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- [00:00]
Brian Sigley
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home in auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.
- [00:23]
McLeod Andrews
Hello skeptical geckos and believer beavers. I know you've been loving our eerie encounters, chilling mysteries and unnerving moments that keep you looking over your shoulder. Now imagine that immersive experience without the interruptions. When you subscribe to Q Code plus.
- [00:40]
Unknown
You get Sightings completely ad free.
- [00:43]
McLeod Andrews
That means no breaks, no distractions, just pure spine tingling storytelling the way we.
- [00:49]
Unknown
Meant it to be heard.
- [00:50]
McLeod Andrews
Q Code plus even brings you exclusive bonus episodes like extra listener Stories. Every single listen and subscription helps us continue to bring you the best strange.
- [01:00]
Unknown
And unexplained stories in the podcast universe.
- [01:03]
McLeod Andrews
So if you're hooked hooked on the unknown, join Q Code plus today. It's not only the best way to listen, but the best way to show.
- [01:10]
Unknown
Your support for Sightings.
- [01:12]
McLeod Andrews
Start your free trial now on Apple podcasts or visit qcodemedia.com for more information. Sometimes the shortest path between two points leads through the heart of darkness itself.
- [01:32]
Unknown
In one centuries old tunnel, the weight.
- [01:35]
McLeod Andrews
Of history presses down as heavily as the rock above and daylight becomes a distant memory.
- [01:42]
Unknown
And what happens when that tunnel starts.
- [01:44]
McLeod Andrews
Calling your name and you realize that some passages don't just connect places, they.
- [01:50]
Unknown
Connect the living to the dead. Welcome to Sightings, the series that takes.
- [01:56]
McLeod Andrews
You inside the world's most mysterious supernatural events. Each episode brings you a thrilling story that puts you at the center of the action, followed by a discussion that dives into the accounts that inspired the story and our takes on them.
- [02:09]
Unknown
I'm McLeod.
- [02:09]
Brian Sigley
And I'm Brian, and I've got a few quick announcements before we dive into today's story. First, we want to welcome all of our new listeners. We hope you love this episode as much as you loved last week's crossover with my Victorian Nightmare.
- [02:22]
McLeod Andrews
That was so much fun. I can't wait to do something like that again.
- [02:26]
Brian Sigley
Well, that actually leads me into my second announcement. We've got a lot of really fun things on the horizon, especially for spooky season this fall. So to give us some time to work on all that, plus we honestly just need a little bit of a vacation, we're going to be releasing new Sightings episodes every other week for the next few months. That means we're going to be taking.
- [02:47]
McLeod Andrews
Next week off but if you're a Q Code plus subscriber, we will be releasing an extra Listener story episode just for you next week. Plus more in July and August.
- [02:57]
Brian Sigley
That is right. Q Code plus. Check it out with a free trial on Apple Podcasts and you can get our episodes ad free. Plus those really great bonus episodes.
- [03:06]
McLeod Andrews
But bonus content aside, I want to.
- [03:08]
Unknown
Dive into today's episode.
- [03:10]
McLeod Andrews
It's our last week of June Gloom.
- [03:12]
Unknown
So I hope it's extra spooky.
- [03:14]
Brian Sigley
Oh, it is. Today we are heading to the Hoosick Tunnel in Western Massachusetts. When it opened in 1875, it was the longest tunnel in North America and it has a long list of ghost stories to match.
- [03:27]
McLeod Andrews
So venture with us into the dark if you dare as we explore the Husac Tunnel. Will we make it to the other side? Find out on this episode of Sightings.
