You're in an abandoned gold mine at night, testing a flashlight. You suddenly hear ghostly whispers emanating from the tunnel. What do you do? You get the heck out of the there, which is what YouTube user Frank (no last name given) of the Exploring Abandoned Mines channel does in a video posted on Thursday that has the internet spooked.
Some YouTube viewers say the video makes their skin crawl. "Creepy..! Not of this world!" says Parmezom 77. "OMG that was so scary in the end is this really real??!!!" sevi writes.
Cooler heads on Reddit suggest the sound is an echo, another person hiding in the tunnel, the movements of wildlife or even whispers added in post-production.
Before we all get too creeped out, let's take a peek into the video history of Exploring Abandoned Mines. Most of the entries are pretty straight-up adventures showing the innards of old mines, but a few stand out. There's the time our explorer found an old gun tucked into a beat-up box emblazoned with an occult pentagram. Then there's a video of the Horton Mine in Nevada that purports to include a ghost encounter.
Further evidence of the potential faux nature of the whispers comes from Exploring Abandoned Mines' profile page, which includes this disclaimer: "Everything you see, hear, and read in all my videos is for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied upon or construed as factual, correct, or remotely accurate."
So let's take this as it's offered -- a flashlight review that verges into marketing-stunt territory. If you like "Blair Witch" sort of fodder, then you'll enjoy some of the weirder entries in Exploring Abandoned Mines' video pile. Just don't take them too seriously, and definitely don't start exploring dangerous abandoned mines.
Explorer Frank has yet to comment on the reality or lack of reality in the video. If you still want to decide for yourself, fast-forward to around 12 minutes in.