October 7th, 2011 / No Comments » / by KWright
By Keith Mayes, From
http://www.thekeyboard.org.uk/Quantum%20mechanics.htm
What is quantum mechanics?
“The quantum is the greatest mystery we’ve got. Never in my life was I more up a tree than today,” John Wheeler.
Quantum theory is bizarre. In order to try and understand it we need to forget everything we know about cause and effect, reality, certainty, and much else besides. This is a different world, it has its own rules, rules of probability that make no sense in our everyday world. Richard Feynman, the greatest physicist of his generation, said of quantum theory
‘It is impossible, absolutely impossible to explain it in any classical way’.
Quantum theory is much more than just bizarre, it is also without doubt the most amazing theory in existence. If after reading this section you are not totally amazed by it, then the fault will be mine, for I will have failed to reveal to you its deep underlying significance. This theory is not just about experiments and equations, it reveals something extraordinary about our very understanding of what constitutes reality.
This is a very complex theory, and in order to fully do it justice it would require at least a fair sized book. However, in order to grasp the basic principles involved it will suffice to study just three key experiments. The three experiments are generally known as: the ‘Double Slit Experiment’, Schrödinger’s ‘Cat-in-the-Box Experiment’ and the ‘EPR Paradox’.
We will start with the famous double slit experiment as it demonstrates beautifully the central mystery of quantum theory. Quantum theory however, needs some introduction before we get too involved in the experiment.
The standard explanation of what takes place at the quantum level is known as the Copenhagen Interpretation. This is because much of the pioneering work was carried out by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who worked in Copenhagen. Quantum theory attempts to describe the behaviour of very small objects, generally speaking the size of atoms or smaller, in much the same way as relativity describes the laws of larger everyday objects. We find it necessary to have two sets of rules because particles do not behave in the same way as larger everyday objects, such as billiard balls. We can, for example, say precisely where a billiard ball is, what it is doing, and what it is about to do. The same cannot be said for particles. They are, quite literally, a law unto themselves, and why this should be so is a source of much debate. The classic experiment to illustrate this is the famous double slit experiment, originally devised to determine if light travels as waves or particles. Feynman said of it:
‘Any other situation in quantum mechanics, it turns out, can always be explained by saying, “You remember the case of the experiment with the two holes? It’s the same thing.”‘
The double slit experiment.
If light travels as particles we can imagine particles of light (photons) as bullets fired from a rifle. Imagine a brick wall with two holes in it, each the same size and large enough to fire bullets through, with a second wall behind where the bullets will strike. After firing a few rounds you would expect to see on the second wall two clusters of hits in line with the two holes. This is of course precisely what you get with bullets, so if we get the same result with photons we can say they are particles.
Now imagine that instead of particles, that light travels as a wave, we can replicate that with a water tank. As the wave spreads out from its source it would reach both holes at the same time and each hole would then act as a new source. Waves would then spread out again from each of the holes, exactly in step, or in phase, and as the waves moved forward, spreading as they go, they would eventually interfere with one another. Where both waves are lifting the water surface upward, we get a more pronounced crest; where one wave is trying to create a crest and the other is trying to create a trough the two cancel out and the water level is undisturbed. The effects are called constructive and destructive interference.
If we carried out this procedure with light instead of water, and if light travels as waves, then the pattern on the second wall would appear as an interference pattern of alternate dark and light bands across the wall. Particles, on the other hand, would produce two separate areas of light (where the bullets would hit). This experiment has in fact been carried out many, many times, with the same results every time, and the results are nothing less than amazing.
When the experiment is set up as shown in the above diagram, with both slits open, the resulting interference pattern clearly shows that light behaves as a wave. Now if that was all there was to it we could all fold up our tents and go home happy in the knowledge that light travels as a wave; but there is much more to it than that. This is where the word ‘weird’ can become over-used.
If the experiment is set up to fire individual photons, so that only one photon at a time goes through the set up, we would not expect the same interference pattern to build up; we would surely expect that a single photon would only go through one hole or another, it cannot go through both at the same time and create an interference pattern. So what happens?
If we wait until enough individual photons have passed through to build up a pattern – and this takes millions of photons – we do not get two clusters opposite the two holes, we get the same interference pattern! It is as if each individual photon ‘knows’ that both holes are open and gives that result. Each individual photon, passing through the set up will place itself on the wall in such a position that when enough have passed through they have collectively built up an interference pattern, when there cannot possibly be any interference!
If we repeat the experiment, this time with only one hole open, the individual photons behave themselves and all cluster round a point on the detector screen behind the open hole, just as you would expect. However, as soon as the second hole is opened they again immediately start to form an interference pattern. An individual photon passing through one of the holes is not only aware of the other hole, but also aware of whether or not it is open!
We could try peeking, to see which hole the photon goes through, and to see if it goes through both holes at once, or if half a photon goes through each hole. When the experiment is carried out, and detectors are placed at the holes to record the passage of electrons through each of the holes, the result is even more bizarre. Imagine an arrangement that records which hole a photon goes through but lets it pass on its way to the detector screen. Now the photons behave like normal, self respecting everyday particles. We always see a photon at one hole or the other, never both at once, and now the pattern that builds up on the detector screen is exactly equivalent to the pattern for bullets, with no trace of interference. As if that was not bad enough, it gets even worse! We do not need place detectors at both holes, we can get the same result by watching just one hole. If a photon passes through a hole that does not have a detector, it not only knows if the other hole is open or not, it knows if the other hole is being observed! If there is no detector at the other hole as well as the one it is passing through, it will produce an interference pattern, otherwise it will act as a particle. When we are watching the holes we can’t catch out the photon going through both at once, it will only go through one. When we are not watching it will go through both at the same time! There is no clearer example of the interaction of the observer with the experiment. When we try to look at the spread-out photon wave, it collapses into a definite particle, but when we are not looking it keeps its options open.
What the double slit experiment demonstrates is this: Each photon starts out as a single photon – a particle – and arrives at the detector as a particle, but appears to have gone through both holes at once, interfered with itself, and worked out just where to place itself on the detector to make its own small contribution to the overall interference pattern. This behaviour raises a number of significant problems! Does the photon go through both holes at the same time? How does a photon go through both holes at the same time? How does it know where to place itself on the detector to form part of the overall pattern? Why don’t all the photons follow the same path and end up in the same place?
As a possible explanation it could perhaps be said that this is just one more example of the extraordinary nature of light, after all it does have some very unusual properties. Photons have no rest mass for example, a very odd property! Light is also unique in that it always travels at the same speed. However you move, and however the light source moves, when you measure the speed of light you always come up with the same answer. By way of comparison, two cars approaching each other and each having a speed of 30 mph will be approaching each other at a speed of 60 mph. Two light beams, both travelling of course at the speed of light, will be approaching each other at the speed of light, not twice the speed of light. Perhaps the weird behaviour of photons in the experiment is due to the weird nature of light. Unfortunately further experiments have demonstrated that this is not the case. Electrons have been used instead of photons, and they not only have mass, they have an electric charge, and furthermore they move at different speeds depending on circumstances, like normal everyday objects. The double slit experiments still gives the same result using electrons as it does using photons; electrons also alter their behaviour depending on whether or not they are being observed. The experiment has even been performed using atoms, again with the same result, and atoms are large enough to be individually photographed, they are very real solid objects. This odd behaviour of particles is a very real phenomenon.
The double slit experiment is not simply an oddball theory that has no application in the real world. This strange behaviour of particles lies at the very heart of our understanding of the physical properties of the world. Quantum theory is used in many applications, including television and computers, and even explains the nuclear processes taking place inside stars.
