Convincing 'Real' Paranormal Cases
Real paranormal activity: true stories of the supernatural that will scare the pants off you. We live in a rational world with rational laws. Tales of the paranormal and supernatural have no place in real life... or do they? The seven paranormal stories on this list supposedly really happened, and if they're true, we'll have to rethink everything we think we know for certain.
These strange cases of real supernatural events will give even the most devout and stubborn skeptic some food for thought, or at least, some entertaining stories to tell after watching horror movies with a group of friends. This list includes the most famous, most convincing real paranormal activity stories, and true supernatural events.
From exorcisms to alien abductions to time travel, these stories are spooky and seem almost too real.
The Disappearance Of Travis Walton
On November 5, 1975, Travis Walton and his fellow logging crew members were driving home from a job in the Sitgreaves National Forest when they all saw a bright light beyond the crest of the road. When they reached the top, they saw a disc hovering above the road, shining a light down upon the earth. Seeing this, Walton jumped from the truck and ran towards the disc to get a closer look while the other men shouted for him to come back. After getting fairly close, Walton began to back up before he was struck with a light that knocked him to the ground.
Then, Travis went missing. A massive manhunt resulted, yet no sign of Travis could be found. Five days later, Travis returned, bewildered and confused. "My way of handling [the abduction] has been to kind of push this thing into the background," said Walton in 1993 to the Phoenix New Times. "For a long time, I wouldn't talk about this with the media. We never discuss it around the house."
Massive lie or true alien abduction? The Travis Walton case is one of the most famous and controversial of all alien abduction stories. When subjected to polygraphs, however, the men on the crew all passed, with the exception of one whose results were "inconclusive."
The Exorcism Of Anneliese Michel
In 1968, at the age of 16, Anneliese Michel began suffering from convulsions. A few years prior, she had been a normal German girl. However, over the next few years, Anneliese developed such a strong psychosis that she would hallucinate and express aversion to religious imagery. She would also lick up her own urine, refuse to eat, and begin to speak in languages that she had never learned. For a majority of the time that Anneliese was experiencing these psychoses, she was committed to a psychiatric hospital, where she was prescribed a variety of medications, none of which seemed to help.
By 1975, Anneliese and her family, tired of the lack of progress made with conventional medicine, decided to turn to the Catholic Church, which determined that Anneliese Michel was suffering from a demonic possession. Over a 10-month period, Anneliese underwent 67 exorcisms and eventually died of starvation when she refused to eat.
Demonic possession or severe psychosis? Maybe we'll never know for sure.
The Vampire Belfazaar Ashantison
ABC's 20/20 did a story on the world of real-life vampires: people who claim they suffer from a physiological condition that prevents them from "creating enough of the essential daily energies to get through even the basic tasks." How do they get this energy? They drink blood. And there's an entire widespread, secretive society that practices this belief, headed by a man who goes by the name Belfazaar Ashantison. "I am a vampire," said Belfazaar. "My method of getting to that energy source is through the blood."
Skip to 01:45 in this video to watch Belfazaar drink the blood of a willing donor right off of his back. At 03:00, you can find a woman doing the same thing.
The Passing Of Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro
Estefania Gutiérrez Lázaro performed a seance in an attempt to contact a classmate who perished in a motorbiking accident. A teacher interrupted the ritual, and a mysterious trail of smoke reportedly went up Lázaro's nose and mouth. Shortly after, the teen began experiencing seizures and hallucinations. Lázaro saw evil shadows and would occasionally bark at her brothers. Doctors couldn't find anything physically wrong with her, and she passed at a Madrid hospital six months after the seance in 1991.
Her parents began experiencing strange paranormal happenings in their home. Notably, doors slammed and electric appliances switched on and off. The police, after seeing a door open with no explanation as well as a crucifix with Jesus separated from the cross, described the case as a "situation of mystery and rarity." Lázaro's story, known as the "Vallecas Case," inspired the Paco Plaza-directed Netflix film Veronica.
The Haunting Of The Perron Family
Roger and Carolyn Perron lived in a Rhode Island home with their five children. Their eldest daughter, Andrea Perron, said that spirits who smelled like rotting flesh came and lifted the family's beds every day at 5:15 AM. The cellar was a hot spot for spirits, so the family avoided the space.
Andrea told USA Today that she witnessed her mother become temporarily possessed. "I thought I was going to pass out," Andrea said. "My mother began to speak a language not of this world in a voice not her own. Her chair levitated and she was thrown across the room." Their stories inspired the film The Conjuring.
Charles Peck's Mysterious Phone Call
Charles Peck Jr. died in the Chatsworth train crash of 2008 in California’s San Fernando Valley. The accident killed 25 people and injured 125 others. Peck's fianceé, Andrea Katz, heard about the accident on the radio as she was going to pick him up. “I wasn’t done with him yet.” That was Katz’s first thought when she heard the news. “We were just getting started,” Katz told the Los Angeles Times.
Rescuers found Peck's remains 12 hours after the crash, but in the 11 hours prior, Peck made calls to his fianceé, his son, his stepmother, and his brother. In all, family members received 35 calls from his phone through the night. When they answered, all they heard was static, and when they called back, the calls went straight to voicemail.
Everyone hoped that the calls meant Peck was still alive, but doctors found that he died on impact. Long past his death, his phone had mysteriously continued to reach out to family, and its cell signal ultimately led rescuers to his remains.