Inside the Haunted Hospital of Murfreesboro

The Haunted Hospital of Murfreesboro

With the old Middle Tennessee Medical Center of Murfreesboro Tennessee now completely destroyed it’s a good time to share about my investigation of a place that I consider one of Murfreesboro’s most haunted. After all they can't sue me for trespassing in a place that isn't there right? At least I hope not.

Originally built in the 1920’s, it saw its share of patients come and go. However, some of these patients, it seems, have never actually left. Several medical professionals who worked at the hospital have witnessed things that can only be described as paranormal. They will share accounts of everything from objects floating across the hallways to ghosts that come to visit dying patients in the cancer ward.


My own experiences with the hospital are also quite eerie. In fact, while in college I used to deliver medicine to the hospital every night around 3 a.m. One night I delivered the wrong diagnostic medicine to a lab on the first floor. When I discovered my mistake, I went back to the lab and found the case containing the medicine had been opened, and the dose was lying on the floor. Nobody was ever working in that lab at 3 in the morning, and I had not even been out of the room for 5 minutes before returning.


During the early phases of demolition, I began to hear rumors that paranormal activity in the facility had increased dramatically. In an off-the-record conversation with a hospital official, I was even told that more than one security firm had been frightened away by all the ghostly events. Did the hospital’s demise aggravate the spirits that remained in the old building?


Recognizing that I had only a short time to investigate before the entire building would be gone forever, I began planning a self-guided tour. After all, two of my daughters were born there, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to sneak into the hospital. I had also done so the night my wife was in labor. The entire hospital was put on lockdown because a man had just shot himself in the head outside the emergency room. One more troubled spirit joined the club of restless souls that evening.

Inside the old MTMC

The night we chose to explore the old building, it was cool but dry and perfect for a creepy foray into the unknown. We entered the hospital through an open ground-floor entrance. The three of us, with our cameras and flashlights, moved about carefully as we walked and listened. Very few places are more scary than an abandoned hospital. Imagine floor after floor of rooms that served as host to the neverending symphony of human experience and emotion ranging from childbirth and joy to lives ending in the throes of agony and depression. I briefly split from the group with these thoughts in my head and rounded the corner of a wide hallway when suddenly the image of a horribly deformed baby crawling toward me in the dark entered my mind so vividly that I almost question whether or not I imagined it at all. It’s my innermost fear. I’ll fight wild animals, bigfoot or angry voodoo zombies but deformed ghost-children are where I draw the line. Finally, I was able to clear my mind and rejoin the others as if nothing had happened. No ghost-baby. No problems. So we finished looking around, and we left as quietly as we came. Unfortunately, our investigation yielded no verifiable evidence of paranormal activity. No EVP, no voices and no visual contact with anything paranormal.


It will be interesting to watch what happens in the future when the site is reopened, hopefully, as a park or green space. Will the spirits continue to roam the place where the hospital once stood? We will see.

Spanish Version

El hospital embrujado de Murfreesboro

Con el viejo Middle Tennessee Medical Center ahora completamente en ruinas es un buen momento para compartir sobre mi investigación de un lugar que considero uno de Murfreesboro más embrujado. Originalmente construido en la década de 1920 vio su cuota de pacientes fluctuar Sin embargo, parece que algunos de estos pacientes realmente nunca han marchado. Varios profesionales médicos que trabajaron en el hospital han sido testigos de cosas que sólo pueden describirse como paranormales. Tienen en común haber visto de todo, desde objetos flotantes a través de los pasillos a fantasmas que vienen a visitar a pacientes moribundos en el pabellón de cáncer.

Mis propias experiencias con el hospital también son bastante inquietantes. De hecho, mientras en el la Universidad yo trabajaba entregando medicamentos al hospital cada noche alrededor de las 3 a.m. Una noche entregó el medicamento equivocado de diagnóstico a un laboratorio en el primer piso.Cuando descubrí mi error volví al laboratorio y encontré que el caso que contiene la medicina había sido abierto y la dosis estaba en el suelo. Nadie trabajaba alguna vez en aquel laboratorio a las 3 de la mañana y yo ni había estado fuera de la habitación 5 minutos antes de regresar.

Durante las primeras fases de demolición empecé a oír los rumores de que actividad paranormal en el establecimiento había aumentado de manera espectacular. En una conversación privada que tuve con un funcionario del hospital el funcionario indicó que dos empresas de seguridad había sido amedrentados por todos los acontecimientos fantasmales.Es posible que la demolición del hospital se agravaba los espíritus que siguieron en el viejo edificio?

