You may have heard of the Whaley House, rated "the most haunted house in America" by the Travel Channel. So, in our ongoing investigation to find out if ghosts are real, we paid a visit to the San Diego home.
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Before we visited the house, we wanted to learn a bit more about it. The home was constructed by Thomas Whaley in 1857 for him and his wife, Anna.
Since it was first built, the Whaley house has been used for many things, including a courtroom and a commercial theatre. However, its most famous use was as the home of Thomas, Anna, and their children.
Thomas and Anna had three children within the first few years of living in the house. However, Thomas Jr. tragically died at 18 months after suffering from a case of scarlet fever. The same year, Thomas Sr.'s general store burned to the ground after a case of arson.
Devastated by the loss of their child and business, they moved to San Francisco, where they had three more children.
Unfortunately, after an earthquake in San Francisco, the family was forced to move back to the Whaley House.
And the family's tragedy didn't end there. In 1885, Violet Whaley killed herself in the backyard outhouse due to grief over a failed marriage. Thomas Whaley found her dying, and brought her inside the house into the back of the parlor where she passed away.
Over the next 68 years, three members of the Whaley family would die inside the house; Anna Whaley, Francis, and Lillian. So now that we know the history, let's get into why it has the reputation for being the most haunted house in America.
The first ghosts that apparently haunt the Whaley house are Thomas Jr. and Violet. People reported hearing infant cries, seeing a young woman, and also felt a "profound sorrow" when in a certain area of the house.
So, we went into Violet's room. Here, Shane asked Violet to whisper into one of their ears if she was there. (Because Shane is reckless AF).
And though Violet didn't show up then, there were other parts of the house with reported paranormal activity to check out.
Next, we went into the courtroom, where people had reported seeing someone in the jury box. Ryan started to feel like he was "being watched."
Here, things started to get weird. Shane's flashlight went out suddenly... which Ryan hoped was just the result of a dead battery.
However, Ryan started to hear creaking in the unoccupied chair next to him.
And it didn't stop there. Suddenly, Ryan was overcome with an inexplicably strange feeling and started to get dizzy.
A police officer also cited seeing a woman in the back of the house crying, a statement he only revealed after he retired from the force. He said the woman was in period clothing and when he asked her if she was ok, she turned around and smiled as a response. When he illuminated her with his flashlight, she vanished.
There have also been reports that Thomas and Anna Whaley still haunt the house. A tour guide reported while punching in an alarm for the house he heard a woman say, "Why are you here?"
The final ghost who even the Whaley family reported being haunted by was "Yankee Jim."
Yankee Jim was sentenced to hanging after stealing a boat. His death occurred on the same land the Whaley property was built on, and oddly enough... Thomas Whaley was in attendance.
We decided to end the experience in the most haunted room in the house... the parlor where Yankee Jim and Violet breathed their last breaths.
Here, Shane had the brilliant* idea for both him and Ryan to sit alone for five minutes.
But when Ryan was sitting in the room alone... he felt something whisper in his ear, which was recorded on our raw audio.
So...some freaky ish happened to us in the house, but does that mean it is definitively haunted? The case remains unsolved.
