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E.V.P. mentioned in the Siuslaw Newspaper
A Haunting Experience
By Shawn Penrod
Siuslaw News
Published May 13, 2009
When it comes to ghosts, most people would prefer to avoid them. There are some,
however, who not only want to see them, but pursue them. With the recent
popularity of such reality TV shows as the Sci Fi Channel's "Ghost Hunters,"
paranormal investigation is, once again, hitting the mainstream.
On Tuesday, Feb. 3, Siuslaw News staff joined members from two local investigation groups, the Coast Ghost Paranormal Research Society and Emerald Valley Paranormal, for the first paranormal investigation on perhaps the most famous haunted house on the Oregon Coast ‹ if not all of Oregon ‹ the Heceta Head Lighthouse Keeper's Quarters.
Led by Coast Ghost's Research
Coordinator, Ann Fillmore, the group set out to make contact and document the
apparition, either by video, photograph or digital voice recording. "Being
able to lead a team to investigate one of the most famously haunted
sites in the world is incredible," said Fillmore.
The stories have been around for as long as anyone can remember. Legend has it that sometime in the late 1800s, the wife of an assistant lightkeeper committed suicide after her young daughter drowned in a well. She is said to have haunted the house and the grounds ever since, grieving over her lost child. Known by several names, the Gray Lady, the Lady of the Lighthouse and even Rue, her legend gained steam with a November 26, 1975, Siuslaw News front-page story titled "Lady of the Lighthouse Baffles Workmen." It tells of a local contractor named Jim Alexander who, while working in the attic, gets up close and personal with the specter. "I was cleaning a window which looks out over the ocean and I kept seeing things in the glass. I turned around and saw this elderly lady with a long gown and long gray hair watching me," Alexander told the Siuslaw News. "She was kind of like the apparitions you see in Hollywood movies except she moved across the room without ever touching the floor." Alexander vacated the attic and property quickly. He eventually returned to the site the next week and while working on the outside of the house, accidently broke an attic window. He replaced the window, but after his encounter, refused to go inside the attic, leaving the broken glass spread on the floor. Later that night, then-keepers Harry and Anne Tammen said they were awakened by noise coming from the attic, but went back to sleep. The next morning, the Tammen¹s checked the attic and found that the glass had been swept up neatly into a pile in a corner of the room.
Today, the keeper's quarters is a
bed-and-breakfast Inn run by Michelle and Steven Bursey and is known for its
gorgeous views, seven-course gourmet breakfasts and the ghostly tenant.
Although he is reluctant to say the house is haunted, Steven does admit that
some strange things happen from time to time. "It is a quirky house,"
said Steven. "I don't offer conclusions on whether there are ghosts, but
things have happened here that I can't explain." Stereos turning on
and off and doors locking themselves are not necessarily out of the ordinary
occurrences at the keeper's quarters. Steven said that the young girl's
gravesite is on the property, although the forest service has asked him not to
reveal the location to protect the site. Michelle's parents, Mike and
Carol Korgan, were the caretakers before the Burseys. Steven said they "definitely
are convinced the house is haunted."
So do many guests. A book at the house
has page after page of stories of ghostly encounters from frightened visitors.
In August 2003, an Alabama woman wrote of never having an encounter with a
phantom until staying in Victoria's Room.
"I felt pressure on my legs, like someone walking on the bed," she
wrote. Another guest writes that during her September 2005 visit, the
ghost was having fun with her, knocking, screaming and lamps being turned on and
off throughout the night. Some fun.
But after experiencing the
investigation with the group, fun is the point. While driving north to the
lighthouse that clear February evening to accompany the teams, I found myself
getting a little nervous. I wasn't sure if I was more scared of actually finding
something, or of the ghost hunters themselves. Turns out, neither the
ghost nor the hunters are anything to be afraid of. The investigators are
ordinary people with "day jobs" who not only happen to be curious, but
who genuinely want to help people understand what might (or might not) be
happening in their homes. "The decision was made to take our passion
from a "hobby" to actually being available to helping others who just
don't understand what is going on or why," said Darci Chappell, co-founder
of Emerald VAlley Paranormal. Fillmore says that the Coast Ghost Society
has two major goals: research and helping the community.
She says her investigations are always scientific, unbiased, respectful and
thorough. Fillmore is passionate about what she does. An international
consultant with a background in behavioral science, Fillmore not only conducts
investigations, but teaches workshops on how to document and analyze paranormal
activity. According to Fillmore, the advances in digital technology ,such
as in cameras and voice recorders, has opened up whole new dimensions.
"The digital camera picks up many layers of light and energy then matrices
interprets the pixels to display what could be called a 3-D scene,"
Fillmore states on her Web site.
Upon arriving, the group gathers at the
lightkeeper's house and Fillmore hands out assignments. One group, led by
Fillmore, set up recording equipment throughout the house, including the attic.
They also checked the energy of the house using equipment such as copper dousing
rods and EMF (electromagnetic field) detectors. "I don't know if you
can feel her, but she's already here," said Fillmore excitedly, who also
has a non-technological way for detecting spirits. "For me, when she walks
through me, my nose itches."
