DECEMBER 16 - 22, 2005
A Considerable Town
The Gipper's Ghost
by JEFFREY VALLANCE 
(Illustration by Jeffrey Vallance)

Since the death of Ronald Reagan, various ghostly phenomena have been
reported up at the Reagan Ranch in the hills above Santa Barbara. Rancho
del Cielo (cielo means "heaven" in Spanish) was Reagan's favorite place
in the world. The hacienda-style estate, neighboring Michael Jackson's
blighted Neverland, is preserved in the exact condition it was in when
the Reagans lived there, as if they just stepped out and will return at
any moment. Even Reagan's favorite jellybean jar is still there,
complete with a few uneaten beans.

Reagan kept several horses at the ranch stable. He made sure that the
Secret Service horses ate from separate hay troughs, because he did not
want American taxpayers paying for his own horses' feed. On the rugged
trails at the ranch, Reagan rode a white Arabian stallion named El
Alamein (it means "two flags") given to him by José López Portillo,
then-President of Mexico. A white horse is symbolic of conquest on the
battlefield; likewise, Christ returns on a white horse.

Visitors to the ranch have reported seeing a peculiar figure in a cowboy
hat and jean jacket, riding a galloping horse near the perimeter of the
rugged 688-acre property.
When guests ask at the office about the historical reenactment, the
baffled staffers say, "There is no one at the ranch matching that
description." Some mornings, when the 1,500-square-foot ranch house is
unlocked, Reagan's leather Bible (given to the president by the cowboy
chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes) is said to be found
next to his bed, opened to Chapter 6 of Revelations: "And I looked, and
behold a pale horse: And his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell
followed with him." Could the Gipper be sending a message from beyond
the grave — warning us that the apocalypse is drawing nigh?

Reagan's preferred form of relaxation was hard physical outdoor labor
— building fences, clearing trails, removing overgrown bush, trimming
trees and chopping wood. Since the president's death, there have been
reports that a former ranch manager heard, in the early morning, the
sound of an ax chopping wood. At daybreak, he occasionally found a neat
pile of newly split logs (although the ranch's two fireplaces are no
longer in use). "I have not seen any of that," says current ranch
manager Will Bernhardt. "I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but I've not
seen it." Ranch spokespersons also deny any apparitions, noting that the
Bible is normally open to Chronicles. But they don't deny that Reagan's
presence remains. "The place still feels like he could come back any
minute," says one.
A Reagan Ranch Center public-relations pamphlet states, "Rancho del
Cielo conveys the true spirit of Reagan. The very essence of his
character is found here at the ranch." Reagan himself often called the
ranch "heaven itself."

Could it be that the ghost of Reagan has been drawn back to the place he
considered the nearest thing to paradise on Earth?