WEBVTT 1 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:15.240 Welcome to the Berkshires, a place in western Massachusetts of 2 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:19.960 stunning natural beauty, where rolling hills cradle quaint towns, and 3 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.160 a rich cultural history echoes through the valleys. But look closer. 4 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:28.719 Beyond the vibrant, foul foliage and the celebrated art festivals, 5 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:33.159 lies another more mysterious landscape, a world of whispers and 6 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:37.679 shadows for history and folklore intertwine. The ancient hills of 7 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:42.240 the Berkshires keep secrets. They tell tales of spectral soldiers 8 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:46.439 still marching to revolutionary posts, of railroad tunnels haunted by 9 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:49.039 the ghosts of those who built them, and of strange 10 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:53.359 lights that dance in the sky, defying all explanation. In 11 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:57.520 this video, we'll journey into that other Berkshire, exploring ten 12 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:01.679 of its most enduring and unsettling legends. From the tragic 13 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:05.040 to the terrifying, these are stories that remind us that 14 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:08.319 even in the most idyllic places, the veil between our 15 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:20.000 world and the unknown can be unnervingly thin. The evening 16 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:24.000 of September one, nineteen sixty nine, settled over the rowing 17 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:28.079 hills and quiet towns of Berkshire County, Massachusetts like any 18 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:31.599 other late summer night, It was labor day, a final 19 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:35.959 general exhalation before the crisp arrival about him. Families were 20 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:40.040 returning from picnics and into seasoned swims. The air filled 21 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:42.760 with the scent of cut grass and the sound of crickets. 22 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:47.239 But as dusk bled into darkness, an inexplicable and profoundly 23 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:50.680 strange series of events unfolded that would forever mark the 24 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:54.799 region and the lives of those who witnessed it. What 25 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:57.480 occurred that night would become known as the Great Barrington 26 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:01.599 UFO Incident, one of the most credible, compelling, and widely 27 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:06.719 witnessed UFO sidings in American history. At the heart of 28 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:09.960 the incident are the harrowing accounts of multiple independent groups 29 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:15.199 of people scattered across several towns, including Sheffield, Great Barrington, 30 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:20.520 and Stockbridge. While dozens, if not hundreds, of people saw 31 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:24.479 something unusual in the sky, the most detailed and startling 32 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:30.560 testimonies involved claims of close encounters and even abduction. The 33 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:33.199 most famous of these is the story of the Reed family. 34 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:35.840 Nine year old Thomas Reid was in the car with 35 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:40.120 his mother, Nancy, his grandmother, and his younger brother, Matthew. 36 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:44.719 They were driving home from their family restaurant, heading toward 37 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:48.840 the iconic covered Bridge in Sheffield. As they approached the bridge, 38 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.520 a silent, ethereal glow began to illuminate the trees. From 39 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:57.400 within the woods, the light intensified, coalescing into a solid, 40 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:02.080 luminous object that rose into the air. In interviews years later, 41 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:05.240 Tom Marid would describe it as a self contained glow, 42 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:08.680 an orb of light that seemed to move with intelligent purpose. 43 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:13.199 As their car crossed the bridge, the object was upon them. 44 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:16.520 The interior the vehicle was flooded with a brilliant white light. 45 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:20.599 The family experienced a sensation of profound silence and a 46 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.719 strange change in barometric pressure, as if they were in 47 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:26.919 an eye of a hurricane. What happened next is a 48 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:31.199 mosaic of fragmented dreamlike memories. Tom recalls being in a 49 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:34.680 vast hangar like space, seeing his mother and brother on 50 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:38.319 separate tables, and feeling a sense of calm despite the 51 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:42.599 bizarre circumstances. His next conscious memory was being back in 52 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:45.319 the car with his mother, now driving on the opposite 53 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:48.360 side of the road from where the encounter began. An 54 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:53.240 inexplicable period of time roughly two hours had passed. The 55 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:57.319 family was disoriented and shaken, unable to fully process the 56 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:00.879 impossible event they had just endured. They spoke little of 57 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:05.479 it for years, the memory of confusing and frightening secret. 