All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S04E18.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

NARRATOR: This program is
about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the
actual family members

and police officials
have participated

in recreating the events.

What you are about to see
is not a news broadcast.

ROBERT STACK: In
1987, Wytheville,

Virginia was deluged by
an unprecedented wave

of UFO sightings.

Our newsman, Danny Gordon, the
man at the center of the storm,

the sightings began a series
of threatening phone calls

and break-ins, which made
him regret that he ever

went public with the story.

When a newspaper
reporter in Ohio

began researching several
unconnected murders,

he had no idea that his
investigation would take him

into a dark and
dangerous subculture

and put him on the trail of
a possible serial killer.

70 Years ago, a man named
Bill Beaty had a vision.

He would build a magnificent
castle in the rolling

hills of New Jersey.

Today many people believe
they have seen his ghost

roaming the grounds,
unable and unwilling

to leave his masterpiece.

Join me for another edition
of "Unsolved Mysteries."

During the past five
years, "Unsolved Mysteries"

has broadcast a
number of stories

dealing with unidentified
flying objects.

Viewed in retrospect,
they chronicle

the history of UFO sightings
in America and Europe.

Today most of us take tales
of UFO sightings for granted.

Yet the phenomenon was
virtually unheard of until just

after World War II.

1947.

The genesis of UFO
sightings unfolded

in the New Mexico desert
near Roswell Army Airbase.

Military investigators were
called in to examine the debris

of an unknown aircraft.

The incident was thoroughly
documented and even publicized.

Incredibly, a few eyewitnesses
claimed that alien life

forms were also recovered.

Ultimately, the authorities
denied the entire affair

and insisted the
UFO was nothing more

than a downed weather balloon.

18 Years later in
1965, residents

of a small Pennsylvania
village observed

a fiery object streaked through
the sky then fall to Earth.

Many witnesses saw an
Air Force radar squadron

hauling the object away.

The military dismissed the
sighting as a meteorite

and insisted that nothing
was ever recovered.

Over the next 25 years,
reports of close encounters

proliferated, many of them
on or near military bases.

One of the most remarkable
occurred on December 26, 1980

at Bentwaters, an American
air base in England.

There's definitely
something up there.

It's coming down from an object
to the ground near our feet.

ROBERT STACK: According
to eyewitnesses,

the sightings continued
in various forms

until December 28.

The next day a
continental way in Texas,

a woman named
Betty Cash suffered

severe radiation burns.

She claims she had been
exposed to the energy field

of a bizarre flying object.

Most recently,
between 1989 and 1991,

thousands of people in Belgium
reported a literal invasion

of strange, unearthly crafts.

Amazingly, the Belgian air force
is able to capture on radar

a swift and erratic movements
of an unidentified craft which

defined the laws
of known physics.

For those of us who have
never encountered a UFO,

reports of such events
often sound far fetched.

In fact, some
eyewitnesses who go

public risk becoming the
object of ridicule and scorn.

Others are simply ignored.

In either case, an
acknowledged UFO sighting

can profoundly change
a person's life in ways

that he or she never
imagined possible.

Wytheville, Virginia,
population 8,000,

is nestled in the foothills
of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Country music station WYVE calls
itself the voice of Wytheville.

On most days, life
here is peaceful,

unpretentious, and uneventful,
but that was about to change.

Good morning, Sheriff.

Danny Gordon.

ROBERT STACK: On
October 7, 1987,

radio reporter, Danny
Gordon, checked in as usual

with a county sheriff and
heard an unbelievable tale.

Over near Austinville?

Uh-huh.

All right.

Got anything else?

You're kidding me.

ROBERT STACK: Three
Wythe County sheriffs

deputies, all
former military men,

claimed they had seen a UFO.

When was that?

SWITCHBOARD
ASSISTANT: OK, Danny.

You're on three, two, one.

Unidentified
flying objects have

been sighted over Wythe County
on Monday and Tuesday evenings.

The Wythe County
Sheriff's Department

was notified by a number of--

DANNY: There was
a filler piece who

came on at the end of the
news, which I usually relegate

to something that may be an
unusual, like we had one police

officer kill five chickens
once with two shots,

and that was a story that
ran as kind of a ha-ha piece.

