Location Description and History

In 1692 Domingo de Luna came to New Mexico on a land grant from the King of Spain. A few years later, Don Pedro Otero came to Valencia County under similar circumstances. These two families grew, acquired fortunes in land and livestock, and became extremely powerful in politics and prominent in territorial society . The family heads became friends and business associates. The marriages of Solomon Luna to Adelaida Otero, and Manuel A. Otero to Eloisa Luna in the late 1800's united these two families into what became known as the Luna-Otero Dynasty.

In 1880 the Santa Fe Railroad wanted right-of-way through the Luna property. In return for this favor, and because the proposed railroad tracks went squarely through the existing Luna hacienda, the railroad agreed to build a new home to the specifications of Don Antonio Jose and his family. Legend has it that numerous trips through the South by the Luna family inspired the architectural design of the mansion. Whether or not this is true, the building is unique in that, while it is southern colonial in style, its basic construction material is adobe.

Because Don Antonio Jose died in 1881, the first family to occupy the mansion was his oldest son, Tranquilino. After Don Tranquilino's death in Washington while serving in the legislature, younger brother Solomon took the reins of the family. Although Solomon was probably the most famous of the Lunas, he was not very prolific. With no children in his family, control passed to his nephew, Eduardo Otero, in the early 1900's. It was during this time, specifically in the 1920's that the mansion truly became the outstanding building that now exists. During this period the solarium was constructed, the front portico was added, and the ironwork, which once surrounded about five times as much property as it now does, was erected. Responsible for these and other improvements was a talented and creative woman, Josefita Manderfield Otero, wife of Don Eduardo. Josefita, or Pepe as she is affectionately remembered, was a daughter of William R. Manderfield, founder of the Santa Fe New Mexican. This fine lady ruled the mansion with a gentle and loving hand and spent her days caring for her magnificent gardens and applying paint to canvas. There are those in this area who still remember and speak highly of her.

Interview with David Scoville (manager) I came to work at the Luna mansion in 1979 and worked as a kitchen manager until 1983.  I left eventually returned after a three-year absence.  But present position is general manager/owner. I know a lot of history about the mansion and of stories of the ghosts which inhabit it.  The mansion was built by the railroad for the Luna/Otero families between 1878 in 1881 at the cost of $47,000.  It’s a two-story adobe of the Victorian/Southern style. My first personal experience I can recall with the ghost took place in 1980 late at night between the hours of midnight and 1 AM. At the time, I was up on the second floor of the mansion finishing my bartending shift.  All of the patrons had left and I was checking the adjacent rooms and ashtrays for lit cigarettes, tossed wrappers, ect. The mentioned is furnished with beautiful antique chairs, sofas and tables, so let the end of every shift the staff checks for any damage, such as cigarette burns, which might have occurred throughout the day.  Most importantly, we check for smoldering butts.  The danger for fire is significant in a house as old is this.

I was making my rounds in the Northeast room.  There is a nicely decorated Art Deco lamp which sits on the table there.  The lamp has a ribbon of fringe around the base of its shade.  Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the fringe move.  I thought that an employee had failed to turn off the air conditioner, so I reached up towards the vent to see if I could feel cool air coming from it.  There was not any air coming from the vent so I determined that the air conditioner was indeed off.  As I turned around, I spotted the fringe as it began to move again. 

The fringe moved as if the finger was passing around the face of the lamp.  I took a few steps back and all of a sudden there appeared to image of Josefita, the original owner of the house!  Josefita was a person who painted the murals and the paintings which you can see throughout the house.  Josefita was running her finger around the base the lamp.  She was dressed in white clothes.  I immediately ran downstairs and out the front door not bothering to shut off lights and leaving many still in the cash register.  I was scared out of breath.  My hair was on and had felt as if I’d been hit with a hard blow to the stomach.  I can tell you what I remember about her was that she wore no jewelry, her hair was in a bun, and she was just a long white skirt of some kind, something that I imagine women ward during the 1920s. 

She was not translucent as most people imagine a ghost. Josefita appeared as a real person, solid and not vaporous at all.  Because of my fright, I didn't even notice her facial expression, whether she was smiling, frowning or anything.  As I stood out by the front gate I looked up to the second floor and still see her image looking down at me from the a second story window.

I've since discovered that where I saw Josefita’s apparition, is her favorite place to appear.  The upstairs barroom was Josefita’s master bedroom years ago.  Employees and patrons in the bar room has suddenly experienced various names such as goose bumps, cold chills, losing their breath, sensing her presence, are actually seeing her as I did.  After reading the history of Luna mansion, I know Josefita’s bedroom was originally located at the northwest corner of the house.  After her husband died, she moved her bedroom to the North East corner of the house.

Another area where she has been known to make her presence felt or to appear is at the top of the stairs which lead to the second floor barroom.  She had a heart attack in this area.

