Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Brush with Death

Dale Earnhardt Jr. followed in his father's Dale Earnhardt Sr. footsteps to become a professional race car driver. Inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Earnhardt Jr.won two Daytona 500s and holds 26 NASCAR series wins.

Earnhardt Jr. semi-retired from racing in 2016. During his career he experienced several scary incidents, but it is one fiery crash that he still wonders about till this day.

During a 60-Minutes interview he recounted how this incident has made him a believer in the paranormal.

In 2004, early in his career Earnhardt crashed his corvette during a practice run at the Sonoma Raceway, while preparing for a La Mans Series race. He miscalculated a turn and clipped a nearby wall. Earnhardt Jr.'s car then spun out of control.

On impact, the car's fuel line ruptured and spewed gasoline everywhere, catching fire. Earnhardt dazed managed to unbuckle his seatbelt.

As he lay on a stretcher on the field, he grabbed the collar of a PR rep and screamed at him "to find the man who pulled me from the car." This man confused told him, "Nobody helped you get out."

Earnhardt was then airlifted to California-Davis Memorial Medical Center, where he received treatment for second-degree burns.

Earnhardt still firmly feels someone helped him escape his burning corvette. He distinctly remembers someone grabbing him under his arms, and then pulling him out of the car.

Despite not seeing the man who helped him, he believes it was his father's ghost who assisted him that fateful morning.

The A3 Ghost Crash

This story set off hysteria over twelve years ago in Surrey, England.

On December 11, 2002, the police celebrating their annual Christmas party received multiple phone calls from witnesses reporting they had seen headlights veering off the A3 highway near Guildford.

Car accidents are a common occurrence on this British highway so the police responded to the scene fearing the worst.

When they arrived at the scene, however they found no evidence of a crash. They continued to search the area and they discovered a wrecked maroon Vauxhall Astra which had landed nose-down in a ditch.

Crashed car down in ravine.

This car, which apparently careened off the highway, was covered in leaves and undergrowth. The police discovered a decomposed human body inside this car. *

So this was not a recent accident. The police determined it had actually occurred five months before they found the car.

Rumors fueled by the media were circulated that the lost soul in this car had drawn attention to his final resting place by reenacting the accident—where his car lost control.

So was it phantom headlights that all these witnesses saw heading off the highway?

The reporting by the national press set off hysteria over this supposed ghost car sighting. The Surrey Police however have never connected the Vauxhall Astra they discovered to paranormal activity.

Despite this, the story is now firmly embedded in British ghost folklore.

Witnesses to this unexplained sight in 2002 still state that they think about it every time they drive on this stretch of the A3.

*  The body found in the car was determined from dental records to be 21-year old Christopher Brian Chandler from Middlesex. The police wanted him for robbery.

A Brother’s Intervention

This story has been told since the 1960s.

A brother killed in a car accident 20 years before this incident is credited with saving his sister’s life.

While driving at high speed a tire blew out on the car she drove. She skidded out of control—her car careened down a ditch through dead brush and tall trees.

As this horrifying scene unfolded, she heard her brother’s voice state clearly, “Undo your seatbelt, now.”

Without thinking, she obeyed his command—she unclipped her belt. At that moment her body “like a ragdoll” took flight and landed in the car’s backseat.

The car came to an abrupt stop and flipped over. It had landed in a residential backyard. Hearing her cries for help the owner of the nearby home managed to pull her battered and bruised body from the window of the wrecked car.

When the emergency crew arrived, they were at a loss as to how she had survived the crash. The driver’s side of the car was crushed and smashed into pieces.

She told her rescuers that her brother had saved her life. If she hadn’t unclipped her seatbelt when she had, she would have been killed.

They listened but were skeptical about her story.

This woman has never changed her story. To this day, she believes if her brother had not spoken when he had, she would not be alive to tell her tale.

The Inspiration for the Mel Meter

The Mel Meter is my favorite piece of equipment to use when ghost hunting.

Gary Gaika

Gary Gaika invented this meter. Gaika is an Electrical Engineer that lives in East Granby, Connecticut with his wife Cindy and daughters.

He invented the Mel Meter out of a grief-stricken need. In 2004, his eldest daughter Melissa aged 17 died in a car crash.

Just days after her death the Gaika family started to experience unexplained phenomenon in their Connecticut home.

Melissa Gaika

They felt Melissa’s ghost was haunting their home. She rang the doorbell, changed the channels on the TV and turned the lights on and off. None of these things happened before Melissa’s death.

At one point Cindy was making lunch with her other two daughters, Jennifer and Heather when they all felt an unseen presence enter the room.

Gary stated when he lies in bed he sometimes feels the weight of someone sit down on his side. Then he feels the pressure of a head against his chest.

He has had his shoulder tapped, and everyone in the family has heard their names called. They all also have felt someone kissing their foreheads.

The youngest daughter, Heather has seen Melissa’s apparition in the home on three different occasions.

In an attempt to communicate with his daughter--knowing she was still present--Gary used his expertise to build a series of electromagnetic detection devices.

One of which is the Mel Meter named after his deceased daughter Melissa.

