GHOST HUNTING AT BLACK STAR CANYON

There are several apps that you can now download to your phones.  One happens to be Ghost Radar and since we were going to be going to Black Star Canyon, which is said to be one of the most haunted places in CA, I thought it would be fun to give it a try.

What it claims to do is locate ghosts.   It has a like a radar screen on it and when a ghost or energy force is located it shows up just like planes do on the radar at the airports.

It also has tons and tons of words that a ghost is somehow able to manipulate and speak to you. 

I went with two friends and turned on the Ghost Radar.  Now I'm not saying it works or that it doesn't.  I'll let you decide for yourself.

My friend had the phone and she would tell me when and where a blip would show up.  I would hurry and click a photo in that direction.

It wasn't long after we started into the canyon that our first "hit" came.  Click.  The first photo was taken.

You can see for yourself that a distant away from us, there is an orb in the photo.

I also clicked several pictures where there was nothing showing up on the Ghost Radar.  Strange thing is there weren't any orbs in any of those photos. 

Again, I'm not saying if the orbs are ghosts or not.  I'm just taking you along on our hike and showing you the photos so you can decide for yourself what happened.

As we walked we noticed how dark and creepy it was out.  We talked about how because of that, our imaginations could really make us think we see or hear something.

Then we notice walking towards us there were some people ahead.  We could see their flash lights and hear them talking as they got closer.

It turned out to be four teens.  They were heading back towards the cars and I said "hi" as they were getting ready to pass by.  They stopped and asked if we knew of any of the stories about Black Star Canyon and where any of the locations were that people claimed to have have seen any.

I told them I used to give tours here and so I did know the stories, locations and have even had a few strange things happen to myself and to those who had been with me.

I told them that where we were walking people claimed to have seen a lady in white.  It was then that one of the guys got really excited and said "Oh man!  I told you I saw something.  I told you!!!"  The other guys then started to get nervous and was jumping around and saying things like "That freaks me out!"  and "I believe you now".

Turned out one of the guys said he saw the lady in white and she was standing by a tree back where they came from.  As he looked harder he saw her walk behind the tree and then before she was fully behind the tree she disappeared.

I told them they were welcome to come with us and I would tell them more stories and legends and show them the hot spots.  They were thrilled to go.  It was one of the boys birthday and they had heard stories and had always wanted to go.

We reached the mine area.  It's been closed off for many, many, many years.  Yet, several people claim to hear voices and yelling coming from the location.  They also have seen many shadow people in this location.

The boys walked over to check it out and low and behold the Ghost Radar showed a blip.  So, I clicked a photo.  If you look at the photo above you can see an orb right above the blocked off mine entrance.

Three of the guys moved away and was waiting for the others.  The radar went off again.  This time my friend told me there were two ghosts right were the three guys were.  Funny, there are two orbs in that photo.

There is also what looks like another fainter looking orb up higher on the right side but I believe that is actually part of the trees/bushes.  Also, the two yellow lights are signs.  They are glowing because of my flash.  I wasn't sure what the red glowing thing was that is to the left of one of the guys but I think it most likely is the reflection of another sign or post.

We stopped in one spot where turned off the flash lights and just listened.  Everyone was quiet and we felt like we were being watched or followed.  We heard some sounds like something or someone was walking in the bushes/tree area. 

We just brushed it off as most likely some kind of animals.  I did search for some kind of animal tracks on the trail perhaps of a mountain lion, rabbit or opossum.  There wasn't any.

When you look at the photo you can see what appears to be lots and lots of orbs. 

Were these the lost souls of the Indians that were massacred by the fur traders in the early 1800's?  Did we hear the foot steps of miners that had died on the job? 

Or was it just the noise of animals and perhaps the orbs are just dust.  After all, it was breezy there.  The only thing that makes me question of it was dust (because after all dirt and wind will make dust kick up) is that the other photos didn't show up like these.

We reached another area that we heard noise out in the distant.  We also saw what appeared to be two glowing objects.  Were the the eyes of some kind of animal peeking out and watching us?  Or was it something else?  Again, it's up to you decide.



For some reason my camera was unable to take a photo when it was pointed in the direction of the two glowing objects.  I stood in the same spot and pointed the camera in another direction four times and each time, the camera took a photo.  But, when I turned back to this spot...nothing would show up.

At one point we came across yellow tape that said Caution.  It was tied to a tree but looked like it was torn down. 

One of the boys said he had a sinking feeling in his stomach as we were walking along this area.  Could it be where something bad had happened in the not so distant past?

