Shaking Chandelier Spooks Staff At Winchester Mystery House
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) - A video has surfaced showing a chandelier at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose unexplainably shaking for several minutes. The phenomenon has spooked some people who work at the mansion.
Chris Turner, a staff member who was the only eyewitness, said the incident occurred three weeks ago before closing time. He recorded 18 seconds of video of the chandelier from behind a glass door.
Turner showed fellow staffer Lindsey Huffman, Winchester Mystery House's Marketing Coordinator.
"We weren't having an earthquake," Huffman said. "There's nothing to explain what was happening."
Tour guide Suzanne Hirsh told Huffman that she and four visitors saw another chandelier swaying in another room moments before.
"She's white as a ghost," Huffman said. "At this point, both parties didn't realize they'd experienced the same thing at the same time at different parts of the mansion."
KPIX 5 showed some tourists the video. "I'm undecided. I need to see it for myself," said Claire Shanley of Bend, Oregon.
"The place is haunted right?" asked Tiffany Babinsky of Columbus, Ohio. She said she thought a ghost was to blame.
"I think it's the air conditioning," concluded Melissa Adams of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Huffman said there is no air conditioning at the house or evidence of a prank.
As the story goes, this 160-room mansion with its doors to nowhere and bizarre hallways is home to spirits that the late Sarah Winchester consulted to counter a curse.
"It was very scary," said Huffman. "Once in a while we'll get a door closing or lights flickering but this is the most substantial experience employees have felt at this house in a few years."
In fact, the tour guide who saw the chandelier shaking told Huffman she refuses to lead the last tour anymore.
The mystery has certainly generated plenty of interest: a cable network is scheduled to arrive and do a feature on the house next week.
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