A family of six joined us on the tour last night. Before we even left the parking lot, one of the teenage girls in the family began having an experience no one expected.
While the rest of her family gathered around Pete and shared some of their own personal experiences, she stayed toward the back. Then she sat down on the ground and began to cry.
Her mother went over to check on her.
"My stomach hurts really bad," she said. "I just feel so sad."
Only moments earlier, she had been fine.
It was 9:00 p.m. — time for the tour to begin. Her mother encouraged her to join the group, and despite the pain and overwhelming sadness, she did.
After Pete finished his introduction, the group left the parking lot and headed into Gatlinburg.
Not long afterward, the girl caught up with Pete.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked.
"Yeah, I feel fine," she said with a smile. "It was just in the parking lot. Once we left the parking lot, I felt fine."
But that wasn't the end of it.
At different locations throughout the tour, similar feelings returned.
One of the pieces of paranormal equipment we use is an Ovilus V (Version 5). At one point during the tour, the girl again said she didn't feel right.
She felt sad.
And this time, she felt hot.
Then a word appeared on her Ovilus:
FIRE
The significance of that word wasn't something she could have known from simply standing there.
In November 2016, a wildfire that began near the Chimney Tops in Great Smoky Mountains National Park spread toward Gatlinburg. Powerful winds drove the fire into and around the city, resulting in widespread destruction and loss of life.
For the girl and her family, what had begun as an unexplained feeling in a parking lot had become much harder to dismiss.
We don't tell people what they have to believe about experiences like this. But after more than 20 years of leading ghost tours in Gatlinburg, we've learned that sometimes a guest experiences a place before they know its story.
When you join us, perhaps Gatlinburg will tell you one of its stories, too.
— Pete Nunweiler