Our Favorite Ghost Story: The Black Forest Haunting

Summary

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Sightings: “Our Favorite Ghost Story: The Black Forest Haunting”

Podcast: Sightings
Host: REVERB | QCODE
Episode Date: December 1, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Sightings revisits the infamous Black Forest Haunting, considered by the hosts as the most chilling ghost story they've covered. The hosts, McLeod Andrews and Brian Sigley, recount the harrowing account of a television crew’s investigation into reported hauntings in a Colorado log home, and then deep-dive into the broader lore, reality, and aftermath of the case. By blending personal narratives, fact, and a critical look at both skepticism and belief, this episode explores the thin line between supernatural myth and real terror.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting Up the Haunting

• Introduction of the Case (01:37–04:09)

  • McLeod, as a former “segment producer” on a paranormal TV show, describes his usual expectation that cases are “smoke and mirrors.” However, a submission from Black Forest caught his attention for its seemingly unexplainable footage: moving orbs and ghostly faces captured on video.
  • Quote: “A second shot revealed two more orbs... then a third shot showed four of them undulating through the air like ghostly serpents to my eye... I’d never seen anything like it before.” – McLeod (06:16)

• Initial Skepticism and Expertise (07:43)

  • Footage is reviewed by a top special effects artist, who admits some anomalies “would be difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce... many seemed to defy the laws of optics entirely.”

2. The TV Crew Investigation

• Arrival and First Impressions (09:54–10:14)

  • The crew (McLeod, Clay, Nicole, and psychic Gilly) arrives to an “oppressive sense of malaise”—the first hint something is amiss.

• The Jones Family's Experiences

  • Dave Jones, the homeowner (pseudonym; real name “Lee” revealed later), describes a once-idyllic home turned “nightmare” by unrelenting phenomena:
    • Flashes of lights
    • Loud, unexplained booms
    • Rattling chains, orchestral sounds
    • Overpowering chemical smells
    • Children seeing shadows every night
    • More than 60 “break-ins” captured on video, with police reaching the point of not responding (11:30–13:00).

• First Paranormal Encounter (13:50)

  • Minutes after cameras are active, orbs appear again, followed by a loud, house-shaking boom—all documented on video.

  • Quote: “As I realized what was happening here might actually be real, I shuddered.” – McLeod (13:54)

3. The Walkthrough and Escalation

• The Psychic’s Walkthrough (16:33–18:50)

  • Gilly experiences intense discomfort, unusual compared to her usual showmanship.

  • The crew detects a “burning chemical smell” (matching prior claims) and a thermal imaging camera picks up a human-shaped anomaly.

  • In the master bedroom, Gilly declares a century-old mirror to be a “gateway to the other side.”

  • Quote: “This is the source... a gateway to the other side.” – Gilly (19:54)

• Apparition Attack (20:11–21:16)

  • A dark shape appears on thermal imaging, projecting a dagger-like appendage toward Gilly; Nicole disrupts the scene, the apparition vanishes, and a loud crash is heard as camera equipment falls.

  • Quote: “I think we’d pissed off an actual ghost.” – McLeod (21:16)

4. Physical Manifestations and Aftermath

• Interview and Possession (21:30–23:00)

  • During an interview, Paula (Dave’s wife) reports “feeling held down,” and Nicole experiences numbness and terror, claiming “something went inside her.” She must be rushed outside and to the hospital.

  • McLeod, left alone, sees a glowing orb with his naked eye, chases it with a camera into the bedroom, and witnesses dozens of faces in the mirror before being knocked out by an unseen force.

  • Quote: “A massive shadow rose in the room behind me. And then, all of a sudden, a stabbing pain ripped through the back of my head and everything went black.” – McLeod (23:45)

  • Memorable Moment: The discovery that the only lasting “injury” is a shadowy figure captured on camera plunging a “shadowy dagger” into McLeod’s head.

5. Epilogue and Personal Impact

• Long-term Effects (28:00)
  • McLeod suffers daily headaches and a newfound fear of the dark, never returns to paranormal programming, but keeps the eerie photo as a memento—a tangible reminder, “Nothing in this world is a joke.”

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Reality Check: Exploring Fact and Folklore

1. Local Perspective and Real-Life Ties (29:28–33:16)

• Brian reveals he grew up near the real Black Forest house and even knew one of its residents personally, confirming the reality of the site and its haunted reputation.

  • Quote: “This story actually happened a few miles away from where I grew up... I went to high school with one of the kids from the family that lived in the house.” – Brian (29:44)

• Confirmation that all phenomena described were reported, though names and the segment producer’s personality were changed for narrative effect.

• The family, the “Lees,” remained in the house despite everything, displaying “nerves of steel” (33:19).

2. The Evidence & TV Documentation (33:42–36:37)

• Reported collection of “3,000 photos and some 400 tapes” of anomalies by the family patriarch.

• The original TV show, Sightings, investigated with a psychic (Echo Bodine), confirmed strange happenings including orbs, faces, and a “spirit named Tom.”

• Repeated visits by TV crews, continued claims of phenomena (including “possession” and temperature drops).

• Quote: “Experts are like, we don’t know how they’re doing it. This defies the laws of optics.” – Brian (35:46)

3. Theories: Paranormal or Not? (37:39–42:21)

• Theories range from an actual haunting (including a “rainbow vortex,” a spiritual passageway said to exist only in three places worldwide), to hoax, to government experiments with psychic warfare and laser holograms.

