From the unexplained to the mundane, come join
us on a Journey to the Fringe. We are your sometimes
less prepared than one thought podcast host Taylor
and Chelsea here today doing a Chelsea episode
and I'll let her take it from there Yeah, it's
like we're not prepared but hey, I'm letting
you in on too many secrets right now so I was
listening to the podcast as I do when I'm not
the editor that week and Inspiration was struck
on the tunnel episode because that was a golden
episode it was a fun episode yeah really parkins
back to like our first couple seasons where was
just like give you a general overview of this
entire topic without diving too much into it
yeah that was fun and then sometimes we took
turns which we just completely act yeah we really
did it wasn't. Intentional I don't think no it
took too much coordinating It took a little too
much coordinating and also it took away the ability
to like have one person be the stand -in surprise
person or like the layman Yeah, that's true ask
questions not knowing a lot about it Yeah, I
forgot about that because then when we know too
much we can't ask the questions. Yeah Or you
ask weird, different questions that wouldn't
be the normal ones you'd want. Yeah. Not like
our weird questions we ask. Yeah, exactly. So
inspiration was struck and that's what ended
up with my episode today. As it usually does,
I'm inspired somehow usually to do an episode
on Mines. Mines with an M. We'll mistake that
for an M. That would be such a fucking weird
episode if I did mimes. I mean, they are a fringy
topic, especially there's got to be like, it's
true. Do you think people do podcasts on mimes?
I would say no, but there's got to be like a
John Wayne Gacy of mimes, does there not? Yeah.
No. Are you scared of mimes comes up. I just
did a quick search because I was curious. Let's
just jump right in. The number one. thing that
you're going to find with and it's spooky mines.
We're not just talking about I'm not just going
to list you mines in this episode. OK, we're
going to. And I assume they're not open pit mines.
That just doesn't feel like it gives off spooky
feels. I'm not sure exactly what that is. So
there might be. Well, that's just where like
they just like dig into the ground. You don't
go into a mine itself. I don't think so. But
I don't know. We might be in for some surprises.
OK. We started this episode by saying... We like
to be surprised by our episodes too. Exactly.
As I'm constantly demonstrating. This is what
I mean by an open pit mine. It just does not
give off scary vibes. And I don't think there's
going to be anything haunting those. You didn't
have dinosaur ghosts? which we learned this week
even are a real thing from chat at GBT to confirm
it. Although it might have been reacting to what
we've said about it. I'm a little we got to be
like on the forefront of dinosaur ghosts and
dinosaur ghost research. I believe that we are
the first research. We might be the experts on
this. Yeah, I think we are. So if anybody needs
an expert on dinosaur, we're your guys. So first
one. First spooky thing you're ever gonna find
with mines are Tommy knockers Which have come
up I believe in a Halloween episode, but these
guys might be a little bit different They also
fully need their own episode I think okay because
they're pretty cool guys And I think you can
find them in a variety of situations and in this
specific situation you find them in mines Tommy
knockers are like the Irish equivalent of leprechaun
They're little wee people. Irish equivalent of
leprechauns? Yeah. What ethnicity are leprechauns?
Irish. Maybe that didn't come out right. Do you
mean like they're the American version of Irish
leprechauns? They're Cornish. Cornish, okay.
Yeah. So their equivalent would be Irish leprechauns,
I think is how that meant to come out. And they're
little people who share the underground with
Cornish miners. Yeah. And I always assume, I
think we just should establish this early on.
We're talking about miners in this episode. It's
ER, not OR. Yes. The Cornish do not put their
children underground. Yes. Miners hear eerie
sounds working underground. Sounds made by the
earth moving along fault lines, miners in distant
tunnels, lots of creepy sounds, dynamite charges,
wearing machines echoing off tunnel walls. All
could be attributed to tommy knockers. Sounds
of dripping water, spraying mules, and creaking
mine cars were compounded by total darkness.
Cornish miners believed that benevolent tommy
knockers beckoned them towards finding fortunes.
They believed that tommy knockers warned them
of impending disasters, especially cave -ins.