And this was another
ha-ha piece and being

a very skeptical newsman,
it was definitely

not a lead part of my news.

ROBERT STACK: Danny
Gordon's fluff story

sparked unprecedented
listener reaction.

Reports of UFO sightings
poured into WYVE.

With the switchboard jammed,
Gordon finally set up

a special call-in
program for the evening

of October 19, 1987.

Hello.

This is Danny Gordon.
You're on the air.

Go ahead, please.

ROBERT STACK: What follows is
based on verbatim transcripts

of the actual telephone calls.

WOMAN (ON PHONE): It
was very, very huge.

It was long, and it
didn't have any sound.

It had a big light on the front
and one in the center and one

in the back.

MAN (ON PHONE): Well, it
kind of looks something

about like an egg shape to me.

WOMAN (ON PHONE): What
we could see was red,

green, and white, sort
of flashing lights.

We saw a plane go by
with red flashing lights.

We knew it wasn't
a jet of any sort.

OK.
Well, I appreciate that.

Thanks a lot.

For being a
brass-tacks journalist,

I always believe there is a
plausible, logical explanation.

And I felt at that time that
it was military of some nature

and that we would
find the reason

in a short period of time.

ROBERT STACK: Danny
Gordon thought

the UFOs are most likely
experimental aircraft

being tested out of Virginia's
Langley Air Force Base.

But he was repeatedly
told by the military

that there was no
testing going on.

As more and more
residents had sightings,

the military did come
up with one explanation.

MARY: Everybody had been telling
us that what people were seeing

were planes refueling.

And so I said, well, I didn't
know that's how they did that.

And then I thought,
well, why are they

do that down over my house?

Isn't this something
they should be doing

away from populated areas?

I call the Pentagon and
talked to the Air Force general

there who told me if they are
refueling under 13,000 feet,

then somebody's
butt is in a sling.

And to this day, we
don't know if they

were refueling at 5,000 feet.

But at the same time, I have
asked if it is military,

then I'll back off the story
and leave it alone if you

tell me because I'm a patriot.

And each time I'm told it's
not us, we're not doing it,

and we haven't been doing it.

ROBERT STACK: On October
21, just two weeks

after the original report,
Danny Gordon and a friend, Roger

Hall, drove to the area
south of Wytheville

where most of the
sightings had occurred.

They brought along a
35-millimeter still camera

as well as a video camera.

We were headed home after
two hours of fruitless

searching about a
quarter till 9:00

on Route 21 South
coming into Wytheville,

and just happened
to look to my left

and saw a very unusual object
coming across the horizon.

What's that?

What?

Over there.

Some lights or something.

I'm going to pull over.

I pulled off to the side of the
road in a hurry, jumped out.

He got out on the right side.

And as he got out, I noticed
the craft was coming at me.

It was very large.

It had a dome shape to
the top of it and no wings

and had what appeared
to be a strobe

putting out multi-colored lights
on the right side of the craft.

What the hell is that?

I don't know.

It was probably less
than 1,000 feet away

and 1,000 feet high
at the maximum.

We guessed it would
be in at least two

football fields in diameter.

You can see three huge,
looked like picture

windows in the back of it that
were lit from the inside out.

DANNY: As I watched the sky
from the left, came a red ball.

As a big mother ship went
into a small skiff of clouds,

the red ball docked
with the craft.

It was like you were
watching a computer game

and watching these things
develop on the video screen.

Did you get a picture of that?

No.

Didn't you?

I left the camera
on the trunk.

Where's your camera?

In the car.

I was driving.

Oh.

DANNY: We looked at each other
and realized no pictures.

The camera was not in my hand,
the camera was not in his hand,

and we both knew we blew it.

The only thing I can say is
we were just awe struck by it

or just dumb, whichever one.

I'm not sure which, but we sure
didn't get any pictures of it.

ROBERT STACK: The next
night, Gordon and Hall

would go out again.

This time they would
take photographs.

With a film still
undeveloped, a press

conference was called
for the following day,

October 23, 1987.

DANNY: The night before
the press conference,

I received a phone call
from somebody who refused

to identify himself,
and they said

that I needed to
be aware of the CIA

and the federal government
were very much interested

in the Wythe County UFOs.

