SUPERNATURAL CALIFORNIA
SUPERNATURAL CALIFORNIA
A Golden State Guide to UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Ghosts, Hauntings,
Cryptozoological Creatures, Psychics, Mediums, Miracles, Mystical
Spots, Buried Treasures, Gravity Hills, Local Legends, Ancient
Civilizations and Other Strange Mysteries.
By Preston Dennett
Artwork by Kesara
Introduction
PART ONE: MYSTIC PLACES
1. The Santa Cruz Mystery Spot
2. Confusion Hill
3. The Gravity Hills of California
4. The Sliding Stones of Death Valley
5. Weird Trees
6. The Ruins of Mu
7. Mount Shasta
8. The Mystery Walls of Northern California
9. The Standing Stones of Point Reyes
10. Ogams in California
11. The Oriflamme Mountain Ghost lights
12. Giants in the Desert
PART TWO: CRYPTOZOOLOGICAL CREATURES
1. California Lake Monsters
2. Sea-Serpents of the California Coast
3. Giant Mountain Salamanders.
4. Bigfoot in California
5. The Chupacabra in California
PART THREE: RELIGIOUS MIRACLES
1. Crosses of Light
2. Living Statues
3. Virgin Mary Trees
4. Religious Apparitions
PART FOUR: LOCAL LEGENDS
1. Underground California Cities
2. Buried Treasure in California
3. The California Hum
PART FIVE: GHOSTS AND HAUNTINGS
1. Haunted Hotels
2. Haunted Parks
3. Haunted Cemeteries
4. Haunted Roadways
5. Haunted Museums
6. Haunted Businesses
7. Haunted Theaters
8. Haunted Churches and Missions
9. Haunted Ghost towns.
10. Haunted Schools
11. Haunted Spots
12. California Ghost Tours
PART SIX: PSYCHIC CALIFORNIA
1. Vivian Grace, psychic advisor
2. Brian Hurst, medium
3. Ashley, Tarot Card Reader
4. Sylvia Brown, psychic & medium
5. Selacia: channeler & healer
6. The International Academy of Consciousness
PART SEVEN: CALIFORNIA UFO HOTSPOTS
1. The California Deserts
2. Tujunga Canyon
3. Topanga Canyon
4. An Underwater UFO Base
5. Mount Shasta
6. Other Possible Hotspots
7. California UFO Groups
CONCLUSIONS
SOURCES
INTRODUCTION
The world is a very strange place, and one of the strangest places in the world is
undoubtedly the state of California. An incredibly large number and wide variety
of supernatural events occur here. If you want to see a UFO, it turns out that
California is the leading producer of reports in the United States. If Bigfoot is your
interest, California contains one of the highest population concentrations of the
hairy creature, with cases coming from every corner of the state. And this is just
the beginning of the weirdness.
For some unknown reason, California is a powerful magnet for the strange
and unusual. It has always been a leading influence in the New Age movement,
attracting all kinds of psychics, healers, and people with “alternative” professions.
This was true even back in the 1930s and 1940s.
In 1931, author and researcher Wishar Cerve pioneered some of the first
investigations into California mysteries, in particular into the Mount Shasta area.
Writes Cerve, “I am aware of the fact that no Chamber of Commerce in any of the
very progressive cities of California would think of writing a book about the local
allurements of each community by giving any emphasis to the weird sights, strange
sounds or peculiar mysteries within its own borders…But to the lover of mystery,
the student of the sciences, the research worker, the thinker, and those
intellectually inclined, the mysteries of California are not only appealing but never
completely solved and never forgotten.”
Cerve was apparently gifted with prophecy. A little more than ten years
later, in 1944, Section 43.30 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code was passed in
order to control what city officials believed was a dangerous situation -- in
particular fortune telling.
Reads Section 43.30: FORTUNE TELLING: No person shall advertise by
sign, circular, handbill, or in any newspaper, periodical or magazine, or other
publication or publications, or by any other means, to tell fortunes, to find or
restore lost or stolen property, to locate oil wells, gold or silver or other ore or
metal or natural product, to restore lost love or friendship or affection, to unite or
procure lovers, for or without pay, by means of occult or psychic powers, faculties
or forces, clairvoyance, psychology, psychometry, spirits, mediumship, seership,
prophecy, astrology, palmistry, necromancy, or other craft, science, cards,
talismen, charms, potions, magnetism or magnetized articles or substances, oriental
mysteries or magic of any kind or nature, or numerology, or to engage in or carry
on any business the advertisement of which is prohibited by this section.”
Despite the code (which no longer stands), the New Age Movement took
hold, and California became The Place to have virtually any type of psychic
experience. Researcher David St. Clair writes, “California [is] America’s most
psychic, occult and mystic state. California [is] the strangest state in the nation.
No one disputes it. The forces of good and evil are at work in California. This is
nothing new. The occult has been a way of life there since time immemorial.”
Another prominent investigator into California mysteries is author, Mike
Marinacci. Like other researchers, Marinacci became fascinated by the powerful
effect California had on the population, particularly in its early history. Writes
Marinacci, “As American civilization settled over the Golden State near the end of
the 19th century, a new kind of dreamer began to migrate West. These were not
pioneers out to tame the land for mining and farming, but visionaries seeking
freedom and enlightenment. Victimized by uptight, Victorian mainstream
America, they saw California as a new wide-open world. If they wanted to eat
only vegetables, walk around nude, meditate or communicate with Enlightened
Masters or Space Brothers, there was plenty of beautiful open land for doing so.
And in a state already filled with mavericks and individualists, they would fit right
in…Hundreds of new religions, sects, cults and ashrams sprung up in California,
either imported or grown out of the fertile environment of social eccentricity and
tolerance…Countless free-love, communalistic and renegade Christian sects have
also lived and died here, from the mid-1850s all the way up the approaching
Millennium.”
Marinacci is not under-stating the case. No other state in the union has this
reputation for pushing the edge of reality. California remains a stronghold for the
strange and unusual. So whether you want to hunt for ghosts, explore ruins of
ancient civilizations, search for cryptozoological creatures, or try to call down an
extraterrestrial spacecraft, California is definitely the place to be.
Your choices are incredibly wide and varied. How about visiting the oldest
living creature on Earth? How about a mind-bending climb up Confusion Hill or a
mystifying trip to Santa Cruz’s Mystery Spot? How about searching for the one of
many mysterious lake monsters lurking in the depths of Lake Elsinore, Lake Tahoe
or several other lakes? Or maybe a creepy visit to a haunted hotel, museum or graveyard?
Or perhaps you’d like to study the mysterious sliding rocks of Death Valley or test
one of California’s little-known Gravity Hills? Sites of religious miracles,
chupacabra haunts, UFO hotspots, ancient civilizations, lost treasures, and a
comprehensive list of public California hauntings -- they’re all here and they’re all
absolutely true.
These are just a few of the more than 100 weird and unusual places in this
book that you can visit – places you won’t find in ordinary guidebooks. If it’s
strange, odd, weird, unexplained, unknown, paranormal, supernatural,
mysterious…it can be found in California. More than just a guidebook, the
incredible and bizarre history behind all these mysterious locations and local
legends are also revealed. Even more exciting, exact locations and detailed
directions are given on how to get there. Beyond that, it is up to you!
My own introduction into the weirdness of California began in 1971, shortly
after I moved here as a child with my family. By chance, we moved into a little
community outside Los Angeles known as Topanga Canyon. Located in the Santa
Monica Mountains along the coast west of Los Angeles, we soon realized that
Topanga had a reputation for being a little off the beaten path. It was the site for
one of California’s first nudist colonies. It contained a number of different
spiritual groups. It attracted all kinds of alternative lifestyles from hippies and
musicians to New Age-crystal types. It also had a reputation for being a spooky
place.
As kids, we spent hours exploring the caves that used to be inhabited by the
Chumash and Gabrielano Native Americans. Numerous artifacts have been
recovered from the vicinity, which was used as a meeting ground for various tribes
and considered sacred.