• Memorable Moment: The family claims to have had Native American shamans declare the house sits on a “rainbow vortex”—“a passageway between this world and the spirit world” (38:17).

• Despite multiple TV crews, skepticism, and even a state senator’s investigation, the family never moved.

  • Quote: “It’s been reported that [the father] thinks the government is somehow involved with this and testing laser holograms or psychic warfare technology on his family.” – Brian (42:21)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On skepticism and reality:
  “At least it was usually [smoke and mirrors]. See what I did there? It’s called a teaser.” – McLeod (03:46)

• On the lasting psychological trauma:
  “I still get headaches every day. I shudder at the smallest things and have a newfound problem with the dark... I suppose it’s fitting.” – McLeod (27:36)

• On the family’s resilience:
  “This family is nerves of steel.” – Brian (33:19)

• On personal connection:
  “Because there’s this kind of weird, tangential connection for me to this story. I know the area. I knew some of the people... I have to believe that something was happening on this property, whether it was ghosts or just... All I can say is that now it’s become a really pretty famous, haunting story because it was featured on TV all these times.” – Brian (40:15)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:37 – McLeod sets up “what happens when a jaded camera crew sees the real deal.”
• 03:19 – Introduction of “the Void” TV show and their approach to paranormal “entertainment.”
• 06:16 – McLeod is hooked by Black Forest’s strange orb footage.
• 07:43 – Special effects expert: phenomena would be “difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce.”
• 09:54 – Arrival at the house, first feelings of unease.
• 11:30–13:00 – Family history: series of escalating supernatural events.
• 13:54 – First on-site orb manifestation changes McLeod’s skepticism.
• 16:33 – Psychic walkthrough, thermal anomaly appears.
• 19:54 – Gilly identifies the master bedroom mirror as a “gateway.”
• 20:11–21:16 – Apparition attack witnessed through thermal imaging.
• 23:45 – McLeod’s direct encounter, blackout, and aftermath.
• 29:44 – Brian shares personal connection to the case.
• 35:46 – Special effects experts baffled by phenomenon.
• 38:17 – “Rainbow vortex” explanation from Native American shamans.
• 42:21 – Government tech theory.
• 43:15 – Hosts invite listeners to share their theories.

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Tone and Style

The episode blends wry skepticism (especially from McLeod), personal vulnerability (both hosts), and story-driven immersion with a distinct “this could be real” tension. Exchanges feature both skepticism and open-mindedness, and critical humor:

• “I wanted to believe this guy was real. He reminds me of, you know, producers I’ve met at parties before.” (30:46)
• “But, like, out of love. As with all producers.” (30:56)

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Conclusion

This episode stands as both a compelling ghost story and a reflective examination of why tales like the Black Forest Haunting endure. The hosts’ personal stakes, the detailed retelling of the TV crew’s frightening experiences, and the layers of folklore, fact, and speculation leave even seasoned skeptics “officially spooked.”

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For Listeners:

If you grew up near Colorado Springs or have insight into the Black Forest Haunting, the hosts request you reach out via their social media. Next week: the team revisits their favorite alien story—stay tuned.

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[End of Summary]

Transcript

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[McLeod Andrews]

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[Brian Sigley]

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[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

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[McLeod Andrews]

Ghost hunting shows on television aren't exactly known for their realism. Some might say they have a tendency to over dramatize or even fabricate their scares outright. But what happens when a jaded camera crew actually encounters the real deal and comes face to face with a haunting that terrifies them more than their smoke and mirrors ever could? Welcome to Sightings, the series that takes you inside the world's most mysterious supernatural events. I'm McLeod.

[Brian Sigley]

And I'm Brian. And today we are going to be revisiting my very favorite haunting story that we've told. It happened in my hometown of Colorado Springs, and it is probably the most chilling ghost story that I have ever heard.

[McLeod Andrews]

That's right, we're heading to the darkest pockets of the Black forest, where in 1992, an unwitting television crew learns the true meaning of the phrase real life haunting. Find out how on this episode of Sightings. How's it going there. My name is Micah Pullman. I live in Los Angeles, I work in tv, I like surfing, and I promise this isn't a call in dating ad. It's just how things work in my business.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

You intro the protagonist, drop in fun.

[McLeod Andrews]

Facts that make them feel like a neighbor or even a family friend, then dive into their story. And this story, my story, happens to be a hell of a thing. But I'm probably getting ahead of myself. For this to make any sense at all, I've got to set up the world. By which of course I mean the world of the Void. I'm sure you've heard of it. The paranormal investigation show that sends camera crews to investigate supernatural phenomena.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

The ratings juggernaut with the catchy theme song, this one.

[McLeod Andrews]

And I was its lead segment producer, which meant I chose the jump cuts and music cues that creeped millions right out of their seats. Because that was the point, you know, Entertainment and chills every week at 9pm Eastern. Even if it was all smoke and mirrory bullshit. At least it usually was. See what I did there? It's called a teaser.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Now most of my weeks at the.