Reconociendo que yo sólo tenía un poco de tiempo para investigar antes de que todo el edificio se ha ido para siempre, me empezó a planificar un recorrido autoguiado. Después de todo, dos de mis hijas nacieron allí y no sería la primera vez que tuve que de entrar a escondidas en el hospital. También lo había hecho la noche en que mi esposa estaba de parto. Todo el hospital fue cerrado con llave porque un hombre disparó un tiro en su cabeza fuera de la sala de emergencias. Uno espíritu turbado más se unió al club de almas inquietas esa noche.

La noche que decidimos explorar el viejo edificio hacia frío pero era seco y perfecto para una incursión en lo desconocido. Entramos en el hospital a través de una entrada de planta que estaba abierta. Los tres, con nuestras cámaras y linternas se trasladaron cuidadosamente caminado y escuchado. Muy pocos lugares son más terrorificos que un hospital abandonado.

Imagínese piso tras piso de habitaciones que servían como anfitrión de la interminable sinfonía de la experiencia humana y todas las emociones que van desde el parto y la alegría hasta la agonía de algunos que terminan su vida, la cantidad de angustia y de muerte. Brevemente me separó del grupo con estos pensamientos en mi cabeza y redondear la esquina de un ancho pasillo cuando de repente la imagen de un bebé horriblemente deformado arrastrándose hacia mí en la oscuridad entra en mi mente tan vívidamente que casi pregunto si era mi imaginación o era cierto. Es mi temor más íntimo.

Lucharé con animales salvajes, bigfoot o zombies de vudú pero niños muertos y deformes son donde se encuentra mi límite. Finalmente borre la imagen de mi mente y volvi a los otros como si nada hubiera pasado. No bebé. No hay problemas. Así que terminamos mirando alrededor y dejamos como tranquilamente como llegamos. Lamentablemente, nuestra investigación había arrojado ninguna evidencia verificable de actividad paranormal.

Será interesante ver lo que pasa en el futuro cuando el sitio es reabierto ojalá como un parque o espacio verde. ¿Seguirán los espíritus a ocupar el lugar donde alguna vez estuvo el hospital? Vamos a ver.

Mars Mission: Been there done that?

As featured in the February 2013 Edition of the Murfreesboro Pulse

Mission to Mars: Been there done that?

2013 will be a year in which a handful of bold explorers will launch expeditions to some of the most remote places on our planet. Yet no expedition to the heart of the African Congo or even the Antarctic can compare to what will be required to accomplish what the Mars One Project seeks to achieve by establishing a permanent colony on Mars. The project, started by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp in 2011, intends to take space exploration to the next level by putting the first four colonists on Mars in 2023, sending four additional colonists every 2 years.

I have to confess my envy of those selected for this historical undertaking. But will this project really be man’s first endeavor to colonize Mars? The reason that I ask this seemingly ridiculous question is that there are a number of people who claim to have knowledge of a preexisting colony on the red planet and a secret space program unknown to the public. One such individual is the great-granddaughter of America’s 34^th president, Dwight D. Eisenhower who I interviewed in 2010. Laura Magdalena Eisenhower says that an agent working for a mysterious group called The Aviary pressured her to join a secret survival colony on Mars long before any official Mars projects by NASA or private firms. This secret group even threatened to kidnap her if she didn’t cooperate. Not creepy at all right?

Since my interview with Eisenhower, I’ve investigated information surrounding other claims about the existence of a secret colony on Mars and the reality of a secret space program unknown to the American public. Among those who corroborate her story of a cover-up, which has been labeled “Marsgate”, is Andrew Basiago, an attorney from Washington State who is the president of Project Pegasus and the Mars Anomaly Research Society and others who claim they were teleported to the colony during the 1980’s.

Let’s look at more evidence. In what was deemed by the Bush Administration as the “Biggest military computer hack of all time” Gary McKinnon, a hacker from Great Britain, says that he illegally viewed computer files pertaining to a project called “Solar Warden”. He claims to have viewed documents listing “Non-terrestrial officers” and even some detailing a fleet of 8 cigar–shaped mother ships and 43 scout ships operating under US Naval Network and Space Operations Command. In 2002 McKinnon was indicted on 7 counts of computer related crime, each carrying a 10 year prison sentence. However, efforts to extradite the hacker stalled. Some believe he wasn’t extradited because a trial might lead to subpoenas of Pentagon officials and exposure of classified information.

