Shadows in the Dark

anecdote shared by Rocky almore and other former border patrol staff have shed light on the growing number of Haunting incidents which have taken place in America's Southern border region this raises questions over whether the entities that have been witnessed and encountered there are Supernatural or far more tangible in nature join us as we Explore More border patrol stories of shadow in the dark [Music] [Music] during the mid 1990s border patrol agents based in California's OT mountain region found themselves involved in a series of inexplicable and unnerving events these would involve encounters with many terrified and

traumatized groups of migrants several of which seem to have encountered the ghost of one of their recently deceased colleagues but it has become increasingly clear in the years since these stories were first shared that such incidents are not confined solely to the San Diego region at the same time those events were occurring agents at different points all along the same border were experiencing similar mysterious encounters one of these incidents would take place near to a river crossing at Fort Hancock in Texas where patrols would regularly detain groups of Mexican Nationals trying to enter the United

States the small migrant processions there would sometimes use a wide Bridge spanning the Rio Grand in order to assist with their Crossing one night the officers who had been posted to patrol the river were notified of a group of six Intruders cited by the operator of a nearby Imaging device situated upon an area of higher ground overlooking the river the agent using the night vision scope observed the group waiting into the water they had positioned themselves directly underneath the bridge in the hope that it would hide their progress before finally emerging up onto the American

side of the river Hur Hing down to that location the border patrol agents radioed up to the scope operator asking for the direction in which the group had headed away from the bridge but then they received a slightly confusing reply stating that the group in question had not made any effort to escape and had instead remained huddled together beneath the structure when the American agents arrived they duly located a soaking wet group of four adults and two young children Sheltering against one of the concrete supports on the riverbank but their efforts to extract the group

met with extreme resistance the adults holding on tight to their children and refusing to move away from the bridge eventually the group related in broken English how they had been about to head off towards some Higher Ground when they had heard a horrifying sound a female voice howling and screeching in the night had to follow them across the river from the direction they had come they believed this to be the vengeful Spirit of Lerona a woman who had drowned her two children in a fit of jealous rage and now sought others to replace them seeking

protection from the light of the street lamps on the bridge above they refused to leave the safety provided by the wbe shelter wanting to remain until daylight arrived they were fearful that the V ful spirit that was following them would use the cover of Darkness to abduct the two children they were escorting as part of their group almost at that instant the deafening scream surged from the darkness towards them causing the migrant group to cling even harder to the bridge supports Whispering that the agents had drawn the spirit to them yelling Into His Radio one

of the agents demanded to know if the scope operator had seen anything in the vicinity of the group that could have made such a sound the subsequent response was that the six migrants and the Agents themselves were the only thermal signatures to be seen for miles around the ground surrounding the river at this point being Barren and featureless had offered no apparent hiding place for any other person taking hold of the six individuals the three agents then began to manhandle the group back towards their waiting Vehicles however they were again assaulted by a deafening howl

of indignation and rage this time from somewhere nearby at once all three began to bundle the migrants into their vehicles and head away from the bridge as quickly as possible leaving them utterly bewildered and terrified of whatever unseen pursuer had been following the group and what it might have done to them had it caught up to them for the majority of the 23 years he was employed as a border patrol agent Leon Baker was stationed in the Isleta region of El Paso it was here that he and his colleagues would head up into the nearby

foothills of Mount Christo Ray searching for any telltale signs that migrant groups had recently passed through the area at times they would locate discarded water Bott and food packaging and at others find piles of shoelaces and trouser belts where other officers had already taken groups into custody there were many hazardous areas within the region which the agents were cautious about patrolling including numerous abandoned Min shafts and Smuggler tunnels but of all these it was a location known as the head Gates area that most unnerve Leon where a large Canal which out from the southern part

of the city terminated this Waterway had been constructed to assist local farmers in the irrigation of their crops during summer months with its floodgates controlling the outflow into the surrounding Fields but to the border patrol teams it was also the final resting place for numerous migrants who had become lost in the dark and fallen into the water drowning in the process one evening theon's nocturnal Patrol route led him up to the canal where he found one of his colleagues already sat in a vehicle next to the fencing there parking his transport up so that the

two vehicles were opposite one another Theon had begun to chat to the other agent when he suddenly detected movement nearby straining his eyes as he looked out into the darkness he caught sight of a male figure slowly clambering up the opposite side of the fence a short distance from the patrol Vehicles Leon then swiveled the truck's search light towards the fence where it illuminated the outline of a figure clinging to the other side of the metal barrier but the second it did so the shadowy figure immediately faded out of existence as if it had been

a column of smoke caught in a gust of wind panicked Leon drew his weapon and exited his vehicle running across to the fence and scanning the ground there with his torch he searched for the Intruder only to find no sign that the shape he had witnessed had ever been there the Sandy ground had been completely undisturbed on both sides of the fence a short time later the other agent joined him seeming not in the least bit unsettled by what his colleague had just seen he informed Leon that on several prior occasions he had also encountered

