Strange, bad shadows wander in some places of our world, they include such phenomena of mysticism, where understanding of what is happening lies beyond the boundaries of human logic.
There are many mysteries in places that defy attempts to explain them, where it seems that the very water and soil exude an evil fate that permeates space.
Scary and damned places, like a magnet, they attract death and misfortune, pouring down the accumulated on anyone who comes here.
And if there really are anomalous zones filled with satanic energy to the brim, then one of these places is the green foothills of the northern mountains of the American state of Georgia.
Now I invite you to look at a place that has long been associated with strange phenomena and mysterious ghostly creatures. This is a real anomalous zone, bearing the ominous seal of a large number of unexplained deaths and unsolved murders.
Georgia Cursed Lake
Lying in the northern part of the US state of Georgia, Lake Sidney Lanier sprawled like a master among the northern foothills of the region. With a depth of 75 meters and an area of 150 km2, this body of water is commonly referred to simply as Lake Lanier.
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In fact, the lake is Georgia's largest artificial pool. A huge reservoir with a chain of islands that were originally large hills, even before the formation of the lake.
The huge reservoir of water can be traced back to 1948, when the US government acquired 100 acres of land from farmer Henry Stadburn (Shadburn), with the aim of developing a project to provide the city of Atlanta with hydropower, water supply and flood control.
In 1950, the US Army Corps of Engineers came to these places by erecting dams on the river running through the area. The large-scale project was completed in 1956, starting the process of flooding the foothills, shaping the future reservoir and laying the anomalous zone with a bad reputation.
From the very beginning, the creation of Lake Lanier was fraught with problems and difficulties. Funding for the project faced numerous obstacles that hindered the success of the venture. However, to the surprise of many, the terraforming of the site was actually completed on schedule.
There was a lot of controversy here: the corps of engineers, the government, the governments of the states of Florida, Georgia and Alabama all made claims about water flow and consumption. How should water be used, who should be given priority to water supply, hydropower and even recreation. There was even controversy over whose name the lake should be named, until finally they settled on the name of the poet Sidney Lanier.
Picturesque places of the anomalous zone.
Then there was a rather hasty and destructive nature of the creation of the lake. The US government began a frantic run, buying up land from private companies, farmers, and everyone who lived in the area, which inevitably was flooded with water. It was required to hastily resettle people from here, including those who did not want to leave their homes.
Within 5 years, about 50,000 acres of farmland and wildlife were purchased. More than 250 families, 15 enterprises got into the sales zone, and among them, burials from 20 cemeteries were relocated. Moreover, as the national memory remembers, they did not stand on ceremony with the deceased.
In the secluded corners of nature and the cracks of the mountain foothills, water came by an inexorable force. The growing lake devoured entire cities, along with houses and buildings. Historical monuments and places of worship of ancestors went under the water, even a river ferry, and he lay a lifeless skeleton at the bottom.
Here, surrounded by silent fish and the dark silence of the past, many structures lurked, forming underwater cities complete with roads and walls of abandoned houses. They say that here divers still encounter anomalous laws of nature.
Dark ghosts of the past
This is a rather creepy story of a place, gathering underwater ghost towns, abandoned houses and desecrated cemeteries. A lot of strange things have accumulated in Lake Lanier, where images of death and suffering live and roam, signing an ominous reputation as a place during the development of the territory. It seems that there really was a crack in the texture of the space itself.
Over the years of Lake Lanier's existence, there have been a large number of lake-related deaths, ranging from drowning accidents to drivers who lost control of their cars. Boats sailing along the water surface suddenly bumped into something and sank, jet skis overturned for no apparent reason.
Some demonic force unexpectedly raised a wave and carried people away to the underwater kingdom. It seemed to many then that the evil demons of the underworld lived here and were killing people.
Many of the drowning cases were really bizarre, as they happened very close to the shore, with excellent swimmers and in calm conditions. There were no weather anomalies at this time. Something incredible pursued people who came here on vacation.
Considering the history of the place and rumors, Lake Lanier appears to be the cursed place of the planet. Those who nearly drowned and miraculously survived tell how an unknown force suddenly grabbed them to drag them under the water. These were very scary minutes, to feel how invisible hands grabbed you, the air ends in your lungs.
Such stories mixed with eerie rumors about corpses, supposedly former residents of cemeteries, now inhabiting underwater ghost cities.
Danger, deadly anomaly
In 2011, the reservoir's reputation and the huge number of fatalities began to receive more public attention. Especially when a total of 17 strange accidents on the lake fell victim to the anomalous zone.