One possible explanation for quantum weirdness is a theory concerning the nature of the wave that is passing through the experiment. The key concept of the theory, which forms a central part of the Copenhagen Interpretation, is known as the ‘collapse of the wave function’. The theory seeks to explain how an entity such as a photon or an electron, could ‘travel as a wave but arrive as a particle’. According to the theory, what is passing through the experiment is not a material wave at all, but is a ‘probability wave’. In other words, the particle does not have a definite location, but has a probability of being here or there, or somewhere else entirely. Some locations will be more probable than others, such as the light areas in the interference pattern for example, and some will be less probable, such as in the dark areas. In this theory, an electron that is not being observed does not exist as a particle at all, but has a wave-like property covering the areas of probability where it could be found. Once the electron is observed, the wave function collapses and the electron becomes a particle. This theory rather neatly explains the behaviour of the particles in the double slit experiment. When we are not looking at the particle, the probability wave, of even a single particle, is spread out and will pass through both slits at the same time and arrive at the detector as a wave showing an interference pattern. When we observe the electron by placing detectors at the slits, it is forced into revealing its location which causes the probability wave to collapse into a particle. If the theory is correct, its implications are staggering. What it suggests is that nothing is real until it has been observed!
Nothing is real until it has been observed! This clearly needs thinking about. Are we really saying that in the ‘real’ world – outside of the laboratory – that until a thing has been observed it doesn’t exist? This is precisely what the Copenhagen Interpretation is telling us about reality. This has caused some very well respected cosmologists (Stephen Hawking for one) to worry that this implies that there must actually be something ‘outside’ the universe to look at the universe as a whole and collapse its overall wave function. John Wheeler puts forward an argument that it is only the presence of conscious observers, in the form of ourselves, that has collapsed the wave function and made the universe exist. If we take this to be true, then the universe only exists because we are looking at it. As this is heading into very deep water I think we will have to leave it there and move on to the next experiment.
Schrödinger ‘s ‘Cat-in-the-Box Experiment’
According to the Copenhagen Interpretation, the probability wave of an electron requires the act of observation by a conscious observer to collapse it into a definite particle, and thus have a definite location. We can imagine a closed box containing just a single electron. Now until someone looks in the box, the probability wave associated with the electron will fill the box uniformly, thus giving an equal probability of finding the electron anywhere inside the box. If a partition is introduced into the middle of the box that divides it into two equal boxes, still without anyone looking inside, then common sense tells us that the electron must be in one side of the box or the other. But this is not the case according to the Copenhagen Interpretation; that says that the probability wave is still evenly distributed across both half-boxes. This means that there is still a 50:50 chance of finding the electron in either side of the box. When somebody looks into the box the wave will then collapse and the electron will be noticed in one half of the box or the other, but it will only at the moment of observation ‘decide’ which half it will be in. At the same time the probability wave in the other half of the box vanishes. If the box is then closed up again, and the electron no longer observed, its probability wave will again spread out to fill the half box, but cannot spread back into the other half of the box that was empty.
The way that a quantum wave moves is described by Erwin Schrödinger’s wave equation and describes the probability for finding a photon, or electron, at a particular place. Schrödinger did not however, go along with the ‘collapse of the wave function’ theory, he thought it was a nonsense, and designed ‘thought experiments’ to prove his point. In an attempt to demonstrate the foolishness – as he saw it – of quantum theory, Schrödinger devised the cat-in-a-box thought experiment.
In Schrödinger ‘s original thought experiment he used radioactive decay because that also obeys the rules of probability. We however, shall use our box with the partition and electron again, as we are now familiar with it.
Imagine we have our box with the partition in place, and the electron’s probability wave evenly spread between both halves of the box. We have now added a device that will, at a given time, automatically open up one half of the box to the room. There is a 50:50 chance that when opened the box will contain the electron that is now free to enter the room. The room is sealed and has no windows that would allow any outside observations to be made. Inside the sealed room there is a cat, a container of poisonous gas, and an electron detector. The experiment is so designed that if the electron detector detects an electron it will release the poisonous gas into the room, which would prove very unfortunate for the poor cat. If, on the other hand, that half of the box does not contain the electron, the poisonous gas will not be released into the room and our cat, henceforth known as Lucky, will continue to enjoy good health, providing it keeps away from busy roads.
Taking a common sense view of the situation, we would say that when the experiment has run its course, and an observer enters the room, they will find the cat either dead or alive. But we already know enough about quantum theory to realise that common sense doesn’t apply here, and instead we have to turn to the Copenhagen Interpretation for an explanation.
According to the Copenhagen Interpretation, when the lid of one half of the box is opened, it is not an electron, or not as the case may be, that is released into the room, but the probability wave of the electron as it has not yet been observed. This raises the question of whether or not the cat can be regarded as a conscious observer. If it can be then where do we draw the line? Would a fly or an ant count? How about a bacterium? As this is again getting into rather deep and murky water, we will skip over this problem and continue with our experiment, otherwise we run the risk of becoming seriously side-tracked. So the probability wave spreads into the room, not an electron (or no electron). The electron detector is itself composed of microscopic entities of the quantum world (atoms, particles and so on) and the interaction of the electron with it would take place at this level, so the detector is also subject to the quantum rules of probability. Taking this view, the wave function of the whole system will not collapse until a conscious observer enters the room. At that moment the electron ‘decides’ whether it is inside the box or in the room, the detector ‘decides’ whether it has detected an electron or not, and the cat ‘decides’ whether it is dead or alive. Until that moment, according to the Copenhagen Interpretation, the cat is not either dead or alive, it describes the situation as a ‘superposition of states’. Only the act of observation will cause it to become one or the other. Schrödinger described the situation as ‘having in it the living and the dead cat mixed or smeared out in equal parts.’ The Copenhagen Interpretation does not allow for the room to actually contain a cat that is both dead and alive at the same time, or a cat that is neither dead nor alive, suspended in limbo. But contains either a dead cat or a live cat, until someone looks, and it is then that the actual reality of the situation is determined.
Cat lovers please note. This experiment has never been carried out, and never will be. This is not only because it would be a very cruel thing to do, but because it wouldn’t prove anything. An observer upon entering the room would find either a dead cat or a living one, but could not observe what processes preceded this event. Any previous observation would of course defeat the object of the experiment.
The problems highlighted by the cat-in-a-box experiment raise some very deep questions. What for example are the requirements needed to qualify as a ‘conscious observer’? Do the probability waves of particles spread out again when not observed and particles somehow become less ‘real’, as described by the Copenhagen Interpretation? Does the universe exist only because we are here to observe it? Could a cat really be in a ‘superposition of states’, either dead or alive until the moment of observation? This goes entirely against all our common sense experience of life, we would naturally conclude upon finding the cat alive that it had ‘obviously’ been alive all the time. Quantum theory is telling us that we could be very wrong in our thinking regarding what reality really is.
Quantum theory has yet another surprise in store for us, and this time it’s not simply another bizarre phenomenon that challenges our common sense. This time it contradicts one of the central principles of Einstein’s theory of relativity, that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. As you can imagine, Einstein was not amused.
The EPR Paradox.
The experiment is so named because it was a thought experiment devised by Einstein, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen. As with Schrödinger’s cat-in-the-box experiment, its purpose was to expose the ‘foolishness’ of the Copenhagen Interpretation. The experiment focuses on the phenomenon of quantum theory known as ‘non-locality’, which concerns communication between particles. A pair of protons, for example, associated with one another in a configuration called the singlet state will always have a total angular momentum of zero, as they each have equal and opposite amounts of spin. Just as we have seen in the other experiments, the protons will not collapse their probability wave and ‘decide’ which spin to adopt, until they have been observed. If you measure the spin of one proton, according to quantum theory, the other proton instantly ‘knows’ and adopts the opposite spin. So far so good, we have come to expect this sort of behaviour from particles, so what is the problem with this particular experiment?
It is possible, and has been carried out in laboratory tests over a short distance, to split the particles apart and send them in opposite directions and then measure one of them for spin. The instant it is measured, and the spin determined, the other particle adopts the opposite spin. The time interval is zero, the event takes place instantaneously, even though the particles are separated, and theoretically would still do so even if they were separated by a distance measured in light years. This is what upset Einstein, the implication that particles could communicate at faster than light speed, as it is impossible for this to happen according to Einstein’s theory of relativity.