- [04:05]
Unknown
Gee whiz, this is not how to day was supposed to go. I am. Well, I'm stuck somewhere in this five mile frickin tunnel. How far I can't tell really, because I can't find the exit. And weird as it sounds, I can't find the entrance either. I've been walking for what feels like hours now, though my watch stopped working sometime back. My flashlight's long gone and I honest to God don't know what way to go anymore. And that, yeah, that scares me. Terrifies me right to my bones. My reason for being here is simple. My wheels don't work and my sister's having a baby in North Adams. But that's on the other side of the ridge. 23 miles by a road. In other words, a hell of a long way to walk, not counting all the snow. Then I remembered the Hoosick Tunnel. It cuts right through the heart of the mountain, straight as an arrow to North Adams. Five miles underground. A two hour walk and with no snow. Mind you, I'd walked it before, mostly when I was a kid. So I grabbed my heavy jacket, my flashlight and set off. Now, standing at the entrance seems like a lifetime ago. The thing's 24ft wide and 20 high, carved like a mouth right into the side of the mountain. A mouth that seems to have swallowed me right up. The tunnel's wide enough for two train tracks, but there's just one now. Makes for easier walking, but a train can still take your head clean off if you aren't careful. Otherwise, what can I say? It's a tunnel. Brick walls, industrial feeling, everything slick with moisture. And the stone ceiling that's 500ft of mountain pressing down right on my head. But I crossed the threshold of the entrance and started walking. I mean, I'd done it before and when there were a lot more trains going through. But I walked right along those old railroad ties. Old enough that I think they've been here since the tunnel opened in 1875. By a few hundred meters it was dark enough. I needed my flashlight. And soon enough the daylight was gone completely. And that's when I really felt the weight of the place. The silence of it. There's this. There's a smell, too. Old stone. Stale air. And something else I can't quite nail down. Something like turned to earth. Walking deeper, I couldn't help thinking about the stories. You grow up around here, you learn them whether you want to or not. Century old tales. The kind you're not inclined to hear in the dark. But before, about two hours ago, I wasn't a man who believed in ghost stories. Not one bit, apparently. The tunnel took over 20 years to build. They called it the greatest engineering project of its time. But that ambition, well, it came at a price. The worst story is that one about Ringo Kelly back in 1865, or something like that. Nitroglycerin was new on the scene and all the miners were still figuring it out. So, Ringo, hell of a name. Yeah. He was working with these two other guys, Ned something and Bobby something. Or wait, Billy something. Yeah, Billy something. And they were down here setting charges when everything went wrong. And when the smoke cleared, Ned and Billy were buried under tons of rock. But Ringo, he survived. Problem was, he was never the same. Word was he started acting strange. Nervous. He claimed he saw things in the shadows of the tunnel. Heard voices calling his name. Then one day he disappeared. As in vanished? Completely. And no one saw Ringo Kelly for a whole year after that. Until one day, two miles into the tunnel, right where Ned and Billy died, they found Ringo's body. Strangled. By who? Yeah, good question. The deputy investigated, but no killer was ever found. Workers whispered that Ned and Billy's ghosts had finally gotten revenge or something like that. I thought it was all a load of crocodile. But the other big story, that one had me totally hooked as a kid. Apparently, when you build a long tunnel like this, you need to build ventilation shafts along the way. And one of these shafts, the central shaft, was more important than the others. And in 1867, a bunch of workers were down digging the shaft when a gas explosion tore the pumping station apart. Thirteen men ended up trapped at the bottom of the shaft in flooding water. They tried to rescue him, of course, but the fumes were too th. One man was lowered down in a bucket, but came up barely conscious, gasping that there was no hope below. So they sealed the shaft and waited. When they drained it, they found the bodies, of course, but what they didn't expect to find was a raft, because some of those men had survived the explosion, and turns out they suffered long after. That's when the locals started calling the tunnel the Bloody Pit, because all in over 200 men died building this tunnel. But again, those were just stories, and I just needed a way through the mountain. So I kept walking, which was a bad decision. A bad, bad decision. At this point, my watch said quarter past four. I'd been walking over an hour at a steady pace, and I should have reached the halfway mark. Like I said, I'd made this walk before. I know how long it took. Plus you know you're at the middle, because a gentle uphill slope suddenly changes to a downhill one. But I was still walking up. Walking