That Time WV Almost Had a School of Parapsychology

 

Salem College, ca 1912
Source: WV History on View

The former Salem College, located in Harrison County, WV, was chartered in December of 1888 and began its first term in April of 1889. For 70+ years, it was a small, local school offering a liberal arts education and training for future teachers. However, in the 1960's the school saw a huge expansion in both physical space and program offerings, marking the beginning of the modern-day Salem University as we currently know it. 

Part of this 1960's expansion included the development of a new Department of Psychology. Lucien Sansouci, a graduate of the University of Paris, was hired as department chairman, despite already being in his 70s at the time. As part of the new curriculum, Sansouci off-handedly suggested to the Dean that they include a parapsychology course.

Parapsychology, defined loosely as "the branch of psychology that deals with the investigation of psychic phenomena," had been studied in some form since the 1800's, but had only begun to be taken seriously as an academic discipline a decade earlier at Duke University. Sansouci, while maintain an open mind, was interested in the subject after having met researcher Karl Young in 1953, yet skeptical. He noted that many major European universities also offered courses in parapsychology. Yet, when he suggested it to the Dean, he didn't really believe he'd get the green light. 

Miraculously, the Dean agreed to the suggestion, and in 1969, the first parapsychology course in West Virginia was taught at Salem College. By 1970, Sansouci was teaching a daytime course on the college campus in addition to an adult education evening class in nearby Clarksburg. The night class alone drew anywhere from 50-60 participants, as it became apparent that there was a real interest in the subject.

Parapsychology would continue to be taught under the guidance of Lucien Sansouci for three years. Sansouci also lectured on the subject. In one incident that made local newspapers, Sansouci had given a lecture in Charleston about witchcraft and demonology. As part of his talk, he challenged any practitioners out there to hex him. One such person came forward and claimed that Sansouci would die at the ninth stroke of midnight, on September 4, 1971. Students and other onlookers crowded the lawns and windowsills around Sansouci's abode, but as the designated hour came and went, Sansouci remained alive and well. 

However, later that same fall, Sansouci retired from the Psychology Department at Salem and moved to Parkersburg, WV. Over the past three years, his interest in parapsychology continued to grow, and he intended to open up his own school dedicated solely to the subject. But by Spring of 1973, Sansouci was ready to throw in the towel and move to Boston. 

His idea of opening up a school of parapsychology was not well received. Despite his attempts at community outreach (he offered free marriage counseling to the community) and debating with local churches, he was still denounced publicly by those who claimed he was trying to start a cult. He even hired a young man to help him recruit students for his new school, but the man's wife alerted her church officials who claimed that the family would be persecuted by demons should he follow-up with such employment. The school was never opened, obviously, and West Virginia lost out on the chance of becoming a leader in parapsychology research. 

As someone who dreamed of becoming a parapsychologist from an early age, learning about what could have been, right here so close to home, is really depressing! I also wonder why the people of Harrison County seemed more open-minded than the people of Parkersburg, a city well-known for embracing its haunted history. Was it because parapsychology taught within the confines of a small school's accredited Psychology department was different somehow than a school dedicated solely to that one subject? 

Side Note: I cannot confirm with 100% accuracy that this is him, but when I was trying to find a follow-up on what happened with Lucien Sansouci, I found a Find-a-Grave listing that had some crazy newspaper articles attached. The dates match up (if this is him, he died in 1987 at the age of 90) and mention he was a reporter for a French language publication (which makes sense as his degree was from the University of Paris). Anyway, the articles claim that in 1924, Sansouci was caught spying on a meeting of the Ku Klux Klan in Rhode Island. They kidnapped him, beat him, and branded him on the arm and forehead with a 'K.' Here's the link; I'll let you decide if it's the same person or not:  Find-a-Grave for Lucien Sansouci

22 September 1970
The Raleigh Register

08 September 1971
The Raleigh Register

03 April 1973
The Weirton Daily Times

The Death of Cecil Hellems: A WV Penitentiary Story

 

Tombstone of Cecil Hellems at Mt. Baptist Church
Photo by Find-a-Grave Contributor, Jean Stewart
Source

It's been a while since I've posted a non-paranormal story from the former West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville. While the prison is obviously known for its haunted reputation, I like to explore the normal, everyday operations of the prison, and the lives of those who called it home. Unfortunately, death was a major part of life in the old prison. Men were murdered or died from disease. Some took their own lives. It's important to document these stories, no matter how tragic, before they are lost to history. 

Cecil H. Hellems was born on February 28, 1938, to parents Kenneth and Idella in Quinwood, WV. This would be where he would make his home the majority of his life, even attending services at the Baptist Church. Regrettably, Cecil couldn't stay out of trouble. 

In 1962, Cecil, his brother Lorren/Loren, and a third man were indicted in Greenbrier County for felony larceny in the amount of $190 from the property of Harry Woolridge and Gilmer White. He was again indicted in 1967 for forgery. It is unclear if it was this incident or a separate charge that led him to being sentenced to 1-10 years in the state penitentiary the following year for passing forged checks in Nicholas County. Either way, on November 25, 1968, Cecil became an official resident of Moundsville.