Tommy knockers were the diminutive creatures
knocking on tunnel walls signaling immediate
danger, and some miners believe the Tommy knockers
were the spirits of those who died underground,
luring others to join them. If you actually saw
a Tommy knocker, you're gonna die. This unfortunate
characteristic has never been proven wrong because
no one has ever seen one and lived to tell the
tale. Trickster Tommyknocker tales were told
both in jest and in seriousness. Tools disappeared.
Items fell down shafts when dropped by deranged
we -folk. They extinguished lamps and candles
and left miners hopeless in the dark and committed
other malevolent folk -war. Hey Kana, is this
a good moment for a few comments? Yeah, yeah.
Okay, first and foremost, it's weird that they're
really nice to you unless they're not and they
will murder you. but the weird way that was phrased
is it does seem like people have seen Tommy Knockers
like it's implied that some people have seen
it but like we would never really know about
that unless they've been able to talk to someone
prior to their life and I feel like more the
idea is people sense their presence around them
by the knocking and the missing of tools they're
like the trickster leprechauns but nicer than
leprechauns except they may murder you Exactly.
That's really what they're going for, I think.
So I'm glad you picked up on that. Yeah, but
it is weird how they phrased it like nobody has
ever seen one and lived to tell about it. Yeah,
because that implies that like people have seen
it and then were murdered because of it. But
it could just be nobody's seen them. Yeah, it
could be either one. The way it's phrased is
implied that they've been murdered. No, that's
that's true and that's a part of their like duality
I think if I was to say anything But I think
they deserve a whole episode on their own because
from what I recall in the Halloween episode I
thought they lived in graveyard Apparently they
lived in mine. So I would I'm not actually sure
where they made an appearance in our episodes
just from the way they're named it almost makes
me think that like You know that the grounds
like shifting and moving And like, if you hear
a tommy knocker, that's the ground shifting.
And it's a good sign that maybe you shouldn't
be going into this part of the mine. Yeah. This
is a very practical approach to it. Well, I think
this is a very old kind of thing as well. It's
folklore. And it's before they had safeguards
and stuff with the mines as technology grants
you. Not everybody can have a marathon running
robot just at hand back in these days. Wait,
do you think that's what they're going to be
doing with the marathon riding them into the
mines? I kind of have an inkling. Yeah. I mean,
I wouldn't even the toddlers, especially the
toddler. Do you see him? He's made for working
in the mine. I think the Tommy knockers definitely
deserve more. That's all I got on them. for now,
except that there are still modern reports of
tommy knockers. No, I don't think I finished
my sentence. So this was back when in the days
of old, before they had safeguards for, you know,
not having mines cave in and such. I don't know
a whole lot about mining, but I assume that there
could be things that they do better now about
it. Yeah, they got the robots going in there.
yeah exactly they have competition to see which
robot gets the mining one because they all want
it so bad yeah the future is looking bright but
the folklore probably started around something
like that creeks in the mind danger it's gonna
collapse tommy knocker stuff like that i can't
put it all fully together in a nice vision for
you right now you get the words that i'm saying
until one of them murdered somebody because it
saw them yeah exactly and yeah very dangerous
those tommy knockers but also the nicest people
you'll ever meet yeah that you'll never meet
yeah hopefully so there are still modern reports
of tommy knockers sounds of unexplained knocking
or laughter that are still reported in abandoned
us mines like those in colorado and west virginia
and sounds like they could have their own episode,
like I said, that we're going back to, you know,
just a brief overview and we're on to the next
one already. The next one. Do you have anything
else to add about Tommy Knockers? I don't think
so. Other than so, it's a Cornish and American
thing. Yeah. You got it. You followed correctly.
Good job. Just wanted to make sure. Yep. OK.
Second mine is the Belmiz Faces of the Mines.
Spain. This one's not a mine, per se. The guidelines
were loose on this one. I'm... whoops. It was
loose. What can I say? It's mine adjacent though,
I think. Mines do come up. Why don't you just
say what it is? All I know is in Spain. What
is it? I don't know. He says not a mine. That's
all I know. Yeah, you just have to listen. Stop
interrupting me. Okay. In a Spanish mining town.
