Laura Wright Silent Centralia?
If you’ve seen the movie “Silent Hill,” you witnessed a current ghost town that was once prosperous and populated. What you may not know is this seemingly fictional town actually exists.
“Silent Hill,” the town, was modeled after Centralia, Pennsylvania. This once-thriving town is now all, but empty. Only a few residents remain due to the hazardous conditions. It is ironically located near a town called “Ashland.” Visitors who don’t follow the detour will run into large road signs stating, “Area subject to mine subsidence and toxic gas emissions.”
In the early 1960s, Centralia was a bustling mining town. It was a town with stores, diners, and surrounded by homes and residences. There was an old abandoned mine used for burning trash. What residents didn’t know was that an exposed vein of coal remained open in the depths of the mine. As you can imagine, all the burning drifted towards this fuel. The fire spread to this vein and the rest is history.
Many attempts through the years were made to extinguish this fire, everything from countless gallons of water in the beginning to Federal attempts through the years. They haven’t stopped burning and scientists estimate the fires could continue to burn for 100 years or more.
The growing concern is the fire will continue to consume all coal underground and, by doing so, spread throughout the subterranean areas of the region. If this should happen, the surrounding towns would also need to be evacuated.
Want to learn more about this mysterious place? Here are some links:
- Centralia, Pennsylvania @ Wikipedia
- Centralia, Pennsylvania- Photographs and accounts.
Very intriguing. I have heard about abandoned towns in the northeast. A famous one is in the northwestern area of Connecticut. I forgot the name. Witnesses over the years have claimed that it is a very disturbing, even scary, place. I don’t recall it’s name right off, but it is well known. I have never visited the area, but I have seen pictures. The only evidence of its haunted nature is the oppressive, “I-feel-as-if-I’m-being-watched” feeling that visitors have experienced while there. Perhaps that was due to tricks of the mind spurred on by the area’s legendary status and ongoing stories, or there may possibly be some other possibility, not excluding the paranormal but also taking into account natural phenomena.
Have you heard about this?
Hi!
No, I haven’t heard of any that far north, but have heard of many out West. I know PA is supposed to have several, not on fire like Centrilia, but abandoned coal towns. I’m in VA and there are many, many abandoned coal towns in the region. I’ve wanted to visit them for years, but haven’t gotten to it. I’ve just seen photographs. I’d imagine they’re feeling as if they’re being watched for a reason. I always thought any place, be it a factory or coal field, where the workers were brutally treated (and killed), would have some sort of activity. I don’t know how they couldn’t have activity. Well, it’s the same with asylums, I’ve always believed they would naturally be a hotbed of paranormal activity due to the extremities involved when they were inhabited.
agree. Those locations that have a harrowing history of violence, pain, mistreatment and death, such as Waverly Hills, are likely to leave behind remnant elements of some sorts that are paranormal in nature; at least that’s what the patterns show. The theory goes that the spirits of those who die traumatic deaths are likely to
stick at or near the location of their death, trapped or confused. Detractors, however, suggest that locations filled with historic stories and legends of death seem paranormal because the imagination takes flight. If this is the case, why have a number of people experienced or encountered the same phenomena? Each
person’s imagination is different, so no two people are likely to experience or encounter the exact same thing. This is where the number of witness come into play and why it’s important that those investigating such locations not be subject to them in solitary.
As for the abandoned towns in question, the fact that a number of people have experienced similar sensations lends credence to the belief that such sources of discomfort lie outside the imagination. Still, does that mean that the conclusion has to be paranormal in nature? I wouldn’t exclude it, but I would not exclude anything non-paranormal either. If such phenomena are non-paranormal, what can these sources be?
R1
I think if a number of people report the same thing, there must be something there. People will always have stories and I’m sure a few will be influenced in some way. But, thinking you might’ve heard a voice here or there, or see a shadow, is far from physical encounters or physical touch, which is what you often hear in such cases (i.e. someone’s shoulder was touched, someone had some kind of physical contact). I’m sure that will always be argued from skeptics as they have to assume a contrary position. When you can’t find a substantial argument, you resort to imagination or some mental challenge that honestly can’t be proven one way or the other.
I would accept it as paranormal, but expect that others won’t. Many people have an innate sense of the paranormal, whether you want to call it psychic ability or not. We just sense it. But, until the closed-minded are convinced (or retire :-)), we’ll probably have these same battles to wage anytime something extraordinary does happen. But, that’s okay. Progress, even in a tiny amount, is still progress.