I started to wonder
what I'd stepped into.

And my wife was urging me to
back off, to leave it alone.

And I also was receiving
some anonymous phone calls

saying it's something
you need to leave it

alone because it's
not your place to be

messing in defense matters.

Becky?

ROBERT STACK: After
the press conference,

Gordon discovered that his
house had been broken into.

Becky.

ROBERT STACK: Oddly,
nothing was stolen,

and Gordon is convinced
it's someone was

looking for the photographs.

When developed, the pictures
revealed only vague streaks

of light in the sky.

But Danny Gordon would soon
have another opportunity

to photograph the UFOs.

What about the tree?

ROBERT STACK: Six weeks
later on December 2,

Danny, his wife,
and daughter were

leaving the local mall
when they encountered

some unexpected visitors.

[shouting]

BECKY: Honey, what is that?

DANNY: We looked very quickly
and saw what I thought

was one large object,
which later appeared

to be four flying disk shapes.

As soon as the objects
were photographed,

they disappeared from view.

When the pictures came out,
they had a lot of grain,

but they showed definite four
shapes of objects in the sky.

But the most impressive point
in the four photographs,

the objects appear to change
shape or light formations

within one click of the camera.

They go from a teardrop
shape to a round ball shape,

then they go to a
flying-saucer like disk shape,

and then they go to the egg
shape as they go out of sight.

ROBERT STACK: The
people of Wytheville

knew that something
extraordinary

was happening in their town.

By the end of
December, the sightings

numbered well over 1,500.

One of the first occurred
here, near Interstate 81,

a mile from downtown Wytheville.

Eyewitnesses said
the craft resembled

a brilliantly-lit,
whirling carousel.

Immediately, other
sightings cropped up.

I'm not mistaken about
what we saw, absolutely not.

Because we'd never
seen this before.

We didn't have any reason
to make any stories up.

I kept a journal what I saw.

ROBERT STACK: Patricia Aker had
10 sightings, all of them here,

eight miles north of Wytheville.

PATRICIA: The best way I can
describe them is that they look

like a cross between a
helicopter and an airplane

with no noise or
very little noise.

And to be so large, I don't
know how they stayed up.

I'd say that the
educated psychologists

and psychiatrists have debunked
what we've seen and everything.

They've never been here.

They've never seen it.

I was skeptic until I
started seeing this stuff.

ROBERT STACK: Rita Marie Vaught
saw a UFO behind this ridge,

half a mile from her house.

RITA: I've seen
the circular object

in the sky, all
different colors that

kept going around and around.

It would be sort of
looking like a carousel,

but it didn't scare me.

None of this has scared me.

Until I see the little
green men walking around,

I won't be scared.

You just had this feeling
of something really,

really big just move and
just drifting over your head

and no sound or anything.

ROBERT STACK: Mary Jane
Williamson's sightings

occurred directly
above her house

in the center of Wytheville.

MARY: It had all
the white lights

in the front, just a big,
semicircle of white lights,

and it was just huge.

I mean, it was just
absolutely huge.

But you couldn't actually see an
outline or anything like that.

I know it wasn't
the planet Venus,

and I know it was not
atmospheric phenomena.

These were some kind of
craft moving over our house.

Eventually I got around
to calling the Pentagon

and talk with the spokesman
for defense at the Pentagon,

and he speaks for all
the defense branches.

And he told me, quote twice,
"We do not deny UFOs exist.

The government
confirms they exist,

but we deny they pose a
threat to the populace

of Wythe County."

And my question was,
how do you know this?

And he said, I can't tell you,
but there is no threat to you.

So that's reason we're not
sending convoys of aircraft

down there to
protect Wythe County.

ROBERT STACK: On March
19, 1988, Danny Gordon

was packing for a broadcaster's
conference in Virginia Beach

where he was to speak
about his UFO coverage.

DANNY: I received
a phone call home

from a retired military
intelligence officer.

And first he told
me to make sure

that I tape conversations
so he could put the date

and everyone to be aware.

And I said why do you
want to tape this?

And he said, I want your friends
to know if something happens

to you that I forewarned you.

Who's this?

INTELLIGENCE OFFICER:
What I'm telling you,

Danny, is I've been
pursuing this thing

for many, many years.

