the beginnings of many strange sounds that night with our own ears. Jarrett started asking Rachel questions, asking if she’d come out. The first sound of the evening was very strange and eerie. I can’t quite explain it but you can listen to it. It was coming from upstairs and no one was up there. The only thing on the second floor was our very in-human recording equipment. Doug quickly exclaimed that was how the sounds started during his last visit to Whispers.
Excitement in the room grew when we continued to hear more sounds including what sounded like two men talking. We couldn’t make anything out except for mumbling. We continued to hear tinkering sounds and thuds and the icing on the cake was the sound of someone running upstairs.
With so much noise coming from the second floor, we decided to go see if anything had been moved. We had set up Jacks along a dresser and spelled Rachel’s name in some magnetic letters. Nothing had been disturbed. For the next session, myself and Bonnie stayed upstairs in Rachel’s room and the guys all stayed in the parlor. I laid there on the bed in the dark, able to see the dolls displayed on the dresser through the Night Shot on my video camera. One doll in particular was extra creepy. It was a burnt up doll that has a strange story as to how it got that way.Doug told me, “Some past guests had asked, "Rachael, show us what you look like." The doll dropped from nowhere onto either the staircase or at the end of Rachael's bed (I cannot remember, but somehow I associate the doll story with both of those places). When a lady went to pick it up, it was smoking and very hot to the touch.”
The burnt doll looked back at me and I was waiting for the disturbing thing to go flying off the dresser or turn its head all the way around, but nothing happened. Bonnie started to breathe heavy and I think she was dozing off when suddenly a bunch of noise came from the attic. In the parlor below, the guys heard what sounded like a ball bouncing. Previously in the night, Doug had asked for “Rachel to bring us her Jacks ball.”
Doug and Jarrett had decided to head up to the attic so that there were people on every floor. In the past, the attic has had a lot of activity and currently, Jarrett was remodeling it to make more rooms available for the bed and breakfast and if you know a thing or two about the paranormal, you might have heard remodeling in a home almost always seems to stir up paranormal activity even more.
Bonnie and I heard what sounded like boards being dropped. We yelled up to Doug and Jarrett and asked if they were Okay and Doug yelled back, “It’s paranormal!! We need a flashlight quick!” Bonnie bolted off the bed and dashed up to the attic. I didn’t have a flashlight and shamefully will admit, stayed on the bed for a few seconds paralyzed and just a tad spooked out. Someone finally shined a light inside the dark bedroom for me and I bolted for the attic with everyone else.
Doug and Jarrett were stumped as to what had happened. They were sitting in the small attic space when they heard the sound of a ball drop on the floor and then a few loose boards that were leaning on the walls moved and actually hit Jarrett on the head. The ball found was the missing Jacks ball Doug had asked for earlier in the evening.
While on a break between EVP sessions, the overpowering smell of old cologne or shaving cream infused the parlor. The smell moved around the room and particularly seemed to plague Bonnie, who could hardly stand it. No one there had cologne on and the smell came and went.
After more EVP sessions with more strange noises, Jarrett and Bonnie headed back up to the attic. They weren’t up there long when they yelled for us to come up. We ran upstairs again like a heard of elephants and didn’t know what to say when we saw about nine jacks lying on the attic floor. Bonnie said she even heard the sound of a ball bouncing in the attic but once the lights were on, no ball was found.
Eventually, the activity seemed to slow down along with us. I started to drift off to sleep at 4:30 AM and the door between our room and the dining room opened. There was a chain lock on it so it didn’t open all the way. I kicked my boyfriend and told him the door was opening and he mumbled something about the door jam not being true. So did the door just open on its own, or did one of the resident ghosts come down to tuck us into bed? Who knows.
Our buddy Jason’s room was next to ours and the lights blazed in his room all night long. Jason was told his room was the doctor’s operating office and a highly active room. With how the night had gone, Jason wasn’t going to take any chances and kept the lights on all night. _______________________ FURTHER INVESTIGATION - WHISPERS ESTATE B&B
Five graves reportedly fill the backyard while eerie voices and mysterious happenings greet visitors.
It’s all a part of the charm of Whispering Estates, a bed and breakfast located in the heart of one of Mitchell’s most desirable neighborhoods. And it’s part of what has ghost hunters and others coming back, time and time again.