with no end, it seemed, and that's when I heard footsteps that weren't my own. They were echoing from somewhere up ahead, and no, they weren't the clatter of train wheels. This was different, like someone walking with an uneven gait and dragging something along the ground. I called out and only heard my echo in reply, but the dragging sound continued, closer than before. I shined my flashlight ahead, sweeping the beam across the walls. The light didn't reach far, maybe 50ft at most, but that was just enough, because there, just at the edge of the beam, I saw something. At first I thought it was a man standing beside the track. Or better said, working beside the track, hunched over as though he'd just done back breaking labor. I called out again, and this time the figure straightened and turned toward me. Then he stepped out of the light beam and I tried to track him, but he was gone, like he'd stepped right through the solid brick tunnel wall. I think my heart rate picked up right then, and I began to question whether I saw what I actually thought I had. The tunnel was full of shadows, after all. Or perhaps there was an alcove I hadn't seen. But when I reached the spot where I'd seen the man, the walls were solid brick, no alcoves, no passages, and no sign of anyone at all. Then the beam of my flashlight caught something sitting on the tracks, and it had to have been left there recent, because trains come through here multiple times a day. It was a pickaxe, and not a modern one. This thing looked ancient, the kind that miners in the 19th century might carry. I picked it up and found it heavier than I'd expected. The handle felt wrong in my hands, icy almost. And as I stood there holding that thing realizing I was somehow lost in a perfectly straight tunnel, I realized how bad my situation had become. But not bad enough, I guess. Because right then, my flashlight started flickering. Its battery was dying, and if that light went, I'd be in a whole heap of trouble. After seeing my flashlight sputter and flicker, I'm not gonna lie, I got scared. But I kept walking using the light only when absolutely necessary to check my bearings. After another hour or so, I was still walking at that ever so slight uphill angle that told me I still hadn't reached the middle, which, of course, was impossible. Had I turned myself around? I checked my watch again and its display was also flickering, barely clinging to life. Was something down here corroding the electronics? Or worse, corroding my mind? I tried to remember what I knew about enclosed spaces and toxic gases. Coal mines trapped methane that killed you. But maybe this tunnel concentrated other fumes or chemicals leaching from the old brick and mortar. And then I remembered Frank Webster. I'd heard this story growing up just like everyone else in these parts. A long while back, he'd gone hunting near the tunnel and disappeared for three days. When they found him, he was stumbling along the Deerfield river in shock claiming that voices had called to him from the tunnel. He said he'd followed him inside and seen ghostly figures wandering around. Worst of all, something had taken his rifle and beaten him with it. He had the bruises to prove it, but no memory of how he'd gotten out. Then there were McKinstry and Owens, the drilling expert and the doctor who'd entered the tunnel just before it opened. About two miles in, they saw a dim light approaching from the west. At first they thought it was a workman with a lantern. But as it grew closer, it took on a strange blue color and morphed into the shape of a human being. A human being without a head. I shook off the stories, trying to clear those dark thoughts from my head. I didn't believe in ghosts after all. Never had even that pickaxe I'd found earlier. There had to be some rational explanation. Then finally, the ground beneath my feet began to level out. I stopped walking and shined my flashlight ahead. The beam was so weak that it barely illuminated 10ft in front of me but I could see that the tunnel floor had indeed flattened. This was it, the midpoint, the highest elevation in the tunnel where the Grade changed from a slight uphill to slight downhill. So I wasn't losing my mind after all. I'd simply misjudged the distance. And from here it would be a steady downhill walk to the Western Portal and North Adams. I'd be out within the hour. And that's when my flashlight died for good. I fumbled with the light, shaking it, hitting it with my palm. Nothing. I unscrewed the top and tried shuffling the batteries, but it was hopeless. The thing was dead. Panic crept in as I realized my situation. I was standing in the middle of a five mile tunnel with no light, no way to tell which direction was which. I decided my best way forward was to run my hands along the walls. The bricks were cold and slick with moisture, and my arms were soon soaked and freezing. But there were rumors of a room somewhere near the middle of the tunnel. A maintenance space carved directly into the rock beneath the central ventilation shaft. The old timers called it the Hoosic Hotel. And if I could find it, there might be a