See? There we go. Well, we're still we're getting
there. It's not a town. I don't think oh ghostly
faces We're said to appear on the floor of a
miners home after a death in the family reports
of appearances in Belmez began on the 23rd of
August 1971 when Maria Gomez Camara claimed that
a human face formed spontaneously on her concrete
kitchen floor Maria's husband Juan Pereira and
their son Miguel destroyed the image with a pickaxe
and new concrete was laid down Can you imagine
getting to that point where you're like fuck
this face in the concrete? Here is this? Son
get the pickaxe 1971 Okay. Yeah, that's a little
past where I would feel like a pickaxe responses.
Yeah, maybe maybe put down some carpet or maybe
I don't know Yeah, Brugs didn't exist in the
Spanish are just so fiery They're always looking
for an excuse to get that pickaxe out. They really
are. However, the Pereira story goes, a new face
formed on the floor. The mayor of Belmez was
informed and forbade the destruction of the new
face. Instead, the floor concrete was cut out
and taken for setting. I love how they do things
in Spain. Maria's home was advertised to tourists
a la Casa de las Queres, the house of the faces.
By Easter 1972, hundreds of people were flocking
to the house to see the faces. For the next 30
years, the Pereira family claimed that faces
continued to appear, both male and female and
of different shapes, sizes, expressions. Local
legend has it that the house was built over an
old graveyard. Excavations beneath the home in
1972 revealed human remains. Some skulls missing
jaws, others buried strangely. The remains were
exhumed and reburied elsewhere. For a while the
faces stopped, then they came back. More vivid,
more detailed, as if disturbed spirits had found
a new way to speak. Some believe the faces are
psychic imprints of the dead. What paranormal
theorists called stone tape theory? never heard
of that. The idea that strong emotions can imprint
themselves onto physical materials like a recording.
And that's the Belmez faces. Much more detailed
than the Tommy Dockers, I gotta say. Well, it's
one thing that's not going on for generations
unknown that will kill you if you see it. This
is a lot more one specific mind -working individual
who decided to haunt his place near the mind.
Exactly. And Spanish things ensue. Yes, very
spare. Responds in Spanish. Now you know why
I say mine adjacent. I did say mine a few times
in there, if you noticed. Yeah, you really emphasized
them when they came up. I wanted to make sure
that you knew. OK, this one has to I don't want
to pick favorites, but this one's my favorite
in the episode. And you're going to see why in
a second. September 10, 1978, a group of miners
in Freiburg, Germany approached the mine's entrance
to begin their day of work. As they got closer,
they noticed a man appearing to be wrapped in
a dark trench coat standing in front of the entrance
of the mine. Unsure as to why the man was standing
there, a few of the workers approached to investigate.
However, when they got a few feet away from the
man, what they thought was a trench coat flung
open and formed a pair of huge outstretched wings
attached to his dark figure. The miners, who
had approached, stood in shock and after a moment
the dark figure let out a series of piercing
shrieks, which would later be described by eyewitnesses
as sounding like 50 men screaming and the sound
of trains emergency brakes. The miners fled from
the creature and the mine's entrance. From a
safe distance, the men observed what would later
be dubbed the Freiburg Schrieker as it folded
its wings back around its body and stood motionless
in front of the mine. The miners reportedly began
to busy themselves with cleaning up outside the
mine. Oh, they are Germans. They just got at
work. hoping that the shrieker would go away.
It is unclear why they did not report the beast
to the local authorities. After waiting for what
seemed like an hour, at approximately 8am the
miners were startled by a massive subterranean
explosion which rocked the mine and shook the
very ground on which they stood. They rushed
to the mine's entrance to discover the shrieker
was gone and a huge plume of smoke and flame
bellowed from the entrance of the mine. When
the smoke and flame died down, the officials
were able to examine the mine. It was determined
that all 36 miners, should they have been at
their designated posts, would have perished.
This has led some investigators to suggest that
the Freiburg Shrieker appeared that day to prevent
the men from entering the mine and in the process
saved their lives. Some researchers have made
the link between the Freiburg Shrieker and such
winged beasts as the Blackbird of Chernobyl and
the Mothman. All creatures which have been sighted
before disasters and are thought to actually
be the same entity believed to be an omen of
disasters of which to come. I had never heard
of the Blackbird of Chernobyl. Neither have I,
actually. So that's going on the list. That is
definitely going on the list. Haunted nuclear
reactors. Oh, that's going on the list, too.