Less than two years later, tragedy struck.  During roll call on April 21, 1970, Cecil was found in his cell by guards at 6:45 am, deceased. He had allegedly strangled himself with strips of bed linen. No note was left behind, and no clues were ever given as to why he'd want to take his own life. However, no autopsy was performed, and suicide was listed as the official cause of death. 

Apparently, there had been no less than five violent deaths within the past 18 months at the penitentiary, and Cecil's death followed just weeks after the murder of another inmate, David Painter. The warden was quick to dismiss any theories that the deaths were related in any way. The two were housed in separate units in the prison and should have had minimal to no contact or connections that anyone was aware of.

Cecil's family claimed his body, and he was taken home to be buried in Mt. Baptist Church Cemetery in Carl, WV. Rev. Pearly Orrdorff presided over the funeral services. Cecil was just 32 years old. Sentenced for a non-violent offense, he met his end at one of the most violent prisons in the country. Hopefully, his soul is at peace.

*MORE WV STATE PEN ARTICLES HERE*

Death Certificate of Cecil H. Hellems
Source: WV State Archives Vital Statistics

22 April 1970
The Dominion News (Morgantown, WV)

23 April 1970
Beckley Post-Herald

Ohio River Mud Mermaids

One visual interpretation of the Mud Mermaids.
Why is he so jacked?

Back in 2021, I came across an article about a potential MERMAID spotted near Clarksburg, WV. Something was splashing around the river there, and the article notes that it could have been a sea serpent, a mermaid, or even a ghost...but was probably a skinny-dipping milkmaid taking a swim under the cover of darkness. Although this particular incident probably wasn't a very reliable sighting of an actual undiscovered creature, the idea of inland mermaids existing within Appalachia was intriguing.  However, I didn't really continue the search until June of 2025. That was when I published a blog post about Naomi Johnson of Evansville, Indiana being grabbed by a green-clawed monster while swimming in the Ohio River. That incident led me down a rabbit hole of Ohio River weirdness, which included learning about the Mud Mermaids. 

According to some sources, the Mud Mermaids first made an appearance in a 1839 Pennsylvania newspaper. Unfortunately, as of this writing, I couldn't find the article in question. The main source of information about these creatures comes from a 1894 article that was reprinted over and over again in newspapers across the nation for at least the next TWO YEARS. This article was about a pair of mud mermaids that had made their home along the Ohio River in the Vevay, Indiana area. 

Originally appearing in the Cincinnati Enquirer, the article explains that for at least four years, a pair of amphibious humanoids lived on a sandbar in the Ohio River. The sandbar was full of 'snags,' or logs and stumps placed there by snag boats trying to keep the channel clear. When the water was high enough to cover these snags is when the two creatures, presumably male and female, were said to frolic in the area. When the water was low, evidence of their carnivorous diet became apparent, as the sandbar was littered with mussel shells and the bones of fish and other small animals. They, on the other hand, retreated into an unknown lair elsewhere. 

The first sighting of the Vevay Mud Mermaids is cited as being around 1890 when a fisherman who had no idea what a mermaid was gave a description of what he saw that to others, sounded pretty much like a mermaid. It wasn't until the following year that we get the best description of the creatures. 

William Henry Johnson
Displayed by P.T. Barnum as Zip the Pinhead

Captain J.M. Ozier of Covington, KY was in charge of a traveling art exhibit and was in town to set up a showing. He heard of the mud mermaids and was determined to catch a glimpse for himself. He was granted his wish when he was able to observe the male from about 20 feet away. He sat on the bank of the river and managed to sketch the creature's features.

The merman was about 5 feet long and weighed approximately 150 pounds. He was yellowish in color, and had coarse, straggly chestnut-colored hair down his back, but his head was bald. He had four 'legs,' with the upper extremities resembling human arms, ending in claws. It didn't have a tail like what we'd normally associate with a mermaid---between its back legs it had a tapering point, almost like an alligator tail. 

Despite being bald with pointed ears like a dog, the head was said to be the most human-like feature. The timid creature is described as having no intelligence within its facial features, and the article in question even goes on to compare it to Zip, a popular 'freak' in P.T. Barnum's sideshow. Zip was an African-American man who suffered from microcephaly (commonly referred to as a pinhead during that time) who was dressed up in a fur suit and exhibited as a missing link. 

As a sidenote to these sightings, I was reminded of an article I came across when I was researching the Naomi Johnson incident. I found a newspaper article from 1903 describing a terrifying near-abduction. The family of Frank Sedler was camping along the Kentucky side of the Ohio River across from Lawrenceburg, Indiana. In the night, Frank heard screaming coming from his children's tent. He jumped up in time to see a half-human, half beast clutching his one-year old and making its way to the river. His shouting startled the creature, who luckily dropped the child before jumping into the river and swimming away. Sedler gave the opinion that it was a baboon that had escaped from a riverboat. Lawrenceburg is about 227 miles away from Vevay, and this incident happened 9 years after the infamous newspaper article brought the attention of the mud mermaids to a national audience. Still, I can't help but notice a few similarities. Anyway...