flashlight inside, maybe even a telephone. Minutes passed, or maybe hours. Time basically lost all meaning in this black void. My fingers started to bleed as they scraped the ancient mortar, but found no opening, no doorway, no sign that anyone had ever worked in this section of the tunnel. Worse, I was losing my bearings entirely. The wall was still on my right side, but I couldn't remember what direction I started facing. Had I been walking east or west? Up or down? In the absolute darkness, the gentle grade of the tunnel floor was impossible to detect. I started worrying I'd end up in here forever. Even though trains ran this tunnel several times a day, I had yet to see one that couldn't be right. Then, miraculously, my hand brushed empty air. A doorway. I explored the opening with my hands. It was narrow, and the room inside was small enough to be a closet. My fingers found what felt like shelves along one wall, and on the shelves, various ancient objects. Tools of some kind, a coil of rope, and then, incredibly, the unmistakable shape of an old lantern. I lifted it carefully. It felt heavy and metal, with glass panels and what felt like a wick inside. But I had no matches or any other way to light it. The thing might as well have been a paperweight. So I set it down and kept exploring the small room, hoping for matches or a lighter or batteries or anything. Instead, my fingers only found rotted wood and an old metal chair. Nothing that could help me see. And that's when I heard it. A voice calling from somewhere in the tunnel, distant but clear. And unless I was going completely insane. It was calling my name. I froze, not even breathing. It didn't sound like any voice I recognized. Not my sisters, not anyone from town. It was eerily flat, emotionless. It said my name again. Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe I'd finally cracked. I pressed myself against the wall, trying to make myself as small as possible, praying that whatever was out there would pass me by. But it called out again, and this time I saw something. A faint glow in the distance, but not the warm yellow of a flashlight or orange flicker of a flame or something. This was something else. Something blue. And I immediately thought of the story of McKinstry and Owens. But this couldn't be that. It couldn't. But as the glow grew closer, I could make out a figure silhouetted against the glow. A human shape, but wrong, because where its head should have been, there was nothing but empty air. So I turned and ran. Which direction? I don't know and I don't care. Away from that thing was all that mattered. I tripped on the railroad ties as I sprinted through the dark, But I kept going. I had to. Because behind me, I could still see that blue glow and hear that awful voice calling my name. I ran into. My lungs burned and my legs threatened to give out. And when I finally did stop, that blue light was gone. The voice was gone. But I still felt like I wasn't alone. That was more than an hour ago. I think. I'm still walking, trying to find an exit, Running my fingers along the wall. But the bricks all feel the same. Everything feels the same. I've walked enough to have crossed this tunnel's entire length multiple times over that. I know. But I still can't find a way out. Maybe I'll become another story for the locals to tell. Another ghost to haunt the bloody pit. And yeah, I know I said I don't believe in ghosts, but things change Because I started hearing that voice in the distance again, calling my name. And it's getting closer. Louder. And now I'm afraid I have nowhere left to run.
- [19:50]
Brian Sigley
Sightings will be back just after this.
- [19:53]
McLeod Andrews
Oh, summer. More warmth, more light. More time to spend outside enjoying every moment from sun up to sundown. But we all need a sidekick who can keep up so we can enjoy our favorite music, podcasts and calls in crystal clear sound fun all day long. That sidekick is the Everyday Earbuds by Raycon.
- [20:21]
Brian Sigley
You did that really well, McLeod. Yeah, you guys have heard us talk about Raycon because their earbuds are really great. They've got 32 hour battery life, multi point connectivity. They also come in lots of really cool colors. I have black ones, but I just saw they have these really neat red ones. I really like, like red accented accessories for some reason. So I really dig those. They're really awesome. And they also of course, active noise cancellation and they started half the price of other premium audio brands.
- [20:50]
McLeod Andrews
Yay.
- [20:51]
Brian Sigley
So go to buyraycon.com sightings to get 15% off Raycon's best selling everyday earbuds. Guys, the link is in our show notes. Check them out. Help us out. Because right now Raycon is offering 15% off their best selling everyday earbuds only at buyraycon.com sightings. That's buyraycon.com/sightings.
- [21:13]
McLeod Andrews
Don't forget the sightings part because again, truly it helps us out when you use that link. Welcome back to sighting.
- [21:34]
Brian Sigley
Oh boy.
- [21:36]
McLeod Andrews
Jump on the train. Jump on the train.
- [21:39]
Brian Sigley
Train to nowhere.
