Knocked Out
When paranormal investigators are told in no uncertain terms to get out of a haunted area, that demand could be a threat, as in one of those “Get out!” scenes in a horror move. The message could just as well be a warning from a concerned spirit. That’s the situation we faced when exploring an abandoned mine shaft near Tombstone.
We had heard about the place during a pleasant conversation with some of the locals living around Gleeson during the events covered in chapter 11. No one knew the history of the mine, just that it was large, very old, and might be of interest to a group of paranormal investigators. Much of Arizona, especially in the mineral-rich sections such as the Tombstone area, is littered with abandoned mines and mining prospects.
Dan and Dwight are walking down into the Perseverance Mine.
The names and histories of the miners are often lost to history. Bringing that lost history out of the darkness is one of the factors that motivate our efforts.
We went there on a lark. The site was nearby, easy to reach from the highway, and we figured we’d give it a try. The mine is accessed by bushwhacking through an overgrown gully. It was covered in brush and extremely hard to see until we were right on top of it—a long, dark shaft angling down into a rocky hillside.
We made our way in slowly and cautiously; this was during the summer and we were walking in prime diamondback rattlesnake country. Fortunately, we didn’t run across any hostile or fearful critters. We did have a ghostly encounter that raised the hair on the back of our necks and put a fast end to our investigation.
We named the place the Perseverance Mine.
DB: Okay, this is our afternoon session. We are down, way down in a mine shaft. EVP session … go ahead, Dwight.
D: We’re several, a few hundred feet down, give or take. We’re at the point now where there is very little light from the entrance so we’re going to stop here. If there’s anybody down here with us other than us, come up and talk to us if you’d like. Come up to the little red light and talk to us and we’ll be able to hear you on this.
(Noise)
D: And that was Rhonda.
R: Yeah. I was on a little uneven surface.
DB: I’m going to do a little pendulum work anyway, but go ahead.
R: Is there anybody down here with us? I already knew the answer. It was a yes.
DB: Yes, I got a yes.
R: Did you work here in the mine?
DB: One second. Got a yes.
Just for the record my back is to Rhonda. She can’t see how the pendulum is swinging.
R: Did you die here in the mine?
DB: Got a yes.
R: For the recorder purposes if you could tell us what you were mining, that would be great. Was it silver?
DB: I got a yes on silver.
Mentally, I asked “gold” and got a no.
R: Okay. Was there a cave-in?
DB: Yes.
R: Yes.
Do you need any help from us? Are you okay? Okay, one question. Do you need any help?
DB: Null answer.
R: Dwight, what about you?
D: I’m getting a real strong answer. I don’t mean to be rude, but I get the feeling that you want us to leave. Is that correct?
DB: I got a pretty good yes.
D: That’s what I thought. I’m getting a lot of …
R: We’re not after your silver.
D: No, we don’t want your silver. We don’t want anything to do with this place other than we knew it was here and we wanted to come down and visit it.
DB: I’m getting a “we are not welcome” here.
D: That’s what I got, too.
So, okay.
DB: We just dropped in to say hello. That’s all.
R: Yes. That’s it.
D: The first rule of doing this stuff—we only do what the locals want us to do. If you want us to leave we will respect that and we will slowly, but we will be getting out of here. I want to thank—
DB: Whoa!
R: What?
DB: He wants us out now. Right now. I got a strong yes and then a pendulum jump.
R: Okay, we’ll skedaddle.
D: We understand. We’ll go on out now.
DB: That was a definite pendulum jump.
R: Thanks you for letting us in here.
DB: We appreciate it.
D: Yep.
DB: Would you say “goodbye” or “carry your ass” for us? Because we are leaving.
D: Yes, we are.
R: If you want to make something at the other end … kind of like an echo.
KNOCK
R: Oh, I just heard that. Did you?
DB: I did, too.
R: Did you hear that?
DB: Yes.
Can you do that again?
KNOCK KNOCK
DB: I heard it again. Was that in here or up there?
R: That was in here.
DB: Because I heard it twice.
R: So did I.
DB: Should we get the hell out of here?
D: That may be what they call tommyknockers.
R: Yeah.
D: It’s what happens just before a cave-in.
R: Yeah.
DB: Well, let us remove ourselves.
But when you asked that … I forget what your phrasing was, but should we leave or are we welcome here I got strong reaction.
D: I was getting strong, like …
DB: And I got goosebumps on top of that.
R: “Get the F out?”
D: I mean, you know when you’re facing somebody who’s really angry and you can almost feel the heat coming off them. That’s what I was feeling down there. I was feeling this heat on the side of my face like “get out … we want you to get out.”
DB: Well, my pendulum responses were pretty strong. When we got to that subject. So we’re leaving!
D: We’re leaving.
Ending my session.
Unseen by Dwight and Rhonda, my pendulum indicated that we should leave the mine. This reaction came at the same time my two associates received the same message through their intuition. The knock we heard confirmed our reactions. Yes, we were in an old structure subject to falling debris and that knock could have certainly been a naturally occurring event. Notice, however, that the second set of knocks came immediately after we requested an auditory sign confirming the message for us to leave. The knock-knock came right upon the question “Can you do it again?” Was that a rock falling at just the right moment or was it a spirit response? We believe it was the latter.
We skedaddled.