At the time this thought experiment was proposed, in the early 1930′s, just about the time of Schrödinger’s cat-in-the-box thought experiment, it was not actually possible to physically carry out the experiment. Einstein did not live to see it turned into practical reality, which is probably just as well in light of the results produced. This experiment has now actually been carried out over a distance of 10 kilometres and confirmed as correct. Something here is taking place at faster than light speed, although exactly what seems to be a matter of some debate. Regrettably, due to its very nature, no meaningful communication could be made using such a device. Whether or not it will ever have any useful application remains to be seen, but that is not the point. The point is the experiment has proved Einstein wrong, faster than light speed, at least in the quantum world, is a reality. However, in classical physics – at sizes above that of atoms – relativity still remains unchallenged, nothing has been detected at faster than light speed.
As I said at the outset of this section, these three experiments highlight the basic principles involved in quantum theory. I also said they would amaze you, and I hope that you feel that I have kept my word. If you are not amazed by quantum theory, then blame me, for the theory is truly amazing and any disappointment you may have with it can only be due to my inability to do the theory justice.
One last thing you need to know about quantum theory, and that is Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. Heisenberg said that the electron was a particle, but a particle which yields only limited information. It is possible to specify where an electron is at a given moment, but we cannot then impose on it a specific speed and direction at the setting-off. Or conversely, if you fire it at a known speed in a certain direction, then you are unable to specify exactly what its starting-point is – or its end-point. The information that an electron carries is limited in its totally. That is, for instance, its speed and its position fit together in such a way that they are confined by the tolerance of the quantum.
The principle of Uncertainty fixed once for all the realisation that all knowledge is limited, that there is no such thing as absolute certainty.
What conclusions can we draw from these experiments?
We need to be very careful in drawing any conclusions from the results of these experiments. All we can say with any confidence is that if we set up the apparatus in a certain way it will produce a certain result. How we interpret those results, the meanings that we attach to them, is nothing more than our way of attempting to make sense of them, and need have no relationship at all to the actual reality of the situation. To imagine that a probability wave passes through both slits in the double slit experiment helps us to understand what may be happening, but it is in fact nothing more than proposing an idea that meets the criteria of what has been observed; there may be no such thing as a probability wave. It may be the case that we are completely missing some fundamental property of particles, a property that as yet remains undetected by our equipment and experiments. There may be things going on that we are completely unaware of.
What quantum mechanics tell us is that nothing is real and that we cannot say anything about what things are doing when we are not looking at them. In the world of quantum mechanics, the laws of physics that are familiar from the everyday world no longer work. Instead, events are governed by probabilities. Einstein was so disgusted by the whole notion that he made his famous remark, “Quantum mechanics is very impressive. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory produces a good deal but hardly brings us closer to the secrets of the Old One. I am at all events convinced that He does not play dice”.
What do I think?
It seems illogical that we need two completely different laws to explain the behaviour of objects, dependent on how large or small the object is. Why is it that the laws of cause and effect, that work so well in the everyday world, breakdown in the world of the very small, when everything in the everyday world is made up of the very small?
It just does not make any sense, but like it or not, until a theoretical physicist comes up with a theory that incorporates both Quantum Mechanics and Relativity we just have to admit that we do not really know what is going on. However, one thing I am absolutely clear on is that an electron, or photon, doesn’t ‘know’ anything, anymore than a frozen pea does. When you remove a frozen pea from the freezer and place it in a warm room you do not gasp in amazement when it defrosts and ask how did it ‘know’ to defrost. You do not try and trick it into not defrosting by leaving it in the freezer and turning off the freezer. This is of course because we understand the laws of thermodynamics. Particles do not ‘know ‘ anything!
When physicists ask the question, ‘how does a particle ‘know’ something’? they are of course using the term loosely. What they are really asking is ‘what are the forces acting upon the particle that we have not detected? What interactions are taking place that we have not detected?’
That is the problem. Something is going on at a level that we are completely unaware of. However, the idea of probability waves as an explanation is nothing more than an attempt to describe what is observed in the quantum world by the Copenhagen Interpretation, and is of course a purely theoretical concept.
It may be possible that we need to develop a new form of logic to be able to describe what is happening at the quantum level. It may be that it is not enough to say that a statement is either true or false, we may have to introduce a three-valued quantum logic which allows the additional status of ‘undecided’. This would mean that a statement that is not true need not be false.
Links to other sites on quantum mechanics:
For a more detailed explanation The Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
and on the ‘double-slit’ experiment Wheeler’s Delayed-Choice Experiment
Posted in: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Theories
September 29th, 2011 / No Comments » / by KWright
by: Jim Hall
In regards to paranormal phenomena, most opinions and theories can generally be placed into one of three categories:
- Spiritualism – Paranormal phenomena are real and are caused by the existence of another plane of existence where our universe’s physical laws do not apply.
- Rationalism – Paranormal phenomena are not real and all the evidence that has been collected over the years and all the phenomena that have been observed have been misinterpreted. All physical laws apply.
- Compatibilism – Paranormal phenomena are real and are part of the physical world, albeit a part that is not completely understood by current scientific knowledge. A belief in other planes of existence is possible, but not necessary.
It probably comes as no surprise that most of the members of Haunted North Carolina fall into the last category (although no two people have identical beliefs). In other words, we believe that the paranormal is real and can be explained by physics. Our research is part of trying to discover that explanation.
In order to examine the relationship between physics and the paranormal, one needs to have at least a rudimentary understanding of it. Unfortunately, most resources available to beginning investigators fall short in this area. Beginners are encouraged to purchase scientific measuring equipment, such as gaussmeters (EMF meters) and digital thermometers without ever being given an explanation as to what these devices really measure and how these principles relate to paranormal research. We are told that a cold spot or a warm spot is a possible indicator of ghost activity, or that EMF readings in the 2 – 7 milligauss range signal the presence of a ghost, but nobody ever says WHY!!!
This article is meant to act as a primer to the beginning (or confused) investigator. I will discuss some commonly used terms, explaining the principles behind them as I go.
Electromagnetic Energy and the EM Field
In simplest terms, electromagnetic energy is the movement of photons. It covers a wide range of types of energy from Radio Waves, through the visible light spectrum, all the way to X-rays and Gamma Rays. It is everywhere and exists in everything. In fact, if you examine an atom, the nucleus and electrons take up less than 1% of its volume. The rest of that space is occupied by photons being traded back and forth between the positively charged nucleus and the negatively charged electrons. So you could say that the universe is made up mostly of energy. (In terms of volume, not in terms of mass. Photons have no mass.)
The movement of an electron generates an electromagnetic field. The electron carries an electrical field (called the E-Field) which creates a corresponding magnetic field (called the H-Field) as it is in motion. In other words, electricity (the flow, or current of moving electrons) creates a magnetic field, and we measure these combined fields as EM Fields.
What does this have to do with ghosts? One current theory that is being researched at the University of Surrey in England is that our consciousness does not reside in one particular part of the brain, but rather in the EM Field that surrounds our entire body. As living things, we are animated by electricity. Electrical impulses are transmitted throughout our nervous systems to our brains. Relative physics says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Therefore, when we die, that electromagnetic energy is not destroyed, merely changed or transferred. If The University of Surrey’s theory is true, then it is possible that our consciousness could survive the death of the body.
Paranormal researchers have hypothesized a connection between paranormal phenomena and fluctuations in local EM Fields. This correlation is what we are trying to establish when we measure local EM Fields with an EMF meter (or gaussmeter). Another possible explanation for the correlation is a growing body of evidence that shows strong EM Fields can alter brain activity, possibly causing hallucinations. Of course, this is question begging, as we still have to identify what is creating the EM Field to begin with.
There is also a myth that has permeated the ranks of paranormal research. Some investigators will tell you that EMF readings in the 2 – 7 milligauss range are an indicator of ghost activity. Let me be clear on this; there is NO scientific data supporting this claim. I believe that this particular “urban legend” can be explained as follows. Gaussmeters are not designed for paranormal research. Most affordable commercial models are designed to detect ELFs (Extra Low Frequencies) for electronic equipment such as mobile phones and computers. These meters generally read in the 1 – 10 milligauss range. When the novice investigator first starts working with these tools, they will typically pay little attention to EM Field fluctuations of 1 milligauss or less (indeed, the needle barely moves), so a reading of 2 milligauss or higher is necessary to get the observer’s attention. As these meters have a very small range, anything generating a significant field (including electrical appliances) is going to send the needle “off the scale”. Field fluctuations are important, and they are one of the things we are looking for, but don’t get hung up on the specific numbers.
