The Blue Ghost Tunnel: Making of a Legend Weighing the Evidence

Weighing the Evidence

Russ' past may explain his experiences at the Blue Ghost Tunnel.

According to Russ he had begun experiencing paranormal phenomenon at an early age and had experimented with using a Ouija Board prior to his experiences at the Blue Ghost Tunnel.

Russ also says that he lived in a haunted house in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. He claims the energy in the house caused people to have nervous breakdowns and psychotic episodes. He suggested that, as a result of the haunting, a teenage girl committed suicide by jumping out her second-story bedroom window, and that shortly after the incident the house was exorcised by a Roman Catholic Priest. Russ also says that the original owner's daughter, who was engaged and pregnant, was killed in a tragic vehicular accident near the home.

He concluded that the house was haunted and that a paranormal explanation for the experiences and tragedies could be found in a local story known as The Wicker Legend.

As a teen Russ assembled a small group of friends who frequently visited haunted locations across Niagara. Often he would catch orbs or mist in his photography, believing them to be spirits or ghosts.

I also spoke to others in his group, who suggested that Russ had been involved with hallucinatory drugs and was heavily interested in the occult. During the exploration of the Blue Ghost Tunnel, Russ' group disbanded because of personal reasons, but recently some have come forward to say that although they cannot explain a lot of what did happen during their visits to the tunnel, they believe that Russ had not actually experienced everything that he said he did.

Was Russ embellishing his experiences to make a more interesting and terrifying story that he hoped would land a book deal or even a movie deal?

Did the history of living in a haunted house contribute to his experiences? Did the use of hallucinatory drugs play a role in developing the legend of the Blue Ghost Tunnel?

Or were Russ' experiences genuine?

This we do know: Russ has not returned to the Blue Ghost Tunnel, nor has he been involved with investigating the paranormal or any aspect of the occult. Russ married one of his teammates and operates a successful Internet business. He does not wish to discuss nor participate in any discussion about what happened at the Blue Ghost Tunnel. He wishes to remain anonymous―known only as “Russ”. To protect his identity and his privacy we will not be releasing his full name.

We also know that since Russ' exploitation of the Blue Ghost Tunnel, countless others, including paranormal investigators, have experienced phenomenon that closely matches his experiences.

Is the Blue Ghost Tunnel haunted? And if so, by whom?

My own personal belief is that the tunnel itself is not haunted, but it remains a focal point for all our energy and investigation. It’s a destination for both body and spirit.

There is no historical document, newspaper clipping or any recording whatsoever concerning a haunting or even a tragic death at the tunnel. The theory that the train collision near the tunnel has caused the haunting is not supported by any proof―, no EVPs, no psychic impressions―nothing of the men or their names. On several attempts I have called out to these spirits, to no avail. In my opinion, they do not haunt the tunnel, nor the area of the accident.

Then what of the house foundations? Could they be the cause of the hauntings? Again, there are no historical documents, newspaper clippings or any recording of a haunting whatsoever connected with these foundations. What Gord Westwater felt at the foundations during his investigation may be energy from a residual haunting, and it was not transferred nor felt at The Blue Ghost Tunnel.

What about John Walker's house on the hill and the rumor it was haunted? Again, there are no historical documents, newspaper clippings or any recordings of a haunting at this house that can be connected with the tunnel itself. The name Walker, or John Walker, was never recorded on EVP or through psychic impressions.

What about the other tragic deaths? Could the instantaneous deaths of canal workers or the drowned five-year-old boy be responsible for the hauntings at the tunnel? And why would they decide to haunt a tunnel they had no relationship with?

What about the burial ground that was moved? With the investigation conducted by The Shadows Project, we can determine that this location may be haunted, but what does it have to do with the Blue Ghost Tunnel? The burial grounds are a good distance from the tunnel, and why would lost spirits of a disrespected cemetery haunt a tunnel that they had no relationship with? You might argue that it is because the construction of the tunnel forced the removal of their bodies from the Old Burial Ground. But this is not true. The cemetery was moved because of the need for a pondage area. So shouldn't the spirits be manifesting in the pondage area instead?