But that is Mothman, my beloved. Yeah, I did
not know there was a German Mothman. I did not
know so either. It is unique, particularly in
this case, that this weird sighting corresponds
to like a significant event and people being
saved. It's also very weird that he just stands
there and screams. Yeah, he's like, don't go
in there. Yeah, and he's really keeping them
out. But like usually paranormal things are not
things that just stick around. Yeah. And just
stand there. This one was like, hey, no, don't
go in there. You just fuck off right now from
going in there. He's going to scream. He's being
a hero and definitely not a Tommy knocker because
he definitely saved their lives and they're all
alive and was definitely seen today. Probably.
Maybe not. I made that up. It's the 70s. It's
like 50 years above. Quite a few of them are
probably dead at this point. Yeah. But not due
to an explosion in a mine, I hope. Probably.
I mean, we're led to believe. Can you imagine
surviving one explosion in a mine and dying in
another one? Do you really call that surviving
an explosion? Yes. I feel like that's avoiding
an explosion. I mean at that point you're just
like... I mean technically I've survived like
every explosion since I was born by not being
anywhere near them. That is true. I've never
heard of the Mothman's wings looking like a trench
coat. That is an interesting description and
I can also kind of see how it got there but like
also the first time we've heard that Do you know
how fucking fast I would be out of there if I
saw something spread wings like that? You mean
you wouldn't be busy yourself with cleanup because
the boss is like I would be so far gone by the
time they were fully extended Cause that is the
creepiest thing in the universe. Not only extended,
but screaming at the decibel level of 50 people
and a railroad. I don't think it's the screaming
that would get me. It would be the wings. Yeah.
The human sized wings. I'd be gone in an instant.
You'd be like, wasn't Chelsea just right beside
me? And I'm driving away. Like gone, gone. Taking
a personal day. Yeah. I'm never coming back.
Don't get any ideas if Mothman is listening to
this. You better not be at my work tomorrow.
Lost Dutchman Mine in Arizona, United States.
The Lost Dutchman Mine is one of the most famous
lost treasures in American history. When I was
writing this one, it kind of reminded me of the...
Remember that one? It's not a mine. It was a
cave, I think, that had all the Egyptian treasure
in the Grand Canyon. Oh, yeah. Yeah, in the Grand
Canyon. Yeah. That one seemed like a famous lost
treasure. I can't remember if that one was real
or not. Was it real? It's not. It was not. Okay.
No. No, the art, the stories from the day made
it fairly clear it was not real. Right. Okay.
I knew I was forgetting a part of that story.
Hidden somewhere in the Superstition Mountains
of Arizona, which I didn't even know was a thing.
It's a great name. It is a really great name.
I really like this for where the story's going.
This legendary gold mine has captured the imagination
of treasure hunters for over a century. Many
have tried to find it, but few have succeeded.
The Tale of the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine is
a story woven with mystery and greed. The legend
centers on Jacob Waltz. He was a German immigrant.
Lots of German in the story. This episode, actually,
it's the how is it described? Like it's the best
language, I think, as one with the house. It's
the purest language. Yeah. Billy Meyer, right.
I always just think one arm. That's all. That's
how I identify him. He's a German immigrant mistakenly
called Dutchman for from Douche Douche. I don't
know who. I don't know. I don't speak German.
I'm not sure how exactly you pronounce that.
Who allegedly discovered a gold rich mine in
the 19th century. Waltz kept its location secret,
revealing only cryptic clues on his deathbed
in 1891. He claimed the mine was so well hidden
that quote you could drive a pack train over
it and never know it was there end quote. I don't
even know the implications of that. Waltz's clues
were vague quote from my mind you can see the
military trail but from the trail you cannot
see my mind. The rays of the setting sun shine
into the entrance and glitter with gold." Map,
stone tablets, and supposed landmarks like Weaver's
Needle have only deepened the mystery. The Superstition
Mountains were considered sacred by the Apache,
who warned that disturbing the land would invoke
a curse. Spanish conquistadors ignored these
warnings and were said to have vanished mysteriously.
