Post by Melissa Foxworthy on Dec 2, 2007 18:43:21 GMT -5
An elderly woman and her infant grandchild were sitting in the kitchen of their village home when suddenly the child cried out excitedly.
The innocent eyes of the child had seen nothing more than a diverting new game. But it was a game that terrified the old lady, and developed into a mystery for which scientists, despite every test, have as yet been unable to find any natural explanation. It happened in the village of Belmez not far from the city of Cordoba in Southern Spain, on a hot morning of August 1971.
What the child had seen was a human face, which had spontaneously imprinted itself on the pink floor tiles – a face with trouble features, infinitely sad. No recognisable pigment of any kind had formed the image, and when the family tried to rub it out, they were horrified to find that the eyes only opened wider and the expression grew even more sorrowful.
Alarmed and bewildered, the owner of the house tore up the floor and replaced the sinister tiles with concrete. But three weeks later a second face emerged; this time with even more clearly defined features. The local authorities became involved. They ordered a section of the floor to be cut away. Workmen dug the floor up, uncovering the remains of a medieval cemetery.
Meanwhile a third apparition took place, then a fourth then a series of faces all together. The kitchen was locked and sealed. Four more faces, including that of a woman, appeared just as mysteriously in another part of the house.
But they were the last: the phenomenon melted away as inexplicably as it had begun.
No one has yet come forward with a really satisfying explanation of the Faces of Belmez. All the experts have been able to suggest is that the house was once the scene of some tragic and terrible incident.
The innocent eyes of the child had seen nothing more than a diverting new game. But it was a game that terrified the old lady, and developed into a mystery for which scientists, despite every test, have as yet been unable to find any natural explanation. It happened in the village of Belmez not far from the city of Cordoba in Southern Spain, on a hot morning of August 1971.
What the child had seen was a human face, which had spontaneously imprinted itself on the pink floor tiles – a face with trouble features, infinitely sad. No recognisable pigment of any kind had formed the image, and when the family tried to rub it out, they were horrified to find that the eyes only opened wider and the expression grew even more sorrowful.
Alarmed and bewildered, the owner of the house tore up the floor and replaced the sinister tiles with concrete. But three weeks later a second face emerged; this time with even more clearly defined features. The local authorities became involved. They ordered a section of the floor to be cut away. Workmen dug the floor up, uncovering the remains of a medieval cemetery.
Meanwhile a third apparition took place, then a fourth then a series of faces all together. The kitchen was locked and sealed. Four more faces, including that of a woman, appeared just as mysteriously in another part of the house.
But they were the last: the phenomenon melted away as inexplicably as it had begun.
No one has yet come forward with a really satisfying explanation of the Faces of Belmez. All the experts have been able to suggest is that the house was once the scene of some tragic and terrible incident.