Like I said, I saw my
son dying from leukemia.

He told me that because
of his investigation

into the UFO field that
they had hit his son

and caused his son
to die with some kind

of virus connected to leukemia.

Danny, who is it?

It's nothing, honey.

DANNY: He said that
he had information

that the federal government
was not very happy with my UFO

investigations.

And they felt like I
was too loud of a voice

to quiet just by killing me,
which made me very happy.

And he said they want to quiet
you in a different fashion.

INTELLIGENCE OFFICER:
What I'm telling

you is they will try to
hit you if they think it's

practical for their purposes
to keep you from further

investigating this thing, and
it will most likely be done

through skin-contact chemicals.

It could be something on
the door knob or your car

or on the steering wheel.

They can also come
up with something,

do something to your children.

You know, it's one thing for
someone to threaten myself.

When you threaten
my family, you are

treading on very thin water.

So when I found out that
he could be believed,

just could be, it scared me,
at the same time made me mad.

Because I had to try to protect
my family, protect myself,

and at the same time because
I believe in free speech,

I was refusing to allow this
man to stop me from going

to Virginia Beach to talk.

Well, I'm going
to Virginia Beach.

INTELLIGENCE
OFFICER: [inaudible]

you think I'm some crack pot?

No, I appreciate it.

I appreciate that.

Thank you for calling.

What was that about?

Oh, nothing, honey.

Oddly enough, it was the same
weekend there was a hepatitis

epidemic in Virginia Beach.

Had I come down with hepatitis,
I would have believed

and everyone would have
believed they had gotten to me.

But I came back
with no problems,

and the children
were in good shape.

ROBERT STACK: Less
than one month

after the disturbing
phone call, Gordon had two

surprise visitors at his home.

My name is Ernest.
This is my associate, Michael.

We're with "The
Richmond Gazette."

I'd like to ask you a few
questions, if you don't mind,

about these recent UFO
sightings I understand

you're involved with.
- Well, that would be fine.

OK, great.

ROBERT STACK: They remained for
approximately 45 minutes, one

interviewing Danny
Gordon, the other roaming

through the house,
snapping photographs.

How did you
personally get involved?

DANNY: They had
told me when they

left they would send me
a copy of the article

so I could peruse it.

And when I didn't even receive
one, I called the newspaper,

and they said, well, these two
guys are not on our payroll.

They don't work for us.

So who they were, I don't know,
but they were in my house,

saw my pictures, saw my
negatives, talked to my family,

took pictures, and
then left, but they

were not with the newspaper.

I think we've got everything
we need, Mr. Gordon.

Thank you very
much for your time.

Thank you.

ROBERT STACK: A few
weeks later, Danny Gordon

sat down to organize and
catalog his UFO photographs.

DANNY: When I got to the
canister which had the UFO

negatives, I quickly opened
it up and found some UFO

negatives, but the one
negative with the shots from

the shopping mall was missing.

I felt like maybe there was
something in those photographs

that I was not seeing.

So I took the photographs to
some other people to look at.

We used magnifying glasses.

We measured angles trying to
find out why these photographs

were so important.

And we've yet to discover why
anyone would want to steal

that one specific set
of four in a series

of photographs of the UFOs.

ROBERT STACK: Danny
Gordon had nearly

reached the end of his rope.

His house had been broken into.

He had received countless
late-night phone calls,

some of them threatening.

Bogus reporters had
visited his home.

Finally, his UFO
negatives disappeared.

Two months later, the stress
caught up with Danny Gordon.

BECKY: Somebody help us, please.
- What's going on?

BECKY: He just keels over.

He getting done with some work.

I think he's having
a heart attack.

Hang on, sir.
What happened?

Not so well.

ROBERT STACK: Doctors
would later determined

that the attack had been brought
on, not by heart problems,

but by severe exhaustion.

Danny Gordon was
cautioned that continued

involvement with
the UFO controversy

could jeopardize his health.

DANNY: I, myself, had not had
a sighting since December 1990,

but purposely, I don't go
out and look because it

upset my life enough.

I would just as soon never see
a UFO again in my lifetime.

If I had my choice, I'd not
report the UFO story again.

It's just been too
hard on my life

and created too many problems.