One of my favorite spots was Eagle Rock, a large spur of sandstone bedrock
jutting out of the mountainside. It contains numerous caves and a sheer cliff more
than 150 feet down. One interesting cave we called the “Ohm Cave.” If you sit in
the back of the cave and chant “ohm”, the sound echoes around you in a way that
overwhelms all other sounds. It was one of the many strange little-known local
spots I would eventually explore.
In 1984, following the death of my mother, I saw her ghost. Having been
alerted to the fact that ghosts are real, I began to ask around and learned that
several locations in Topanga Canyon were actually haunted. I also learned that
sometime in the 1700-1800s, Spanish pirates supposedly came into the nearby
mountains and buried caches of treasure. Then I began to get reports of UFO
encounters. My interest in UFOs and the paranormal grew. I soon became a field
investigator for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON.) I eventually interviewed
hundreds of witnesses of all kinds of paranormal events, from ghost, UFO and
Bigfoot encounters to near-death experiences, religious miracles, premonitions,
levitation…anything and everything weird or supernatural. I began speaking at
conventions, writing articles and books, appearing on radio and television. This
entailed more travels across California, where I got to see more strange and
mystical sites.
Before long I had a network of contacts, and people began to come to me
with their stories. Today, after more than twenty years of investigation, I have
uncovered supernatural events and mystical sites from virtually every corner of
California. I have not only read about these places and talked to firsthand
witnesses, I have visited many of the locations myself. To my utter amazement, I
have been able to make contact with UFOs. I’ve talked to psychics and mediums
who have given me amazing predictions. I’ve walked through haunted places and
felt the ghosts. I’ve driven on the gravity hills to see for myself it they were real. I
even had my very own Bigfoot encounter!
There is much more weirdness in the Golden State than most people would
ever believe. And as strange as all these places and events are, again they are all
absolutely true and just waiting to be explored.
What follows are two small excerpts from the book:
The Gravity Hills of California
By Preston Dennett
Among the strangest of the many unexplained mysteries on our planet are a
phenomenon known as “gravity hills.” Also called magnetic hills, anti-gravity
hills or spook hills, these locations can be found across the planet.
Gravity hills can be defined as a particular location where the laws of gravity
don’t seem to apply. In virtually every case, a gravity hill involves a short section
of road, usually no more than a few hundred yards long, which appears to go
uphill, but does it really? A true gravity hill appears to go uphill, but when you
park your car at the base of the incline, put the transmission in neutral and remove
the brake, you will find that your car rolls up the apparent hill.
There are three main theories to account for this strange effect. The most
popular theory is a gravitational/magnetic anomaly caused by unusual mineral or
stone deposits. A second theory is that ghosts or spirits are responsible. A few of
the locations are reportedly the sites of fatal automobile accidents and/or are near
cemeteries. In a few cases, people report seeing handprints on the back of their car
following their unexplained ascension up a gravity hill. The third theory is that the
effects are actually caused by impressive and convincing optical illusions.
Whatever the explanation, gravity hills are relatively rare and most are
exceedingly hard to find. You won’t find them on most maps and they are usually
known only to the locals.
While doing research for my book Supernatural California (Schiffer, 2006),
I was shocked to find that California was literally riddled with these strange sites.
Writes one researcher, Marina X., “I never realized how many Gravity Hills there
were in California alone. I wonder if it has something to do with the two plates
(Pacific and North American) colliding and subducting and whatever else it is they
are doing?”
Intrigued, I decided to conduct a full investigation into the strange
phenomenon. My plan was to determine the number and location of these gravity
hills, find witnesses, research any scientific studies, and finally to visit and study
the locations myself. Only then would I make any conclusions about these socalled
anomalies.
While these sites are supposedly rare, after much research I was able to
locate at least seven gravity hills in California. Undoubtedly the most famous of
these is the Gravity Hill of Sonoma, located along Lichau Road. Numerous
researchers have visited the area and conducted their own investigations.
The Gravity Hill of Sonoma
Writes Marina X., “There are no signs to it, and no way of knowing you are
there if you don’t already know that you are there. Basically, it is a road that
follows around the side of a hill, where the road dips down into a trough, then
climbs back up. If you drive to the bottom of the trough in the road and put your
car in neutral, the car backs rapidly up the hill. It is a bit eerie and kind of cool.”
Marina has researched other gravity hills, and is convinced that this one is
genuine. “Some people say that all such phenomena are optical illusions. In this
case, however, this is a for real Gravity Hill, not an optical illusion. It you stand
near the top of the road, you will find yourself looking down on top of the car.
This would not be so if it were an optical illusion, unless somehow the light is
being bent in funny ways, in which case there is still a mystery here.”
Marina has taken others out there, some of who are convinced, others who
are not. Says Marina, “It has become sort of a test of a person’s ability to hold an
open mind and allow for something of wonder in the world.”
Way back in the mid-1970s, Kelly Samson visited the area with her brother
and a friend. Says Samson, “It was an incredible feeling as the car traveled uphill.
I have not forgotten it to this day. Now that I have children, I would like to share it
with them, but needless to say, I do not remember the way.”
Local real-estate salesperson Sheila Giovan visited and photographed the
area. She writes, “When you cross the cattleguard, look down a sloping grade that
clearly appears to run downhill. Go about 10-15 yards, stop, throw it in neutral
and say your prayers as the car rolls uphill towards the cattleguard.”
Fenwick Rysen studied the hill with an engineer’s compass, a level and a
pendulum. His measurements revealed that the gravity of the hill appears to be
misaligned by a certain degree. As he writes, “The stretch [of road] that fools with
gravity…seems to be an energy line that the road just happened to cross for that
small portion.”
LOCATION: Lichau Road, just past Gracias Santiago Ranch in Rohnert Park, just
south of Santa Rosa.
The Gravity Hill of La Jolla
Another gravity hill that is well-known to locals is the La Jolla Gravity Hill.
Resident Greg Brown visited the site in 2001. He had been to other California
gravity hills and was curious to see if this one was valid. To his delight, it was.
Says Brown, “The first thing that makes this hill interesting is that you roll
forwards up the hill, not backwards like all the other hills I’ve tested. It looks like
a dud at first glance compared to some other hills, but your vehicle will crest the
hill you are rolling ‘up’ then proceed on a long downhill stretch where you will
eventually have to stop your vehicle.”
Brown believes that whatever the cause, the La Jolla gravity hill works. As
he says, “[It is] worth the trip if you are in the area.”
Another visitor, Willie Robinson, was able to shock his friends by
pretending to push his car uphill with just a finger. Says Robinson, “Yeah, Gravity
Hill was always a source of amazement for those who were new to the experience.
One of the best was to finger your car up the hill, that really got ‘em going.”
This particular gravity hill has been known to locals for nearly eighty years.
Writes Wayne Perry, “Ah yes, the gravity hill. It has amazed many. After
graduating, I became an apprentice carpenter and helped build those houses on the
south side of Muirlands Drive. Using a transit level and sighting across the road, a
person could see the drop in the roadway. I can remember my Dad and uncle
talking about that spot when they used the road in 1937.”
LOCATION: West Muirlands Drive between Nautilus and Fay Street in La Jolla.
The Gravity Hill of Antioch
Outside the San Francisco Bay area of Antioch, again only known by the
locals, lies a small stretch of gravity-defying road. For those uninitiated to the
phenomena, it can be a disconcerting experience. On the evening of August 28,
2003, Monica X. and her friends visited the hill to test it out. As she says, “I went
to Gravity Hill in Antioch two nights ago, and I was scared out of my mind! Our
car was moved at least 25 feet uphill. Right when we turned the headlights on, the
car came to an immediate halt.”
