The Research Files of Benjamin Hedley

On the Disappearance of Aaron Barclay

I'll shall begin by explaining my reasons for beginning this journal. I have been researching paranormal events for another legal paper I have begun writing. I love tackling the more obscure areas of law as a personal challenge and this particular area of law has piqued my interest. This paper is going to be a discussion on various paranormal phenonmen and the proper legal response. However, my legal research has uncovered some things not related to my paper; I have come across some documents and artciles connected by a strange similarity. I wish to start a journal of sorts as a way to organize all that I have found. I shall start with the first piece.

Toward the beginning of my research, I came across an article printed in Fate magazine, a magazine dedicated to the paranormal. That said, it does feature a substantial amount of serious research and investigation. It goes so far to even debunk some of the more dubious claims. I was browsing through an issue from about two years ago and came across an article titled "On the Disappearance of Aaron Barclay". It was a standard article discussing the disappearnce of a young man. What turned my stomach was that I knew Aaron Barclay; I go to the same law school he did, Golden Gate University School of Law. We both had legal writing together and knew of each other. He wasn't exactly a friend, more of an acquaintance. When he didn't show up the following spring semester, I merely assumed he didn't make the cut. Now, I'm not so sure.

The article takes a more skeptical tone and believes Aaron to have suffered from some sort of nervous breakdown. I won't question the article but I believe they overstate Aaron's "psychosis". He appeared to be far more level-headed than the article made him out to be. But then again, I didn't know him very well.  I will clip the article here in this journal for future reference. 

On the Disappearnce of Aaron Barclay

There was an interesting item in the headlines of the Oakland Tribune some time ago. Apparently a young man, one named Aaron Barclay, had gone missing. Mr. Barclay was attending the Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco and vanished a week before final exams. Some say he killed himself due to the pressures of law school. After all, such a thing is not uncommon. The proximity of the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the most popular suicide destinations in the world, lends some support to this theory. Others, however, believe Barclay to have run away and point to the lack of a body. Furthermore, the apartment identified by the police as Barclay’s was left in a state of disarray. The room apparently looked as if the occupant had left in a hurry packing a few things for whatever journey he intended. Nevertheless, no sightings of Mr. Barclay have been reported and police say it is far more likely he is actually dead. Other more imaginative individuals insist that this was all a stupid prank, that Mr. Barclay is fine and probably living in some backcountry town away from the prying eyes of the city.

                The subsequent investigation uncovered next to nothing regarding Aaron Barclay’s whereabouts. Only one clue, if it can be called that, was ever found. It consisted of a multi-page, handwritten letter stashed underneath the seat of a charter bus bound for Salt Lake City weeks later. Though thoroughly questioned, the bus driver could not provide any information regarding the circumstances of the letter. Later analysis of the handwriting confirmed it to be Mr. Barclay’s though there are naysayers who insist otherwise. However, due to the many stops made in Sacramento, Reno and other cities, there is no way of knowing when Mr. Barclay left the bus. Many still wonder if he was even a passenger on the bus.

The letter itself is interesting. The writer, presumably Mr. Barclay, insists he is sane but the letter suggests otherwise. The writer is clearly too ashamed to admit the peculiar fixation he had with a certain professor and too paranoid to have correctly interpreted the events of which he writes. The letter is likely an attempt to rationalize his obsession with the woman. Mr. Barclay’s letter is transcribed in full below.