The Peltier Effect
Physicist Jean Peltier discovered the Peltier Effect in 1834. It can be simply described as this: when an electrical current passes between two dissimilar conductors, heat is either released or absorbed, depending on the direction of the current. The amount of heat released or absorbed is directly proportional to the strength of the current. This principle of physics has many everyday applications (including some types of refrigerators).
What does this have to do with ghosts? One of the more famous types of paranormal phenomena is the “cold” spot (or the opposing “hot” spot). If, as we theorized earlier, paranormal activity is connected to EM Fields, than a moving EM Field would be accompanied by temperature variations (hotter or cooler depending on the type of conductor contacting the Field, water vapor for example).
(Republished by permission from Haunted North Carolina)
Posted in: Ghost Info, Physics, Theories
September 12th, 2011 / No Comments » / by KWright
Chloe at Myrtles Plantation
Possibly the most well known of the Myrtles supposed ghosts, Chloe was reportedly a slave owned by Clark and Sara Woodruff. According to one story, Clark Woodruff had pressured or forced Chloe into being his mistress. Other versions of the legend have Chloe listening in at keyholes to learn news of Clark Woodruff’s business dealings or for other purposes. After being caught, either by Clark or Sara Woodruff, one of her ears was cut off, and she wore a green turban to hide it.
Chloe supposedly baked a birthday cake containing extract of boiled and reduced oleander leaves, which are extremely poisonous. The various legends diverge as to why she did this, a house maid whom was getting the favor of the mistress was a suspect with some saying she was getting revenge on the Woodruffs and some saying she was attempting to redeem her position by curing the family of the poisoning. According to the legends, her plan backfired. Only Sara and her two daughters ate the cake, and all died from the poison. Chloe was then supposedly hanged by the other slaves, and thrown into the Mississippi River, either as punishment or to escape punishment by Clark Woodruff for harboring her.
The historical record does not support this legend. There is no record of the Woodruffs owning a slave named Chloe, Cleo or any slaves. The legends usually claim that Sara and her two daughters were poisoned, but Mary Octavia survived well into adulthood. Finally, Sara, James, and Cornelia Woodruff were not killed by poisoning, but instead succumbed to yellow fever. Regardless of the factual accuracy of the Chloe story, some believe a woman wearing a green turban haunts the plantation.
Posted in: Famous Hauntings, Ghosts
September 12th, 2011 / No Comments » / by KWright
In 1971 my parents bought a house in Syracuse, NY. My family was the first to live in this house that were not of the house’s bloodline. After my parents paid fully for the house they obtained the deed. In it were the names of the entire family that had lived there prior to us, dating back to 1832. I think that the original family is still there.
Among many things that happened to us (doors opening and closing, someone walking up and down the stairs every night) I have see the good and the bad of these spirits.
When I was 11 years old I finally got my own room. Being the youngest of four this was a very big deal to me…like a right of passage. I was placed in the smallest room of the house. But I loved it, until that night.
I woke up at 4:12 am and I heard the most horrible noise. It was like someone being tortured. I couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night. I ended up down stairs on the couch. The next night I tried again. And again at 4:12 am I was up. This went on for about two years before I got sick. I found out when I was 14 that I had a very serious case of psoriasis. It may not sound bad but even the doctor I had (and I had many) said that that they had never seen anything like it. This problem made me look like a monster. I was head to toe in it. There were very large patches on my face and back, they were painful. Also it only took a total of three weeks for it to start and grow. I didn’t leave the house for months thinking that I looked like a burn victim. I stayed in my room though and every night at 4:12 am I got woken up by the horrible noise.
My parents got very worried by my behavior and they wanted to seek help for me. I just wanted to get to a library and find out what was in my room.
So it came to me one day to look at the deed. It seems that a young girl about my age was burned, almost to death in my room in 1892. (I obtained this information by the family of the previous owners.) The young girl was in the care of her aunts at the time. They fixed the room after the fire and hid her there like a dirty secret. The girl lived there in that one room for ten years before she committed suicide.
I wasn’t ready to wait ten years for it to stop. But as it turns out I didn’t have to. One night I sat up all night. I just wanted to talk to her and see if I could help. Obviously a girl like that didn’t have many friends and now either did I. I knew that she had something to do with me being like that. I needed answers. 4:12 am came and the screaming started like clockwork. I locked my door and left a note for my parents that whatever they hear they were NOT allowed to open the door. I heard her scream and I started to scream with her. Suddenly she stopped. But I kept screaming. I began to beg her to help me and told her that I know how she feels. I stopped screaming and cried the rest of the night.
The following morning I returned once again to my doctor. He noticed that the marks on my back were fading and that a very large mark on my forehead had gotten smaller and lost some of it’s color. Within three months my skin was as clear as it was before the screaming started.
The noises at 4:12 am stopped. I never heard them again. Maybe this is just in my head but I believe that if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have gotten those marks and if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have lost them. She did save my life, my fate was close to what hers was. Taking my life wouldn’t have been a problem for me then…I had no life to live.
There is only one other thing that was strange about this story. When I looked at the deed I found the girls name, Sarah. The same as mine.
Do you think that this is possible? I no longer live in the house and have no problems with psoriasis. I am happily married and have a beautiful little girl. Sometimes at night I do wake up at 4:12 am but this time I feel more of a sense of peace than hurt. I don’t hear screaming but it is just a feeling that Sarah is finally at rest.
-Sarah
Posted in: True Stories
September 10th, 2011 / No Comments » / by KWright
It was days before Halloween the year was 1968, you could just feel the creepiness in the air. Being 11 years old, Halloween was still fun, if not more fun the year before because I was allowed to stay out a bit later without the watchful eye of my parents. Besides, back in those days we didn’t have to worry too much about strangers and receiving razor blades in apples, basically we had the run of the neighborhood and knew everyone and looked forward to this time all year long.
My father was working late this one October night. It was day light saving time as the sky grew dark early. My mother was visiting a neighbor up the street who always offered her a highball when she visited, my mother never refused an alcoholic beverage.
The woman she was visiting had just lost her husband a month before and so she drank too much then called anyone in the neighborhood and cried about her problems, my mother happened to be the lucky recipient of her call that night. She told my sister and I she would be back in a little while, she was off to help Nancy out. We had already eaten dinner and were feeling a bit spunky with no adult supervision and got bored quickly with the house empty.
My sister Bonnie was a tom boy, always looking out for bugs, rodents, stray dogs and birds that fell out of their nest, hoping to bring them home to make as a pet. My father never let her keep anything, so they did not get along too well. My mother was the sucker for Bonnie’s impulses, she always let her keep her finds, but they had to be well hidden up from my dad, because if her found them, he would make her set them free and yell at her because he wasn’t going to pay to feed any animal, well except his small dog Peppy.
Halloween was in the air, things seemed more spooky, with the sky gone dark, peoples houses were decorated with the scary pumpkin faces on their stairs and sheets hanging from on top the porches made to look like ghosts blowing in the wind.
It was too early to settle down and watch TV, besides no one was in the house to give us directions on what to do, so being kids we decided to take full advantage of this situation and go run around outside. My Mother was 5 doors up and so we did a sneak peek through the house she was in, spying on her and listening to her conversation through the mail box in the door, slowly we would lift it up and could see them talking, sitting on the sofa with their cocktails and yakking.
We couldn’t hear much and what we heard was boring, so we took off back down the street.. running and giggling about being able to spy on our mother and her friend. All of the sudden Bonnie came to a halt, out of the corner of her eye she spotted something dark flapping around on another neighbors lawn.
She gasped. “Linda look at this!” What is it?” I said back. Her voice had excitement as she came closer for inspection I could hear her gasp again saying “Oh my God, I think it’s a bat!” She was all too excited with her find. A bat! I thought, how spooky to find one days before Halloween, I knew the stories about rabies and bats so I was cautious about approaching any closer and allowing Bonnie to do what she does best, which is rescuing hurt, weird animals.
