Mysterious rockfalls in California town

The poltergeist, or noisy Ghost, is capable of all sorts of tricks: can move objects, throw stones, pouring water on the floor... Usually this phenomenon occurs in any one house, without leaving it outside, sometimes he's following one person or another. But once the target of a poltergeist was the entire city, from downtown to the suburbs.

In the midst of trouble

The city of Chico, California was an unremarkable shopping centre and transport hub. Near the railroad tracks stood the warehouses for grain, in abundance coming from the fields of the Sacramento valley. By the beginning of 1920-ies there were over 10 thousand people.

In November, 1921, John charge chrome, the landlord of one warehouse, addressed to the chief of police Ted Bake with the complaint. John insisted that someone invisible every day throwing stones on the tin roof, distracting the workers. Peck thought that the pranks of teenagers.

The workers are accustomed to harmless blows on the metal and not be distracted. But on March 8, 1922 invisible man moved to action. The warehouse building collapsed a hail of stones of different size, from a pea to a baseball. Stone rained the whole day, stopping only briefly.

Huge boulders crushed the boards and knocked out the glass. Thousands of baby bumps, the roof sprung a leak. John had to close the tarp all the sacks of grain.

The stones were rounded, like a rounded water. Some of them fell warm and dry, and others — on the contrary, cold and wet. Geology Professor Charles Studley confirmed that it was not meteorites, and rocks from the valley current in the river city. The next day, rockfall continued.

"The chief of the fire brigade Charles Tuvi and patrol officer survived, perhaps the most unpleasant moments in my life, wanting to see where the stones fall down, — wrote the newspaper "Chico record". They approached the southern wall of the building and stopped, looking at the sky, when a large boulder crashed with terrible force into the wooden wall over their heads and bounced, fell to the ground at the feet of men. In the wall is a large pothole".

The police searched all the houses around, but never found practical jokers. The cordon of the quarter also did not stop the rockfall. March 11 phenomenon for the first time increased the range. Now the stones were not only in stock Charge, but in the neighboring building.

Rockfall continues

When news of the rockfall appeared on the front pages of Newspapers in Chico came dozens of curious. On 13 March the city was visited by the Vice-President of the California society of parapsychological research Vincent Jones.

Looking at the warehouse from a safe distance, he said that people uninvolved in the incident. The stones start at least two blocks away from the target, and launches them something more powerful than the human hand or catapult. Jones decided that the events should "rastoplenny essence", or spirit working through not realizing their part of the medium.

On the same day Chico called for the African witch, Rachel Nelson, specialist in voodoo. She promised a good fee to drive away evil spirits. The owners of warehouses and houses (by the time the area of the fall of stones has expanded even more) is readily chipped in. Rachel, staged the whole show, screaming and dancing, sprinkled the walls with the blood of a sacrificial chicken. The show entertained people, but did not bring any benefit.

The famous Explorer unknown Charles Fort asked to go to Chico Miriam Allen de Ford, his friend from California, and tell him what was going on.

"Talking with the passerby, I looked at the cloudless sky and suddenly saw a rock falling straight down, as if he was visible, just enough to close — said Miriam Allen de Ford in her letter. — He with a thud hit the roof and bounced on the pavement".

Another stone gradually fell straight to the feet of the woman.

March 15, the blast radius was a plant for the production of matches, the largest enterprise in the city. The warehouses and the workshops of the factory "diamond Match company" showered with a hail of strange green stones. They fell with such force that it pierced the bags with the chemicals. Geologists said that this mineral is serpentine, also known as the coil. In the vicinity of Chico it is not found.

"Vanishing house"

The next day the "Ghost" began to break an empty building on a street corner eight. His owners moved to the nearby town of Oroville, but did not sell the property. People were surprised by the fact that an unknown force broke down the fragments of the building in places where no fire escape was not reached. Police broke from the house door lock and went inside. Everything was upside down, although the owners left the house in perfect order. The police was surprised that valuable items were untouched.

