San Pedro Poltergeist

In one of the most well documented and unsettling cases in the history of paranormal investigation, a young mother became the victim of a predatory spirit while trying to start her new life in San Pedro neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

Jackie Hernandez was a single mother who recently left her husband to begin again in San Pedro, California. Jackie was already under severe emotional distress as she struggled with multiple jobs to feed her two young children and often left them in the care of her neighbour Susan Castenada.

One night, when Jackie went to check on her children, she was completed unprepared for the sight that greeted her. Upon entering the room she saw with horror a corpse like haggard, old man sitting in the corner of the room staring back at her. Jackie later said "His eyes were glowing and emotionless" In a state of panic, she ran to her neighbour’s house.

Susan recalls Jackie was in a state of panic and disarray. After calming down, Jackie told Susan everything about the ghoulish figure in her boys’ bedroom and over the past few days the strange knocking sounds that came from her attic. Susan knew Jackie and her children needed specialist help and knew exactly who to call.

Respected Parapsychologist Dr. Barry Taff received the telephone call from Susan in which she explained to him the urgency of this matter. She told him that her neighbour was afraid of going back to her own house. She told him that two small children were also involved. Dr. Taff showed up to the residence as soon as he could to investigate. He brought with him his friend and accomplished cameraman, Barry Conrad, Jeff Wheatcraft and Larry Brooks.

According to Dr. Taff, Jackie fit the bill of a quintessential poltergeist victim. Jackie came from a very volatile background similar to Doris Bither’s background. Abused by men, violent lifestyle, mental anguish and depression. Like most poltergeist victims, Jackie lived in an unhealthy environment in which one can argue was conducive to manifesting extreme acts of psychokinetic violence.

The Investigation Begins

As Dr. Taff began his preliminary round of questions with Jackie, a loud crash came from the attic. Everyone froze.

More loud noises and scuffling echoed from the attic. In what Dr. Taff recalled sounded like "a 200 pound rat running around the attic". Jackie made her way to the kitchen and pointed towards the ceiling. She told the investigators that it was coming from up in the attic and that she had seen a disembodied head come towards her last time she looked into the attic.

It was also during this initial investigation that Jackie spoke of being the target of objects thrown at her from an unseen force and of a strange liquid that oozed from the walls. They took samples of the liquid and sent it for analysis at a local lab. The results that came back weeks later were surprising. The liquid oozing from the walls was confirmed to be human blood plasma containing heavy traces of copper and iodine.

It was during this photo session that Jeff Wheatcraft and Barry Conrad went up to the attic to document the area. Wheatcraft was reportedly attacked by an unseen force that threw his camera from his hands and violently pushed him. It was noted that high concentrations of iodine smell could be detected around the home during intense paranormal activity. Batteries mysteriously drained whilst in the attic only to come back to life later.

The investigation continued. Focusing on the Attic space on September 4th, Wheatcraft was the victim of an attempted strangulation when a cord mysteriously wrapped itself around his neck. Photographer Larry Brooks also in the attic at the time, snapped a photo and rushed over to help to bring him back downstairs. After explaining what happened, Jeff left the house, never to set foot inside it again.

Eventually, Jackie moved out of the house to return to a trailer park with her estranged husband, 300 miles north of San Pedro. Everything seemed to return to normal; while the case was not closed, at least it was behind her.

However, one night when Jackie was helping a neighbour store a TV in their shed, she saw the screen flicker on. She claimed the image of the old man from the San Pedro house stared back at her once more. Then, loud bangs began to come from inside the shed, just as they had with the attic.

Taff, Wheatcraft, and Conrad travelled north to continue their investigation. They held a séance with Jackie to speak to her ghostly follower. The group claims to have made contact with the apparition; it identified itself as the ghost of a man murdered in the San Pedro Harbour. It also informed them that several other spirits were haunting the area and Jeff had been targeted in an attack because he looked like the spirit’s murderer.

The ghost revealed it had been using Jackie for her energy. Once again, Jeff was seemingly attacked again by an unseen force, leaving him physically fine but with lasting paranoia. With no closure on the incident, Jackie decided to move again. She moved multiple times over the the next several years and the paranormal activity seemed to lessen each time. She finally settled back in Los Angeles, and a good distance away from her former home.