Another group set out looking for the young girl¹s grave, while a third
attempted to find the well in which she drowned. About an hour into the
investigation a group consisting of Chappell, Coast Ghost member Marcia Ustica
and Oregon Coast Magazine contributing editor Judy Fleagle hurried back to the
house with beaming smiles. They say they made contact with a young girl,
communicating with her for about 20 minutes through the dousing rods. Ustica
said the rod would cross for yes answers. "When it was a yes, it was
a yes," said Ustica. According to Fleagle, the girl's name was Diana
and she was between 13 and 14 years old. Could she be the girl that drowned?
"It was so exciting," said Fleagle. "She answered all of my
questions." Fleagle said that she once considered herself an "open-minded
skeptic." "But since I've had some really interesting
experiences that I can't otherwise explain, I¹m having to admit becoming more
of a believer."
As darkness fell, team members
stationed themselves throughout the house, tending to video recorders and taking
hundreds of photos. To my surprise, the only moment of creepiness for me
came when I was left alone in the dark attic for about 15 minutes. I challenge
anyone, however, to spend time by themselves in even a new attic with the lights
out and not be a little creeped out. Apparently, the Heceta Lighthouse
ghost has a reputation for being the friendly kind, or a Casper, as some experts
call them. "Heceta seems to have a calming pulse all its own that you
can surely feel while you are there," said Chappell. Fillmore credits
Michelle and Steven for that calm feeling. "The calm, warm, welcoming
feeling of the place is highly unusual for a truly haunted location," said
Fillmore. "I attribute that to the satisfaction the resident spirits have
with Steve and Michelle and the staff at Heceta." In a typical
investigation, Fillmore and the team members take and analyze hundreds of
photos, and hours of video and audio recordings, then, later, sit down with the
owners of the property and reveal their findings. They even give advice on
protection or living with the entity.
On Sunday, April 5, Fillmore, Fleagle
and Ustica showed Bursey the results of their investigation. "We
captured some EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) that would knock your socks off,"
said Fillmore. According to Fillmore, a soft, male voice could be heard on
the recordings calling out names of the investigators. "I can handle
seeing photos and videos," said Fillmore, "but
hearing your name called out is another story." "We also got
some good pictures," said Fillmore, "but the main thing we got was
EVPs." Steven was not convinced with the photographs he saw.
"I have a hard time putting weight into that (photographs)," said
Steven. "People see faces in all kinds of things. The power of
suggestion is very strong." A particular voice recording, however,
left him a bit unnerved.
"Most of the recordings were muffled and hard to hear," said Steven.
"One voice, though, had a different sound quality to it. It sounded
unearthly and disturbing. It left chills down my spine." Steven said,
however, that he was not surprised by what the investigators found. "Weird
things happen here so (their findings) are not unexpected," said Steven.
"I'm not sure that I believe in ghosts, but stuff happens I can't explain.
I'm OK with that."
Whether the keeper's quarters really are haunted can depend on an individual's personal beliefs. For some non-believers, no amount of so-called evidence can change that. For the paranormal investigators and many guests, however, seeing is believing.
For information about Heceta Head
Lighthouse or the keeper's quarters,
contact Steven or Michelle at 866-547-3696 or visit their Web site at
www.hecetalighthouse.com.
Ann Fillmore and the Coast Ghost Paranormal Research Society's Web site is www.curious_country.waking
Emerald Valley Paranormal is online at http://emeraldvalleyparanormal.org
Emerald Valley Paranormal in
Oregon Coast Magazine
Judy Fleagel - Oregon Coast Magazine
Darci Chappell - Emerald Valley Paranormal
Photo by Marcia Ustica
Coast Lines
It was the same spirit I had communicated with last summer when I was ghost hunting. I was sure of it. This time she didn’t respond to the electromagnetic detector, only the rods I held in my hands. I had suggested crossing the rods for yes and uncrossing them for no, and she responded. We held a 20-minute Q-and-A with the sound recorder running.
Once again, Ann Fillmore, of Coast Ghost Paranormal Research Society, and I, still an open-minded skeptic, were at Heceta House. This coastal treasure had been built for the assistant lighthouse keepers at Heceta Head and is now the Heceta Head Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast. We were completing the paranormal investigation that was begun last summer and reported on in the article "Haunted Structures and Ghostly Happenings," September/October 2008.
This time it was a winter evening and we had Fillmore’s team plus two members from the Junction City Emerald Valley Paranormal group. We divided into small teams of two or three. Mine headed for the rocks at the base of Heceta Head, another team climbed upstairs to the attic, and a third covered the outside grounds. Camcorders were set up as well as digital recorders. At sunset, we took a dinner break and ate on the porch watching brilliant colors blaze over the ocean, ending an unbelievable 65-degree February day.
The teams then rotated through four or five sites. There seemed to be a fair amount of paranormal activity taking place; I certainly wasn’t the only one to experience it. But it will take weeks of listening to the recordings, carefully observing the videos, and seeing the digital photos on the computer to determine what actually took place. Stay tuned. I’ll keep you posted.
more to come..........................