6 Paranormal Travel Destinations

It only takes one UFO ride to turn someone into a believer for life, so it makes sense that there are plenty of folks out there who want to do a little more paranormal travel. Whether they’re ghost hunters, investigators of the unexplained, or just X-Files junkies trying to dull their David Duchovny-induced heartache, these destinations are some of the top places to investigate or experience something from another world or dimension.

Lima, Peru – Markawasi Stone Forest

The Markawasi Stone Forest in Lima, Peru gives new scope to the term “paranormal traveler.” Both a geologic and space-time anomaly, the spiritual sensitivity of the Markawasi’s giant rocks is well known, and it’s thought that the specific kind of sensitivity is conducive to actual inter-dimensional travel.

According to some locals and paranormal investigators, the unique combination of energy produced at Markawasi often opens portals where you can look into the same space in other dimensions, and even walk through to join what some claim to be a 17th century looking village on the other side. It does not seem to work both ways though, so think real hard about this trip before you take it.

Winchester House

In 1884, the widow of William Wirt Winchester–Sarah Winchester–began building her house in California, and did not stop for 38 years. After losing her daughter and husband and feeling the guilt of living off of a fortune amassed by the sale of the deadly guns bearing her family’s name, Winchester consulted a medium for help. She was told that she should move west, to San Jose, and build a house. Once the house was done, she would die. So she never stopped building.

By the end, the house had 52 skylights, 47 fireplaces, and five or six kitchens in the 160 room maze-like building. It’s full of staircases to nowhere, doorways that open to ten foot drops, and rooms built within other rooms around chimneys that did not reach the ceiling.

Ross Castle, Ireland

Castles are great places to find spooks and specters, especially in suits of armor or paintings with moving eyes. Ross Castle, in Killarney, Ireland, is one of the most haunted of them all since the O’Donoghue clan fell to Oliver Cromwell during the Irish Confederate wars. Legend has it that O’Donoghue himself was sucked out of the window and into the lake at the base of the castle along with his horse, writing desk and library when the artillery arrived and the castle fell. He now lives at the bottom of the lake, keeping an eye on the spirits that died during the assault and move about the castle.

An Irish team of ghost hunters studied the castle in 2006 looking for tangible proof or evidence of supernatural activities, but came away empty-handed. Still, it is not recommended that honeymooning couples take a boat ride across the lake.

Roswell, NM

Famous for its weather balloons and little green souvenirs, Roswell, New Mexico has become the archetypal paranormal destination. Although it was inundated with serious truth-seekers after the famous 1947 crash of a flying saucer that was either an experimental surveillance balloon or an interstellar vehicle, the town has become more of a tourist trap in the last few decades. Nevermind that the crash itself was actually about 75 miles away from Roswell.

Information about the crash abounds in museums dedicated to the crash, however, and there is no shortage of people who’ll be happy to tell you all about it. Although there was only one documented witness of the debris recovery effort in 1947, there are now more than 600 people in Roswell who claim to have witnessed the government cover up.

Nevada State Route 375

By definition, it would seem that something called an Extraterrestrial Highway would have to be located on another planet. But this parsing of words didn’t stop the folks of Rachel, Nevada from bestowing that moniker on Route 375, which extends 98 miles from Warm Springs to Crystal Springs. According to Nevada tourism officials, there are more reported UFO sightings on this 98 mile stretch of road than anywhere else in the country. And that’s with a paltry 200 cars a day.

This two-lane road runs near the secret military base Area 51, which explains some of the Unidentified-ness of the Flying Objects, but not the flashes of light, unaccounted for passages of time and green ooze that appears on your windshield.

Mt. St. Helens

The Gifford Pinchot National Forest, surrounding Mt. St. Helens is home to many different species of wild creatures and creepy crawlies, none more useful for our purposes than Gigantopithecus canadensis–Bigfoot. This hairy homonoid is most often sighted in the forest around the Pacific Northwest and Mt. St. Helens is supposedly its home turf. Stories of cannabalistic wild men living around the mountain date back to the mid 1800s, so for many it’s not a stretch to turn those stories into tales of Bigfoot.

Consider hiking through these pristine evergreens with a pork chop on a string for best results, and remember to keep that camera ready. Sasquatch seems to be getting quicker with age.

WORLD’S MOST HAUNTED COUNTRY

The Ruins Of Carscreugh Castle In Scotland Are Said To Be Haunted By The Spirit Of A White Pig. But The Horses Are Real. Photo: David Baird

Britain, the nation that invented both the gothic ghost story and the eccentric pastime of ghost hunting, is the world’s most haunted country, with more ghosts per square mile than anywhere else on earth. This of course is not a provable assertion, but the Brits themselves are sure of it.

In the Introduction to his 2007 book, The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts, writer and academic Owen Davies tells us that in the 1940’s a folklorist in Warwickshire “calculated that there was one ghost to the square mile in his district.” According to Davies, if we assume the same density of disembodied spirits throughout all of England, we’d come of up with a ghostly population of around 50,000. And of course Scotland’s lonely expanses—the setting for Shakespeare’s Macbeth—are no less haunted than England.

“There are more ghosts seen, reported, and accepted in the British Isles than anywhere else on earth,” declares noted British ghost hunter Peter Underwood in his 1971 book, A Gazetteer of British Ghosts.

Swiss psychologist Carl Jung once remarked upon the British predisposition to see and hear ghosts, and over the centuries other writers have made similar observations. Davies provides the following quote about British enthusiasm for ghost stories from the 18th century writer Anthony Hilliar: “If you tell them that a spirit carry’d away the side of a House, or played Football with a half dozen Chairs and as many Pewter Dishes, you win their Hearts and Assent.

. . . Whole Towns and Villages have e’er now been depopulated, upon a white Horse being seen within half a mile of them, and near a Church Yard in the nighttime.”

Underwood says, “I am often asked why this is so and can only suggest that a unique ancestry with Mediterranean, Scandinavian, Celtic and other strains, an intrinsic island detachment, an inquiring nature, and perhaps our readiness to accept a supernormal explanation for curious happenings may all have played their part in bringing about this curious state of affairs.”

Other thinkers on the issue say that prior to the British Reformation, Catholic clerics actively encouraged credence in ghosts—thought to be restless visitors from purgatory—at least in part so that ghost-believers would pay for prayers to sooth the tormented souls of their departed loved ones. The violent Reformation’s victorious Protestants abolished the concept of purgatory and also tried to stamp out open talk of earthbound spirits—but these actions had the counterproductive effect of driving ghosts deeper into the woodwork of British homes and castles, where they seemed to thrive and multiply.

Certainly people in other countries—most notably in Asia—are every bit as conscious of ghosts as are the British. For a couple of examples, people in Thailand and people of Chinese descent throughout Asia set out food and even build houses for spirits. However, the predominant Asian attitude toward ghosts seems quite different from that of the British: Ghosts are their ancestors, relatives, and friends, as well as a ubiquitous element of the environment. Asians seldom see ghosts, but sense and contentedly accept their (usually benign) presence.

In other words, many Asians believe in ghosts, but don’t feel haunted; many British believe in ghosts, and do.