Now if you think the US government isn’t capable of keeping a project of this magnitude a secret, you are mistaken. The Manhattan Project was responsible for developing the first Atomic bomb during WWII, employed nearly 130,000 people at more than 30 sites and cost the equivalent of 25.8 billion dollars.

As we’ve seen with the Manhattan project, it wouldn’t be the first time massive scientific projects have been hidden from the public. It might also explain what appears to be a lack of progress in our manned space explorations and the reason for the reductions in funding for NASA programs by the current administration. If you are still skeptical, do your own research before dismissing any of this. There are literally hundreds of eye- witness testimonies which have been collected over the years by the Disclosure Project and other private efforts investigating alleged cover-ups and secret technologies. It’s my own belief that someday we’ll find out that our space travel capabilities are a lot more advanced than we are made to believe. Given the wholly uninspiring lack of progress that NASA has delivered over the past decade, I think we would all like to believe the American space program is secretly awesome.

As always, I encourage everyone to do their own research and seek the truth no matter what others tell you. Until next time, keep exploring!

Nazi Explorers of the Amazon

Nazi Explorers of the Amazon in 3-D  is title I would have preferred,  but I wish I could say this were just a pulp adventure story turned B-film. It isn't.

On a tiny island situated on a tributary of the Rio Jari of Northern Brazil stands a nine-foot high wooden cross decorated with a Swastika, the unmistakable symbol of the 3rd Reich. The memorial in the photo above states that Joseph Greiner “died of fever in the service of German Research Work.”  This was three years before WWII officially began in 1939 and over a decade before Nazi’s began making their infamous exodus to South America to escape prosecution for war-crimes.  So what were the Nazi's doing so deep in the Brazilian jungle in 1936?  Well, it just so happens that the Nazi's were up to all kinds of stuff in many parts of the world before they made any military efforts at world domination. In fact the exploratory mission in 1935 by Nazi Germany to the Amazon region of Brazil serves as a testament to just how expansive the Nazi’s imagined the Reich would become.

The expedition was lead by S.S. officer Otto Schulz-Kampfhenkel and his staff which included a significant number of hired locals who participated in the endeavor. Secretly it was known as the Guayana Project and was a highly classified effort by SS intelligence. However, the project which was actually a study on how the 3rd Reich could establish a bridgehead against American influence in the region was conducted under the auspices of collecting samples of the indigenous flora and fauna of the region. Kampfhenkel even produced a film about his adventures called Rätsel der Urwaldhölle, but the secret project was of course not mentioned.

At the conclusion of the study Kampfhenkel submitted a report with details about how the Nazi’s might infiltrate and begin colonizing the country for themselves. He included details on how German soldiers should live and adapt to the environment.  It was suggested that since there was already a significant German population in several South American countries, it was feasible to establish a South American extension of the Third Reich's Empire.

‘The two largest scantly populated, but rich in resources, areas on earth are in Siberia and South America. ‘They alone offer spacious immigration and settlement possibilities for the Nordic peoples… For the more advanced white race it offers outstanding possibilities for exploitation.’ Like a dedicated Nazi who believed in the ideals of racial purity As one might expect from an S.S. man who believed in the ideals of Nazi racial purity, his report said the people who lived there 'cannot be measured in civilized terms as we known them in Germany.'

The mission was overall less successful than it's leader had hoped. Greiner, another S.S. officer died of malaria while on the expedition and after review of Kampfhenkel's report by his superiors, the plans to expand into Brazil were shelved because of bureaucratic obstacles, and a lack of immediate interest. ‘Given time, the plan may be submitted again” wrote Heinrich Himmler in response to Kampfhenkel's report.

Very little physical evidence remains of this ambitious effort to colonize the jungles of Brazil. There are the graves of those who died in pursuit of this goal and some bricks from an old building that bare swastikas. However, the true economic and psychological impact of the Nazi foray into the jungle may be incalculable. According to local accounts it appears as though  the project employed a significant number of slave laborers obtained from local orphanages. Some of these former slaves are still alive and seeking acknowledged of what occurred and even restitution for this sinister legacy left behind by the Nazi cohort.

I  find this story to be highly fascinating and worthy of additional research. Even today we continue to unearth secret Nazi projects from around the world and remnants of their various exploits. It obvious that S.S. Intelligence were even interested in exploring Siberia too judging by the statements in Kampfhenkel's report and it's well known their efforts to colonize Antarctica in the years before WW2. What else were they up to that has not yet been uncovered?


