Ghost Soldiers of Gettysburg

by Patrick Burke

  Jenny Randles, a British author and former director of investigations with the British UFO Research Association (BUFORA), invented the phrase “Oz Factor” to describe this strange, seemingly altered state of being felt by witnesses of paranormal events. She defines the Oz Factor in her book UFO Reality as … “the sensation of being isolated, or transported back from the real world into a different environmental framework … where reality is but slightly different, as in the fairytale land of Oz.”

  We also experienced this Oz Factor just before hearing rebel yells in the Triangular Field at Gettysburg a few years ago (see chapter 13: “Echoes from the Past”). During that encounter, the atmosphere becoming very still and quiet just before hearing the shrieking “whoops” and “yips” that terrified Union soldiers years earlier. Oddly enough, we remembered commenting that this is what it must feel like just before one goes missing in the Bermuda Triangle.

  Brad may have experienced the same phenomenon while chasing his phantom regiment at Gettysburg. Remember him describing how “I couldn’t catch up no matter how fast I ran. I stopped on occasion and got some pretty good shots of them, but I noticed how silent they seemed to be. All you could hear was the wind rustling through the wheat.”

  One thing is certain, and that is whatever Brad saw had a profound impact on his life. He, like so many others, experienced something truly bizarre at Gettysburg. He may have been privy to a glimpse back into the past or was actually transported back in time for a few brief moments. Gettysburg most certainly acted as the catalyst for Brad’s encounter due to its history and therefore most certainly requires our full attention as it applies to paranormal research and our quest to find the answers to these profound enigmas.

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  Chapter Three

  Recordings from Another Realm

  Electronic voice phenomena, or EVP, represents one of the most fascinating mysteries associated with ghosts and hauntings. Basically, EVP is the reception of voice or other sound on an audiotape for which there is no known environmental source. The phenomenon is the subject of great debate within the paranormal community. Those who view the phenomenon as truly paranormal believe the recordings are either the voices of the dead trying to communicate or other residual sounds emanating from the paranormal realm. In Gettysburg, these might include cannon fire, gunshots, screams, and other sounds associated with the 1863 battle that have somehow been imprinted onto the environment and subsequently picked up on an audio recording. Skeptics, on the other hand, believe EVP recordings are nothing more than natural sounds falsely interpreted as paranormal.

  Our experience with EVP tells us that both camps are correct, depending on the actual recording in question. On the one hand, many recordings capture compelling evidence of either attempted communication from the dead or residual sounds from past events. On the other hand, the human mind is the greatest puzzle solver in the known universe. Scott Flagg, a paranormal researcher and chief operating officer for the American Institute of Parapsychology, suggests that each of us must recognize our own mind’s ability and desire to piece information together. As a result, simple background garble can be interpreted as actual words or specific sounds by the brain, and many recordings can be misinterpreted as paranormal in nature when in fact they aren’t.

  “I’ve personally stood around a circle of eight people listening very intently to a possible EVP recording and heard no less than eight different interpretations of what the purported voice was saying,” says Flagg. His advice: avoid manipulating audio except for removing background noise, adjusting volume, and isolating elements. This will minimize the mind’s opportunity to create something from nothing.

  Theories abound as to how EVP might work. The Low Frequency Theory suggests that EVP occurs below the normal range of hearing (pressure waves from 0 Hz to 20 Hz) and that audio devices are somehow able to record in this range. The EMF Theory proposes that ghosts organize random electromagnetic fields to create EVP. If so, a TV set between channels or a radio tuned between stations can provide the static with which it is thought ghosts manipulate in order to “speak.” A new theory suggests that very low-frequency electromagnetic fields (0 Hz to 30 Hz) can stimulate a variety of small objects, including air molecules, into motion. This process creates pressure waves that can be heard by our ears.