The police took the building under the clock security, but the presence of guards did not prevent the disappearance of the porch. On duty near the house officer Harry Guerin saw at three o'clock the door opened by itself. He immediately rushed to the door, but nobody was there. Onlookers, watching at night for the "disappearing home", once fled from coming out screaming and wheezing.

On 18 March, the phenomenon moved on to other subjects. Electrician Thomas Johnson received the leg nut. She left a dent on the leg of the boot and tore a piece of skin from the feet. Johnson became the first resident that received, though small, but still wound. On the same day the driver is Japanese nearly was wounded with an iron washer, prosvistela around his head.

March 22 stones began to fall in the business district of Chico. Now under the threat of attack was a large part of the city. Many women and children came out of their houses, to avoid becoming victims of rockfall.

The letter "inventor"

Police chief peck has received a request for surveillance from the air a large reconnaissance aircraft escorted by two light aircraft. The next day received an anonymous letter.

"I'm seven months of trying to get a patent on my invention, but only today received the documents and the offer from firm in the East of the country. I'm going to go there to sell it. I had intended to spend in the city a couple of days for the fun of it, but I read in the newspaper that you are going to hunt me down from the plane, so I guess I'll have to give it up.

This is the only way to find me. My invention allows you to shoot from a distance of 550 metres from the goals, and the most part of the trajectory is at an altitude of 180 meters, so the stones seem to be falling vertically.

I shot from the car, but it was too risky. Tell Cargo I pay for all the damage back. I don't think I hit anything, and if they were, I apologize".

The police checked all the typewriters in the industrial area and found one that printed the letter. The author of the drawing were arrested, but it didn't help to stop the spread of the hell. Soon Chico was not safe.

Under siege

As the years passed, but nothing changed. After weeks or months of inactivity was yet another period of abnormal activity, scaring people.

"Residents of Chico are still living in the besieged city, reported United Press Association January 28, 1924. The matter rockfalls forced to hide behind high walls and other cover. The last incident is that someone hurled a rotten Apple that fell into recently arrived in the city and is fragmented into small clumps".

In 1925, the charge chrome was told that his warehouse is still the center of anomalini. One day he told his people that tomorrow to peretaskat part of a rice sack in another part of the warehouse. Night 85 bags turned out to be someone moved and neatly stacked in place, shown by charge chrome.

Another time one of the warehouse workers were busy with heavy bags and realized that he can not handle. While he went for help, "Ghost" managed to do the job for him. To the bag he pinned a note: "Mr. K., you are too lightweight for the job".

"Ghost" rarely show concern about jobs, basically dragging and dropping the contents of the warehouse at your convenience. Charge chrome found that among the bags appeared passages in which may move. Many workers have suspected that they depict a "Ghost", but every time they have proved an alibi, and a stranger could not remain so long undiscovered. "Ghost" has been seen only as a black, shadowy figures, men in the shadows behind the bags.

Once charge chrome saw that the glass of his car broken. The owner chalked it up to another of the tricks of "Ghost" and did not report it to the police. A few hours later on his Desk was a letter.

The envelope contained money and a note:

"Here's five dollars for the rear window. You said that it broke me. Although I didn't do it, send money. I saw who broke the glass and maybe one day call him. You weren't there, and I used your typewriter. Ghost."

At the time when the letter was on the table Charge, the owner of a neighboring warehouse John Prial saw rolling on the ground a piece of brick. Thinking that someone is hiding behind mountains of bags, he shouted to the porters, that the "Ghost" next. Of course, anyone they found, but the invisible man found a way to Express displeasure. From somewhere came an orange and hit Prial in the chest, almost knocking off his feet.

To stop the "Ghost" could only the Great depression. The warehouses were abandoned and soon burned. With them disappeared the last hope to unravel the mystery that had troubled the whole world.

Mikhail Gershtein, the magazine "Secrets of the twentieth century", No. 21, may 2017

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»