What about the Old Lakeview Cemetery? Are those spirits haunting the tunnel? I don't believe so. The cemetery is even further away and those interned there had no relationship to the tunnel.

So what is going on at the tunnel and why do so many people experience what they consider as paranormal activity?

Let's first discuss the experiences people generally encounter. From the early days, before Russ exposed the tunnel and described his adventures, there were several individuals who had heard audible screams from a female. Others, including myself and other reputable paranormal investigators, have heard those exact screams. The evidence pre-dating Russ' exposure is the most interesting, as no one at that time was particularly influenced by claims of paranormal activity.

Still others claim to have witnessed a ghost dog. However, to date no reputable paranormal investigators have recorded, seen, felt, been exposed to or tell of a ghost dog. Only Russ' hallucinatory adventures and Haunted Hamilton have experienced a ghost dog, and it appears we can dismiss both as sensationalism.

Next is a child spirit who many feel is frightened, lost and looking for help. Some say they hear the crying and sobs of a young female. Some believe the child is about 4 to 7 while others feel she is older, in the age range of 10 to 13. She seems frightened, and viewers report the impression that she had succumbed to suffocation at some time. It appears this spirit is held against its will.

Most oppressive is a male figure, who has been seen, recorded and photographed. Each time the sense is of a strong, older man in period clothing. The male figure is felt near the entrance to the tunnel and seems to be guarding its entrance.

Let’s conclude that these spirits, that of a woman, a female child and a male figure are accurate. Who are they? And what are they doing haunting a tunnel that has had no physical record of any death?

And why are individuals who have no prior knowledge of the tunnel hauntings experiencing these three ghosts?

It’s been suggested that the water, both above the tunnel, and within the tunnel, are magnets for spirit activity, and that is what is attracting spirits to this particular location. If that’s true, then we must conclude that the ghosts of the Blue Ghost Tunnel are traveling from another location, perhaps to make contact with us. We could speculate further and suggest that, because of the increasing foot traffic, the spirit to human contact has intensified, making this location a haunted hot spot worthy of further investigation.

But there is something else to consider and that is the possibility that we are fabricating the whole thing.

Beginning with the earlier accounts, including Russ' experiences, to the present-day investigations, it may be possible that together we have manufactured a ghost, or in this case a series of them, simply by using our own minds. The Philip Experiment has certainly suggested this possibility. Perhaps the Blue Ghost Tunnel is a haunting of our own making.

We could have created our own legend.

“My own hypothesis about such places is similar to those of Japanese and Tibetan ghost folklore,” explains Matthew James Didier. “When you have enough people who continuously visit an atmospheric location with high expectations of experiencing a ghost, a psychic imprint from these same people is left behind.”

“Those who are sensitive to these imprints will then pick up on them. If we refer back to Japanese and more specifically Tibetan beliefs it is possible that an entity is born from these emotions and feelings.”

“In this case, by sheer accident. For those unfamiliar with what I am talking about, please look up Tulpa. This concept is similar to the experiments run by the TSPR in Toronto during the 1970's in which a 'ghost' was manufactured through meditation. The most well-known and successful being the Philip Experiments.”

If you purchased this book, hoping to get concrete answers, I am sorry. In the realm of the paranormal there are rarely concrete answers―just more questions to be asked.

I am hoping that by reading through the history, the experiences and investigations of others, you will be inspired to question more, to not take things at face value, and to make your own visits and investigations to The Blue Ghost Tunnel and other even more engaging haunted locations.

I encourage those who are interested in the Blue Ghost Tunnel to explore it for themselves and share their experiences with others on social media sites, web site forums and blogs. Perhaps the answers will be revealed through your endeavors.

The Blue Ghost Tunnel is a legend. It is a legend of our own creation. One that we developed and constructed. One that we are responsible for molding. How our children and their children will remember it is up to us.