Are the Vevay Mud Mermaids a missing link in their own right, or are they the victims of mistaken identity? Or, was the whole thing just a story?

Sources and Further Reading:

The Mysterious Mud Mermaids of Vevay: Indiana's Hidden Cryptids (YouTube/Uncle Perry)

Talking With Shadows Episode 106: Indiana Mud Mermaid (YouTube/One Candle Society)

The Courier-Journal
24 July 1903

21 November 1894
The Bucyrus Evening Telegraph

The Ohio River Octo-Man

Monster Hunters!
14 February 1959
The Cincinnati Enquirer

I think we've well established that the Ohio River is one weird waterway. From the Parkersburg Sea Serpent of 1893 to the Evansville Green-Clawed Monster of 1955 (and so, so many other incidents), there doesn't seem to be a stretch of the river that doesn't have some type of strange story associated with it. In January of 1959, it was the greater Cincinnati region's turn to experience some aquatic high strangeness.

But it wasn't just the Ohio River. Cincinnati is where the Ohio, the Little Miami, and the Licking River all come together, essentially making it an ideal spot for someone...or someTHING...to travel great distances, mostly undetected. Except in this case, the Octo-Man WAS detected. 

The calls began flooding local police stations in the early hours of Friday, January 30th. The first was from a man four miles outside of the town of New Richmond. This unnamed gentleman called the police to report something indescribable emerging out of the Ohio River. The police did nothing. 

However, when a truck driver en route to Indianapolis called in a short time later saying that HE had also seen something, the reports were taken seriously. The truck driver, calling from a Kellog service station near the Little Miami claims that he was on Ohio 125 when he also saw something climb out of the river that was indescribable and unlike anything he had ever seen before. Police sent out several cars who searched in vain throughout the early morning hours. 

Reports continued to come in to multiple agencies throughout Friday morning. A "scientist working on things out of this world" allegedly saw the creature and gave us the first real description of the previously indescribable monster. He claims that as he was driving across the Licking River, the beast leaped onto the bridge. It was bipedal and large---two or three times the size of a human in its bulk, standing higher than his automobile. He notes it definitely wasn't a cat or dog. 

A further description came from a young lady who had her own encounter with the creature near the Ft. Thomas pumping station. She saw the creature emerge in and out of a creek leading into the Ohio River. In her words, it was 'like an octopus.' Thus, the moniker of the Ohio River Octo-Man was born. 

Although newspaper articles of the time didn't elaborate on this particular sighting, additional details would surface in 1978 when Dennis Pilchis, a ufologist and Bigfoot researcher, published a booklet called Bigfoot: Tales of Unexplained Creatures. The booklet goes on to say that the young woman witness actually saw the creature bent over. She said it was grayish in color, had a lopsided chest, ugly tentacles, and rolls of fat running horizontally over its bald head. 

That sounds absolutely hideous! I'm not sure what that could be, but it certainly doesn't sound like the 'official' explanation given by officials at the time. 

So, while all these reports were coming in during the wee hours of Friday morning, there was another unsettling piece to the puzzle. All the streetlights along Kellog Avenue between Coney Island and Lunken Airport went out. With the streetlights being out and reports of a strange creature being reported multiple times, the first working theory was that a vehicle had crashed along Kellog Avenue, taking out a power pole and ending up in or around the water, with the driver and/or passenger emerging from the wreck covered in mud. But, after patrol cars spent several hours in the area, finding nothing, another theory was presented. 

During this time, the Cincinnati area was receiving wind gusts of up to 40 mph. Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company reported that the strong winds blew a connection on a feeder circuit, causing the lights to go out. Further, swaying trees and logs bobbing down the churning river, all framed by the uncanny darkness led to the belief that one was seeing something...indescribable. 

Whatever the Octo-Man was or wasn't, he had apparently moved on. Reports waned and by Saturday, there were no longer any reports of a bipedal, tentacled monster roaming the Cincinnati region. 

Sources and Further Reading:

Indescribable Octo-Man, by Rob Morphy. Published 07 February 2015. Cryptopia

31 January 1959
The Cincinnati Enquirer

31 January 1959
The Cincinnati Post

30 January 1959
The Cincinnati Post

A Haunting on Wolf Creek

Whitlock Farmhouse
Source: WV Explorer

Just outside Fayetteville (WV) sits the old Whitlock Farm. It's bordered by Rt. 16 and Wolf Creek Road, the latter being a road that parallels the actual Wolf Creek. Wolf Creek is a tributary to the New River, offering several beautiful small falls along its path...as well as a history steeped in local lore. 

Throughout the 1800s, much of West Virginia was inhabited by wolves. Our mountains and rural terrain made the perfect home for these creatures, even when neighboring states were quickly eliminating their presence. As beautiful and majestic as we may see wolves today, during the 1800s they not only were a danger to humans traveling these hills and valleys alone, but they were a menace to local farmers. A lone wolf could ruin a small farm by picking off its livestock, one by one. 

