Hey Conspirators,
Earlier this week I found out about the existence of abandoned staircases in forests around the world. The stories surrounding them are super disturbing so obviously, I need to fill you in.
Hey, you forgot to build rest of the house
These staircases have no logical reason to be where they’re found. Miles from the closest settlement, deep in the heart of the woods. The simple explanation is that they used to be part of a larger structure that has since been destroyed, and for some of the staircases that’s likely true. But many of these sets of stairs seem almost brand new, as though someone built them yesterday. Others seem as though the rest of the building was cleaved clean.
(Honestly, I can’t stop myself from connecting these to the Missing 411 - disappearances from deep woods and national parks. Did those folk climb some stairs and end up...somewhere else?)
If you see one of these, uhh, don’t climb them
The first staircase stories I stumbled across on reddit came second hand, from a search and rescue ranger. Neither one has a happy ending.
The first involves a duo of these rangers, and you guessed it, coming across a lone staircase deep in the woods. Despite misgivings from his older partner, the younger of the two climbed the staircase. At the top, he reached for a branch and something sliced off his hand. They never found his hand. Real scary. Or maybe he was teaching his fellow ranger a lesson, Arrested Development style. Always leave a note!
Another ranger reported seeing a woman ascend one of these staircases. She climbed down, found the ranger, told him that “something was wrong.” Then she collapsed and died. The ranger specifically mentioned the image of blood leaking into the inside of her eye. Authorities determined it was a fatal aneurysm. But we know better, right? (aliens? spirits? her Aunt Jill? I really have no idea.)
Legends of the hidden...staircase? Dibs on the silver snakes
Tales associated with mysterious staircases have been around for some time. Here are a few that we loved while researching:
The staircase of missing time: In the Philippines, a ranger was searching for missing hikers when he found two abandoned staircases made of stone. He ascended one (obvious mistake, dude) to get a better vantage point to search the area. All he saw was a “vicious dog” that caused him to scramble farther up the stairs. He climbed down and went back to the Ranger Station only to find out he’d been fired for missing work. Upset, he wondered why they’d fire him for being MIA for only a few hours. His boss replied that he’d been gone on patrol for five years. WOAH!
The vanishing staircase: According to a CDC employee, after the Roswell crash in the 1940s, investigators sought help from the CDC to deal with reports of “animal mutilations.” During the investigation, workers reported finding weird wooden stairs that gave off a frequency. They stationed their camp 30 meters from the staircase and went to sleep. When they woke up, the staircase had been replaced by a burnt, dark black spot. Then it reappeared, 50 meters away. Determined to figure out what was going on, they tried to chip off samples of the wood but couldn’t as it was “harder than steel.” Six days later, the stairs vanished completely.
In case you don’t feel like sleeping tonight:
There’s a master collection of stories about these staircases on Reddit that will get those goosebumps rising. Check them out.
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As always, stay ‘spicious.
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