On the evening of September 18, 2003, local resident Jessica X. drove alone
to the site to see if the stories were true. She came away from the experience
convinced. “Your car does move, so it does work. But yeah, there are cults
around there; I had a truck come out of nowhere and chase me. So don’t go alone
and be careful…it’s a really creepy place, just so you’re warned, and you will get
VERY weird vibes there.”
Another convinced visitor is Rosie X. As she says, “My friend and I went to
Gravity Hill and it does work…The car does move! A good couple of feet! It’s
awesome but really freaky at the same time.”
Local resident Angela X. agrees that the gravity hill exists, but believes it
has a prosaic explanation. As she says, “It’s just a place with an extreme
gravitational pull. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely cool and an amazing feeling.
It’s pretty creepy at night. The cool thing to do is to get out and put a ball on the
ground or get on a skateboard. Now that is awesome!”
LOCATION: End of Empire Mine Road in Antioch, outside of Stockton.
The Gravity Hill of Kagel Canyon
I heard a lot of rumors of another gravity hill in southern California in the city of
San Fernando. Says Gwen X, “Okay, first of all I have been to numerous so-called
‘Gravity Hills’ throughout California. I can only confirm that one of them
worked…I was a non-believer until I experienced this.”
Says Heather X., “My friend who had already been there said it worked
really well for her and scared her to the point of crying.”
The spot is apparently well known to locals. I was able to locate three
firsthand witnesses. Unfortunately, it was many years earlier and all of them were
teen-agers at the time. However, I gathered what information I could and set off to
find it.
With me was my friend David Fleetwood. He remembered visiting the site
as a kid and being impressed by it. But twenty years had passed and much of the
information we had was sketchy. All we knew was the approximate location of the
site, and that it was next to a cemetery.
As we drove up the canyon, David remarked that the area was bringing back
memories. When we approached the area, the first thing we noticed was the
Sholom Memorial Cemetery. David said, “This area looks familiar.” One of the
many conflicting directions I had gotten mentioned this particular cemetery. That
was a good sign. Still it appeared that finding the exact location was going to be
an uphill battle.
We drove until we hit Lopez Canyon, turned left and drove past the
Haverhill Cemetery. This certainly seemed to be the right area, but where was the
hill? We turned around and began driving back and forth, looking for it. The first
few times we drove right over it.
I noticed it first, an odd-looking dip in the road. “Stop here!” I shouted,
after we had turned around a third time to look for it. “I think this might be it.”
David looked around and nodded. “I think you might be right!” He stopped
the car at the bottom of the little hill, put it in neutral and slowly took his foot off
the brake. We held our breath for a second when suddenly the car lurched forward
and began to move apparently up the hill! It wasn’t a big hill, but the car was
definitely moving.
I thought it was probably an illusion, but when we reached the top, we
turned around and looked down. It certainly looked like we were looking
downhill.
We did it several times until we were sure that this was the actual gravity hill
of Kagel Canyon. I returned again later to take some photos and try it out with my
own car. Sure enough, it worked. I can see why some people might find the
experience frightening. But it was also kind of interesting. Was it an optical
illusion or an actual gravitational anomaly? I withheld my judgment until I visited
another nearby gravity hill.
Rubio Canyon Gravity Hill
While doing research for the Kagel Canyon Gravity Hill, I started to get
reports of another gravity hill located in nearby Altadena. At first I assumed that
the two sites were being confused, and that there was only one site. But the reports
mounted until it became clear that there were, in fact, two gravity hills. The only
problem was, nobody seemed to know where the Altadena location was.
I found a few firsthand witnesses, but they were unable to remember the
location. Finally, after a flurry of email requests, I received a response from an
Altadena resident who not only knew the exact location, he provided a map. I had
just about given up on ever finding it. Now I knew exactly where it was.
I jumped into my Toyota pick-up and began my adventure. Altadena is
located north of the 210 Freeway in southern California. As I headed into the city,
I was struck by how the city of Altadena is built. While most southern California
cities are built in the valleys, much of Altadena is carved into the foothills of the
rugged San Gabriel Mountains. Because of this, many of the streets are steep and
winding. Already I was fighting gravity as I climbed higher and higher in
elevation towards my destination.
The directions I had been given were perfect, and I had no trouble
recognizing the gravity hill as soon as it came into view. Like the Kagel Canyon
site, the hill was a small stretch of road with an odd dip about a hundred yards
long. It started just south of a large stone bridge near a small white house.
I pulled a quick U-turn and parked at the bottom of the small hill. I looked
behind me. Yes, it definitely looked like an uphill grade behind me. There was no
way this was going to work.
I popped the car into neutral and slowly removed my foot from the brake.
Almost immediately the car gave a small lurch backwards and started to roll uphill!
I couldn’t believe it. I was moving only a few miles per hour, but I was definitely
moving. And no doubt about it, it looked like I was going uphill. A few seconds
later, the car eased up to the crest of the hill. I put on the brake, pulled forwards
and did it again. Just like before, the car rolled easily backwards.
Just to be sure, I did it a third time, pulling the car forward until I found the
exact beginning of the strange effect. It worked like a charm. Then I turned
around and tried it on the west lane of the road, which also worked, though not as
well.
I then pulled over and walked up and down the stretch of road, trying to get
a feel for it. Was it an optical illusion or an actual gravitational anomaly? I
honestly wasn’t sure.
I took several photos and surveyed the surrounding area. The site had many
things in common with the Kagel Canyon hill. Both were located in the foothills
of large, steep mountains. Both stretches of road went steeply downhill and were
interrupted by the same type of minor dip or trough in the road, where it appeared
to level out and travel upwards for a short distance, then continue downwards.
As I surveyed the site, a few cars pulled over at the bottom of the hill and
tested it for themselves. At first I thought they were concerned neighbors who
were wondering why I was taking pictures of the area. Then I watched as their
cars began to inch backwards, with the drivers looking at me to see my reaction.
Then I realized, they obviously knew about the hill!
Again, like other gravity hills, the location is apparently well-known to the
locals. I could only wonder if the residents of the small white house near the base
of the hill knew why so many people stopped before the home and rolled their cars
backwards!
LOCATION: Rubio Canyon Road, adjacent to Rubio Canyon Wash Basin, in
Altadena.
Conclusions
While gravity hills may be hard to find, California is filled with them. There
is another reported gravity hill on the Mira Mesa/Sorrento Boulevard exit of the
southbound 805 Freeway in La Mesa. Another gravity hill is said to exist next to
the Rose Hills Cemetery on Turnbull Canyon in Hacienda Heights-Whittier. Yet
another gravity hill reportedly exists on Patterson Road between Tracy and
Livermore. Unconfirmed reports of other hills come from Corona, San Bernardino
and Duarte. There are also several famous sites across the United States. Clearly,
this phenomenon is widespread.
However the main question remains, what is the cause of this bizarre effect?
Cars can’t really roll uphill, can they?
On the other hand, gravity is not the uniform phenomenon that many people
assume it is. The power of gravity does, in fact, alter depending on one’s altitude
and geographic location. However, the differences are too minor to account for the
kind of effects we see on gravity hills.
Skeptics claim that the effect is only an optical illusion caused by the
horizon lines on either side moving in contradiction to the slope of the road. After
visiting two of the hills myself, I can offer no solid conclusions. Logically, we all
know that cars do not roll up hill. However, there is nothing quite like personal
experience to make you shake your head and wonder if just maybe, sometimes
they do…
California Lake Monsters
By Preston Dennett
Lake monsters have been reported across the world. While Nessie of the Loch
Ness is undoubtedly the most famous, there are literally hundreds of other lakes
with their own unknown denizens. As it turns out, the United States is no
exception. The most populous state in the nation, California, contains no less than
four lake monsters.
Is it true that there are unknown creatures lurking the depths of California’s
freshwater lakes? As we shall see, the evidence for their reality is compelling.