My second experience took place at about 10 AM in that very spot.  I was carrying two cases of beer up to the second floor.  At the very top the staircase is a door on the right which leads into the attic.  The attic is used as a storeroom for the bar.  As I approached the attic door, I noticed a woman walking from the old bathroom in the upstairs area, which has since been renovated into the bar’s cocktail station.  This woman walked from the cocktail station into the Northeast room.  I was busy carrying the cases of beer up the stairs and thought that the woman was Susie, our housekeeper. I said “Hi Susie”.  I entered the attic/storeroom, I knew that Susie was ahead of me.  I looked directly ahead of me and saw not Susie, but Josefita dressed exactly as I’d previously seen her.  Needless to say, she got me totally by surprise.  I dropped the two cases of beer I had struggled to carry up the stairs.  I ran, rather, I flew out of the room and down the stairs.  Since my second encounter with so Josefita’s ghost, I’Ave spoken to her descendants and described my experience.  They informed me that, yes indeed, it was Josefita because every detail of her dress, and the way she wore her hair in a bun, was exactly the way she was in life.

Another time, I was walking on the grounds late night and made my way to the front of the house.  I felt the eyes of someone staring at me.  I didn't pay it in the mind, until the sense of these eyes became overwhelming.  I glanced towards the mansion and my eyes focused on the second floor windows.  There I spotted the image of Josefita dressed in her white dress gazing down at me. There are other odd, unexplained occurrences which take place at the mansion.  For instance, there are light fixtures where bulbs unexplainably came unscrewed.  I can actually count on certain bulbs becoming unscrewed almost on a nightly basis.  I can walk through the mansion and simply point to light fixtures in the mansion's main dining room which I know will have bulbs unscrewed from their sockets by morning.  The dining room has beautiful large chandeliers

and the chandeliers, for some unknown reason, have attracted the ghost. There are other light fixtures throughout the house with similar unscrew bulbs, but the chandeliers in the main dining room remain the most common. There are other light fixtures throughout the house with similar unscrew bulbs, but the chandeliers in the main dining room remain the most common.

I recall an incident that took place about 1987 during the month of December.  A woman guest was having evening meal with a male friend, her sister and three children.  Our hose seeded them in the main dining room.  The gentleman, who supported a ponytail, was seated by the entrance to the dining room.  He and his companions were served their meals, and always going well until I was asked by the host to visit their table.  This is my duty as restaurant owner and general manager to respond to clients problems and concerns.  As I approach the table, I did notice that the man in his companions were quite still. 

The man stated in a nervous voice that someone had pulled and flipped his ponytail. As he turned his head to look, there was no one visible in the area.  The rest of the fellow diners noticed the action of his hair being pooled, but that was all.  No one saw anyone doing the actual pulling.  As I heard him tell his story, suddenly, the light bulbs in the chandeliers above our heads began to explode one by one, first one, then another, all in succession as if they were being shot out by a BB gun.  Glass reined down upon the diners and their food.  We all covered our eyes from the following glass with our hands and napkins.  After just a few seconds, everything stopped.  I quickly gave my apologies and told them that we would replace their dinners.  To my surprise, the diners remained for the rest of the evening.  The staff quickly brought ladders and replace the exploded  bulbs with new ones.

There have been other incidents that have taken place on the main floor the mansion.  Toward the rear of the kitchen, separated by a wall, is my office. This office was once the water pump room for the mansion.  One night my bookkeeper was in the office going over the books.  I was in the kitchen with one of the cooks what I heard a woman's voice call out my name three times, “David, David, David!”.  Both the cook and I were jolted by the loud noise.  We both assumed some trouble accident had happened to the bookkeeper. We dropped what we were doing, rushed to the office, and quickly opened the door.  The bookkeeper was sitting at her chair, startled by our visit.  I asked her what she wanted.  She answered, “what are you talking about?  What do you mean?”.  I told her I heard her yellow out my name.  “No, I didn't call you”, she said.  Both the ticket I glanced each other without saying anything, excused ourselves and walked back into the kitchen.  No voice called me again but I was uneasy for the rest of the day.

Another incident I recall involve an antique table.  This table belonged to the Mandefield family, the original owners of the mansion.  The table, I'm told, is nearly 300 years old.  It's a large table a can easily seat 15 people.  The table is stored in a locked storage room outside the main house, and is brought out of storage and used in the mansion only for special occasions, such as private parties, etc. For all its beauty and grandeur, this table is not without its own eerie secrets.  I personally arranged flatware and the usual restaurant table decorations upon the table without any problems.  But when the glassware was in place I began to send something was wrong.  As soon as the glasses were in place, they began to explode and send shattered bits of glass throughout the dining room.  After this happened, I noticed other strange things take place.  The large double doors which swing on pivots and open into the kitchen, would fully open wide all by themselves.  Then the water faucets would turn on. Now we can expect any usual things to happen whenever we bring the Mandefield table into the mansion.