Don't look up, because
once you look up

and you tell somebody
what you saw,

your life is changed forever.

ROBERT STACK: In late
1987, Danny Gordon

received an average
of 500 telephone calls

about UFOs each month.

Today the calls have dwindled
to approximately 50 per month.

The UFO heyday in Wytheville
has apparently drawn to a close.

Danny Gordon's health and
life are back to normal.

But if history is any
indicator, some time

soon in another small town
someone else will look up

and his or her life
will never be the same.

Next in Ohio, a
reporter's curiosity

leads to a statewide hunt
for a possible serial killer.

On April 19, 1990, a
partially nude body of a woman

was found behind a truck
stop at Licking County, Ohio.

She had been beaten to death.

All of her jewelry and
some articles of clothing

were missing.

What about the
bruising on the eye?

ROBERT STACK: Despite an
extensive investigation

by county sheriffs, the
victim was never identified.

No one was aware that her
murder was not an isolated case.

Four years earlier the
body of this woman,

23-year-old Shirley
Dean Taylor, was

found behind a traffic
barrier on Interstate 71

in nearby Medina County.

Taylor, a known prostitute,
had also been beaten to death.

Let's get her down
to the county morgue.

ROBERT STACK: As in the
case of the Jane Doe,

all jewelry and several
pieces of clothing

had been removed from the body.

No one would connect the nearly
identical murders until 1990.

In November of that year,
Michael Berens, a reporter

for "The Columbus
Dispatch," began

preliminary research
for a possible story

on serial killers.

MICHAEL: I had remembered a
statement that an FBI agent had

once said that prostitutes
make the ideal serial killer

victim because they're transient
and often their disappearances

aren't reported immediately.

So I started looking
at prostitute deaths

all cross Ohio primarily using
newspaper stories as the way

to track those deaths.

ROBERT STACK: Berens
began to cross-reference

unsolved murder cases in Ohio.

A sinister pattern soon emerged.

Eight women in eight
different countries

had been beaten or
strangled to death.

Each was found alongside
a major interstate.

Each was a known or
suspected prostitute.

MICHAEL: All of these women
who were killed in Ohio

also worked at truck stops or
were last believed to have been

working at a truck
stop, and that

was the third major
factor that started

tying these deaths together.

ROBERT STACK: Michael Berens
began an investigation that

took him into a little
known subculture of Ohio's

interstate truck stops.

MICHAEL: You drive by them
and see these restaurants

and these trucks, but
until you sit there,

you don't see what the
underbelly, the underworld

of these little mini
cities that form each night

and then break apart each
morning and come together.

WOMAN: See you
next time, sweetie.

MAN: Yeah.
You take care.

ROBERT STACK:
Berens discovered a

flourishing sex-for-sale
industry at truck stops

throughout the State.

On any given night, any number
of women were available.

MICHAEL: The prostitutes
work off a CB radio,

and it's all done anonymously.

The prostitute would
get on the radio

and give her handle and
some little catch phrase

that she's developed
as her trademark.

And the trucker will answer
back and say, yeah, this

is the blue Peterbilt in row 3.

Come meet me.

And she goes off to the truck.

And then usually when
she gets in the truck,

she'll use the trucker's CB
to radio to her next customer.

ROBERT STACK: 27-Year-old
Anna Marie Patterson

was a sixth known victim.

In reviewing the
investigation of her murder,

Michael Berens uncovered
several possible clues

to the killer's identity.

Hey there, guys.

This is Sleeping Beauty.

If you're looking for
a good time, come back.

ROBERT STACK: On
February 8, 1987,

Anna Marie was working at a
truck stop in Austintown, Ohio,

150 miles north of Columbus.

According to witnesses,
just after midnight,

Anna Marie answered a call from
a driver of a black or dark

blue Peterbilt truck.

The man used the
CB handle Dr. No.

Hey, how you doing?

Sleeping Beauty?

Mine sure enough.

Come on up.

How you doing tonight?

Great.

My god, it's
freezing out there.

Oh, don't you worry.

I'll warm you up.

ROBERT STACK: 25 days
later, Anna Marie's body

was found alongside Interstate
71 north of Cincinnati.

