Twelve Mile Circle examined several infamous places in Spooky. I came up with a long list of possibilities to review although I had room for only a bare few in that first attempt. That led me to the conclusion that I should write another installment. There’s no sense wasting any more time so let’s get at it.
Roswell UFO
One of the more well know incidents of Unknown Flying Objects took place in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico. Witnesses saw a mysterious sphere crash into a remote corner of the desert (map). They figured it had to be aliens and that authorities were hiding the evidence.
Stories of flying saucers captivated the public frequently during that era. This one seemed to fit the same general pattern and the account spread widely. However the United States government insisted emphatically that a UFO did not crash at Roswell. It was actually an identified flying object, an Air Force weather balloon. Detractors naturally concluded that government officials would lie so their explanations only strengthened UFO conspiracy theories.
It turned out the government did lie to the public. The military finally confessed — fifty years after the fact — that witnesses hadn’t seen a weather balloon. According to the revised explanation, the object had been a balloon used to monitor nuclear tests. The government kept nuclear capabilities super-secret in the years after the Second World War so the weather balloon served as a convenient cover story. Or so it said.
If the government could lie once it could lie again, according to those who continued to believe that officials were hiding alien bodies somewhere in a military freezer. The Roswell incident created a whole cottage industry in that part of New Mexico, including a UFO Museum.
Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Borden probably got away with murder and earned instant infamy for it. This also led to a nursery rhyme about the incident, although I couldn’t imagine anyone teaching their child to recite it. Nonetheless it became popular at the time and many people still recognize it today.
Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.
Actually the (step-) mother got 18 whacks and the father got 11. That didn’t really matter though. They both died.
This horrific event took place at the family home in Fall River, Massachusetts (map). Circumstantial evidence pointed straight towards Lizzie.
Andrew Borden amassed a sizable estate by investing in textile mills and commercial properties. His first wife (Lizzie’s mother) passed away and then he married Abby Gray. Lizzie didn’t get along with her step-mother. She thought Abby married her father for his money. After a particularly heated argument, Lizzie and her sister left town for several weeks in July 1892. Family tensions continued upon their return and the murders occurred in August. Lizzie offered all sorts of suspicious and contradictory alibis. Even so, a jury failed to convict her and prosecutors never charged anyone else.
The family home still stands at its original site. It has been converted into a Bed and Breakfast inn. Rather than hide the building’s grisly past, the proprietors play it up about as much as humanly possible. It even offers an “official psychic” for spiritual readings in a particularly spooky setting. The most morbidly obsessed guests can even stay overnight in the room where Abby Borden died.
Loch Ness Monster
Of course Scotland’s Loch Ness made the list, perhaps the most famous monstrous place of them all. Sightings of the Loch Ness Monster dated back centuries, supposedly all the way back to St. Columba in 565. Legends said he repelled the snakelike Nessie by making the sign of the cross.
Accounts remained sporadic through the ages until taking off dramatically in 1933 and 1934. This included the ubiquitous “Surgeon’s Photograph.” You’ve seen it. The grainy black and white image showed what appeared to be a serpent with its long neck and head rising above the waters of the loch. It turned out to be a practical joke that spiraled out of control. The hoax didn’t get exposed until more than a half-century later.
Some of the more well-known sightings took place at Urquhart Castle, on a promontory above the waters (map). I went there a number of years ago and looked all across the loch for quite awhile. I even went to the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition. However, as much as I wanted to join the list of witnesses, I never say anything out of the ordinary. Several high-tech expeditions have tried to find the hidden creature too, although success continues to elude them.
Bonus
The Salem Witch House also came to mind as I considered my list. That one got a mention by 12MC quite awhile ago in Halloween Spots so there’s no reason to repeat it here. Feel free to head over to that earlier article if you want to see its exact location.
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