Luke McPherson was no stranger to adventure, but he never expected to uncover a terrifying truth about an abandoned wildlife preserve near Victoria, Australia. He thankfully managed to capture his entire experience on video, and the result went trending for its fear-factor...
A Trending YouTuber
31-year-old Luke McPherson, a native of Victoria, Australia, was an avid outdoorsman and videographer. He filmed everything from hiking to rock climbing to four-wheeling to geocaching. He was never without a camera, so it wasn't unusual to find him out and about filming his day to day activities...
A Compelling New Subject
Not usually one to follow rules, Luke decided to trespass through an abandoned wildlife park near his home. He thought documenting the excursion would make for an interesting video, just in case, he came across anything his viewers would want to see. He never thought this trip would nearly be the last he ever took...
Adventure Awaits
Luke learned that the park had been shut down in 2012 because it violated several wildlife codes. The park owners didn't have the proper licenses to display wild animals. Eager to explore, he packed up his gear and filming equipment and headed into the wilderness...
A Ghost Town
The park owner had to surrender all of the animals to the RSPCA, so the place was completely cleaned out. Since then, the park has just been sitting, completely neglected. Everything was overgrown and decaying, so Luke thought this would make the perfect stage for a video...
A State of Decay
Luke decided to explore around sunset, just as it was getting dark. He liked to film creepy videos, and this one would surely be perfect. The preserve looked like an old dilapidated cabin on the outside, and he very narrowly avoided stepping in an algae-covered pond on his way to get a closer look...
Proceeding With Caution
The grass was so overgrown that it nearly reached his waist, but he perservered. On the cabin's front porch he found an overturned table and chairs. He wondered how recently someone had been there, and whether or not they'd left in a hurry...
Disturbing Smells
Inside, the smells were so pungent that he had to cover his face. The floor was covered in animal waste and dirt. The ceiling was made of dirt as well, and the windows were all dug out. What had happened here?
A Secret Cave
It was completely dark inside, so Luke brought out his flashlight to help him get a closer look. There was a dark opening in the wall that appeared to lead to stairs. As he moved toward it, he was suddenly sent flying across the room...
Was He Not Alone?
He landed hard on the floor and was worried he'd been injured. He looked around to see what had just happened and noticed a huge box of metal coils and barbed wire lying on the ground. Was it a trap? He brushed himself off and kept going further into the cave...
Mysterious Caverns
The ceilings grew higher and higher the further Luke explored the cave. There were no windows or openings to let any light in, and without his flashlight, he would have been trapped in pitch darkness...
Never-Ending Tunnels
The cave never seemed to end. There were no animals that he'd noticed, but he was determined to find anything to make a worthwhile video from the adventure. So far, he was coming up short...
More Foul Smells
The further into the cave Luke went, the worse the smells became. It started to burn at his nostrils, and he wondered if perhaps there was a chemical reaction coming from somewhere in the cave. It was unlike anything he'd ever smelled before...
A Mysterious Room
Suddenly, Luke saw a light ahead. He'd found himself inside a strange room, off the edge of the cave. Inside, there were two huge windows with broken glass. There were shattered fragments all over the floor. Something suddenly felt terribly wrong...
An Intruder?
The room was filthy. Dirty furniture was scattered, a bare mattress was strewn across the floor, and an overturned pool table was shoved into a corner. Was this someone's home?
Where Had They Gone?
Luke decided to check out the other rooms. Thankfully, he was filming the entire experience. The walls were tagged with graffiti, several mattresses were overturned, and trash was collected in corners. Someone had definitely been squatting here, but it looked like they'd all left in a hurry. Had something bad happened here?
A Playroom
Down the hall, Luke found a room filled entirely with clothing. As he took a closer look, he realized it was all children's clothing. There were coloring books and old toys everywhere, too. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he continued on...
More Unanswered Questions
His nerves heightened with each step. He knew he could just turn around and leave, but he was also determined to capture a good video out of this. The more rooms he discovered, the more obvious it became that several people had been living here. But what made them leave?
The Chemical Smell
Luke found another door with a heavy lock on it. He pulled on it to find that it opened easily. As soon as he opened the door, that same chemical smell from earlier instantly overpowered him. He knew he was about to find something good, so he steadied his camera...
A Discomforting Noise
The chemical smell was starting to burn his eyes as he ventured further into the next room. He shined his flashlight all around but stopped in his tracks when he suddenly heard a terrifying noise come out of nowhere...
His Heart Was Racing
The sound he'd heard came from underneath his own feet, and when he looked down, he realized he was crunching over bones. What was going on here? Were these human remains?!
He Was Suddenly Very Afraid
This expedition wasn't going how he'd thought it would at all. He jumped back, terrified, and nearly fell. He dropped his flashlight and it rolled away from him. He leaned in closer to inspect the bones, despite his fear...
It Got Worse
Thankfully, the bones weren't large enough to belong to a person. The skull wasn't human-shaped, which left him to believe it was likely a cat or a dog. He thought that must have been the worst of it, but he was wrong...
It All Made Sense
The flashlight that had rolled into the corner was dimly illuminating the rest of the room. The smell was still overwhelming, so he pulled his shirt up over his nose and shielded himself. Then all of a sudden, he realized what he was smelling...
Formaldehyde
Luke instantly recognized the smell of formaldehyde. Though he had no idea where it was coming from, his next thought was what is being preserved down here? It sent a chill down his spine...
Frozen In Fear
All of a sudden, Luke turned the corner and his heart stopped. There, preserved in an enormous glass tank just feet from where he was standing, was the most terrifying creature he had ever seen...
An Aquarium
The tank was at least fifteen feet long and ten feet deep. It was filled to the brim with bright green liquid, a preserving chemical. Luke felt like he was about to faint from fear. The flashlight illuminated the tank in an eerie way, and he took a closer look at what was inside...
A Ghost Shark
Inside the tank was an enormous great white shark. The silhouette of its teeth in the shadows was absolutely terrifying. It was clearly dead, unmoving and suspended in the formaldehyde solution. It had to be at least twelve feet long. He was frozen in fear. Even though he knew it couldn't hurt him, the irrational part of his mind worried it would suddenly flinch...
Completely Preserved
The shark, of course, stayed where it was. He sighed, clearly relieved. The formaldehyde smell was getting to his head, so he decided it was definitely time to leave. He was determined to get to the bottom of what was going on here. What was a preserved great white shark doing in this cave below a nature reserve?
Time to Research
After an intense day, Luke returned home and started researching the facility. The great white, which he learned was named "Rosie," died in a tuna fishing net a decade ago. Due to the nature of the fishing industry, this wasn't an uncommon occurence. However, an artist learned of Rosie's death and had an idea...
A Proud Park Display
An artist decided to preserve her body and donate her to the wildlife park as an exhibit on ocean safety. According to the park owner, from 2003 to 2006, people could come to visit Rosie and learn about the fishing industry. Unlike most taxidermied fish, Rosie was never gutted, so her carcass was rock hard.
Rosie's Legacy
No matter what happens to Rosie, or whoever finds her strange exhibit next, her legacy will live on in Luke's trending vlog. Despite the terrifying circumstances in which he found her, the story was one for the books.