The first officially sanctioned paranormal event occurred on August 19th and hosted the Southern Maryland Paranormal group (see: www.SOMDParanormal.org). The team was led by Kim Hammond and consisted of 9 team members, who took turns inside and outside the lighthouse. The park provided an employee, Justin Norris, to help out with the event. Presented below are three different perspectives on the night, including an interesting finale for Justin and Robert.

Robert

In general, the night was fairly quiet in the lighthouse, but I did hear footsteps that couldn’t be accounted for. For example, during one of the sessions upstairs, Justin and I were sitting in the small bedroom on the south side and we clearly heard footsteps on the floor below; the steps began in the kitchen and walked to the living room. No return footsteps were heard, and no team member answered when we asked who was there. The team conducted an experiment in the north side kitchen where we all sat quietly and tried to tune into the environment. During this time, I had the impression of a woman standing at the stove in a green and white plaid dress covered by an apron; she was patiently stirring a pot on the stove. She stood and seemed emotionless, however on the inside she seemed so exasperated that she just wanted to throw herself off the roof. I had the impression that she had suffered some type of loss, such as a tragic death or illness. During a later session, Justin and Kim were in the south side living room and Robert was in the north side living room. We all heard footsteps above us on the second floor south side, and when Kim called up to her team members on the 2nd floor, we determined that the team members were not the cause of the footsteps. At the same instant, Justin and Kim felt that a presence was watching them from the staircase. After the investigation, I was driving out of the park and just before the causeway, I noticed a strange figure in the oncoming lane. The first thing that caught my attention was that the person was wearing a white shirt with suspenders, and the person seemed surrounded by a white glow, with unusual lighting, as if he were an image from an old black and white movie. As I passed the person, he seemed to take no notice of me or my vehicle, and just stared blankly forward. I watched in my side view mirror as he disappeared into the night. I was startled by a chair in front of me, that was partially in the road, so I had to maneuver around the object. When I looked into the mirror again, I could no longer see the figure. The man had an unusual gait, which is difficult to describe, almost like he was not walking at all, but slightly bouncing up and down. I caught up with Justin and confirmed that he had seen the unusual figure in the road. I doubled back and drove down to the picnic area to see if anyone was walking around, and I found no one.

Justin

Justin had a number of experiences in the lighthouse. As he entered the north side dining room for the first time, he felt the presence of a man standing right behind him, and in his mind, he felt like the man was named William Yeatman. When he turned around, Justin realized that unbeknownst to him, a coworker had placed a picture of William Yeatman on the wall directly behind him. In the north side small bedroom, Justin saw a woman in a dress sitting on the floor. She was wearing some type of jewelry that appeared as a quick flash of blue and green, similar to jade. In the south side small bedroom, we all heard a door slam and then footsteps walking toward the living room; just before the door slammed, Justin heard a distinct shout of “NO!!!”. In the north side kitchen, Justin felt a woman-whose name began with an L (Lyda, Lidia, Linda)- was telling him a funny story about a table that used to be in the kitchen. The table was a very rich, dark wood like mahogany, crafted with detailed, intricate carvings along the sideboards and legs. Justin also sensed an older man sitting at the table with his children, and they were all laughing about the table, as it had some type of unusual history, perhaps it had been sawed in half and had to be put back together. The family was interacting with each other and enjoying the inside joke about the table’s checkered past. The story was very light hearted, unlike the typically tragic events that many people associate with spirits. Later in the evening in the north side dining room, Justin felt a sadder presence, such as mourning activity with a family consoling one another after a funeral. The dining room was hosting a wake, with a buffet. He also felt that someone was sitting in the corner of the room, grief stricken. Justin had several impressions in the south side living room. He and Kim heard footsteps and felt a constant presence, standing still at the top of the stairs. Again, Justin sensed the colors blue and green, with more emphasis on blue. Since the presence was at the top of the steps, it was as if all you could see were her feet through the stair case railings, but you knew that she was there. He also felt that there had been an argument between 2 men with beards, possibly from the Civil War era, and that the argument occurred close to the wall where the door is located. Another impression was of an older woman (perhaps in her sixties or older) rocking back and forth in a rocking chair located near the basement door. Unlike the figure at the top of the stairs, the arguing men and rocking older woman felt like they were in motion. In the same area, Justin felt a man standing in the doorway, staring out into the living room. Justin felt nothing heavy or overwhelming in the basement, although he sensed a 40 something male figure that he felt was intelligible, however, the figure did not try to make contact. The presence was not scary, menacing or evil in any way. After the investigation, Justin saw a figure in the road. The figure was that of a man in a white shirt, wearing pants with suspenders. The shirt was thin, as if it had been well worn. The man was not wearing a hat and had a beard and a full head of hair. Ironically, Justin saw someone at the Nature Center the next day who looked similar to the man that he and Robert had seen on the causeway, so he asked the man and confirmed that he had not been in the park the night before.

