*SPOILER ALERT: The following article contains spoilers for Episode 15 & 16. Before reading, be sure to listen to Buenos Aires Café - Part I & II. Afterward, feel free to check out this "Behind-the-Episode" blog for additional info and photos! And visit our Patreon page for more extras!
Photos for this story provided by Thao Photography
On December 1st, 2018, my team and I were excited about coming to Buenos Aires Café to listen to the numerous staff recount their encounters, and following their interviews, investigate the claims,
Alexis, Franklyn and I wanted to do a preliminary baseline reading of EMF (Electromagnetic Fields) in the building. We do this, not to detect ghosts, but to actually detect EMF levels. Depending on the levels and amount of exposure, high intensity EMF can have side effects, and in studies it's been shown that some of these effects can be anxiety, nervousness, and in rare cases hallucinations. I myself had gotten extremely ill on our New Braunfels "The Restless" series and learned that it was due to high intensity EMF exposure.
Upstairs, Franklyn discovered a higher than usual EMF baseline. Although not dangerously alarmling like in the New Braunfels case, the baseline here in the café upstairs was 4 milligauss. Normal household levels range from 0.5 - 2.0 milligauss.
Here we stand in the dining area where the footsteps are usually heard - also where Sara would later discover a male presence.
Above, this is where renovations where made - the wall to Franklyn's left was a big change that Sara later picked up on from the spirits in the building.
In the kitchen, Frankly pointed out that at the line, where many experiences have been had by the staff, the EMF was as high as 10 milligauss.
Moving down into the Milonga Room, the basement speakeasy, Franklyn realized the EMF levels dropped to nominal levels. This was also the area where the most activity in the building was reported, and the male presence many have seen and felt, was believed to reside.
We decided to investigate the lights down in Milonga as well. Franklyn was able to determine very rational explanations for both the pulsating and flickering the staff often witnessed down here and attributed to the male spirit. When it comes to electronic or mechanical occurrences, I don't like to jump to paranormal rationalization, simply because there are so many rational reasons for the phenomena, like in this case.
Franklyn typically uses a TriField Meter anda Thermal Gun on most cases. We keep our gear light and efficient.
Café owner Paola built a shrine for the male presence in Milonga, the one they all call Leon. I later learned that she leaves offerings of coffee and liquor. Even more interesting, Paola believes Leon is drinking them because the liquids go down significantly weekly and sometimes daily.
So I decided to test evaporation rates for the various liquids she offers him regularly. I'll have the final results next month in Episode 17: Buenos Aires Café - Part III.
On December 2nd, 2018 - the day after our initial interviews, we brought Sara to Buenos Aires Café to see if she could detect any presences in the building. When she arrived, she was already apprehensive, pacing the sidewalk, looking into the windows of the café.
She sat on the sidewalk bench just to begin sketching some of what she was already getting. She got a name that she kept pronouncing as "Paolo" or "Pablo". Note, this is before she met owner Paola and we believed she was getting her name from one of the spirits as a way of affirming they knew who owned this building now.
Upon entering, Sara was already feeling things. Here we stand in the front entrance of the main dining area, just before the upstairs bar. She's getting a male presence on the left side of the room, and a female presence at the bar and in the kitchen.
Sara has a seat in the main entrance area to start jotting down all that she's getting.
Then she's pulled to the stronger presence she's been feeling, the female spirit in the kitchen. In here we learn that this presence is very active. Moving things around, making noise for closing staff, and just an overall presence the staff would feel. Many of what she hit on felt pretty similar to what staff had reported in their interviews. Especially the fact that she said this spirit likes to make noises when no one else is in the building. This corroborated many of the opening and closing staff members' accounts. Also, I wasn't sure if it was related, but the motion the spirit kept showing Sara was a hand swiping the silver kitchen line counter. This is where Chef Chris and other employees had witnessed a plate of empanadas slide across the counter. I wondered if Sara was picking up on this type of activity as well. She stood in the exact spot and motioned that it was happening right on the line where it was reported.
So far, the two spirits Sara was picking up on didn't match the description of the most prominent entity reported by the staff - the male presence strongly felt in the basement, and that all the staff nicknamed "Leon" because of this same name that was found in the basement bathroom tiles. Eventually, I took Sara to the back door leading down to the basement and speakeasy Milonga Room. It was here that things took an interesting turn.