SHERIFF COLLINS: Anna
Marie was found about 250

miles from where she was
last seen, in a field,

in a drainage ditch.

We had about four to
six inches of water.

Her head had been bashed in,
and she was brutally beaten.

She wasn't just killed.

She was mutilated, in essence.

A sleeping bag has a
body, of a white female.

MICHAEL: Anna Marie had
a rule of only staying

in the truck stop and
would not allow a trucker

to take her off the stop.

That's why it's
believed that she

was probably killed
or at least knocked

unconscious at the stop.

ROBERT STACK: At the
time of her death,

Anna Marie Patterson
was six months pregnant.

An autopsy revealed that she
had been killed within 48

hours of her disappearance.

The condition of
her body clearly

indicated that the killer
had kept it refrigerated

for nearly a month.

MICHAEL: There has
been some speculation

that some of these
victims have been driven

many more miles than
the actual distance

from last seen to found.

There may be an indication that
the killer is doing something

with these victims, either
verbally, physically,

or otherwise after death.

ROBERT STACK:
According to Berens,

the killing spree began with the
murder of an unidentified woman

in April of 1981.

Over the next nine years, the
bodies of seven other victims

were dumped along interstates
in different counties.

Each woman was viciously
beaten or strangled to death.

Each had jewelry and clothing
removed from her body.

MICHAEL: The
conclusion we reached

is that there was
overwhelming evidence

that a potential serial killer
was trolling Ohio interstates

in search of
victims, and not only

Ohio, but many
different Midwest States

and even going to
the east coast.

We thought the evidence was
overwhelming to present that

to the public.

ROBERT STACK: On March 10,
1991, "The Columbus Dispatch"

ran Michael Berens' story.

It detailed compelling
evidence which

suggested the murders
of the eight women

were the work of one killer.

10 days later, the
Ohio Attorney General

and the Buckeye State
Sheriff's Association

formed a special task force.

They established a
24-hour, toll-free hotline

as part of an unprecedented
Statewide investigation.

LEE: We were finding that what
was happening in one county

was not necessarily being
told to another county.

And a clue in one county
that may have meant nothing

may have meant a great deal
in just the adjacent county.

ROBERT STACK: What
maybe the most

significant clue in this case
is also the most perplexing.

MICHAEL: Killers tend to
dump in places that they

feel comfortable with.

That's why you'll
find a grouping

of bodies in a river or such.

This killer scatters
these bodies,

and that's the big question.

Why?

There have been great
speculation among the officers

themselves as do we really have
an intelligent killer out there

who knows enough
about law enforcement

to have dumped the bodies in
these different jurisdictions?

There's even been speculation
that the killer could

be a security guard or
even a former police

officer who knows
enough about police

investigative
techniques to do that.

ROBERT STACK: Michael
Berens is convinced

that one killer is responsible
for the eight murders.

He is equally convinced
that the victims were

all doomed by their occupation.

MICHAEL: I think the
killer, no doubt,

picked prostitutes because
he knows that it does affect

the quality of investigation.

Prostitutes aren't
going to be pursued

as aggressively as if it was a
child or a suburban housewife.

That's a fact of
life, and I think

everyone would agree to that.

I think that the public
has compassion for anybody

who is innocently murdered.

No matter what their profession,
no matter how they live

their life, when
someone's life is

snuffed out, for
absolutely no reason,

I think people get angry.

The last known
victim in Ohio was

discovered in November of 1990.

However, authorities have
been stunned to learn

of as many as 150 other
homicides nationwide

that fit the same basic pattern.

Recently, truck drivers
have been arrested in three

separate murder investigations.

In each case, the
victims were prostitutes,

but none of these suspects
has been connected

to any of the Ohio murders.

At least two of the
victims were last

seen getting into a black or
dark blue Peterbilt tractor,

possibly pulling a
refrigerated trailer.

The driver may use a CB handles
Dr. No, Stargazer, or Dragon.

LEE: I'd like to be
able to say that we

know now whether it's one
person and whether it's

a serial murderer.

The truth is that we don't.

And while that is certainly
a plausible theory,

at this point, it's
nothing more than that.

ROBERT STACK: Stay tuned.

An elegant mansion in New
Jersey is said to be haunted

by the ghost of its builder.

