JULY, 2023 EVENT RECAPS
VENTFORT HALL MANSION AND GILDED AGE MUSEUM
SATURDAY, JULY 8, 2023
Quite honestly, July's investigation at Ventfort Hall was a bit bizarre. The spirits were not that cooperative - that happens sometimes...but we did hear many interesting responses on the Phasmabox (recordings need to analyzed). Surprisingly, we had many salty responses, which we do not typically receive at Ventfort.
This is the first investigation that I had addressed Giraud Foster at Ventfort Hall. Giraud owned Bellefontaine in Lenox, Massachusetts. The tableware on display in Mr. Morgan's room was from Mr. Foster's collection. We had heard tales that Mr. Foster was upset that no one would attempt to communicate with him there. We also heard that Mrs. Morgan is not happy that he was in her home. Even the in the spirit world, there can be drama! Well, anyway, we believe we heard from Mr. Foster several times including hearing his name. Of course, we will be happy to share that evidence when we complete our review.
Another surprise from the evening is that we had heard "Elizabeth" and "Lizzie" several times during the night. While it is a common name, my first thought was Elizabeth Haggerty, the mother of Annie Haggerty Shaw, and the owner of the property before the Morgan family. When I called both her first and last name in Mrs. Morgan's room, our REM devices were being manipulated on request. The devices would sound each time we called out to her. It was noteworthy as this was the first investigation that we believed to have heard from her.
However, the mansion felt different from other investigations. There was an overall cranky mood to the mansion on this night. The spirits, while active through the Phasmabox, were not very cooperative otherwise. The lights in the dining room did not turn off - that's okay, sometimes they don't feel like doing tricks for our guests. But some of the rooms just had a cranky feel to them. The normally playful spirits that are typically there may not have been there at all due to the energy of the location. It turns out that we investigated close to the anniversary of Mrs. Morgan's death, so we may have felt residual energy from that.
One of my biggest surprises of the evening was the shadow figure I had seen move in Mrs. Morgan's room. I had set up the laser grid in the hallway between the two master bedrooms, and I had seen a dark mass passing through the laser grid.
One of our guests was surprised when her name was called out twice by the spirits during the evening. It is always a trip when that happens and we're glad to give such unique experiences to our guests. Another notable experience from the evening was that the replies from the Phasmabox were unusually salty throughout the night. I have never heard that many curses from the Phasmabox at Ventfort Hall.
Of course, we will share all evidence from this evening when all data has been analyzed. We'll provide updates at a later date.
FORT ADAMS
THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2023
We had two investigations in less than one week's time in July - talk about one heck of a paranormal hangover! Fort Adams was once again an amazing investigation. We started our evening in the tunnels as it was still light out when the investigation began. I had placed the Laser Grid by the entrance of one of the tunnels and a signficant cold spot was forming near the laser grid and moving around. The Phasmabox was active as usual, I heard my name a few times when I had turned it on.
We then moved to the former bowling alley and the former soldiers were not using any filters that night as they were dropping their fair share of vulgarities - including one that cannot be shared. A young man who identified himself as Harry came through to us and let us know that he was one of the pin setters at the bowling lanes at the Fort. When talking with Harry, he kept using our equipment to confirm his identity and presence. While most of the guests were enthralled by the Phasmabox responses, a couple of us were noticing a very defined shadow figure moving at the end of the bowling lanes.
The former medical dispensary area was active, as usual. The Phasmabox was once again very active with many possible intelligent replies - of course a full review is needed to verify what had been said. The laser grid was very active on the stairs and some of us sensed a spirit who was just hanging out at the landing of the second floor. A bit later, two people were surprised when a shadow leaned out of the second-floor window in what looked like an attempt to check in on us.
In keeping with the theme of the night, the Phasmabox replies in the former bakery were a tad salty - including a surprising response when I innocently asked why the spirits in that spot seemed timid that evening. There was a very clear response of "F*** you, Dave" from the Phasmabox. Lesson learned - I guess they don't like to be called timid even if they do not want to enter the room that we are in.
The most surprising response of the night occurred in the powder magazine when I had been talking about Mary Gleason, a young woman found dead at the fort. While her death was ruled an accident, there were some inconsistencies to that conclusion to suggest it may not have been an accident. When I mentioned her name our REM devices began to get very active. When I asked if the spirit had seen how Mary died, a very terse response of "I enjoyed it," was given to us. I suspect that this spirit was just trying to get a reaction out of us. It will be something we will inquire about in August's investigation, so stay tuned.
Another interesting experience while we were in the powder magazine was that a couple people were hearing small rocks being thrown against the wall in the space next to us. When they went to investigate, they heard it again. This was happening while we were getting responses to the Mary Gleason questions. Rock throwing is a common claim at the Fort and during one of our events last year, two guests were hit by small pebbles. This is significant as one of the murders that occurred at the fort was when one soldier shot another point-blank after he had pebbles thrown at him.
As always, these recaps only covered a fraction of what occurred during the investigation. We have all experiences from this investigation documented on our equipment and will be sharing all data when review is complete.