Lake Elizabeth
The earliest report of a Golden State lake monster comes from a small
freshwater lake near Palmdale called Lake Elizabeth. Although the encounters
occurred a long time ago, there is a surprising amount of documentation. Way
back in 1830, rancher Don Pedro Carrillo abandoned his ranch next to the lake
after a mysterious fire burned down his property. He claimed that the lake was
cursed by the Devil.
Later in 1855, American settlers moved into the area, but reportedly
abandoned the settlement, saying it was haunted.
Around that time, rancher Don Chico Lopez purchased property and started
his own cattle ranch. Almost immediately, however, he began to lose livestock.
He was soon to become the first eyewitness to the monster of Lake Elizabeth.
While investigating the disappearance of his cattle, Lopez was shocked to observe
a “huge monster with bat-like wings” emerge from the lake. Now he knew why
his livestock were disappearing. He sold his ranch at a loss.
The property was purchased by rancher Miguel Leonis, who also claimed to
see the creature. Later, in 1886, yet another rancher, Don Felipe Rivera, also
reported seeing the gigantic reptilian.
And there the sightings seem to end. Perhaps the creature decided to remain
hidden, or maybe it died. There is also speculation that it simply moved locations,
as there are rumors of similar sightings in a nearby uncharted small lake which
goes by various local nicknames including Sag Pond, Una Lake, Lake La Rush
Lamar or the “bottomless lake.”
Elsie of Lake Elsinore
Another California lake that has gained a reputation for having its own
mysterious creature lurking in its depths is Lake Elsinore. The town of Lake
Elsinore is built around the lake, which is the area’s main industry, mostly tourism
and recreation. Thousands of people flock to the lake on a daily basis to enjoy its
fresh waters. Is it possible that an unknown creature could remain elusive around
so many people?
The answer, of course, is no, it can’t – and it hasn’t. The fact is that
numerous people have seen the monster – with enough reports surfacing to give the
monster its own name, Elsie.
The first reports come from the Pai ah’ che’ Native Americans who told
visiting Spaniards that their lake was inhabited by a gigantic monster which would
surface from time to time, belching steam and fire.
This has led to some speculation that the accounts are caused by unknown
volcanic activity. Escaping hot gas might make a believable lake monster. These
theories, however, are easily pushed aside by the several modern accounts of
sightings, which reportedly stretch back to 1884.
The best-verified sightings occurred during the winter of 1970, when
residents and state recreation officers had several sightings of the creature, whose
humps appeared to move up and down like a gigantic snake. Writes one local
researcher, “There are still many reliable witnesses who claim that they have seen
the monster following their boats under the water late at night, terrifying them so
much that they headed pell-mell for the banks and beaches as fast as their water
vessels could carry them, and never came back.
Lake Elsinore has actually dried up twice in its recorded history, which
argues strongly against the existence of a living lake monster. However, because
we know nothing about the species of creature, it is entirely possible it simply laid
eggs and reproduced or even hibernated in the mud.
In any case, the stories circulated so widely that Elsie became one of
California’s most famous lake monsters. In the late 1980s, a local company,
Poppy Graphics, offered to create a life-size statue of Elsie, and make the creature
the city’s official mascot. The idea gained wide approval, and more than 200
volunteers donated time, money or supplies to build the fiberglass statue. Today,
Elsie stands more than twenty-five feet high and a hundred feet long. It is painted
in bright, friendly colors, and is currently being held captive on Lakeland Beach,
where it can be viewed by visitors.
Tessie of Lake Tahoe
Undoubtedly the most famous of California’s lake monsters is Tessie of
Lake Tahoe. Again, the documentation of the existence of this creature is
impressive. Leading cryptozoologist Loren Coleman cites Lake Tahoe as one of
the top ten places in the world to look for a lake monster. Lake Tahoe is an alpine
freshwater lake located in central California along the Nevada-California border.
The lake is incredibly deep, with an estimated depth of 1645 feet. And with a
length of twenty-two miles, an unknown creature has plenty of space to hide.
As with other lake monsters, the first sightings were by local Native
Americans, in this case the Washoe and Paiute tribes, who both fought over the
right to hunt and fish in the area. Both tribes had legends about a large creature
that lived in the lake.
Early settlers heard about the reports, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that a
series of sightings revived the legends and people began to take the reports more
seriously. Tahoe Tessie is braver than most lake monsters, and has shown itself
many times in recent years.
In the summer of 1979, a visiting couple told local newspaper reporters of
their sighting of a “sea-serpent” in the lake off of Tahoe Vista.
In 1984, there was a series of highly publicized sightings by various
witnesses from different locations on the lake.
In 1985, a visiting tourist saw the creature and shot several frames of footage
showing a large “something” swimming through the lake. Embarrassed officials
reportedly downplayed the recent sightings and even attempted to suppress the
film.
Another recent dramatic sightings occurred to Gene St. Denis and his friend,
while walking along the beach at Cave Rock, the rumored lair of the beast. Says
St. Denis, “We saw a blotchy gray creature about ten to fifteen feet long. It turned
a corner and produced a V-shaped wake in front of it.”
The unknown creature surfaced briefly, and then plunged back into the
depths of the lake, leaving St. Denis and his friend amazed.
This was not St. Denis’s only sighting. He is the owner of the local Blue
Ribbon Fishing and Tahoe Trophy Trout, and spends much of his time on the lake.
His next experience was even more dramatic.
He was swimming along the shoreline with another friend when the water
seemed to explode underneath them. As the water calmed, they observed a
sixteen-foot long snake-like creature slither quickly away. Looking down, they
observed more evidence of the creature. Says St Denis, “We waited for the silt to
settle and found large fin-prints were the creature had been.”
St. Denis has found other bits of intriguing evidence. On two occasions,
while he was reeling fish into his boat, something large attached the fish, leaving
what looked like enormous teeth marks. Says St. Denis, “About half-way to the
boat, these fish – they were big fish – got raked…the holes left by the teeth were
big enough to put a pencil into.”
According to researcher Cherie Louise, Tessie sightings occur regularly,
with an average of about twelve encounters each year. One of the most recent
sightings was reported in the Tahoe World News. On April 26, 2005, Tahoe
resident Ron Talmadge and his friend Beth Douglas were walking along the west
shore of Tahoe Park Beach when they had a dramatic sighting. Only a few dozen
yards offshore, Talmadge and Douglas were amazed to see an enormous snake-like
creature undulating on the water’s surface. Says Talmadge, “These were solid
black humps…there was no wake as it came towards us.”
He turned to his friend who had also seen the creature and said, “Damn,
that’s Tessie!”
While Talmadge lived along the lake and knew about the monster, his friend
Beth Douglas was more surprised. “It was so cool…the way he said it was so
calm. It thought it was an everyday occurrence.”
Needless to say, both Douglas and Talmadge are now believers. As
Talmadge says, “This suckers real!”
Skeptics claim that Tessie could be a giant sturgeon, which can reach a
weight of 1500 pounds, a length of twenty feet and can live for more than d100
years. Another possible candidate is the muskie, a large aggressive fish that can
reach a length of eight feet.
However, both these theories have problems. Sturgeon have no teeth, and
neither muskie nor sturgeon have been reported in the lake. Most descriptions by
witnesses involve a serpent-like creature about sixty feet in length, with dark skin
and reptilian features.
Conclusions
Several other California lakes also have rumors of unknown monsters including the
Blue Lakes east of Ukiah and Clearlake. And California is by no means unique.
Wisconsin reportedly has no less than nine lake monsters.
While it may seem incredible that such large creatures could remain
unidentified in this day and age, the truth is that much of the underwater world
remains unexplored. New species are discovered each year and a small percentage
of these involve large animals. In 2006, scientists discovered not only a new
species, but a new family of hairy crab-like creatures found in the deep Pacific
ocean. Clearly there are still many places on this planet that have yet to be fully
explored. And until then, mysterious and unknown creatures will continue lurk in
the hidden depths of our lakes and oceans.
Sources:
This article is adapted from Supernatural California published by Schiffer
Publishing, 2006.