                                                     'The Nazi Graveyard' as it looks today.

Misión a Marte: ¿Hemos ido ya?

English Version coming 2/1/2013   (AS FEATURED IN THE MURFREESBORO PULSE)

2013 será un año en el que un puñado de audaces exploradores lanzarán expediciones a algunos lugares más recónditos de nuestro planeta. Pero ninguna expedición al centro del Congo africano o incluso a la Antártida se puede comparar a lo que será necesario llevar a cabo en el proyecto MarsOne, que busca lograr el establecimiento de una colonia permanente en Marte. El proyecto iniciado por el empresario holandés Bas Lansdorp en 2011 pretende llevar la exploración espacial a un nivel sin precedentes, y poner a los cuatro primeros colonos en Marte en 2023, así como enviar a cuatro colonos adicionales cada 2 años.

Tengo que admitir mi envidia hacía los seleccionados para este hecho histórico. ¿Pero será realmente el primer esfuerzo del hombre para colonizar Marte? La razón por la que hago esta pregunta, aparentemente ridícula, consiste en que hay gente que afirma tener el conocimiento de una colonia preexistente en el planeta rojo y un programa espacial secreto y aún desconocido al público. La bisnieta del trigésimo cuarto presidente de América, Dwight D. Eisenhower, a la que entrevisté en 2010. Laura Magdalena Eisenhower dice que un agente que trabaja para un grupo misterioso llamado“la pajarera” la presionó para afiliarse a una colonia de supervivencia secreta en Marte, mucho antes de cualquier oficial por la NASA u otras firmas privadas. Este grupo secreto incluso la amenazó con secuestrarla si no cooperara.

Desde mi entrevista con Eisenhower he investigado la información que rodea a otras reclamaciones acerca de la existencia de una colonia secreta en Marte y de un programa espacial secreto desconocido para el público estadounidense. Entre aquellos que corroboran la existencia, según su relato, de una operación encubierta que se ha denominado "Marsgate", está Andrew Basiago, un abogado del Estado de Washington, que es el presidente de Proyecto Pegasus y del Marte Anomalía Sociedad de Investigación, y otros que dicen que fueron teletransportados a la colonia durante la década de 1980.

Echemos un vistazo a más pruebas. El que fue considerado por la administración Bush como el "hack del equipo militar más grande de todos los tiempos" Gary McKinnon, un hacker de Gran Bretaña, dice que consiguió ilegalmente archivos informáticos relativos a un proyecto llamado "Guardián Solar". Afirma haber visto documentos listado "oficiales no-terrestres" e incluso algunos detalles de una flota de 8 buques de madre y 43 buques pequeños. En 2002, McKinnon fue acusado de siete delitos, cada uno causa de una pena de prisión de 10 años. Sin embargo, los esfuerzos para extraditar el hacker no dieron fruto. Algunos creen que no fue extraditado porque un juicio en su contra podría conducir a citaciones de los funcionarios del Pentágono y a la exposición de información secreta y clasificada.

Si usted piensa que el Gobierno de Estados Unidos no es capaz de mantener en secreto un proyecto de esta magnitud, se equivoca. El proyecto Manhattan fue responsable de desarrollar la primera bomba atómica durante la segunda guerra y casi 130.000 personas en más de 30 sitios y costó el equivalente a 25,8 billones de dólares.

Como hemos visto con el proyecto de Manhattan, no sería la primera vez que los proyectos científicos masivos se han escondido del público. También podría explicar lo que parece ser una carencia del progreso en nuestra exploración del espacio tripulada y la razón de las reducciones de la financiación para programas NASA de la administración actual. Si todavía es escéptico, haga su propia investigación antes de rechazar cualquier hipótesis. Hay, literalmente, cientos de testimonios que han sido coleccionados durante años por el Disclosure Project y por otros grupos privados en la investigación de presuntos encubrimientos y tecnologías secretas. Yo creo que un día averiguaremos que nuestras capacidades de navegación espacial avanzan mucho más de lo que nos quieren hacer creer. Considerando la falta de progreso que la NASA ha experimentado durante la década pasada, creo que nos gustaría a todos creer que el programa espacial americano es fenomenal pero en secreto.

Como siempre, animo a cada uno a hacer su propia investigación y buscar la verdad sin hacer caso a lo que los otros le dicen. ¡Hasta la próxima vez, siga explorando!