[McLeod Andrews]

Void usually started the same way. I'd come in, drink my coffee, then roll the dice with that week's submission tapes. We always had a boatload of mailed in videos about how such and such house was haunted or how so and so creature lived under the town bridge. One guy even accompanied his tape with his teeth that fell out after he was allegedly abducted by aliens. Of course he wasn't and it turned out to be a drunken lunatic, but he still made for a hell of a convincing segment. Oh yeah, we shot it. But this particular Monday morning there was an entire box waiting on my desk. Now I half expected to find a dead animal inside because yes, that that happened once before too, but was relieved when I found that it contained only videotapes and a handwritten note that I didn't even bother reading. Instead, I picked up the top cassette, the one with the watch first sticker, and popped it in my bay, vowing to give it just 30 seconds to determine if the entire box was worth my time or not. Then I pressed play and 30 minutes later I was still watching. The tape started off as so many do, with a cabin in the woods, though in this case, cabin might be a bit of an understatement. The place was a well appointed log home with a four car garage and green trim that echoed the pine trees looming above its gabled roof. It was gorgeous. Dave Jones, a middle aged man with a Great face for tv stepped into frame and said that his family in Black Forest, Colorado had been besieged by non stop paranormal activity and he was turning to the void because his dream home had become a nightmare. I liked that turn of phrase. It could even work as a segment title. But I needed to see the goods. And the clock was ticking. So as the video cut to a wide shot of shadowy forest at night, I searched the frame for any. Anything ghostly or eerie. But no. Saw nothing at all. I checked my watch. 30 seconds was almost up. My finger was just reaching for the stop button when I noticed it. A wisp of light traveling across the frame. I leaned in close and realized that it was a pale orb of some kind streaking through the forest with a ghostly tail following it. A second shot revealed two more orbs moving, moving through space, seemingly dancing among the tree trunks. Then a third shot showed four of them undulating through the air like ghostly serpents to my eye. Yeah, they looked good. Real, even. I mean, I'd never seen anything like it before, and trust me, I'd seen everything. So I kept watching. Only to find the orbs give way to something much more chilling. A new shot panned across a well appointed bedroom. Strange thumps rattled my speakers as though someone were stomping on the ceiling above that bedroom. Then the frame settled on an old mirror situated above a dresser. A voice said, wait for it. So I waited on the edge of my seat. I mean, shit, this was good. Then. Then the mirror changed. It grew foggy, as if a smoky haze had swept across it. And then through the haze, I saw the faces. Six ghostly faces had filled that mirror. At first, I wasn't sure I was actually seeing what my eyes were registering. But as I paused the tape and enhanced the image, my jaw dropped. Do you see what I'm doing? It was literally my mouth hung open. I immediately took the tape to the guy who does our special effects.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

He's the real deal and has worked.

[McLeod Andrews]

On movies you'd know. Big ones. So I sat him down, showed him the footage and asked him what he thought. He sat in silence for a long time, then said that most of the anomalies would be difficult, if not impossible to reproduce. In fact, many seemed to defy the laws of optics entirely. So it was a great fake, I thought. An excellent fake, even. And I was the only one who had it. Within 48 hours, I was on a flight to Colorado Springs. Joining me were Clay, my camera op, and Nicole, my pa. They were as ruthlessly efficient as I was, so I suspected we'd be in and out within 24 hours.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

As the flight attendants did drink service.

[McLeod Andrews]

I ran through my game plan. We'd get interviews, of course, and would try to replicate the anomalies that the family had already caught on tape. Naturally, I didn't expect that to happen without a bit of TV magic, but that happened to be my specialty. Perfect example. We did an episode on the Jersey Devil, this monster from the armpit of the armpit state. And at one point, someone on camera said they heard something above us. So we panned up and spotted this spooky shadow set against the full moon. And while I'm not saying this shadow was a cardboard cutout, I'm not exactly saying it wasn't. Hey, don't judge. I mean, Christ, we weren't 60 Minutes.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Soon enough, we were on the ground.

[McLeod Andrews]

In Colorado, where the final member of our team was already waiting for us. Gilly was a psychic medium and dressed for the part. Ethereal dress, heavy makeup, wide eyes, you know the deal. And while she claimed to have actual metaphysical abilities, all I cared about was her talent for putting on a damn good show. So we all piled into a rental car and began the trek to the Black Forest. As we drove, Nicole gave us the rundown of her research on the area. The story of how a powerful lumber hub in the 19th century gave way to a quiet bedroom community. How it was Native American land before that. Soon the foothills gave way to an expanse of ponderosa pines so dense they nearly blotted out the sun. This was the Black Forest alright. And I beamed with anticipation, knowing the place would look incredible on camera.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

But as we rolled up the family's.

[McLeod Andrews]

Long and lonely driveway, I began to feel something else. A sudden chill, as if the air conditioner had just blasted on. And you know, even stranger, I felt an odd sense of. Oh, I'm not sure how to describe it. Malaise? Melancholy?

[Brian Sigley]

Or.

[McLeod Andrews]