Officially, the last wild wolf in West Virginia was killed in 1897 in Webster County. But that doesn't mean the spirit of these animals ever left.  Wolf Creek was so named for the abundance of living wolves in the area at one time, but now it has become associated with one ghost wolf.  People in the area tell stories of a misty white form that prowls the fields of Whitlock farm, often around the pond area. More often, the wolf flits in front of cars passing the bend in front of the old Whitlock farmhouse. 

Arrow pointing the assumed location
of the White Wolf sighting

A personal experience involving the ghostly white wolf was submitted and published to the WV Ghosts website by Brenda Calfee on July 12, 2019. About 25 years prior, Brenda and her boyfriend were driving home from a party and decided to pull off the road at a bend in front of the farmhouse for some alone time. Brenda admits that at the time, even though she was familiar with the stories of the white wolf, she was more worried about the potential of seeing a ghostly figure staring out the window of the farmhouse. 

The farmhouse ghost didn't show that night, but the white wolf did. 

The couple sat in the car with the headlights off. In the pitch dark, Brenda noticed a white form slowly circling the car, and movement in the nearby tall grass. At first, she thought it was an illusion, caused by the dark, and further, her boyfriend hadn't seen anything. However, after telling him to be quiet and listen for a minute, an unearthly howl was heard, and the creature was directly in front of Brenda's door! She could see its eyes looking at them but was paralyzed in fear. 

Her boyfriend managed to come to his senses, start the car, and scream out of the area. They didn't stop until they were a mile away. 

But why would a ghost haunt a farm? It's possible that the animal was killed by a farmer, as so many other wolves were, and its spirit is somehow trapped in the area where it took its last breath. It may be a guardian spirit of some sort, watching over the old farm, or even the general Wolf Creek area as a reminder of man's impact on nature. Wolves once ruled the area before settlers encroached upon their land, slaughtering them by the hundreds. Or maybe...it really is just a trick of the eye. I'll let you decide!

In 2016, the abandoned farm property was purchased and is now the home of New Roots Community Farm. No word yet on if the ghost(s) has been seen in recent years. If you have any additional stories or information, I'd love to hear them. 

Sources and Further Reading:

The White Wolf of Whitlock Farm, by Brenda Calfee (WVGhosts.com)

Ben Gustafson and Danille Elise Christensen. "New Roots Community Farm." Clio: Your Guide to History. December 10, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2026. https://theclio.com/entry/159657

 

Ohio's Human-Faced Horror

 

Village of College Corner
Source: FaceBook

Established in 1811, the village of College Corner straddles the Ohio and Indiana state line. Named for its proximity to the present-day Miami University, which was founded two years prior, College Corner has been a pretty sleepy little town, for the most part. However, in the summer of 1892, it would be home to one really weird cryptid. 

There was no official name ever given to the beast, most likely because those who were unfortunate enough to witness it were left flabbergasted. Some called it a devil, while others didn't even attempt to classify it. Those who managed to eke out some sort of description had this to say:

The creature was 4-5 feet tall, white and winged, with an estimated wingspan of 6 feet across. It had a HUMAN face, framed by long, white hair which covered its head. The strangest detail was the appearance of tusks protruding from the human face. 

Harpy Eagle
Source

One gentleman who saw the creature claimed that as he was walking one night, the beast seemed to appear up from the roadbed. He got a good look at its tusks, glimmering in the moonlight. As the man reached for the revolver in his pocket, intending on firing upon it, the creature grinned at him in such a way that the flight mechanism in fight or flight took over and he booked it down the road. Stopping to catch his breath, he turned and saw the creature had vanished. 

If we assume that there is more to this story than just a hoax, then I can't even begin to theorize what these people were seeing. The closest thing in nature I could find would be the harpy eagle. Harpy eagles are NOT native to southwestern Ohio but could have found itself there in a variety of ways. 

Harpy eagles are SPOOKY to look at because they do have very human-like faces. They're also pretty big birds. One could easily stand an estimated 4 feet tall with a 6 ft wingspan. And younger harpy eagles are mostly white in color. From the right angle, even the adults may appear mostly white, as their bellies and underside of their wings is white. They don't, however, have any features that resemble tusks, but this may be explained if the bird was carrying something in its beak that was mistaken for tusks. 

Re-creation of Piasa mural in Alton, Illinois
Source: Wikipedia (Burfalcy)

From a folkloric perspective, the most common human-faced bird in local mythology would be the Piasa Bird. The origin and etymology of the Piasa Bird is a whole other rabbit hole, which I won't include in this blog entry, but check out the image above. This is the recreation of a cliffside mural found in Alton, Illinois (just one state over). The Piasa absolutely has a head with a human face and what appear to be tusks!

Was the College Corner monster just a story inspired by the established folklore of the nearby Piasa Bird, or could there have actually been more than one of these creatures physically existing in the Midwest? Was it a misidentification of a known animal, or was the whole thing one big hoax? 

