Who are The Dark Watchers? Don't stare too long.

[Music]. the santa lucia mountain range runs from. monterey and down the coast of. california for hundreds of years stories. have been told about entities that keep. watch over the mountains. sometimes seen out of the corner of the. eye and always from a distance stare too. long and they vanish if you're ever. hiking in the wilderness of big sur and. feel like you're being watched. it's because you are. [Music]. nobody knows how long the dark watchers. have been guarding the santa lucias but.

stories go back to the spanish settlers. in the early 18th century the san lucia. mountains were the final obstacle before. reaching the pacific ocean this was a. dangerous climb and had to be done. carefully as they slowly made their way. through the mountains the settlers. reported seeing dark figures watching. them and they called him los vijalantes. oscuros. oh you're not gonna jump in with the. translation um it's literally the title. of the episode i know but usually it's. time to take off the training wheel.

sport. my back hurts from carrying you. years later american settlers reported. seeing the same thing so whether native. american tribe spanish settler or casual. hiker everyone who travels the area gets. an anxious feeling that they're being. silently observed it happens in the late. afternoon right before dusk in the hills. usually when it's hazy you feel eyes on. you from somewhere you turn around and. see a dark figure about 10 feet tall it. has long thin legs and arms you can't.

see its face except for maybe dimly. glowing eyes some have described them as. wearing wide brimmed hats and cloaks and. just as your eyes adjust and your brain. starts to make sense of what you're. seeing the figure vanishes according to. people who have seen the dark watchers. they are unsettling but don't seem to be. dangerous they spend most of their time. in the shadows of the forest but they. will come out if people are close. legends says they're entities that. follow travelers through the mountains. they have excellent hearing and eyesight.

if they detect any type of technology. like a phone or gps they won't appear. one famous person who saw the dark. watchers was the author john steinbeck. in his story flight a character sees a. dark figure staring at him from on top. of the hill abbay looked suspiciously. back every minute or so. and his eyes saw the tops of the ridges. ahead. once on a white bearing spur you saw a. black figure for a moment. but he looked quickly away for it was. one of the dark watchers.

no one knew who the watchers were. nor where they lived but it was better. to ignore them and never to show. interest in them. they did not bother one who stayed on. the trail and minded his own business. the dark watchers were a bit of a family. obsession for the steinbeck's john. steinbeck's son thomas wrote a book. about them his mother olive actually. interacted with them she often told. stories about her time as a young. teacher. to get to work she would have to travel. the dark woods of the mountains she said. she saw dark watchers several times and.

she would leave gifts of flowers and. food. and would receive gifts from the. watchers on her way home what gift would. she get they wouldn't kill her in her. sleep no the dark watchers would bring. her flowers too creepiest romance ever. there have been sightings of dark. watchers recently and what's spooky is. the descriptions are all very similar. i'll link you to a page where you can. read a bunch of them but here are a few. of my favorites. one day i was hiking the mountains where.

i lived near bled california as i went. further on the trail i felt like i was. being watched the hair on my arms stood. up. i turned around worried it was a. mountain lion at the top of the mountain. i saw a hooded human figure i couldn't. see its face. the hood and cloak looked tattered and. ripped it made no sound i turned around. and went back the way i came. i never went back to that area of the. mountain range again. dan phoenix arizona.

one day a friend and i were coming back. from los angeles we passed the san luis. obispo reservoir and saw something at. the end of the mountain it was a really. big human figure but it wasn't. it had a black cape like the grim reaper. and holding a staff it was in the. daytime so i knew it wasn't a person. these dark watchers are real. elizabeth san mateo california. so what are the dark watchers well. nobody knows for sure but there are a. couple of theories the first one is that.

it's a simple case of pareidolia. pareidolia is the human tendency to. perceive a specific image in a random. visual pattern some cases of pareidolia. can be pretty compelling i mean look at. this well now that will haunt me in my. dreams or the bacon murder clown. yeah you got any funny ones these are. awful a pigeon poops a self-portrait. that's more like it the woman who looks. like a muppet. or these peppers which are apparently. dying to get out.

once your brain makes the connection. between that random image and a real. life object you can't not see it the. dark watchers could be long shadows. caused by trees that because of. pareidolia people perceive as tall. figures maybe this is the reason they're. only seen at dawn or dusk this is when. shadows are the longest what people. perceive as a grim reaper's staff is. just a branch and the hats are just the. tops of trees but that doesn't explain. the pictures of the dark watchers.

[Music]. there's a phenomenon called the brock. inspector it's named after the broken. peak in the hearts mountains of germany. and for hundreds of years locals have. reported seeing shadowy figures on the. broken peak but what this actually is is. the shadow of a hiker or a mountain. climber what happens is when the sun is. directly behind the subject a shadow is. cast on the mountain mist below the. specters are often surrounded by a. rainbow halo this rainbow effect is. called a glory and is caused by sunlight.

refracting off water droplets in the. mist and you can sometimes see this. effect when you fly. if the conditions are right you'll see. the shadow of the plane surrounded by a. glory on the mountain when the sun is. low in the sky like dawn or dusk the. shadow can look huge so could this be. the dark watchers that people are seeing. in the mountains their own shadows nope. i don't know the glories are pretty. spectacular you'd think that would have. worked its way into the story and a. brock inspector will stay there until. the conditions change but everyone who's.

claimed to see a dark watcher says they. disappear very quickly and skeptics have. added other theories like hypoxia. vikings at elevation where there's less. oxygen could be causing hallucinations. they also try to explain that feeling of. being watched as a result of being. exposed to infrasound when wind rushes. down the side of a mountain it can. sometimes create sound under 19 hertz. just below human hearing when exposed to. infrasound especially at high amplitudes. many report feeling anxious even fearful.

others have reported chills running down. their spine but these theories don't. explain how people see dark watchers. from a moving car i'm not saying they're. real but i will admit the scientific. explanations are a little thin i don't. think we can put this one in the. debunked column will be still my hun. and look people who are new to the. channel sometimes think that i'm a. skeptic set out to debunk their favorite. urban legend but that's absolutely not. what i'm here to do i love the legends. as much as anyone but most of all i want.

to know the truth because if we can. debunk 99 of these stories. doesn't that make the other 1. so much more fun. [Music]. thank you so much for hanging out with. me today my name is aj that's hecklefish. this has been the white files if you had. fun or learned anything do me a favor. and like subscribe comment and share. that stuff really helps the channel and. thanks to our patrons for making this. channel possible if you'd like to. support the y files consider becoming a. member on patreon or picking up some.

white files merchandise there are links. in the description we got hecklefish. t-shirts hecklefish mugs hecklefish baby. clothes hecklefish mousepads okay okay. okay okay they get it. hoodies and that's gonna do it until. next time be safe be kind and know that. you are appreciated. [Music].

you.