Point Lookout Lighthouse Investigation

Location: Scotland, MD

Date: Saturday, October 22, 2005, 7:55 pm - Sunday, October 23, 3:40 a.m.

Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous.

Solar Weather: Normal, geomagnetic field unsettled.

Investigators present:  Robert H and John M.

Equipment:  Olympus 2000 Digital Voice Recorder,  Extech IR thermometer, Olympus C-4000 Digital Camera, Trifield EMF meter, 2 Sony digital Video cameras with night vision and IR extenders,  2 Sony digital HI8 video cameras with Nightshot and IR extenders, 1 Sony Mini DV video camera with Nightshot and IR extender, Extech EMF meter, 2 Olympus DS-1 Digital Voice Recorders, Extech IR thermometer, Kodak digital camera, 2 remote sensor 35mm cameras.

History: PRSNA has investigated this lighthouse numerous times.

Investigator Robert Hall was recently granted permission by the U.S. Navy to conduct an EVP study within the lighthouse for several months in 2005. This investigation was part of his study. Complete history of Point Lookout Lighthouse can be found at:

http://www.ptlookoutlighthouse.com/

We arrived at the lighthouse at 7:55 pm.   The weather conditions were windy with occasional rain.  Six groups of people were outside the lighthouse fishing.  About 2 hours into the investigation, one of the groups on the Potomac River side began playing music.  By 1 am, the fishing parties began to disperse and only 3 groups were left.   

After initial setup, we began our investigation in the south side kitchen at 9 pm.  The temperature was 61-63 degrees Fahrenheit with flat (0) EMF readings.  Robert's camcorder was running in the south side basement; John's camcorders were running in two locations: the north side basement, in the northeast corner pointing toward the first room, and in the south side middle bedroom.

At 9:23, we moved to the south side living room where the temperature was 62-63 degrees with flat EMF readings.  Note: The North Side kitchen light was left on to discourage visitors; people were hanging around the gate.

At 9:45 pm, we moved to the south side bedroom where the temperature was 61-62 degrees and the EMF was flat, with the exception of two spikes to 3.0 and 6.0.  Additional anecdotal data:  John once again felt a chill and followed an EMF spike from near the middle of the bedroom toward where Robert was sitting near the door to the hallway.    The event lasted 2 minutes and John felt a cool breeze (given the weather conditions, this could have been a draft).   During this time period, John’s camera took 4 pictures in a row that appeared black in his preview window.   The camera began working again for a few pictures, then took 2 black pictures.  The camera is not new and has not exhibited this behavior before.

At 10 pm, Robert moved to the south side hallway near the cupola, as the cool breezes and EMF spikes had subsided in the south side bedroom.  The temperature in the hallway was 63-64 degrees with flat EMF readings. At 10:07, John saw a shadow appear between him and the southeast window; the shadow blocked off all light.

 At 10:25, we moved to the south side den where the temperature was 63 degrees with flat EMF readings.

At 11 pm, we took a break and turned on the lights and chatted in the north side living room, since the lighthouse appeared to be very calm and without much activity.

At 12:54 am, we returned to the south side bedroom where the temperature was 60-62 degrees and EMF readings were flat.   John's video camera was positioned in the north side living room, at the base of the staircase pointing up to the second floor (Note: this stairway is often Referred to as the "Ann Davis" stairway, although it is unlikely that Ann walked up these steps during her tenure from 1830-1847; during that time period, the steps for the lighthouse were located in the middle of the living room and not on the far side as they are now).

At 1:29 am, we moved to the south side dining room where the temperature was 61-62 degrees and the EMF readings were flat.

At 1:43 am, we moved into the south side kitchen where the temperature was 61 degrees and the EMF readings were flat.   Anecdotal evidence was noted as follows:  Robert and John saw orbs with their naked eye at 1:54 am.  Robert was standing in the doorway to the kitchen and saw a bluish-green orb go from just outside the basement door into the living room.  Robert felt that the orb looked like the spots you see if you get up too quickly from a reclined position, however, he had been standing for a long time, so that didn’t seem to be a plausible explanation. At 1:56 am, John saw a red-orange orb the size of a marble near the doorway next to where Robert was standing.  The orb was rising toward the ceiling and then dissipated.

At 2:04 am, Robert moved to the north side kitchen and John took his position in the north side dining room, where the temperature was 60-62 degrees and the EMF readings were flat.

At 2:41 am, John and Robert  went into the yard on the Bay side and took some pictures.  Robert’s digital audio recorder was in the north side living room  and the video was moved to the south side living room stairs, pointing up to the second floor.

When we ended the investigation at 3:40 am, there were still 2 groups of people quietly fishing.  At 3:40 am, the cordless drill that Robert brought had a dead battery.  Upon entering the lighthouse 8 hours earlier, the battery was fully charged and the drill worked as expected.

Conclusions:  PRSNA has investigated this lighthouse several times, and we're always amazed at how light and airy the building feels. Many southern Maryland residents are too terrified to enter this lighthouse due to the stories they've heard, but this lighthouse seldom seems to have the heavy atmosphere usually associated with haunted sites. Even at night, the atmosphere within the lighthouse does not live up to its reputation. Once again, the PRSNA investigators left the lighthouse believing that we obtained very little in the way of positive results, and once again, we were proven wrong when we actually reviewed our results. No moving orbs were captured on the second night of this investigation, however, several EVPs were obtained. We did obtain some positive video as well, but did not post it because we could not be certain that it wasn't just dust.  (Note: two EVPs were captured on the camcorder in the south side basement.)

Submitted by Robert Hall.