ArtRojasDesign

So here are two interesting cases to close out the season of Haunted Highway. Jael and Devin visit a cemetery overseen by a Black Angel while Jack and Dana head out to visit some haunted domes in Arizona.

Black Angel

The story of the Black Angel states that it’s a statue that was erectd by a woman as a memorial to her husband and son. Of course there are rumors that she was responsible for the murders. People are scared of the statue and claim that if you touch it you’ll get sick. There is even one witness who says her friend committed suicide after touching the statue. Another claims he saw waves of energy enter the cemetery and those waves lead him to the Black Angel.

When they first get to the angel, Jael makes the comment the head is looking down as though to hell. Ok, settle down. Plenty of statues look down. It’s a sign of sorrow, piety or respect. It doesn’t immediately mean something is looking right into the bowels of hell. But oddly when Devin takes thermal images of the statue, it does show some radiant heat. Could just be something with the metal, but it is kinda neat.

While they don’t get much out of the investigation, a local historian says they should go investigate the Pest House a tuberculosis ward and then the site of a smallpox outbreak. It’s believed many people are buried in a mass grave.

Apparently sensing he might need it, Devin just happens to have a Ground Penetrating Radar machine with him. I guess he keeps that in the trunk of the car, "just in case". Anyway, he roams around the area looking for a mass grave. He doesn’t find anything conclusive, but thinks he might have some bumps that are bodies. While Devin is checking the grounds, Jael feels something is behind her.

As they wrap things up, it doesn’t feel like they capture anything. There are no figures, shadows, EVPs or the normal stock and trade of the paranormal world. It seems someone purchased a statue, the statue changed color over time (as metals and stone are want to do) and now it seems to scare people and they make up stories and legends about it. You go to any cemetery that’s been around for a couple of generations and all the statues will take on a sinister appearance and all the headstones will be tainted black. I see these all the time, it doesn’t make them evil or haunted.

Arizona Domes

This is an interesting little investigation about some odd military styled domes that have been left in the Arizona desert. People report seeing shadows, that rocks get throw and they hear voices. Jack and Dana head out on a long and dusty trail and spend the night amidst these giant structures that echo with every step.

As they look around they see someone standing in the doorway mere feet away from Dana. This causes Jack great concern and he says she needs to get the hell out of there. Once they’re back together they head to the doorway to see what they can find. They immediately discover a "trap door" that some hobo has converted into a house. Judging the sleeping bag, it’s not the den of the paranormal. It immediately becomes apparent that people have turned the domes into makeshift houses. People see shadows, hear voices and see shadows because people are wandering around out there. There is nothing paranormal about these places and Jack doesn’t even try to say there is.

And that brings us to the end of Season 2 of Haunted Highway. I didn’t expect this show to come back after the medical issues Jack ran into in his personal life. It’s been an interesting road and they’ve hung out at some interesting locations. Most of the places they end up seem to be shrouded more in urban legend than actual paranormal activity. It’s interesting to see how people come up with stories to explain events or simply relay legends without thinking about them. While some of the eyewitness accounts are interesting, some of them seem downright impossible to believe. It feels like a lot of people have story ready just in case a camera crew shows up. People want their 15 seconds of fame. Maybe there really are strange events going on in these places, but far too much of it comes across as fame seeking and flat out boasting. But hey, it’s still a fun ride and I hope we don’t have to wait so long to see what the gang gets up to season 3.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted Highway – Island of Lost Souls – S02E01
• Haunted Highway – Lake Murray Beast and The Donner Party – S02E04
• Haunted Highway – Manchac Swamp and Moonville Tunnel – S02E02
• Haunted Highway – Darkman of Standing Rock and Blackstar Shadow Man – S01E02
• Haunted Highway – Louisiana Swamp Woman and Pioneer Cemetery – S01E05
• Haunted Highway – Bear Lake Beast and Vergas Hairy Man – S01E01
• Haunted Highway – El Dorado Hell Hounds and Georgia Skinstealer – S01E04
• Haunted Highway – Bridge of Doom and Shades of Death Road S02E05
• Haunted Highway – Beast of Bray Road and Tonopah Mine – S02E03
• Haunted Highway – Utah Skinwalker and Ozark Howler – S01E03

Bridge of Doom
 
Well, the team has certainly found some ominously named place for their next investigation haven’t they? Who actually names a road, Shades of Death Road? That’s not just a clever nickname thrown out by the locals, it’s the actual name of the road. I guess they’ve been waiting for paranormal groups to show up.
 
The first investigation is at the site of a terrible train disaster. As the train passed over, the entire bridge collapsed and who knows how many people lost their lives. There were so many dead, they were buried in a mass grave. As Jael and Devin investigate they come across some strange happenings and perhaps a little vandalism.
 