30 June 1892
The Journal News (Hamilton, OH)

Christmas In July! The Christmas Pardon of John Clayter and the Paint Creek Miners

Cellblock ca 1914
Source: WV History on View

The concept of Christmas in July celebrations have seemingly fallen out of favor and replaced with Summerween. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Halloween and celebrate it all year long. But, I'd also like to keep the Christmas in July tradition alive by sharing another tradition with you: The annual Christmas pardon at the WV State Penitentiary.

During a time when the life expectancy wasn't all that great, especially for inmates, and over-crowding at such facilities was a huge problem, it wasn't uncommon for the Governor of West Virginia to issue a pardon to either the oldest or longest serving inmate at the state penitentiary in Moundsville. 

In 1912, that honor was bestowed upon a man named John Clayter. Clayter had been at the penitentiary for 16 years, 11 months, and 8 days. On January 17, 1896, he had been sentenced in Fayette County for the murder of mine guard, J.W. Larkin several months before. 

John was 55 years old at the time of his release and was said to be in peak mental and physical health. It would seem that the last 16 years hadn't done much to weaken him in any way. And although he had no black marks on his records, the newspapers noted that the penitentiary staff were not convinced that he should receive that year's pardon. 

Striking Miners
Source: WV History on View

An additional seven pardons would be issued that year, all of which were inarguably deserved. In April of 1912, a major labor dispute, known as the Paint Creek/Cabin Creek Strike began. The strike, which would turn violent at times, led to numerous deaths and arrests as martial law was declared. In 1912, seven men who were arrested under martial law were pardoned that Christmas. Thirteen individuals involved were not. The photo above is a collection of mugshots from striking miners. This clash would set off a series of Mine Wars, leading to more infamous incidents such as the Battle of Blair Mountain. Check out this Wikipedia article for more information: (Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike 1912)

Those pardoned were: W.Y. Tucker, Robert Hartigan, James T. Akers, E.M. Osborne, L.A. Mays, Charles Williams, and Bud Clendenning. All had been given a sentence of 1-5 years for their involvement in the strike. And, because of WV Governor Glasscock, they'd be home for Christmas.

Merry Christmas in July, everyone! And if you're interested in MORE articles about the West Virginia State Penitentiary and its haunted history, check out my WV STATE PENITENTIARY PAGE. 

25 December 1912
The Wheeling Intelligencer

24 December 1912
The Wheeling Intelligencer

24 December 1912
The Fairmont West Virginian 

Huntington's Mischievous Monkey

 

In the Autmn of 1915, a little monkey named Mary Jane wreaked havoc in the streets of Huntington, WV. 

 

In Early October, Mary Jane, who was owned by the Huntington Police Department, escaped her cage at headquarters and went on a month-long mischief-making romp throughout the city. At first, Mary Jane stayed fairly close by to the police department, jumping from rooftop to rooftop and scurrying overtop streets via telephone lines. No real effort was made to capture Mary Jane until the mischievous little monkey turned to a life of breaking and entering and petty theft. 

Mary Jane wasn't content just to play cat-and-mouse with her former owners. She was heading towards a life of crime. She terrorized the local citizens when she started entering their houses. Once she had found entry into a home, she would go through the residents' drawers, pull pictures off the walls, and even steal purses and other small items. Sometimes all it took was her to show up unannounced in some poor, unsuspecting woman's boudoir.  

The crime spree would not last long. Chief Davis ordered Mary Jane be captured. Shortly after, she was found in the pantry of a local home by City Turnkey, Jack Cole. Mary Jane was busy smearing jam all over her face at the time of the apprehension and apparently returned to her 'prison' without further incident. 

I've yet to find any information on how Mary Jane became a permanent resident of the Huntington Police Department, but ironically, a similar situation was playing out about an hour away in Charleston. The Charleston Daily Mail ran an article on December 18th pleading for someone to come get Jim and give him a home. 

Jim was the pet monkey of Hubert Kelly, fireman with the central fire department in Charleston. He had bought the little monkey and had quickly come to the conclusion that it was too much to handle and was causing too much mischief. The animal was being held at the fire department after Jim's admittance that his attempt of pet ownership was a failure. 

PSA Time: All pets, especially exotic ones with special needs, are a lifelong commitment. Please make sure you are able to provide for the needs of your specific animal before adopting---including safe and adequate housing, exercise, and mental stimulation. There have been a lot of 'cryptid' sightings over the years that can probably be explained by exotic animals that either escaped captivity or were dumped by their owners when it became too difficult to care for them. I hope Mary Jane and Jim lived out the rest of their lives in loving environments suited to their unique needs. They wouldn't be the only monkeys to make the news, though. I'll be sharing some similar stories in the near future, so keep an eye on Theresa's Haunted History! 

12 November 1915
Charleston Daily Mail

13 November 1915
The West Virginian

18 December 1915
Charleston Daily Mail

Blue Orbs at the Bluegrass Inn Motel

Bluegrass Inn (Google Street View)

Today's blog post is more of a Fright Bite, a little snippet of spooky, if you will. I just could not find out a whole lot about either the history or the hauntings of a little roadside motel known as the Bluegrass Inn of Ashland, Kentucky. But, here's what I've got!

