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Shadowy figures deep in a WV coal mine

By Staff | Apr 25, 2018

‘I hope when I’m dead and the ages shall roll

That my body will blacken and turn into coal

I will look from the door of my heavenly home

And pity the miner a’ diggin’ my bones’

He told me about his experiences deep in the mine while we chatted late one night over the phone. As he spoke, goosebumps formed on both of my arms and on the back of my neck. He had started our phone call with the words, “I am a God fearin’ man.” He then began to relate to me some of the unusual happenings that had been occurring deep in the mine he worked in southern West Virginia. Odd experiences and un-explainable visual apparitions were beginning to take a toll on many of the workers. (Especially on the God fearing man who was strong enough to call a complete stranger for help.) I sat intently as he spoke about his many years of working this particular deep mine.

“Some of the guys are seeing it,” he told me. “It’s not just me. This thing, this weird thing is big. It almost looks like a large black trash bag over a big man. It streaks across the side of the mine and just out of your vision a little bit and then it disappears, poof! This thing moves fast-real fast. It startles a man, ya know?” I assured him that I knew all too well about shadow people. I was pretty sure this was the phenomena he and other miners were experiencing. Shadow People or Shadow Men are a type of paranormal phenomena that evades explanation. Many researchers believe it to be a type of paranormal energy or a dark energy and others believe it to be the Djinn, which is pronounced as ‘gin’. Djinn are believed to exist in a parallel dimension in the physical world. They are “here” but in a place that we typically cannot see or experience. Some would call them Shape Shifters. These shadowy forms can be male, female and of any size. They can also be in the shape of an animal. My first impression was that this is the type of entity being seen at this particular mine.

My caller went on to explain that various coal mining equipment would turn itself on and off. He explained that some of the equipment had several steps that needed to be done before it could be turned on – that it was not a simple switch that was turned to start. He also told me that often he would see this shadowy thing right before equipment would turn on. I can only imagine how frightening this would be. My caller also told me he had heard his name whispered right next to his ear…when no one else was around him. Often he would find himself in an older part of the mine removing something off an old piece of equipment that was not working anymore to place on other equipment somewhere else in the mine. It was at these times when “things” would happen to him. Others experienced the same thing as well but many men were reluctant to speak of them. Many were surprised when they finally confided in each other as the same experiences were happening to many of the miners.

As our call started to wrap up, I asked if it was possible for me to visit the mine. I wanted to go down to where it all was happening and investigate it for myself. Maybe I could help get the spirits to rest easier. I could at least try, right? My caller told me that it would be almost impossible for me to do that. Lots of rules and regulations and, of course, if we were caught, he could lose his job. And didn’t I know about the old miners’ superstition? To have a woman’s shadow cast over the entrance to a mine was bad luck, he told me. Some of the older workers may get upset if they knew I was there.

I often think of that miner and wonder if the spirits have settled down deep in that mountain mine. Maybe they found peace at last…

Sherri Brake is a paranormal researcher, author and Haunted Heartland Tour owner. You may email her at SherriBrake@gmail.com or visit her website at www.HauntedHistory.net