The other side of the patch also had the tape.  Only it was on this side the Radar went off again.  On the upper right side you can see another orb. 

Now, I feel I must tell you that while we were there, it was so dark in spots that I couldn't really see what I was pointing the camera at.  It wasn't until I came home and downloaded the photos that I saw what the pictures caught.

We stood around and talked a bit.  We tried to put all the words that the Ghost Radar had spit out, together to see if we could figure out what was being said.

I don't remember all the words but there was material, roots, broken, end, Casey, Thomas and things like that.  We couldn't figure out anything. 

We had to turn around and head back to our cars because at 10:00pm the police come and give tickets. 

It was on our way back that we came across the scariest thing!

This giant spider was crossing the path.  YIKES!

As we were walking back, the radar went off a few more times.  Each time an orb or more was captured. 

You can see from the photos that these orbs are never in the same spots so I know it wasn't something on my camera.  If they were just dust, I believe there would be tons of dust from us walking, the wind blowing and all.  So I really don't think it's dust at all.  I doubt if they are bugs because I didn't notice any bugs and I highly doubt a bug would have followed us for three hours along the trail.  No, I don't have any reason for what would have made the orbs.

Plus, like I said, only the photos I took in the locations of where the Ghost Radar said there was something, had the orbs.

We had a fun time.  We were all tired from our hike too.  No one knows if we had any real paranormal experience that night.
 
But, just before the trail ended the my friend that was holding the phone with the ghost radar on it says she heard her name called from behind us.  She said it was clear and loud.  The only thing was... no one was behind us. 

What do you think?  Do you think the ghost radar works?  Do you think it's just a coincidence that the radar showed something was there and then those photos showed up with orbs?  Or do you think it was just the wind and darkness playing with our minds?

If you want to read more of the legends of Black Star Canyon you can read my old post from 2010 here.  You can also read my post about when I went to Black Star Canyon with another group here.

IT WAS A HAUNTING NIGHT AT BLACK STAR CANYON

This weekend I went with one of the Paranormal Investigation groups I belong to Black Star Canyon to search for any type of paranormal activity that may be out there.

There are many tales of murder, suicide, KKK meetings, Satanic Cults as well as historic accounts of a large Indian massacre that happened there in the 1800's

I have heard and read about many strange happenings in Black Star and while I have been there during the day before, I have never been there at night.

I was excited to see what, if anything, we would experience.

As a few of us were waiting at the main entrance for the rest of the group to show up, Daniel went walking around. A few short minutes later he came back to show us this bone he had found.

It was really kind of creepy because it is a large bone. Not something left behind from someone eating chicken or ribs.

We talked about what it was from and what could have eaten it.

The Beware of Mountain Lion sign was taken a little more serious after seeing this.

We received a call from the 1/2 of the group we were waiting for. They were going to be at least another hour.

So, the four of us decided to go ahead and start our hike into the canyon. Perhaps we would hook up with the rest of group later.

As we walked a little way into the canyon, it was clear that this hike wasn't going to be the same as during the day.

Things seemed a bit more dangerous at night. It was hard to see anything beyond our flash lights. The trees and flowers, that were so pretty during the day, cast eerie shadows at night.

The quiet sounds of birds chirping were replaced with crickets, frogs and at times, a frighting silence.

Seeing broken tree branches like the one above made us wonder what caused the large branches to break. Would they be falling completely down soon? Would one fall on us?

After walking for about 1/2 of an hour I started to feel like I was being watched or followed.

I asked if anyone else felt this way too. The other three all claim they felt that but didn't want to say anything for fear they would sound like they were being paranoid.

We were about 50 minutes into our trek when we came across a bridge. I had recognized this from my trip during the day.

We stopped there to take a peek around and also because a few of us thought we heard something coming from the side of the path.

One girl took a picture and the flash of her camera lit up the area. I noticed in back of her someone was standing about 3 feet. I thought it was Chris because it was the figure of a taller person in black. Actually, the figure looked like it was all black. Like a shadow or something but since Chris has dark hair, was wearing a dark shirt and had jeans that looked dark at night I assumed it was him.

Well, you know what they say when one assumes something.

As soon as the flash came, it was gone and so was my vision. It takes a second to get used to the dark again.

During that blip in time, Chris said something. It startled me and I actually got freaked out. Not over what he said but it was because he was not standing to my left where I had just seen him when the flash went off. He was actually over on my right about 6 feet away.