I learned about this location's ghostly reputation while browsing the Haunted Places website. A submitter by the name of Jason B. reported that while staying at the Bluegrass Inn, in rooms 129 and 127, a series of odd events occurred. There was a feeling of dread, which caused the hair on the arms to stand. Softball-sized light blue orbs were observed. The witness even reported receiving three fingernail scratches down his back, which weren't deep, but burned. 

This little tidbit has been shared on a couple of different sites that curate paranormal phenomenon, including a page called Kentucky Haunted Houses. On that entry, an anonymous comment was left in March 2021 by another witness to the weirdness at the Bluegrass Inn. 

Airline Recruitment Ad
18 April 1984
The Big Sandy News

This second witness reported that room 205 may also have paranormal activity. When staying there, unexplained noises and feelings of not being alone were common. The witness admits that both of these examples could be explained away by the setting being a busy motel with people constantly coming and going---but it couldn't explain the weirdest thing. The witness reported their pillow being aggressively tugged away from them at night.  

The Bluegrass Inn Motel is located at 1835 Winchester Avenue and is within walking distance to the historic downtown Ashland. It's situated between the river and the historic Central Park area, making it an ideal location for anyone staying in the area short term or long term and worried about transportation and access. 

I didn't have much luck with Kentucky property records, but the inn has been there AT LEAST since 1968. I suspect it's older, but that's the earliest mention of it I could find. Throughout the 1970s it was known as the Henry Clay Motel. In the 1980s, it was known as the Colonial Inn Motel. For over 50 years, the motel has been a happening location. The patio hosted a bar/restaurant called Carl's, where a lot of civic meetings took place. I found newspaper snippets of campaign rallies, a seminar/recruitment event for an airline, and even a trucking school, all listing the motel as base of operations. 

Congressman Hubbard Announces Bid for KY Governor
10 December 1978
The Courier-Journal 

I also found a lot of private individuals listing the motel as their home address. With that information came several obituaries and several arrest records. Most of the arrest records and even recent complaints have been for drugs or petty theft. However, in March of 2025 and argument between two men in the parking lot left one man dead. After an argument around 6:15 am on March 12, Christopher Hammond shot and killed Barry "Justin" Burton in the parking lot of the motel. 

Today, the motel is still apparently known to deal more with longer term rentals on a weekly/monthly basis, as opposed to catering to tourists. These longer term rentals offer a place to stay for out of town workers, those who cannot afford or qualify for traditional housing, and those being helped by local churches and charity groups after experiencing being unhoused. 

When you have such a high turnover rate of people in and out of a location, many of whom are most likely going through negative emotions, it's natural to think that some of that energy lingers on and may manifest in different ways. I'd love to hear if anyone has additional stories from the Bluegrass Inn. Despite the frustration of researching and investigating hotels/motels, I still love a good ghost story from these places and would love to hear if anyone else has had any experiences. You can comment below or find me over on Facebook at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State! 

Hinton's Flying Saucer...Debunked??

Hinton, WV (ca 1940)
Source: WV History on View

Back in July 1947, when the world was abuzz with news that a flying saucer...or was it a weather balloon?...had crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, a woman in Hinton, WV was also claiming to have seen visitors from outer space. The local papers reported that Mrs. Lee Ramsey of 419 Summers Street was on her front porch one Saturday afternoon when she noticed a series of flying saucers about the size of a small plate, coming up over Cemetery Hill directly following a flyover from an airplane. She called for her husband, but by the time he came out to look, they were gone. 

About six saucers were observed in total, and they were standing up on edge. 

I shared this story here on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State in August of 2022...but it seems as if I may have jumped the gun and failed to do my due diligence. After nearly four years, while doing some unrelated research, I came across ANOTHER article with two more witnesses to that incident. Unfortunately, the two additional witnesses, while corroborating that an event did take place, both claimed that it wasn't actually a flying saucer or UFO. 

Mrs. Fannie Johnson of 615 Ballengee St. was on HER porch a short distance away at the same time as Mrs. Ramsey. However, she got a somewhat better look. She noticed that after a plane flew over from Cemetery Hill, it was followed by something black, and then more of them. She does note that she felt the items were paper. 

Mrs. H.C. Porter of Greenbrier Drive agreed. She and her neighbor, Mrs. Lough, also saw items falling from the sky and chalked it up to being a plane throwing out handbills. 

The consensus agreed that a plane was throwing out some type of advertising leaflet or handbills, a conclusion that was printed in the 09 July 1947 edition of the Hinton Daily News. It certainly does sound like Mrs. Ramsey's description of what she saw was nothing more than pieces of paper. The size fits, and the description of them standing on edge, cutting through the air also makes sense. 

What doesn't make sense to me is why would only so few leaflets be dropped? And if they were actually part of an advertising campaign, why didn't any of the ladies who witnessed the drop actually RECEIVE a leaflet? I've spent a little time poking around and couldn't find any additional information about anyone coming forward to say that they had picked up one of the flyers, or any businesses coming forward to say that they were the ones dropping them. 

