Allegheny Mountains

Chestnut Ridge

Some investigators believe that this mountain ridge is a doorway to another dimension. Certainly the area has attracted an unusual number of
sightings of UFOs and other strange creatures. A UFO seen by thousands of witnesses crashed near Kecksburg on December 9, 1965. The
entire area was cordoned off and military personnel commandeered a farmhouse near the site. That same night, the 662nd Radar Squadron from
the Oakdale Army Facility hauled away a huge object hidden under a tarp on a flatbed truck. They later denied that they had found anything. A
flap of over five hundred sightings from 1988 to 1990 brought hundreds of UFO watchers to the area. The first Bigfoot sighting is the area was in
1931 at Indianhead in Fayette County. Since 1972 there have been sightings every year. There were twenty-eight reports in 1988 alone. Three
toed footprints, thirteen to twenty one inches long, have been found in connection with the sightings. The creatures are described as red eyed,
hairy humanoids who make high pitched chirping or crying sounds.

To report sightings, call the Pennsylvania UFO Hotline at 412-838-7768.

Berks County

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary

Many fantastic phantoms roam this historic peak. The brilliantly shining ghost of a ten foot tall man has been reported by several drivers along
the two lane road to the mountaintop, and the phantoms of settler butchered by Indians in the mid 1700's are said to stalk the grounds at night.
Ghosts have also been seen peering out of windows in the old headquarters building in the nature sanctuary, which at one time was the home of
Mathias Schambacher. In the middle nineteenth century, Schambacher and his wife operated and inn in their house, although their guests had a
way of checking in and not checking out. Schambacher confessed to robbing and killing several peddlers, soldiers, and other travelers, and then
burying their bodies in the woods around his house. However, the most active ghost in the house is that of a young girl who fell down the stairs
and died in the center of the living room. She is seen floating eighteen inches above the present floor. Some years after the accident the house
was remodeled and the living room floor lowered eighteen inches. But of course, the ghost had no way of knowing that.

Wilkes-Barre

Smurl House

This duplex house was built in 1896. The Smurl family bought the house in 1973 and settled in for twenty-five years of terror. Jack and Janet
Smurl lived in one half, and Jack's parents, John and Mary Smurl, lived in the other half. In January 1974, strange events began to take place in
Jack and Janet's section of the house. Unexplainable claw marks were found in the bathroom, and unusual stain appeared on the carpet, and the
television burst into flames. In 1975, their oldest daughter, dawn started seeing ghosts hovering in her bedroom. The weird phenomena continued
February 1985, when a hideous, faceless ghoul appeared. The dark creature, which they called the "Old Hag," was about five feet tall and could
walk through walls. It regularly attacked members of the family and even beat the Smurl's dog. Scaly creatures sexually attacked both Jack and
Janet, the pig noises started coming from inside the walls. The Smurls called in paranormal investigators, and when the news leaked out, crowds
of reporters and curiosity seekers showed up and nearly destroyed their home. Within a few days, fifty-three people had witnessed unexplainable
events at the Smurl residence. More than fifty exorcisms were performed on the house, but it was not until 1989, a year after the Smurls moved
out, that the paranormal activity ceased.

Hauck, Dennis. (1994). Haunted Places: Ghost Abodes, Sacred Sites, UFO landings, and other supernatural locations. New York: Penguin
Book.

Pennsylvania