Mathes Music Hall is reported as being a hotbed of activity, not necessarily full blown apparitions. Students and other people report a sense of feeling isolated from the first step inside the door. There are reports of ‘cold’ spots inside the building that cannot be explained. A room will be warm, but passing through there will be an unexplained cold area, this phenomenon is common in paranormal activity. Along with this, there are reports of ‘footstep’ type noises and muffled conversations coming from areas where there is no one.
Burleson Hall is our next stop at ETSU that has a ghostly tale to share. Inside Burleson Hall there is a portrait of David Sinclair Burleson, whom the hall is named after. The eyes of the portrait are said to follow people around the room. Many speculate that the painting is haunted, but not by Mr. Burleson, but rather his daughter, Christine Burleson. She was a highly respected English Professor who taught there for 40 years before committing suicide. She had developed a debilitating disease, as to not become a burden, she ended her life. A sad ending to a full life.
If you are ever in Johnson City, TN, I recommend doing some research of all the paranormal claims made around the university. It will take you a week to get through them all, every building on campus has a ghostly story or two.
The next story I wanted to share comes from Bristol, TN. In Bristol sits Tennessee High School, which is home to an apparition that the students and faculty there refer to as ‘Agnes’. As the story goes, Agnes was on her way to school for a dance when the car she was in was crossing a dangerous intersection and struck by a train, killing her. The faculty claims to hear footsteps and in the hallways and some have seen glimpses of a girl in a white dress. To make this story even stranger, the train that struck Agnes is said to appear in the school as well. This train is said to originate in the gym and run down the hallway causing noises loud enough to shake the classrooms connected to the hall.
What other paranormal events does Tennessee have to offer? Tennessee is also a very active UFO area. It seems that new reports of UFO activity in Tennessee are coming out daily. The most recent I have read was a couple of reports that are connected in the Murfreesboro, TN area. Two witnesses said to have seen and heard a large rectangular type object in the sky. The case files can be looked up in the MUFON database, they are case #26481 , #26482.
If you live in, or are travelling through Tennessee, I recommend putting your eyes to the skies. You never know what you may catch a glimpse of, UFO or Something else.
Tennessee also boasts of its Bigfoot sightings. In a recent trip near the foothills in eastern Tennessee, I was talking with a local ‘general store’ type shop about any Bigfoot sightings. He was more then obliged to tell me, but he had to correct me first. ‘In these parts, it’s not called Bigfoot, it’s the Tarkington’. Tarkington? I had to ask where that name came from, cause it was the first time I had heard it, but the shop owner didn’t know where it originated from. Our conversation carried on about Tarkington and how it stood 8 feet tall, smelled like ‘Poo’ (Edited for my younger readers), and made grunting noises. There was nothing I hadn’t heard before, some sightings in the Smokies, a report of a terrorized dog, all the same stuff, just different location. The one thing I did find though is different regions are renaming their large ape like cryptids.
Lastly, I cannot conclude an article of paranormal activity in Tennessee without mentioning the Bell Witch. The events around John Bell and his family are great documented in books and on web sites. I recommend a simple internet search and more than enough information will come up. After you have read the story, ask yourself, what was that animal with the head of a rabbit and the body of a dog?
If you know of any other paranormal events that have occurred or are occurring in Tennessee, drop Weirld a line and let us know about it.