At the site of the collapse Devin seems to capture two figures on his thermal imager. Are these spirits or just some kids wandering around? It’s not like they didn’t just go into town and tell everyone they were going to the bridge for an investigation. Additionally, Jael conducts an EVP session and feels the bridge is going to collapse on her. While in the cemetery at the mass grave their video equipment is vandalized while they try and make contact with Mr. Collins, one of the designers of the bridge. Sounds like someone has followed them out there and wants to give them a show. Since these aren’t closed areas, it wouldn’t surprise me if someone was out there messing around. Maybe they were trying their own investigation. As for the equipment, that sadly seems like someone just smashing their gear because they walked away from it. Perhaps they were acts of the paranormal, but it’s far more likely they simply weren’t alone out there that night.

When all is said and done there really isn’t anything to support the claims that the Bridge of Doom is anything more than just a bridge and the train wreck was a sad accident.
 
Shades of Death Road
 
There are many urban legends about lonely stretches of road where strange figures can be seen on the side of the road and mysterious "hitchhikers" that are there one moment and gone the next. Jack and Dana conduct their own investigation and have some strange experiences.
 
With multiple cameras mounted to the car they decide to drive the lonely stretch. Within moments, the cameras begin to flake out and they get a flat. Certainly sets an ominous mood for the night. But then as they drive further down the road, Dana sees a figure at the side of the road. Now honestly, it looks like someone has stopped in the middle of the night to relieve themselves. I suppose it could be a full bodied apparition, but someone urinating on the side of the road after a wild night of indulgence is oh so more likely.
 
Jack captures a "mist" coming out of the lake. It seems like two figures rising from the water. Yes, that could indeed be some sort of water siren or it may be a gas leaking out from the lake itself. They’ve come across this sort of thing before, but It looks cool either way.
 
As Jack says, when you have a road named Shades of Death Road, people are going to expect certain things and there minds can easily play tricks. It’s interesting that the camera had issues at the bridge, and their radio malfunctions at the same time. Could be some spiritual energy, pocket of EMF or something strange and unusual that needs some more investigation. The lake certainly lends itself to stories of the paranormal as strange figures rise from the water. Pockets of gas aren’t quite as spellbinding as spirits, but who knows which is correct is in this instance. Are there really spirits trapped along the side of the road or do pranksters lurk in the shadows and natural phenomenon give the urban legends a spin of truth?
 
A lonely stretch of road can yield many things. Hard to say what we have going on here. It doesn’t seem like they captured any real evidence of lonely spectres walking the lonely road. Oddly, there was no story of a woman in white who asks people to take her home and then disappears.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted Highway – Lake Murray Beast and The Donner Party – S02E04
• Haunted Highway – Louisiana Swamp Woman and Pioneer Cemetery – S01E05
• Haunted Highway – Manchac Swamp and Moonville Tunnel – S02E02
• Haunted Highway – Bear Lake Beast and Vergas Hairy Man – S01E01
• Haunted Highway – Island of Lost Souls – S02E01
• Haunted Highway – Black Angel and Arizona Domes – S02E06
• Well isn’t this strange
• Haunted Highway – Darkman of Standing Rock and Blackstar Shadow Man – S01E02
• Haunted Highway – Beast of Bray Road and Tonopah Mine – S02E03
• Haunted Highway – Utah Skinwalker and Ozark Howler – S01E03

Lake Murray Beast

Devin and Jael head down to South Carolina to investigate the South’s own little Loch Ness. There are reports of something large swimming in the lake. People report it’s hit their boat and has scales the size of your hand. There are multiple sightings, but nothing concrete.

The investigation yields a few interesting things as Jael and Devin head out onto the lake and ultimately end up in it. Their trip to the island where there have been sighting shows a large shadow in the water as the seagulls hover just above it. As they set up camp, there is the distinct sound of splashing in the water. When they take to the water something does indeed bump into the boat. Whatever it was gives the boat a pretty good knock.

Since they’re getting activity, they break out the scuba gear and head down into the lake to have a look around. While it’s pretty murky, something passes in front of the camera. And while they’re under water something hits the boat again.

The creature on the camera turns out to be a sturgeon, which makes sense. But, they’re told the sturgeon in that area several hundred pounds. Are people just mistaking a damn big fish for some aquatic beast? This would also explain the hits on the boat. A fish that large could certainly give the boat a good nudge.

So what do we have here? Is this mistaken identity or is the Lake Murray Monster still elusive?

The Donner Party

A grim story to be sure, Jack and Dana try to make contact with the Donner party. People report seeing lights and shadow figures. It’s a cold and bleak night, not unlike the conditions the Donners would have faced. With multiple cameras running, Jack actually gets an interesting hit on the FLIR. There is a large mass standing next to a tree. It’s there one second and gone the next. It’s possible that was a hunter or someone else out there, but the heat signature seemed wrong. They also capture something in the woods as Dana and their borrowed investigative hound scout the area. Might just be a small animal, but it has the dog all riled up. In fact, the dog has been distressed through the entire investigation.

But it’s more than just a thermal hit when Dana feels something scratch her on the neck. Immediately after she’s consumed with nausea and becomes physically sick.

