Hey, welcome to Seneca Lake Mysteries, the podcast
where we explore the unusual, strange, and unexplained
on New York's largest finger lake. I want to
thank you for listening and subscribing and commenting
and for appreciating and recognizing the curious
history and weird phenomena from around Seneca
Lake. In this episode, following up on the recent
announcement that researchers from Cornell and
SUNY ESF will be studying recently discovered
holes in the bottom of Seneca Lake and their
possible link to the Seneca drums mystery. We
will go deeper into the history of the Seneca
drums, the theories that try to explain the phenomenon,
and the time in 2009 when the U .S. government
said, right now we don't understand what makes
the Seneca drums. Next, I'll have a new type
of segment where I'll highlight some locally
produced beers, wines, and spirits that are named
after some of the unusual, strange, and unexplained
stories around Seneca Lake. And then finally,
we'll run through the history of the Seneca white
deer at the former Seneca Army Depot. We'll look
at how the deer got there, how they survived,
and how white deer have been sacred spiritual
symbols in numerous cultures around the world
for millennia. Then I'll talk about my own experience
when I was part of the first tour offered to
the general public at the former nuclear weapons
storage facility called the Q Area, including
a completely unexpected meeting with a wee white
deer. So if you enjoy the show, please subscribe
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can also find links to all my social media when
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me, podcast at SenecaLakeMysteries .com, and
you can also leave a voicemail, and the phone
number is 607 -307 -1167. Thanks again for listening,
and let's get into it. So in the last episode,
I talked a bit about the Seneca drums phenomenon
and the history of it, but I didn't get too deep
into the details. And of course, that discussion
was prompted by the recent release of research
results that were done by a team that explored
and mapped Seneca Lakes. bottom from 2018 to
2024. Now this group by the end of 2022 had identified
more than 40 intact 19th century wooden shipwrecks
and then in 2024 they went back and they completed
a systematic examination of all those shipwrecks
and were able to complete a 3D image capture
of each of those shipwrecks. And one of the wrecks
that I find most interesting is in about 600
feet of water near one of the deepest spots in
the lake lies a steamboat that's sitting upright
and still has its machinery intact and aboard.
But probably the most compelling piece of information
that came out of this study was the discovery
of a field of nearly 70 indentations or pockmarks,
each one roughly 30 feet deep and 400 feet across,
that lie in the bottom of Seneca Lake, roughly
in the area of the Banana Belt. Now, researchers
aren't entirely sure what may have created these
formations in the bottom of the lake. But the
primary theory that they're looking at right
now is that there's a natural gas deposit thousands
of feet below the lake. And those deposits are
releasing natural gas through the bottom of the
lake. And when those gas bubbles get closer to
the surface, they expand and they make a booming
noise, which would explain the Seneca Lake drum.
And there's going to be a research team going
back and looking inside of these pockmarks or
holes to see if there are traces of natural gas,
methane, or anything else that may help explain
the Seneca drums. And it's important to note
that these pockmarks and holes in Seneca Lake
are only concentrated in that area at the southern
part of the lake. There are other holes in the
lake, other areas where holes and indentations
exist. But this field of pockmarks is remarkable
because when you look at the image, many of these
holes are perfectly round or seem to be close
to perfectly round, all arranged in this relatively
small area close together. Now, when I posted
about the findings and I posted an image from
the lake bottom, put it up on Facebook to see
what people thought, I got some interesting responses
as far as what people thought may have caused.
these holes in the first place. One suggestion
was that these marks were caused by the U .S.
military testing depth charges in Seneca Lake,
which could be a possibility, although the military
presence on the lake, Sampson, is located much
further north than where these pockmarks are.
So I don't know if at one time the military was
testing depth charges towards the southern end
of the lake. But hey, it's not a bad theory.