Was it fear? Yeah, couldn't have been. I'd been all over the world and was renowned for never shuddering. Never. So I sucked back the odd feeling, mentally justifying it as an adverse reaction to the altitude. Then, out of nowhere, Gilly set her hand on mine. It's not the altitude, she said. Dave and his wife Paula waited on the front porch as we pulled up to the house. They were perfectly pleasant people whose all American charm would surely win the hearts of our audience. We said our hellos, and before I knew it, Dave was leading me around the five acre property, gesturing wildly as he explained his family's history with the supernatural. He said he was a truck driver by trade and moved here after being charmed on his drives through the state. He thought this was the place he was destined to settle down and raise his children. And when he stumbled upon this property, he knew it was the one. It seemed serene, peaceful, perfect. And it turned out to be anything but. Soon after he moved in, strange sounds, lights and smells began to plague his family. Bet you didn't think about that. Smells? No one mentions smells, do they? One evening they came home to flashing lights in their living room and loud booms that rattled their ceiling. Another night, they heard the sound of rattling chains, and on another, a full blown orchestra. Untraceable chemical smells began to permeate rooms, burning their eyes and throats. And their two children regularly complained of frightening, unexplainable shadows looming over their beds. Soon, every night brought a new terror. And Dave vowed to get to the bottom of what was happening. So we bought some top of the line cameras and motion detectors and over the next two years recorded over 60 so called break ins with no clear explanation. Eventually, the police had been called to the house so many times that they just stopped coming altogether. So now Dave knew of nowhere else to turn but to us. Truly, I felt for the guy, even. Even if I was certain this was just a case of paranoia fueled by some admittedly weird but ultimately explainable incidents. I mean, I'd seen it countless times before, and yes, I'd managed to make a killer segment out of every one of them. So we got to work. As night fell, we set up advanced camera systems in the three places Dave and Paula said were most prone to unusual activity. The exterior wall by the satellite dish, the living room and the master bedroom. But as we set up the last system, Gilly pulled me aside and whispered that something was happening in this house. Something unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. I couldn't help laughing, and I told her to just cool her jets until it was her time to shine. Seriously, the cameras weren't even on yet. But soon we began rolling. And not even five minutes later, a loud boom shook the house. To my ear it sounded like like a giant had stomped on the roof. But when I ran outside to check, there was nothing visible out there and nothing inside. At least nothing visible to the naked eye. So I decided to check our footage. Which was easy because we only had a few minutes of it. And indeed, a few seconds before the boom, all three camera systems picked up anomalies on tape. It was those ghostly orbs. The same ones from the tapes Dave sent me the ones I dismissed as great fakes. But I could tell you 100% these weren't faked. I'd been sitting right by one of the cameras myself. And you know what happened? As I realized what was happening here might actually be real, I shuddered.

[Brian Sigley]

McLeod, it is December. It's time for holidays and more importantly, holiday parties. And since I like to make a good impression, I went to Quint's for some simple but sharp new clothes.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Oh Quince, how I love thee.

[Brian Sigley]

Quince partners directly with ethical factories and top artisans to deliver premium clothes at half the cost of other high end brands. I mean it. I got a red shirt and green pants from them so I am set for holiday parties.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Ooh, holiday outfit.

[McLeod Andrews]

That was a good call, Brian.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

I got some makeup. I got like a navy blue V neck that is like awesome. It's 100% cotton. The weight of it is like thick. You know this thing's gonna last for a long time.

[Brian Sigley]

It is like luxury thick.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

It's luxurious.

[Brian Sigley]

And you know, McLeod quince pieces also make great gifts. And they don't just have clothes. They've got you covered with home bath, kitchen and travel goods too.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

So give and get. Timeless holiday staples this season with quince. Go to quence.com sightings for free shipping.

[McLeod Andrews]

On your order and 365 day return.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U I N C E.com sightings, free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com sightings.

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[McLeod Andrews]

We left the three camera systems rolling as we set up our mobile unit. Follow Gilly and the Joneses on the walk through of the house as Clay. You remember Clay, he's my camera guy. Slid a camera onto his shoulder and Nicole clipped a lavalier mics to everyone. I asked Gilly if she was ready for this. I should pause here. I. I should pause here to quickly explain how things worked with psychics on the Void. We never told them what to say on camera, but we also never tell them to hold back at all. We wanted them to milk each location for everything it was worth. And they were usually. Oh my gosh, they were usually fantastic at it. Gilly especially was one of the best. She reveled in her job and could find a ghost in a shoebox if she had to. But tonight she seemed to have an unbearable weight on her shoulders. And that PT Barnum like glimmer in her eye was noticeably absent. But she nodded that she was ready and began her walk through the house. The Joneses followed close behind, pointing out this or that while she proceeded in silence, pausing periodically to touch something as if the gesture had some profound meaning. I mean, I knew this routine well. And eventually Gilly would indicate that a supernatural entity was present. Of course, it was all smoke and mirrors, but right then, in that house, I wasn't so sure. As we entered the living room, we were assaulted by a powerful chemical odor. I could neither locate nor identify the smell. All I knew was that it was burnt the hell out of my nose and throat. At one point, I even had to stabilize Clay's camera as he tried his damnedest to hold back a cough. Gilly, meanwhile, held a hand to her head and told us there was a spirit in the room with us. A male named Tom, who said that this was his home. At first I thought this was part of the act. Gilly's hand to head thing was kind of her signature move. But Nicole soon tapped my shoulder and proved otherwise. She'd been tasked with holding a handheld thermal imaging device and its screen revealed a large human shaped mass standing in the corner of the room where no physical body was present. But as quickly as it appeared, the shape vanished and Gilly proclaimed that it was on the move. So all of us followed her up the stairs to the house's vaulted second level. We rounded a corner past a line of doors and finally reached the master bedroom. Taking in the room, Gilly warned that it was not a restful space and that more spirits lurked there. That room, in fact, was likely the hub of their Activity. Finally speaking, Dave and Paula confirmed that more had happened to them there than in any other room in the house. I looked around but saw nothing with my own eye. Nicole's thermal imaging device caught nothing either, but Gilly stared intently at the large mirror hanging above the dresser. The same mirror I'd seen in Dave's first videotape. Up close, I saw that the thing was ancient, at least a hundred years old and hazy from age. Was this the haze I'd seen on the videotape? And were the faces I'd seen within it just simple optical tricks? They had to have been, because right then I couldn't see anything in the glass but our own reflections. But Gilly leaned in closer to the reflective surface. This is the source, she said. A gateway to the other side.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Damn, that woman was good. Gave me chills even telling you about it now. Suddenly, I felt Nicole's hand on my shoulder.

