6 Real Found Footage Cases That Will Haunt You

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6 Real Found Footage Cases That Will Haunt You    #FoundFootage #DisturbingTruths #RealHorror #CreepyDiscoveries #UnsettlingFootage #LostTapes #TerrifyingTruth #TrueTerror #HiddenEvidence #CinematicHorror

Transcript

00:00On August 15, 1989, a family of three was driving along Interstate 205 near Stockton,

00:06California when their car began to overheat. Forced to pull over, the father popped the

00:11hood to check the damage. It didn't take long to realize they needed professional help.

00:16Leaving the mother behind to stay with the car, the father and his young son set out on foot to

00:20find a payphone. As they walked, the boy noticed something unusual, a camouflage jacket discarded

00:26by the side of the road. This piqued his curiosity and he went over to take a closer look, only to

00:32find an unmarked VHS tape sticking out from one of its pockets. The boy picked up the tape and later

00:38brought it back to his home. By this point, his parents were also curious about what they'd find

00:43on this seemingly abandoned tape. So, they inserted it in their home VHS player and pressed play.

00:49However, the contents of the tape were far darker than what they could have imagined.

00:53Now, the original unedited video has never been made available online, but there are different

00:59pieces from various sources that I've done my best to put together. It opened with the camera

01:04pointed at a massive fire at night, with what I can only assume is the cameraman saying some ominous

01:09stuff. A bit into the video, the camera refocused and the source of the fire became clear. It was a

01:29single story home that looked like it was still under construction before it caught fire.

01:33Meanwhile, the cameraman kept talking and the longer he spoke, the more unsettling it became.

02:03Later in the video, you could also hear fire trucks arriving at the scene and the cameraman

02:07commenting on it before ending the video with a direct threat to the viewer.

02:11The tape then abruptly cut to the scene from the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street.

02:41It wasn't clear if the fire video was taped on top of the movie or if this was a deliberate edit.

02:46However, one thing was clear. The frightening video was filmed by the person who set the house on fire.

02:52The family handed over the tape to the police and told them exactly where and how they found it.

02:57Detectives went back to the location and sure enough, the family's story checked out. The jacket

03:02was still there. But the detectives also found many other items near the jacket, including a wooden

03:08pestle, a glove, a cassette of metal music, and a ceramic skull. They also watched the video itself,

03:15and it was unlike anything they had seen before.

03:18I've never run across anything as eerie as this tape. Frightened me, as a matter of fact.

03:25I thought about it that night when I went to bed.

03:28Unfortunately, the poor filming conditions and shaky nature of the footage prevented them from

03:32extracting any meaningful clues about the location of this fire. Despite a frame-by-frame analysis,

03:38investigators were unable to match the tape with any reported fires in the state of California.

03:43For all they knew, the fire could have happened anywhere in the U.S.

03:46As for the motive behind this action, the constant talk of hell and evil led the investigators to

03:52believe that it had something to do with Satanism. And while this might sound a bit far-fetched today,

03:57you have to remember that back in the 1980s, major acts of evil from devil worshippers was a real

04:02concern for many people. But without any leads, this was nothing more than a theory.

04:07So, after exhausting all other options, investigators decided to enlist the help of

04:11the media and featured the story on the popular TV show Unsolved Mysteries in September of 1990.

04:17And this worked better than the cops could have ever imagined. Within two hours of the episode

04:22airing, investigators received over 1,000 calls from viewers with potential leads. Among these

04:281,000 plus callers was a man named Ed Tarantino, who got shaken to his core after seeing the found

04:34footage on TV. Because he lived next to the burning house in Redwood City, California,

04:40some 80 miles west to where the tape was originally found. More importantly, the show also led the

04:45investigators to the owner of the under-construction home that was burning in the video,

04:49Bill Otherly, who described the incident as the act of a crazy person.

04:53And turned up, it's my house that's on the videotape. And then he heard the voice of this

04:59individual. And you go, this guy ain't playing with a full deck.

05:03This was an extremely expensive loss for Bill. The fire had completely destroyed his under-construction

05:09home, costing him $900,000, which is about $2.5 million in today's money. Meanwhile,

05:16the Redwood City Fire Department also confirmed the incident. As it turns out, the fire department

05:21had captured their own footage of the incident for use in future training. And parts of this

05:25fire department footage matched the mysterious tape. Cross-referencing the two videos also revealed

05:31that the arsonist was just about 50 feet away from the fireman when he recorded his video.

