Eerie Encounters : Tales of the Stardust Ranch

 After moving furniture and unpacking boxes until early evening, John Edmonds had finally decided to call it a day. He made his way out to the front porch, grabbed himself a beer and sat quietly surveying his new home. In addition to the five-bedroomed building with a pool, the ranch that he and his wife, Joyce, had just purchased, covered ten acres of land, a guesthouse and two horse corrals.

(Source: Realtor)

 Sipping his beer, John noticed a movement in the undergrowth that lined the property’s premises. A few moments later, a singular figure emerged from the treeline, walking with purpose across the open fields towards the house. John had not been expecting anyone and when he noticed something long and metallic in the approaching figure’s hand, he immediately retracted to grab his revolver. Re-emerging from the farmhouse, he began to walk towards the intruder, openly showcasing his weapon as a sign of warning. However, as he got closer, he found himself thinking that this must be something to do with the belongings of the previous owners, which had been left on the property.

 When John and Joyce arrived at their newly purchased property a few days prior, they found that the premises were still filled with possessions left behind by the previous residents. When enquired, the agents profusely apologized and promised to speak to the previous tenants. When John returned the next morning, he found the house empty, but every fixture and fitting had been broken and deposited outside the empty swimming pool. The agents were called once again, but they denied any knowledge of this, claiming that they had still not heard back from the previous owners. After another day of waiting, John arranged to have the unwanted objects disposed of.

 As John pulled up a few feet short of the striding man, an uneasy silence hung in the air. The stranger was dressed like an army veteran, had unkempt hair and bore a distinctly frightening expression. The rusted manchette in his hand, held John’s attention, causing him to keep his hand firmly on his gun. The man claimed to have worked for the previous owners and John explained that the property had not changed hands. When John asked the man why he was carrying the rusted blade, he replied that it was for hunting monsters, a service which he had been paid to do.

 Throwing out a mocking burst of laughter, John told the man his help was no longer needed, as he had not seen any monsters around. The man threw his weapon to the ground and began to walk away, shouting that John would repent for his behaviour, before fading back into the trees. Unbeknownst to John, the Stardust Ranch’s new owner, the strange man was not lying.

(Source: Global News)

Inexplicable Vandalism

 The initial days at the rural property went as planned for the couple. They started receiving a steady supply of sick and neglected horses and they had everything they needed in reach, as Phoenix was only an hour and a half’s drive away.

 The first sign that indicated that the agents have not been transparent about the history of the property came when John tried to get its faulty telephone line repaired. Despite booking three different appointments, employees of the phone company failed to turn up at the property. After a formal complaint was eventually registered, an engineer reluctantly made a short appearance, hastily repairing the problematic line. When John demanded to know the reason behind the rush, the worker hurriedly explained that the ranch was cursed, causing the people of the local community to avoid it at any cost.

 Serval days after this eerie conversation, however, John understood that not everybody was choosing to avoid his property. On his morning rounds, he noticed that somebody had been tampering with fencing around the horse corrals. The metal posts had been pulled out of the ground at several points, and they had been bent and twisted in some cases. The incidents continued and the damage only got progressively worse.

 John started hearing strange humming sound at night, whose source he could never find. One day, he found one of the horses dead, choked to death by a heavy iron post, which had somehow been twisted and wrapped around its neck. As John wondered what could have bent the thick metal bar, Joyce broke down and told him that she constantly felt the presence of “people” in the farmhouse. She claimed to have caught sight of a shadowy figure, which had followed her from room to room.

 The figure had appeared in Joyce’s periphery and it seemingly disappeared when she tried to focus on it. While John consoled her citing the vandalism in the property, he was deeply concerned by the strange death of the horse, causing him to place weapons at strategic points around the house, apparently offering him easy reach. A period of calm followed before the circumstances took a terrifying twist.

Shadowy Figures

 John was awake in bed one night, unable to settle due to Joyce’s disturbing snores. While he lay staring at the wall in front of him, the shadows on it suddenly seemed to swell and contort, materializing a dark figure. The frozen, helpless man watched as the silhouettes slowly made their way over to his wife’s side of the bed.

 As the leading figure reached out towards Joyce, John suddenly felt his fear turn into rage, reaching down for the aluminium baseball bat besides his bed after letting out a roar of anger. He moved across the room in seconds, lashing out at the dark shapes that were now leaning over his sleeping wife. He let out a wild swing, hitting the nearest one with the metal bat before a high-pitched shriek emanated out of nowhere, causing the figures to disappear. The police were immediately called but they found no evidence to ascertain John’s claims. From this point onwards, hostile interactions with the shadowy figures started occurring on a weekly basis.