58 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:09.560 Just a few miles away in Great Barrington, another young 59 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:12.879 boy named Tom. Ten year old Tom Warner was playing 60 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:16.079 at a neighbor's house. As he started to head home, 61 00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:19.360 he saw a saucer shaped craft hovering silently over the 62 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:22.920 field next to his yard. A beam of light shot down, 63 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:27.519 and he found himself paralyzed, running in place but going nowhere. 64 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:30.600 He felt as though he was lifted off the ground. 65 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:33.399 His next memory as of being back in the field 66 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:37.319 with the object gone. Like the reads, He was left 67 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:40.680 with a profound sense of confusion and a story too 68 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:44.279 incredible to share. The sightings were not limited to these 69 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:49.160 two families. At Lake Mansfield, teenager Melanie Kertchdorffer and her 70 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:52.199 family were in their car when a blinding light engulfed them. 71 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:56.399 The light seemed to rise from the lake itself. Her father, 72 00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:00.800 startled and curious, began to chase the object. Melanie's memory 73 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:03.480 of the event is fractured, but she recalls a feeling 74 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:07.800 of levitation and being inside a craft, seeing other children there, 75 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:11.319 before waking up alone by the lake, having to walk 76 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:15.079 home in a daze. Adding further credibility to the event 77 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:18.800 was a testimony of Jane Green, a respected local citizen 78 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:22.480 and radio host. That same evening, she was driving with 79 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:25.639 a friend when she saw the object. She stopped her 80 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:29.519 car along with several other drivers, and watched as a massive, 81 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:33.240 silent craft hovered at high level just a short distance away. 82 00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:37.079 She described the experience as the most profound of her life, 83 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:40.360 leaving her with no doubt that she had witnessed something 84 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.680 not of this world. The consistency in the descriptions from 85 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:49.480 these disparate witnesses is striking. All described a silent, large 86 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:54.000 luminous object, either at saucer shaped or glowing orb capable 87 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:58.959 of hovering motionless before moving away at incredible speeds. The light, 88 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:02.560 it admitted, was brave but not blinding, and many reported 89 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:06.399 the strange sensation of a dead, enveloping silence during the encounter. 90 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:11.240 In the immediate aftermath, there was a strange lack of 91 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:15.879 official documentation. No police reports or official media accounts from 92 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:19.160 that night have ever been found, leading some to speculate 93 00:06:19.240 --> 00:06:22.920 that the records were either never made or were subsequently erased. 94 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:29.160 For decades, the witnesses remained largely silent, fearing ridiculed in disbelief. 95 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:32.120 It was only as adults that they began to find 96 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:36.079 each other and share their stories, discovering the powerful corroboration 97 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:40.160 in their shared experiences. The tide began to turn in 98 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:43.879 the twenty first century. As the witnesses came forward, their 99 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:49.439 stories gained traction, culminating in official recognition. In twenty fifteen, 100 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:54.079 the Great Barrington Historical Society formally acknowledged the nineteen sixty 101 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:58.920 nine incident as a significant, credible historical event. The monument 102 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:02.199 was erected near the ship Field Bridge to commemorate the encounter, 103 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:05.480 a testament to the town's acceptance of its strange and 104 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:09.959 important place in UFO lore. The case was later brought 105 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:12.360 to a global audience when it was featured in an 106 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:16.360 episode of the Netflix reboot of Unsolved Mysteries, allowing the 107 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:20.199 witnesses to tell their stories in their own words to millions. 