Gettysburg Battlefield Investigation Report
Location: Gettysburg, PA
Date: Friday and Saturday nights, December 3&4, 2004
Moon Phase: Last quarter, half moon
Weather: Partly cloudy, 22 degrees F
Solar Weather: Solar flares normal, geomagnetic activity quiet
Investigators present: Hillary M., Robert H., Paul M., John M.
Equipment: Olympus C-3000 digital camera, Extech EMF meter, Olympus
2000 Digital Voice
Recorder, Extech IR thermometer, Sony Hi-8 Cam, Olympus C-4000 Digital Camera,
Olympus D-370 digital camera, Kodak digital camera, Minolta Digital camera,
Olympus digital voice recorder
History: The Battle of Gettysburg took place here. It was fought from
July 1 through July 3, 1863, marked a turning point in the American Civil War in
the North's favor. Roughly 4,000 Southerners and more than 3,000 Northerners
were killed in the battle. The total number of casualties-those killed, wounded,
missing, or captured-was about 23,000 for the North and from 25,000 to 28,000
for the South. More detailed history can easily be found on the web.
Investigation: As you may know, every December PRSNA spends a weekend in
Gettysburg. This year, we decided to use the weekend to get to know a potential
new member, John McGreal. I'm pleased to say that we all had a very good time,
and John decided to become a permanent member of PRSNA. He has already proven
himself as an invaluable member to the team. Welcome John!
We began our investigation on Friday night at the bottom of Triangular
Field at 8:20 p.m. Unfortunately, there were some people on the road above the
field making a lot of noise, so we decided to just take some pictures and wait
for it to quiet down. At about 8:30, noticing that the people were leaving, I
decided to walk up to the top of the field. John followed me a few minutes
later. Since the noisemakers had left, we decided to try recording. One EVP was
obtained at this time.
Next, we moved on to a spot that has proven to be very active for us, the
monument in the woods at Spangler's Spring. We were there four and a half
minutes when I got my first red orb in front of Paul. During the half hour that
we spent at the monument, I got so many pictures of the red orb, that I can't
even post them all. Some pictures even had multiple red orbs in them. The
activity seemed to center around Paul. I began to wonder if something was wrong
with my camera, but John and Robert also got a few pictures of this orb. When we
left the area at about 9:45, I continued taking pictures behind us as we walked
down the road away from the monument. As usual, this orb followed us down the
road, almost all the way back to the parking area.
By this time, it was almost time for the park to close, so we spent a few
minutes by the spring, then called it a night.
The next day, we showed John around the battlefield. At 2:23 p.m., we
headed over to Sach's bridge and began recording. One possible EVP was obtained
at this time.
At 7:05 p.m., we arrived at Spangler's Spring and began recording. No EVPs were
obtained at this time, but John obtained two pictures of a red orb, and Robert
and I each got a picture of a moving orb. We decided to head back to the
monument in the woods to see if the infamous red orb would reappear.
As we walked down the road, both John and I smelled the sweet odor of
pipe tobacco. It followed us all the way down the road to the path leading to
the monument. At first the smell was very strong, then the odor would ebb, and
become strong again, almost like someone was walking along with us and taking a
puff every once in a while. Robert also smelled it briefly, but Paul did not
smell it.
We arrived at the monument at 7:44 and began recording. This time, it
took just over a minute to get my first picture of the red orb in front of Paul.
The activity once again seemed to be centered around Paul, but I also got
pictures of the red orb near John and Robert separately. About nine minutes into
the recording session, John and I both heard a loud noise come from Paul's
direction. Paul did not hear it, which puzzled us since we both agreed that the
noise had come from where Paul was standing. When we left the monument, Robert,
John and I each got pictures of the red orb following us down the road.
Next, we drove over to Devil's Den. As usual, even despite the cold,
there were several people milling around there. This made it impossible to
record, but John and Robert wanted to take some pictures among the rocks. John
and I each obtained a picture of an orb in motion.
Due to the severe cold, we left the park early, at 9 p.m.
Conclusion: I have to admit that I am very pleased with the results
that we obtained during this investigation. The fact that we have obtained so
many pictures of red orbs, on so many different trips, and on so many different
cameras, at the monument near Spangler's Spring leads me to conclude that there
is definitely at least one spirit which frequents this particular site. We have
rarely spent time at this monument in which we have not recorded any activity.
It is important to note that on those rare occasions, I was accompanied by women
not men. Therefore, I have to wonder if the spirit feels most comfortable around
men. Maybe Paul, in particular, reminds this spirit of someone he knew in life?
Further investigations are warranted to test this theory.
Submitted by Hillary Murdoch