Sara became much more apprehensive and hesitant to move down into this basement. She stood, clapping her hands nervously, saying there was a different spirit down here and she needed to ask permission first before moving down.
This was our view looking down the concrete stairway. Sara eventually got permission and moved slowly down the stairs. She pushed down the hallway to the left and all the way down into Milonga.
Here she quickly announced that a male presence resided down here and laid claim to the space. Something many of the staff actually said in their testimony was that they felt that Milonga Room was this spirit's space. They even built the shrines for him down here.
Sara hit on several facts about this male presence that coincided with eyewitness testimony. She pointed out that he only appears in shadow form, something all the eyewitnesses that have seen him reported. To take it even further, Sara even announced that phsically he was tall, she estimated six foot. Again, I was shocked because every employee that has witnessed this male presence, reports that it's a tall shadowy male figure about 6 foot tall in height. I was pleased with these validations, but Sara needed to take a break and sit up stairs to try to get more from them while she sketched.
Meanwhile, this was the same day I had convinced employee Allison to share her stories. She didn't want to be in the building when she did, so we did it on the street outside the café.
Following the interview, I went inside to find Sara had obtained a lot more information from the three entities she found in the building, and had a lot more in her sketchbook to show me.
Her hand in this moment was sketching out the shorter, more round Hispanic male in the upstairs, left dining area. He apparently had a large mustache and didn't originate in this building, but instead came with a former employee perhaps - one Sara believes this male spirit was related to and called Chacho. She never got a name for this spirit.
The female spirit from the kitchn, you can see sketched on the right page, on the left side of this page. She gave Sara the name Estrella and was actually tied to this building in the past. We aren't exactly sure how yet, but I'm currently doing research to try to find some connection here.
Lastly, pictured on the top right hand page, you'll find the sketch she made of the male presence residing in the basement. She described him as well-groomed with feminine features - long thin face, big eyelashes, thin nose, and nice eyebrows. She felt he was Hispanic or mixed race. Eventually, this spirit finally came through with a name that Sara believes is Armando Guzman. I'm also currently researching to see if I can find a connection to this spirit as well.
Once Sara was finished taking her break upstairs and sketching out details, we wanted to get back down into Milonga, this time with less people. Here's where she got many more details on Armando and what he does to staff. Sara mentioned he was playful and scared the staff, which seemed to match the reports. She also mentioned he liked touching, especially when the lights were out and people were leaving up the stairs. This was another strong hit, because Allison and many other closing staff reported that when they put the drop bar down on the door down in the basement and hit the lights, they felt that is when the male presence became very active and scared a lot of staff out of the building quickly.
I knew Allison was the employee many of her colleagues felt this male presence picked on the most. So while she was here, I wanted to see if she'd come down into Milonga with Sara and I.
We were all surprised to hear Sara say Armanda called Allison "The Runner". I knew she was scared when closing, but she'd never mentioned running out of the building. Allison nervously laughed when Sara called her the runner and admitted that's exactly what she does. She locks up, leaves lights on, and bolts up the stairs and out the building.
Then, another things surfaced. Allison mentioned that another lady, one who claimed to see spirits, came down into Milonga and spoke with the male presence 2 weeks prior to us showing up. Allison said this male spirit told the lady something about Allison that the staff heard, but refused to tell her about. Allison wanted to ask Armando if she'd tell Sara. Without hesitation, Sara blurted out, "He's attracted to you."
I tracked down the employee that was there when this other lady came two weeks prior and told her what this male spirit had said about Allison. The employee, without knowing what Sara had said, confirmed the lady said the male spirit has a crush on Allison.
This series continues on March 25th, 2019 with Episode 17: Buenos Aires Café - Part III. Tune in then to hear us dive deep into historical research to see if we can validate these claims any further, we continue to get more info from Sara and follow up with staff, and then something shocking is uncovered in my interviews with the staff that we investigate further. Tune in next month to hear the conclusion to this series.
Thanks for reading and listening my fellow Night Owls!
Stay restless out there,
Stephen Belyeu