Some found mutilated and beheaded. Later, the
Peralta family mined the area, but were ambushed
and killed, their spirits rumored to haunt the
range. Many who search for this legendary gold
mine in the Superstition Mountains either disappear
or go mad. Treasure hunters have long sought
the mine, but many met grim fates. Adolf Ruth,
in 1931, vanished while searching. His skull
was later found with bullet holes. Multiple,
I guess? Jesse Capen in 2009 disappeared during
an expedition. His remains were discovered years
later. Others have been searching for the mine,
have encountered eerie lights, phantom footsteps,
ghostly figures in the mountains, reports of
shadowy figures, even skinwalker -like beings
have been reported in and around the area. And
that could technically be within their range,
correct? It is, yes, it definitely is. Because
you know, they have shot colors on them or something
and they can't leave the area. I believe. Well,
yeah, it's only the area that they're used to
was the whole thing. Yeah, it gives them power
somehow. And it can't be zoo animals. I do specifically
remember that or native animals. Which is why
you don't hear about like weird exotic animals
being imported to that region of the world specifically
in like weird circumstances not to zoos. It would
be weird if like the most like exotic animal
zoo was in like small rural Nevada. Some Tates
even mentioned strange creatures guarding the
gold but do with that what you will because if
it was guarding the gold then you know it'd be
standing where the mine was and it'd be weird
to find. You think it's a Tommy knocker? Could
be. So that if anybody sees the treasure, they
see a Tommy knocker and they die? You know, that
would really be a smart thing to do. If I ever
had something in which I really wanted no one
to find, I would have to find a Tommy knocker.
Well, but then you got to communicate with a
Tommy knocker, which probably inevitably means
you're going to see the Tommy knocker and die.
Yeah, I wonder if they have like, you know how
you get leprechauns with lucky charms? They have
to have something like that and you just put
those out. I don't know why, but instead of Lucky
Charms, I thought you were going to say leprosy.
Don't know why. It just kind of felt like it
was the natural progression. You know how our
favorite person always thinks there's synchronicities
and things that aren't synchronicities. This
one actually is because leprosy has come up a
few times this week, and now you're saying leprosy
right now. So it's not a good synchronicity,
but it is still a synchronicity. I don't know
why it's come up so much this week, but alas.
That brings us to our last one, which is the
Wabana ore mine on Belle Island, Newfoundland.
Have you heard of Belle Island before? Yeah,
I have. There's an entire series about that one
on our podcast. Not on our podcast is on. I think
it was a Discovery Channel. Really? OK, I never
heard about it before. And apparently I need
to make sure. Is this the one with the potentially
it's a mine, but nobody really knows for sure
and they can never get to the bottom of it? No,
it's definitely a mine. Oh, are you talking about?
Oh, I know what when you're talking about the
curse of Oak Island, you're thinking of Oak Island.
OK, then never mind. Yes. OK, so you've never
heard of it. You've never heard of the island.
OK, I potentially have not. Newfoundland. It's
literally right off the coast of Newfoundland.
You can it's like it's right there as you gather
from what I'm saying. It's apparently, which
is hard to do, I don't know how many islands
there are in North America, apparently the most
haunted island in North America. It took me a
little bit to actually look into what's going
on at the mine because so much stuff came up
for what's going on on Belle Island. It's a shitload.
It needs its own episode. Now I want to go to
Belle Island for a little bit and then leave.
The Wabana iron ore mines began around the turn
of the 20th century. The mines included six shafts
and operated for 71 years. The mines closed in
June 1966 after producing 79 million tons of
iron ore. For that mine, that seems like a lot.
It had a huge role in the wars. Lots of war history
going on with it as well. There were tragic mining
accidents that led to the haunting here. Ghost
miners are said to be seen both inside and outside
the sealed mines. Some even say that at 5pm,
when it was time for a shift change, a whole
stream of ghostly miners have been seen entering
and exiting. There are numerous tales of people
seeing phantom miners down there in the darkness,
as well as suddenly finding white crosses etched
into the stone where there were none moments
before. The white crosses were used by miners
as a way of honouring their fallen, making it
seem as if they were trying to communicate to
the living from beyond the grave. Besides the
shadow figures and mysteriously appearing crosses,
visitors have heard muffled, disembodied whispering
or footsteps, felt an icy wind rush past and
often there is a dreadful feeling of being watched.
