Taking my girlfriend for her first trip to Gettysburg and ghost investigation leads to the formation of a ghost hunting group.
In Part 1, we left off at me and Tanya heading to Gettysburg. During the day we did the normal historical things. We walked the battlefield, went to museums, watched presentations about the battle. But as the sun went down, the ghost hunting took over.
The Triangular Field:
The first place we did any ghost hunting was the Triangular Field. It is a small field located behind Devil's Den. It is reported to be one of the most haunted locations on the battlefield.
We brought with us some southern bourbon and Virginian tobacco as an offering to the spirits, and, let's be honest, a bribe to entice them to communicate with us. Our primary method of communication was the Estes Method. We will go in depth about the Estes Method in another post. Basically, the Estes Method is having one person listen to a SB7 Spirit Box through sound isolation headphones and blind folded. This way they can't hear the questions being asked. All they have to do is get comfortable and say any words they hear.
While we did get some coherent communication that lined up with the questions being asked, we didn't know who or what we were talking to. All the videos and recordings from this trip are available on our YouTube page. Feel free to watch/listen and leave your thoughts in the comments.
The Farnsworth Inn:
Next we started investigating our room at the Farnsworth Inn, the Jeremy Room. While we were out, we left trail cameras in the room to capture anything that may happen while we were away. Upon returning from the Triangular Field, we decided to relax in the beautiful claw foot tub before trying the Estes Method in the room. We left the door of between the bathroom and bedroom open, and at one point I witnessed a 3 foot tall mist move from one side of the bedroom to the other. Sadly, no cameras were running at that time, and Tanya was not looking in that direction when it happened.
So we then lay on the bed and try the Estes Method. Much like the Triangular Field, not much happened while I was under. But Tanya is more receptive, and we got very good communication while she was under. We spoke to Catherine, who claimed to be the woman in black that has been seen in the Farnworth. We found out the next day that Catherine is a former owner of the building, and has been suspected of being the woman in black.
We also spoke to Emily, who said she was a visitor. The next day we heard a story about a woman who died during the battle, though not in Gettysburg. Her fiancé was a soldier at the battle, and died while fighting. The story goes, that in death, she wonders Gettysburg looking for her fiancé. That woman's name...Emily.
Little Round Top:
At Little Round Top, we did the Estes Method in the truck with a homemade REM-Pod sitting on a rock outside the truck. During this interaction, we spoke with a Union solider from Ohio (yes, there was a Ohio regiment on Little Round Top during the battle). The solider got frustrated with me because I was having a hard time interpreting what was coming through. He had no problem letting me know he was frustrated. I told him that I would leave if he would touch the REM-Pod and make it go off. It immediately went off. Mind you, it had not gone off at all during the 20 minutes leading up to me asking if they wanted us to leave. So we honored my word and left.
The Peach Orchard:
After Little Round Top, we went to the Peach Orchard to continue the Estes Method. During this interaction we met Copperfield from Boston. He was more communicative than the previous gentleman. At one point it sounded as if a second person came and was talking to Copperfield. What was heard was no longer an interaction with us, but sounded like we were hearing bits and pieces of a separate conversation. The session ended when Copperfield said "Goodbye" and "The end".
The Creek Bed:
Earlier that night, we took a walking ghost tour of Gettysburg. One of the stops was the creek bed. This creek was used after the battle to place wounded soldiers so they were close to water. Sadly, due to a storm that hit on July 4th 1863, the creek flooded and washed away anyone not strong enough to get themselves out of there. So we came back here to try the Estes Method and to take pictures.
The first thing that came through was "The Farnsworth!". Keep in mind, we had stayed at the Farnsworth the night before, and were within 60 ft of the Farnworth at this point. We also got words like "ominous" and "Old Mill". The weekend after we were in Gettysburg, I was planning on going on a ghost hunt at Old Mill Village in New Milford, Pa. I ended up not going to Old Mill Village this year.
This session ended quickly as there were many voices in Tanya's ears, some of which frightened her. This was the third Estes Method of the evening. That may have been too much for her, this early in her investigative career.
The 1863 Inn of Gettysburg:
After the creek bed, we got some ice cream, went to the hotel room, showered and relaxed a bit. Tanya was ready and willing to try to contact George, the child spirit on the 5th floor of the 1863 Inn of Gettysburg. We laid in bed with the K-II on the bed. This was the most exciting of the trip. I first asked the George touch the K-II, the lowest green light started to flicker. I asked for it again, and it happened again. When I asked to grab it harder so we could get a different color light, "I'm Trying" came through Tanya as she was under.
I then brought out the REM-Pod, and showed George how it worked. After an evening of it only going off twice, it went off. "This one!" came through Tanya. George clearly enjoyed playing with the REM-Pod. George and I played with the REM-Pod a bit longer with him saying how much he enjoyed it.
With that, the ghost hunting portion of our Gettysburg trip ended. We left the following day, but discussed the events for days to come. Eventually we had an idea...read more about that in Part 3.
Comments