A Golden State Guide to UFOs, Extraterrestrials, Ghosts, Hauntings,
Cryptozoological Creatures, Psychics, Mediums, Miracles, Mystical
Spots, Buried Treasures, Gravity Hills, Local Legends, Ancient
Civilizations and Other Strange Mysteries.
By Preston Dennett
Artwork by Kesara
Introduction
PART ONE: MYSTIC PLACES
1. The Santa Cruz Mystery Spot
2. Confusion Hill
3. The Gravity Hills of California
4. The Sliding Stones of Death Valley
5. Weird Trees
6. The Ruins of Mu
7. Mount Shasta
8. The Mystery Walls of Northern California
9. The Standing Stones of Point Reyes
10. Ogams in California
11. The Oriflamme Mountain Ghost lights
12. Giants in the Desert
PART TWO: CRYPTOZOOLOGICAL CREATURES
1. California Lake Monsters
2. Sea-Serpents of the California Coast
3. Giant Mountain Salamanders.
4. Bigfoot in California
5. The Chupacabra in California
PART THREE: RELIGIOUS MIRACLES
1. Crosses of Light
2. Living Statues
3. Virgin Mary Trees
4. Religious Apparitions
PART FOUR: LOCAL LEGENDS
1. Underground California Cities
2. Buried Treasure in California
3. The California Hum
PART FIVE: GHOSTS AND HAUNTINGS
1. Haunted Hotels
2. Haunted Parks
3. Haunted Cemeteries
4. Haunted Roadways
5. Haunted Museums
6. Haunted Businesses
7. Haunted Theaters
8. Haunted Churches and Missions
9. Haunted Ghost towns.
10. Haunted Schools
11. Haunted Spots
12. California Ghost Tours
PART SIX: PSYCHIC CALIFORNIA
1. Vivian Grace, psychic advisor
2. Brian Hurst, medium
3. Ashley, Tarot Card Reader
4. Sylvia Brown, psychic & medium
5. Selacia: channeler & healer
6. The International Academy of Consciousness
PART SEVEN: CALIFORNIA UFO HOTSPOTS
1. The California Deserts
2. Tujunga Canyon
3. Topanga Canyon
4. An Underwater UFO Base
5. Mount Shasta
6. Other Possible Hotspots
7. California UFO Groups
CONCLUSIONS
SOURCES
INTRODUCTION
The world is a very strange place, and one of the strangest places in the world is
undoubtedly the state of California. An incredibly large number and wide variety
of supernatural events occur here. If you want to see a UFO, it turns out that
California is the leading producer of reports in the United States. If Bigfoot is your
interest, California contains one of the highest population concentrations of the
hairy creature, with cases coming from every corner of the state. And this is just
the beginning of the weirdness.
For some unknown reason, California is a powerful magnet for the strange
and unusual. It has always been a leading influence in the New Age movement,
attracting all kinds of psychics, healers, and people with “alternative” professions.
This was true even back in the 1930s and 1940s.
In 1931, author and researcher Wishar Cerve pioneered some of the first
investigations into California mysteries, in particular into the Mount Shasta area.
Writes Cerve, “I am aware of the fact that no Chamber of Commerce in any of the
very progressive cities of California would think of writing a book about the local
allurements of each community by giving any emphasis to the weird sights, strange
sounds or peculiar mysteries within its own borders…But to the lover of mystery,
the student of the sciences, the research worker, the thinker, and those
intellectually inclined, the mysteries of California are not only appealing but never
completely solved and never forgotten.”
Cerve was apparently gifted with prophecy. A little more than ten years
later, in 1944, Section 43.30 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code was passed in
order to control what city officials believed was a dangerous situation -- in
particular fortune telling.
Reads Section 43.30: FORTUNE TELLING: No person shall advertise by
sign, circular, handbill, or in any newspaper, periodical or magazine, or other
publication or publications, or by any other means, to tell fortunes, to find or
restore lost or stolen property, to locate oil wells, gold or silver or other ore or
metal or natural product, to restore lost love or friendship or affection, to unite or
procure lovers, for or without pay, by means of occult or psychic powers, faculties
or forces, clairvoyance, psychology, psychometry, spirits, mediumship, seership,
prophecy, astrology, palmistry, necromancy, or other craft, science, cards,
talismen, charms, potions, magnetism or magnetized articles or substances, oriental
mysteries or magic of any kind or nature, or numerology, or to engage in or carry
on any business the advertisement of which is prohibited by this section.”
Despite the code (which no longer stands), the New Age Movement took
hold, and California became The Place to have virtually any type of psychic
experience. Researcher David St. Clair writes, “California [is] America’s most
psychic, occult and mystic state. California [is] the strangest state in the nation.
No one disputes it. The forces of good and evil are at work in California. This is
nothing new. The occult has been a way of life there since time immemorial.”
Another prominent investigator into California mysteries is author, Mike
Marinacci. Like other researchers, Marinacci became fascinated by the powerful
effect California had on the population, particularly in its early history. Writes
Marinacci, “As American civilization settled over the Golden State near the end of
the 19th century, a new kind of dreamer began to migrate West. These were not
pioneers out to tame the land for mining and farming, but visionaries seeking
freedom and enlightenment. Victimized by uptight, Victorian mainstream
America, they saw California as a new wide-open world. If they wanted to eat
only vegetables, walk around nude, meditate or communicate with Enlightened
Masters or Space Brothers, there was plenty of beautiful open land for doing so.
And in a state already filled with mavericks and individualists, they would fit right
in…Hundreds of new religions, sects, cults and ashrams sprung up in California,
either imported or grown out of the fertile environment of social eccentricity and
tolerance…Countless free-love, communalistic and renegade Christian sects have
also lived and died here, from the mid-1850s all the way up the approaching
Millennium.”
Marinacci is not under-stating the case. No other state in the union has this
reputation for pushing the edge of reality. California remains a stronghold for the
strange and unusual. So whether you want to hunt for ghosts, explore ruins of
ancient civilizations, search for cryptozoological creatures, or try to call down an
extraterrestrial spacecraft, California is definitely the place to be.
Your choices are incredibly wide and varied. How about visiting the oldest
living creature on Earth? How about a mind-bending climb up Confusion Hill or a
mystifying trip to Santa Cruz’s Mystery Spot? How about searching for the one of
many mysterious lake monsters lurking in the depths of Lake Elsinore, Lake Tahoe
or several other lakes? Or maybe a creepy visit to a haunted hotel, museum or graveyard?
Or perhaps you’d like to study the mysterious sliding rocks of Death Valley or test
one of California’s little-known Gravity Hills? Sites of religious miracles,
chupacabra haunts, UFO hotspots, ancient civilizations, lost treasures, and a
comprehensive list of public California hauntings -- they’re all here and they’re all
absolutely true.
These are just a few of the more than 100 weird and unusual places in this
book that you can visit – places you won’t find in ordinary guidebooks. If it’s
strange, odd, weird, unexplained, unknown, paranormal, supernatural,
mysterious…it can be found in California. More than just a guidebook, the
incredible and bizarre history behind all these mysterious locations and local
legends are also revealed. Even more exciting, exact locations and detailed
directions are given on how to get there. Beyond that, it is up to you!
My own introduction into the weirdness of California began in 1971, shortly
after I moved here as a child with my family. By chance, we moved into a little
community outside Los Angeles known as Topanga Canyon. Located in the Santa
Monica Mountains along the coast west of Los Angeles, we soon realized that
Topanga had a reputation for being a little off the beaten path. It was the site for
one of California’s first nudist colonies. It contained a number of different
spiritual groups. It attracted all kinds of alternative lifestyles from hippies and
musicians to New Age-crystal types. It also had a reputation for being a spooky
place.
As kids, we spent hours exploring the caves that used to be inhabited by the
Chumash and Gabrielano Native Americans. Numerous artifacts have been
recovered from the vicinity, which was used as a meeting ground for various tribes
and considered sacred.