05:35Now, all that remained was to capture the culprit. But that wasn't going to be easy. According to the

05:48owner of the fire department reports, the arson attack happened in August of 1988, which is an

05:53entire year before the tape was found on the side of the road. The only lead the investigators had on

05:58the suspect was the name he mentioned in the video, Omar. It wasn't much, and for a while it

06:19seemed like a dead end. That is, until the police received a new tip from Doris Lance, another person

06:24who saw the Unsolved Mysteries episode on TV. She suspected that the Omar mentioned in the video

06:30was referring to a 17-year-old boy who lived in the area. And when the police brought him in for

06:35questioning, he cracked almost immediately and told them everything. Omar claimed that he was silently

06:40standing off camera when the video was filmed, and that it was his 19-year-old friend who started

06:45the fire and recorded the video. The investigators were finally getting close to the perpetrator.

06:50But they needed more evidence before making their move, so they started tailing the alleged arsonist,

06:55observing him from a distance. However, he likely caught wind of the police because soon after

07:00the monitoring started, his garage burned to the ground. At that point, the police had no choice

07:05but to act. On September 27, 1990, they confronted the 19-year-old directly. And just like Omar,

07:12he folded without much of a fight and confessed to everything. One thing I should point out is that

07:17the authorities never publicly revealed the identities of the two boys, so I'll call the

07:21arsonist John for the sake of convenience. After going through John's home, investigators also found

07:27tons of incriminating evidence that linked them to not only the Redwood City Fire, but similar arson

07:32attacks on 11 other structures and 15 grass fires. This evidence included things like a picture of

07:38graffiti on a wall stating, please no more houses, and a news clipping pinned to the wall about recent

07:43arsons, which the two boys likely caused. But that wasn't all. In the burned-down garage, they discovered

07:49bloodied knives and mutilated animal parts. They also found tapes containing disturbing footage of John

07:55dressing up as a satanic vampire and threatening a humanoid sculpture with a knife.

08:00How you doing, father? I hope you're doing real good.

08:04But not all of the footage was so theatrical. One of the most notable clips showed the two boys

08:12goofing around in an open field.

08:14And now, to finish the job.

08:22That field, as it turned out, was being transformed into a housing development.

08:27It's likely the boys were furious about the changes and decided to take matters into their

08:31own hands by torching under-construction homes to stop the developments. This would also explain

08:36the eerie graffiti I mentioned earlier. However, since both of them were minors when they started

08:41those fires, they were tried as juveniles despite the severity of their crimes. Omar was sent to

08:46juvenile detention, while John was deemed mentally unwell and was admitted to a mental institute.

08:51What happened to the two after that, we don't know. I've seen some claims that John was released

08:56from the mental institute and died in a car accident in 2017. And while there's no direct

09:01evidence to back this claim, I did find a news report of a hit and run in Redwood City from

09:05January of 2017. The victim of this incident was 45 years old, which aligns perfectly with the age

09:11John would have been in 2017. But, if this is completely unrelated and John is still alive,

09:18I seriously doubt he'd reveal himself now just to satisfy the curiosity of randoms on the internet.

09:23As for the tape itself, it's still unclear how it found its way on the side of the interstate.

09:33On August 23rd, 1987, a pair of backpackers were hiking south of the Junco Lake trailhead in the

09:39mountains near the tiny town of Tabernash, Colorado. However, what might have seemed like an ordinary

09:44hike quickly turned into an unforgettable experience that would stay with them for the rest of their

09:49lives. The two came across the wreckage of a crashed plane with parts scattered everywhere.

09:54They informed the authorities about the find, prompting a complete search of the area for

09:58evidence of what happened to this plane and when. While Dale Wood, a Colorado deputy sheriff,

10:03was investigating the area, his attention was drawn to a VHS tape hanging from a tree.

10:09Most of the tape's insides had come out and were tangled in the branches. But he recovered everything

10:14he could and brought it back for restoration to a somewhat playable condition. And the footage was

10:19disturbing to say the least. The VHS contained the last moments of two men who went missing three years

10:24ago, the 36-year-old James Jeb Cottle and his similarly aged passenger, Ronald Hugh Willmond.

10:30On August 10, 1984, the two flew from the Granby Airport with the Jeffco Airport as their destination

10:36on a small Cessna L-19E Bird Dog airplane. However, they never arrived at this destination.