I then quickly looked to see where Daniel was. I knew Daniel was shorter then the figure I had seen but I thought perhaps due to the flash from the camera maybe a shadow was cast and made him appear to be taller.

Only, Daniel was standing over by Chris.

I asked everyone if any of them had moved because I saw someone or something standing behind Bree when she took the picture. Everyone said no, they were still in the same spot.

Chris said he noticed I had whipped my head around and appeared to be startled when he spoke and he knew I was a bit freaked out over something.

I quickly thought about what had just happened and when my mind wrapped around the fact that no one was playing a trick on me, I believed I had seen a true shadow figure.

So, we got out the tape recorder and started to do some EVP work.

EVP work, for those who don't know, is when you capture disembodied voices on a recorder. Often voices you don't hear in person but somehow the recorder is able to.

I'm not sure if we actually captured anything because I have not heard back from Bree yet. She is the one who had the recorder and would be the one who went back through her evidence to see if we caught anything.

Anyway, as we were getting ready to move on, I said out loud "We are going to move on and if you want to get our attention again then touch one of us." Then I went on to say "Make the person you touch Daniel."

I said this really not expecting anything to really happen. You see, Daniel had never been on any type of Paranormal Investigation before and was already scared. So, I said this more to lighten up the mood and of course, everyone laughed.

We packed up our stuff and moved on.

As we were about 5 minutes down the trail it was Chis and I up ahead and then Daniel and then Bree was about 10 feet in back of him.

Daniel bent down for some reason and when he did so he yelled out "Did you touch me!" When he turned around he noticed no one was close enough to him to touch him.

He got really scared and told us how someone or something had touched him on his rear end. Not a shove or push but more of a friendly tap.

He was so scared and excited. After about a minute or so, it dawned on us that I had requested whatever I saw to touch one of us, namely Daniel.

I have to admit that even being the skeptic that I am, I felt like we had just had some kind of paranormal contact. Between feeling like we were being followed, hearing sounds, seeing someone that wasn't there and then Daniel being touch. Well, it was all stuff we couldn't come up with any reasonable explanation as to how that all happened if it was paranormal.

We continued on and a short distance later, a truck came down the trail. There are a few people who own places in the canyon and the stories I have heard are they are not very nice. They do not want people going through there and try to tell hikers and bike riders that it is private property.

The truth is the trail is open to the public and it's the areas on the other sides of the fences that is private property.

We all stepped over as far off the trail as we could so we could let the truck go by. As it did, it slowed down then as it got right by us the driver made his tires spin so the rocks and dust was flying up. It became hard to see and breathe.

Since we all heard the story of a man name Art Tuttle that was a bit... how should I say this, off his rocker, that drove a pick up truck and has been known to pull a gun on hikers, Bree said she didn't feel comfortable and wanted to go back to her car and go home.

The rule is, if we come in together, we go out together. No one is left behind or sent on ahead alone. So, we turned around to leave.

While, Chris, Daniel and I really wanted to go in deeper and stay longer, none of us felt really bad leaving as we all felt we had a great night with lots of activity.

One the way out, we did run into the rest of our group. They asked us to continue on but we explained that Bree really want to go home so we left them to go head.

As we reached the gate to where we parked the cars by, a group of people were just starting out their trek in and they asked if we had anything strange happen to us. We told them and they said "Well if you want to know where a really haunted spot is, go by the bridge. There is always activity there."

Funny, that was right where we had our excitement happen.



I really had a great time and I'm looking forward to going again. This time, further then where we made it this time.

We have another night planned on the 23rd of July. I wonder what what strange this will happen that night.

THE LEGENDS OF BLACK STAR CANYON

There is a place, about 1/2 hour from where I live, called Black Star Canyon. I have heard about this place for years but have never gone.

It is said to be haunted, dangerous and is full of legends.

That is not why I have never been there. I just didn't really know where it was and never had a desire to go before.

Next week, I'm going to take a group of Paranormal Investigators there at night. Before I went I went I wanted to check it out during the day.

Today was that day.

I thought you might like to go along.

I went with my nephew, Jason. He had the day off and I was thrilled he was willing to spend it with me hiking through the canyon.

It's fairly hard to find this place and unless you know where it is you could easily get lost.

You turn down a road and it dead ends at a gate marked with a sign that says Road Closed. From this point on, you must either walk or ride a bike as vehicles are not allowed.



The hike was an easy one, for the most part. A nice path that is pretty flat most of the way.