Kim

From 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm  Evening started with greeting with Robert Hall (Researcher/Investigator and Park Volunteer) and Justin (Park Seasonal Volunteer).  Gave Robert and Justin a copy of the SMP investigation plan.   Robert and Justin walked us through the lighthouse showing us reported active areas. Robert also told us about his personal experiences with his investigations.   Setup equipment per SMP Investigation plan (Video Camera’s, IR Camera, Audio devices)   Personal Observation/Findings – House was very hot! The park was very busy with park visitors to include family picnics and fisherman. Very warm summer evening, the sky was clear and the moon was half full (very bright). From 11:00 pm to 11:30 pm   Teamed with Teresa and Brian   Walked around the inside of the house taking pictures and observing.   Devices used include: Audio devices (Teresa, Brian), Cameras (Kim, Teresa), night vision scope.   Personal Observation/Findings : It was very hot in the structure, no uneasy feelings. Heard very little sounds from the structure, the park visitors were pretty loud. No photo anomalies found. From 11:30 pm to 12:00 pm   Teamed with Teresa and Brian   Walked around the outside of the house to include grounds/lawn.   Devices used include: Audio devices (Teresa, Brian), Cameras (Kim, Teresa), night vision scope.   Personal Observation/Findings : No uneasy feelings, loud talking and noises from park visitors/fisherman. Picture taking by me of mist in motion on the left back side of house (this was the only photo anomaly found by me). During our audio recording section on the front porch we heard loud bagging coming from the front side of the house. Other reported hearing the same and asked (via radios) who was in that area during this time. No reports of anyone being in that area of the house. From 12:00 pm to 12:30 pm   Teamed with Buzz   We entered the Copula area to include the spiral stairs.   Devices used include: Audio recorders, Digital camera, 35mm camera, and night scope.   Personal Observation/Findings: Still very hot in house, opened Copula door to allow air to circulate. Pictures taken but no photo anomaly found in photos. Heard little to no sounds from structure. I was experiencing very low chatter (like more then one person talking in a very low voice to each other). Park visitors still very loud during this time period. From 12:30 am to 1:00 am   Teamed with Lisa   We entered the North side upstairs back bedroom.   Devices used include: Audio recorders, Digital camera and night scope.   Personal Observation/Findings: Still very hot in house. Observed the very same low chatter (voices). Heard loud bang in house again…. Also heard a door closing and someone walking across the floor. During the review of video camera in basement it was found that Steve left the basement area during this time period and Brian returned to the basement area. I believe this was the loud noise Lisa and I heard. No photo anomalies found. From 1:00 am to 1:30 am • Lisa and I took a bath break during this time period….. :) From 1:30 am to 2:00 pm   Teamed with Justin   Enter front South Living room. Sat in chair with my back to the door and front windows.   Devices used include: Digital Camera   Personal Observations/Findings: When I sat down in the chair during the beginning of the session, I observed my shadow (silhouette) on the opposite side of the room (wall with the stairs leading up). The moon was about half full but very bright, shining down on the bay and into the front windows. After about 5 to 10 minutes of silence we all heard someone talking and/or whispering. Robert called out asking if anyone was talking. After this we went silent again and the room started to become darker and darker. I leaned close to Justin asking him if he was experiencing the room become dark also, which he did. After leaning back I realized that my silhouette had disappeared from the opposite wall….. at this point I started to hear noises coming from the top of the stair way. I had the feeling we were being watched and that someone was at the top of the stairs looking down. The room continued to be dark enough that my shadow was not present in the room but the moon remain in the same state, no clouds in the sky were observed during this period. I had the impression someone was coming down the stair but afraid to come all the way down…(heard the floor boards/stairs creaking).. this feeling continued until Steve called time on the radio. The feeling started to subside and the room became brighter……. The house lights were turned on and I walked over and took a couple of pictures up the stairs. No photo anomalies found.

My personal feeling is that the lighthouse has some type of energy/haunting worth another investigation.