108 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:26.319 The Great Barrington UFO Incident remains a profound mystery. Skeptics 109 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:29.560 have tried to explain it away as misidentified aircraft or 110 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:34.360 meteorological phenomena. But these explanations failed to account for the 111 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:38.439 close range encounters, the missing time, and the sheer number 112 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:43.399 of credible witnesses. The consistency of the testimonies, the lasting 113 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:47.279 psychological impact on those who were there, and the eventual 114 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.879 historical recognition of the event make it a cornerstone of 115 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:55.079 UFO research. On that quiet labor day evening in nineteen 116 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:59.759 sixty nine, something extraordinary visited the Berkshires, leaving behind a 117 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.079 let igncy, a wonder fear, and a question that still 118 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:12.000 hangs in the New England sky. What did they see now? 119 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:16.360 In the rugged northwestern corner of Massachusetts, the Hoosack Mountain 120 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:20.279 stands as a formidable barrier of solid rock, a geological 121 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:24.160 challenge that for decades thwarted the dreams of westward expansion 122 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:29.000 to the state's burgeoning railway system. To conquer it, engineers 123 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:32.200 and labors embarked on one of the most ambitious, dangerous, 124 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:36.399 and ultimately tragic construction projects of the nineteenth century, the 125 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:41.519 Hoosick Tunnel. Completed in eighteen seventy five after nearly a 126 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:45.240 quarter century of relentless effort, The nearly five mile long 127 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.120 tunnel was held as a marvel of modern engineering at 128 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:52.320 the time, but the triumph was paid for in human lives, 129 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:55.519 and the dark, damp boar through the mountain earned a 130 00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:59.639 grimm and enduring nickname, the Bloody Pit. It's the name 131 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:02.399 born from tragedy and from the ghosts that are said 132 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:06.000 to linger as permanent testament to the tunnel's horrific human cost. 133 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:10.120 The project began in eighteen fifty one, and from the 134 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:13.840 outset it was plagued by disaster. The work was grueling, 135 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:18.559 the technology was primitive, and the dangers were constant. Men 136 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:21.879 toiled in near total darkness, their weight lit only by 137 00:09:21.879 --> 00:09:25.240 faint lanterns breathing air thick with rock dust and the 138 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:29.519 fumes of black powder. Cave Ins, floods, and equipment failures 139 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:33.320 were common. The death toll began to climb almost immediately, 140 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:36.600 but the true horror was unleashed with the introduction of 141 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:42.240 a new, terrifyingly unstable tool, nitroglycerin. The housak Tonal was 142 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:45.159 one of the first major American construction projects to use 143 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:49.000 the voltile explosion on a massive scale. While it did 144 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:53.879 dramatically speed up the work, it also multiplied the dangers exponentially, 145 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.840 leading to catastrophic explosions that killed dozens of men in 146 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:02.480 an instant that Nearly two hundred workers perished during the 147 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:07.600 tunnel's construction, their lives sacrifice to the relentless push of progress. 148 00:10:08.519 --> 00:10:12.639 From this litany of death, specific tragedies merged that would 149 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:16.000 form the bedrock of the tunnel's haunted lore. One of 150 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.960 the most foundational tales is that of Ringo Kelly, Ned Brinkman, 151 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:24.159 and Billy Nash. On March twenty, eighteen sixty five, the 152 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:27.440 three miners were working deep inside the tunnel when Kelly, 153 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:32.759 a demolition expert, accidentally detonated a blast prematurely. Brinkman and 154 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:37.279 Nash were killed instantly. Kelly survived, but he was ostracized 155 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:39.679 by the other workers, who blamed him for the deaths 156 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:43.039 of their friends. A year to the day after the accident, 157 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:47.200 on March twenty, eighteen sixty six, Ringo Kelly's body was 158 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:50.279 found deep within the tunnel at the exact spot where 159 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:53.320 his colleagues had died. He had been strangled to death. 160 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:57.120 No comfort was ever found, and the authorities were baffled. 161 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:01.600 The miners, however, had their own theory. The vengeful spirits 162 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:04.320 of Brinkman and Nash had returned from the grave to 163 00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:09.799 exact their revenge. The most infamous disaster occurred on October seventeenth, 164 00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:13.639 eighteen sixty seven, at the tunnel's oneenty twenty eight foot 165 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:17.639 deep central shaft, a vertical access point used to excavate 166 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:21.200 the tunnel from the middle out. Thirteen men were working 167 00:11:21.240 --> 00:11:23.559 at the bottom of the shaft when a napped lamp 168 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:27.720 ignited flammable gas that had accumulated in the shaft. The 169 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:32.200 resulting explosion sent a fireball rocketing up the shaft, destroying 170 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:34.919 the hoist mechanism and setting the timber frame building at 171 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.000 the top of blaze. The fire ran down a torrent 172 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.720 of flaming debris, white hot tools, and sharpened drill bits 173 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:46.519 onto the men trapped below. Rescue attempts were impossible. The 174 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:49.600 shaft was choked with smoke and poisonous gas, and with 175 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:52.480 a horse destroyed, there was no way to reach the bottom. 