There are many things in life that cannot be explained. Perhaps the most rational explanation for ghostly sightings and paranormal activity concerns the collision of different planes of existence. But then again, perhaps they don’t. The ethereal, intangible and mysterious elements of ghost stories and other unexplainable phenomena elevate them to a level of enduring inquiry.
The Bachelor Grove graveyard is located on the edge of a forest
It is said that many diverse apparitions haunt the Bachelor Grove cemetery at the edge of the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve in southwestern Chicago. This area is a lush enclave of trees situated in the middle of Chicago’s bustling metropolis. The location of the cemetery is a bit contradictory, as it is remote in its own way and yet, simultaneously, its borders infringe on the city’s limits. This small seemingly innocuous cemetery is the most haunted in all of the United States.
Supernatural sightings and paranormal episodes began in the 1950s
All appeared to be quiet in this cemetery until the 1950s when a series of break-ins and acts of vandalism occurred. After that, Supernatural things began happening. The first reported sighting was oddly that of a phantom farmhouse that hung suspended above the graves and vanished as it was approached. Another vision also concerned the farmhouse, but specifically the occupant who once lived there. A farmer and his plow horse suddenly appear, both of whom died in a drowning incident that occurred on the property.
Other ghostly phenomena have also been recorded
Several phantom 1940s-style gangster cars have also been seen traveling late at night near the cemetery.
Some motorists have claimed that the car appears suddenly in front of them on the curvy road and then disappears just as abruptly afterwards. There have also been some reports of vehicles crashing into the apparition at one turn in the road, only to find themselves and their cars completely unharmed afterwards.
Perhaps the creepiest apparition is one that was photographed in 1991. It was published by the Chicago Sun-Times and was taken by an unsuspecting visitor to the tiny cemetery. The photographer claimed that the female ghost seated on the gravestone was not there at the time the picture was taken.
She received the moniker: The Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove and it is believed that there may be a connection to her and the legendary phantom known as The White Lady.
This urban legend (if that’s what it really is) concerns a woman who is buried in the graveyard with her child and allegedly has been seen walking by the light of the full moon across the cemetery holding the infant in her dead arms.
Who knows and who can say?
Perhaps the Shadow who knows all, but he isn’t talking.