For Jarret Marshall, who moved to Mitchell three years ago from Bloomington after purchasing the century-old home, the voices, ghosts and haunted happenings just add to the charm of the eloquently decorated place near some of Mitchell’s most historic homes on Warren Street.
“People who don’t believe in anything, rethink everything after staying here,” Marshall said.
The haunted activity started after Marshall, who is trained in historic home renovations, started breathing new life into the home once occupied by Dr. John and Jessie Gibbons, who lived there until their deaths in 1944 and 1934, respectively. The physician used two rooms as his office for at least three decades.
He didn’t know the home was haunted when he bought it to restore.
It was something he learned firsthand.
“I could tell the wall that separated the parlor from the front hallway was not original,” Marshall said. “I found pillars in the basement that fit that space perfectly, so I tore down the false wall and opened up the parlor. That’s when I found the original pocket doors hidden behind molding.”
That’s when soot and damage from a previous fire landed in his lap. And it’s the first time he experienced something he couldn’t explain.
“The door started shaking like someone wanted in, so I went to answer it thinking it was someone in my family. But when I opened the door, no one was there,” Marshall said. “It just continued from that point. I never really believed in this stuff before, and I didn’t tell anyone about it for the longest time. Now, it’s normal. The more I am here, the more it happens and the more I get used to it. It’s like having a family here — you almost begin to feel the connection.”
Several apparitions have been felt in the home by different people, but the strongest is the little girl whom Marshall believes is named Rachel.
“It’s one of the only places I’ve gone or that I’ve done that you can ask a question (to the ghosts) and get an audible answer back,” said Keith Age, who is using the house for a documentary he is filming for the SciFi channel titled “Children from the Grave.”
“It takes a lot for me to believe that there’s some activity somewhere, but when you get an audible answer back in different tones ... it’s not hard to believe.”
Age, representing the Louisville Ghost Hunters Society, and several other ghost hunters from different organizations have descended upon the home frequently to get a peek at the eerie activities that include voices, knocking, moving objects and shadow people.
“I’ve had to question myself on more than one occasion,” Marshall said. “We’re out in the middle of nowhere in this little town. Why would this house be active and not the next? It’s kind of interesting to me because I think the house is doing it. I think this house feels that it was here to help people.
“I think that what started off as this great life for this couple ended up being quite traumatic with a baby dying and the children dying. I think Rachel was a very strong little girl, and that’s why she is a very strong apparition here now.”
Do the haunted happenings ever scare Marshall?
“I’ve been freaked out a couple of times, and that’s only when I am caught off-guard,” he said. “The mind’s a powerful thing, it really is. But when I walked in here, it felt like I was home. It felt like the house was sad, like it needed me. It’s almost as if the house is waking up again. It’s recreating itself.”
Click for video ____________________ HISTORY, LEGENDS AND LORE - WHISPERS ESTATE
Rachael died in a fire in Whispers Estate. Although no formal paperwork exists (considering the date/era, this is hardly suspicious), rumors persist that Dr John and Jessie Ruth Gibbons adopted Rachael and her twin brother, Enis.
The original owners of the house, Dr John and Jessie Gibbons reportedly adopted abandoned/orphaned children. One of these children, a 10-year old girl named Rachael, started a fire in the front parlor, being badly burned, and died 2 days later in one of the upstairs bedrooms. But, you can still hear, and sometimes see, her running around the house today.
A 10-month infant, Elizabeth, died in the master bedroom of unknown causes, but there's still the scent of baby power, and you can sometimes still hear her cries.
Jessie died in that same bedroom after a 2 week bout with pneumonia. Guests sleeping in that room often awake to labored breathing and coughing. Some even report feeling as if someone is sitting on their chest. The most common paranormal activity in this room is the closet doorknob will frequently jiggle for a few moments, stop suddenly, and the closet door will pop open. The maximum reported count for repeatable occurrences is 5 within a couple minutes. this of course required persons in the room to close the door each time.
Dr Gibbons was a prominent doctor in town, having his office in the 1st floor rooms in the house. Given the time period and medical field, it is likely many patients died there during his practice of ~20 years.
