More Paranormal Events

When I write about the paranormal, I know some of my readers have had an experience or two, but I have to wonder what the others think. There is always the risk some may think I am some sort of a kook. This is especially true when I say I have had some experiences myself. That is the risk I am willing to take to prove to others there is much about life we don’t understand and the paranormal is a big part of this. When I say paranormal, I am not talking about UFOs or extraterrestrials

There are a lot of paranormal events reported which have an American Civil War aspect to them. As most of us know, the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is said to be one of the most haunted places in this country, but I only mention it because it is such a famous haunted spot which has a lot to do with the Civil War, but there are other places which also do. The ghost of a soldier who lost one leg during the Civil War is said to haunt a structure which was a former college in Mansfield, Louisiana. The ghost is known as Peg Leg Pete and he has been seen by quite a few different people.

Some wonder why so many Civil War ghost sightings are reported. I think the answer is indicated in the number of deaths we had at the time. There was an incredible death toll of 620,000 people. This is the largest number for any American war and was about 2% of the country’s population.

Some of the ghosts are those of famous people. One famous person who is said to haunt the East Village in New York City is said to be Peter Stuyvesant. The Stuyvesant family was very famous in the area. It is said his ghost haunts the old church, Saint Mark’s in the Bowery. His ghost was said to have haunted his mansion before it burned to the ground. Servants used to get so scared when they saw him, they would panic. The house burned down in 1744 and after that he was seen at the cemetery and in the church.

Sometimes a ghost appears in a place where many people claim to have seen it. Take the Ghost of Teddy Roosevelt for example. One of the places it has said to appear is the Hotel bar in the Menger Hotel. The Menger was the first hotel built in San Antonio, Texas. When Teddy Roosevelt used to recruit for the Spanish American War he would sit at a table in the bar. Many different people claim to have seen the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt sitting at the same table. It does make one wonder why that scene would be reacted over and over? The hotel seems to be a favorite place for hauntings and some of the other ghost sightings include The Lady in White. The bar seems to be the most haunted area in the hotel. There is also the ghost of a young girl which appears in the background of photos when taken in the bar. It is also said the grounds around the hotel have been reported to have some very strange sounds coming from them.

A woman claims to have seen a full-bodied apparition of the ghost of George Washington. She claims she was actually able to ask him a question after she took a photo of the ghost, and claims she asked him why he allowed her to take his photo. She said he replied, so people see us.

Are the claims of ghosts living together in a sort of ghost community true? There have been quite a few times ghosts have appeared to people and when asked if others were present, said yes. This is exactly what happened on the USS Hornet when a ghost figure claimed there were about 50 others with him on the aircraft carrier. It looks like when we die, we are not alone. Many have reported this fact when they had a near death experience, they were greeted by deceased friends and relatives. There is overwhelming witness evidence to this fact. I personally never had a near death experience, but so many I hear about and read about included groups of people meeting with the people experiencing the event.

There are varying opinions of the question of who is the most famous ghost. Many believe the most famous in America is the Bell Witch. It was a poltergeist which was said to have tormented the Bell family. They lived in Adams, Tennessee and the torture went on from 1817 to 1821. The ghost was said to be the spirit of Old Kate Batts, a witch. It is said to have performed attacks on the family and even when there were none there seemed to be constant banging, scratching and other sounds. Some of the physical attacks included pinching, sticking with pins and hair-pulling. There were also constant death threats. It is claimed the witch finally left the family and moved into a cave. Today the cave is open to tourists.

There are many stories about poltergeists and how mean and terrifying they can be. One famous case took place in Scotland and is known as the Balornock Poltergeist of Glasgow. The poltergeist activity started in 1974. Strangely, the activity seemed to start when two families had an argument. One family lived above the other. When the poltergeist started making noises, one family blamed the other. The police were called. They arrested the other family members. They had to be released because the knocking continued in their absence. Things began to levitate and a theology professor was called in. Furniture began to fly around. The family left for a while but the activity followed them and when they returned to their apartment, it was in shambles. By now the media followed the case and brought even more attention to it. Things stopped when the father of the other family died and his son got out of school.