The answer to that may have come a few weeks later. The Beckley Post-Herald, a newspaper from nearby Beckley, WV, warned citizens that the city was about to be inundated with 'flying saucers' about the size of a dinner plate. The 'flying saucers' were to bear the insignia of the Civilian Air Patrol and be dropped from a CAP plane. 

Mrs. Ramsey may have been influenced by the news of the Roswell incident and misidentified a normal event, or maybe there is more to the story. While this was cited as being Hinton's first UFO/Flying Saucer report, it certainly would NOT be its last. UFOs continued to be seen over the city and surrounding areas, with notable events in 1948, 1950, and 1952. You can read all about those sightings right here on the blog. But, whether or not any were of actual visitors from outer space, it's important to keep your eyes to the skies. You never know what's going to fall from it. 

Sources and Further Reading:

Lee Ramsey Blog Post (Original Story)

Hinton Furniture Store Uses Flying Saucer Story in Ad

1948 Monroe County Report

April 1950 UFO Report

July 1952 UFO Flap Comes to Hinton

1958 Talcott Report

09 July 1947
Hinton Daily News

10 July 1947
The Leader

31 July 1947
Beckley Post-Herald

Silver Gap Railroad Ghost

Virginian 737 (Close enough, maybe?)
Source: Locomotive Fandom

Today's blog post is inspired by a true paranormal experience submitted to the WV Ghosts website by Clara Beverage and published on August 6, 2021. 

One night, the author and her friends found themselves out way past dark, walking the desolate railway tracks between Oak Hill and Dothan, WV (Fayette County). Although it was dark---VERY dark---there was enough light that they could still see the path along the tracks well enough to make it back home to the Oak Hill side. 

About midway between Dothan and Oak Hill is a small valley known as Silver Gap. It is in this area that the group had a shocking encounter. Up the hill from them, overlooking the tracks, was a wispy, gray form, about the same height as a human. The form remained motionless for some time, but as the group got the courage to hurry past it, it descended the embankment and took position on the tracks. 

Again, the form stood motionless for some time, as it seemingly watched them. Then, it began moving away from them, down the track, slowly fading until it disappeared completely in the darkness. At that point, the unearthly scream of a terrorized man echoed out over the valley. 

Understandably, the group fled and didn't slow down until they saw the lights of Round Hill Road. 

Curious as to who this ghostly specter may have been, I did some cursory research. Unfortunately, I didn't uncover a whole lot. The railroad tracks between Dothan and Oak Hill were part of a new line of the Virginia Railway that opened in 1907 as a way to connect to points along the already established Norfolk and Western Line. Over the years, the area was no stranger to train wrecks, some fatal and some not, but I only found one that specifically mentioned the Silver Gap area. 

On November 9, 1948, at about 11:15 pm, Engine No. 734, a U.S. Mallet type, was carrying 10 loaded cars, 11 unloaded cars, and a caboose. It was traveling between Elmore and Page, working several mines along the way when it derailed. The engine overturned against an embankment at a 45-degree angle, leaving Engineer Bert Kelly and Fireman J. Howard Griffith shaken up, but uninjured. It took about 18 hours for crews to get things moving again, but business resumed as usual. It was believed that the 'pony truck' (a set of small lead wheels behind the cowcatcher) derailed, causing the accident. 

We understand that a haunting doesn't always need to be associated with a death. Sometimes, an event can be so steeped in emotion (good or bad) that it can leave its imprint on an environment. Perhaps the screaming the group heard that night was an echo caught in time of Kelly or Griffith, shouting for his life, assuming he was about to meet his maker. Perhaps the ghostly figure was a small piece of one of the men that was left at the site to bear witness to the area where a tragedy almost occurred...and warn others away from the same. 

Or maybe there is a death associated with the Silver Gap section of the railroad. Any number of train derailments, trains hitting a pedestrian, or other deaths in the area and being lost to history is entirely possible. I'll keep looking for more information, but until then, if you're passing through the Silver Gap between Dothan and Oak Hill on a dark night, watch out for a human-sized column of fog!

Sources and Further Reading:

Silver Gap Ghost Near Oak Hill, by Clara Beverage (WVGhosts.com)

Topographic Map of Silver Gap

11 November 1948
Beckley Post-Herald

10 November 1948
The Raleigh Register

15 July 1907
Hinton Daily News

Disappearing Jesus

 

Disappearing Jesus
July 2026

It's not often that a city will have TWO major cemetery urban legends, but Ashland, Kentucky is a spooky, history-filled river town that is no stranger to the unknown. A few weeks ago I brought you the story of the Weeping Woman of Ashland Cemetery, a funerary statue known to come to life and sob uncontrollably in grief. Today, we'll be discussing the Disappearing Jesus of East Ashland Memorial Gardens!

Near the entrance to East Ashland Memorial Gardens is an Italianate marble statue of Jesus Christ. Known as a Christus Memorial, the statue is modeled after the original 11-foot marble statue of Christ sculpted in 1833 by Bertel Thorvaldsen. These were popular additions to memorial garden cemeteries around the time that the East Ashland Cemetery began its modern expansion from the old Williams Cemetery (which dated back to the late 1800s) to its modern inception in 1955. 