176 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:56.360 After a few attempts, the workers on the surface assumed 177 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.240 no one could have survived the inferno and the subsequent 178 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:03.639 lack of oxygen. Months later, after the shaft was finally cleared, 179 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:07.320 a grim discovery was made. The workers found the bodies 180 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:10.799 of the thirteen miners, some of whom had clearly survived 181 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:14.360 the initial blast. They had fashioned a crude draft to 182 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:16.600 escape the rising water at the bottom of the shaft, 183 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.960 and had waited in vain for a rescue that never came. 184 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:23.679 The official cause of death of most of them was asphyxiation. 185 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:28.840 The discovery of their desperate, failed attempt at survival horrified 186 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.240 the public and cemented the tunnel's reputation as a place 187 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:37.320 of profound tragedy. Even before the tunnel was completed, stories 188 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:41.600 of hauntings began to circulate. Workers terrified to inner certain 189 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:45.399 sections reported hearing the agonizing moans of the dead, the 190 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:49.559 clang of spectral tools against rock, and the disembodied whispers 191 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:53.960 of their fallen comrades. Apparitions of miners, their faces grim 192 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:57.360 and their bodies sometimes horribly mangled, were said to appear 193 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:00.559 in the flickering lantern light, only to vanigh into the 194 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:04.879 oppressive darkness. Now these weren't just idle tales. The fear 195 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.960 was so palpable that it led to work stoppages and 196 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:12.600 made it difficult to retain laborers. Since its completion, the 197 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:15.960 legend of the Hoosack Tunnel's ghosts has only grown For 198 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:20.559 over a century, railroad workers, maintenance crews, and paranormal investigators 199 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.080 have shared chilling accounts of their experiences inside the tunnel. 200 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:27.480 The whales of the thirteen men trapped in the central 201 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:30.600 shaft are said to echo through the tunnel, particularly on 202 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:35.200 cold October nights. The ghostly figures of miners, still carrying 203 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:38.639 their lanterns are seen walking the tracks forever, on their 204 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:42.879 way to a shift they will never complete. Visitors report sudden, 205 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:46.600 inexplicable drops in temperature, the feeling of being touched by 206 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:50.240 unseen hands, and an overwhelming sense of sorrow and dread. 207 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:55.600 Disembodied voices are a common report, sometimes whispering warnings to 208 00:13:55.840 --> 00:14:00.000 get out. The Hoosack Tunnel stands today as a dual monument. 209 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.440 It's a testament to the indimitable will and ingenuity of 210 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:06.639 the nineteenth century engineers and workers who conquered a mountain, 211 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:11.080 but is also a sprawling, fire mile long tomb, a 212 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:15.039 permanent memorial to the nearly two hundred souls who were crushed, dround, 213 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:19.559 blown to bits, or suffocated within its rocky confines. Whether 214 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.159 one believes in ghosts or not. The stand at the 215 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:24.039 mouth of the tunnel is to feel the weight of 216 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:27.039 its history. The cold, damp air that flows from its 217 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.679 dark maw seems to carry with it the echoes of 218 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:33.919 the past, of suffering, of sacrifice, and of the stories 219 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:36.240 that ensure the men who died in the bloody pit 220 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:44.360 will never be forgotten. In the heart of the Berkshires, 221 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:49.440 nestled amidst manacred gardens and serene woodlands in Lenox, Massachusetts, 222 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:53.279 stands the Mount. It was a cherished home of Edith Wharton, 223 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:57.480 one of America's most celebrated authors, a woman of formidable 224 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:01.080 intellect and refined taste who designed the house herself as 225 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:05.440 a sanctuary for creativity and intellectual pursuit. Yet for all 226 00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:08.159 its beauty and elegance, the Mount is imbued with a 227 00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:11.840 profound and unsettling atmosphere, a place where the veil between 228 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:15.519 worlds feels thin. It's widely considered one of the most 229 00:15:15.559 --> 00:15:19.240 haunted historic homes in all of New England, a reputation 230 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:22.919 deeply intertwined with the life and psyche of its famous 231 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:27.960 former resident, who, despite her sophisticated worldly persona, harbored a 232 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:33.320 lifelong paralyzing fear of ghosts. Wharton's terror of the supernatural 233 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:36.440 was not a casual superstition. It was a deep seated 234 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:40.639 phobia that began in her childhood. She traced its origins 235 00:15:40.679 --> 00:15:44.000 to about of typhoid fever at age nine, after which 236 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:46.799 she was plagued by what she described as a nameless, 237 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:50.120 formless dread that lurked just beyond the veil of perception. 