- [21:40]
McLeod Andrews
It sounds like in this case, the train to nowhere. I'm sorry, everyone. Everybody, I'm fired. Again. Seriously. Welcome back. This was a cool episode. Trains are awesome.
- [21:52]
Unknown
Train tunnels. Even better.
- [21:54]
McLeod Andrews
Spooky train tunnels. I'm all in. I was shocked that someone getting smacked by a train wasn't part of this story.
- [22:02]
Brian Sigley
I'm amazed too. Apparently it's a wide tunnel, so I think that's part of it. It's a really cool tunnel to kind of. Oh man. I just was going to do the pun. It's a really cool tunnel to dig into because there's a lot of history that goes with this particular tunnel in western Massachusetts. So let me kind of lay all that on the line real quick.
- [22:26]
McLeod Andrews
Yeah, please tell me more about this place because it's a real place, right?
- [22:28]
Brian Sigley
It absolutely is a real place. And I think we're probably going to butcher the pronunciation. So we're. Sorry, I can't tell if it's Hoosick or Hoosac tunnel.
- [22:35]
McLeod Andrews
Yeah, we found people saying it all sorts of ways, but the gist of.
- [22:38]
Brian Sigley
It is, is that this tunnel runs through the Berkshire mountains in western Massachusetts. They basically needed a way through through these mountain range and they chose this path between Florida, Massachusetts, the town of Florida in Massachusetts, and North Adams, Massachusetts. And I guess the problem with building this tunnel is that that's five miles of solid rock.
- [22:58]
McLeod Andrews
Wow.
- [22:59]
Brian Sigley
Yeah. So they started in 1851, and the tunnel itself took 24 years to build. And when it opened, it was the longest tunnel in North America.
- [23:08]
McLeod Andrews
Oh, just the longest tunnel.
- [23:10]
Brian Sigley
The longest tunnel and the second longest in the world. And it was really Cool. The way they built it, they had crews start on either end of the tunnel, on either side of the mountain range, and work inwards, basically. And when they came together, they were one inch off. Oh, well. Which is impressive, I think.
- [23:26]
McLeod Andrews
I gotta say. I think that's super impressive.
- [23:29]
Brian Sigley
But all of that came with certainly a cost. You know, it cost almost a billion dollars in today's money to build this tunnel.
- [23:35]
McLeod Andrews
Oh, wow.
- [23:35]
Brian Sigley
But I think, as we kind of discovered in the course of reading this story, there was also a cost of a lot of lives as this tunnel was built.
- [23:43]
McLeod Andrews
That's the thing that I found really upsetting about this story, actually. Just that all these people were putting their lives at risk for a buck. And I think it's upsetting because, unfortunately, I think that still happens, you know, around the world, certainly. But even in the U.S. yeah.
- [23:59]
Brian Sigley
And in this case, all these people who did die, probably under not great conditions, probably angry, probably upset.
- [24:06]
McLeod Andrews
Understandably so.
- [24:07]
Brian Sigley
And you can understand why they probably stuck around and are haunting this tunnel.
- [24:11]
McLeod Andrews
But general backdrop aside, like, I'd love to kind of get a bit more context of this particular story itself. This character I read, I don't think he even was named in the story.
- [24:22]
Brian Sigley
He was not? No.
- [24:22]
McLeod Andrews
Was he? I'm assuming he was made up.
- [24:24]
Brian Sigley
He was not made up, actually.
- [24:26]
McLeod Andrews
Really?
- [24:27]
Brian Sigley
He's based on a man named Bernard Hesteby. Who was a local from the area who wandered into this tunnel in 1973. Which is when the story was set. And he was never seen again.
- [24:38]
McLeod Andrews
Oh.
- [24:38]
Brian Sigley
I, of course, had to kind of make up what happened to him inside that tunnel. Cause no one actually knows. Sure. But all the spooky stories that he tells while he's inside the tunnel. And all the things that he sees when he's in there are based on actual encounters that were reported by others as they had encountered those in the tunnel.
- [24:56]
McLeod Andrews
Okay. And do we know anything about Bernard? His life, or.