Shadow People up by the sides of the canal including one such figure that had apparently been in the process of physically hauling itself up from the Sandy ground directly onto the rear of his truck each and every one of them would evaporate or vanish when torch light was Shone upon them as well as the haunting events taking place at head Gates the agents were also apprehensive about patrolling a small Cemetery that was known locally as smelter Town founded during the 1800s in the grounds of a former copper smelter it was rumored to have been filled

with the bodies of children who died during the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak situated on a rocky outcrop the cemetery provided commanding views of the nearby desert allowing agents to easily spot approaching migrant groups but a number of border patrol officers had refused to go up there following encounters with what they believed to be the spirits of dead children several reported that whilst alone at the location Stones had been thrown at their vehicles and children's voices giggling or singing nursery rhymes in Spanish could be heard two of these agents claimed that they had even witnessed apparitions

of these Spirits with one claiming that he had had heard a thump on the rear of his truck and the pitter patter of small footsteps running away the agent had exited the vehicle only to discover that no one was there moments later mocking laughter echoed from the surrounding Darkness another agent stated that he had dozed off for a few minutes Awakening to find a small dark-haired girl in a floral dress seated alongside him in the passenger seat laughing at and then slowly fading out of existence he then checked both doors of the truck's cabin and

was dumbfounded when he discovered that they were still securely locked as he had previously left them a number of Leon's fellow agents also reported strange incidents which involved the use of the Department's thermal imaging devices the majority of the forward-looking infrared or Fleer Scopes had been passed to the border patrol by the army removed from military vehicles which were being decommissioned as a result many had been secured to border patrol Vehicles using a variety of improvised methods having rudimentary stands or supports fitted to allow their operation not long after they came into circulation stories began

to emerge of agents who had witnessed unusual incidents whilst using them which defied explanation several operators claimed that they had observed thermal targets moving over the terrain for a sustained period of time which were then not visible to the naked eye on one of these occasions an agent operating a Fleer camera from the back of his vehicle detected a lone figure walking slowly and confidently along a nearby Riverbank as he had directed other agents towards the location the operator watched the figure then dropped down into a nearby Rocky depression in an apparent effort to avoid

detection however when the other border patrol officers arrived and entered the same depression they reported seeing no sign of the Target or any evidence it had been there they noted that the target couldn't have left the area without being detected by the Fleer scope that was trained upon it in a second reported incident a Fleer operator on board a patrol helicopter had detected a solitary figure moving at speed through a nearby Valley as agents approached the figure it had then walked into a nearby Bush seeming to suddenly melt or collapse into the undergrowth the operator

continued to guide his colleagues on the ground into the bush commenting that he could still clearly see the figure's thermal signature hidden within it but when the agents arrived and searched the vegetation they reported that there was nothing there the agent aboard the helicopter protested asking them to search it several more times as the Heat Signature remained visible but as the agents on the ground poked and prodded their way through the undergrowth passing right over where the figure was apparently lying the same Heat Signature then faded away rumors soon began to circulate that what had

been witnessed might be connected to use of the Scopes in military theaters such as Iraq and Afghanistan the devices may have been replying previous incidents they had captured or perhaps they had somehow trapped the spirits of those who had been seen Dying by their former operators by far the most disturbing incident involving one of the repurpose Fleer devices came from a unit stationed on the border between Arizona and Mexico where an operator had become aware of a large group of between 40 and 50 migrants making their way through a nearby Valley a team of his

colleagues quickly assembled and then placed themselves in positions on the valley floor directly ahead of the approaching column of people as time passed the team listened to the progress reports being relayed by the scope operator on The High Ground above them soon they also became aware of faint sounds of whispering voices and soft footsteps being carried downwind from the approaching migrants all of a sudden an exclamation of shock sounded through their earpieces as the Fleer operator began to yell at them to withdraw at the same time they became aware of a series of cries and

screams ahead which began to fade away as the migrants Apparently turned on their heels and ran so several of the agents unholstered their sidearms and prepared to give Chase but the agent operating the scope begged and implored them not to urging them to withdraw from the area grudgingly and having become aware of the fear and Desperation in their colleagues voice the Ambush team proceeded to do so demanding to know what had happened when they later met up with him they were informed that the group of migrants had been scared off by a large mountain line

it would only be years later at a retirement ceremony that the scope operator revealed exactly what he had seen through his device a hulking humanoid figure covered from head to toe in what looked like a scruffy layer of fur had charged towards the approaching migrants across the valley floor tearing vegetation and other obstacles from its path as it did so its mouth wide open in either hunger or rage coming to a halt as the migrants fled it turned to stare along the trail where the agents were lying in wait sniffing the air it then faced

their Direction seemingly waiting for them to give Chase its arms fell to its sides hands flexing repeatedly as if it was preparing to Ambush the border patrol staff it was at this time that several other agents had commented that in the weeks after the incident in question staff from the Bureau of Land Management had been seen in the same Valley several agents approached the Ki uniform government employees and asked what had brought them down to the southern border region they were jokingly informed that someone had filed a report that they had seen Bigfoot somewhere on

the Valley Trail in the weeks prior the most striking feature in most of the incidents which have originated from the southern border region is the lack of supporting evidence in an area so abundant with tracks and signs of those who have passed through it is unsettling that these reported incidents leave no physical trace this suggests that either they are the result of the pressures and fatigue the agents face or they originate from a realm entirely different to the human world a realm that perhaps the migrants crossing the border understand far better than those who lie

in weight to detain them join us on Tuesday for a podcast exclusive in which we share more border region stories this time from the other side of the fence is for for bed time stor