Strange Experience at Cellar Hole.

coinman123

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Feb 21, 2013
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New England, Somewhere Metal Detecting in the Wood
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My dad was close by, so I asked him if he wanted to check out a couple cellar holes with me. They were one mile down this really old, stonewall lined narrow dirt road, that you could barely even drive, there was even a sign at the beginning that said something along the lines of "Road Not Maintained: Enter At Your Own Risk". In the time we were there (a little over an hour) we didn't see a single other car or person anywhere. Around a mile down the road (which took about 10 minutes to drive) was the first cellar hole we went to. This one was abandoned between the late 1700's and first half of the 1800's. We were there for half an hour and got no hits, I also felt a weird slightly sad and depressing feeling around this cellar hole. Nothing compared to what I would feel at the next cellar hole I hit though. Anyways, we then decided to drive down to the next cellar hole on the road, which was pretty close by, and used to have a school house on the other side of the road.

Now here is when things got really creepy. We parked in what was once the old dirt driveway of the cellar hole, which was so hard packed that nothing could grow there even after being abandoned since the late 1800's. My dad opened the car door and went into the driveway, and said, "Holy crap! It smells like very strongly like burning sugar or syrup!!" When I came out of the car I smelled the extremely strong, almost unbearable, smell of burning sugar or syrup, completely unmistakable. The smell was only in a small patch of air around the driver side of the car and 20 feet out in the direction of the cellar hole, when I went to grab my metal detector from the trunk, I couldn't smell anything. I came back to where the smell was and still smelled it, unbearably strong, five seconds later and it was completely gone. It didn't even seem to get weaker, it just disappeared suddenly. I would have assumed that the smell was coming from a nearby house, but when I got home I checked a map and realized that there was not a human made structure around for miles. Anyways, I then started metal detecting around the cellar hole, and felt the most depressing horrible feeling I have felt at a cellar hole. It almost felt as if a whole family who lived here all died a horrible dramatic death at once, probably a house fire I guessed afterwards. I actually felt a little sick to my stomach, there was such a negative feeling there. I gave up on a couple holes because I couldn't stand the feeling in that area. I never said anything to my dad about what I was feeling at this cellar hole, but for some reason he left the cellar hole quickly and went to the car for the rest of the hunt. I quickly went to the school house area across the street, I didn't find anything, and didn't pick up much energy coming from the site. I then went back to the other side of the road to the cellar hole, and felt that horrible feeling once again. I also then noticed some very strange symbols carved into a big beech tree next to the cellar hole, that looked to have been there for at least 20 or 30 years, they made me feel even more uneasy. I then got a mild whiff of that burning sugar or syrup smell again, in a different area than before, and decided to leave. The minute I got into the car, everything felt fine again. I am not sure why this cellar hole felt so weird, and what that burning sugar or syrup smell was from, but I am never going back there again.
 

Not trying to be a smartelec , but did your car get hot and you smelled antifreeze? i know my rattle trap old truck if i smell sweetness in the air it means one thing , get a jug.
 

I was thinking a small antifreeze lead onto something hot. It does have a sweet-ish smell to it. (From personal experience.)
 

I'd go with my feelings. If it creeps ya out just move along. Plenty of places that don't make ya feel like that. Good luck.
 

Yeah, been there, different place, different time. Hope nothing stuck to you!
 

Not trying to be a smartelec , but did your car get hot and you smelled antifreeze? i know my rattle trap old truck if i smell sweetness in the air it means one thing , get a jug.

Thanks for telling me this, always helps to have a logically explanation for something. Considering how bumpy the road was, something could have gotten messed up in the workings of the car. I am now going to go outside and check if I have a problem with the antifreeze. Weird that I smelled it in the over a hundred feet from the car in the woods too though, could have been the wind though. Now I am more worried about having an antifreeze leak than a haunting lol!