238 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:54.279 This sphere was so intense that for years she could 239 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:56.240 not sleep in a room with a book containing a 240 00:15:56.279 --> 00:15:59.080 ghost story, and had to be accompanied in a room 241 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:04.799 after dark. This profound anxiety would paradoxically fuels for most 242 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:08.360 masterful writing. Wharton became one of the finest ghost story 243 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:11.639 writers in the English language, ending tales like The Eyes 244 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:15.559 and Afterward, which are celebrated for their psychological depth and 245 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:19.720 chilling ambiguity. She understood that the most terrifying ghosts are 246 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:22.679 not those that rattle chains, but those that rise from 247 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:26.200 the depths of the human mind, from guilt, regret, and 248 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:31.120 unspoken desires. It's this very understanding that makes the alleged 249 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:34.919 hauntings of her own beloved home so compelling. The Mount 250 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:38.320 was Wharton's sanctuary from nineteen o two to nineteen eleven, 251 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:42.399 a period of immense literary productivity. It was here she 252 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:45.440 wrote some of her most famous novels, including The House 253 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:49.159 of Mirth and Ethan from, but it was also a 254 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:52.720 place of personal turmoil. Her marriage to the affable but 255 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:56.879 mentally unstable Teddy Wharton was deteriorating, and the house bore 256 00:16:56.919 --> 00:17:01.000 witness to their growing estrangement and Teddy's descent into middle illness. 257 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:05.440 It is this potent mixture of creative energy, intellectual passion, 258 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:10.240 and profound personal sorrow that paranormal enthusiasts believe charge the 259 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:14.400 house with a lasting spiritual energy. Since the mount was 260 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:18.480 restored and open to the public, staff, visitors and paranormal 261 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:23.160 investigators have reported a wide array of unexplained phenomena. The 262 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:27.279 activity seems to concentrate in several key areas, most notably 263 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:31.640 Edith Wharton's own bedroom and library. In her bedroom, people 264 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:35.440 have reported feeling a distinct, intelligent presence. Figures have been 265 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:38.640 seen sitting on the edge of the bed, and disembodied voices, 266 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:42.359 often female, have been heard whispering when no one is there. 267 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:46.480 The scent of floor perfume, like the kind Wharton favored, 268 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:50.039 has been known to suddenly fill the air. The library, 269 00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:53.480 the intellectual heart of the home, is another hub of activity. 270 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:57.599 Misters have felt unseen hands brush against them, heard the 271 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:01.519 faint rustle of address, and seen books inexplicably move on 272 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:05.079 the shelves. The most common report is of a shadowy 273 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:08.359 figure seen moving through the room or standing near the fireplace, 274 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:11.480 believed by many to be the spirit of Wharton herself, 275 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:16.640 still presiding over her beloved collection of books. Teddy Wharton's 276 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:20.720 presence is also said to linger His former bedroom, known 277 00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:23.279 as the dog Room for the canine portraits that once 278 00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:27.200 hung there, is often described as having a heavy, oppressive atmosphere. 