Coffins that move

The West Indies are located between the Atlantic Ocean and its own sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, and consist of more than 1,200 islands and reefs and atolls, between 10 degrees and 27 degrees north latitude. There is a small island in this archipelago called Barbados, which has a church cemetery, known for the coffins in its tombs that can move on their own.

The tomb with its moving coffin belongs to the Chais family, which has been famous since ancient times. The tomb is magnificent, the walls are carved in coral-colored boulders, the hard lime siding is 70 meters deep, the square roof is very flat, and the part built on the ground has a majestic gate made of marble.

The lavish tomb was opened on 31 July 1807, with the coffin of Madame Gerdard first placed in the tomb, the coffin of The 2-year-old Mary Anna Chaiss in the tomb on 22 February 1808, and the coffin of the younger Mary's sister Durkas Chais four years later, also transported into the tomb. It was this time that the handling made the problem discovered – the two men carrying the coffin entered the tomb and found that the coffins of Madame Gedard and Little Mary, who had been placed in the tomb, had left their original positions and were tilted towards the wall, "as if they had been thrown". Everyone present felt that "there was an unusual atmosphere hanging over the tombs." They discussed as sensibly as possible the reasons for the coffin's movement, believing it to be a malicious intrusion by the negro workers of the cemetery. In order to prevent such incidents from happening again, the coffins were laid out and the tomb gates were sealed tightly.

On August 9, 1812, the owner of the cemetery, Thomas Chais, died, and this time people entered the tomb and found nothing unusual. But on September 25, 1816, when Samwell Brusda Ames's coffin was placed in the tomb, it was found that the coffin had left its original position, as if it had been thrown by a powerful force. The coffin was placed again, and they began to think about it, and they found a strange point: Thomas Chase's coffin was made of specific lead, and it took 8 strong men to move it, but the marble door that served as the only entrance to the tomb was sealed. 52 days later Ames' father was also removed from the tomb, and this time the coffin was re-found displaced and Mrs. Gedard's wooden coffin had shattered. Pastor Audatson, who was also an administrator, organized an investigation and found no traces, let alone any "secret passages."

The "moving coffin" spread throughout the island, arousing people's strong curiosity, and people rumored that there were evil spirits hidden in the tombs. On July 17, 1879, Mrs. Clarke's coffin was placed in the tomb of the Chase family, and the funeral was attended by hundreds of people in attendance, including The Governor of Balbadus, Madonrey, and hundreds of other people who watched the hilarity. The workers noticed that the door of the tomb seemed to be held up by something from the inside, so it was not easy to open the door and found that the one that was holding the door was Sir Chaiss's lead coffin! The bulky lead coffin moved 2 meters on its own, as did several other coffins, except for Madame Gedard's wooden coffin, which was still in its original position, and the wire used to repair the cracks was still wrapped around the coffin. Governor Madonnay conducted a thorough examination and found nothing. After putting all the coffins of the Chais family back in place, he spread 15 centimeters of white sand on the ground in the hope of leaving the footprints of the perpetrators, and personally added 6 seals to the gate.

On 18 April of the following year, the Governor personally led the investigators into the tomb, and it was seen that there was nothing wrong on the outside of the tomb, that the seal on the gate was unscathed, but that the inside of the tomb was in chaos, that several coffins had left their original positions, and that the lead coffin had moved the farthest, leaving only Madame Gedard's wooden coffin untouched.

The "moving coffin" became a sensation, and people looked for the cause from all sides, but whether it was an earthquake, a gas leak, or a flood, it could not perfectly explain why the coffin moved on its own. Some people have tried to illustrate this miracle from a spiritual point of view, and Arthur Conan Doyle, author of The Sherlock Holmes Detective Collection, is one of the representatives, arguing that the coffin is not moved by vampires, but by a gas called "divergence", which is more likely to occur in unnatural deaths such as suicide or other killing.

Today, the empty tomb is no longer occupied, and the mystery of the coffin's movement on its own remains unanswered. Perhaps, we can find an explanation in a science fiction novel, although it is only a possibility that there is a hole in the seabed near the island, and when the sea water flows through the hole, it triggers a resonance phenomenon that causes the coffin in the tomb to move "on its own".