- [25:01]
Brian Sigley
Not much. There's some newspaper articles that mentioned that he was missing and was last seen walking into the tunnel. And all I know beyond that is he was apparently living in one of the hotels in North Adams. So that's all we have to run on, basically.
- [25:17]
McLeod Andrews
Okay. So we don't know a whole lot about him. So there's not much to really dive into in terms of, like, what might have really been the cause of his death, if not the supernatural tunnel or whatever. So let's just focus on this tunnel, which. Man, tunnels are just such a perfect setting for spooky stuff. They're dark, they're long, your imagination starts going crazy because you don't know how close you are to the end. Like truly you don't. Especially with one that's five miles long.
- [25:43]
Brian Sigley
Absolutely.
- [25:44]
McLeod Andrews
So this is just. All this is to say is it's an awesome setting for a story like this.
- [25:49]
Brian Sigley
Well, especially when you have one. Well, this is an awesome fact, but like when you have a place that's kind of rooted in all these disasters that happened when they were building it, it's natural that there would be this negative energy and kind of just this vibe around the place almost. So, you know, I wanted to dig into a few of those that were kind of hinted at in the story, but I want to kind of flesh them out a little bit more here because they're really cool historical stories that I think have a lot, you know, resonance.
- [26:14]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [26:15]
Brian Sigley
So the first one that was mentioned in the story was about Ringo Kelly. He was a miner who was working in the tunnel with two other guys. Brinkman and Nash were their names. And in 1865 when this happened, cool fact. This was the first construction project potentially in America that used nitroglycerin, really, because it was brand new to the country at the time, and so no one really knew quite what they were doing with it, it seems like. And that might be why a lot of the people ended up d building this tunnel.
- [26:46]
McLeod Andrews
Yikes.
- [26:46]
Brian Sigley
But in this particular case, Ringo Kelly and his two co workers were in the tunnel. They planted a charge and they ran. Only Ringo ended up surviving though, because it blew up too early and the other two guys ended up buried in the Rebel and. And died, unfortunately. But Ringo, he seemed to have had some guilt over it. So I don't know if he actually is the one who personally messed up, but a few days later he went missing. No one saw him for a year. And when they found him one year later, his body was found strangled in the exact spot where Nash and Brinkman had been buried in the tunnel wreckage.
- [27:25]
McLeod Andrews
So ultimately, Ringo didn't make it out?
- [27:27]
Brian Sigley
Ultimately not, no. And I think people have said because of that. Could he have been strangled or killed by the ghosts of his former co workers?
- [27:36]
McLeod Andrews
Or I will posit potentially just one of his living co workers who were friends with the ones who died who knew that Ringo was the one who effed it up and were like, I'm gonna kill you. My good buddies are dead because you're not good at your job.
- [27:51]
Brian Sigley
That's valid. But no one had seen him for an entire year before that happened. Oh, so it is a Big question mark as to what could have happened there.
- [27:58]
McLeod Andrews
You can really see why they called.
- [27:59]
Unknown
It the Bloody Pit.
- [28:00]
Brian Sigley
Yeah, absolutely. And that wasn't even the big one, you know, the big disaster, though, involved this central ventilation shaft that we heard about in the story. And in 1867, there were a bunch of men at the bottom of this. There was an explosion up above. All of the debris came falling down on top of them, including a building. Building that was up there that fell down into the shaft and fell on top of them. And the wreckage buried them alive, essentially. And to make matters worse, the water pump that was in there was destroyed and the tunnel filled up with water.
- [28:30]
McLeod Andrews
So, I mean, I guess it's kind of like what happens when cave divers get stuck. I can't think of many things more terrifying.
- [28:36]
Brian Sigley
No, absolutely not. And unfortunately, these guys were essentially left for dead. They tried to send a guy down to see if they could before the water line, to see if they could. Could discover any sense of people being alive down there. But there were gases and fumes and things like that that were so bad that he's like, no one could have survived there. Bring me back up. End of story, basically. Unfortunately, though, a year later, when they finally drained the shaft and ended up pulling all the wreckage out, they found not only the bodies of the guys who were buried there, but they found a raft that the guys had built, which implies that they were alive for at least long enough to build a.
