Paranormal investigators are turning their attention to Lafreniere Park after multiple reports of “high-heeled shadows” and faint echoes of Pour Some Sugar on Me were detected near the walking trail just as the park was closing.
The spectral disturbances, now backed by a single grainy photograph, appear to show a group of ghostly figures wielding poles and gliding through the park with suspiciously confident stances and unnaturally good posture.
“At first I thought it was just some yoga moms stretching,” said Michael LeBlanc, who snapped the photo on his way to his car as the park was closing at 9:30 p.m. “But then they vanished, and I realized something about the whole thing was off. Like, who does yoga with poles that late at night?”
Digital forensics experts have reviewed the image and say they have found no signs of manipulation, nor anything to suggest LeBlanc was simply bored or, as one investigator put it, “just busting our balls.”
Some believe the apparitions are tied to the long-defunct Downs Lounge, a notorious Metairie strip club known for serving “fine drinks by cute fillies” until it was shut down in 1995 following a drug bust. The lounge once stood just outside the main gates of Lafreniere Park, across from the Evergreen Plaza Inn. Locals say the park may now be hosting more than just joggers and baby showers.
“That lounge was built on a ley line of cheap vodka and broken dreams,” said Mitch “Ghost Daddy” Boudreaux, founder of Metairie Paranormal & Pest Control. “It’s basically Louisiana’s version of Gettysburg, but with more regret.”
Another resident, Paulie St. Amant, who lives nearby in Airline Park, described a chilling encounter while walking his dog.
“I saw what looked like a dancer in lucite heels glide across the field. My dog barked, but she just disappeared into a powdery fog of glitter.”
“We’re dealing with classic pole-to-plane energy,” Mitch added. “These are unresolved routines. You can feel the glitter in the air. They aren’t dangerous, but I wouldn’t wave a dollar bill at them. You might wake up with glitter in your lungs.”
Some researchers believe there’s a deeper reason why the spirits may be returning to familiar ground.
“It’s common for spirits tied to performance or ritual to return to familiar terrain,” said Dr. Renetta Moreau, professor of Applied Paranormal Kinetics at Delgado. “Especially if their final performance ended abruptly or with unpaid tabs.”
The image was briefly posted to a local paranormal Facebook group before being removed by Meta for violating its Terms of Service related to “suggestive spectral content.”
The Jefferson Parish Parks Department declined to comment, although one maintenance worker anonymously confirmed that the pole in the pavilion “gets real warm around midnight for no reason.”
Further investigation is expected to continue throughout the fall, with researchers planning multiple late-night visits, extended stakeouts, and at least one suspiciously enthusiastic volunteer offering to “make it rain” in the name of science.