Another suggestion was that All these indentations
are old plunge pools from waterfalls, which would
indicate that sometime in the distant past when
Seneca Lake was forming, there were dozens of
waterfalls that were all landing in this concentrated
area and created these dozens of pockmarks from
dozens of waterfalls. Out of all the theories,
I think this one may be the most plausible, although
I have no training or... education and geology
or anything like that. Seems like it could be
a possibility. And of course, some people accept
the current working theory, which is that these
pockmarks were created by natural gas leaking
through the lake bottom and somehow creating
these massive pockmarks. I'm not sure exactly
how that would work. If there's anyone out there
who understands geology and these kind of things,
I'd... Love to have it explained to me a little
more clearly. Not saying that I don't believe
it. I just don't understand how the rising gases
would create indentations in the bottom of the
lake. Now, the theory that natural gas bubbles
cause the Seneca drums is a theory that's been
around for well over 100 years. And for this
episode, I want to dive a little more deeply
into the history of the Seneca drums and into
the history of... the natural gas theory to explain
the Seneca drums. And although the theory of
natural gas causing the Seneca drums is just
a theory that has not been proven, you'll still
find a lot of writings and a lot of opinions
expressed by people who seem to believe that
this theory is actually proven and that the Seneca
drums are no longer a mystery. So let's look
a little more deeply into the theory, how long
it's been around. and how much evidence there
really is for the theory. So the first time the
Seneca drums phenomenon was brought into the
public consciousness was in 1850, when James
Fenimore Cooper wrote a satirical short story
called The Lake Gun. It was a fictional piece
which poked fun at political demagoguery, and
it referenced the unexplained booming sounds
that come from within Seneca Lake that were heard
by the early European Americans as well as the
Native people. who lived around the lake, although
Cooper's story was fictional. And he even made
up a legend about the drums that he attributed
in the story to the native people of the area.
Now, as I mentioned in the last episode, these
lake drums have been described in various ways.
They sound like distant thunder. They sound like
distant gunshots or drums. Now, one of the earliest
newspaper articles I could find was from 1877,
and it reported that visitors to Watkins Glen
would gather on summer evenings along the hillside
avenues to, quote, listen to the delightful but
mysterious Seneca Echo, which sounded like a
mournful murmuring song of the moving billows
many miles up the lake. Then in 1906, in a story
outlining reports of the Seneca guns, the Geneva
Gazette claimed that men of quote, unquestioned
integrity, have heard the sounds at intervals
along the shore and at the center of the lake,
end quote, including a man named Edward, excuse
me, Edwin Becker, who had heard the sounds that
year. Then in 1908, I found what might be one
of the first references to the Seneca drums being
tied to natural gas bubbles. So in July 1908,
A man from Dresden, New York named William Prosser
was enjoying a Friday night of fishing in his
boat near Long Point when he decided to light
his pipe. When he struck the match, he saw a
flash and heard a deafening roar and suddenly
both William and his boat went soaring through
the air before landing among the trees on the
bank an astonishing 100 yards away. Now William
was shockingly still alive even though he was
bruised and bleeding after being launched into
the sky from this massive explosion and traveling
the length of a football field and crashing on
land. But even after his miraculous survival,
William Prosser had enough of his wits about
him to confidently conclude that the explosion
was caused by volumes of natural gas that had
bubbled to the surface and when he lit his match.
it exploded that natural gas. Now, to some extent,
I find William Prosser's story believable. However,
the fact that he was reported as flying 100 yards
through the air, landing and living, and then
declaring that the explosion was caused by natural
gas bubbles makes the story a bit less credible
in my mind. However, the natural gas theory really
took hold in 1934. when newspaper headlines around
the country declared that finally and conclusively
the puzzle of the Seneca Lake drums had been
solved through the scientific process. So a Dr.
Herman L. Fairchild of the University of Rochester
submitted a report to Science, which was the
official periodical of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science. essentially correct
that the lake guns were caused by bubbles of
natural gas escaping from a layer of sandstone
deep within the earth and that these gas pockets
would find their way through openings in the
lake's bottom and then expand up to 20 to 40
times their original volume due to the decreasing
pressure as they ascended through the water and
the bubbles would then burst when they reached
the surface resulting in a booming sound. Now,
in the report, Dr. Fairchild gave credit for
the discovery to A .M. Beebe, who was a geologist
for the Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation.
