Ghosts - research, evidence, and discussion.
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Features Archive:

2006 Archive:
The Winchester Mystery House - Ghost Chronicles
December 28, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Investigating Jane Doherty - Ghost Chronicles
December 20, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Shadow People - by Lee Prosser
December 16, 2006

Column - regular feature

The Westford Knight - Ghost Chronicles
December 15, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Haunted Real Estate by Richard Senate
December 13, 2006


Traditions Behind Christmas By Vince Wilson
December 8, 2006


The Haunted Dibbuk Box - Ghost Chronicles
December 6, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Have Ghosts? Will Travel: A Ghostgeek's Guide to the RMS Queen Mary By Jen Brown
December 4, 2006


Thanksgiving: A Day of Forgiveness - by Lee Prosser
December 1, 2006

Column - regular feature

America's Stonehenge - Ghost Chronicles
November 29, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) - by Jeff Belanger
November 16, 2006


Ghost Hunt Seminar - Ghost Chronicles
November 15, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Ghost Photography: Orbs by Robbin Van Pelt
November 9, 2006


Pet Ghosts - Ghost Chronicles
November 6, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Ghosts Haunt the Inn by Richard Senate
November 3, 2006


Japanese Woman Artist - by Lee Prosser
November 1, 2006

Column - regular feature

The Ghosts of the Windham Restaurant - Ghost Chronicles
October 30, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

The Salem Witches - Ghost Chronicles
October 23, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Homan House, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: A Preliminary Report by John Sabol
October 20, 2006


What Does Halloween/Samhain Mean to You? - Compiled by Jeff Belanger
October 16, 2006


That is the Way of It - by Lee Prosser
October 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Fooling the Ghost Hunter by Richard Senate
October 11, 2006


Jack Kerouac - by Lee Prosser
October 2, 2006

Column - regular feature

Civil War Re-enactors and the Ghost Experience - by Jeff Belanger
September 15, 2006


Who Goes There in the Shadows? - by Lee Prosser
September 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Engagement and Data Analysis in Symmetrical Field Investigations by John Sabol
September 11, 2006


Occult Warfare by Richard Senate
September 6, 2006


Cats and Other Critters From Beyond the Grave - by Lee Prosser
September 1, 2006

Column - regular feature

Chicago's Strange Angles and Haunted Architecture by Ursula Bielski
August 25, 2006


I Have a Hunch: A Look at Psychics, Mediums, and Clairvoyants - by Jeff Belanger
August 16, 2006


Geof Gray-Cobb - by Lee Prosser
August 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Orbs: Have They Become that Boring? by Tuesday Miles
August 14, 2006


A Night on Char-Man Bridge by Richard Senate
August 7, 2006


Five Union Soldier Ghosts - by Lee Prosser
August 2, 2006

Column - regular feature

A Visit With Author and Witch Kala Trobe - Interview by Lee Prosser
July 26, 2006


Perceptual Stratigraphy: Making Sense of Ghostly Manifestations by John Sabol
July 24, 2006


The Trouble With Witches - by Lee Prosser
July 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

A Look at Our Haunted Lives - by Jeff Belanger
July 13, 2006


An Active Ghost Hunt at a Haunted Bed and Breakfast by Richard Senate
July 7, 2006


Lee Prosser, 1969 - by Lee Prosser
July 4, 2006

Column - regular feature

My Theory on Spirits by Edward L. Shanahan
June 28, 2006


Ethnoarchaeoghostology: A Humanistic-Scientific Approach to the Study of Haunt Phenomena by John Sabol
June 19, 2006


Christopher Isherwood & Lee Prosser in 1969 - by Lee Prosser
June 16, 2006

Column - regular feature

ESP, M&Ms, and Reality - by Jeff Belanger
June 15, 2006


A Duel on the Airwaves by Richard Senate
June 5, 2006


Marjorie Firestone and Her Dream Predictions - by Lee Prosser
June 1, 2006

Column - regular feature

Until Death Do Us Part? by Rick Hayes
May 31, 2006


Part Four: the Conclusion: Primrose Road - Adams St. Cemetery - by Marcus Foxglove Griffin
May 22, 2006

Column - regular feature

Folklore, Folklore, Folklore with Dr. Michael Bell - interview by Jeff Belanger
May 16, 2006


Swami Chetanananda and Lee Prosser - by Lee Prosser
May 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Theatre, Sance, and the Ghost Script: Performances at Haunted Locations by John Sabol
May 5, 2006


