I recommend watching the documentary series Hellier before reading this article.
“No goblins” reads an infamous one-star review of Hellier. Though considered by many to be a amazing documentary series, the Amazon Prime review page is full of reviews from paranormal enthusiasts who were disappointed in the lack of spooky loud noises while something jumps at the camera, as well as from some others who spectacularly miss the point.
Its not hard to understand why. On the surface, Hellier seems like it is a documentary about some friends going into the woods to search for the Hopkinsville goblins, or at least something close to them. It follows a format similar to that of other paranormal T.V. shows, where the hosts head to a supposedly haunted location, research the history, and use high-tech gadgets (or in some cases witchcraft) to get evidence of the ghosts. In reality, however, Hellier is a fantastic exploration of the High Strangeness one might encounter were they to follow the leads from paranormal and extraterrestrial reports.
John Keel, a UFOlogist of The Mothman Prophesies fame, did the same. Collect testimonies from people who have encountered the surreal and investigate what may have actually happened. Its not a huge surprise to those who follow this sort of thing that his work ends up intrinsically tied within the Hellier case.
Within the series we find many strange happenings. Unexplained sounds from the woods. Conversations held where one party can hear only a scanning radio. Thelemic references and magick. Balloons arriving from the sky and synchronicities galore. This show may have said the word “synchronicity” more than any other. But no goblins.
Or are there?
Lets explore a few things that might not be obvious on a first watch of Hellier.
On August 21st 1955 twelve individuals, five adults and seven children, ran into the Hopkinsville police station claiming their farmhouse was being attacked by small aliens from a spaceship. They told the officers they had been besieged for almost four hours and spent the time holding the beings off with gunfire. They described these aliens as about three and a half feet tall. They had oversized heads that were very round. Their arms extended almost completely to the ground. They had large eyes and ears, with no nose. The creatures supposedly peeked into windows and tried to open the door. Police checked, but found only bullet holes. The next day the family fled their house, claiming the creatures had returned.
In mid 2012 Greg Newkirk received an email from a man calling himself Dr. David Christie. He described his home in Kentucky, near the West Virginia border, where he claimed he was being assaulted by extraterrestrial creatures. He described these aliens as having the “size and stature of a small child, devoid of any facial features save for large, oily eyes and lipless mouths“. He said they had been peering through his children’s windows in the middle of the night, and attempted to enter the house. They made strange sounds and glowed with strange lights. They left three-toed, heelless, tracks in the snow and mud, and abducted his dog. He thought that they were coming from an abandoned mine located on the edge of his property. Eventually, he sealed the entrance to the mine and abandoned the house.
Greg, along with his now wife Dana, friends Connor Randall and Karl Pfeiffer, and eventually Tyler Strand head down to Kentucky to search for these goblin-like beings. Later in the series they get further reports of these creatures. Supposedly they are found in caves where they perform occult rituals. Across two seasons so far they never seem to manage to get a picture of one.
Except that they did.
Hellier has been described as an initiation. It has also been described as people searching for goblins. In this way, you might say that Hellier is a story of the team finding themselves in the weirdness, because they are the goblins.
That’s not a joke. Start by examining the above images and compare them to the description of the goblins. The team is dressed the part. The masks provide huge round eyes, the headphones large ears that extend behind their heads. They glow from the lighting they have set up. Sometimes they even wear green. But its not just about the outfits.
They are the other in the places they visit. People look at them strangely, and few are cooperative. They drive around town peeking in windows and trying to find David Christie. They find his house and look around, but don’t go inside. In an inversion, Christie himself is absent while they, as the goblins, are present here.
They sit around making strange noises toward each other. Most of the audio from the Estes sessions is just gibberish when taken out of context of the questions asked, almost like something trying to mimic human language. They creep into the caves, and then out again to talk to the locals.
Later in the series, they find out the goblins may just be gatekeepers of a sort. Supposedly they perform magick in the caves which allow other sorts of beings to interact with this reality. Upon finding this out, our team of goblins heads directly into a deep cave and performs a magick ritual to evoke the god Pan. Also, when dressed as goblins (while doing the Estes Method), they are acting as gatekeepers by being the voice of these ultraterrestrial entities.
So there are your goblins. You’ve been watching them the whole time. Now that you’ve seen them you owe a them five star review. However, the weirdness doesn’t stop there. We’ll explore more of this strangeness in later posts, but for now I will leave you with this:
Hellier was just a symptom.
In season two, when the team attempts to call up Pan using the instructions they have been given (to play a specific set of musical tones), they build an altar deep underground. Supposedly, this altar has since been destroyed by concerned locals. The title of this episode is Night of Pan. However, earlier in the season is a different episode titled The Altar. Within this one the team receives the musical tones which they later use.
So has the altar been destroyed, or is the real altar hidden within the show itself? Many people say they experience High Strangeness of their own while watching. Listen to the soundtrack for when the tones actually show up in the background and you may be surprised a few times. I urge you to look at the titles for the other episodes as well, and consider what other possible meanings they may have.
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