An Albuquerque cemetery was host to a bizarre sighting that has some residents saying that the Grim Reaper himself visited the desert metropolis. Witnesses report seeing a black-clothed figure visiting graves at the cemetery, and some say this Grim Reaper was even floating above graves.
Last week, as some Albuquerque residents prepared to check out the Supermoon, passersby at a local cemetery reported seeing a figure dressed like the Grim Reaper looming over the graves at the San Jose del El Rosario Cemetery. Witnesses report seeing a tall, hooded figure wearing a black cloak, and some say the figure was wearing a white dress underneath.
“Oh my god, I got the chills all over my body,” one witness told KRQE .
The sighting reportedly stopped traffic near the cemetery, with onlookers gawking and taking pictures and video with their cameraphones.
“Cars were backed up,” said one witness.
Many seemed to believe it was simply a mysterious human visitor dressed all in black despite the summertime heat. Still others said that it may have been a supernatural visitor.
“One guy said, seriously, maybe it’s the Angel of Death,” said one witness.
“It was weird, it was scary, it was unusual,” Michelle Gonzales told KRQE .
Others are concerned that the figure could indicate a renewal of what they believe are satanic rituals. The figure was seen holding a bundle of green material, according to some witnesses, and the gathering of earth from cemeteries, according to the priest who tends over the cemetery, is a key element of some satanic rituals.
“It’s very bad because we have cases of people who do that, and they receive possession of the Evil One by the spirit, and they need an exorcism,” Father Gabriel Paredes told KRQE .
A similar figure has reportedly been spotted in and around the downtown area in Albuquerque, though it is unclear whether it is the same figure, since no one has seen his or her face.
Of course, Halloween is just around the corner, and after that, the Day of the Dead. Albuquerque as a town is quite given to odd displays of general spookiness, and this supposed Grim Reaper could be just the latest in long line of such. Albuquerque police took the figure into custody, according to some witnesses, but Albuquerque police have said nothing regarding that claim.
Yet another claim, though, holds that the figure mysteriously appeared and disappeared, with no one seeing it arrive or leave.
And what do you think? Was it the Grim Reaper? Or are Albuquerque residents just a bit too sun-baked to recognize a regular person in a black cloak?