One of my favorite spots was Eagle Rock, a large spur of sandstone bedrock
jutting out of the mountainside. It contains numerous caves and a sheer cliff more
than 150 feet down. One interesting cave we called the “Ohm Cave.” If you sit in
the back of the cave and chant “ohm”, the sound echoes around you in a way that
overwhelms all other sounds. It was one of the many strange little-known local
spots I would eventually explore.
In 1984, following the death of my mother, I saw her ghost. Having been
alerted to the fact that ghosts are real, I began to ask around and learned that
several locations in Topanga Canyon were actually haunted. I also learned that
sometime in the 1700-1800s, Spanish pirates supposedly came into the nearby
mountains and buried caches of treasure. Then I began to get reports of UFO
encounters. My interest in UFOs and the paranormal grew. I soon became a field
investigator for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON.) I eventually interviewed
hundreds of witnesses of all kinds of paranormal events, from ghost, UFO and
Bigfoot encounters to near-death experiences, religious miracles, premonitions,
levitation…anything and everything weird or supernatural. I began speaking at
conventions, writing articles and books, appearing on radio and television. This
entailed more travels across California, where I got to see more strange and
mystical sites.
Before long I had a network of contacts, and people began to come to me
with their stories. Today, after more than twenty years of investigation, I have
uncovered supernatural events and mystical sites from virtually every corner of
California. I have not only read about these places and talked to firsthand
witnesses, I have visited many of the locations myself. To my utter amazement, I
have been able to make contact with UFOs. I’ve talked to psychics and mediums
who have given me amazing predictions. I’ve walked through haunted places and
felt the ghosts. I’ve driven on the gravity hills to see for myself it they were real. I
even had my very own Bigfoot encounter!
There is much more weirdness in the Golden State than most people would
ever believe. And as strange as all these places and events are, again they are all
absolutely true and just waiting to be explored.
What follows are two small excerpts from the book:
The Gravity Hills of California
By Preston Dennett
Among the strangest of the many unexplained mysteries on our planet are a
phenomenon known as “gravity hills.” Also called magnetic hills, anti-gravity
hills or spook hills, these locations can be found across the planet.
Gravity hills can be defined as a particular location where the laws of gravity
don’t seem to apply. In virtually every case, a gravity hill involves a short section
of road, usually no more than a few hundred yards long, which appears to go
uphill, but does it really? A true gravity hill appears to go uphill, but when you
park your car at the base of the incline, put the transmission in neutral and remove
the brake, you will find that your car rolls up the apparent hill.
There are three main theories to account for this strange effect. The most
popular theory is a gravitational/magnetic anomaly caused by unusual mineral or
stone deposits. A second theory is that ghosts or spirits are responsible. A few of
the locations are reportedly the sites of fatal automobile accidents and/or are near
cemeteries. In a few cases, people report seeing handprints on the back of their car
following their unexplained ascension up a gravity hill. The third theory is that the
effects are actually caused by impressive and convincing optical illusions.
Whatever the explanation, gravity hills are relatively rare and most are
exceedingly hard to find. You won’t find them on most maps and they are usually
known only to the locals.
While doing research for my book Supernatural California (Schiffer, 2006),
I was shocked to find that California was literally riddled with these strange sites.
Writes one researcher, Marina X., “I never realized how many Gravity Hills there
were in California alone. I wonder if it has something to do with the two plates
(Pacific and North American) colliding and subducting and whatever else it is they
are doing?”
Intrigued, I decided to conduct a full investigation into the strange
phenomenon. My plan was to determine the number and location of these gravity
hills, find witnesses, research any scientific studies, and finally to visit and study
the locations myself. Only then would I make any conclusions about these socalled
anomalies.
While these sites are supposedly rare, after much research I was able to
locate at least seven gravity hills in California. Undoubtedly the most famous of
these is the Gravity Hill of Sonoma, located along Lichau Road. Numerous
researchers have visited the area and conducted their own investigations.
The Gravity Hill of Sonoma
Writes Marina X., “There are no signs to it, and no way of knowing you are
there if you don’t already know that you are there. Basically, it is a road that
follows around the side of a hill, where the road dips down into a trough, then
climbs back up. If you drive to the bottom of the trough in the road and put your
car in neutral, the car backs rapidly up the hill. It is a bit eerie and kind of cool.”
Marina has researched other gravity hills, and is convinced that this one is
genuine. “Some people say that all such phenomena are optical illusions. In this
case, however, this is a for real Gravity Hill, not an optical illusion. It you stand
near the top of the road, you will find yourself looking down on top of the car.
This would not be so if it were an optical illusion, unless somehow the light is
being bent in funny ways, in which case there is still a mystery here.”
Marina has taken others out there, some of who are convinced, others who
are not. Says Marina, “It has become sort of a test of a person’s ability to hold an
open mind and allow for something of wonder in the world.”
Way back in the mid-1970s, Kelly Samson visited the area with her brother
and a friend. Says Samson, “It was an incredible feeling as the car traveled uphill.
I have not forgotten it to this day. Now that I have children, I would like to share it
with them, but needless to say, I do not remember the way.”
Local real-estate salesperson Sheila Giovan visited and photographed the
area. She writes, “When you cross the cattleguard, look down a sloping grade that
clearly appears to run downhill. Go about 10-15 yards, stop, throw it in neutral
and say your prayers as the car rolls uphill towards the cattleguard.”
Fenwick Rysen studied the hill with an engineer’s compass, a level and a
pendulum. His measurements revealed that the gravity of the hill appears to be
misaligned by a certain degree. As he writes, “The stretch [of road] that fools with
gravity…seems to be an energy line that the road just happened to cross for that
small portion.”
LOCATION: Lichau Road, just past Gracias Santiago Ranch in Rohnert Park, just
south of Santa Rosa.
The Gravity Hill of La Jolla
Another gravity hill that is well-known to locals is the La Jolla Gravity Hill.
Resident Greg Brown visited the site in 2001. He had been to other California
gravity hills and was curious to see if this one was valid. To his delight, it was.
Says Brown, “The first thing that makes this hill interesting is that you roll
forwards up the hill, not backwards like all the other hills I’ve tested. It looks like
a dud at first glance compared to some other hills, but your vehicle will crest the
hill you are rolling ‘up’ then proceed on a long downhill stretch where you will
eventually have to stop your vehicle.”
Brown believes that whatever the cause, the La Jolla gravity hill works. As
he says, “[It is] worth the trip if you are in the area.”
Another visitor, Willie Robinson, was able to shock his friends by
pretending to push his car uphill with just a finger. Says Robinson, “Yeah, Gravity
Hill was always a source of amazement for those who were new to the experience.
One of the best was to finger your car up the hill, that really got ‘em going.”
This particular gravity hill has been known to locals for nearly eighty years.
Writes Wayne Perry, “Ah yes, the gravity hill. It has amazed many. After
graduating, I became an apprentice carpenter and helped build those houses on the
south side of Muirlands Drive. Using a transit level and sighting across the road, a
person could see the drop in the roadway. I can remember my Dad and uncle
talking about that spot when they used the road in 1937.”
LOCATION: West Muirlands Drive between Nautilus and Fay Street in La Jolla.
The Gravity Hill of Antioch
Outside the San Francisco Bay area of Antioch, again only known by the
locals, lies a small stretch of gravity-defying road. For those uninitiated to the
phenomena, it can be a disconcerting experience. On the evening of August 28,
2003, Monica X. and her friends visited the hill to test it out. As she says, “I went
to Gravity Hill in Antioch two nights ago, and I was scared out of my mind! Our
car was moved at least 25 feet uphill. Right when we turned the headlights on, the
car came to an immediate halt.”