Willard David Firestone and the River Ghost - by Lee Prosser
May 1, 2006

Column - regular feature

When the Spirits Held Sway at the White House by Richard Senate
April 25, 2006


Part Three: Investigation: Primrose Road - Adams St. Cemetery - by Marcus Foxglove Griffin
April 20, 2006

Column - regular feature

Talking Reincarnation with Dr. John Gilbert - interview by Lee Prosser
April 17, 2006


Billy Bob Firestone and the Ghosts of Pythian Castle - by Lee Prosser
April 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Cryptobotany: the Search for Lost Plants by Richard Senate
April 7, 2006


The Mysteries of Druidry Book Excerpt Part 4 of 4 by Dr. Brendan Cathbad Myers
April 6, 2006


Vedanta and Durga - by Lee Prosser
April 2, 2006

Column - regular feature

The Mysteries of Druidry Book Excerpt Part 3 of 4 by Dr. Brendan Cathbad Myers
March 30, 2006


Ritual, Resonance, and Ghost Research: The Play in the Fields by John Sabol
March 27, 2006


The Mysteries of Druidry Book Excerpt Part 2 of 4 by Dr. Brendan Cathbad Myers
March 23, 2006


Celtic This, Druid That, Saint Patrick Hit Me With a Wiffle-Ball Bat - by Marcus Foxglove Griffin
March 21, 2006

Column - regular feature

The Mysteries of Druidry Book Excerpt Part 1 of 4 by Dr. Brendan Cathbad Myers
March 16, 2006


Christopher Isherwood, Time Loops, and Ghosts - by Lee Prosser
March 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Druids - by Lee Prosser
March 3, 2006

Column - regular feature

Natural Selection and the Involution of the Gettysburg Ghosts by John Sabol
February 28, 2006


Part Two: Investigation: Primrose Road - Adams St. Cemetery - by Marcus Foxglove Griffin
February 20, 2006

Column - regular feature

Lights, Camera... Action! by Brian Leffler
February 16, 2006


Divination and Geomancy - by Lee Prosser
February 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Spirit Messages from a Murderer by Richard Senate
February 8, 2006


The Ghosts of Springfield, Missouri - by Lee Prosser
February 3, 2006

Column - regular feature

The Ghost Storyteller: A Dinosaur Among Lemmings? by Charles J. Adams III
January 23, 2006


The Fools Journey: A Magickal Roadmap to Life - by Marcus Foxglove Griffin
January 20, 2006

Column - regular feature

Tarot and Spiritual Alchemy - by Lee Prosser
January 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Demons from the Dark by Chip Coffey
January 9, 2006


Spooky - by Lee Prosser
January 3, 2006

Column - regular feature



February 28, 2006

Natural Selection and the Involution of the Gettysburg Ghosts

By John Sabol

The Past is never dead, it isnt even past
- William Faulkner


This article proposes that ghostly phenomena occurs at a location due to the existence of activity and/or event fields, including rhythmic behavioral movements, (such as walking, reading, and gazing) that are repeating over and over again in a given area. This repetitive situation soon forms a habitual pattern and, through a process of resonance, continues to manifest long after the pattern originally occurred. If there is a continuity of these field patterns at these locations, the phenomenon should increase through time because they are constantly being reinforced through repetition and association. 

At Gettysburg, re-enactors and their activities resonate the past field patterns (manifested as behavioral activity fields related to aspects of military life in general; and specific events associated with the battle.) Casual ghost hunters, serious investigators, and battlefield and ghost tour guides, also reinforce this resonance by often times recalling the past events. This phenomena is what Richard Senate has labeled Re-Simulation. He suggests that the living play a pivotal role in energizing an already haunted location. As this resonance continues, the paranormal activities (manifesting as past activity fields) become clearer, stronger, and more varied. They are similar to the notes made on a musical instrument, where the continuing vibrations (resonance) alter the structure of the wood, making the next note stronger. So too, the resonance from these contemporary activities at Gettysburg help to create a stronger and clearer sensory manifestations from the past which then bleed into the present. These sensory manifestations, and their accompanying fields of influence are being naturally selected because, through resonance, they become stronger and are continually being reinforced. These sensory manifestations are not mere residual recordings of past events and activities. They are, in some cases, interactive and are continuing to evolve. Can this be proven? I am currently investigating this possibility as part of a long-term field project. The focus of the investigation centers on three civil war battlefields; Gettysburg, Antietam, and the battlefields surrounding the town of Fredericksburg, Virginia. These particular sites were chosen because:

A. Gettysburg has an extensive history of paranormal activity in the town and on the battlefield associated almost exclusively, with the battle; In contrast.
B. The Fredericksburg area has been called the countrys most haunted town for its size where nearly every building boasts an apparition or two (Taylor 1991: VI). However, civil war ghosts are few, yet the area was the site of four major military engagements. As Taylor has asked, Why are there not more ghost stories about civil war soldiers?
C. At Antietam, The Civil War battle was the bloodiest single day engagement in American history. Yet Civil War ghostly manifestations are not prevalent or dominant (See Wilmer Mummas archeological report, Ghosts of Antietam).