I wasn't sure what the feeling would be like here as I've heard so many stories.

Back in 1831 the Tongva Indian tribe fled to the Canyon in the summer months to search for a break from the heat and to find acorns to eat. This area of the Santa Ana Mountains had a low population of grizzly bears.

Fur trappers also went through this area during their travels.

The bloodiest known battle in the history of the Santa Ana Mountains took place here over the fact that the Indians stole the horses from the Fur Trappers to eat as meat.

The Fur Trappers then went during the day and an armed conflict took place. Most of the Indians were killed and rumor is, those Indian spirits still roam the Canyon.



All along the path, you find signs that say Keep Out. These signs tend to add to the scary feeling that you are not wanted there.

However, the signs are not for the pathway. The areas on the side of the pathways is private property. There is also barbed wire fence and at times there even electrical fences put up to keep trespassers out.

There are areas where the trees grow over the path and form arch ways. Very pretty during the day but could be a bit creepy at night.

In 1899, a man by the name of Henry Hungerford, shot and killed James Gregg over a $2.50 conflict that was a result of a horse trade.

It is said, that at times, the Spirit of James Gregg can still be heard and seen looking for Henry in an effort to get revenge.

It was a beautiful clear day today. The hills looked very inviting but of course the hike up there was off limits due to the fences.

Many people claim to have seen figures of shadows walking around up there, watching over the land and following hikers through the canyon.

As we walked further into the canyon, we saw sign after sign that had been riddled with bullet holes.

One of the scary stories, of Black Star Canyon, is there is a homeless man called Black Star Bill that doesn't want anyone to disturb him and he will chase you off as he fires his riffle at you.

I don't know if Black Star Bill is a real person or not but we didn't come across him on our hike. Thank goodness!

The hills were still covered with wild flowers in certain spots. It's hard to tell in this photo but the whole area is covered in these purple wild flowers. It was breath taking!

The beauty made it hard to believe in the stories I've heard of rape, torture and murder taking place here.

These bright white flowers with big yellow centers were lovely. The flowers were swaying in the gentle breeze and the area seemed very peaceful.

Nothing like you think you would feel with stories of KKK meetings taking place here or extraterrestrials roaming around or the home of a demon called Black Star. Yes, those are all stories about what has taken place in this area.

It was odd to come across this old rusted out piece of equipment. How did it get there? Why would they leave it here? Strange.

Upon doing some research on the Internet, I found stories of the "haunted piece of farm machinery".

Hmmm, I wonder what is haunted about this?

More bullet holes to remind you that someone or something has been shooting a gun for some reason in this area.

One of the disturbing stories I heard was back in the 1970's the road was open and used often. It was a road that a school bus traveled daily.

However, on one fateful day, the bus lost control and went over the cliff and killed the driver, the teacher and most of the children on board.

When we came across this bus I did get an eerie feeling. A feeling of sadness and darkness came over me.

Many people have heard screams coming from this area and have seen shadows of children have been seen trying to get away from the bus.

There is a creek that runs through the area. It is along this creek that people tell about how they have seen and heard a Satanic Cult doing sacrifices.

My research shows that it is in fact true that this used be a known meeting place for them but it was back in the 1980's.

Could the sounds and sights be ghosts that people see and hear now days?

This is another sign that lets you know you are pretty much on your own here. Also, all cell phone reception is lost in this area.

As we were about an hour into our hike, I did start to get a bit freaked out thinking about how scary it would be to have anything happen in here. How would you call for help?

We reached an area where we found this old tiny shack and abandoned trailer. Or was really abandoned? We didn't go up to check it out. I didn't really want to know if it wasn't.

We would come across things like this big rusted pipe or whatever it was. I can see how going here at night would be scary with the moon shinning down and casting shadows through the trees on things like this.

With the sounds of nature creaking and cracking and little critters running through the bushes causing noises could be very unsettling I'm sure.

Let's not forget the sounds of running water or frogs croaking.

With people owning property in the canyon one could easily mistake a residence for a ghost or shadow.

Hollowed out trees seem spooky as you pass them in the dark evening, I'm sure.

I'm not saying Black Star is not haunted. Though I'm not saying it is either.

I do believe there are stories that are true about things that happened here but I have no doubt that many active minds have added to those stories.

Either way, I'm looking forward to going with my Paranormal Group to do some investigating. I do think it could be scary. However, I must admit I'm more scared of the living and what they may do then any ghosts.

How about you? Would you like to go to Black Star Canyon?