A witness contacted me about increased unexplained activity around their Somerset County, Pennsylvania property in 2023 and continuing into 2024. This has been a noticeable trend.
I recently received the following account:
"Hi, Lon. I live in Somerset County, Pennsylvania on the mountain ridge, and was curious if there have been any reports of any type of activity here this past year. We live in a very rural area, and I’ve been in this home 20 years and this past year it just seems some strange things have been happening.
My teen daughter’s bedroom window faces the road. Across the road is a wooded area and farmland. Lots of abandoned mines in this area and I’m sure the area across the road has been mined. My daughter who is 17 has been complaining since probably summer 2023 of strange noises coming from the woods. One night she woke me, and I heard them as well. The best explanation I could come up with was feral hogs even though we never saw what was making these noises and causing the trees to move. The noises were feral and terrifying. We have visits from coyotes, bobcats, fishers, bears, and all kinds of native wildlife and we hear those types of sounds all the time, this was different. The trees were shaking.
My daughter goes out very early for the bus when it’s dark and has also claimed to see a deer that disappeared, reappeared, or shape-shifted. To the point where she is afraid to wait for the bus. I saw a mountain lion on my property this past summer. I’ve decided that was just a normal mountain lion despite the Game Commission's insistence they don’t live here.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but things seem strange here lately something is just different. There is a creepy feeling I get when I’m outside at times like I’m being watched that I’ve never had before. I’ve also noticed much more air traffic overhead to the point that I installed an app on my phone to see what was flying over. I’ve seen more strange helicopters flying over where it used to be occasionally, and I usually brush it off as having something to do with the Flight 93 Memorial.
On Thursday night (January 18, 2023) around 6:50 PM, a helicopter went over so low to the point that it shook my house. I was busy so it took a couple minutes of this continuing before I checked the app and noticed it was a Blackhawk helicopter out of Latrobe. It was across the road over the area where my daughter had been complaining of the noises coming from the woods. I hovered over the area for a good 10 minutes in one spot. Then disappeared from the radar altogether. I tried to see it from my upstairs window but couldn’t see much.
My husband who initially thought I was paranoid also began to think it was strange. We saw lights in the woods over that way but not much more. Could not see the helicopter in the air. The weather has been generally crappy here with high winds and blowing snow this week. I’m not sure if they landed or turned off the radar but I’m guessing they may have landed because I could no longer hear the helicopter sounds.
I’ve believed in the paranormal for a long time because I once saw a ghost in the 90s when I lived in Baltimore. I’ve never really thought much about cryptids or things that could be dangerous. Just wondering if you’ve heard anyone else reporting odd things in this area. It’s not the Chestnut Ridge, I think the next ridge over that may run through Bedford and Somerset counties. Just curious if anyone else has said anything this way." R
NOTE: I redacted the location and other personal / identifying information from the email. I talked to the witness last night to clarify some of the details. I believe that she has been experiencing Bigfoot and, possibly, cryptid canine activity. The sightings of mountain lions have drastically increased in the past few years (regardless of the denials by the PA Game Commission, even though several of the rangers freely admit that they exist in the state). As well, the black bear is moving east beyond the mountains and deeper into the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Our local investigators have also commented on the increased number of black & unmarked helicopters seen and reported on the Upper Chestnut Ridge, as well as in the Laurel Mountain & Laurel Highlands areas.
The Phantoms & Monsters Fortean Research will continue to monitor the location. Any update will be added here. Lon
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