She called out with urgency “Go get something I can put it in!” I said back “Like what?” I didn’t want to go looking all around for something on an errand for her. “Go get a bucket or something I can use, something with a lid or some sort of top, and would you hurry up!” She said loudly back to me.
I took off running across the street to our house, looking frantically for something to put a stupid bat in, I was really more excited then I let on. Finding a bat at Halloween time, what were the chances and what possibly could it all mean? It was eerie weird feeling I had inside.
Frantically looking around I finely came on an old Halloween bucket that we used last year, it was faded from leaving it in the sun all year it closely resembled a fade dirty ice cream container. Bonnie kept her turtle in this container until it died, “this will have to do”, I thought. I snatched it up and came running back to where Bonnie was. She quickly snatched it away from me, taking the lid from the bucket she put the bucket upside down on top of the bat then with the lid she scooted it inside, quickly flipping it over and securing the lid on, she stood up with a grin as wide as one of the pumpkins on one of the porches we were near. She could not be happier with her odd pet find.
We both ran back home wanting to see it in some light Bonnie commented on the way that she wanted to bring it to school the next day to show everyone.. I got was afraid of it, I worried but not letting on to Bonnie how scared I was.. I thought “Could it get out in our house and then we would then have a bat somewhere hiding and waiting for us to fall asleep so it could bite our neck and drink our blood?.. Oh no way I thought, I’m out of here. SO I took off outside where I was safe from the latent vampire… I ran as fast as I could up to were my mother was and furiously banged on Nancy’s door.. Nancy answered the door and I say ” I want my Mom” Jumping up and down with excitement, before she ever got a chance to say anything.. She looked over at my mother and said “your wanted at the door my dear”.
My mother approached the door with an unpleasant look on her face, and said “What do you want?” I said in a hurried voice with as much excitement an 11 year old could muster up and blurted out ” Mom Bonnie found a bat on Carmen’s lawn she has it in the house. I was out of breath and panting, when my mother said, Sorry Nancy but I guess I better go see what the hell is going on over there.
I think the reason why my mother always sided with Bonnie when it came to her strange obsession with creatures is because she was once like how Bonnie is now.. She seemed to be just as excited as Bonnie was. On our walk down the street, my mother said something that sort of scared me and made my mind start thinking.. She said “Finding a bat just before Halloween, this must be an omen”. What’s an Omen? Why did she look funny when she said it? I remembered that word from scary movies like Rosemary’s baby and others, all I knew is it wasn’t a good term used everyday. My mother was always saying things that scare me, she wasn’t like other mothers I knew, she had certain physic powers of sort, she would always have dreams that came true and not to mention all the times I tried to lie to her and she would wake up the next day telling me what her dreams told her and how she knew I lied because of her dreams. She had always been in the occults, her mother likewise, raised all her children to believe in them too. My grandmother used to conduct séances with my mother and her twin sister present, she used to scare me with her stories.
The scariest story she ever told me was when she was sleeping one night after she was married and woke up all of the sudden and saw woman standing at the foot of her bed. The woman was dressed like someone from the Victorian era with a long empire dress on and her dark brown hair in a Gibson style bun on top of her head.. It scared my mother so bad that it went away. The next morning she called her mother and told her what happened and described the woman to (my grandmother) and she said “From the way you described her, I think you saw my Mother!” “She was probably trying to tell you something, so next time she comes to you don’t be afraid, just listen to her and what she has to say, it must have been important!” This is something I never wanted to experience, never, never, never do I want to see a dead person at the foot of my bed in the middle of the night.. So night time was scariest for me in fear of seeing something like my mother saw.
My mother opened the door to find Bonnie kneeling on the floor with an ice pick in her hands poking a hole in the top of the plastic bucket so the bat could breath. Mom said to Bonnie, “You know Bonnie with bats it could be very dangerous, so don’t touch it whatever you do.” Bonnie smiled from ear to ear staring at it through the see through plastic lid with holes in it. My mother once again commented on how odd it was to find a bat at Halloween time. Bonnie was proud because no other kid on the block had a bat at Halloween time she could not stop grinning.
After carefully considering the situation, my mother told Bonnie she could only keep it over night in the basement then she must take it to the hills behind our house and let it go. Not only could it have rabies, because it’s out of it’s normal patter of flying at night, it might be injured and die and could bite you if you get too close and who knew if it had lice either. So Bonnie agreed to let it go in the morning, and headed to the basement when there was a knock at the door.
The knock scared us because the house had gone silent for a few moments when Bonnie was about to pick up the bat taking it to the basement. It was my friend Crystal coming to play, she had a Ouija board in her hands, it gave me the creeps just looking at it, with all the weird lettering on it. My mother said, “Oh Crystal what you got there?” Then told us to be careful because it’s not a toy. Even my mother the physic and someone familiar with the occults was weary of the Ouija board. Bonnie was downstairs playing with her new pet, who knows what she was up to down there probably finding a good spot to hide it from my father. Crystal and I took the board into the kitchen while my mother turned on the TV and quietly smoked her cigarettes while we played.
Crystal set it on the table and started off telling me how to hold on to the disc, and said we need to ask it questions and then it will answer us. So crystal started out first asking it questions, stupid ones like, “What was I in another life?” The Ouija would answer back. “You were a needle in Gods eye!” I thought Crystal was moving it because it seemed to move in such an easy way, but she swore she wasn’t. So next it was my turn. OK I will ask the same, ” What was I in the life before?” “You were a nail in God hand”, it answered” Shoot it keeps saying the same stuff I said”. OK, lets try something else. OK “What boy’s do I like?” It answered back, “GO TO HELL! Crystal laughed, and said, “OK who will I marry?” It said back, “You will marry the devil.” I didn’t like this board it was starting to scare me, because no matter what question we asked it said something not so nice.
We continued.. I asked the stupidest question of them all, “Is there a spirit in our house now?” It did something that shocked us both.. It started pointing rapidly back and forth to each letter, bam bam bam one after another until all the letter in a row spelled out “WEREHERE” It took us a few moments to figure out what it said and when we did see what it was we both got scared and let out a girlie scream. My mother shouted back to us to keep it down. But we continued to ask it more. “What were the name’s of the spirits in the house?” Spelling out words, and names we could not understand. Then again I asked it, “where did you come from?” It spelled out “HELLWHEREYOURGOING.” We let out another small scream then stopped ourselves by placing our hands over our mouth so my mother wouldn’t hear us. This time my mother got up to see what was going on, she said all of the sudden she had a bad feeling come over her and wanted us to stop it now. Too late, Crystal asked something else. Quickly my mother grabbed a pen and paper next to the phone in the kitchen, seeing how fast it was going she wanted to know what it was saying and then proceeded to record the letters it was forming… Now this time the board was faster then ever and it seemed like we no longer had control over what it was saying or doing. For a minute I thought, If I were to let go, it would move by it’s self. That’s how thick the stench of fear was in that room, even my mother was feeling uneasy and frightened as she jotted down each letter it spelled out.
“WEREHEREANDWEWONTLEAVENOW” My mother wrote as fast as the pointer pointed to the letter, then it started using swear words one after another until my Mother loudly screamed at us, “TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF IT NOW!” It was frightening! You could feel the cold chill, and the look on my mothers face was more frightening as she separated the letters making sense of the long word. We begged her to tell us what it said. “WE ARE HERE AND WE WONT LEAVE NOW” she read it to us, as we both looked at each other and got teary eyes with fright. Looking at my mother I could see her fear too, which caused me to panic even more.
Just then we heard Boom Boom Boom Boom, coming up the back stairs. We all turned towards the back door frightened as to what or who it was running up the back stairs, it was Bonnie aggressively swinging open the back of the kitchen. She was frightened and had a look on her face that described it all. She was almost about to cry, running over to my mother she said gasping for breath with white-ish colored lips! “Something touched me downstairs” she said as her bottom lip was quivered, then something slapped my back, no ones down there mom, and something slapped my back!”
