Chapter 6
1856words
[Classification Level: To Be Determined]
[Case Status: In Progress]
At 6 AM, the search and rescue helicopter has been circling the fog-shrouded mountains for four hours, infrared scanners sweeping the dense forest for any signs of life.
The captain radios ground command: "Located campsite in target area, but no personnel visible. Preparing to land for investigation."
The camp sits on a flat highland about two miles from an abandoned mine entrance. Four backpacks stand neatly beside a cold campfire, as if their owners stepped away briefly and might return any moment.
A rescuer crouches beside one backpack, examining its contents. "Found four cameras," he tells the captain. "Batteries dead, but devices intact."
The captain takes a camera and presses the power button. It emits a weak beep, the screen flashes a low battery warning, but it still plays back footage.
"We need to take these back," he says. "Might give us some answers."
The team searches the area for six more hours but finds only scattered footprints heading toward the mine. Strangely, these tracks abruptly end about fifty meters from the entrance, as if the four explorers simply vanished.
That afternoon, the four cameras arrive at the FBI's Seattle technical analysis department.
Dr. Mark, the technical specialist, watches the first camera's footage with intense focus. On screen, Jake, Sarah, Mac and Emma discuss their plans to enter the mine, everything appearing normal.
"Timestamp shows recording started at 2:15 PM on October 12th," she tells her colleague. "Matches when they went missing."
As the video continues, Dr. Mark's expression grows increasingly troubled.
"Something's wrong," she pauses playback to check the device parameters. "According to these timestamps, the recordings span 72 hours, but they were only reported missing after 24 hours."
Her colleague, a senior analyst, leans in. "Equipment malfunction maybe? Camera's internal clock could be faulty."
"No," Dr. Mark shakes her head. "I've checked all four devices. Their timestamps are perfectly synchronized, and battery drain matches 72 hours of continuous recording."
She resumes playback, and when the ghostly miners appear on screen, both analysts freeze.
"Did you see that?" The analyst points at the screen. "Those figures... they look..."
"Unreal," Dr. Mark finishes. "Like projections or hallucinations."
Most disturbing is the "1987 Accident Investigation Report" Jake discovered. Dr. Mark pauses to study its contents carefully.
"I need to verify this," she reaches for the phone. "If this document is genuine, there should be records in the database."
Twenty minutes later, she hangs up, her face ashen.
"Nothing," she tells the analyst. "Federal Archives, Geological Survey, Labor Department... none have any record of a 1987 Deep Mountain Mining accident."
"So where did that report come from?"
"I don't know," Dr. Mark resumes the video. "But here's the weird part—records do show an accident at that mine in 1987, but the official report is completely different from what's in the video."
---
News outlets break the story three days after the video's discovery.
A geology professor explains in an interview: "The area does exhibit magnetic anomalies. Our equipment detected unusual geomagnetic fluctuations near the mine that could disrupt electronic devices and potentially affect human perception."
But his explanation fails to satisfy everyone.
A psychology PhD offers another theory: "This appears to be classic mass hysteria. Four young people in a legendarily haunted mine—stress and fear can trigger shared hallucinations. They likely genuinely believed they experienced supernatural events."
"That doesn't explain the time discrepancies," a reporter challenges.
"Trauma severely distorts time perception," the psychologist counters. "Hours can feel like days. As for the camera timestamps, that's likely equipment malfunction or magnetic interference."
A local paranormal investigator, however, offers a radically different perspective.
"I've studied this area for over a decade," he writes on his website. "Many details in the footage match other eyewitness accounts I've gathered. The miner apparitions, time distortions, shifting tunnel layouts... these have all been reported before."
He also shares a disturbing statistic: since 1987, at least twenty-one people have vanished in the area, with gaps of roughly two to three years between disappearances.
"Most disturbing is the pattern—all victims are young thrill-seekers, and their abandoned camps are always found in exactly the same spot."
When the video leaks online, it sparks unprecedented attention and debate.
YouTube analysis videos multiply overnight—some dissecting every frame for signs of fakery, others proclaiming authentic paranormal evidence and organizing expeditions to the site.
A forum called "Mountain Truth" rapidly attracts thousands of users debating every aspect of the footage:
User1: "Obvious viral marketing stunt. Those 'artifacts' look straight from a prop shop, and the 'government documents' are laughably fake. Real classified docs don't look like that."
User2: "I'm a professional VFX artist, and certain phenomena in this footage can't be faked with current tech. Those apparitions and the audio-visual desync would cost millions to simulate convincingly."
Most disturbing are those users who claim to have experienced similar incidents.
User 3 wrote: "I am a family member of a survivor from the 1987 accident. The details mentioned in the recording... my father indeed said similar things before he passed away. He said there were 'other things' below the mine, and the government knew but chose to cover it up. Seeing this video, I finally understand why he was so terrified back then."
