Location: Fort Mifflin, Philadelphia, PA

Date: May 12, 2001

Time: Overnight investigation sponsored by the PGHA, 6pm to 6am

Equipment used: Pentax 35mm camera PC-550, Night Owl Cyclops NOCX3 night vision scope, RCA Digital Voice Recorder, Olympus Camedia C-3000 Digital Camera

History: For Fort Mifflin’s history, please see Fort Mifflin Investigation #1.

Fort Mifflin’s ghostly history includes an unknown tour guide who has given several detailed tours to visitors, an apparition of a man with no face, an apparition of a man carrying lumber, a woman screaming in the middle of the night (the Philadelphia police have been called several times, only to find nothing), an apparition of a young girl in the artillery shed, and several unexplained noises, including cannon fire. The faceless man is thought to be General William Howe, who was imprisoned in the fifth casemate, and later convicted of murder and hanged in the courtyard. The screaming woman is thought to be Elizabeth Pratt, whose daughter killed herself in the Officer’s Quarters. For further information concerning the fort’s ghost stories, check out Ghosts of Philadelphia by Charles Adams.

Investigation: Paul and I arrived at the fort at about 5:30pm. I dropped our things in the Soldier’s Quarters, which was our base camp for the night, and began to explore the grounds and buildings. By 6pm, the other participants had arrived, and Lew (PGHA president) pulled us all together for a lecture on the equipment used in investigations. After the lecture, we all took a break, and then were given a ghost tour of the fort. Since I had participated in an overnight here before, Paul and I hung back from the rest of the group. While the group was in the Blacksmith’s shop, Paul and I heard a loud noise in the artillery shed, so we began taking pictures. One picture revealed a bright, moving orb! A couple of minutes later, I saw something large move in the lower level of the artillery shed, and as I pointed to where I saw the movement, Paul took another picture revealing a very bright orb.

After the ghost tour, we all returned to the Soldier’s Barracks and split into three groups, which rotated around the buildings at specific intervals. Our group went into the casemates first. At 9:23 pm, we all went into the fifth casemate and closed the door. We then began questioning for EVPs. I asked whoever was there to please let us know by opening the door. Our night vision revealed that the door remained closed and did not open. We kept questioning for about another 20 minutes, but experienced nothing unusual. When we finally turned our flashlights back on, the door was wide open!!!! The young lady who initially closed the door swore that she made sure it was latched and closed tightly. No one could have come down the hall and opened from the other side without us hearing them.

At 10:15 we moved to the Sally Ports where we got a few orb shots, but not much else. At 10:50 we joined another group and moved into the Powder Magazine. While we were questioning, we all heard some one or something take two steps immediately to my right side. No one was sitting to my right.

At 11:07pm, we moved to the second floor of the officer’s quarters, but did not experience anything out of the ordinary. During the next several hours, we also spent time in the Blacksmith shop, powder magazine, casemates, and artillery shed.

At 2:19pm, while the majority of the group was settling in the Soldier’s Barracks for a nap, I joined a small group in the Officer’s Quarters. We sat motionless in the second room in on the first floor, and attempted to get an EVP. Two minutes and 18 seconds into the questioning session, we all heard a muffled cry, but couldn’t tell where it was coming from. About three and a half minutes later, we heard noises outside and in the next room, so we turned off our recorders to see if anyone was there…but we found no one.

We began recording again in the same room, questioning Elizabeth Pratt about her daughter’s death. Almost immediately, we began to hear noises outside the door and in the next room again. About six minutes later, we heard loud scratching and shuffling in the far corner of the room we were in. We all stared in amazement at the exact spot from which the noises were emanating. After that, we returned to the Soldier’s Barracks to tell everyone about our strange experiences.

At 4:15 am, we returned to the Officer’s Quarters with a larger group, and headed up the steps to the second floor. We all sat in Elizabeth’s room and began questioning. About eight and a half minutes into the EVP session, we began hearing noises in the room next to us. The noises lasted for about three minutes. At 4:42 am, we felt the vibration of someone walking across the floor of the room beside us. Several minutes later, a girl in our group said that she felt someone moving the bench she was sitting on. Finally, at about 4:45 am, we decided to check out the room from which the noises were coming, since the only way to get to that room was through the room we were sitting in. The leader of our group, Andy, knocked on the adjoining door, and then tried the handle. He was unable to get the door open and told us that it must be locked. Several minutes later he tried the door again, and opened it easily! He said it seemed like maybe someone was holding the door shut from the other side when he tried the first time!!!! By this time, we were all pretty excited, so we headed back to tell the others what happened. Then we headed home.

Conclusion: Based on my experiences, I would say that there is definitely something paranormal going on at Fort Mifflin. The Officer’s Quarters, artillery shed, and casemates seem to be the most active parts of the fort. I would love to have another opportunity to investigate the fort with fewer people.