My mother gasped! Lifting her shirt, she could see the red mark on her back! Bonnie, still in shock said “and I heard a voice say something,” then she started to cry full blown not being able to get out what she heard. We were about to pee our pants hearing this, OH MY GOD I moaned with an uneasy sick feeling inside my stomach. My mother said “What did it say Bonnie?” She was determined to get it out of her but in a calm fashion as to not scare us. Bonnie, nuzzling her face in my mothers chest, then cried more just thinking about it. She uttered while still crying, “It said, You hate your mother!”
My mother comforted us by telling us “It’s OK!” Nothing is going to happen, but this is enough! “That’s it,” she said, “Crystal put that thing on the coffee table and don’t forget to take it home with you! You three go outside for a few minutes, to cool down and just play! It’s going to be all right, just go get some fresh air.” Crystal placed the Ouija board on the coffee table as instructed, and my mother was walking to the bathroom. Bonnie and I followed closely behind Crystal. I was touching the door after Bonnie went through, ready to pass through the open door myself last, when all of the sudden something from the corner of my eye went flying across the front room and went swishing by my mother then crashing on the bedroom floor next to the bathroom.
My mother shouted out, “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?” I couldn’t believe I SAW SOMETHING FLY THROUGH THE HOUSE SO FAST! I couldn’t even tell what it was but we all heard it crash. My mother came running out of the bathroom thinking we threw something and we all three swore it was none of us that did anything. She turned on the light in the bedroom to see what it was that hit the so hard that it left a nick in the hardwood floor.
“What was on the table next to the Ouija Board” she said? Then spotting it under the bed she said “Oh My God, this is interesting!” It was her camera, she left laying on the coffee table that was right next to the Ouija board Crystal laid down. The camera had been broken with such force she knew none of us could have done that. It was mostly made of metal and plastic but was broken into a lot of pieces. She quickly grabbed the film that had been exposed and commented how she would take it to the pharmacy in the morning and try to get the film developed and see if there was anything on it. Crystal was told she needed to go home and to never bring that thing back to our house again by my mother.
Bonnie and I were shaken up over this ordeal and I’m sure that walk home for Crystal was one she will never forget. Walking home in the dark, with a spooky Ouija board in her arm that had caused so much trouble in one household.
Halloween night while Bonnie and I were out trick or treating we saw a bat fly overhead, making this the most frightening Halloween in our life. Who is to say, if it was the bat Bonnie found or not checking up on us or in some way showing us that we now opened the door to evil in our home and in our lives.
A week later the film was developed and the pictures that came out were that of a hazy black figure on a smoky like horse that looked very spooky. My mother said “never again we will have a Ouija board in the house.”
That Halloween was the creepiest I had ever experienced with the black bat and the Ouija Board. I have never had any desire to play with another one since, and raising my own four children I would never allow them to play with such a dangerous tool letting something happen to them like it to did to us that Spooky Halloween. There were many sleepless night in that house after that occurrence.
As adults all us children would bring up that happening and explore the different things we experienced in that house. Like being alone in a room and all of the sudden something overcomes you with such a fright you have to run fast as you can to get away! Or the feeling of being watched. Even my father, years later, who is nothing but a hard nosed skeptic and realist commented on hearing voices and feeling something poke him in his ribs one night while down there in the basement.
One never knows who or what is waiting behind those doors, waiting for a chance to come into your life and your home to take up permanent residence with you, watching you, touching you, whispering in your ear when your not aware of their presence. Once that door is open it can never be closed, once you have crossed the line into their dimension.
Written by Linda, Copyright 2009
Posted in: True Stories
Tags: ouija spirit board bad dangerous
September 10th, 2011 / No Comments » / by KWright
For many years, I lived in a “haunted” house in Amarillo, Texas with my husband and five children. So many things happened in the years we lived there that I have seriously considered writing a book about all the incidents we encountered.
Here is one of those events:
It was a Monday afternoon about eight years ago. I was with my youngest child, my only daughter, and my husband. It was around 2:00 p.m. and my daughter needed a nap. I took her into my bedroom to lie on my bed to take a nap with her.
My husband decided he wanted to watch a movie, so he lay on the bed with us and began watching a DVD. I was just dozing off when I heard him call my name. Sleepily, I kind of murmured, “huh,” but didn’t open my eyes.
A brief moment later, he said my name again, a little firmer this time. More awake now but still not wanting to wake completely up and still not opening my eyes, I responded, “What?”
He then said very firmly, “Honey, open your eyes.”
When I opened them, I completely freaked out because I thought our house was on fire! All I saw was smoke. I jumped up yelling, “Something is burning!”
I looked at my husband who had a completely bewildered and somewhat scared looked in his eyes and yelled again. “I think the house is on fire! Something’s burning! Don’t you see the smoke? Quick — go see what’s going on!”
My husband, while still acting confused, obediently got up and left the room. Almost immediately, the smoke dissipated. In a matter of seconds it was completely gone, as if it had never been there.
I felt confused and foolish as I tried to come up with a rational explanation for what I had just witnessed. Was I more asleep that I had first thought and woke up in the middle of a dream? Or maybe my contacts had clouded over and “that” was the smoke I thought I saw. A moment later, as I was trying to sort all this out in my head, my husband came back into the room to inform me he had found nothing on fire.
I apologized for my peculiar behavior and explained that my eyes must have been playing tricks on me.
My husband asked, “Didn’t you hear me call your name?”
I answered that I had.
“Do you want to know WHY I was calling your name?”
Again, I answered “Yes.”
He then described how, as he was lying there watching his movie while my daughter slept and I was drifting off to sleep, a smoky apparition appeared above me. He said it was the size and the shape of a man. He said he watched it hover above me, then come down directly on top of me, which was when he began calling my name.
He said, “When you woke up and thought you saw smoke, you were looking directly into the apparition.” When I asked him why he didn’t explain all that when I yelled the house was on fire he stated that he was so freaked out and confused himself, he didn’t know what to do or think, so he just did what I asked, which was go look for a fire.
Posted in: True Stories
Tags: apparition ghost smoke
September 10th, 2011 / No Comments » / by KWright
The tormenting spirit of America’s best-known poltergeist case
ADAMS, TENNESSEE, in 1817 was the site of one of the most well-known hauntings in American history – so well known that it eventually caught the attention and then the involvement of a future president of the United States.
Known as The Bell Witch, the strange and often violent poltergeist activity that provoked fear and curiosity in the small farming community has remained unexplained for nearly 200 years, and is the inspiration for many fictional ghost stories, including the recent film, The Blair Witch Project. The facts of The Bell Witch case share little in common with the mythology created for The Blair Witch Project, except they both attracted a great deal of public interest. And because it really happened, The Bell Witch is far scarier.
The Historical Record
One early account of The Bell Witch haunting was written in 1886 by historian Albert Virgil Goodpasture in his History of Tennessee. He wrote, in part:
A remarkable occurrence, which attracted wide-spread interest, was connected with the family of John Bell, who settled near what is now Adams Station about 1804. So great was the excitement that people came from hundreds of miles around to witness the manifestations of what was popularly known as the “Bell Witch.” This witch was supposed to be some spiritual being having the voice and attributes of a woman. It was invisible to the eye, yet it would hold conversation and even shake hands with certain individuals. The freaks it performed were wonderful and seemingly designed to annoy the family. It would take the sugar from the bowls, spill the milk, take the quilts from the beds, slap and pinch the children, and then laugh at the discomfiture of its victims. At first it was supposed to be a good spirit, but its subsequent acts, together with the curses with which it supplemented its remarks, proved the contrary. A volume might be written concerning the performance of this wonderful being, as they are now described by contemporaries and their descendants. That all this actually occurred will not be disputed, nor will a rational explanation be attempted.