On the evening of September 18, 2003, local resident Jessica X. drove alone
to the site to see if the stories were true. She came away from the experience
convinced. “Your car does move, so it does work. But yeah, there are cults
around there; I had a truck come out of nowhere and chase me. So don’t go alone
and be careful…it’s a really creepy place, just so you’re warned, and you will get
VERY weird vibes there.”
Another convinced visitor is Rosie X. As she says, “My friend and I went to
Gravity Hill and it does work…The car does move! A good couple of feet! It’s
awesome but really freaky at the same time.”
Local resident Angela X. agrees that the gravity hill exists, but believes it
has a prosaic explanation. As she says, “It’s just a place with an extreme
gravitational pull. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely cool and an amazing feeling.
It’s pretty creepy at night. The cool thing to do is to get out and put a ball on the
ground or get on a skateboard. Now that is awesome!”
LOCATION: End of Empire Mine Road in Antioch, outside of Stockton.
The Gravity Hill of Kagel Canyon
I heard a lot of rumors of another gravity hill in southern California in the city of
San Fernando. Says Gwen X, “Okay, first of all I have been to numerous so-called
‘Gravity Hills’ throughout California. I can only confirm that one of them
worked…I was a non-believer until I experienced this.”
Says Heather X., “My friend who had already been there said it worked
really well for her and scared her to the point of crying.”
The spot is apparently well known to locals. I was able to locate three
firsthand witnesses. Unfortunately, it was many years earlier and all of them were
teen-agers at the time. However, I gathered what information I could and set off to
find it.
With me was my friend David Fleetwood. He remembered visiting the site
as a kid and being impressed by it. But twenty years had passed and much of the
information we had was sketchy. All we knew was the approximate location of the
site, and that it was next to a cemetery.
As we drove up the canyon, David remarked that the area was bringing back
memories. When we approached the area, the first thing we noticed was the
Sholom Memorial Cemetery. David said, “This area looks familiar.” One of the
many conflicting directions I had gotten mentioned this particular cemetery. That
was a good sign. Still it appeared that finding the exact location was going to be
an uphill battle.
We drove until we hit Lopez Canyon, turned left and drove past the
Haverhill Cemetery. This certainly seemed to be the right area, but where was the
hill? We turned around and began driving back and forth, looking for it. The first
few times we drove right over it.
I noticed it first, an odd-looking dip in the road. “Stop here!” I shouted,
after we had turned around a third time to look for it. “I think this might be it.”
David looked around and nodded. “I think you might be right!” He stopped
the car at the bottom of the little hill, put it in neutral and slowly took his foot off
the brake. We held our breath for a second when suddenly the car lurched forward
and began to move apparently up the hill! It wasn’t a big hill, but the car was
definitely moving.
I thought it was probably an illusion, but when we reached the top, we
turned around and looked down. It certainly looked like we were looking
downhill.
We did it several times until we were sure that this was the actual gravity hill
of Kagel Canyon. I returned again later to take some photos and try it out with my
own car. Sure enough, it worked. I can see why some people might find the
experience frightening. But it was also kind of interesting. Was it an optical
illusion or an actual gravitational anomaly? I withheld my judgment until I visited
another nearby gravity hill.
Rubio Canyon Gravity Hill
While doing research for the Kagel Canyon Gravity Hill, I started to get
reports of another gravity hill located in nearby Altadena. At first I assumed that
the two sites were being confused, and that there was only one site. But the reports
mounted until it became clear that there were, in fact, two gravity hills. The only
problem was, nobody seemed to know where the Altadena location was.
I found a few firsthand witnesses, but they were unable to remember the
location. Finally, after a flurry of email requests, I received a response from an
Altadena resident who not only knew the exact location, he provided a map. I had
just about given up on ever finding it. Now I knew exactly where it was.
I jumped into my Toyota pick-up and began my adventure. Altadena is
located north of the 210 Freeway in southern California. As I headed into the city,
I was struck by how the city of Altadena is built. While most southern California
cities are built in the valleys, much of Altadena is carved into the foothills of the
rugged San Gabriel Mountains. Because of this, many of the streets are steep and
winding. Already I was fighting gravity as I climbed higher and higher in
elevation towards my destination.
The directions I had been given were perfect, and I had no trouble
recognizing the gravity hill as soon as it came into view. Like the Kagel Canyon
site, the hill was a small stretch of road with an odd dip about a hundred yards
long. It started just south of a large stone bridge near a small white house.
I pulled a quick U-turn and parked at the bottom of the small hill. I looked
behind me. Yes, it definitely looked like an uphill grade behind me. There was no
way this was going to work.
I popped the car into neutral and slowly removed my foot from the brake.
Almost immediately the car gave a small lurch backwards and started to roll uphill!
I couldn’t believe it. I was moving only a few miles per hour, but I was definitely
moving. And no doubt about it, it looked like I was going uphill. A few seconds
later, the car eased up to the crest of the hill. I put on the brake, pulled forwards
and did it again. Just like before, the car rolled easily backwards.
Just to be sure, I did it a third time, pulling the car forward until I found the
exact beginning of the strange effect. It worked like a charm. Then I turned
around and tried it on the west lane of the road, which also worked, though not as
well.
I then pulled over and walked up and down the stretch of road, trying to get
a feel for it. Was it an optical illusion or an actual gravitational anomaly? I
honestly wasn’t sure.
I took several photos and surveyed the surrounding area. The site had many
things in common with the Kagel Canyon hill. Both were located in the foothills
of large, steep mountains. Both stretches of road went steeply downhill and were
interrupted by the same type of minor dip or trough in the road, where it appeared
to level out and travel upwards for a short distance, then continue downwards.
As I surveyed the site, a few cars pulled over at the bottom of the hill and
tested it for themselves. At first I thought they were concerned neighbors who
were wondering why I was taking pictures of the area. Then I watched as their
cars began to inch backwards, with the drivers looking at me to see my reaction.
Then I realized, they obviously knew about the hill!
Again, like other gravity hills, the location is apparently well-known to the
locals. I could only wonder if the residents of the small white house near the base
of the hill knew why so many people stopped before the home and rolled their cars
backwards!
LOCATION: Rubio Canyon Road, adjacent to Rubio Canyon Wash Basin, in
Altadena.
Conclusions
While gravity hills may be hard to find, California is filled with them. There
is another reported gravity hill on the Mira Mesa/Sorrento Boulevard exit of the
southbound 805 Freeway in La Mesa. Another gravity hill is said to exist next to
the Rose Hills Cemetery on Turnbull Canyon in Hacienda Heights-Whittier. Yet
another gravity hill reportedly exists on Patterson Road between Tracy and
Livermore. Unconfirmed reports of other hills come from Corona, San Bernardino
and Duarte. There are also several famous sites across the United States. Clearly,
this phenomenon is widespread.
However the main question remains, what is the cause of this bizarre effect?
Cars can’t really roll uphill, can they?
On the other hand, gravity is not the uniform phenomenon that many people
assume it is. The power of gravity does, in fact, alter depending on one’s altitude
and geographic location. However, the differences are too minor to account for the
kind of effects we see on gravity hills.
Skeptics claim that the effect is only an optical illusion caused by the
horizon lines on either side moving in contradiction to the slope of the road. After
visiting two of the hills myself, I can offer no solid conclusions. Logically, we all
know that cars do not roll up hill. However, there is nothing quite like personal
experience to make you shake your head and wonder if just maybe, sometimes
they do…
California Lake Monsters
By Preston Dennett
Lake monsters have been reported across the world. While Nessie of the Loch
Ness is undoubtedly the most famous, there are literally hundreds of other lakes
with their own unknown denizens. As it turns out, the United States is no
exception. The most populous state in the nation, California, contains no less than
four lake monsters.
Is it true that there are unknown creatures lurking the depths of California’s
freshwater lakes? As we shall see, the evidence for their reality is compelling.