[McLeod Andrews]

She nodded to her thermal imaging device, and I saw that strange humanoid shape had reappeared on the screen, and this time it was standing right behind Gilly. Clay noticed the figure as well and locked nervous eyes with me. I mouthed, don't you dare stop, and he kept rolling. Then what appeared to be an arm extended from the dark thermal mass, which of course was impossible, but I couldn't pry my eyes from the thermal screen as a dagger like shape extended down from the arm and seemed poised to attack Gilly. I I I I I tried to say something. I I did. I tried to say something, but my voice felt frozen in my throat. So I braced for the worst when Nicole suddenly shouted out what I couldn stop. As soon as the sound left Nicole's lips, the entity vanished from the thermal imaging screen. There was a loud bang, and the camera system we'd set up earlier suddenly.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Crashed to the floor on the other side of the room.

[McLeod Andrews]

We all stood there dead quiet, struggling to grapple with what had just happened. All I knew was that this job had just become unlike any I'd encountered before. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think we'd pissed off an actual ghost. After the master bedroom incident, all of us gathered in the kitchen to regroup and prep for an interview segment between Gilly and the Joneses. I could tell that Clay and Nicole were unsettled, but they were professional as always. We'd get what we needed and get out. So the camera started rolling again, and Gilly began to question the homeowners. Dave and Paula were great talkers and tried to explain how they couldn't even Admit that anything paranormal was happening to them. Until a few months ago. Gilly asked what had changed, and Dave answered sheepishly, that his bank account finally smacked him in the face one day. He'd spent $40,000 and two years trying to get to the bottom of the events here, and after all that money, all that time, he was further from answers than ever before. That's why he finally turned to our show. Gilly continued her line of questions, but as the couple talked, I noticed Paula was looking more and more uncomfortable with each passing moment. But before I could even say anything, she gasped that she was having trouble breathing and that it felt like someone was holding her down. Nicole rushed in to help, only to fall to the floor and cry out.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

In terror that something went inside her. And as she screamed bloody murder that her arms and legs were going numb, all Clay and I could think to do was get her out of that house as fast as humanly possible. So we carried her outside, and once.

[McLeod Andrews]

We reached our car, she finally calmed down. Clay decided that she needed to go to the hospital, and I felt I had no choice but to concur. But I wouldn't go with them. No, I wouldn't be the producer who abandoned the segment of a lifetime. So a few moments later, I found myself standing alone on the Jones's driveway, dwarfed by those murky, haunting pines. Soon, Gilly appeared on the front porch. She reported that Paula was feeling better and thought it best to perform a smudging ritual to cleanse the house of the malevolence plaguing it. I wanted to get that on camera, of course, so I started back toward the front door. But I caught something in the corner of my view. It was one of those orbs, and this time I could see it with. With my own eyes. The thing danced among the trees, leaving a luminous tail flowing behind it. I followed it as best as I could until suddenly it flew past me like Maverick Buzz, the Tower and Top Gun. And as it danced along the porch of the house, I realized that it was taunting me, beckoning me. So I followed, moved inside the house, where it bounced around the living room, casting an unearthly glow. I called out for Paula and Gilly, but they must have been in some remote corner of the residence, just out of earshot. So I picked up Clay's mobile unit and started shooting. I followed the thing up the stairs and down the hall, and as it darted inside the master bedroom, I began to smell that stench again, that unplaceable chemical tang that assaulted us earlier. But I didn't stop. I kept tracking the orb with the camera, following it in my viewfinder as it bounced from wall to wall. And even though I could barely breathe from the smell, I had to keep going. This. This was the money shot. Then I realized the thing had disappeared. I desperately searched for it, trying to locate it again until my camera viewfinder finally settled on the mirror. That mirror. And this time there were faces in it. Dozens of them, with wide, terrifying eyes and gaping mouths, Howling, inaudible screams. So many that I hardly even noticed as a massive shadow rose in the room behind me. And then, all of a sudden, a stabbing pain ripped through the back of my head and everything went black. This is usually the part of the story that we call an epilogue, the place where we wrap things up with a nice neat bow and leave the audience feeling satisfied. You know, sometimes things aren't quite so simple. 48 hours after I fell unconscious at the Joneses house, I woke up in Memorial Hospital in downtown Colorado Springs. My head throbbed awfully, as though it had been ravaged by a sledgehammer, but as I reached to touch my scalp, I realized it wasn't bandaged. In fact, I could feel no physical injury at all. And before I could fully process that, I heard a familiar voice. They couldn't find anything wrong with you, clay said. My eyes flash focused and I found him sitting in a chair at the foot of the bed. He told me that I was fine, that Nicole was fine, and that the doctors had diagnosed us both with unusually severe cases of shock. Nothing more. But as I tried to explain the pain in my head, Clay stopped me. He handed me a sheet of photo paper, and as I stared at it in horror, I realized how naive I'd been about the supernatural and about that house. Because it had all been real. All of it. I never went back to work on the Void, of course, and instead found a job producing sports segments. High pressure, yeah, but predictable. Plus the pace. Great. Meanwhile, the Void continued on, and even cobbled together an episode about that lonely redwood house in a deep, dark forest. But I never watched it and never will. It's now been, what, five years since that night? And yep, I still get headaches every day. I shudder at the smallest things and have a newfound problem with the dark. I guess you could say that I'm pretty screwed up, but this is Hollywood, after all, so I suppose it's fitting. And despite all that, I still keep a memento from that house in the forest locked away inside a box, just in case I ever need a reminder that nothing in this world is a joke. It's a single frame from the camera in the master bedroom printed on photo paper. An image that shows me staring intently at a mirror with a horrifying shadow looming behind me. And it's plunging a shadowy dagger right into my head.

