The "Pink Hilton"
Place: Private residence in PA, 30 minutes NW of Penn State
Date: February 18, 19 and 20, 2005
Time: 24hrs for two + days
Weather: Clear skies, temp. in low teens,
Moon Phase: Unknown
Investigators: John J. McGreal & junior investigator Erin McGreal
Equipment: Kodak digital camera, Minolta Digital camera, Olympus digital voice recorder, 2 Sony HD camcorders with “night vision” and extenders, one JVC digital camcorder, IR Thermal temperature gun and 2 EMF detectors.
History: This home is primarily used as a vacation house and hunting lodge. It is best known as the “Pink Hilton”. The house is over 100 years old (exact age unknown) and is painted pink. I have included a picture of the exterior of the house just as an FYI. The house was built on farmland owned by the Spotts family for one of their sons. This house sits about a half mile from the main farmhouse and barn and is the closest house to it. In 1962 the house was offered for sale and 4 men from the Montgomery county area went in together and bought the property (house and 2 acres) and would use the house as a hunting lodge.
Investigation: This was my second visit to the Pink
Hilton. During my first visit here on July 4th 2004, I had only
brought my daytime camcorder (JVC Digital) and one camera for a day trip with
the kids. As we arrived and the kids ran off to play, I just looked at this
place and was like "wow!". I was even more excited as I got the nickel
tour. The owner of this house is a new friend of ours (Pete), (son of one of the
original buyers). I just had to ask him if I could spend the weekend up here or
even just part of a night to investigate? He immediately declined, stating that
he’s been coming up here his whole life and has never experienced a thing, and
he just doesn’t believe in what I do.
Over the next couple
months I would try to get Pete to allow us to check the place out…he kept
declining. Then around Christmas he stopped to ask if I would be interested in
doing a dads and daughters trip to the house for three days. We all agreed, and
after we sat around talking about it, he pulled me off to the side and asked if
I could bring all my equipment and investigate the place on my own…this would
have to be real hush-hush. I agreed, but told him I would like to use Erin as a
helper while I investigated, and he agreed.
I asked why the change of heart. He stated that there has been a sighting of an
older man standing in the sitting area of the basement (this area is also used
as the entrance to the house). The man has been sighted two times by two
different sets of witnesses. They were described to me as both very credible
witnesses.
We arrived on the 18th at about 5:30pm . After
getting settled in, Pete stated that we should get all bundled up and take a
walk to the barn where they milk the cows next to the farmer's house. He told us
that an elderly couple owns the place and that they sold all their cattle and
they would be picked up the following morning. It would be the last time he or
his two girls would see the cows being milked. So we all got dressed and took
the hike (it was freezing). We spent some time walking around the barn (we
missed the milking) and took some pictures. After that we went home and everyone
went to bed. About two hours later, Erin and I did a walk through with our IR thermal
temperature gun and EMF detector. There was nothing found on the top two floors
and the EMF was unusable in the basement. However, the temp gun was getting
readings from 78, with sudden drops to 55 in several areas. So I stopped to take
several pictures in this area and sat to get some EVP’s. When we were done we
set up the 2 Sony video cameras in this area.
On the main floor we set up the JVC in the family room pointing into the
kitchen with a couple lights on. Then we went to bed on the third floor at 2:45
a.m.
The second day and night went basically the same, however, we took time
to video the property during the day as we did at night. Also, the basement
sitting area is where the wood stove is, so that is where everyone spent most of
his or her time. So Erin and I made sure we had our video cameras running and
recording the group and taking lots of pictures as we sat around and talked. The
next morning, the 20th, we packed up and left.
Conclusion: During my stay at the Pink Hilton I felt
very comfortable and didn’t really sense much was going on. The only time I
felt like I had to be a little careful was in the basement, but not when we were
as a group or even when I was by myself, but when it was Erin and I together.
Something was definitely there with us. I slept well at night, considering the
bed I slept in (where did they get the name Hilton…geez). Anyway, on the
second night, the 19th, I was awakened at about 4:45am by the strong
smell of a man's cologne. It was so bad it was making me choke. I had to leave
the room and went to the kitchen for water. After about three minutes I returned
to the room and it was fine, I couldn’t smell a thing.
With the digital cameras we took a total of 201 pictures. Out of these I
believe we were able to capture 4 different “energy/life" forces, as seen on
the picture page.
Now for the real interesting picture... The first evening there we went to visit the cows being milked.
We took pictures, talked awhile, then hiked back home in freezing temperatures.
Remember this was a dads' and daughters' weekend. That means it was me, Erin (11), and Kelly
(8), and then there was Pete, Amber (9), and Evelyn (11). The farm we
visited is owned by a couple in their late sixties to mid seventies. They have
no children, no grand children, they don’t baby sit, they have absolutely no
time for kids, and if there is a child there visiting, that kid has to be with the
parent at arms-length the whole time. Ok, as we went in the barn and walked up
one end and down the next there were a couple calves. We stopped to pet them and I
took a picture. When I got home and looked at this picture I almost fell
out of my seat. In the background of this picture is a little boy standing
there. So I asked Pete "do you know who this kid is?", and he was like
"yea, right,
you added that, there are no kids anywhere around that place". So I asked him
again "do you know who this kid is?" and he said "no of course
not". I asked Pete for the
address to the farm so I could print the picture and mail it to them to see if
they could explain. He told me that wouldn’t be a good idea and that they
might think someone was trying to freak them out. However, Pete’s father (one
of the original owners) saw the picture and agreed to take it up to the house on
March 19th and show the old farmers. He stated that they had no idea who the
child was, and stated that he
must have come in with us. I have a picture showing all four girls who were
there that day, and none of them look similar to this child, nor are they
wearing anything similar. Further, where
the "mystery child" is standing was off-limits due to a moody dog
which was kept on that side of the barn.
In regards to video that was recorded. I have six hours
recorded and I believe that I was able to review all of it with confidence that I
didn’t miss anything. After reviewing the tapes it appears that there was
nothing out of the ordinary.
The Pink Hilton was a very interesting building and I
can’t say it’s haunted, because I don’t believe it is. Now the
barn…now that is HAUNTED…However, I am still working on it…but I tell you
now…that place is HAUNTED!!!!!!