279 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:31.599 People have reported hearing heavy masculine footsteps pacing the floor 280 00:18:32.119 --> 00:18:35.799 and the faint, melancholic sound of a man's sighing. It's 281 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:39.200 as if his unhappiness and turmoil left a permanent stain 282 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:43.680 on the space. Perhaps the most unsettling claims come from 283 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:48.079 the third floor, which once served as the servant's quarters. There, 284 00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:52.240 it has a darker, more foreboding reputation. During a period 285 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.359 when the house was used as a dormitory for a 286 00:18:54.400 --> 00:19:00.400 girl's school, residents reported terrifying activity, including doors slamming, objects 287 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.839 being thrown by an unseen force, and ghostly apparitions that 288 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:08.119 cause students to flee in terror. Pairanormal investigators from shows 289 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.319 like Ghost Hunters have captured numerous electronic voice phenomena or 290 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:17.559 EVPs in these rooms, disembodied voices responding to questions that 291 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:22.039 are only audible upon playback. These voices have been described 292 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:25.720 as both male and female, suggesting a number of spirits 293 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:29.039 may inhabit the old house. The spirit of a former 294 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:32.119 governess or nanny is also said to haunt the premises, 295 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:36.200 often seen as a gentle, caring presence in the nursery rooms. 296 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.480 Her apparition is sometimes accompanied by the sound of a 297 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:43.680 woman softly humming a lullaby. What makes the hauntings of 298 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:47.160 the mount so fascinating is their deep connection to Edith 299 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:51.319 Wharton herself. Did her intense spear the paranormal somehow make 300 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:54.359 her home a magnet for spirits, or did her own 301 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:58.559 powerful spirit so deeply connected to the house she designed 302 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:02.880 and loved, choose to remain there after death. The phenomenon 303 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:06.680 reported the intellectual energy of the library, the personal sorrow 304 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:09.359 in the bedrooms, the very act of a writer of 305 00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:13.039 ghost stories seemingly becoming a ghost herself, are layered with 306 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:18.200 a poignant literary irony. Today, the mount fully embraces its 307 00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:22.519 haunted reputation, offering popular ghost tours that draw crowds of 308 00:20:22.599 --> 00:20:27.759 curious visitors. Whether the apparitions are genuine spirits, psychic residue 309 00:20:27.799 --> 00:20:31.400 from a turbulent past, or simply the product of imagination 310 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:34.640 in a creaky old house, the experience of walking through 311 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:39.839 its darkened halls is undeniably chilling. It's a place where history, literature, 312 00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:43.640 and the supernatural converge, leaving one with the distinct feeling 313 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:46.839 that Edith Wharton, the master of the American ghost story, 314 00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:54.319 is still at home. Covering over sixteen thousand, five hundred 315 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:58.160 acres of rugged Terraine, October Mountain State Forest is the 316 00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:02.440 largest state forest in Massachusets, A vast and untamed wilderness 317 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:07.160 sprawling across the towns of Washington, Beckett, and Lenox. Its 318 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:13.039 dense woodlands, deep valleys and remote swamps are haven for hikers, hunters, 319 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:17.359 and natured lovers. But beneath the canopy of its towering trees, 320 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:22.640 a darker, more mysterious reputation has taken root. For centuries, 321 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:25.799 this sprawling forest has been the empicitor of one of 322 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:30.440 the Berkshire's most enduring and unsettling legends the tale of 323 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:34.519 the wild Man of October Mountain. The stories are as 324 00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:37.559 old as the settlements that first cautiously pushed against the 325 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:42.400 forest edge. The earliest accounts, dating back to the nineteenth century, 326 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:46.359 speak of a strange, solitary figure roaming the deepest part 327 00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:50.759 of the woods. These initial reports were often vague, describing 328 00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:53.880 a man living in a primitive state, covered in hair 329 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:58.720 and avoiding all human contact. An eighteen seventy nine article 330 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:02.599 in The New York Times reported on two young vermont 331 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:05.839 men who, while hunting in the mountains south of Williamstown, 332 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:09.880 encountered a wild man about five feet tall and completely 333 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:13.119 covered in hair. The men were so terrified by the 334 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:16.559 sight that they dropped their guns and fled, never daring 335 00:22:16.599 --> 00:22:20.759 to return for their belongings. This account and others like it, 336 00:22:21.160 --> 00:22:24.039 painted a picture of a feral human, a man who 337 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:27.960 had either been raised in isolation or had forsaken civilization 338 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:32.519 for a life in the wild. As the twentieth century progressed, 339 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:36.680 the legend began to evolve, Merging with the growing North 340 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:41.599 American phenomenon of Bigfoot, The wild man became something larger, 341 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:46.640 more powerful, and distinctly less human. Sightings began to describe 342 00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:50.240 not just a hairy man, but a massive bipedal creature, 343 00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:53.960 standing between six and eight feet tall, covered in dark, 344 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:58.839 matted fur, and possessing an immense physical strength. His eyes 345 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:01.640 were often described as blowing an eerie red in the dark, 346 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:05.720 a detail that became a terrifying hallmark of the modern legend. 