And Beebe had noted that there were a total of
130 natural gas wells in the vicinity of Dundee,
New York, between Seneca and Keuka Lakes. Beebe
further noted that due to the volume of natural
gas extracted from the Dundee area gas wells,
the underground pressure of the gas had been
greatly relieved. And in the previous summer
of 1933, there had been no reports of any sounds
coming from the lake, which led Beebe to conclude
that the famous lake guns had been silenced forever.
And as I mentioned, this report made national
news and the press excitedly trumpeted the scientific
triumph and had dramatic headlines such as, quote,
scientists finally explains the century old mystery
of Seneca Lake's invisible guns, end quote. quote,
science solves old Seneca Lake puzzle, end quote.
So according to these people, it was all over.
The enigma had been debunked and the drums had
permanently gone quiet. Then in 1940, the Geneva
Gazette reported that a reliable neighbor almost
had his canoe overturned by a great bubble that
had surfaced in the lake and burst with a loud
noise. Then in 1943, Geneva City historian Eleanor
Kleiss heard the lake drums around midnight on
the lake's western shore near Dresden. And then
in the summer of 1947, multiple summer residents
on the eastern shore near Kandaya and Hector,
as well as on the west shore near Himrod and
Glenora, reported hearing the lake drums. So
it didn't take long before the whole theory of
the lake drums being silenced forever was debunked.
And according to many Seneca Lake residents,
These sounds have continued over the years through
to the present day. Although the number of reports
has declined, they never stopped. Now, there
were some other theories that were put forth
over the years, claiming that the lake drums
might also be tied to the salt deposits next
to and underneath Seneca Lake. In 1977, Walter
K. Long, the director of the Cayuga Museum of
History and Art in Auburn, New York, told the
Associated Press that Seneca Lake is situated
atop huge salt deposits and many hollow caves,
and he stated that these deposits were a, quote,
likely source for the noises, end quote. Now,
Walter Long also claimed to have heard the lake
drums himself, but he still admitted that neither
he nor anyone else had been able to figure out
exactly what caused the sounds, even acknowledging,
quote, we've all guessed at it, end quote. He
doesn't explain in any detail why salt deposits
sitting below the lake would cause booming noises.
Which reminds me, and again, I'm not an expert
in this field, but in the research that I've
done, I see that there's been observations of
natural gas leaks coming from the ocean floor
and the bubbles of natural gas making sounds
as they ascend to the surface and pop. However,
in these cases, these are smaller bubbles that
come up. To my knowledge, there's never been
a situation where large bubbles were being released
and observed making their way to the surface
and making exploding noises or booming sounds,
which indicates to me that although the natural
gas theory may be the most likely theory that
we have, it's still just that, a theory. And
there really isn't any observed evidence at this
point that natural gas bubbles would come up
from the lake floor in large amounts and large
bubbles that would make these sounds. Now, one
of my favorite pieces of information I found
about the Seneca drums comes from what is one
of the most comprehensive summaries of the phenomena
and its possible causes. And this report was
published. in October 2009 on the official website
of the United States Geological Survey, the USGS.
So the piece is titled Earthquake Booms, Seneca
Guns, and Other Sounds, and it explores the reports
of these booms from around the United States.
