Visitors to a Portland park were left stunned when they saw bizarre signs reading: Ouija boards are prohibited in the area. However, authorities have confirmed that the posters are nothing more than a strange prank.
This past weekend, signs were posted at the restroom in Fernhill Park, one of the largest parks in Northeast Portland.
A Ouija board is a way to communicate with spirits and the dead. However, many people consider the board to be a satanic practice or believe that it can lead to demonic possession.
The sign, which was issued by the Multnomah County Parks Department, read: “DUE TO RECENT EVENTS, OUIJA BOARDS ARE NO LONGER PERMITTED IN FERNHILL PARK.”
But a spokesperson for Portland Parks & Recreation has since revealed that the signs were not placed by a city official.
The signs that hung outside the toilets at Fernhill Park last weekend
“Fernhill Park falls under our portfolio at Portland Parks & Recreation (the city of Portland’s parks department), and the Multnomah County Parks Department doesn’t exist,” Mark Ross told DailyMail.com.
He also said he only heard about the sign when a local TV station saw an advertisement on Reddit.
“No idea who put them there, but if they’re not there yet, our maintenance crew will probably remove them tomorrow.”
He added, “Ouija, do you think people can act crazy here?”
Before it was revealed to be a hoax, someone on Reddit posted a photo of the sign and asked, “What happened?”
A Ouija board has letters from the Latin alphabet and numbers
Another person on the social platform went even further into the subject of supernatural and paranormal activity.
“I suspect someone used it recently in the park and inadvertently created a portal to the underworld, allowing a demon to enter the earthly plane,” they wrote.
‘Happens all the time: people panic over nothing.’
A person walking his dog told the news outlet that he ““I have definitely never seen anyone play Ouija boards in the bathroom,” while another got involved: “only dogs, children and sports.’
Ouija historian Robert Murch told Smithsonian Magazine that the origins of the Ouija board lie in the 19th century American obsession with spiritualism and the belief, he said, that the dead can communicate with the living.
Since he began researching the board’s story in 1992, he has been surprised that no one knows where the Ouija board came from. The board, he says, “provokes both fear and wonder in American culture.”