Eight years after Melissa’s death Gary used one of his devices--a spirit box-- he invented to record Melissa talking to him. She said, “Hi Daddy, I love you.”

Three of Gary's inventions.

Gaika sells his devices from $79 to $350. His meters, the Kll and Mel have been highlighted on the Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters television shows. To date, Gary has invented over 30 devises for ghost hunters to use.

Gary states he knows not everyone will believe that Melissa’s ghost was present in their home, but he points out his entire family drew comfort from these encounters.

Oklahoma: Puckett’s Ghost

An American television series, “My Ghost Story” highlights people who have witnessed something strange that they feel is paranormal in nature. 

This show is compelling because most of these witnesses are not ghost hunters. Instead, they are people who are recounting a story that took them off guard or by surprise. 

The stories these people share are good examples that hauntings occur more often than most people realize.

One episode that stands out is about a ghost that was spotted at Puckett’s Wrecker Service located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 

On June 30, 2002, a resident of Oklahoma City, Tracy Martin, a 33-year old mother of twins, tragically sustained fatal injuries when she fell asleep at the wheel of her truck which then crashed. 

The police investigation determined that if Mrs. Martin had been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash her injuries most likely would not have been fatal. 

Her wrecked red truck was towed to Puckett’s auto storage lot.

Eighteen days later on July 18 an overnight dispatcher at Puckett's, Kathy Henley saw a strange and startling image on the companies surveillance monitor. She watched as a female figure wearing overalls floated around the cars parked in the wrecking yard. 

This image was recorded the same day the truck had been moved to the front lot so Martin’s insurance company could pick it up. Employees came to believe that what they were seeing was Tracy Martin looking for her truck.

Martin’s family after viewing the images the security camera caught were convinced it was their relative. They stated that Tracy was wearing her favorite overalls that she had worn in a recent family portrait. 

They felt that it was just like Tracy to try and send them a message.

Since this surveillance video was captured, many paranormal researchers have viewed it. They all agree that it is authentic. 

On the other hand, one skeptical group feels that this image is faked. They state that it is just the old stage illusion called Pepper's Ghost. In another post entitled, Pepper's Ghost Illusion, I wrote about this illusion and how it works.

When this story aired on “My Ghost Story,” they interviewed Kathy Henley and other witnesses, including a police officer. These two share what they saw on the monitor.  

Four cameras were filming the area that night, and only one picked up the image. The officer points out that this image was shot at almost the exact time when Martin's accident had happened and that he could see through the image to items behind it.

Here is a news report that interviews one witness and shows the image the video captured. 

James Dean’s Cursed Car

On September 23, 1955, the British actor Alec Guinness met James Dean, a teen idol, and an up and coming American actor outside a Hollywood restaurant. 

Dean invited Guinness to take a look at his new car, a silver Porsche Spyder, a much-coveted vehicle that had been built for speed and racing. Dean called his new vehicle, “The Little Bastard.”

Guinness upon inspecting the car became very agitated, and he told Dean, “if you get in that car, you will be dead in it by this time next week.” Alec Guinness’ advice was spot on for seven days later, Dean was dead at the age of 24. 

He was killed in a head-on collision with another car. The Spyder was wrecked. Guinness was not the first to warn Dean about the vehicle, several of Dean’s friends had already warned him about driving it. 

The irony is Dean, an avid racing enthusiast, had only bought the Spyder as a substitute until the Lotus he had ordered arrived. He owned the car a total of just nine days before the accident.

George Barris whose specialty was customizing vehicles bought The Little Bastard, which was now poorly mangled. He had customized the 550 Porsche for Dean before his death. 

Barris hesitated over the purchase admitting to friends, the car gave him “a bad feeling.” His gut feeling was right because as the wrecked car was unloaded from the delivery truck at his garage, it slipped and fell on one of his mechanics, breaking both of his legs. 

Dean’s Spyder was salvaged for parts, and the curse continued curiously in these separate parts. 

During a race in October of 1956, a doctor by the name of Troy McHenry drove a car with salvaged parts from Dean’s Spyder’s, his rival in this race, William Eschrid’s Lotus contained the engine from the Porsche. 

McHenry was killed when his car skidded out of control and hit a tree. Eschrid’s car turned over, and he suffered critical injuries. He stated later that the car suddenly “locked up.”

Shortly after this race, a youngster slipped and injured his arm while trying to steal the Porsche’s steering wheel. 

Barris reluctantly sold two of the Spyder’s tires. A few days later both these tires blew out at the same time, the odds of two tires blowing at the same time is considered a very unusual occurrence, the driver of this car barely escaped death.

In light of these accidents, Barris considered sinking what remained of the wreckage in the Pacific Ocean. Still, instead, he loaned the car to the National Safety Council for an exhibition on road safety. 

During this time, the garage where Barris was storing the wreckage burned to the ground. Every vehicle in this garage was destroyed except for the Spyder.

The curse continued when a truck driver who was hauling the wreckage died. His truck skidded off the road, and he was thrown from the cab, at which point the wrecked car fell off the flatbed crushing him. 

What remained of the Spyder, mysteriously disappeared from the back of another truck. 

This eerie disappearance appears to have ended the curse, but since it is not known what happened next, this story is left with unanswered questions.