Space Mountain in the Dark
~ Written By Dave Chellis ~
It was 12:30 in the morning and I sat dormant in the corner of a dark room, staring into the black void in front of me. The occasional passing over of a team member’s light occasionally lit the three feet in front of me, reminding me that I wasn’t totally alone. My years of curiosity had led me to such a complicated place, such a lifeless room full of movement. My head racing, I went back a year prior to thinking this was a good idea. What were we doing here, what dare did we lose to be here? As I sat somewhere in the middle of sanity and complete craziness, I found myself wondering what defense I could muster should something happen. Let’s see, I said to myself, I have my trusty MagLite, my IR Thermometer, and my wits. The IR Camera was over in the corner, which might as well have been another continent away. I suppose I could simply punch thin air, hoping for a Tyson-like knockout blow to whatever was there. Then, it began. Cold wafts of air were moving between myself and two other team members. The measurements on the IR Thermometer were off the charts. 25-30 degree temperature drops on each of us, lingering on us long enough to challenge the bounds of our sanity. As we sat, adjusting our jackets, trying to the best of our abilities to keep warm, random lights would flash around the room, with no apparent source or direction. One minute it would flash in front of my face, another in front of the door. This continued for 30 minutes or so as we sat trying to speak with our new friend. Then, as if we had suddenly become more boring than the nothing which was there before, it left us.
I’ve been many places, seen many strange sights, but never experienced anything like that. I’ve captured souls in discord, unaware of my presence. I’ve had voices in despair ask for my help. I’ve seen shadows move with no light to guide them. But I don’t think I’ve ever been so helpless, so lost, so intrigued. That house was the first place I’ve been that I consider to be haunted. Many places I’ve been have paranormal activity, but this was different. I felt like we were meant to be there. Like we had some purpose to be there. Of course our findings weren’t totally based on that event, there were many factors. But what struck me is how we sat in awe. I don’t remember saying much, or thinking much. It was amazing in the most translucent way. Like we were moving away years of neglect and avoidance of the truth. We were giving this soul a chance to impress us.
The event passed by and like I said was one of several that night, but this stuck with me the most. So much time has passed since then, but I still feel like we were tangling with something well beyond our scope of understanding. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to know why we were privy to this show, or that we didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was that it was out of our control. As weird as that sounds, it’s good to be out of control sometimes. This applies in life as well. We’re all so used to being in control. Being able to see what we hear, to touch what we see, to push away things that we feel might harm us. But it’s in this alternate reality that we find ourselves quite often in the paranormal field. And it’s what makes this all worthwhile. Until you open your mind to the things you don’t understand, you’ll never understand what’s in your mind.
We’ve not returned to that house, and I doubt we will. Why you ask? Because we’ll never completely understand what happened, and that’s just fine with me. Don’t understand what I mean hmm? Ever wonder what Space Mountain looks like when it’s not sheltered by darkness? Yeah, I did too. The internet is a bad thing sometimes.
> Because we’ll never completely understand what happened, and that’s just fine with me.
A reasonable response, and one I wish more paranormal investigators would embrace. It’s not necessary to know everything; some stuff operates on a “need to know” basis and will bite you if forced into the light.
Awareness of other realms might be enough. Equip ourselves with the tools to detect/deal effectively, so we are not powerless and afraid in the dark. But sometimes I sense we are small fish swimming in dangerous waters, and it’s best not to attract too much attention.
A fine story, well told. Thank you for sharing it.
Lovely article! Thanks for sharing!
“Until you open your mind to the things you don’t understand, you’ll never understand what’s in your mind.” <— fantastic sentence!
Dave, it’s an incredible feeling that you described. It’s somewhere between fear and wonder. You don’t know what’s going to happen next, but you know that it’s going to be something that will effect you forever after. I, too, have felt that way on a few investigations. There is the initial fear of something happening around you that you cannot see or understand. Then you start to look for clues or to communicate with whatever it is that is with you.
Unfortunately for me, I have not had a genuine paranormal experience. Each time that I got excited about something that was going on, I was later able to explain it with something normal in the environment. The initial feeling, however, is still the same! As an investigator, I think that I will always be looking for that feeling wherever I go. I hope that one day I will experience something truly incredible as you have! Good luck and happy hunting!