And I'll post a link to this report in the description
for the podcast. Now, some examples of the booms
that are mentioned in this report. A 2001 swarm
of small earthquakes in Spokane, Washington,
which were accompanied by booming sounds. The
1811 to 1812 earthquakes in New Madrid, Missouri,
which included accounts of artillery -like sounds
both before and during the earthquakes. An 1886
earthquake in Charleston, South Carolina, which
included multiple reports of sounds being heard
prior to the earthquake that began as... trembling
or murmurs that increase to a roar, as well as
noises like loud detonations accompanying the
aftershocks in the following weeks. And of course,
the Seneca guns, as well as similar booms heard
on nearby Cayuga Lake and along the coasts of
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Now what's so interesting about this piece is
that it goes over all the possible causes for
these sounds. So the first one it suggests as
a possible cause, is the possibility of sonic
booms from military aircraft. However, it does
mention that the reports of Seneca drums occurred
prior to the existence of supersonic jets. Another
possible cause mentioned is military training
exercises, specifically naval ships firing guns
offshore. And while that explanation might fit
with the sounds heard along... The southern U
.S. coastline in the 1800s, early 1900s, it could
not have been the source of the Seneca guns during
the same time frame due to the lack of military
vessels on Seneca Lake at that time. Now, although
it's not mentioned in the USGS article, it's
definitely possible that military exercises being
undertaken between 1942 and 1956 at Sampson Naval
Base, later Sampson Air Force Base, on the eastern
shore of Seneca Lake. were mistakenly attributed
by witnesses to being the Seneca guns, but obviously
this would not explain all the reports of lake
drum sounds before and after that 14 -year time
frame. Now, earthquakes have been cited as a
possible cause of some of the Seneca drums phenomena
around the world. However, the USGS states that
in the cases of these booms that they reviewed,
none of them were found to match any seismographic
records. The article goes on discussing other
potential causes that they eliminate in the piece
as being the cause of the Seneca drums, including
tidal waves, landslides off the continental shelf,
industrial explosions, shifting of tectonic plates,
new tectonic faults forming, air pockets being
released, meteors. lightning, and even top secret
military activity. Now, the USGS does address
the natural gas bubbles theory that has been
offered to explain the Seneca Lake sounds, but
they note that naturally occurring methane gas
does not come up suddenly enough or in large
enough amounts to cause booming sounds or explosions.
But far and away, my favorite part of the entire
article is the final paragraph, which concludes
that the Seneca guns phenomenon simply has not
been explained. And here's the paragraph. And
remember, this is coming from a government agency,
the USGS. Quote, there does not appear to be
any agreement on what causes the Seneca guns.
They have been occurring in several places around
the eastern U .S. and in India for at least a
century or two. As far as I can tell, they have
worried people. but have never caused damage
or injury. The earth is a complex place, and
there is a lot about it that we don't understand.
Perhaps someday we will understand what causes
Seneca guns, but right now we don't understand
what makes them. However, they do not seem to
pose a threat to anyone. So that was in 2009.
We're now in 2025, and the mystery of Seneca
drums still hasn't been solved. And really, the
biggest point that I want to make is that the
natural gas theory of the Seneca drums is based
on the assertion that the Seneca drums stopped
when natural gas was extracted from areas around
the lake. The whole theory hinges on this claim
that nobody hears the Seneca Lake drums anymore.
Well, this is not true. People do hear the Seneca
Lake drums. To this day, I've spoken with people
who've heard them recently. And then a while
back, I saw a video online. It was a short video
of one of the tour guides at the Finger Lakes
Welcome Center in Geneva on the shore of Seneca
Lake speaking to a visitor and explaining to
them that the Seneca drums are natural gas bubbles
coming up from the bottom of the lake. This tour
guide was speaking with utmost confidence, saying
that... Nobody hears the lake drums anymore after
the drilling was done and the mystery was solved.
And when this visitor mentions that they had
heard these sounds, the tour guide says, well,
then you heard one of the gas bubbles. Now, nothing
personal against this tour guide. They're doing
what they were taught. They're doing what their
job is. But they're misinforming people when
they make this claim that nobody hears the lake
drums anymore. People do hear them. And whenever
I hear someone claim that. The lake drums were
silenced years ago. It feels to me like gaslighting.
Natural gaslighting, if you will, but gaslighting
nonetheless. Bottom line is right now, the Seneca
drums are a mystery. We don't know what causes
them. Now, there will be more research done here
in the near future, and maybe that will help
solidify the natural gas theory. But right now,
the Seneca drums remain a mystery. So for this
segment, I want to do something a little bit
different. I want to spotlight some of the businesses
in the Seneca Lake area who are in some way acknowledging
and celebrating the unusual, strange, and unexplained
history of the region. Now, keep in mind, these
are unsolicited recommendations. I haven't spoken
with any of these companies, told them I was
going to be doing this. Of course, anything that
is discussed on this podcast does not reflect.
the opinions of any of these companies that I'm
going to mention. And they didn't ask me to do
this, but I'm going to do it anyway. And for
starters, I want to begin with a few of the beer
producing companies in the area. And these are
in no particular order. I'm going to start with
a beer that is produced by Scale House Brewery
over in Hector, New York. The beer is called
Lake Monster Lager. And they have it on tap.
