Last month, Justin and his girlfriend, Erica, drove to Ohio to attend her uncle's funeral. Erica, we are all so sorry for your loss. Our prayers are with you and your family. While they were back there, they visited Erica's hometown and then decided that since they were already in the vicinity, they would take some time and visit some of the beautiful and historical landmarks found only in the eastern United States. Erica grew up in Ohio but Justin had never ventured beyond Utah so this was a great opportunity for the two of them to do some exploring! I'm going to post more details and many more pictures of their trip in an upcoming post but I HAD to tell you about the ghosts.
Of all the places they visited, Justin and Erica couldn't get enough of Gettysburg. In fact, they had planned on being in Gettysburg for only a day or two and then moving on to Washington D.C. to visit places like the White House and the Smithsonian but after only one day in Washington, they decided to get out of the hustle bustle of the big city and return to beautiful Gettysburg because they had simply fallen it love with it and wanted to spend more time there. For those of us who still remember our history (Justin and Erica had to re-educate me on these facts and I probably STILL have them wrong so please forgive me if I'm off!), the Battle of Gettysburg was a significant battle in the Civil War where sadly, between 46,000 and 51,000 soldiers were killed from both sides over the course of three days. In fact, between July 1-3 of 1863, more men actually fought and died than in any other battle before or since on North American soil. That is absolutely incredible and gives me goose bumps when I think about it. Justin and Erica explained to me that since there were so many injured and dead soldiers, most of the buildings in Gettysburg were transformed into makeshift hospitals where many of the soldiers ultimately died. I didn't realize this but as a result of all these casualties, on top of being historically significant, Gettysburg has also earned itself a reputation as being one of the most haunted locales in the nation.
Justin and Erica found this aspect of Gettysburg fascinating (so do I!) and one of the major highlights of their trip was a ghost they saw while out exploring. One night, they were checking out a place called Pennsylvania Hall. I may have some of these facts mixed up so I'll verify with Justin and Erica but I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track. Anyways, that night, Justin and Erica were literally the only people there (it was late at night) and as they approached the front of the hall, they found themselves standing in front of a group of steps leading up to a porch which led to the entrance of the hall. However, because it was late at night, the steps to the porch were blocked off with chains prohibiting anybody from climbing the steps or entering the building. As Justin and Erica were standing there, checking out the hall from below, they thought they saw something, or someone, moving or walking on the porch in front of them, in front of the entrance to the hall. They quickly snapped a picture. They looked around to see if anybody was around but they found absolutely no other person in the vicinity and, since the entrance to the hall was locked up tight, nobody would have been able to get up to the porch where they had just seen whatever it was they had just seen. After checking it out for awhile, they left, neither of them sure of what they had just seen.
That night, when they downloaded their pictures onto their computer, they looked at the picture they had taken in front of Pennsylvania Hall and were able to see what clearly looks like the outline of a person, or a spirit, standing or walking, even dressed in what looks like someone from the 1800's would be wearing. Justin and Erica swear that NOBODY was there at all. You may have to look at the picture for awhile to focus on the "entity" but once you make it out, it really makes you wonder what it could be because it's definitely not a picture of a "regular" living, breathing person. Let me note that this picture was taken with a simple digital camera, no special lenses or filters. The second picture is the same exact picture as the first but Erica outlined the "ghost" to help us be able to see it more clearly. Again, this was taken at night, the steps were chained so nobody could walk up onto the porch and not one other person was around. You have to admit it's very interesting....and spooky! After ruling out every other logical explanation, Justin and Erica have come to the conclusion that this was, indeed, a ghost and I have to admit that the picture has convinced me! Since then, Justin and Erica have been doing alot of research on ghost sightings in Gettysburg and you would be amazed at what other ghosts people have seen in that area. Justin and Erica also saw what they are sure is another ghost in the field, on the edge of the woods, directly behind their hotel and I'll try to post those pictures, as well. They will be able to give you many more details about this. I think this is fascinating and they've convinced me that Maddie and I have to make a trip to Gettysburg at some point in the future to see these things for ourselves! I'll post more pics about their trip soon...Pretty cool, huh?
No comments:
Post a Comment