 While he struggled to watch over his wife by staying awake during the evenings, John began hearing deep humming sounds off in the distance. When he looked out of his window, he would often observe what appeared to be bright portals appearing in the middle of the night sky, illuminating the darkness. He further witnessed mysterious objects disappearing into the portals, which would then close behind them without leaving behind any traces.

(Source: John Edmonds)

 The nighttime intrusions of the shadowy figures continued. They often moved around in groups of three and they had the ability to pass through walls and locked doors. John described them as being four feet tall and they were deathly cold to touch.

 One evening, John saw the family's Rottweiler pursue a group of these creatures across the ground outside the house. It was able to attack one of them which immediately disappeared into thin air before the poor animal choked to death. John would go on to lose two more dogs under similar circumstances, but these were not the only animals to suffer as some of the horses would also be found mutilated.

Final Days at the Property

 Despite his best efforts, John couldn’t stay awake all the time and often collapsed due to exhaustion. One evening, he had accidentally dosed off before he suddenly jolted awake again with a feeling of pure dread. Joyce, who was fast asleep in front of him, was being lifted by a thin beam of bright light which was being projected from the outside. Realizing that his wife was floating towards the open window, he immediately got hold of his rifle before firing continuous shots at the apparent source of light until it disappeared.

 After this incident, John started handcuffing Joyce to the bed but despite his best attempts, both he and his wife began experiencing periods of memory lapses. When they awoke, they would find inexplicable injuries on their bodies, resembling deep cuts which had healed over a lengthy period.

(Source: John Edmonds)

 Eventually, John contacted the local media, hoping that someone could help him get rid of his shadowy attackers. He participated in radio and television interviews and allowed research groups to visit the property, but the problems caused by the shadowy intruders persisted. Finally, after twenty years of desperately fighting back, John was forced to give in. He and his wife sold the Stardust Ranch in 2016 and moved away.

Other Witnesses

 John and Joyce are not the only people to have experienced strange happenings on the property. During the 1970s, the ranch played home to Gina Irons and her family. When John went public, she came forward to speak to the media about her past experiences. She described encountering ghostly figures which invaded their home, with her and her younger brother feeling temperatures instantaneously drop whenever the figures passed across.

 A research team reported encountering a thin humanoid figure, that allegedly darted past them and disappeared into the undergrowth. When investigators searched the area, they discovered a stone with a mysterious star-shaped carving on it.

 In 2013, John was put in contact with William, a biologist, by a mutual friend. After an initial conversation, John was able to send him the samples of tissues and fluids that had been left behind by his intruders. A few days later, William contacted him before informing him that the DNA found in the tissue was unearthly. Furthermore, the biologist had allegedly claimed that the fluid given by John had a high concentration of a substance resembling chlorophyll and it was similar to the samples collected at the scene of cattle mutilations. He showcased his intentions of disclosing the findings to the public before hanging the call.

 When John tried to regain contact with William several weeks later, he was informed that the biologist had died. His laboratory had mysteriously caught fire and his wife had also died a few days later. Thus, the only samples John had in his possession had disappeared.

 The most intriguing and well-publicised evidence to come out of Stardust Ranch surfaced during a live web chat between John and Kerry Cassidy in 2016. When Cassidy was reviewing the footage of the interview, she noticed what appeared to be a short grey shadowy figure, peeking out from behind a wall. John, who had been sitting with his back towards the wall, had not noticed it.

Conclusion

 At first glance, John’s wonderous claims seem to be made up. A scenario where supposed otherworldly life has decided to torment an ordinary couple for two decades seems to be a far stretch. The inability to capture their intruders on film during their stay at the property further questions the credibility of the story. John claimed to kill at least eighteen of these creatures but never presented any of their remains. He explained that they disappeared immediately after their death, making the sceptic in oneself scream hoax.

 The corroborating outside witnesses, however, add weightage to John’s claims. Moreover, there seems to be a level of honesty in his retelling of the account. While he has been constantly charged with exaggeration, he had stood firm on his stand. People who have interviewed him state that he is a sober and convincing man who told his stories in a grounded and logical manner.

 Keeping that in mind, it is hard to not consider the fact that John wished to sell the property for 1 million dollars. However, after the media frenzy, the property was sold for more than five times its price. So, was the entire tale a perfectly-constructed ploy to inflate the resale value of his property or, were the inexplicable activities so pronounced in the property that it made its new owner pay the hefty sum for its supernatural nature? I leave the answer to your judgement.