In 1980, I hired a bartender, Birdie Tapia, who actually saw the ghost of Josefita face-to-face.  Walking up the stairs to the second floor attic, Birdie went inside to get supplies. As the little room was flooded with light, Birdie's eyes were drawn towards an old rocking chair stored in the room.  Lifting herself off the chair was the ghost of Josefita!  As Birdie tells it, she promptly turned and ran to the door, nevermore to enter the attic/supply room.  Birdie was terrified by the encounter and I'm sure will not forget it.  The rocker has since been moved from the storage room and placed on the second floor stair landing.

Another ghost that I believe haunts the mansion is that of a servant named Cruz. On several occasions after closing for the night, I’ve been called by passersby who have seen a man walking about on the porch of the mansion.  The mansion is surrounded by a  large ornate fence with two large gates that are locked up when I leave. This is happened quite frequently and after a through investigation, I found no one there.

Photographs

Click on the thumbnails to view the larger image

Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)  (Recorded sessions at the investigation site)

Photo taken during second EVP session in  the northeast room.

Two EVP sessions were conducted at the Luna Mansion. The first was conducted near the doorway to the attic/storage room on the second floor. No EVP was found during this session and no abnormalities were photographed during this session. The second EVP session was conducted in the northeast room (second floor). Several good EVP's were recorded although several questions had no reply. There seem to be two distinct voices answering on the EVP which is interesting because a photograph taken during the session showed multiple "orbs". Minor EMF fluctuations, mostly in the ELF range,  also occurred during the taping of the session. The IR video camera was aimed at the corner of the room and did not pick up any activity as it was out of it's viewing range.

Question	Reply	EVP
Who are you?	Badly garbled. Cannot tell	N/A
How old are you?	Sounds like "seven six"
Can you tell me when you were born?	Sounds like "December 5th". Rest of EVP is garbled.
Why are you hanging out here?	No Reply	N/A
Did you used to live here or work here?	No Reply	N/A
What about this room or this house or this area keeps you here?	No Reply	N/A
Would you like us to leave?	Sounds like "Yes"
Do you mind that we're trying to take your picture?	Two responses, sounds like two different voices. First says "No", the other is faint and garbled.
Do you like the changes that have been done to the house?	No Reply	N/A
How long have you been here?	No Reply	N/A
Is there anything you would like to tell us?	The longest segment of EVP that was caught. The voice is a bit garbled and it is difficult to make out what is being said.
Thank You	End of Session	N/A

You can also download the entire EVP session by clicking on the icon to the left. File size is 3,243 KB

Location Maps

General
The activity at the Luna mansion during this investigation is rated between low to medium. However, activity at this location seems to increase during the winter months. Several examples of orb phenomena were captured during the investigation. An outstanding example was recorded during Event 4 (second photo) which shows an orb partially obscured behind the wall at the bottom of the stairs. This rules out the possibilities of lens flare, light refraction, and foreign microscopic particles in front of the lens. 

The  smell of brewing coffee was picked up by several individuals although no coffee was being made in the restaurant. The smell originated on the second floor and could be detected when coming up the stairs. Several cold spots were also felt by several individuals, but thermal scanner readings did not confirm their existence in most cases.

The EVP session provided some interesting results as two distinct voices can be heard while multiple "orbs" were photographed during the session.

Basic Scientific Data
Electromagnetic field fluctuations are well within the normal range for the recorded background readings. Areas where suspect activity was detected showed low levels of electromagnetic energy, typically not over 4 milligauss and mostly likely in the ELF range between 3 - 30 HZ. Spikes of electromagnetic energy in excess of 8 milligauss where detected occasionally near areas of suspect activity. Man made EM fields were controlled by shutting off the power at the circuit breakers. Areas with man made fields that still existed (circuit breakers, power line into the building) were identified and avoided.

Hypothesis for Event 6
IR video obtained during Event 6 may suggest that the odd EM fields are not waves but particles as suggested by Quantum Theory (Einstein's theory). This theory suggests that light has a dual nature: when light is transmitted through space or matter, it behaves like a wave; when light is emitted or absorbed, it behaves like a particle called a photon.
Einstein's photon theory predicts that only the frequency of the light used affects the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons. As the intensity of light is increased, no change is seen in the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons. No photoelectrons are ejected until a minimum value of energy is reached, no matter how great the intensity. after this point, the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons increases linearly as the frequency of light increases.

In Event 6, objects were seen moving and sounds were heard coming from behind the bar. If the energy responsible for these manifestations was undergoing a electromagnetic cascade shower, it would eventually reach the threshold frequency  that would result in the emission of photoelectrons, thus causing the strange "arc" of energy that the IR video camera captured.