I had read some stories from a local Michigan group and was intrigued. I had reached out to Mystic Mitten about a specific location they had posted about over summer, got some information from them about who they are, and on this cemetery, and asked them to tell their full tale. Special thanks to Hillary and Jessica for taking the time, and for the thrills!! I def got some shivers and some emotions from your EVP clips, and I hope the best for you cats, and for Brian! Let me know if I can ever tag along.
Memphis Cemetery – Memphis, MI.
Memphis is a quiet, small town in Michigan about
50 miles north of Detroit. Dating back to 1835, the Memphis Cemetery is nestled
on a bluff overlooking the Belle River, surrounded by cornfields and grassy
hills. Growing up a few towns over, we had heard rumblings amongst the kids at
school about a so-called ‘witch’s ball’ somewhere “over near Armada”.
Supposedly ghosts would appear reflected in the ball, and it would spin on its
own. Of course, this was absurd, but it made a pretty fun story around
Halloween in almost-rural Michigan and has been the subject of local lore since
its construction in 1903. People also claim the cemetery is haunted in general,
with reports of full-bodied apparitions dancing between tombstones and voices
coming from the woods.
On the evening of June 1st, 2018, we arrived at
the Memphis Cemetery:
{Jessica Krutell – Lead Investigator} “The Witch’s
Ball is a highly reflective surface and images from across the cemetery can be
seen in its reflection. Is it possible that the spirits seen when you gaze into
the ball are reflections of others visiting the cemetery? Another theory to
this legend is the act of matrixing; this is when you see connections because
your mind wants to. It is human nature to look for faces within everything. The
human face is the first thing we see when we are born and often the last thing
we see when we die. Because of this, the process of pareidolia (noticing patterns that don't exist) begins early on.
This causes people to see faces in random patterns and shadows.
Does the ball really move? Yes, but for a
scientific reason. The ball, being made of granite, can shift slightly with
atmospheric changes. I have visited the Witch’s Ball many times in my life, and
only after part of the marker broke off did I see a shift. This was likely from
the weight of the ball readjusting. In the visits afterword, no noticeable
changes were made.”
{Hillary Stone - Medium} “We parked our car
along the side of the gravel road towards the back of the cemetery. The sun was
just beginning to set as we sat waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. I
started to relax and began observing the energy of the cemetery. As I started
to sink into my own thoughts, I noticed a vague flash of a man who appeared to
be walking towards us through the tombstones. Although the image of him remained
burned in my mind, he disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. He was wearing
a white baseball cap, a blue flannel shirt over a t-shirt, jeans, and brown
work boots. A few seconds later I saw a flash of the boots, floating empty and
walking away.
The rest of the team arrived, and we began our
investigation with a spirit box session at the Witch’s Ball. We sat until we
became frustrated, and after reviewing the footage, it became obvious that
whatever spirits had gathered to communicate with or observe us had become
equally fed up. At one point I felt the distinct sensation of someone behind
me, messing with the back of my head. I felt what I can only describe as the
experience of having someone come up behind me and whack me in the back of the
head. I lowered my head and held it in my hands and closed my eyes trying to
interpret what was happening. I brought my head back up and we sat for a while
longer. I started to open, hoping to encourage communication from whatever
entity had been lingering behind me. I said, “We’re just trying to see if
anyone’s here...” to which a boisterous laugh, emitting from the spirit box
responded; “We are here”, said a woman’s voice. Even between the flicking
sounds of the P-SB7 Spirit box, we could hear the annoyed tone to her
statement.
We moved to another area in the cemetery,
settling on a grave with a unique marker. We began calibrating our equipment
and switched the spirit box back on. Immediately a voice boomed, as if stuck in
an endless loop: “TESTING, TESTING, TESTING, TESTING, TESTING” the voice
continued. Another voice began, as if layered above the other as a mere whisper: “TESTING,
TESTING...”. The voices continued, repeating the word ten times. This freaked
us out. The Spirit Box had been scanning as usual, and THAT isn’t supposed to
happen, nor can it be chalked up to glitch.
Excited, we settled in around the
grave. Jessica began asking questions and I sat down to focus and clean the
grave marker off. As soon as I began brushing dirt and dead leaves away, I
heard my name quietly whispered into my ear… “Hillary” the breathy voice
sighed. I knew no one in the team had said anything to me, but just to confirm
I asked, “Did you just say my name?”. Although no one in our group had said
anything, upon reviewing the files on our audio recorder device, we discovered
an incredible EVP captured at the exact moment I heard my name … We think we
hear a little girl with an English accent saying, “It’s her”, to which I reply,
“Did you just say something to me?”. It is spot on.
I wonder if I
“brought her from home”, as I have a penchant for collecting photos and
trinkets that once belonged to Victorian little girls. She could also have a
connection to the cemetery, and just found me to be familiar. Maybe there’s
more to it than I can even understand at this point, but it’s inspired more
questions than answers – business as usual for evidence of the Paranormal, I
suppose.
A while, and many questions later, my focus
began to wander back to the grave we were visiting. I noticed a laminated
memorial photo that somehow, I had totally missed for the 15 minutes we had
been sitting there… I felt the wind knocked out of me as my mind made the
connection that the man in the photo was wearing both a white baseball cap and
a blue flannel shirt … just like the apparition I had seen earlier before the
sun set.
“Did I see you earlier?”
I asked aloud. “Yes, Dear”, a man’s voice responded through the spirit box.
I began describing exactly what I had seen to
the others, imitating the walk and describing every detail down to the color of
the man’s boots. “It’s Brian!” the voice exclaimed abruptly, causing a
significant disturbance in the operation of the spirit box for a moment until
it resumed as normal. The entire team was stunned, as Brian is the man whose
grave we stood at – the man in the picture.
He knew we were filming, and knew we intended to
share what evidence we collected, and he chose to identify himself. Maybe in
our case he saw an opportunity, or a platform and took the opportunity to
present himself; maybe even someone other than us.
If we capture something, it’s intentional –
meaning whomever creates the evidence does so knowingly and willingly. To
capture evidence of the Paranormal is a granted privilege. Regardless of how
important we view ourselves as investigators, we are never really in control.
There is always an exchange taking place and approaching it with genuine
gratitude will absolutely increase the chance of receiving evidence of spirits.
When we experience something that relates to relevant information or confirms
the identity of the person I’m communicating with – there’s a reason and
permission to share the evidence is granted by default.
If you do decide to investigate the Memphis
Cemetery, make sure to be respectful of both the living and the dead. Make sure
that future generations of nervous teenagers will be able to visit the Witch’s
ball to look for spirits that evidently, can
be found in the Memphis Cemetery.
Check it out for yourself by watching the full
video here:
Mystic Mitten Paranormal Group is an all-female Paranormal
Research group from Metro Detroit, Michigan. Founded by a Medium Hillary Stone and
Photographer Jessica Krutell, Mystic Mitten seeks to provide “answers for those
who seek, help for those in need, and light for those lost in darkness”.
For more information visit their website: mysticmitten.org
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