Good Morning Everyone! Today, we are going to talk about probably one of the most famous cases, in which, to this day is still highly debated on. Debated on what you might ask? Whether or not this was a true paranormal experience, or a massive case of pareidolia.
Now, for those of you who did not read yesterday’s post about what exactly pareidolia is, I would consider checking that one out before continuing!
Now that you’re all caught up, let’s dive in!
Also known as the Faces of Belmez, this sensation took place in Spain in the early 1970s. In late 1971, Maria Gómez Cámara was in her family home, located in a small Andalusia village, when she noticed a stain starting to form on her kitchen’s concrete floor. At first, she simply tried to clean the stain away, but with little success, she moved on. As days went by, something odd started to occur. This ‘stain’ that sat on the kitchen floor started to form into something a little more unnatural. It started to form into what seemed to be a very eerie resemblance of a man’s face.
According to the story, Maria was so shocked and horrified by the ordeal, that her husband, Juan Pereira, along with the help of their son destroyed the floor with a pickaxe and rebuilt it with a fresh layer of concrete. With a sigh of ease, knowing the face was gone for good, the Pereira family moved on with their lives. That is of course, until a new face appeared shortly after.
Once the second face appeared, word started to spread around the small village of this otherworldly phenomenon. It wasn’t long before the Pereira family home became the sight of spectators and curious visitors who all wanted to witness the face for themselves. Even the mayor was informed of these happenings, and that was when this whole ordeal officially started to blow up.
The Mayor told the Pereira family that the second ghostly image should not be destroyed, it instead should be removed in order to be properly investigated. Once the slab of concrete was removed, the village decided to go one step further and excavate the entire floor of the kitchen to see for themselves what may be lurking below the house’s foundation. Clearly at this point it seemed that the town was more fearing of the faces and how they magically came to be, rather than skeptical.
This was where everything took a turn for the sinister. According to accounts of the situation, it was said that skeletal remains were found feet below the concrete flooring. It was estimated from testing that some even dated back to the 13th century. Some of the remains were even missing their skulls. So what exactly was going on inside this home? Were these sudden stain-like images the portraits of those hidden beneath the ground, long forgotten by time? One thing at this point was known for sure, once the remains were taken and given a proper burial, the house’s activity amped up.
At first, it seemed as if the house’s paranormal occurrences had quelled due to the relocation of the remains and the re-filling of the kitchen floor. That was until a few weeks later. Not one new face appeared, but multiple. Some recollections claimed they even changed location and appearances throughout the day. By this point, the news of this happenings spread far beyond that of the village. Visitors from all over had come to the small town to witness the house for themselves. They ranged from college students to paranormal investigators to scientists, all trying to provide theories as to what exactly was going on.
It was then that full on investigations and experiments started. Parts of the floor were tested for paint or some form of dye substances in the stains, to which supposedly all came back negative. This of course, only inflated the supernatural belief behind the faces in the floor. It was even said that some of the rooms or stains were completely sealed off and then reopened months later (both in the presence of notable officials of both the village and surrounding news outlets) only to discover the face had changed or relocated itself elsewhere.
At this point the household was known as a tourist destination for anyone with a curious mind. And to this day not many fully understand what exactly occurred inside the Pereira family home. After Maria’s passing, more and more theories began to emerge. Some claimed it was the work of her son, creating the images himself with different oils and chemicals. Others believe the family did it solely to gain from the financial popularity of the entire ordeal.
Regardless of what people believe, it is still up for debate if the faces still appear to this day within the Belmez home. Some investigators claims the faces continue to move and appear, while others say the faces stopped with the passing of Maria thus boosting skeptics’ beliefs. Overall, I will leave this story for you to come to your own conclusion, what do you think happened in Spain in 1971?
References:
https://the-line-up.com/belmez-faces
http://www.mysterious-planet.com/the-belmez-faces/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9lmez_Faces
Toria's Tales 
This is a very interesting story. Too bad we don’t know for sure if the “faces” are still an issue or not.
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