  Regardless of how it might work, people have been interested in its applications since electronic recording devices were first invented. As early as 1928, Thomas Edison started working on equipment he hoped would permit communication with the dead. Nobody seems to know for sure how far he got with his experiments because he died before he published any results. Over time, research organizations such as the Research Association for Voice Taping and the American Association of electronic voice phenomena were founded to further our understanding of this complex enigma. One of the great pioneers of EVP research was Sarah Estep, who recorded more than 20,000 voices that she claimed were other-dimensional, extraterrestrial, or from loved ones who had passed on. She developed a classification system for EVP recordings, which is as follows:

  Class A: A clear and distinct voice that can be heard without the use of headphones and can be duplicated onto other tapes.

  Class B: A voice that is sometimes distinct, fairly loud, and can sometimes be heard without the use of headphones.

  Class C: A faint and whispery voice that can barely be heard and is sometimes indecipherable.

  Although the focus of EVP tends to be on voice communication, we should never overlook the importance of residual or imprinted sounds that often are captured on recording devices. This especially applies to a place like Gettysburg, where specific sounds are intricately connected to the environment’s emotional blueprint. In fact, the frequency of EVP in the form of gunshots, cannon fire, hooves clopping, and metal clanging (military accoutrements) recorded at Gettysburg is much greater than that of communicative voices. This also applies to music, as some of the most compelling EVP I’ve ever heard are the sounds of music forever imprinted during the battle—“Dixie,” fife and drum music, and other period melodies.

  Over the years, we’ve collected extremely compelling EVP during our investigations at Gettysburg. In addition to the EVP mentioned above, we documented several other accounts from the battlefield. The first is from a field investigator named Coby, who was boarding with the rest of our investigative team at the Baladerry Inn Bed and Breakfast when he recorded an EVP. The Baladerry Inn is located on the actual battlefield and was used as a field hospital both during and after the battle. Bloodstains can still be seen on parts of the wooden floors.

  Here is Coby’s account, which was verified by team members after analysis:

  In the early morning hours (approximately four a.m.) of May 7, 2004, two voices (a and b) were recorded from our room at the Baladerry Inn when we kept getting woken up for no apparent reason. Ellie took photos of the room when my K-II EMF meter started going crazy. At this time we were simply sitting up in bed talking. There are small orbs in the picture (confirmed). The voice recorder was located by the closet in the corner of the room.

  a) Ellie (to Coby): We have to get that before we go …Voice (female—very matter-of-factly): How? … and then seconds later …

  b) Voice (male—sighing or whispering): Okay

  After analyzing the recording thoroughly, we classified this as a Class A EVP, as both voices were very clear and easy to make out. They also seemed genuine as opposed to residual, meaning some sort of communication was going on between the discarnate voices and the people staying in the room. This cannot be verified of course, but it constitutes very compelling EVP evidence.

  The second account occurred during the same weekend investigation. While investigating at Spangler’s Spring on the evening of May 7, 2004, we coordinated various team members to establish secluded areas in which to conduct EVP experiments. We asked a particular field investigator named Heather to take h
er microcassette recorder and sit on a rock by the actual spring. Once there, she performed an EVP experiment during which she asked certain questions in twenty-second intervals, thus providing enough time for a possible response. Upon playback of her tape, she ran to us in a rather excited state and suggested she may have captured something. When we listened to the recording, we all heard the following very clearly at the midpoint of her questioning:

  Heather: Do you like it here?

  Voice (male—low but clearly audible): Hell no!

  Once again, we classified this as a Class A EVP. The voice was male, and you could hear the words “Hell no!” very distinctly on the tape. It was most likely a genuine contact, as a form of conscious energy was clearly responding to her question. Unfortunately, in regards to Heather’s recording, the voice she captured mysteriously disappeared after a couple of weeks. At first we thought she must have accidentally erased it, but she was adamant about being careful with it. Plus, EVP mysteriously disappearing from magnetic tape is not unheard of. There are many instances of this happening, as if the sound was only audible for a short period of time.