P.S. The car had an oil change this morning, which might have caused something with the antifreeze too maybe. I took the car out a few more times after going to the cellar hole earlier today, on some dirt roads too, and left it running for sometime. Didn't smell anything except for at that cellar hole.

Edit: I just texted my dad to ask him if he smelled the burning sugar while he was in the car again, and he told me that he didn't smell it at all again, even when he got out once to walk around. I clearly remember smelling it a second time before we left, around 100 feet away from the car. Would you smell antifreeze from inside the car or only outside?
 

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Also, besides the smell there, I don't think I will ever forget the absolutely horrible feeling I had at that cellar hole. I really enjoy the vibe that most long abandoned cellar holes have around them; and all the plants and trees around them, and the smell of the woods help give most cellar holes are really cool atmosphere (especially in the summer and fall). I don't feel nearly as much stuff in woods with no sign of past humans in them. I don't know why, but this cellar hole felt so bad compared to any I have been to before. My dad confirmed that he felt the negativity of this place too, and that is why he went to the car, so I guess that it wasn't just me being crazy. I know I am going to have a hard time sleeping tonight. I really hope nothing followed me, to be sure I will probably say a prayer before going to sleep.
 

Antifreeze is usually ethylene glycol, and yeah it tastes and smells like sugar. Reunite brand screw on cap wine got caught sweetening wine with it in the 80's right before they went out of business.

Engine waterpumps are designed to trickle antifreeze when the bearing wears out. This keeps the pump from seizing up. Sometimes they start trickling intermediately so you might smell it one minute and not the next. Could be your water pump.:dontknow:
 

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio
 

Does the area have maple syrup, evaporator pan burnt and one can smell that gown wind for a long ways.
Been there and done that.
 

Does the area have maple syrup, evaporator pan burnt and one can smell that gown wind for a long ways.
Been there and done that.

It Is one of the most terrible things that can happen to you making syrup. No fun to clean either.
 

Bear hunters use " honey burns" sometimes too.

Anti freeze can smell sweet. Usually smells hot when it is your own vehicle ,and yes you can smell it from inside.

A bad vibe does not put me off if considered part of what no longer exists.....Though one old homestead smelled bad from coon pee drifting out of it and added to the sense of a human home not to be revived.

Relics hinted of former occupants unknown ( though knowing some one who had visited them long before ) and permission had come from a caretaker/ handling offering site for sale.
An old gal showed up......A daughter of former owner ,and was helpful in describing the layout and explaining the previous owners home and business that burned before her dads structure she lived in was built. Their home had a fire too at one time. Not uncommon ,but frequent it seemed on that sight.....
 

Upset stomach, ill feeling, Did you by chance eat any thing that contained maple? Did you by chance hear any strange noise coming in the zone behind you? There may just have been some wind generated very local that had a tendency to move with you.:hello2:
 

Most people detecting with Terry Soloman report a very strong weed smell....coincidence?

Chub
 

I used to believe in many things. Now i question everything, so let me break this down from a skeptical point of view.

Now, before you entered, you read that sign that said enter at your own risk. That PHRASE IS VERY POWERFUL AND CAN SOMETIMES PUT UP PEOPLE'S GUARD(caps not intended).

The first cellar hole you felt depressed(slightly). Most likely the effect of the remoteness of the area. Your mind might have been influenced by the warning subconsciously.

The next cellar hole was more remote. You had a smell of burnt sugar, there could of been someone running a moonshine still out there. A powerful, unusual smell, combined with your already concerned mind compounds your thought processes causing a mild "fight or flight" feeling.

OR

There could be some psychic residue of a family burned to death in a fire and their bodies were never found. They are forever restless, wanting to be discovered!
 

My former employment exposed me to a good bit of this... If it feels bad don't push it. Get out. There are other places to detect. Whether it be spiritual or your own body being "off" that day.... you are given this feeling for a reason. The runes are a somewhat ominous sign. If I may... what area of the country were you in? Western/ Central Mass?
 

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