The Vengeful Ghost
What was the Bell Witch? Like most such stories, certain details vary from version to version. But the prevailing account is that it was the spirit of Kate Batts, a mean old neighbor of John Bell who believed she was cheated by him in a land purchase. On her deathbed, she swore that she would haunt John Bell and his descendents. The story is picked up by the Guidebook for Tennessee, published in 1933 by the Federal Government’s Works Project Administration:
Sure enough, tradition says, the Bells were tormented for years by the malicious spirit of Old Kate Batts. John Bell and his favorite daughter Betsy were the principal targets. Toward the other members of the family the witch was either indifferent or, as in the case of Mrs. Bell, friendly. No one ever saw her, but every visitor to the Bell home heard her all too well. Her voice, according to one person who heard it, “spoke at a nerve-racking pitch when displeased, while at other times it sang and spoke in low musical tones.” The spirit of Old Kate led John and Betsy Bell a merry chase. She threw furniture and dishes at them. She pulled their noses, yanked their hair, poked needles into them. She yelled all night to keep them from sleeping, and snatched food from their mouths at mealtime.
Andrew Jackson Challenges the Witch
So widely spread was the news about The Bell Witch that people came from hundreds of miles around hoping to hear the spirit’s shrill voice or witness a manifestation of its vile temper. When word of the haunting reached Nashville, one of its most famous citizens, General Andrew Jackson, decided to gather a party of friends and journey to Adams to investigate.
The General, who had earned his tough reputation in many conflicts with Native Americans, was determined to confront the phenomenon and either expose it as a hoax or send the spirit away. A chapter in M. V. Ingram’s 1894 book, An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch – considered by many to be the best account of the story – is devoted to Jackson’s visit:
Gen. Jackson’s party came from Nashville with a wagon loaded with a tent, provisions, etc., bent on a good time and much fun investigating the witch. The men were riding on horseback and were following along in the rear of the wagon as they approached near the place, discussing the matter and planning how they were going to do up the witch. Just then, traveling over a smooth level piece of road, the wagon halted and stuck fast. The driver popped his whip, whooped and shouted to the team, and the horses pulled with all of their might, but could not move the wagon an inch. It was dead stuck as if welded to the earth. Gen. Jackson commanded all men to dismount and put their shoulders to the wheels and give the wagon a push, but all in vain; it was no go. The wheels were then taken off, one at a time, and examined and found to be all right, revolving easily on the axles. Gen. Jackson after a few moments thought, realizing that they were in a fix, threw up his hands exclaiming, “By the eternal, boys, it is the witch.” Then came the sound of a sharp metallic voice from the bushes, saying, “All right General, let the wagon move on, I will see you again to-night.” The men in bewildered astonishment looked in every direction to see if they could discover from whence came the strange voice, but could find no explanation to the mystery. The horses then started unexpectedly of their own accord, and the wagon rolled along as light and smoothly as ever.
Attack on Jackson?
According to some versions of the story, Jackson did indeed encounter The Bell Witch that night:
Betsy Bell screamed all night from the pinching and slapping she received from the Witch, and Jackson’s covers were ripped off as quickly as he could put them back on, and he had his entire party of men were slapped, pinched and had their hair pulled by the witch until morning, when Jackson and his men decided to hightail it out of Adams. Jackson was later quoted as saying, “I’d rather fight the British in New Orleans than to have to fight the Bell Witch.”
The Death of John Bell
The torment of the Bell house continued for years, culminating in the ghost’s ultimate act of vengeance upon the man she claimed had cheated her: she took responsibility for his death. In October 1820, Bell was struck with an illness while walking to the pigsty of his farm. Some believe that he suffered a stroke, since thereafter he had difficulty speaking and swallowing. In and out of bed for several weeks, his health declined. The Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee, tells this part of the story:
On the morning of December 19, he failed to awake at his regular time. When the family noticed he was sleeping unnaturally, they attempted to arouse him. They discovered Bell was in a stupor and couldn’t be completely awakened. John Jr. went to the medicine cupboard to get his father’s medicine and noticed it was gone with a strange vial in its place. No one claimed to have replaced the medicine with the vial. A doctor was summoned to the house. The witch began taunting that she had place the vial in the medicine cabinet and given Bell a dose of it while he slept. Contents of the vial were tested on a cat and discovered to be highly poisonous. John Bell died on December 20. “Kate” was quiet until after the funeral. After the grave was filled, the witch began singing loudly and joyously. This continued until all friends and family left the grave site.
The Bell Witch left the Bell household in 1821, saying that she would return in seven years time. She made good on her promise and “appeared” at the home of John Bell, Jr. where, it is said, she left him with prophecies of future events, including the Civil War, and World Wars I and II. The ghost said it would reappear 107 years later – in 1935 – but if she did, no one in Adams came forward as a witness to it.
Some claim that the spirit still haunts the area. On the property once owned by the Bells is a cave, which has since become known as The Bell Witch Cave, and many locals claim to have seen strange apparitions at the cave and at other spots on the property.
An Explanation?
A few rational explanations of The Bell Witch phenomena have been offered over the years. The haunting, they say, was a hoax perpetrated by Richard Powell, the schoolteacher of Betsy Bell and Joshua Gardner, with whom Betsy was in love. It seems Powell was deeply in love with the young Betsy and would do anything to destroy her relationship with Gardner. Through a variety of pranks, tricks, and with the help of several accomplices, it is theorized that Powell created all of the “effects” of the ghost to scare Gardner away.
Indeed, Gardner was the target of much of the witch’s violent taunting, and he eventually did break up with Betsy and left the area. It has never been satisfactorily explained how Powell achieved all these remarkable effects, including paralyzing Andrew Jackson’s wagon. But he did come out the winner. He married Betsy Bell.
Posted in: Famous Hauntings
September 10th, 2011 / No Comments » / by KWright
Some will argue there is no such thing of ghosts. I understand those individuals may feel frightened by the thought of phantoms or banshees roaming our world. Or some individuals may just assume that ghosts are a bunch of silly fictional myths that our kind made up for amusing fairy-tales to be told over the past centuries. However, “seeing is believing,” and if I never saw the things I’ve seen in my lifetime, perhaps, I too would question their existence.
My first real poltergeist experience happened when I was about five years old. It was late at night and I was awoken by a sound coming from the dining room. I heard the dinner table chairs roughly sliding against the tile floor. When I finally realized I was awake and not dreaming I became horrified. A few seconds went by the chairs suddenly stop moving. Then the ever most terrifying thing happened. I heard an unearthly woman’s voice call to me. The voice sounded like it came from the kitchen adjacent to the dining room. I can’t recall everything she said but I’m pretty sure she was just saying my name over and over. The hardest thing I had to do was get out of bed and run like heck to my mother’s bedroom across the pitch black hall. Eventually, after the paralysis wore off, that is exactly what I did. I remember tripping on the laundry basket as sneaking over to my mom’s side of the bed. I didn’t want to wake her and be sent back to my room. She woke up immediately when I crawled into her arms. She told me it was just a nightmare and to go back to my room. She had to turn on my bedroom light and walk me to bed. Naturally I couldn’t fall asleep for quite some time that night, even with my twin sister asleep in the room. I remember having to stare at our Dr. Seuss light fixture for comfort. Every time I glanced at the bedroom door I would quiver intensely. I did not dare go investigate the kitchen or dining room until the next morning.
Of course everyone laughed at me the next day when I explained exactly what happened. My older brother and dad even had an on-going joke about the “ghost chair” (which was the only unassigned chair when the five of us were eating at the dinner table.) They would kid and demand my mother to fix up a plate of food for the ghost. I kept thinking to myself one day they’ll see.
That day wasn’t too far away, at least for my brother and sister. A few years later on a stormy early evening, the three of us were left home alone. At that time our brother was old enough to baby-sit us but too immature to properly company us. He used to tease us all the time about ghosts. “Ghostbusters” had just come out in the theater so of course that was still fresh in everyone’s mind. One time he even made, what he convinced us to believe, a PK meter that would indicate if ghosts were near by. The little stick on the home-made PK meter would move sporadic-like so he would tell us that this house was haunted and filled with ghosts. But during this occasion, he decided to just tell us scary stories instead. With the lightning, loud thunder, our parents gone and my brother’s wickedness, we became two very scared little girls. My brother eventually came to his senses and then tried to comfort us. He kept trying to reassure us that ghosts are make-believe. Then he said these words, which I will never forget… “There is no such thing of ghosts; if there was they would show us a sign.” BOOM! Instantly after those words came out of my brother’s mouth, all the lights went out. They eventually came back on a couple seconds later. My brother never teased us about ghosts since.
