The Michigan Blue Hell is an urban legend which posits that somewhere in the states extensive undergound tunnel systems there is a passage out of reality itself. The phenomena is named for the 'Blue Hell' glitch found in video games, which occurs when clipping doesn't fuction correctly causing the player avatar to appear outside of the game map, with the "skeleton" of buildings and environments visible yet unreachable.[1]
Description[]
There are few reports of the Blue Hell itself, and it is believed by many that if one enters Blue Hell they can never return to normal reality.[2] Some believe that, if one were to enter, they would die, others that it allows you to observe the world without being seen, as if trapped behind a one way mirror (hence the video game comparisons).[3]
Location[]
The location of the entrance to Michigan Blue Hell is disputed. Because Michigan has a rich history of subterranean tunnel systems and consequently of urban exploring there have been many supposed locations.
- Beneath Lake Erie.[4] In Native American and early colonial accounts a tunnel system linking Lake Erie to other bodies of water, underground cave systems and even directly to Hell itself were said to exist beneath the lake's waters.[5] A tunnel disaster beneath the lake was fictionalised in a novel called "Tunnel to Hell", which references the old legends.
- In a military base.[6] There are extensive tunnels under West Fort Hood which have been rumoured to hold secret government projects.[7]
- In a non-descript abandoned building somewhere in Detroit.[8] According to this theory the Blue Hell is accessed through a process similar to the "elevator game" in a certain abandoned building. A story often associated with this theory is that Native American tribes imprisoned a "great serpent" or monster beneath the earth where the cursed building now stands, and that those who play the elevator game in this building or otherwise descend into its lowest depths in search of Blue Hell are devoured.
- In Hell, Michigan. While there is a real town named Hell in Michigan state it doesn't appear to have any stories of Blue Hell experiences and this theory seems to be based on confusion over the similar names.