10:43Multiple search parties were deployed to their approximate route, but none were able to find

10:47any evidence of what happened to James and Ronald. What made their disappearance even more mysterious

10:52was the fact that the plane had an emergency locator transmitter, a device that would have broadcast

10:56its location in the case of a crash. However, the authorities never received the signal from this device,

11:01and their case remained cold for almost three years. That is, until the pair of backpackers

11:06found the wreckage, which in turn led to the discovery of the VHS tape. The footage starts

11:11off quite normal, with the pilot commenting on things he sees from the cockpit.

11:14Oh, look at that down there, Ronnie, on the left. Nice little lake and a cabin.

11:27Little dead trees down there.

11:36A whole bunch of back up in here, little beetles.

11:39Very pretty little light.

11:44However, around five minutes into the footage, things start to go wrong, as the ground starts

11:52coming closer and closer.

12:08Experts analyzed this footage to find out what went wrong, and apparently the pilot failed

12:12to account for density altitude before taking off. For those that aren't familiar with aviation

12:17lingo, think of density altitude as the thickness of the air. When it's hot, humid, or a higher

12:22altitude, the air becomes thinner, making it harder for planes to fly well. Pilots use density

12:27altitude to know how their plane will perform, like how much runway they need or how much weight

12:31they can carry. On the day of the crash, the density altitude around Tabernache was 13,000 feet.

12:36In other words, the air was as thin as it would be at an altitude of 13,000 feet. James failed to account

12:42for this massive difference. When his plane came across rapidly rising mountains around 10,200 feet

12:48above sea level, he wasn't able to lift the plane in time to fly over them safely. The footage showed

12:53how he tried to quickly turn back, but stalled the plane's engine in the process, resulting in it

12:57turning over and crashing into the trees.

13:00The footage also explained why the emergency locator transmitter didn't work. The plane flipped upside down

13:25just before the crash, which damaged the transmitter, preventing it from signaling for help. It was a

13:30unfortunate incident all around. The only potentially good thing that came out of this is that James

13:35Connell's family authorized this found footage to be used in flight instructor training. So,

13:40maybe somebody's life was spared because they saw this footage and remembered to adjust for density

13:45altitude before taking off.

13:47On the 31st of May, 2013, the loud noise of a tornado siren was echoing through the streets of El

13:57Reno, Oklahoma. Meteorologists were predicting a potential multiple vortex tornado that might

14:02touch down in the area. And while this was bad news for the residents of El Reno, the rarity of such an

14:08event also attracted a lot of storm chasers from around the United States. This also included a three-man crew of

14:14storm chasing experts, the 55-year-old Tim Samaris, his 24-year-old son Paul Samaris, and their partner

14:2045-year-old Carl Young. The three had extensive experience in safely chasing twisters and gathering

14:25valuable data from them. They were also a part of the Discovery Channel's storm chasers and were heavily

14:30involved in the show from seasons three to five. In May of 2013, the trio had actually arrived in the stormy

14:36area many days earlier to thoroughly analyze the storm before giving chase.

14:42Oh, I'd say this is the one. Oh yeah. This is gonna be the storm of the day right here. This is gonna do it, I think.

14:51Unfortunately, the May 31st twister wasn't something they could have predicted, even with their vast knowledge

14:56and experience. It started around 6pm when an EF3 tornado touched down in El Reno, marking the beginning of the chase.

15:02However, it wasn't long before the tornado started becoming more volatile.

15:18What was supposed to be a category EF3 quickly turned into an EF5, which is the most intense a tornado can get.

15:24But even the title of EF5 cannot fully demonstrate the terrifying scale of this particular twister.

15:30By the time it stopped growing, the El Reno tornado had a radius of 2.6 miles, the largest in recorded history.

15:37It also had a wind speed of 313 miles per hour or over 500 kilometers per hour.

15:42Carl and the Samaras brothers were attempting to ride parallel to the tornado to observe from a safe distance.

15:48Unfortunately, the twister made an unexpected turn and started coming towards their car.

15:52They tried everything in their power to escape safely. But sadly, it was too late.

15:58The tornado flung the car into the air, sending it barreling across the El Reno region.

16:02After the storm had passed, search parties found their car, which was reduced to 60% of its original size.

16:08And while Tim's body was found strapped inside the vehicle, Paul and Carl's bodies were found half a mile east and west of the car.

16:15All three had tragically passed away in the incident.

16:19After some more searching, authorities also found a camera, which was miraculously still recording.