That incident may not sound tremendously frightening, but as a child it seemed as if I were living in a horror picture. My next occurrence may very well be the most petrifying. I was about eight-teen or nine-teen years old. My sister and I went for a drive to Siesta Key in Sarasota. The sun was just about setting and we decided, before we go home for the day, we should drive around the Key’s ritzy subdivision to gawk at all the pretty mansions. We came across an empty lot, which is unusual because it was fairly decent in size and located right on the canal. All the other lots in the area consist of massive homes neck and neck of each other. It was so peculiar to see such a large waste of space which had so much value. My sister wanted me to pull over on the curb so we could walk around to go exploring. She said “let’s pretend we own this lot and we’re going to build a big mansion here.” As we were walking through the palmettos further within the lot, a sudden freezing cold chill overcame us and the sky instantly turned grey. My anxious sister said “we need to leave NOW!” She believed she was being intuitive and was shown a sign. She imagined something bad would happen to us if we stayed there. She even said “I think someone is living here like a bum or some crazy person.” “No, it’s okay. We’re fine.” I hesitantly replied; although I started to sense some uncertainty about staying in that lot. She said “well I’m going back to the car.” I then quickly followed her thinking to myself I’m brave but not brave enough to be here alone.
We drove off into the subdivision to complete our little adventure in searching for a favorite mansion to drool over. It was now officially night time so we agreed to head out. As trying to find the exit of the Key we unintentionally came across our vacant lot. I stopped the car positioned head on so we could glance at it one more time. Because it was dark out we could see the lights from another home on the opposite side of the canal glaring through the trees.
My sister said “oh look! You can see through those people’s windows over there.” We both were staring at the same spot and then that’s when it happened. A silhouette of man or creature appeared before us, maybe about twenty or thirty feet from the car. It looked like it was staring at us with evil intentions. The odd thing was that this shadow had no face. He was completely transparent. “Do you see what I see?” my sister muttered. I said “Yup.” I don’t think I ever pealed out of somewhere so fast than I did that day. We were frightened but it made for a good laugh on our way back home.
Up until then I never really felt threatened by a ghost; before they would just make themselves known. This one was different. He made it extremely obvious he did not want our presence on his territory. I would imagine he must have made attempts to horde off any other unwanted guests; after all it was the only empty lot in the whole neighborhood.
My only other evidential ghost encounter up to date occurred about two years ago. One late night I was sitting in my driveway trying to contact my spirit guide who I call Sunbeam. Spirit guides are thought to be predestined spirits who help guide us (subconsciously) through our lifetimes, similar to the belief of guardian angels protecting us. When I communicate with Sunbeam I don’t physically see her or hear her voice. I just talk to her as if I am saying my prayers out loud. While sitting there rambling I abruptly noticed, to my left, a luminous apparition of a fair skin woman with long blond wavy hair floating down the street about three feet above the ground. She was wearing a soft blue and white renaissance-like gown and some sort of hat or veil. The instant we made eye contact she vanished before my eyes. I assumed I saw my spirit guide but I didn’t have that comforting feeling I often felt when I’d communicate with her. Plus that wasn’t how I envisioned her. If anything I thought she would look like just a ball of energy if she chose to appear to me. At times I believe that spirit guides do not prefer to appear to us because they have no desire to prove themselves to us. I then realized I had just seen a ghost.
My theory on ghost or lost souls is that they are deceased people who some how get stuck in a parallel dimension in between Earth and the Afterlife. I don’t think everyone will become a ghost after they die. Only those who do not want to face the reality of dying or those who felt they did not want to leave here with any unresolved issues, are the ones who get trapped in this realm. The amount of time as a ghost varies for each individual. Some could be a ghost for centuries or more, some could be one for a couple weeks. It’s not uncommon for someone, after they die, to linger around as a ghost for a little while before they cross over and “head towards the light.” Some may be confused or in denial and need extra guidance or confirmation of their death. Once they accept their death they should be able to go Home.
If ever encountering a lost soul it is important to tell them they are dead and assure them that they will be okay if they just trust life and have faith. No matter what religion they were, or if not religious at all, they all still go to the Afterlife which is our true home. Keep in mind they cannot physically harm you. Most are just depressed and have no intention of hurting anyone.
Ghost encounters can be very overwhelming. During an encounter many people say they felt an eerie and cold presence. I suggest that feeling we get isn’t because ghosts are dangerous or evil, but possibly because we sympathize with their pain.
-Lori Ann Alvarez
Posted in: Ghosts, True Stories
September 9th, 2011 / No Comments » / by KWright
Last night, while I was watching American Idol….alone (John and Justin had gone to work on my sister Regina’s computer and Corey was in his bedroom on the opposite end of the house with my niece Avalon and nephew Adam, playing his guitar), during a commercial I got up to adjust and tuck the cushions in to the loveseat (they were all out of wack and almost falling off the sofa). Anyway….I was with my back to the tv…when I turned back around to sit down…for a split second (it was like counting…1…2…slow) I saw a man standing in the dining room doorway. And I knew immediately I was seeing a ghost, because he wasn’t whole like a living person, he was faded….semi-transparent. He was young….I would say maybe early to mid 20′s, short dark hair, tall….over 6ft….because the doorway is 7ft and he was towering almost as high as the doorway…..he was wearing a long coat (like a duster or trench coat and it was opened…but I couldn’t tell you what kind of shirt he had on). The coat was tapered at the waist….it had an hour glass shape. He was standing there with one knee bent, sort of leaning against the door frame on his shoulder…..it was a very casual, relaxed kind of stand…yet there was something very invasive about it. When I saw him….I was so startled that I don’t think I even breathed….all I felt was a sensation like bees buzzing all through my body. As quickly as I saw him, he vanished right before my eyes. But he didn’t just “poof” disappear….I watched as he faded away very quickly. Through the rest of the show, I just kept randomly looking behind me in the hall, kitchen and dining room to see if he was still around….but I didn’t see him again. When John and Justin came home and Regina came along…I told them what I saw. I can honestly say I was un-nerved by his presence….I think because I feel perhaps….maybe…I don’t know….he wanted me to see him….and though he didn’t do anything threatening….it was the way he was standing there. Almost as if to say to me “Yah, I’m here…watching you.” Well, nothing else was mentioned about this man, nor did he reappear the rest of the night. But………something big did happen today.
John saw a ghost. I’ve been with this man for almost 28 years…and he has never, ever, ever….physically seen a ghost…that is…until today. I was in the kitchen making lunch, John walked in from the back door to go to the bathroom. Next thing I know, John is standing in the kitchen, with this big shocked look on his face. He tells me “I just saw something….I just saw a ghost!” I asked him what happened…and this is what he told me: “I came inside to go to the bathroom…when I walked in to the kitchen….I saw, what I thought was Corey walk by the kitchen doorway and go in to the living room. When I went to the bathroom, I could hear Corey’s shower going. Right then and there, I knew….what I saw couldn’t have been Corey….he’s taking a shower. And you’re in the kitchen and Justin was with me on the back patio!” He then went on to say that it was when he realized Corey was taking a shower, what he saw couldn’t have been Corey. I asked him “If you didn’t see Corey, why did you assume it was Corey? Did this thing you saw look like Corey?” He said “No, it was just a black shadowy kind of figure….but I assumed it was Corey, because who else would it be?” Well…its official….my husband, has finally seen what we have all been telling him all these years we see. I can’t say that I’m happy or relieved….because frankly….I’m worried what he saw was the same figure I saw in the doorway the night before. And, frankly….I worry what this energy is up to. Because I didn’t get a good feeling when I saw it…and for my husband to see it (assuming it’s one of the same)…..it doesn’t sit right with me. To me, this thing is being very bold….and I worry whether it’s just something passing through or it’s going to stick around for a while and cause problems. But it’s official…..my husband has finally seen his first ghost.
Author Anonymous
Posted in: True Stories
Tags: apparition, ghost, haunting