- [29:10]
McLeod Andrews
Raft and survive, hoping for someone to.
- [29:13]
Brian Sigley
Save them, which is really unfortunate. And I think that seems more like the Bloody Pit vibe to me.
- [29:19]
McLeod Andrews
You know what else I think about tunnels, like, and why I think this is such a great format for telling stories about them, is by nature, this potentially most horrific and terrifying harrowing experience is not visual because there's no light and there's nowhere to go. You can't make a movie about it. You can't really make a TV show about it very well.
- [29:42]
Brian Sigley
It's interesting you bring up just the lack of being able to see anything. The spooky stuff that people have encountered in this tunnel have been things they've heard.
- [29:50]
McLeod Andrews
Interesting.
- [29:51]
Brian Sigley
So hearing weird. Just sounds of miners and sounds of workers and sounds like that all throughout the tunnel, even up to today. People have, of course, seen things too. You know, in. In the lit parts of the tunnel, they've seen miners carrying pickaxes and shovels. Then they vanish a few moments later. We hinted at in the story, but there were a couple of really esteemed locals, a doctor and a superintendent of the Construction site who ventured into the tunnel one time a few years before it opened. And that's when they saw this eerie blue light in the distance that, as it grew closer, revealed itself to be a headless man walking towards them.
- [30:28]
Unknown
Wow.
- [30:29]
Brian Sigley
So that was actually a real account that is written down that I drew from in shaping this story. And of course, to back this up as well, we've got all these books, articles, lots of written material to kind of corroborate the experience that a lot of people have had in and around this particular tunnel.
- [30:45]
McLeod Andrews
So those were fairly old sightings. Like, are there contemporary sightings? Do people continue to report seeing stuff in this tunnel also? Like, why are people allowed to just keep walking into this tunnel?
- [30:56]
Brian Sigley
That is a really good question. From what I uncovered, it sounds like the tunnel is not used very often these days. Only five or six or seven trains go through in a day, which honestly does not seem like a lot for a major throwaway like this. But to answer your question, about more modern occurrences, yes, there absolutely have been. I mean, Bernard Hesteby was certainly one of them. That was 1973, where he just vanished.
- [31:19]
McLeod Andrews
Although we don't know for sure what he saw or didn't see or even actually if he died in the tunnel.
- [31:23]
Brian Sigley
That's very true. Well, I think if he had died in the tunnel, we would have found his body.
- [31:26]
Unknown
Right.
- [31:26]
Brian Sigley
It's a real head scratcher. What could have happened to him? But beyond that, there have been other reports, more recent ones. There was a professor who went into the tunnel in the 1980s for some kind of research project. They said that they felt an unseen entity walking behind her in the tunnel for the entire time they were walking. They didn't see anything in that case, but it was still a creepy vibe. And this one's cool. I don't have dates on this one, but there are people who have said that either one, they felt someone try and push them in front of a train when they've been in the tunnel.
- [31:57]
Unknown
Whoa.
- [31:57]
Brian Sigley
Or they've also felt hands try and pull them back as if to save them.
- [32:01]
McLeod Andrews
Interesting.
- [32:02]
Brian Sigley
So it's kind of hard to know in that case, then if this is like a malevolent spirit or a.
- [32:07]
McLeod Andrews
Well, it's a lot of different people died in there. So you probably got some good ones and some bad ones.
- [32:11]
Brian Sigley
Absolutely. And interestingly, I think a lot of the accounts that I uncovered suggested sightings of more than one spirit at a time, which is kind of unusual when you see a group of people walking through the tunnel. That's A little unnerving.
- [32:23]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [32:23]
McLeod Andrews
You know, the thing about this story that I just keep coming back to, and I think it's something inherent to like passageways, hallways, tunnels, is the feeling that I think we've all experienced where time loses meaning. Like it becomes impossible to kind of gauge time. And the more scared you are, the slower time seems to go. And that thing of like, the going out is always scarier and feels longer than the coming back because your senses are. You're watching out, you're listening, you're just sucking in more information. And that feeling that our character has of just not knowing when it's gonna end, I love that aspect of how we mentally map time and experience and like kind of our emotions within that. And it's like whether it's a hallway or in a dark house where you can kind of like scare yourself because of just by nature of how much space is between you and where you're going and how much of that space can your imagination fill.