Why is Gettysburg so different and unique?
At Gettysburg, the impact of tourism, and its related economic development and marketing, centers primarily on the battlefield event including its ghosts. Is there a relation between the ghost-related activities and ghostly manifestations? I think that there is. The presence of haunting in the Gettysburg area, in contrast to Antietam and Fredericksburg, is based on the resonance of multiple and varied activities related to the Civil War battle and its ghosts. This in turn serves to re-stimulate Civil War-era field patterns, allowing them to become more dominant and more actively present. These ghostly manifestations occur where:

1. There is bleeding from the past due to these resonation activities.
2. There is a paranormal phenomenon that has been observed and recorded in the past.
3. The contemporary environment is Civil War battle-themed and/or ghost related.
4. There is suppression of other past activity due to the dominating influence of the battle-related field resonance.

Further, the intensity of resonance, i.e., the amount and variety of ghostly sensory phenomena reported, is directly proportional to the degree of contextual similarity to the events and/or activities that have been documented at that location for the period in history relative to the Civil War battle. This I have termed affective resonance. I am currently investigating the manifestations of affective resonance and its differential effects on the ghosts of Civil War soldiers (as opposed to other battlefield ghosts) and the specific variations between paranormal phenomenon associated with Confederate and Union ghosts.

Conversely, at those sites where the Civil War or battle are not contemporaneously the dominant theme, there should be little or no ghostly fields associated with the military engagement. However, other past ghostly fields are possible at these sites. I have been testing this hypothesis and documenting the results at a number of locations in the town and surrounding area. This project will continue.

Finally, if the contemporary field patterns at a location are the dominant (i.e. emphasizing modern decor, 20th century recreational activities, and modern conveniences), there should be little or no bleeding from the past, and hence no past fields would be manifesting on a regular basis. This would also mean there would be no haunting at these sites since the past fields would be suppressed. One consequence of this is the possibility of developing new, more contemporary fields of influence. Would this be the birth (evolution) of a future haunt?

In summary, the occurrence, frequency, distribution, and duration (through fluctuating periods of bleeding and suppression) of ghostly manifestations at any location in the Gettysburg area is subject to a type of selection process: 

Only those field patterns that have (are) occurring again and again would result in the possibility that a particular pattern will recur again under certain conditions (resonance). The more frequent, and thus more successful, the field activity the stronger it would become, and the more stabilized it would be at a particular location. 

This is a natural selection process and is governed by human, not paranormal (or supernatural), behavior, since it would be the result, as a primary instrument of causation, of repetitions of human activity. (Note: This is what appears to be occurring in Gettysburg and there is also the possibility that this process is also occurring, albeit to a lesser extent, on other Civil War battlefields.)

If you came back this way taking any route 
starting from anywhere, any time, or any season.
It would always be the same: 
You would have put off sense and motion
-T. S Eliot, Little Gidding)


Do all roads indeed lead back to Gettysburg, and the events of three days in July 1863?


Reference: Taylor, L.B. Jr. The Ghosts of Fredericksburg. Progress Printing Co. 1991.



John Sabol is the founder and principal investigator for the Center for the Anthropological Studies of the Paranormal for the Eastern Region C.A.S.P.E.R. Research Center, 725 East Mahanoy St., Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania 17948, USA.



2014 Haunted New England Wall Calendar by Jeff Belanger photography by Frank Grace
Check out the 2014 Haunted New England wall calendar by Jeff Belanger and photography by Frank Grace!


Paranormal Conferences and Lectures
Don't miss the following events and lectures:

Jeff Belanger and “The Bridgewater Triangle” at Dedham Community Theatre - April 6, 2014 9:00PM

The Spirits of the Mark Twain House - Hartford, Connecticut - April 12, 2014

Paracon Australia - East Maitland, New South Wales, Australia - May 10-12, 2014