They have it in cans. The artwork on the can
is really cool. It has kind of a vintage cartoon
look to it. And if you're interested in trying
Lake Monster Lager, you can learn everything
you need to know at scalehousebrews .com. Now,
another beer, actually, an IPA that I want to
mention is produced by War Horse Brewing Company,
which is part of the Three Brothers Winery. And
it's called It Came from Seneca Lake, Quad IPA.
Now, the artwork on these cans are also fantastic.
It's kind of a vintage comic book style, an illustration
that shows these big tentacles coming from the
lake and hovering over and winding through the
streets of downtown Geneva. So that's another
one. It's called It Came from Seneca Lake Quad
IPA. And you can find out more info if you go
to www .3brotherswinery .com. And finally, on
the list for beer producers is Lake Drum Brewing
in Geneva, New York. And Lake Drum produces beers
and ciders. And if you want to learn more about
Lake Drum Brewing. You can go to lakedrumbrewing
.com. So moving on to the wine producers. We'll
start with J .R. Dill Winery in Burdette. And
they actually have a line of wines that are called
Jabberwocky. Now this is based on a character
from a Lewis Carroll novel called Through the
Looking Glass. And the creature in that novel
was called the Jabberwock. So J .R. Dill is kind
of tipping their hat to Jabberwocky. And also
the artwork shows sort of a winged creature kind
of rising from the lake. And Jabberwocky is available
in white, red, and a carbonated blush called
Jabberwocky Rise. You can find these wines and
learn more at jrdillwinery .com. And now we're
going to move to a couple of the more prominent
haunted locations on Seneca Lake. And we'll start
with... Miles Winery, which is in Hemrod, and
they have a wine called Ghost, and it's a white
wine. It's based on the various ghost stories
that have been told around the Miles Winery mansion
for many, many years. The labeling on Ghost White
is really wonderful, too. Depending on how the
light hits it, it shows kind of an image of a
ghost moving through the wine bottle. Hard to
explain, but you can find Ghost White and you
can learn more at mileswinecellars .com. And
then, of course, we have from Bellhurst Castle
and Winery, Isabella Sparkling Rosé. Now, Isabella
was or is the legendary ghost that haunts the
grounds of Bellhurst Castle and down along the
shore. As the story goes, Isabella was a opera
singer who moved. from Spain to the United States
and stayed at Bellhurst. And at some point when
the authorities came for her and her lover, they
tried to escape through a tunnel. The tunnel
collapsed and Isabella was killed. There's lots
and lots of other stories of hauntings at Bellhurst
Castle. And you can learn more by going to www
.bellhurst .com. And finally, we'll move on to
spirits. We have Finger Lakes Distilling Company
down in Burdette that produces a gin called Seneca
Drums Gin. It's an award -winning gin. It's made
from grapes from the area as well as botanicals.
And, of course, it celebrates legend of the Seneca
Drums. And if you want to learn more or get your
hands on some Seneca Drums Gin, you can go to
Finger Lakes Distilling. So yeah, that's just
the short list that I've compiled to date. If
you have any suggestions, if I missed any, if
there are other companies out there making beverages
that tip their hats to the weird and unusual
history of Seneca Lake, please let me know. I
mean, there's got to be somebody out there who's
serving meals. They have a sandwich named after
the lake monster or something like that. I'd
love to see any cannabis companies. in the Seneca
Lake area, maybe name a strain after the lake
monster or something else to do with the strange
history of Seneca Lake. So yeah, send a message,
send an email, give me a call, let me know if
there are any others that I missed. So last episode,
we talked about the Seneca Army Depot in Romulus
and its history as one of the primary munitions
depots in America, providing weapons and other
supplies for Every U .S. military action from
World War II through the First Gulf War. Now
we move on to the story of the iconic Seneca
white deer. So when the Seneca Army Depot was
built in 1941, a 24 -mile fence was put up around
the area to keep intruders out. But at the same
time, it essentially entrapped a population of
white -tailed deer who would now live in... breed
within one of the most secure military facilities
on earth. But it turned out that among these
newly captive white -tailed deer were some who
carried a recessive gene that causes leucism,
a condition in which the animal doesn't have
the cells capable of making pigment, which turns
their coats white in color instead of brown.