[Brian Sigley]

Sightings will be back just after this. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. The holidays are a time for traditions. My family is pretty small, but my partner's family is huge. So I've gotten to see the full spectrum of family events. And with that, sometimes can come a little bit of stress. Juggling, shopping, meal prep, that uncle with the wild opinions. I can say that because I don't have an uncle. But if you need a bit of clarity among the holiday chaos, make some time for yourself and talk to someone with BetterHelp. BetterHelp does the matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. And it works with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 from over 1.7 million reviews. BetterHelp will help you close the year with a bit more clarity. So this December, start a new tradition by taking care of you right now. Sightings listeners get 10% off at better help.com sightings. That's better. H-E-L-P.com sightings. Thanks Better Help for sponsoring this episode. All right, welcome back to Sightings. We're going to dive into that story McLeod just read, but I wanted to mix things up this week and take the lead on this one because this story actually happened a few miles away from where I grew up.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

No kidding.

[Brian Sigley]

And it turns out that I even knew some of the people involved with it.

[McLeod Andrews]

Really?

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Have you ever walked through the black Forest?

[Brian Sigley]

I've been. Oh, many times. Yeah. My house was just a few streets from the tree line or I guess the entrance to the forest.

[McLeod Andrews]

Oh, my gosh.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. And I went to high school with one of the kids from the family that lived in the house and are the subject of this story.

[McLeod Andrews]

Whoa.

[State Farm Announcer]

Yeah.

[Brian Sigley]

I was talking to someone I went to high school with and I'm like, yeah, I'm doing this podcast episode. He's like, wait, that's this person's house? I'm like, what?

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

So this story is true. Verified.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. These people lived in this house. I knew at least one of these people. The person that I knew that I went to high school with unfortunately passed away about 10 years ago. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, so I'm not able to get any up to date info and I don't really feel like just dropping in on his family, who I've never met, you know, but it's true that a TV crew went to this house and spooky things allegedly happened there. And before we go into the actual details, though, I will say for the. For the story, everything that happened in the story actually happened. But I did change some of the names, and I invented the personality of that producer that you read, who, admittedly was a lot of fun to read.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

I wanted to believe this guy was real. He's so fun. He reminds me of, you know, producers that I've met at parties before.

[McLeod Andrews]

I wanted to punch him.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

But, like, out of love.

[Brian Sigley]

Oh, out of love. As with all producers. Right.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

As with all producers. But anyway, anyway, for now, I want to dig deeper into this apparently real house in this real forest, the Black Forest.

[Brian Sigley]

It really is a dense forest, kind of dark, you know, just miles and miles of really dense pine trees. If you look at it in a satellite image, it's basically this pitch black mass amid, like, a sea of grass that makes up the entire rest of the Colorado Front Range.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

And so, naturally, people think this spooky, dark forest is where I want to live. It's perfect for me.

[Brian Sigley]

Exactly. I mean, it is pretty. It's kind of charming. It's quiet. You know, most of the plots of land are 5 acres.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Everyone loves giant spider webs. Mirkwood.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. So, yeah, it's just a lot of big houses now and horse properties and, you know, a long time ago, it was Native American land, as much of Colorado was. And we'll come back to the Native Americans in a little bit.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

So once upon a time, in the dark and creepy forest, we have a.

[McLeod Andrews]

Dark and creepy house.

[Brian Sigley]

Yes. On the fairy tale name of Swan Road, which it sounds quite pleasant, but is actually kind of in the middle of nowhere, kind of in the thick of this forest. And true story, this house almost burnt down in a giant wildfire that happened to destroy a lot of homes of people I Knew back in 2013.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

But this House survived.

[Brian Sigley]

It did.

[McLeod Andrews]

Of course it did.

[Brian Sigley]

For better or worse, the haunted house survived. And from what I can tell, the same family still owns it, which, of.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Course, raises the question, why in the world would you not move your family out of the house? It's the overlook. Why is Colorado full of these haunted buildings?

[Brian Sigley]

We're gonna visit a lot of them, I'm sure, over the course of this series, but there's some doozies here. But, yeah, I don't know why they didn't move. Apparently, it was their dream home. So I Guess they really, really, really didn't want to give it up.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

I guess so. But you know what?

[McLeod Andrews]

It's fine.

[Brian Sigley]

So the name of the family was actually the Lees, not the Joneses, like they were in the story. But I have to imagine that, you know, they were spooked out by what was happening.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

But there's these orbs, weird noises, weird smells, nearly being stabbed by ghosts, and they're just like, ah, it's just a Tuesday.

[Brian Sigley]

That's kind of it. And it gets even wilder than that.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

It gets wilder than that.

[Brian Sigley]

This family is nerves of steel.

