Ghostly Gettysburg II

From an email from Susan Crites, founder of the West Virginia Society of Ghost Hunters (reprinted with her kind permission):

An enormous battle was fought at Gettysburg in early July 1863. Thousands died, thousands were wounded, and some even lost their minds in the terrifying struggle. After the battle, there were many civilian deaths. Children died when the odd shell they found exploded in their hands. People of all ages died from diseases spread by insects that landed on rotting flesh and the illnesses caused by drinking from polluted streams. Their restless ghosts abound at Gettysburg. While ghosts have been sighted on virtually every corner of the battlefield at Gettysburg, some areas seem to have heavier concentrations of supernatural energy. Culp’s Hill, on the eastern side of the battlefield, is one of those places where the reports of encounters with the supernatural are the most chilling! Naturally, Culp’s Hill is the place of most interest to the WV Society of Ghost Hunters! The public road that climbs Culp’s Hill is dark. There are places where supernatural darkness flows over the surface of the road with such intensity that it chills the concrete! On the sides of the road in those places, back in the wood line, lurk some of the most unnerving ghosts you’ll ever encounter. Our investigation plan was to distribute Paranormal Investigators all over Culp’s Hill to assure maximum potential for “Contact” with the ghosts of Gettysburg. At twilight, Investigators took their positions. Almost immediately they began to make “Contact!” Chatter on the walkie-talkies about what they were seeing and experiencing was dramatic! Lisa S. was dumbfounded when she encountered a full figure entity by the Observation Tower while Lin C. was being pushed onto the ground by a powerful ghost! We heard ghostly cannon fire booming, felt ghostly pains from long-past wounds, and smelled ghostly gun powder! Orbs, miasma, and some very strange things began to show up on cameras. His ghost hunting partner got Jared S. on film. In the photo, Jared’s perfectly healthy and injury-free arm photographed as very bloodied from elbow to wrist! Carol V. photographed a monument that looked similar to the Washington Monument in DC. In her photo the real monument was upright and a second ghostly image of the same monument was tilted at an angle so that the two together looked like a cross! As I was driving alone up Culp’s Hill, the concrete road disappeared into a “black hole” kind of darkness that blinded me! I hit the brakes and skidded. When the supernatural darkness passed, I found myself well off the road, at the edge of a deep gully. One more foot and I would have been over the edge in a tangled heap of metal! The most interesting “Contact” of the night happened as we were concluding our work. Driving up the hill in a caravan to pick up the widely-distributed Paranormal Investigators, we saw four “reenactors” standing by New York Monument on the right side of the road. Three were dressed in full Union uniform and one was dressed only in his white uniform shirt and pants. They were jostling around and seemed to look toward us. They looked real, but they weren’t. There were no reenactors on Culp’s Hill. Those four men were ghosts! Once again, Gettysburg did not fail to produce dramatic “Contact” with the supernatural! We learned, yet again, that the supernatural energy can be calm, easily photographed and experienced. We were also reminded that the Ghosts of Gettysburg can be very dangerous, potentially deadly to those who dare to stalk them! [WARNING: Ghost hunting on the Gettysburg Battlefield is fine in well-traveled areas, like Devil’s Den, Little Round Top, and the Picket’s Charge/High Water Mark area in front of the Correspondents’ Arch, etc. Outlying areas on the battlefield, however, are intensely haunted, highly unpredictable, and potentially dangerous. Beginning Ghost Hunters, family groups with children, and folks in groups of less than four should absolutely never attempt to make Contact with the supernatural in these areas after twilight. The “baiting and luring” techniques used so successfully by the WV Society of Ghost Hunters at Culp’s Hill on Saturday night should only be attempted by highly trained, very experienced Paranormal Investigators!]

Crites taught the basic paranormal class that led to my becoming a certified Paranormal Investigator on Friday. I haven't mentioned that I'm a certified Parnormal Investigator yet today. I plan on lording over the horror bloggers with it. (Oh sure, you may have thought it a great ghost movie, but what do you know? You're not a certified Paranormal Investigator like I am. ;^> ) Now I just have to sit down and write my account and post my photos of Moonshine Hollow.