the cells are unable to produce melanin. But
with leucism, the cells aren't able to produce
any pigmentation at all. So it turned out that
the white deer that were living on the depot's
land early on, the numbers were either too small
or the deer themselves were too elusive to be
spotted. But then in 1949, an officer at the
depot witnessed something that At the time, it
must have been pretty mind -blowing for him.
He saw two white deer, one male and one female,
together on the grounds of the depot. And shortly
thereafter, Colonel Franklin Kemble, who was
the commanding officer of the depot, issued an
order that prohibited any hunting of the white
deer. And that decision was critical in ensuring
the continued existence of the white deer population.
The decision to prohibit deer hunting at the
depot ended up being revisited a few years later
because in the winter of 1955, more than a thousand
deer died due to lack of food from overforaging
and the large population as well as harsh weather.
So in response, the U .S. Army began developing
a deer management plan with help from Cornell
University and the New York State Conservation
Department. They began allowing annual deer hunts
in 1956 by servicemen to keep the deer population
on the base below 900, which was believed to
be the maximum capacity for the 17 square mile
site. And at first, only brown deer were allowed
to be hunted, but later some white deer were
harvested as well. And it turned out that this
deer management plan used at the depot was the
basis of deer management efforts used around
New York State. because the deer, the white deer,
were wild but also captive. So researchers and
scientists were able to experiment with various
population control methods, including genetic
studies and fertility control, contraceptive
methods. It turned out that the fertility control
effort was too expensive and impractical. So
the best option was hunting with regulations,
and that's a policy that's since been adopted
statewide. So the white deer population at the
depot eventually increased to around 300, but
after the depot was decommissioned and closed,
the fences started collapsing and deteriorating,
and many of the white deer escaped and got hit
by cars or ended up being hunted. However, over
the years, a series of advocates for the white
deer came forward, and eventually they've established...
Seneca Army Depot as a natural preserve where
the white deer can survive and thrive. And the
latest estimates place the white deer population
at around 80 to 100 with new fawns being born
every year. So what is it about white deer that
makes them so fascinating and that causes excitement
when they're spotted? It could be, I think, something
about them that touches our subconscious or triggers
a response in us on a very deeply human level
because white deer have been part of stories
and myths often tied to the supernatural in cultures
around the world and throughout time. Celtic
and Hungarian history, the white stag appears
and leads heroes on their journeys. The legend
of King Arthur includes... Several appearances
of the white stag in Kamakura, Japan. The origin
of the Buddhist temple, Enkaikuji, revolves around
a group of white deer who came out of a cave
to hear the founder of the temple speak. The
Lenape people from northeastern U .S. believed
that seeing two all -white deer indicated a time
when the original people would come together
and share knowledge and wisdom with the world.
The Ojibwe people believe that the white deer
reminds us of the sacredness of all living things.
In China and Korea, seeing a white deer brings
good luck. There are many, many more stories
around the world, but overall, white deer have
symbolized a connection to nature and to the
divine for many people for a very long time.
So I'll stop here and provide an unsolicited
advertisement for Deerhaven Park. It's located
on about 7 ,000 acres of the former depot, and
they give tours. They have a welcome center,
a museum that celebrates the history, the military
history of the depot, as well as the history
of the white deer. There's no other place like
it in the world. I highly recommend you pay a
visit when you can, take a car tour, a bus tour,
a walking tour, whatever. It's well worth the
trip, and you can find out more info at deerhavenpark
.org. And now I'm going to share one of my own
stories of a special tour I took at Deerhaven
Park last year and a weird encounter we had with
a white deer. So it was in July 2024. Deerhaven
Park announced that for the first time, members
of the public would be able to tour inside the
queue area of the Seneca Army Depot. It was called
the Queue Tour, 80 Years of Secrecy Revealed.