[McLeod Andrews]

Holy cow.

[Brian Sigley]

And the patriarch of the family kind of made it his mission to get to the bottom of what was happening here and kind of hold down the fart, so to speak. He allegedly spent most of the family savings buying cameras and other stuff to capture the phenomenon.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Dad. What about college? Dad? Doesn't seem like a very responsible use of the family's funds.

[Brian Sigley]

No, but it did allow. Allow him to get, you know, 3,000 photos and some 400 tapes of weird stuff happening, like orbs.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

So there's, like. There are the actual videos and photos of these orbs.

[Brian Sigley]

Yes. The TV crew that we'll talk about saw them and caught them on camera. And I. I've never personally seen one in the black Forest, but I have.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Would you be more interested or freaked out?

[Brian Sigley]

Well, I'd be more interested if I just was walking through the forest or, you know, owned a house on the forest and I seeing glowing, weird lights. Because there's something less spooky, I think, about glowing lights or, you know, orbs, I guess, than, you know, there. There's a ghost in my mirror, right?

[McLeod Andrews]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

No, I guess the floating orbs could give you a feel of, like, you're in, like, the good elf kingdom as opposed to Mirkwood. I don't know why I'm having a Lord of the Rings day, but it's okay.

[Brian Sigley]

I also get, like, a weird, like, alien vibe from floating orbs. But no aliens in this story. Don't worry. None. None of that. And even after that, orbs faces all those things, you know, this guy's like, meh. I don't think it's a haunting. Wow.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Now that is a level of skeptical.

[McLeod Andrews]

Gecko that I can't even.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

I don't think I can match.

[Brian Sigley]

This guy's a champion. Eventually, though, it must have reached the point where enough was enough, so they called in this supernatural TV show to get an explanation for what was going on here.

[McLeod Andrews]

I see.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

And that's where Our story picks up.

[Brian Sigley]

Yep, exactly. So in the early 90s, the show sent a whole team to the Black Forest to investigate this. Funnily enough, the show was also called Sightings.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Oh, so we've got our Sightings crew. Not Brian and me.

[Brian Sigley]

Nope. It was a camera team, producers, one psychic named Echo Bodine. Who? Great name, by the way.

[McLeod Andrews]

It is. We need to get a psychic on our team.

[Brian Sigley]

Yes, we should. And they all fly into Colorado Springs and they head out to this house in the forest, and right away, Echo is like, this house is bad news.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Of course it is. I mean, did they not watch the tapes this guy sent of creepos in the mirror with knives?

[Brian Sigley]

Just like in the story, the producers from the show, like, took these tapes to special effects experts. And these experts are like, we don't know how they're doing it. This defies the laws of optics. We have no idea what's going on.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Right, right.

[McLeod Andrews]

Well, so.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

But, like, I know these TV shows are notorious for making things up for the camera, but, like, did the crew actually capture anything unexpected?

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah, I mean, pretty much everything that happened in the story happened while that film crew was there, from the weird lights to the faces in the mirror to they're doing an interview with the family, and the woman gets weirded out and claims that, you know, something entered her body and, you know, just all that stuff was happening. And ultimately the psychic figured out, like, that there's this spirit named Tom who lives in the house, and he's kind of the ringleader of this band of 20 or so ghosts that happen to also share the space.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Even after this, with the film crew, this third person perspective coming in saying, yeah, this place is messed up. The family still doesn't move.

[Brian Sigley]

Nope, nope.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

They're just like, I know, right?

[Brian Sigley]

This must have been a popular segment for this show because they sent back crews two more times over the next few years. The psychic who showed up on the second trip even claimed that the spirit of a dead family friend might be in the house. And maybe after that, the family was like, oh, well, we know this person, and we know that that person's family member is dead. Maybe there is an actual haunting going on. Like, I guess that was the straw that finally kind of broke the camel's back.

[McLeod Andrews]

Right.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

And so, kind of much like in the story with our producer, they were like, wait, wait, wait. We usually fake this. We need to go back and test this out again. And they're all freaked out. Did they ever get to the bottom of it? Like, did the family ever get A definitive answer for why this was all happening?

[Brian Sigley]

Nothing definitive. There's theories. We, of course have that ghost of a family friend story that the psychic came up with.

[McLeod Andrews]

Right.

[Brian Sigley]

To be honest though, that seems a little bit more like smoke and mirrory. Like. Oh, I'm getting. I'm getting a name.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Trying to personalize it.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah.

[McLeod Andrews]

Because psychic intrigue.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. The show got a lot of mileage out of that one, I suppose.

[McLeod Andrews]

Right.

[Brian Sigley]

Another theory is that the family had. Well, it's not a theory, but the family had Native American shamans come to the site. And these Native American shamans claimed that the house sat on something called a rainbow vortex. Which sounds awesome.

[McLeod Andrews]

Right?

[Brian Sigley]

I know, but it's kind of a passageway between this world and the spirit world.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

That's right. You mentioned Native Americans earlier being all over Colorado.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. And this particular area was settled by Utes and Comanches and then Kiowa and then Arapaho and Cheyenne. So a whole bunch of activity in the area before, sadly, this whole area became five acre parcels.

[McLeod Andrews]

Right.

[Brian Sigley]

But apparently this rainbow vortex phenomena that these people are speaking about only exists in two other places in the world. One is in Arizona, the other is in England.

[McLeod Andrews]

Stonehenge.

