La Purisima Mission

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Visitors to this mission may catch a glimpse of the spirits of the Chumash Indians and Spanish soldiers who died during the 1820s Chumash uprising. The mission has been featured on TV’s Ghost Adventures.

If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know!



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    Geographic Information

    Address:
    2295 Purisima Road
    Lompoc CA
    United States

    Get Directions »
    GPS:
    34.6690108, -120.42145319999997
    County:
    Santa Barbara County, California
    Nearest Towns:
    Mission Hills, CA (1.5 mi.)
    Lompoc, CA (2.9 mi.)
    Vandenberg Village, CA (3.8 mi.)
    Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA (7.8 mi.)
    Los Alamos, CA (9.7 mi.)
    Casmalia, CA (13.2 mi.)
    Buellton, CA (13.6 mi.)
    Orcutt, CA (13.6 mi.)
    Sisquoc, CA (15.4 mi.)
    Garey, CA (16.3 mi.)
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    Comments (3)

    1. My wife daughter and I were visiting the Mission several years ago. Near the chapel we were approached by an extremely short, slightly built young man dressed in a brown monks robe. His hair was cut in the style of the old monks as well. He introduced himself as “Daniel” he asked if we wanted to see the chapel. We said yes and he took us on a tour, describing all the things that went on there in the present tense. We assumed he was a docent and this was how he conducted his tour. At one point, he produced a small flute (recorder) which he played for us. He told my daughter she could get one at the gift shop.

      We continued our tour and he showed us the priests quarters, kitchen and where soap was made. At one point, we were going through a narrow doorway which only allowed one person to pass at a time. Daniel went first and I was next. I turned around and said something to my group and when I turned back, Daniel was gone. We called for him and looked in all the adjacent rooms and corridors. We assumed he had spent enough time with us and moved on to another group.

      We met several other visitors and asked them if they had seen Daniel and described him to them. No one had seen him.

      At the end of our visit, my daughter went to the gift shop, because she wanted to buy a recorder like Daniel had been playing. The lady at the gift shop said they did not sell them and had not carried them for many years. We said the docent named Daniel had told us we could buy one at the gift shop. She asked us to describe Daniel. She said there were no docents working that day and no one named Daniel or matching his description worked there.

      I don’t know if this was a strange coincidence or paranormal, but I swear it happened just as I have described it.

    2. My mother had a paranormal experience many years ago (probably 50 years ago)! My family was visiting the mission and my mother mentioned to one of the employees that she enjoyed hearing the lovely sound of the Native American flute. The employee got a funny look on his face, and said they didn’t have any flute players on the premises.

    3. Back in the late 1970’s I had heard rumors from several local residents about an old man of hispanic descent and wearing dated apparel would on occasion be seen at dusk walking along Purisima Road just South of the mission, carrying an old fashioned railroad type kerosene lantern.

      My wife and I considered this to be just an interesting piece of local folklore.

      That is, until one evening while driving past the mission entrance at dusk she yelled “OMG ! ” (or a late 1970’s equivalent) look, it’s the old man with the lantern!”

      I caught a short glimpse of the old man, dressed in perhaps 19th century garb, and carrying a lantern. I immediately stopped the car and made a quick U-turn, thinking we would get a better look at the legendary traveler. But, no dice. He was nowhere to be seen. We drove around the area for about 10 minutes but did not see anyone walking along that road.

      Call it mental suggestion, coincidence, an apparition, or hallucination (for which there was no chemical or herbal basis. At the time I held a security clearance in the U.S Navy with routine and unannounced drug testing and it was not even worth the risk of challenging “The System”).

      To this day have no idea what the heck was up with that old man, but I know for sure that we did see him that evening for a few seconds. The feeling was pretty darned spooky.

      I have driven by that same spot numerous times over the years, looking for him at dusk, to no avail.

      I hope he made it to his destination ok. And BTW I haven’t heard of any such sightings since then.

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