Stories of subsequent owners/occupants suggest others have encountered their own demise, such as a gentlemen in the 50s/60s that died in the upstairs bathroom, a young boy that died from falling down the front staircase(recently spoke with the relatives of this little boy; got name and keywords), and more.
In 2006, The previous owner bought the house after being vacant for a few years. During its restoration, strange activity started to occur. Activity in the house continued, and even increased, subsequently earning the name 'Whispers Estate' after guests repeatedly reported hearing disembodied voices whispering in their ears.
Since 2006, the house has been investigated by numerous paranormal groups as well as visited by psychics & demonologists.
There are supposedly 4 graves in the backyard, not including, what psychics have called, a pit-grave which they say contain amputated limbs, internal organs, aborted fetuses, etc...
There is reportedly a portal/vortex which runs up through the house from the front parlor into the 3rd floor room/attic. the room in the attic is said to be the heart of the house. Guests that are brave enough to sleep in this 3rd floor room report horrible nightmares and sometimes hear something trying to get in the room via the door (door knob jiggling).
Visitors have reported sighting a shadow, which is now called ‘Big Black’, an entity which psychics says ‘is not of this world’. While most commonly encountered in the doctor's rooms, it has been seen throughout the house.
Guests have experienced earthquake-like tremors while in Doctor's bathroom... No... not 'those kinds' of tremors... I'm referring to tremors of a paranormal origin.
EVP sessions have revealed many entities in the house at any given time, But you don't always need recording equipment to hear these disembodied voices at Whispers Estate. Many young women have reported hearing Dr John whisper in their ears, as well sometimes grabbing/gropping them.
Guests claim to see the beds/couches visible shake, while still others sleeping on beds and couches have reported having them shake violently.....
(Often, guests decide they'd rather sleep as close to the front door as possible, just in case...)
Investigators often do 'rounds' throughout the house at different times throughout a night. Sometimes, upon leaving the servant’s quarters, just after the last person exists the room, the solid, heavy, wooden door slams with unrestrained force by unseen presence.
There are times when guests notice pleasant smells of baby power drift throughout the house, but the scent of pungent cologne/aftershave, cigar/tobacco, rancid meat/cabbage, dirty medical bandages, and more are not uncommon.
Guest have reported their recording camcorders being moved by an unseen presence, thereby disturbing the viewpoint of the intended target.
If you’re not completely freaked out, and think you have what it takes to spend a night here, please contact us to make a reservation, to experience for yourself, ...a stay at Whispers Estate.
Doctor’s Unethical Practices: Legend/Lore
We don’t know if this is fact or not, but multiple psychics that have cold-visited the house (not knowing any details of the location they are entering), have stated the doctor had performed a number of unethical practices including, but limited to; taking personal liberties with female patients, abortions (remember, this was ~100 years ago), unneeded amputations, etc...
The doctor was also reportedly a voyeur, peeking in on female patients, having upto 10 mistresses at a time - while married to Jessie, adopting children which his mistresses bore.
There is even one allegation that Doctor John Asa Gibbons was intimate with a slave/servant. Subsequently, this line of questioning during an EVP session resulted in a response the questioner was not expecting; he was attacked by what we presume to be the Doctor, leaving multiple scratch marks on his neck. Big Black: Legend/Lore
Multiple psychics have stated he’s a large humanoid entity ‘not of this world’.
From this, a lot of people would conclude he’s a demon. I do not agree with this, though. He/It could simply be another race from another planet (look, if you’re going to believe in the existence of ghosts, or the paranormal in general, then alien races have to be included, right?)
NOTE: I have been told that ownership of Whispers Estate changed about a year ago and that the residence has been restored. there have been many investigations conducted at this location...in fact, I know of 2 that were done within the past month. You can read about the latest investigation at G.H.O.S.T....Lon
move - One of the two New Orleans mansions once owned by actor Nicolas Cage has everything you could want in a historic building – and then some. It comes with its own ghosts. And not just one.
In April 1834, a slave chained to a stove in the kitchen started a fire. When the fire brigade came to extinguish the blaze, they reportedly made a gruesome discovery in the attic involving the mutilation and torture of at least a half-dozen slaves.