  EVP is a promising, yet frustrating, area of study within the world of paranormal research. There are only so many ways one can analyze EVP recordings. You can utilize sound programs to clean them up (eliminate background noise, etc.), and you can use computer programs to analyze sound waves and determine at what frequency these sounds are emanating. But as of now we have no way to determine if these recordings are from another realm or simply the result of our minds making sense of chaos.

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  Chapter Four

  Photos from

  Another Realm

  Over the years, we’ve been fortunate enough to capture a wide variety of paranormal photographs at Gettysburg. Before these “spirit” photos can be analyzed accurately, however, it’s important to understand the nature of photography, the history and nature of paranormal photographs, and how to distinguish between genuine paranormal captures and camera glitches, light anomalies, or user errors.

  One of the most important inventions in history, photography has transformed the way people see the world. With the click of a button, we can capture moments in time and preserve them for years to come. Every so often—at least in theory—we can capture images not seen with the naked eye … images that suggest the existence of paranormal phenomena and defy our understanding of the physical world.

  Currently, two technologies make creating photographs possible: traditional film technology and digital imaging technology. Traditional film technology, which dates back almost two hundred years, exposes a visual image onto special light-sensitive chemicals within the film. The film contains a physical representation of the image and, once exposed, the transparencies and negatives last for decades. A much newer technology, digital imaging creates a digital representation according to the color and intensity of light falling on an array of special digital receptors. A specialized form of microchip, these sensors measure the amount of light that falls on different parts of the sensor surface in a given time window. The images are digital files stored in digital memory.

  People have been capturing ghostly images on film since the early days of photography. Unfortunately, many of the first spirit photos taken in the mid-to-late 1800s were hoaxes, cleverly created by psychic mediums professing to be communicating directly with the dead. Obvious frauds, these photos showed individuals sitting in chairs with the faces of their deceased loved ones hovering in the air around them. Some were even more dubious, showing mediums in supposed trance states spewing ectoplasm (a gauze-like substance associated with the formation of spirits) out of their mouths as they connected with the spirit world.

  However, much more compelling photographs—such as the Combermere Abbey ghost taken in 1891, the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall taken in 1936, and the Tulip Staircase ghost taken in 1966—clearly defy conventional thinking and demand further inquiry. Over the years, thousands of honest and credible people from all walks of life have taken compelling pictures that show various types of paranormal anomalies, including spirit mists and orbs, energy vortexes, and more evidentially convincing apparitional forms, which often show clearly defined facial and body features.

  So, can ghostly activity—invisible to the naked eye—be captured on film? Assuming ghosts exist, certain facts regarding human vision and camera mechanics suggest that the answer to this question is “yes.” First, let’s consider the visible light spectrum. Our eyes are sensitive to light that lies in a very small region of the electromagnetic spectrum known as visible light (which corresponds to a wavelength range of 400 to 700 nanometers and a color range of violet through red). The human eye isn’t capable of seeing radiation within wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. For example, ultraviolet radiation has a shorter wavelength than visible violet light, and infrared radiation has a longer wavelength than visible red light. In traditional film technology, photographic emulsions are more sensitive and can capture wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum. Digital sensors are also sensitive to a range of light wider than we can see. The full, broad spectrum of a film or camera sensor bandwidth can be enhanced even further with the help of various filters and film types. Some researchers theorize that energy patterns of ghosts fall into a spectrum of light that isn’t visible to the human eye. If so, it might be possible to capture undetected spirit energy that manifests outside visible wavelengths with either a digital or film camera.

  Shutter speed is another variable that may account for the existence of paranormal photographs. Vision is a continuous process of the human eye, but eyelids act as shutters that create a small time gap between two continuous visions. This small time gap is the shutter speed that is adjustable in a camera but natural in the eye. On average, an eye has a shutter speed of around 1/50 of a second. The shutter speed of a camera can be as fast as 1/4000 of a second. If someone fired a gun and the bullet whizzed by, you wouldn’t be able to see it, but a camera set at a fast shutter speed could freeze its movement.

