So, one of the experiences offered at Strataca is something called the Dark Ride. By opting for this tour you are taken on a tram ride down abandoned shafts beyond the museum galleries. Here the only light offered is from the tram's narrow head beams as it rolls past the gaping maws of long spent veins. This was the ride my mom and aunt opted for. At one point along this tour the guide stopped the tram to discuss a particular crystal formation right beside one of these abyssal veins. With no interest in what the guide was saying, my mother instead turned to look out into the darkness of the old shaft. As she did so, she started to see something, something that she at first mistook for pareidolia (where the mind creates a familiar pattern where none exists) but the more she watched it the more evident it became that this wasn't just some visual trick. What it was was the silhouette of a man some distance down the tunnel, lighter than the surrounding blackness. As she sat watching this, suddenly the figure charged down the shaft towards her, not stopping until it reached the mouth of the tunnel. This put only a few feet between my mother and the entity. Up close she could see that he was dressed in outdated mining gear with a strange sort of visible electric charge running through his body. The man wore a look of shock, making eye contact with my mother (though whether or not he actually saw her is unclear) before turning around and running back into the darkness from whence he came.
No one else appeared to have seen the entity.
Next thing my mother knows the guide is actually driving the tram down the passage where she had just seen this apparition and he stops right around where she estimated the figure first manifested. While pointing out a barricade in the wall the guide explained that in the early days of the mine, spent veins would be blocked off with old dynamite boxes to redirect air flow to where it was most needed. Things didn't always go as intended however, and sometimes there'd be cave-ins (I assume from leftover dynamite). Upon hearing this my mother had her "ah ha" moment and was able to piece together her experience. At some point in the mine's history there must've been an accident here, and what she saw was the ghost of someone reliving that horrific moment over and over again. Now, whether he was sentient or simply a residual haunting is unclear but my mother did seem to sense a certain degree of consciousness from the entity, a very human vibe of panic and desperation. It might also be worth mentioning that at the time she had no clue Strataca is supposed to be haunted, a fact the tour guide didn't bother to mention until the very end of the ride.
Ghost or pareidolia? My mother, who has encountered full bodied apparitions before, says she has never seen anything like this and I don't doubt her in the least. Pareidolia doesn't behave this way, doesn't come rushing at you in a surge of electricity fully dressed like a miner. No, I 100% don't believe my mother's mind was playing tricks on her. The fact that she was the only one who saw it doesn't surprise me either. Not only were the others focused elsewhere but I've found that a lot of people just have no sensitivity, no awareness of the spirit world and as such are rendered oblivious to its going ons even when they're occuring right in front of them. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram!
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