Ghost Hunters - Sixteenth Season

Can you make a noise?

What the heck is going on?

Two historic gold mines bonded by tragedy.

Forty-seven miners perished in the tragedy.

As TAPS bring back the Destination Fear team...

Whoa! ****

What the ****? - Dude, it's still going on.

It's totally transparent.

Wow. - And it's gone.

...to help unearth a century old haunting.

Hello?

What was that?

Someone was choking a female.

Was that you?

Dear God. Done.

So, man, the Argonaut and Kennedy Mines

in Jackson, California.

So awesome.

What we're going to investigate

is the foundation of this part of the country.

That's true.

The Argonaut and Kennedy Mines

are two of the state's oldest and once richest gold mines.

They're also the site of California's deadliest mining disaster

when 47 miners were killed in a fire in 1922.

Right now is the 100th year commemoration surrounding the tragedy.

Yeah, and they're wondering if that's creating some of the uptick in activity.

And they're just trying to understand what's happening.

This case is interesting.

They're hearing the sounds of men arguing.

No. - Yep.

They are seeing multiple shadow figures,

full-bodied apparitions of miners.

Somebody has claimed that they're being choked.

That is awful.

We got a lot of work cut out for us.

We got two different mine areas to cover,

and that's why we've got Destination Fear crew with us.

We got Dakota, Chelsea, Tanner, and Alex.

All right. - So I think that's gonna

come in handy.

Absolutely, definitely could use their help.

I'm excited to get over there,

and to be able help these folks at the mine. - Exactly.

My God, this is huge.

Wow, this is crazy.

TAPS case: Argonaut and Kennedy Mines, Jackson, California.

Hi. - Hi.

Welcome to the Kennedy gold mine. - I'm Steve.

Nice to meet you. - A pleasure.

Jason, it's a pleasure. - Nice to meet you.

Thanks for having us.

So what's some of the history of these mines?

In this area, in 1848, gold was discovered.

The neighboring Argonaut Mine was founded in 1850,

and the Kennedy Mine, where we are now, was opened in 1856.

A rivalry raged between the two adjacent mines

until August 27th, 1922,

when a fire broke out in the Argonaut Mine,

changing the course of history.

Multiple cave-ins trapped 47 miners

who were almost a mile underground.

The Kennedy Mine invested it's men and resources

into tunnelling between the two mines

in a desperate attempt to rescue the Argonaut miners.

After weeks of digging,

the Kennedy miners finally broke through

only to tragically discover the lifeless bodies

of 47 Argonaut miners.

Are their names of any individuals who passed

from that disaster that really stand out to you?

Charles and Arthur Oberg.

They were a father and son and they found together embraced.

Jeez.

So we know about the tragedy at the Argonaut,

but how many people would you say passed on this property?

So the Kennedy mine on record, we have 39 employees

that perished in different mining accidents.

Okay. What kind of accidents were those?

People falling down the shafts

which are over a mile deep.

Jeez. - We have people getting crushed,

different explosions, and then aboveground, you know, people get hurt up here too.

Both mines ceased operation in 1942,

as did all American gold mines,

to help free up resources during World War II.

Since then, remaining underground tunnels have filled with water.

None of them are safe to enter.

Today, the Kennedy Mine

is plagued by terrifying paranormal occurrences.

So have you personally experienced

to any of the activity that people claim?

Yes, at the underground foreman's office,

one night, I stepped outside and saw a bunch of men

walking down towards me, so I opened the door...

And I wasn't seeing anything anymore.

Wow, okay.

Would that be a common path that say miners would take to get here?

Walking down the hill would've been from the direction

of where the boarding houses would've been,

or the mine office. - So, heading to work?

Absolutely. - Wow.

Where could you say most of the activity is occurring?

The mine office that's up on the hill.

It's three stories.

A century ago, the first floor of the mine office

was where ore was tested for gold content.

Today, some claim to hear men arguing.

And on the second floor where miners once collected their pay,

a threatening presence has been felt.

I was standing in the doorframe of the safe.

All of a sudden, my throat started to close up.

Like I had a hand on my throat.

I do believe I was getting a clear message.

"Get away from my gold. You're not where you should be."

An aggressive presence has also been encountered on the stairs,

in the mine office.

One night, I was going up to third floor.

And I was suddenly slammed...

into the wall.

I didn't know what hit me, nobody was around me.

If I had not grabbed the handrail,

I would have tumbled down 18 to 20 stairs.

So any other claims that we should know of?

The change house is where the miners at the end of shift had to be showered

to make sure they weren't smuggling anything out.

Get a lot of reports of shadow figures,

footsteps, we hear voices.

The towering head frame that once lowered miners into a mile-deep shaft

if where many claim to see shadow figures.

One time I was standing admiring the head frame

and as I stood there,

a dark humanoid figure

jumped out of the tree,

and it left a trail that was much whiter than the fog.

I was just stunned.

These anomalies have also been seen

in the Kennedy and Argonaut borderlines.

With so much activity at the Kennedy Mine,

they neighboring Argonaut Mine, having been closed for over seven decades,

may reveal even more hauntings.

What's the reason behind finally being able to access the Argonaut?

It was he 100th anniversary for the Argonaut disaster commemoration.

In fact, the Argonaut, it was the first time

that property had been open to the public since 1942.

And you're able to have full access to that property now?

It's still privately owned,

but we do work with that owner to try and help preserve things.

Great.

So what are you hoping that we're able to accomplish here?

I would love to just have the validation

that they're with us and giving them a voice to tell what they want known.

And we'll also look into personalities, energy that we should be concerned with.

Absolutely.

We can't wait to see what you find.

Great information. - Thank you.

All right. - We'll get out of here.

We are in California,

reuniting with the TAPS team.

Teaming up with the TAPS.

I find it so interesting that there are two mines competing with each other

and then they needed each other during the mining tragedy.

And just like Destination Fear and Ghost Hunters are coming together.

My God! - What?

I mean, he's the insightful one of our group.

Hello. - Hey!

Hey. - What's up, guys?

My gosh. - Right on time, boy.

What's up, man?

When we got the call from the TAPS team

that they wanted us out again, we were extremely happy.

Hello. - Why are you next to...

How we doing?

You've investigated with the TAPS team.

But I have not. This is my first time. - This is your first time.

This is the TAPS van.

Yeah. - Whoa.

Welcome to the Kennedy and Argonaut Mines.

Yes.

We have 47 miners that perished in the tragedy.

There was a father and son, Charles, Arthur Oberg.

They were actually embraced and that's the way they were found.

Jeez. - Hard to think about.

So I mean the place has seen a lot of tragedy.

A lot of different activity too.

Apparitions. - Shadow figures.

Seeing like a crew of miners walking outside. - What?

And fingers crossed we're able to document some of the activity

at the Argonaut Mine that's been all closed off.

We got a lot of ground to cover, so let's get going.

Let's do it. - All right, let's do it.

We're looking at 80 to 90 some odd people at these mines

who died tragically.

So God only knows who from the past is still here.

Bring it to the corner more. Yep, yep. Perfect.

These are two huge properties with many structures and a lot of logistical nightmares

that we're gonna have to overcome,

so we can draw out some of the personalities

or energies that might be here.

All cameras are up finally.