Shortly after the statue was in place, those traveling along the main road in front of the cemetery noticed something rather odd. Sometimes Jesus was there, on his pedestal in all his glory. And, sometimes when they looked again, he had disappeared!

The story of a Disappearing Jesus statue was so widespread that it earned a lengthy article and photo in the July 21, 1968 edition of the Ironton Tribune. Written by staff writer, Leigh Ferguson, the article goes on to interview Edward H. Scott, who was President of Golden Oaks and East Ashland Memorial Gardens, Inc. (Golden Oaks is an adjoining cemetery property, which has a similar statue, lacking a haunted reputation)

Scott fully admits that the statue in question has a quirky disposition for disappearing, but there's a perfectly natural explanation for it. It is simply an optical illusion caused by the color of the statue blending in against the horizon. It all depends on angle and timing. The phenomenon only works after dark. 

Back of Statue
July 2026

As the cemetery is closed to visitors after dark, the phenomenon is mainly observed by those driving by after sunset. Keep a steady gaze on the statue as you go by, and watch it simply disappear from view! For decades, carloads of teens and other curious onlookers drove by in hopes of seeing it for themselves. I thought it was interesting that Scott noted the urban legend had not attracted vandals to the cemetery. For the most part, everyone remained respectful of the sacred space. The only thing they'd notice is paper cups littering the area around the entrance.

Obviously, I wanted to test this out for myself, but I only had the opportunity to be in town during daylight hours. It was daylight, but it was a rainy, overcast day so I thought that may work to my advantage. The sky WAS very similar in color to the statue, after all. I entered the cemetery coming from the Golden Oaks side and immediately saw the statue to my right, facing away. I drove around the interior of the cemetery, which is BEAUTIFUL, by the way, but I could never get an angle where the statue disappeared. I stopped to take a few photos from different angles, but I could not make the statue seemingly disappear...until I was ready to leave.

I turned left out of the cemetery onto 55th Street, which is the opposite of the way I came in. As I was driving away, I glanced in my passenger side mirror back at the cemetery and was absolutely shocked. Where I was almost 100% sure the statue should have been was an empty pedestal! I slammed on my brakes, turned around and looked and made the realization. I wasn't looking where the statue was located. At the angle I was at, I was seeing the pillars at the entrance of the cemetery, which obviously do not have Jesus atop. 

Hopefully, I'll make it back that way soon after dark and can test out the legend more fully. I'll drive by going both directions, something I also failed to do during my first trip and maybe instead of mistaking a different pillar, I'll actually witness the optical illusion for myself!

Sources and Further Reading:

Find-A-Grave East Ashland/Golden Oaks

East Ashland Memorial Gardens Website

Christus Memorial-Wikipedia

21 July 1968
Ironton Tribune (Ironton, OH)

Please Don't Trespass

Photo from Alamy.com

Paranormal investigation can be a dangerous hobby. As investigators, we put ourselves in a position where we're exposed to a wide array of safety concerns. We traipse around old buildings with steep stairs, structural damage, BATS...and we're doing so, walking around in the dark, loaded down with equipment. I could go on and on with all the dangers we face in this field. There's a lot of factors we can try to minimize and control, but inherently, there will always be risks.

One way we can minimize quite a few risks is simple. Don't trespass on private property. Don't be where you don't have permission. Often, access to a location is denied/restricted based on liability issues---abandoned properties are fun to explore, but they aren't safe. Other times, a location isn't deemed dangerous because its abandoned....it is dangerous because it is NOT. 

Such was the case of University of Cincinnati freshman, Jack W. Langhorst. Jack, 18 years old, and two of his buddies were at a drive-in restaurant when they met up with some girls. The conversation turned spooky, as the girls began sharing stories of 'haunted houses' they knew about in the area. 

The group decided that a little ghost hunting was more fun than hanging out at the drive-in, so the entire group of nine piled into their cars and drove to one of the houses. The house chosen was a 150 year old farmhouse near Ross, Ohio. They parked in the front yard, and Jack got out. Showing his bravery in front of the girls and his guy pals, he boldly walked up to the house and entered. Seconds later, two shotgun blasts rang out. 

Jack staggered out of the house and collapsed. He had been shot in both the neck and the back and passed away from his injuries. The shooter was 82 year old Harry Demoret, who owned the home. Demoret claimed a group of kids had broken into his property just a few days ago, and believed the group was there to rob him. No charges were filed and this incident became just another example of a tragic accident that could have been prevented. Jack is buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Cincinnati. 

Before you head out in search of ghosts or just a spooky good time, please remember to make smart choices. Obtain permission, scout out the location in daylight hours, and never go alone. You can check out my article below for more info on the dangers of trespassing. Stay spooky, ya'll. 

SAFETY: GETTING PERMISSION TO INVESTIGATE

 

15 January 1962
The Ironton Tribune (Ironton, OH)

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