Eerie footage shows mystery man’s last moments as he disappears exploring Paris catacombs
A video found buried underneath the streets of Paris, in a myriad of ancient catacombs that lie beneath the city, appears to show a man journeying deep into the maze of tunnels
DOES this video show an ill-fated explorer’s last moments?
A video found buried beneath the streets of Paris, in a myriad of ancient catacombs that lie beneath the city, appears to show a man journeying deep into the maze of tunnels.
As the clip continues, the man appears to become more panicked as he attempts to find a route out.
Eventually, he drops the camera, but it keeps rolling as his footsteps disappear off into the darkness – leaving the viewer uncertain whether he ever made it out alive.
The camera was later found by another group of explorers - who reportedly took the tape to authorities.
Debate is rife online as to the authenticity of the clip.
Online web users have speculated that the man got lost and died underground – his remains somewhere among the thousands of skeletons already buried there.
Lazar Kunstmann, a cataphile, told filmmaker Francis Freedland in an interview with Syfy’s Ghost Hunters that it seems the videographer was “unfamiliar with the catacombs", adding that he may have been “irretrievably lost and died in the city’s depths”.
Others have speculated that the film is a fake.
Users online have commented that the video seems “overacted” and incomplete.
One wrote: “Sounds too fake to me. Like the setup for one of those "found footage" films I'm so tired of.”
While another added that the footage looked “really cheesy anyway”.
Others reckoned the video may have been produced especially for a TV show.
One Redditor said: “I had always thought that was a real video that was actually discovered down there, but the more I tried to research it, the more likely it became that it was manufactured specifically for ‘Scariest Places on Earth.’
“I'm both relieved and oddly disappointed.”
Another replied: “Yeah sometimes I think that. I just, it IS so believable, that I don't know what to think.
“The fact that they didn't really do any extensive searches to find the guy was weird, or that they didn't fingerprint the camera.
“Things like that make me second guess it, but I still give it the benefit of the doubt.”
One wrote: “A couple of red flags for me includes the whole video never seeing the light of day. Surely we would have had the footage available to watch that didn't come from a TV show.”
More than a million people have viewed the clip on YouTube, and left pondering the fate of the man.
One commented: “It’s a shame he panicked and dropped the camera, if he kept his wits about him he could have re-watched the footage and found his way out.”
Another added: “Pretty sure he died down there, that video feels so Blair Witchy.”
The Paris catacombs are essentially former quarries from which a large amount of stone was dug to build the city.
However, during the 1700s, while the city had chaotic, overcrowded cemeteries, officials used the caverns bury the remains of up to a whopping six million Parisians.
While some areas of of the underground network are open today for visitors to take guided tours, since 1955 large sectors have been sealed off.
But that hasn’t stopped many fearless folk from endeavouring to break in to the forbidden areas.
Rather you than us…