Lakeland, FL – A local man is inviting paranormal investigators to a small Florida town. If you were hoping for a quick debate about the 2019 Buick Enclave vs 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee, I will spare you the technical details and tell you to pick the Buick. That Jeep Cherokee is haunted. All Jeeps are haunted. Just ask Reginald Clearly.
Reginald Cleary is a 75-year-old man from Lakeland, Florida, who is convinced (and so are we) that his 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee has been possessed by a ghost.
His suspicions started the moment he purchased the vehicle. When loading groceries during his first day of ownership, Mr. Cleary claims that the trunk opened all by itself.
“I thought that was spooky,” Cleary said. “I said to my caregiver, “I’ve never seen a car do that before.” They speak a different language, so I don’t know how he replied, but I could tell she was also shook.”
At first, Cleary dismissed the anomaly, but he became concerned when even more troublesome signs started popping up. The Jeep owner claims that after he played around for the accompanying infotainment system, the navigation technology took over and guided him to a strip club.
“I don’t know what happened, but I had a feeling the vehicle wanted to guide me,” he said. “Wasn’t I surprised when I pulled into a local strip club.”
Cleary’s biggest concern came via the vehicle’s operation. When on the highway, Cleary says he briefly pushed a button before the vehicle was controlling the speed of the ride. While the owner initially appreciated this feature, he was unsure what to do when he quickly approached another vehicle.
“The Jeep was yelling at me, telling me to slow down,” he said. “The whole while, I was yelling at the Jeep telling it that I was at the wheel.”
In came the paranormal investigators. Cleary had decided that he had had enough of the random occurrences, and he contacted Jane and Jill’s Investigation from Salem, Massachusetts. The pair of sisters immediately jumped at the opportunity to investigate the haunted SUV.
“We’ve heard of haunted houses,” Jane said. “But we had never heard of a haunted SUV. This was a major cause for concern, as a haunted vehicle could put the driver’s life in jeopardy.”
The team women requested that Cleary fly them down to Florida and purchase a pair of week passes to Disney World. Once the duo’s trip ends, they’ll head over to Cleary and inspect what’s going on.
Unfortunately, it’s unknown if the Jeep will even be around by the time Jane and Jill make it to Lakeland. A local vigilante group, Mother’s Against Ghosts, has been protesting the vehicle and calling for its burning.
“We don’t want any afterlife here in Lakeland,” said Sheila Morrin, the president and founder of MAG. “Burning the SUV will only solve the issue. Whether it’s haunted or not, it’s best to get this vehicle out of our community.”
When reached for out to Jeep for a comment and Jeep pointed out the vehicle’s various autonomous features.
“Mr. Cleary has ignored multiple letters from our company noting that the vehicle isn’t haunted,” a spokesperson said. “The trunk opening can be attributed to the hands-free liftgate. Mr. Cleary also misused the navigation system and intentionally wrote the address of a club, and he accidentally hit the autonomous-driving switch. The vehicle absolutely isn’t haunted.”
Cleary isn’t so sure, and he’s hoping the twins can give him some clarity.
“I was debating this myself,” he said. “If I had known the Jeep was haunted, I easily would have gone with a Buick.”