In 2012, the reservoir's anomalous reputation was confirmed by further deaths, which became the subject of discussion in national news. On June 18, 9-year-old Jake and his 13-year-old brother, Griffin, were on the pontoon when they were killed by the high speed boat of Paul J. Bennett, 44. What happened is incomprehensible, but apparently the man noticed the pontoon late and lost control, - this is how the accident will be explained later.
A few weeks after the tragic accident, on July 9, 11-year-old Kyle Glover capsized on a jet ski. Although doctors fought to save his life, he died two weeks later, on July 21, after being removed from life support. The boy's 15-year-old friend was also badly injured in the same incident, but he eventually recovered.
All these tragic accidents were discussed in the news media under a grim note, and soon, Lake Lanier was referred to as nothing less than "damned" and "deadly trap." On social media sites like Twitter, many people insisted that this is an extremely evil and dastardly place to avoid.
While the treacherous location holds the bar for accidents high, where fatal accidents occur with alarming frequency, the lake has been open to the public. Despite its reputation as an anomalous place, assurances of a "death trap", and generally uncertainty about the likely causes of these incidents, the area remains a popular holiday destination.
In addition, being a source of water for Atlanta and surrounding areas, since about 1962, Lake Lanier as a popular recreation area is overgrown with hotels, restaurants, beaches with water parks, golf courses, and of course yachts and many boats. People of all ages come here to relax and have a wonderful time.
Accidents on the lake are explained by non-observance of the rules of behavior on the water, neglect in the management of boats, and of course the excessive use of alcohol, which is so eager for those who come here. Say, where crowds of vacationers do not follow these not tricky rules, there will certainly be quite a lot of accidents.
However, there are those who argue that even with these circumstances, the number of deaths and strange accidents at Lake Lanier is unusually high. In their opinion, the lake is really cursed, and an evil spirit is pursuing the people who are having fun here.
Mystical disappearances in a cursed place
Added to the anomalous reputation of the reservoir are the mysterious disappearances of people that still remain a mystery. A similar incident occurred with Kelly Nash, who went missing from his home in Buford on January 5, 2015.
At about 4 am, Nash woke up with flu-like symptoms such as coughing and sneezing. He then told his girlfriend Jessica Sexton that he was feeling terrible, thinking that he should see a doctor before returning to bed. Sexton woke up at 7:30 in the morning and realized that Nash had left the house without taking his wallet, leaving the car keys and documents.
When Nash did not return that evening, Jess contacted the police and it was discovered that the 9mm pistol was missing from the house, although no other item was taken by the 25-year-old man. Of course, a large-scale search for the missing person was organized.
Relatives and friends, as well as specially trained dogs, were looking for the mysteriously missing man. They even announced a $ 50,000 reward for any information about his whereabouts, but no trace of the person was ever found.
The corpse of the poor fellow, touched by decay, was discovered by a fisherman on February 8 in Lake Lanier in pajamas and a dark shirt, in which he was on the day of disappearance. Although the body did not have any serious injuries, it was determined that the death came from a bullet wound to the head.
So it remained a mystery why the man left the house in sleeping clothes, why he came to the lake shore, and what pushed him to commit suicide. Maybe it was a dishonest game of some mystical forces? Although it is argued that the curse of the lake has nothing to do with this case.
However, three years earlier, a similar incident had already occurred here.
A young girl, a 16-year-old student at Gainesville School, Hannah Trulava, disappeared from an apartment in a house near Lake Lanier, where she lived with her mother on the morning of August 24, 2012. The next day, Hannah's body was found in a wooded area by a lake by a local.
As it turned out, even during her lifetime, the young girl received several blows, although not fatal, at the same time, the version of drowning was ruled out. However, the actual cause of death remains unknown.
The strange thing led to a “combing” of all Hannah's tweets made on Twitter shortly before her death. Allegedly in one of them, the girl expressed general dissatisfaction with her life in a residential complex, and some kind of fear of the unknown, saying that: "Right now I'm so scared."
Hannah's father later claimed that his daughter did not leave any mention of upset or anything similar related to manic persecution or resentment towards life. The police were never able to find information from the tweets that could reveal the secret of what happened. Polls and conversations with neighbors did not produce meaningful results; Hannah's death remained a mystery.
One of the most famous deaths associated with Lake Lanier is also a source of ghostly secrets. In April 1958, a young woman who worked at the Riverside Military Academy, Delia Parker Young, and her friend Susie Roberts, in a 1954 Ford car owned by Susie, drove over the damn lake bridge at night. They never returned from this trip.
