Location Description and History

Jerome experienced several disasters: fires, epidemics of typhus and scarlet fever, and a landslide provoked by dynamite blasts, destroying many buildings and moving the old jailhouse more than 200 feet downhill, where it remains to this day. Nevertheless the town prospered, and in the 1920s its population was estimated between 4,000 and 5,000, making it one of the largest in Arizona. From 87 miles of mine tunnels and a huge open-pit excavation, an estimated one billion dollars of copper, gold, silver, zinc, and lead were extracted during Jerome's mining days. By the 1950s the richest veins were exhausted. The last mines closed in 1953, depriving Jerome of its reason to exist. It became a ghost town, until hippies, artists, and other wanderers drifted in during the 1960s and 1970s, attracted by the town's unique location and astonishing natural beauty.

They began the huge task of restoring the buildings that still remained. Today, Jerome's population has stabilized at slightly under 500, and it has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the U. S. Department of the Interior, attracting an estimated 200,000 visitors each year.

Jerome, Arizona is built on the side of a mountain some 7,000 plus feet above sea level. It is one of a few ghost towns still standing with original buildings and it boast the historic feeling of taking a step back in time.

The Jerome Cemetery is easily accessible and quite well preserved. Headstones in Spanish and English lie around the hilltop. A veteran of the Spanish America War is interred here, as well as many others.

SGHA was lead to to cemetery by reports of unusual events by several locals. These include:

• Sightings of dark figures moving about the graveyard
• The sound of footsteps that seem to follow you as you walk about the cemetery
• Disembodied voices, especially near the north end of the cemetery

We arrived at the cemetery at dusk. The cemetery was enclosed by steel tube railing, like many older cemeteries. The most recent burial date on any headstone was 1907. We began a systematic search of the area with electromagnetic field meters and a variety of cameras. On two occasions we got readings of 4 milliguass, both near the north end of the cemetery. The team did not experience any of the reported phenomena.

One "suspect" orb was captured on video, although dust and insects were a definite problem that our photographers had to deal with. No EVP were obtained at the site.

	Orb in Cemetery  3.5 MB A bright orb fly by as the group is leaving the cemetery. Click the image on the left to view the video.
	The Mysterious Sigh 6.7 MB This is a short COMEDY clip from the investigation.