Do ghosts really exist?

The fact is that
25% of all Americans

today believe they do.

Perhaps ghosts are no more than
their own need for something

beyond the world we
can touch and feel

and logically comprehend.

Or perhaps as one family
in New Jersey believes,

they're really out there.

In 1923, a man named
Bill Beaty had a dream.

He imagined a 17th century
Norman castle rising stone

by stone on 150
acres of woodland

in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

BILL: Yeah.

Everything Is coming
along just fine.

I've just completed work on
the kitchen and the basement.

ROBERT STACK: Bill
Beaty had the means

to make his dream come true.

As an advertising
executive in New York City,

he had amassed a
sizable fortune.

His wife, Sarah, was
wealthy in her own right.

BILL: Don't do anything with the
window until the oak comes in.

Well, when is the oak coming?

It's going to take
two or three days.

This is the window
I was talking about.

ROBERT STACK: The Beatys
envisioned their castle

as the center of an artist's
colony surrounded by bungalows

fronting a man-made lake.

How far up are we going to go?

We're going to
go up another foot.

And you're can have 5.

You're going to have 11 by 5.

ROBERT STACK: In 1930, before
construction was complete,

the Beatys moved into the
castle with their four children,

but Bill Beaty would never see
the completion of his dream.

Just one year later, he
died at the age of 45,

a victim of influenza.

His castle would not be
finished for another five years.

Sarah Beaty never remarried.

She raised all four
children in the castle

and lived there until 1941.

From 1945 to 1971, the
castle was occupied

by two different boys schools.

From the start,
students and teachers

reported eerie organ music
echoing through the corridors.

Oddly, the school
owned no pipe organ.

However, the long, dead
Bill Beaty had owned one.

Was it possible that
Bill Beaty loved

his castle so much
that he refused

to leave, even in death?

Old timers remember that Sarah
Beaty often held seances trying

to communicate with Bill.

When the second boys school
moved out of the castle,

many of the faculty and
students remained convinced

the premises were haunted.

In 1972, Don and Carol
Burlingame bought the castle

and began to remodel.

They would soon learn about the
ghost in residence first hand.

DONALD: Carol was
really the first one

to feel some sort
of presence, and she

had a friend that was sort of
an amateur parapsychologist.

And we brought her in,
and she said, well, there

definitely is a presence here.

He is definitely
friendly, and he's male.

And Carol said, well, maybe we
should try to get rid of him.

Shouldn't we have a seance?
And she said, no.

You better leave things
exactly the way they are.

He's friendly.

He's happy.

Let it go at that.

ROBERT STACK: After
the Burlingames

moved in hammering noise
resounded through the hallways,

and disembodied footsteps
trod the stairs.

Before long, the ghost
made his presence known

in other more high-tech ways.

DONALD: What's going on?

CAROL: I don't know.

Let me see if I can fix it.

You'd just get
into a movie, just

the really interesting
part and all of a sudden

the station would change.

It would go from two to
three to four to five,

and it happened
more than one time.

I knew there was
a presence here,

but what I couldn't figure
out was why was he here?

Who was he?

When was he going to
leave, if in fact,

was he ever going to leave?

It was something I
couldn't figure out.

The Burlingames began to delve
into the history of the castle.

Soon Eugene Melville, who is
now 78 years old, turned up.

He had worked for Sarah
Beaty from 1933 to 1937

and had his own remarkable
tale of countering the ghost.

EUGENE: I said to them
what I seen there,

and they said they sensed
something themselves,

but they never seen him.

But I felt him there a lot.

But I only seen him that once.

I can truthfully say that
was the only time I ever

laid eyes on him was that once.

It doesn't seem to be
under here, Mrs. B.

Why don't you look--

ROBERT STACK: It was 1934, three
years after Bill Beaty's death.

Eugene Melville was
helping Sarah search

for a bracelet which had been
lost during a family gathering.

It's Bill, my husband.

But he's dead, Mrs. B.

But it was a figure of
a man standing there.

It didn't stay long for me
to examine it very good.

It was gone just like that.

It was scary.

I don't know about this.

It frighten the
daylights out of me.

And I never seen him again.

I just never wanted
to go on that balcony.

I never went in there again.

