Jun 20 2009
Ghost Adventures Visit La Purisima Mission in Lompoc, CA
Zak Bagans and the GA Crew investigated an old Spanish mission, La Purisima, where the Spanish took over the lands once inhabited by the peaceful Chumash Native American tribe. The grounds are said to be haunted by a plethora of spirits from Spanish soldiers and priests to Chumash Indians and even a greyhound dog.
As the guys took their tour of the premises, they were hosted by employees of the site with each their own story of a haunting experience. One that sticks out to me is that of Arthur Carlos, who had an experience with the ghost of a menacing Spanish soldier who tried to choke Carlos as he lay still on a cot. His description of the event reminded me of an episode of sleep paralysis .
I’m not going to give a play-by-play of the night, since it was largely uneventful. There were a few things worth mentioning however.
As the GA Crew go outside to follow what they thought was the sound of a distant battlecry, they inadvertently pick up a thermal image of a figure standing in the field. It was pitch black outside and there’s no way that their naked eyes would have seen a person standing that far off in the field. So what is my point? That it is entirely possible that the figure on the thermal camera was a person…a living person, interfering with the investigation. It’s a big place with lots of employees that may have access to the grounds after hours. I’m just sayin.
They caught lots of EVPs, but only two of them I thought were significant.
- Nick Groff is alone in the bed of Father Pyeras, whose bedding was mysteriously messed up. On Nick’s digital audio recorder, you can hear a voice saying “lay down.”
- Sounds of flutes (common Chumash music) being played in the weaving room, where the crew had been earlier playing music to attract Chumach spirits. This is also where they felt extreme temperature fluctuations.
One thing we didn’t get much of was Zak’s dramatic presence. He was pretty low-key. All in all, this episode was probably more of a typical paranormal investigation. A lot of the EVPs could probably be debunked, but a few were interesting and maybe even paranormal. I just don’t fully trust the larger tourist facilities because the environment is too hard to control.
I hate to tell you, but this whole episode is hogwash.
I’m a local - that mission they visited isn’t even the original mission. Originally, the whole mission was located on a completely different site. It was relocated to preserve a landmark.
Alot of the historical information was also wrong. There were no major bloodbaths at the mission, there was a few uprisings, but nothing on the scale they tried to make it out to be.
And yes, you are right; there are people there at all hours of the night. It was very easily a worker cleaning up from the other tourists that visit there every single day. The only thing you have to fear are the creepy guys that come up from LA to fornicate with the farm animals while dipped in oats and honey O_o.
@californium…thank you for the historical info. I am always suspicious when these ghost hunters visit any commercial location simply because they really cannot control the place…not to mention most of these places have a financial interest in it being declared haunted. But the believers will believe regardless. You pretty much have to slap them in the face with a cold rag of fraud (get caught in the act) before they would question their TV superheroes…
so amen to that first response…i also am a local and have heard much of the haunting at the mission…i am pretty sure it has all been imagined. if they wanted to do a legitimate investigation they should go to the original mission which was destroyed in an earthquake.