And finally they get another thermal hit of a figure by the trees. This coincides with some lights they see off in the distance.

Jack and Dana come across some interesting evidence from their investigation, but it’s hard to tell what they’ve got. They capture a figure, but they’re in the woods so it could have just been another person out there. It’s not like they roped off the area or anything. Was Dana scratched by an insect or something falling or did something reach out to her? Were the lights something paranormal or a reflection from a car, house or campsite? They had some interesting experiences, but as Dana says, are they letting their imagination get the better of them?

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted Highway – Bear Lake Beast and Vergas Hairy Man – S01E01
• Haunted Highway – Island of Lost Souls – S02E01
• Haunted Highway – Manchac Swamp and Moonville Tunnel – S02E02
• Haunted Highway – Darkman of Standing Rock and Blackstar Shadow Man – S01E02
• Haunted Highway – Bridge of Doom and Shades of Death Road S02E05
• Destination Truth Spirits Of Angkor Wat/Canadian Lake Monster S04E02
• Haunted Highway – Utah Skinwalker and Ozark Howler – S01E03
• Haunted Highway – Beast of Bray Road and Tonopah Mine – S02E03
• Haunted Highway – Black Angel and Arizona Domes – S02E06
• Haunted Highway – Louisiana Swamp Woman and Pioneer Cemetery – S01E05

The Haunted Highway team heads out into some frigid temperatures in search of some odd creatures and some wild legends. First off we have the Beast of Bay Road which people describe as some sort of werewolf like creature  at least 7 feet tall. Jack and Dana head to Nevada to investigate an abandoned gold mine where they have the story of miners trapped in a fire, the legend of Bloody Babs, a prostitute that pistol whipped another woman and several other deaths caused by machinery and man.

Beast of Bray Road

The story of the Bray Beast sounds a lot like the stories of the Skunk Ape, Skinwalker, El Chupacabra or even the Jersey Devil. The residents claim there is some wild beast living in the forest and eyewitness claims it came up to her car and pushed it into a snow bank. Who knows what we have with this one.

As Jael and Devin trudge around in the snow they find all sorts of animals tracks and even leave out some meat for the beast. Oddly, their camera gets knocked over, but the meat remains untouched. The tracks they find aren’t big enough to belong to their beast.

For the second night of their investigation they head to the Kettle Moraine forest where they hear plenty of howling in the night. Using the thermal imager they find an interesting scratch mark on a tree. Could be evidence of their beast. As they lie in wait, there is something moving behind Jael. You can just make it out then it takes off. If you slow that footage down, it’s pretty much a deer walking around. Even the book author says they need to follow a deer trail. What are you going to find on a deer trail?

There’s plenty of animals out there, but I doubt there is anything more dangerous than a deer.

Tonopah Gold Mine

Jack and Dana freeze themselves solid as they investigate the Tonopah Gold Mine, the site of a mine fire  as well as the previously mentioned Bloody Babs. There is also the sounds of miners still working and seeing their apparitions.

Jack and Dana visit several locations trying to get a response. Everything seems to be pretty quiet overall, then they hear some noises on the walkie talkie and Jack hears a loud bang behind him as he asks if anyone is there with him. They both get quite unsettled over this. But let’s be honest here, they’re in a mine and it’s freezing cold. There is machinery around and it’s obviously metal. You have to expect creakings and bangs as it contracts in that cold.

There is also the matter of the walkie Jack had tied to a 50lbs test line. It has mysteriously broken off. I don’t know how far off the ground it was, could it have been an animal? We don’t know if it was transmitting data back so knows if we captured anything. Clearly the device is gone which is too damn bad. Maybe it captured something cool.

Unfortunately, I don’t feel they captured too much evidence on either investigation. As far as the Bray Beast, what they unearthed was nothing more than a deer. On the whole I think the entire story is simply mistaken identity. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re just seeing large deer roaming around. And as far as the eyewitness is concerned? People will say anything to get on camera. Come on…

While Jack may think the Tonopah Gold Mine is haunted, I have to disagree. I don’t think they captured anything that even remotely supports that claim. I don’t see anything tangible that shows there are trapped miners still working or the spirit of Bill Murphy still helping lost souls trapped in a fire. Both locations are neat, but I don’t think they walked with any real evidence.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted Highway – Darkman of Standing Rock and Blackstar Shadow Man – S01E02
• Haunted Highway – Bear Lake Beast and Vergas Hairy Man – S01E01
• Haunted Highway – El Dorado Hell Hounds and Georgia Skinstealer – S01E04
• Haunted Highway – Lake Murray Beast and The Donner Party – S02E04
• Haunted Highway – Island of Lost Souls – S02E01
• Haunted Highway – Utah Skinwalker and Ozark Howler – S01E03
• Ghost Mine – Secret Passage – S01E05
• Haunted Highway – Manchac Swamp and Moonville Tunnel – S02E02
• Ghost Mine – Supercharging the Supernatural – S02E08
• Ghost Mine – Wandering Spirit – S02E04