Shadow figures are often sighted and phantom
screams can be heard coming from the mine. I
almost feel this is a phase worse than like having
to haunt a graveyard. Like having to haunt the
place that you worked and you're like, God, I
just want to get out of here and nope. you're
just gonna keep working even after you die yeah
uh you're right actually that is worse than like
a graveyard or like a haunted house or something
because you're at least you get to talk to different
people at a graveyard at a mine site those are
the people that you worked with there was probably
that guy you didn't like but you had to make
small talk with yeah or the guy that was at a
cold plate concert with that age yeah it's so
embarrassing That would be like him having to
haunt Coldplay concerts once he dies. But that
still sounds better than having to haunt a mine.
Yeah. No, it does actually. You're right. That
is a fate worse than death, I think, is dying
at work and having to be at work for the rest
of your life. That just brings a whole new level
of empathy to them. Like I said, there is a military
angle to this. some believe secret cold war experiments
took place here possibly opening portals or time
slips as witnesses claim to lose hours or feel
disconnected in certain mind sections i don't
know that that's necessarily like cold war experiments
it could be something more paranormal than that
but there are more military angles to it than
not because of the war history that is in this
place. I feel like it would be a really good
episode to dive into more. So and I just wanted
to talk a little bit about it just to give you
guys something to look forward to when we eventually
do this episode. April 2nd, 1978, a powerful
and unexplained explosion shook Bell Island,
Newfoundland and Labrador, causing blinding flashes,
deafening thunder and electrical damage. It's
known as the Belle Island Boom and the blast
was so strong it registered on seismographs and
drew international attention including visits
from Canadian military, Soviet officials and
mysterious U .S. personnel allegedly from Los
Alamos. Theories range from rare atmospheric
phenomena like ball lightning to electromagnetic
amplification from abandoned iron ore mines.
We just said that one. Some locals attributed
it to the island's haunted history while others
linked it to sky quakes and global reports of
strange booms. What's a skyquake? I have no idea.
They sound common. Yeah it does. Like we should
know what it is at the very least. Fueling speculation
about secret weapons and warfare or extraterrestrial
activity. Despite investigations, no definitive
explanation has ever been found for this boom,
leaving the Belle Island boom a lasting Canadian
mystery filled with science, folklore and conspiracy.
And that's how I'm going to end off this episode
with something that is not even mine related,
but related to a place that has a mine there
and is very haunted. Wikipedia says that it's
attributed to a lightning super bolt. Which I
didn't even know was a thing either. Oh, coast
to coast am actually just posted a video was
where I saw it. It probably came from another
source, but somebody in Alberta captured ball
lightning on film. No. Yeah, and it's pretty
crazy because I thought that everyone was just
making it up the ball lightning is a thing. Oh,
yeah five days ago Okay, I'm gonna have to take
a look at that. Yeah pretty cool thing, but yeah,
it's a podcast So you can't watch it here. So
if you want narrated to you guys we were more
than happy to It sounds like an easy job But
yeah, those are my however many number of points
about mines some mine adjacent some actually
about being in the mines yeah and i've learned
a lot about mines it made me think what was what's
really the difference between a mine and a tunnel
but they're different don't know why definitely
well a tunnel is a means of transportation i
think is if i was to come up with something on
the fly a mine is a mean of extracting resources
yeah i guess a tunnel a mine could turn into
a tunnel? I don't know if a tunnel can turn into
a mine, can it? Yes, it could. I guess if you
were like... If you started digging into the
wall potentially and found something. Like they
started the tunnel and they found gold. Yeah,
then it tunnel becomes mine. I don't think they
exist together though. I don't think they can.
I think they could. No, no, I don't think a mine...
You have to keep them separate. Yep, it has.
I think the whole regulation side of the mining
thing might make force you to keep it separate.
Yep. Now, back in the Tommy knocker days, no
regulation. But now we're in the era of mine
robots. Plus Tommy knockers. Yeah. Mine marathon
robot. And with that, I have been Taylor here
with Chelsea. We are Journey to the Fringe. Thank
you all for listening and we'll see you next
week. Bye. Thank you for listening to Journey
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