  The possible nature of spirit might also explain this enigma. Some religious scholars and spiritual practitioners have theorized that spirit energy exists on a higher—and faster—metaphysical plane than humans (who exist on a slower, material plane). If such energy vibrates at an accelerated rate, it might explain why people see shadows or figures moving “out of the corner of their eyes.” Theoretically, these fast-moving energy forms can be photographed with the faster shutter speeds associated with camera mechanics.

  Another theory suggests that ghosts only make themselves visible when they want to and that paranormal photographs are “gifts” from the beyond. This may be true, as some researchers believe ghosts absorb energy from their surrounding environments in order to create physical anomalies, including manifesting in the presence of certain individuals. Based on this theory, you could conceivably ask permission of the spirits to allow you to photograph them and hope for the best. Many field investigators have employed this method in an attempt to communicate with these entities.

  Over the years, we’ve captured all types of visual anomalies thanks to the diligent efforts of both our field research team and our weekend investigation guests. The following accounts all have powerful photographic evidence to go along with the eyewitness testimony.

  Little Round Top Face

  During the second day of fighting, when Confederate soldiers advanced against the Union army’s left flank positioned on Little Round Top, they had to maneuver through the boulders of Devil’s Den and across a little stream known as Bloody Run. Members of the Texas and Alabama regiments who managed to make it this far found themselves in a wooded area at the southern base of Little Round Top. It was here where they regrouped and began their uphill assaults against Union Col. Joshua Chamberlain’s Twentieth Maine.

  While investigating this area a few years ago, one of the psychics in our group picked up on the presence of a
soldier at the base of the hill. We immediately took some EMF readings and registered slightly elevated electromagnetic energy levels. Other team members took photographs of and around the psychic to try and capture any spirit energy that may have been manifesting around her. After about ten minutes, the readings dissipated and the psychic informed us that the presence was no longer there.

  Later that evening, while downloading digital camera files, we noticed an anomaly in one of the photos that was taken at the base of Little Round Top. We zoomed in on the object in question, and we clearly saw a man’s face. Sporting a mustache and hat, he had clearly defined features and genuinely looked like a Civil War soldier. Compelled by the details, we tried to figure out what else it could be by process of elimination. After ruling out glares and other camera glitches, we were left with two possibilities. It was either a genuine paranormal capture or a case of simulacra (an unreal or vague semblance of something).

  Supporting the genuine paranormal capture assumption is the fact that the psychic sensitive was picking up on the presence of a soldier at the time the photo was taken, and we also documented elevated electromagnetic energy levels in the area. Simulacra, on the other hand, can be likened to a case of mistaken identity, which occurs because our minds naturally tend to create order out of chaos. In a scenario where trees, bushes, rocks, and leaves fill a photograph’s frame, people tend to interpret what they see based on what they are more familiar with, such as an animal or a person’s face. In reality, the mind is simply trying to put the pieces of a chaotic puzzle together as not to cause confusion.

  In this particular case, the anomaly stands out clearly. One doesn’t have to struggle to create this face in the bushes because it’s literally staring right back at you. Another factor that weakens the case for simulacra relates to the corroborative nature of the image and where it was taken. For example, if we had suggested a white tiger was in the photograph, it wouldn’t make sense geographically. White tigers are indigenous to Southeast Asia, so why would a ghost of one of these magnificent creatures be captured in Gettysburg unless an old zoo once stood on that spot (which isn’t the case). Instead, we clearly see a man’s face—complete with mustache and hat—which resembles the prototypical individual who might have died at the base of Little Round Top—a Civil War soldier! Does this confirm a genuine paranormal capture? We can never be completely sure of that, but this photograph definitely represents one of the most persuasive we’ve ever captured.