Subsequent investigation into their disappearance revealed that they had visited a gas station. The only key left on the spot spoke of a car leaving the bridge, jumping off the highway and apparently falling into a lake. Most likely, it was assumed that the car lost control and flew into the lake, but the car and the girls were not found.
Divers who were invited to help find the car were also unable to find anything due to poor visibility in the muddy water, and a pile of cut tree trunks, of which there were a great many at the bottom of the lake. 18 months after the accident, a man fishing here discovered a terrible find when a decomposed corpse emerged from the depths.
It was a strange corpse, which at that time could not be identified, but he did not have two fingers on his left foot, as well as both hands. Ultimately, unable to identify the victim, the body was buried in an unmarked grave in the Alta Vista cemetery. Although it was assumed that it was Delia Young, since the body was found outside the car. The body of Susie Roberts, like the car, was not found despite repeated searches.
For decades, the mystery of the accident remained closed until November 1990, when workers began to expand the Lanier Bridge. Construction crews dredged and found a rusted 1954 Ford wreck containing eaten away human remains.
The car got stuck in tree trunks, mud and other debris. The body disintegrated to such an extent that there was no way or way to identify the victim. However, the recovered items, including a wallet, rings and a watch, helped the police establish that it was Susie Roberts. In light of this discovery, it was concluded that Delia Parker Young was found first, so the tombstone was changed and Susie Roberts was buried next to her.
Interestingly, while the deaths of Delia Parker Young and Susie Roberts are generally an old and forgotten affair, it has given rise to one of the most enduring and terrifying legends in the state.
Ghost of the Lake Lady
As the chilling legend states, the ghostly image of a young woman, dressed in a blue dress and without both arms, can often be seen wandering over the Lanier Bridge at night. All the locals know that this is the ghost of Delhi Yang, because that is how she was dressed on the night of her death, and her body was found without arms.
According to those who claim to have seen the ghost that has since become known as the Lady of the Lake, Delia's restless spirit seems to be walking around in search of missing hands!
Stories of mysterious forces pulling people under water or flipping boats like the Lady of the Lake are not the only cases of disturbing paranormal events at Lake Lanier.
From here come mysterious messages about a mysterious raft, with a lantern on a pole, and a certain dark figure who controls a waterfowl. According to eyewitnesses, people worthy of trust, the raft appears out of nowhere, and disappears there. The frightening phenomenon was personally observed by two fishermen, with their own eyes they saw a ghostly raft in the cold autumn at about one in the morning.
In a kind of lethargy, the fishermen looked at the figure on the raft floating out of nowhere, until the rafter shouted something at them. Then he jumped into the icy water, clearly intending to swim towards the fishermen. This alarmed the men, who weren't really scared, but simply decided not to tempt fate. Deciding that the swimmer might harm them, they hastily set sail. It was at this moment that the lantern on the raft suddenly went out sharply.
When the fishermen shone their lantern on the water, they could not find any sign of a raft or a mysterious raft raft that jumped into the water with a cry. The dark surface of the lake remained serenely calm, as if there was no one else.
Ghosts, a series of strange accidents, mysterious deaths of people, these are not all the anomalous incidents that apparently occur on Lake Lanier, inexhaustible for paranormal inventions.
Local fishermen have long been convinced that a giant catfish lives in the waters here. The 5-meter monster reportedly swallows dogs that come too close to the water. It even attacks divers and vacationers, dragging them to a depth to devour in a secluded place.
One of the popular local fairy tales, which tells the legend of the monstrous fish of Lake Lanier, concerns a truck transporting live chickens. Presumably, the truck jumped off the bridge in the 1980s, sinking to the bottom along with the cargo. The divers who went to the bottom, to their horror, stumbled upon a flock of giant catfish, which surrounded the sunken truck and devoured the prey. They did not get the car, because there were no more daredevils to provide dinner to the hungry monsters.
Urban legends, or …
I do not know if this evidence of the giant inhabitant of Lake Lanier is true, or an exaggeration of tales around the fire, but I think this is enough to wonder whether it is worth swimming in these seemingly calm waters.
Now, knowing the history of the lake as a cursed place, with an abundance of accidents and drowned people, a bunch of mysterious deaths and ghostly phenomena, paranormal mysteries and other things, what do you think is happening here?
What if the misfortunes surrounding the area are the result of inheriting and mastering a dangerous place where disgruntled spirits of disturbed cemeteries rage? Could the lake really be cursed by the dead? Are deaths an accident, or is there more to it? Are ghosts and giant catfish stories and superstition, or is there a terrible mystery underneath?
I think, regardless of our answers, the world is full of secrets and hidden mysteries.