And as I discussed in the last episode, the Q
area was where nuclear weapons and nuclear materials
were stored from 1956 until the depot closed
in the 1990s. It was one of the most highly secured
military facilities in the world. Currently,
the property within the Q area is leased by First
Light, a fiber internet company. And a representative
of First Light actually ended up guiding the
tour of the queue area. Now, before this tour,
the only people who had been allowed inside the
queue area were First Light employees, other
workers or people who leased space within the
area, and members of the 295th Military Police
who toured the queue when they had returned to
the area for a reunion. And there had been some
other people who likely had been inside the area
after it closed, you know, people from the county,
what have you, who were there during the time
when they were deciding what to do with the old
depot. So on the day of the tour, me and the
other visitors that were taking the tour, probably
40 to 50 of us loaded onto a flat open air wagon
that was being pulled by a large truck. And so
in the blazing July sun, they took us into the
queue area. They showed us the entrance gate,
numerous buildings. Some of the buildings were
abandoned. Some were being used by First Light
or other tenants. We saw the specialized reinforced
storage igloos that held the large percentage
of the U .S. military's nuclear materials for
over 40 years. They showed us the modified storage
igloo that houses a first light data center.
So it has electricity and climate control and
security and all of that running into it. So
we saw a lot of cool things. I'm going to talk
about some of this in a future episode. But our
encounter with one white deer fawn ended up being
my most memorable moment of the short time I
spent inside the queue. Some point in the tour,
we were going down a road by some of the igloos,
and all of a sudden a white fawn came walking
out from an overgrown wooded area to the left
of the tour wagon. Now, not only was the fawn
completely unbothered by the presence of the
truck and all these people and the wagon, she
seemed kind of curious and was walking toward
us. So the tour guide says, hello, Bella. And
then he goes on to explain that Bella is a white
deer who had become acclimated to the employees
who currently worked in the old Q area. So she
wasn't afraid of humans would often come around
and they had even given her a name. And the tour
guide also mentioned that Bella often traveled
with a friend. And right after he said that,
sure enough, a small brown fawn strolled out
of the brush. Also looking curious, but probably
definitely more hesitant than Bella was. And
the tour guide mentioned the brown deer's name,
but I can't remember it because the whole scene
was just so crazy. First of all, nobody told
me that there was such a thing as a friendly
white deer who would walk up to people. White
deer. quick and elusive and like all white -tailed
deer, even brown ones, they're going, they're
going to move the other way if a human gets too
close. They just don't walk up to you. So it
was something I didn't even consider possible.
And then Bella walked around the wagon and truck
and was standing a few feet off the gravel road
across the road from where she had first appeared.
And I was sitting all the way to the back of
the wagon. So I had an unobstructed view from
maybe 30 feet away, looking directly at the white
deer. So I pulled out my phone, started to take
photos. And then I realized that she wasn't just
standing there. She was taking a leak. She was
urinating, taking a wee. So I took a few more
photos as the wagon was slowly pulling away.
And she finished up her tinkle there. And I just
put my phone back in my pocket. When someone
said, look, she's chasing us. And I looked up
and sure enough, that little white deer was trotting
along the center of the road, looking like she
was trying to catch up with the wagon. So I attempted
to get out my phone and take a video, but in
my haste and I messed something up. So there's
no video, but I still got some solid shots of
that little white deer casually taking a whiz
while everyone watched. And I'll post that photo
in the description of the podcast. So even though
it wasn't a supernatural encounter, being approached
by a white deer who then comes closer and casually
pees before chasing your vehicle down the road
inside of a former nuclear weapons storage facility
is certainly unexpected and decidedly weird.
Well, that's it for this time around. I hope
you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for listening.
And if you have any thoughts on any of the topics
in this episode, please let me know. And remember
to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
and get over to SenecaLakeMysteries .com and
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anything. A new podcast comes out every month
on the sevens. I'll talk to you then.