347 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:09.000 One of the most well known modern encounters occurred in 348 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:12.440 the nineteen seventies. A group of men camping deep within 349 00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:14.920 the forest were awakened in the mill of the night 350 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.680 by strange noises just outside their campsite. When they went 351 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:21.960 to investigate, their flashlights caught a glimpse of a towering, 352 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:25.759 hairy creature moving through the trees. Later, as they were 353 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:29.519 hastily packing up to leave, their car's headlights illuminated the 354 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:33.759 beast again, lurking behind the thicket of bushes. They described 355 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:36.720 a creature that stood fully erect, with a powerful build 356 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:39.880 and glowing red eyes that seemed to burn in the darkness. 357 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:43.839 Around the same time, a local boy scout leader reported 358 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:45.920 that he and one of his scouts had also caught 359 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:48.799 a fleeting glimpse of a similar creature while hiking in 360 00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:53.559 the same area. Lending credence to the camper's frightening tale. 361 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:56.319 The legend of the wild Man is intertwined with other 362 00:23:56.359 --> 00:24:00.200 strange tales from the mountain. For years. Story circuit late 363 00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:03.440 about a reclusive woman, sometimes called the Hag of the 364 00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:06.480 Mountain or the Witch of Washington, who lived in a 365 00:24:06.519 --> 00:24:10.039 dilapidated shack deep in the woods. She was said to 366 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:14.119 shinau visitors, practice folk magic, and live in a state 367 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:18.279 of near total isolation. While her story is likely that 368 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:22.279 of a misunderstood and marginalized woman, her presence added to 369 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:26.119 the mountain's mystique, blurring the lines between human outcasts and 370 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:30.400 supernatural beings. It's possible that some sightings attributed to the 371 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:33.839 wild Men were in fact glimpses of this solitary woman, 372 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:36.880 her form obscured by the dense forest and the fearful 373 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:41.880 imaginations of those as saw. Over the years, numerous theories 374 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:45.680 have been proposed to explain the persistent sightings. To believers 375 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:49.880 in cryptozoology, October Mountain is a prime habitat for a 376 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:55.279 population of Gigantopithecus, a creature commonly known as sasquatch or bigfoot. 377 00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:59.799 They argue that this vast, remote forest provides the perfect 378 00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:04.799 environment for such a large primate to live undetected. Skeptics, however, 379 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:10.920 offer more mundane explanations, most common being misidentification. The forest 380 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:14.160 is home to a healthy population of black bears, which, 381 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:17.359 when standing on their hind legs, can present a startlingly 382 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:22.039 humanoid silhouette. Especially in low light, A fleeting glimpse of 383 00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:25.079 a bear crashing through the underbrush could easily be mistaken 384 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:29.880 for something more monstrous by a startled hiker. Another plausible 385 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:34.079 theory is that the sightings are of human hermits. Throughout history, 386 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:38.039 the vast wilderness of the Virtures has attracted those wishing 387 00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:41.519 to escape society. A person living off the grid for 388 00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:45.960 years would likely appear disheveled, hairy, and wild to anyone 389 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:49.920 who's stumbled upon them. Yet no single theory has been 390 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:53.680 able to fully dispel the legend. The forest itself seems 391 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:57.599 to cultivate the mystery. Its sheer size makes it impossible 392 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:03.839 to fully police explore landscape filled with abandoned farmsteads, forgotten cemeteries, 393 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:07.759 and the ruins of old charcoal kilns, all slowly being 394 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:11.519 reclaimed by nature. To wonder its trails is to feel 395 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:15.200 a sense of profound isolation, a feeling that you are 396 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:18.079 a visitor in a place with secrets far older than 397 00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:20.960 your own. It's an environment where the snap of a 398 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:24.440 twig can sound like a footstep, and a shadow can 399 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:28.160 take on a menacing form. The wild Man of October 400 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:31.880 Mountain remains an icon of Berkshire folklore, a symbol of 401 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:35.000