It bothered me.

I passed by it, but to get
me in there, to stand there,

oh, forget it.

I wouldn't go in there.

ROBERT STACK: Don
and Carol Burlingame

finally understood that
they shared their home

with a ghost of Bill Beaty.

They believed that
on one occasion

Bill demonstrated how much
she cared about the castle.

DONALD: We decided we were going
to go off for a little ride.

And Carol was sort
of a fresh air fiend.

So she had all the windows
open in the servants wing

where we were living.

Then Don said, you better
close all the windows.

It was supposed to rain.
I said, no, it's not going rain.

Don't worry about it.

I'm leaving them all open.

So I left them open, we
went out, and it rained.

[inaudible]

All right.

I'll get upstairs.

We came home, and all
of the casement windows,

which opened from the inside
and open to the inside,

were all closed and latched.

How wet did it get?

It didn't.

There's no water on the
floor, everything's fine,

and the windows are closed.

Well, how is that possible?

I don't know.

So there wasn't a drop
of rain in the house.

So our only conclusion
was, because there's

no other way for them
to have been closed,

is that Bill helped us out.

When he saw the rain coming,
he closed all the windows

and gave us a hand.

ROBERT STACK: From
that day on, Bill

Beaty's ghost was
a constant presence

in the Burlingames' lives.

CAROL: Bill and I
have an agreement.

I chatted with him one day.

Of course, I didn't see him,
but I chatted with him anyhow.

And I said, Bill, you can stay
here for as long as you want.

I enjoy having you around.

You don't bother me.

Just don't ever let me see
you because if I do see you,

I'll probably wind up in
a padded cell somewhere.

So you're welcome to stay
just don't materialize.

And he never has.

We've had several experiences
in the house, one of which

was I have a habit of
leaving the bread out

because it's handy.

And I'd leave it
out somewhere and

the next thing I'd turn around
it would be on the floor.

I was alone in the kitchen.

The bread was on the counter.

There was no way that it could
have fallen off by itself.

And when it did
fall off or fly off,

it went a considerable distance.

So I know that someone
had to have moved it.

There was no one else there
with me at all, no animals,

Don wasn't around,
and there was no way

the bread could have
gone off the counter

because it was set square.

OK, Bill, that's enough.

Knock it off.

And that led me to believe that
Bill had to be there saying,

hi, I'm here.

There was just no way that
that break could have fallen

off the counter by itself.

ROBERT STACK: In
1986, the Burlingames

invited Dr. Michaeleen Maher,
a noted parapsychologist

to visit the castle.

Maher, along with an assistant,
conducted a series of tests

for paranormal activity.

DR. MAHER: Our physical
instruments were not

able to detect anything unusual,
but in this particular case,

the sheer volume
of the reports adds

to the credibility of the case.

People have experienced
similar phenomena

when living at the
castle, even though these

are people who may never
have spoken to each other.

One of our witnesses
in this case,

a particularly credible
witness, in fact,

a professional person
of some stature,

reported seeing in the
driveway in front of the castle

a person who dissipated
right in front of his eyes.

Can I help you?

Who are you?

DR. MAHER: I think the big news
here is that human persons can

act as sensors, and when
we quantitatively evaluate

their responses, we find that
we cannot dismiss this evidence

as caused by coincidence.

Well, the steer treads are
going up on that second floor.

OK.
Come on.

You're all right.

CAROL: The key to
existing with the ghost

is if you can accept
it, you can enjoy it.

And when things happen,
you just write them off

as, oh, it must
be the ghost or it

must be Bill if you
happened to know who it is,

as is in our case, we do.

And you can have fun with it.

I firmly believe he will
never leave the castle.

The love of the thing maybe
got the better of his soul.

And I think that's thing
got such power is the soul.

It's eternal.

ROBERT STACK: It's been said
that the spirits of those who

die with unfinished
business are destined

to wander for eternity.

This would seem to be
the case with Bill Beaty.

In 1991, after nearly two
decades in the castle,

the Burlingames moved away.

As far as they know, the ghost
of Bill Beaty stayed behind.

The Burlingames hope that
when the castle is next sold,

his new owners will
enjoy the ghost's

presence as much as they did.

Join me next time for
an all new edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

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