16:24And after reviewing the footage, it became clear that it had recorded Tim, Paul and Carl's final moments.

16:30Now, as far as I could tell, the raw footage from this camera has not been released to the public.

16:35And no one has leaked it anywhere on the internet.

16:37But a select few people have seen the footage, including the crew's close friend, Gabe Garfield.

16:43According to him, he could hear Carl talking about how eerily calm the air around them had become in the moments before their end.

16:49To which Tim replied, actually we're in a bad spot, before uttering his final words, we're going to die.

16:55To this day, the story of Tim, Paul and Carl serves as a stark warning to aspiring storm chasers, highlighting the immense danger of their pursuit.

17:04Even a team of industry-leading veterans couldn't withstand the unpredictable fury of a twister.

17:10On the 1st of June, 2024, a YouTube channel by the name of Found Memories uploaded a video titled,

17:20Tape 92, Found Footage, Jason Sleeping.

17:24The video is timestamped for 9.27pm on April 22nd, 2007, and opens with the cameraman placing the camera in a way that faces a sleeping child.

17:33Aside from the sleeping child turning a few times, nothing happens for the rest of this nearly 30 minute video.

17:59There's not even any unusual sound in the background or anything.

18:03Now, despite the footage being completely uneventful, something about this whole thing is inherently unsettling.

18:09The lack of context and the uncomfortable silence can easily turn this into nightmare fuel if you have an active enough imagination.

18:16According to the description of the video, the original tape was simply labeled as Jason Sleeping.

18:21The uploader also gave an explanation for where they found the footage, stating,

18:25Found in a box full of abandoned camcorder videos, uploading to archive the footage.

18:30Perhaps one day someone connected to the video will see it and appreciate it.

18:34And while this provides some much needed context, it still leaves the biggest question unanswered.

18:39Why would anyone record 30 minutes of a child sleeping?

18:43So, I decided to dig a bit further.

18:45The first thing that came to mind is that this is just another one of those staged, artsy, analog horror type videos.

18:51However, after going through the channel that posted this video, I don't think that's the case.

18:56The channel, Found Memories, was created fairly recently in April of 2024.

19:00The About section of the channel reads,

19:03Uploading media I've found to archive and maybe one day the original owners will find it and appreciate it.

19:08I've acquired thousands of videotapes and media over the years from various places.

19:12Pawn shops, private sellers, auctions, and thrift stores to name a few.

19:16I recently had the idea to start this channel as a way to start archiving them and actually do something with them.

19:21Maybe one day someone connected to them will find them.

19:24And this seems to be the truth.

19:26At the time of writing, this channel has uploaded over 180 different videos.

19:31And almost all of them are extremely unique in some way.

19:34From children opening their Christmas presents in 1991 to a whole wedding.

19:39However, almost none of these random videos are creepy or scary with the sole exception of Jason sleeping.

19:45I highly doubt the owner of this channel filmed or acquired hundreds of random tapes just to sneak in one obscure horror video.

19:52So, they're likely telling the truth about finding the tape.

19:55But if it's not an artsy horror flick, what is it?

19:58Now, while it might be easy to drum up some creepy stalker story, the real explanation might be a lot simpler.

20:04More specifically, this was likely recorded by a parent who wanted to observe the sleeping patterns of their child.

20:09Maybe to see if they sleepwalk or talk during their sleep.

20:12Many comments under the video also agree with this explanation.

20:16With one commenter even providing a personal anecdote to validate this theory.

20:20Stating,

20:21I'm sure they recorded to catch him sleepwalking or talking.

20:24When I was nine, I woke up in my mom's closet.

20:26My mom about had a heart attack when she opened the door and asked me why I was there.

20:30I said, I don't know.

20:31She thought I was lying, so one night she videotaped me.

20:34But I didn't do it.

20:35It was a one-time thing for me.

20:37Also, it could be paranormal reasons.

20:39Kid been waking up with scratches, bites, could be anything.

20:43Nine times out of ten, there's really no creepy reason parents record kids.

20:47Not saying it doesn't happen now, but just way less likely.

20:50But at the end of the day, we really don't know and can't know the motives of this unnerving found footage.

20:56Maybe the channel owner's wish will come true one day and Jason or the person who recorded this footage will find this video and reveal the truth in the comments.

21:07In August of 2021, YouTuber Rich Aloha was filming one of his signature diving videos in a pool under a waterfall in Foster Falls State Park, Tennessee.