Lake Elizabeth
The earliest report of a Golden State lake monster comes from a small
freshwater lake near Palmdale called Lake Elizabeth. Although the encounters
occurred a long time ago, there is a surprising amount of documentation. Way
back in 1830, rancher Don Pedro Carrillo abandoned his ranch next to the lake
after a mysterious fire burned down his property. He claimed that the lake was
cursed by the Devil.
Later in 1855, American settlers moved into the area, but reportedly
abandoned the settlement, saying it was haunted.
Around that time, rancher Don Chico Lopez purchased property and started
his own cattle ranch. Almost immediately, however, he began to lose livestock.
He was soon to become the first eyewitness to the monster of Lake Elizabeth.
While investigating the disappearance of his cattle, Lopez was shocked to observe
a “huge monster with bat-like wings” emerge from the lake. Now he knew why
his livestock were disappearing. He sold his ranch at a loss.
The property was purchased by rancher Miguel Leonis, who also claimed to
see the creature. Later, in 1886, yet another rancher, Don Felipe Rivera, also
reported seeing the gigantic reptilian.
And there the sightings seem to end. Perhaps the creature decided to remain
hidden, or maybe it died. There is also speculation that it simply moved locations,
as there are rumors of similar sightings in a nearby uncharted small lake which
goes by various local nicknames including Sag Pond, Una Lake, Lake La Rush
Lamar or the “bottomless lake.”
Elsie of Lake Elsinore
Another California lake that has gained a reputation for having its own
mysterious creature lurking in its depths is Lake Elsinore. The town of Lake
Elsinore is built around the lake, which is the area’s main industry, mostly tourism
and recreation. Thousands of people flock to the lake on a daily basis to enjoy its
fresh waters. Is it possible that an unknown creature could remain elusive around
so many people?
The answer, of course, is no, it can’t – and it hasn’t. The fact is that
numerous people have seen the monster – with enough reports surfacing to give the
monster its own name, Elsie.
The first reports come from the Pai ah’ che’ Native Americans who told
visiting Spaniards that their lake was inhabited by a gigantic monster which would
surface from time to time, belching steam and fire.
This has led to some speculation that the accounts are caused by unknown
volcanic activity. Escaping hot gas might make a believable lake monster. These
theories, however, are easily pushed aside by the several modern accounts of
sightings, which reportedly stretch back to 1884.
The best-verified sightings occurred during the winter of 1970, when
residents and state recreation officers had several sightings of the creature, whose
humps appeared to move up and down like a gigantic snake. Writes one local
researcher, “There are still many reliable witnesses who claim that they have seen
the monster following their boats under the water late at night, terrifying them so
much that they headed pell-mell for the banks and beaches as fast as their water
vessels could carry them, and never came back.
Lake Elsinore has actually dried up twice in its recorded history, which
argues strongly against the existence of a living lake monster. However, because
we know nothing about the species of creature, it is entirely possible it simply laid
eggs and reproduced or even hibernated in the mud.
In any case, the stories circulated so widely that Elsie became one of
California’s most famous lake monsters. In the late 1980s, a local company,
Poppy Graphics, offered to create a life-size statue of Elsie, and make the creature
the city’s official mascot. The idea gained wide approval, and more than 200
volunteers donated time, money or supplies to build the fiberglass statue. Today,
Elsie stands more than twenty-five feet high and a hundred feet long. It is painted
in bright, friendly colors, and is currently being held captive on Lakeland Beach,
where it can be viewed by visitors.
Tessie of Lake Tahoe
Undoubtedly the most famous of California’s lake monsters is Tessie of
Lake Tahoe. Again, the documentation of the existence of this creature is
impressive. Leading cryptozoologist Loren Coleman cites Lake Tahoe as one of
the top ten places in the world to look for a lake monster. Lake Tahoe is an alpine
freshwater lake located in central California along the Nevada-California border.
The lake is incredibly deep, with an estimated depth of 1645 feet. And with a
length of twenty-two miles, an unknown creature has plenty of space to hide.
As with other lake monsters, the first sightings were by local Native
Americans, in this case the Washoe and Paiute tribes, who both fought over the
right to hunt and fish in the area. Both tribes had legends about a large creature
that lived in the lake.
Early settlers heard about the reports, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that a
series of sightings revived the legends and people began to take the reports more
seriously. Tahoe Tessie is braver than most lake monsters, and has shown itself
many times in recent years.
In the summer of 1979, a visiting couple told local newspaper reporters of
their sighting of a “sea-serpent” in the lake off of Tahoe Vista.
In 1984, there was a series of highly publicized sightings by various
witnesses from different locations on the lake.
In 1985, a visiting tourist saw the creature and shot several frames of footage
showing a large “something” swimming through the lake. Embarrassed officials
reportedly downplayed the recent sightings and even attempted to suppress the
film.
Another recent dramatic sightings occurred to Gene St. Denis and his friend,
while walking along the beach at Cave Rock, the rumored lair of the beast. Says
St. Denis, “We saw a blotchy gray creature about ten to fifteen feet long. It turned
a corner and produced a V-shaped wake in front of it.”
The unknown creature surfaced briefly, and then plunged back into the
depths of the lake, leaving St. Denis and his friend amazed.
This was not St. Denis’s only sighting. He is the owner of the local Blue
Ribbon Fishing and Tahoe Trophy Trout, and spends much of his time on the lake.
His next experience was even more dramatic.
He was swimming along the shoreline with another friend when the water
seemed to explode underneath them. As the water calmed, they observed a
sixteen-foot long snake-like creature slither quickly away. Looking down, they
observed more evidence of the creature. Says St Denis, “We waited for the silt to
settle and found large fin-prints were the creature had been.”
St. Denis has found other bits of intriguing evidence. On two occasions,
while he was reeling fish into his boat, something large attached the fish, leaving
what looked like enormous teeth marks. Says St. Denis, “About half-way to the
boat, these fish – they were big fish – got raked…the holes left by the teeth were
big enough to put a pencil into.”
According to researcher Cherie Louise, Tessie sightings occur regularly,
with an average of about twelve encounters each year. One of the most recent
sightings was reported in the Tahoe World News. On April 26, 2005, Tahoe
resident Ron Talmadge and his friend Beth Douglas were walking along the west
shore of Tahoe Park Beach when they had a dramatic sighting. Only a few dozen
yards offshore, Talmadge and Douglas were amazed to see an enormous snake-like
creature undulating on the water’s surface. Says Talmadge, “These were solid
black humps…there was no wake as it came towards us.”
He turned to his friend who had also seen the creature and said, “Damn,
that’s Tessie!”
While Talmadge lived along the lake and knew about the monster, his friend
Beth Douglas was more surprised. “It was so cool…the way he said it was so
calm. It thought it was an everyday occurrence.”
Needless to say, both Douglas and Talmadge are now believers. As
Talmadge says, “This suckers real!”
Skeptics claim that Tessie could be a giant sturgeon, which can reach a
weight of 1500 pounds, a length of twenty feet and can live for more than d100
years. Another possible candidate is the muskie, a large aggressive fish that can
reach a length of eight feet.
However, both these theories have problems. Sturgeon have no teeth, and
neither muskie nor sturgeon have been reported in the lake. Most descriptions by
witnesses involve a serpent-like creature about sixty feet in length, with dark skin
and reptilian features.
Conclusions
Several other California lakes also have rumors of unknown monsters including the
Blue Lakes east of Ukiah and Clearlake. And California is by no means unique.
Wisconsin reportedly has no less than nine lake monsters.
While it may seem incredible that such large creatures could remain
unidentified in this day and age, the truth is that much of the underwater world
remains unexplored. New species are discovered each year and a small percentage
of these involve large animals. In 2006, scientists discovered not only a new
species, but a new family of hairy crab-like creatures found in the deep Pacific
ocean. Clearly there are still many places on this planet that have yet to be fully
explored. And until then, mysterious and unknown creatures will continue lurk in
the hidden depths of our lakes and oceans.
Sources:
This article is adapted from Supernatural California published by Schiffer
Publishing, 2006.