[Brian Sigley]

Not Stonehenge, apparently. Somewhere in London. I don't know. But I guess those seem to be the main explanations. You know, this is an actual haunting, or this is a rainbow vortex, which I guess is tangential.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Or it's a straight up hoax.

[Brian Sigley]

That's fair, too. You know, I remember in the Polaroid Ghost episode that you were not inclined to believe that haunting either. Neither was I, to be honest. But do I take it that. But in a world where ghosts were real, you would not become a ghostbuster and buy into this whole thing?

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Well, this one's kind of got me freaked out a little bit, if I'm honest.

[Brian Sigley]

All right, so are you willing to accept that there might be some kind of spiritual or haunting type presence on this property?

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

I am willing. Or at least to say, I don't know.

[Brian Sigley]

You surprised me.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

I know. I can imagine. I think it's because it's so close to home for you and because you're familiar with people. Because they kept coming back. Because I guess it didn't seem like the owner was necessarily trying to milk it. And because this crew kept coming back and being like, yeah, this place is pretty messed up. And I just can imagine walking through these woods and seeing this stuff, hearing this stuff, and being really viscerally freaked out.

[Brian Sigley]

No, that's valid. And I have to imagine that if this other sighting show from 1992 had a haunted house that they wanted to keep going back to, they'd pick something a little bit sexier than rancher log cabin in the forest.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

What's sexier than a rancher in the forest?

[Brian Sigley]

Exactly. So I agree with you because there's this kind of weird, tangential connection for me to this story. I know the area. I knew some of the people. Granted, this kid, the person that I knew who went to high school, wasn't walking around telling everyone, oh, my house is haunted kind of thing. I had no clue. But, you know, I have to believe that something was happening on this property, whether it was ghosts or just. All I can say is that now it's become a really pretty famous, haunting story because it was featured on TV all these times.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Right. And I just have to wonder. I keep coming back to this idea of it's this TV show that allegedly captured what happened. Whether they actually captured it or not.

[Brian Sigley]

That might be the big mystery for the ages, because I'm sure that shows like this have NDAs for all the crew members. And who knows what's happening behind the scenes? But it's worth noting that the family also had a state senator come to the house and take his own photo.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Politicians. That sounds like somebody trying to cash in on some publicity.

[Brian Sigley]

Maybe. But, you know, the guy took his camera and he went there and he said, you know, quote, there are things happening that defy explanation around this house.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Yeah, I don't care about the politician.

[McLeod Andrews]

I don't trust him.

[Brian Sigley]

All right, fair enough. Well, I threw it out there because it was a corroborating story.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

And. But here's the one thing, though, still.

[McLeod Andrews]

The family didn't move.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

And that sticks with me a little bit. That bumps me.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. So this was all happening in the early 90s. They moved into the house in 1991. Apparently, they'd put this house up for sale in 2013, but there is no record that I could find of an actual transaction or sale that took place. And I guess, plot twist, the guy who would not believe that the house was haunted until it was smacking him in the face, practically. It's been reported that he thinks the government is somehow involved with this and testing laser holograms or psychic warfare technology on his family.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

That's a left turn. Yeah, that's like a whole nother genre. He's like, I don't believe in ghosts.

[Brian Sigley]

But the government, again, you know, I just have to try and put myself in these people's shoes.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

The Fact that he went to, like, oh, I don't believe in ghosts, but it's the government messing with me. Bespeaks that there was something.

[Brian Sigley]

No, I agree.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

That he was actually experiencing.

[Brian Sigley]

It's a killer story. It's really fascinating. It's really cool, and I think that's what makes this so interesting and exciting. But just, yeah, gosh, you know, like, it's official.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

I'm spooked. I'm officially spooked.

[McLeod Andrews]

Yeah.

[Brian Sigley]

So that's the Swan Road haunting in Black Forest. Listeners, if you also grew up in Colorado Springs and knew me, say hi.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

This is not a dating app, Brian.

[Brian Sigley]

But seriously, though, if you have a theory about what happened here is if you have any new breaking information for us, hit our socials anytime.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Itingspod Back through the time portal, present day Brian and McLeod. Oh, I'm so glad we revisited that one. It remains, I think, one of the spookiest ghost stories that we've done. I mean, really chilling.

[Brian Sigley]

Absolutely. And it happened in my backyard, so I love it.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

Close to home. Well, that was fun. Brian, where are we revisiting next week?

[Brian Sigley]

Well, we've done our favorite spooky story. Now we're going to do our favorite alien story. And I know for a fact this one is your favorite alien story, McLeod. Okay, we're heading to Washington, D.C. okay. And I'm not gonna say any more than that for those who have not heard this story, but it is amazing. It's perfect for the season because it's more warm and uplifting than a lot of the stories that we do here on Sightings.

[Co-host (possibly Chase Kinzer or another Sightings team member)]

All right, I'm excited.

[Brian Sigley]

So get ready for that same time time, same place next week right here on Sightings. Sightings is hosted by McLeod Andrews and Brian Sigley. Produced by Brian Sigley, Chase Kinzer, and McLeod Andrews. Written by Brian Sigley. Story music by Jack Staton. Series music by Mitch Bain. Sound design, audio editing and mixing by Macuba Owens. Artwork by Nuno Cernatos. For a list of this episode's source sources, check out our [e-mail] Sightings is presented by reverb and Q Code. If you like the show, be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you're first to hear new episodes every week. And if you know other Supernatural fans, tell them about us. We'd really appreciate it.