21:17He was excited to jump in the water in hopes of finding some treasure like a drone or an iPhone.

21:22But what he uncovered instead was a lot more disturbing.

21:25After looking around on the lake floor for some time, he saw something unusual sticking onto the ground, which turned out to be a GoPro camera.

21:32The GoPro had clearly been in there for a while, plus the outer shell had massive cracks, which allowed water to get in and fry every electronic component.

21:39But before Rich threw the broken GoPro away, he decided to remove its SD card and plug it in, just in case it somehow survived the months underwater.

21:47And to his surprise, it was actually fully functional and had the footage of the adventures of a young man.

21:53This turned out to be 22-year-old Richard Ragland, who tragically lost his life two years earlier, drowning while swimming beneath that very waterfall.

22:01In fact, the footage Rich uncovered had Richard's final moments in water.

22:05We can actually see him getting visibly exhausted and struggling to stay afloat near the end.

22:09The camera likely recorded his final breaths as well.

22:12However, from my research, the complete footage isn't available anywhere online.

22:16And even if it was, it wouldn't be something I could show here on YouTube.

22:19Rich likely never released the complete recording out of respect for Richard and his family, which I fully understand.

22:25And while the death of such an upbeat young man is sad, at least his family got to see his last happy moments on this planet, thanks to Rich finding the footage.

22:34On the 30th of September 2019, at 4.06pm, the police in Anchorage, Alaska received a call from a woman claiming to have found evidence of a horrific crime.

22:48The woman who called the police was 47-year-old Valerie Kassler.

22:52She claimed that she was walking around Fairbank Street when she found an SD card lying on the ground.

22:57She picked it up and saw the words, Homicide at Midtown Marriott written on it, and thought that it might be the title of some obscure horror movie.

23:04However, nothing could have prepared her for the horrifying content that came up when she plugged in the card to view its contents.

23:11According to the reports, the card had 39 images and 12 videos, all from the same crime scene, of horrible things being done to a woman in a hotel room.

23:20The person behind the gruesome footage stayed off camera, but his unmistakable voice and distinct accent were clear in the videos.

23:27And while these videos were never released to the public, the person recording them would have sounded something like this.

23:32There through those trees, you'll see the doctor's house.

23:37He's like a heart surgeon or brain surgeon or something.

23:40There's the other neighbors.

23:43And there's the tree in front of the house.

23:47And there's the other neighbors.

23:50This is the voice of Brian Steven Smith, who quickly became the number one suspect in the case.

23:55Apparently, he had called the Anchorage Police Department a few days before the SD card was found and complained about someone stealing his stuff.

24:01So, when the cops were reviewing the footage, someone from the station recognized his voice.

24:05The person who found the SD card also recognized the carpet pattern of the hotel in the pictures.

24:10It was the town place Suites by Marriott, which was located just a five-minute walk from where the card was found.

24:16Cops went to this hotel, and sure enough, Brian was checked into the hotel on the day the horrific pictures and videos were taken.

24:23Further investigation into Brian revealed that he was an immigrant from South Africa and had received U.S. citizenship less than a year earlier.

24:30He was also working as the manager of a different Marriott hotel in Anchorage.

24:33The police also found the discarded remains of his victim during this time.

24:37Unfortunately, he had gone on vacation with his wife the day the SD card was found.

24:41However, he was arrested seconds after landing at the airport in Alaska and charged with over 13 felonies for his unspeakable crimes.

24:48Police also revealed the identity of his victim, the 30-year-old Alaskan native named Kathleen Jo Henry.

24:54Brian pled not guilty, but the evidence against him was too substantial for him to walk free.

24:59However, just as he was about to face justice, Valerie Kessler gave a testimony that could have complicated this case even further.

25:06If you remember, she originally claimed to have found the SD card lying on the road.

25:10In reality, she was hired by Brian as an escort.

25:13On her way out, she stole his phone.

25:15When she went through his phone, likely to clear it, she came across evidence of his monstrous deeds.

25:20But she did not want to get involved in such a massive case, so she copied the files to an SD card and came up with the entire found footage storyline.

25:27Fortunately, the case against Brian was already strong enough to withstand this revelation,

25:31and he was finally sentenced to 226 years in prison in July of this year.

25:36And while this would not undo the pain and suffering Kathleen went through,

25:39at least now her family can rest easy knowing that the monster who did this to her is running in prison.

25:45Thank you very much.

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