| "An Unknown Encounter" The Jackie Hernandez Story |
n 1989, I was invited to participate in the investigation of a reputed "haunted house" located in San Pedro, California just south of Los Angeles. Dr. Barry Taff, who had been the principal investigator of the now famous "Entity" case (later made into a 1983 movie with Barbara Hershey), asked me to accompany himself and several other researchers to the home on the night of August 8, 1989. Having been a professional TV cameraman, I was looking forward to exploring the unknown in the hopes of capturing paranormal phenomena on videotape. Also accompanying me was a friend and photographer named Jeff Wheatcraft, a complete skeptic, who came to the woman's home at my request to assist me with the cumbersome video equipment which I had brought to the home in my quest to photograph a ghost. When we finally met Jackie Hernandez, "the haunted lady," she and her friends told us unbelievable tales of lamps flying across the rooms, strange drippings from the walls including the sighting of a supposed entity or apparition of a decaying old man sighted in the children's bedroom. As if these weren't enough, Jackie also said she'd seen another apparition in her attic-that of a disembodied head-which had floated towards her one day shortly after she'd moved in. It would not take long, however, for that "something" to manifest itself. Before leaving, I suggested that my photographer, Jeff Wheatcraft, climb into the attic and shoot a couple of photos. Wheatcraft acquiesced and while standing atop a washing machine (the attic opening existed just above a small laundry room in the rear of the home), he began clicking away. Suddenly, without warning, all of us heard a scream. Jeff bolted down from the attic as if a shrieking Banshee were on his tail! As he approached our small investigation team, he held out his trembling hands, indicating that something had happened. "What's going on?" we all asked in unison. "M-mmy...camera! It pulled the camera from my hands!" Startled, we noticed that Jeff's camera was indeed gone! He went on to describe the fact that he was about to shoot his third picture when all of a sudden he'd felt a jerk and the camera went flying-to where, he didn't know. As we tried to calm him down, I felt an intense adrenaline rush and shot to my van as quick as I could to retrieve my video equipment. If ever there was a time to shoot, this was it! As frightened as Jeff might have been, he was intent on somehow retrieving his Canon 35mm. That fear, coupled with the intrigue that we just might indeed encounter a ghost, was one of the most intense moments of my life. As we ascended into the attic space, videotape rolling, we soon could see that there was absolutely no one (human that is) anywhere to be seen. As we learned soon enough, there were no hidden openings, trap doors or secret passageways of any kind) . Then without warning, my camera went dead! Quickly replacing the batteries, the camera remained inoperative. Usually when a battery goes out, the green pilot light will change to red with the picture gradually fading to black. In this case, the pilot light failed altogether, a highly unusual occurrence. It was at this point that Jeff made an amazing discovery. A dusty old grape box was spied occupying a space in the northwest corner of the attic. Peering inside the box, Jeff found his camera but the lens had been mysteriously removed! After scanning the attic for several seconds, Jeff's lens was spotted sitting upright behind the trap door. Even more mysterious was the fact that the camera appeared completely undamaged. Jeff swiftly reattached the bayonet-mount lens to his camera and began shooting several more photos of the attic interior while I fumbled with my video camera, still puzzled by its inability to function. Suddenly, a foul stench permeated the attic space and all at once, Jeff let out another scream and stumbled towards me as we attempted to flee the attic. Hovering over top of me, trying to brace himself with his left elbow pressed against a rafter, all the color again drained from his face as his body began to shake uncontrollably. Somehow we managed to crawl down from the attic to safety below as Jackie and her guests stared in disbelief at our plight. Shaken by his ordeal, Jeff said that whatever had touched him, had felt like a "bony hand" applying tremendous pressure upon his lower back. Although it was not visually apparent that Jeff's back had been injured, he later experienced such pain that he found it necessary to visit a chiropractor who confirmed the fact that Jeff's lower back had indeed suffered massive internal bruising. Within moments, the video camera, which had failed to function in the attic, now was working again, as I began recording everything that I could. Like an angry giant from above, heavy footsteps began to rumble across the attic heard by each of us downstairs. When they finally faded away, Jeff peered once more into the crawlspace of the attic. |
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