The forum administrators tried to maintain rational discussion, but as the number of participants surged, various conspiracy theories and supernatural explanations began to dominate.
Some users started sharing their own "research findings" about the area: abnormal shadows in satellite images, strange behavior of local animals, mysterious disappearance cases of nearby residents...
What worries the authorities most is that more and more people are planning to visit the site for "field investigations."
The local sheriff has set up a police line around the mine, but this doesn't stop those adventure seekers with strong curiosity.
"Every day people try to enter that area," the sheriff said wearily during a phone interview. "We don't have enough personnel to monitor the entire mountain area 24 hours a day. Last night, we discovered someone had cut through the police line and left fresh footprints at the mine entrance."
Elderly residents living nearby feel both frightened and angry about this level of attention.
"This kind of thing happens every few years," she told reporters. "There are always young people attracted to that place, and then they never come back. Those of us who live here know to stay away from that mine, but outsiders won't listen to advice."
She paused for a moment, a flash of fear crossing her eyes: "The strangest thing is that whenever someone disappears, that place goes quiet for a few years. It's as if... as if it got what it wanted and needs time to digest."
The reporter asked if she believed in the authenticity of the video.
"I don't know if that video is real or fake," Mrs. Sanders said, "but I know there's something in that place. I've lived here for fifty years and seen too many strange things. Some nights, you can hear sounds coming from the direction of the mine... like many people talking all at once, but you can't make out what they're saying."
The FBI's official statement was released a week later, with careful and vague wording:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation will continue investigating the disappearances of Jake Martinez, Sarah Chen, Mac Foster, and Emma Williams. We are analyzing all available evidence, including video footage found at the scene.
We warn the public that there are safety hazards in the area, including unstable geological structures and the possibility of toxic gas leaks. No one should enter abandoned mine shafts without proper equipment and professional guidance.
Regarding questions about the authenticity of the video footage, our technical experts are conducting a comprehensive analysis. We will not make an official determination on the authenticity of the video until the investigation is complete.
We urge the media and public to avoid spreading unverified theories or engaging in speculation that might interfere with the investigation. Anyone with relevant information should immediately contact the FBI Seattle Division.
......
Three days later at dawn, a Jeep loaded with exploration equipment stopped at the entrance of the mountain path leading to the mine shaft.
Five young people got out of the car, wearing professional outdoor gear and carrying high-end camera and lighting equipment. Leading them was a twenty-four-year-old YouTuber named Kay, who had one hundred thousand subscribers and specialized in making videos about exploration and supernatural phenomena.
"Alright, guys," Kay said to the camera, "We've finally arrived. The legendary deep mountain mine, the last place where Sarah Chen and her friends were seen. Today, we're going to find out the truth."
His teammates were organizing their equipment, checking batteries and storage cards. One of the girls named Amy seemed a bit nervous: "Are you sure this is safe? I mean, if the footage is real..."
"That's exactly what we're going to verify," Kay replied, "If it's fake, we can prove this whole thing is a hoax. If it's real..." he paused, a gleam of excitement flashing in his eyes, "then we're going to make history."
Another team member, David, was checking the GPS device: "According to the coordinates, the mine entrance is about a mile ahead. The terrain isn't too complex; we should be able to reach it within an hour."
The youngest member of the team was nineteen-year-old Lily, who was participating in this kind of exploration for the first time. She nervously adjusted the position of her headlamp: "What if we disappear too?"
"No way," Kay said confidently, "We have modern communication equipment, GPS positioning, and emergency beacons. And we won't stay overnight inside like Sarah and her team did. We'll go in, shoot some footage, and get out before dark."
The last team member was Mark, who was responsible for technical support and was testing the real-time transmission equipment: "I've set up automatic uploading, all recorded content will be transmitted to the cloud server in real time. Even if the equipment fails, the footage won't be lost."
The team began moving toward the mine shaft, their footsteps sounding particularly clear in the morning mist.
Kay continued explaining to the camera: "It's now nine twenty in the morning, and we're about to begin this expedition. If you're watching this video, it means we made it back safely. But if..."
His words were interrupted by a strange sound.
A faint echo came from the direction of the mine, as if someone was calling from far away. The five people stopped in their tracks and listened carefully.
"Did you hear that?" Amy asked in a low voice.
"It might be the wind," David said, but his voice sounded uncertain, "The mountain winds often make strange noises."
But Lily shook her head: "That's not the wind. It sounds like... like someone is calling our names."
Kay raised his camera, pointing it toward the direction of the sound: "Whatever it is, we need to record it."
The five young people continued walking forward, disappearing into the fog-shrouded mountain path.
From deep within the mine, something seemed to be patiently waiting.