- [33:22]
Brian Sigley
And I think what makes it elevates it in a way for me in a tunnel is that log. Logically, there are only two ways in and out. Yeah.
- [33:28]
McLeod Andrews
Logically, you should be able to get out. You're not trapped.
- [33:31]
Brian Sigley
You keep walking and you will find a way out. End of story. Yeah, but what happens when you can't? And that's what I think terrified me the most as I was writing this and trying to put myself in the headspace of what could drive someone crazy walking into a tunnel that might be haunted.
- [33:46]
McLeod Andrews
Absolutely.
- [33:47]
Brian Sigley
So we're gonna end the discussion just a little bit early today just because we have those reminders for you that we're gonna move to bi weekly through the summer just to give ourselves a chance to make some more cool stuff for you guys and get ready for Spooky Season, which is coming right around the corner.
- [34:00]
McLeod Andrews
McLeod, aren't we in Spooky Season? When does it end?
- [34:04]
Brian Sigley
We're in June gloom. We're in June gloom. There's still July, August, September before we get to Spooky Season, so get yourselves ready for that. But as a reminder, if you're a Q Code plus subscriber, you're going to get next week a very special extra long listener story just for you. They'll show up on Apple Podcast or wherever you're subscribed to Q Code plus. And just as a reminder, you know, Q Code plus really is the best way to support us directly. Your support really does help keep sightings rolling and help us prepare for all the cool stuff that we have coming down the pipe.
- [34:36]
McLeod Andrews
All right, And Brian, I'm going to take your line this time since we know where we're going next week already. Say, listeners, if you have any experiences in tunnels, train or otherwise that you want to share with us, hit us up on Instagram. Itingspod.
- [34:51]
Brian Sigley
That's the one. You did it.
- [34:52]
McLeod Andrews
That's right.
- [34:54]
Brian Sigley
Or you can, of course, leave the comments for us on Spotify. We love reading those.
- [34:58]
McLeod Andrews
Absolutely. Or leave us a review on Apple, Apple Podcasts, or, you know, wherever you're listening.
- [35:04]
Brian Sigley
Absolutely. We love seeing those and are excited to start sharing some of those in next month's episodes.
- [35:09]
McLeod Andrews
So, speaking of next month, for those of us who don't have Q code. Plus, where are we going in two weeks, Brian?
- [35:16]
Brian Sigley
Yeah, so we're heading in July. We're gonna be putting the ghost stories behind us for a few weeks and. But we're gonna be staying in New England. We're gonna head to New Hampshire for a really cool UFO sighting, widespread UFO sighting story that I think you're gonna love. So.
- [35:32]
McLeod Andrews
Okay, New Hampshire.
- [35:35]
Brian Sigley
That's the accent we're gonna use.
- [35:37]
McLeod Andrews
That's the accent.
- [35:38]
Brian Sigley
That's the one. So, listeners, we'd love if you come back and visit us in two weeks for our next regular episode, same time, same place, right here on Sightings.
- [35:49]
McLeod Andrews
See you in two weeks, everybody.
- [35:52]
Brian Sigley
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 Madison James Smith. Series music by Mitch Bain. Mixing and mastering by Pat Kicklater of Sundial Media. Artwork by Nuno Sarnatis. For a list of this episode's sources, check out our website@sightingspodcast.com Sightings is presented by Reverb and Q Code. If you like the the show, be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you're first to hear new episodes. And if you know other Supernatural fans, tell them about us. We'd really appreciate it. I'm Dallas Taylor, host of 20,000 Hz, a lovingly crafted podcast about the amazing world of sound. From music and video games to science and history, the world of sound is full, full of great stories. The TIE Fighter was made with a car passing by a microphone on wet pavement. And then layered on top of that are these elephant growls. You can choose between snares. You can start chopping up the amen break and rearranging the individual beats into other configurations. And this barely scratches the surface. We've also revealed the hidden stories behind the most iconic sounds to ever be created to unlock your sonic world, follow 20,000Hz right here in your podcast player.