Thursday, June 20, 2013

Hunt 3: Emily's Bridge in Stowe Vermont--10/2/2011

Emily's Bridge in Stowe VT
Location & History: Emily's Bridge, originally known as Gold Brook Bridge, is located nearly 2 miles from Vermont Route 100 in the town of Stowe. It is a one lane wooden covered bridge built in 1866 by John W. Smith. The location is quintessential "Vermont" with the golden red leaves of fall, the winding road and river, and the colorful mountain backdrop. At the same time the place feels kind of creepy to the two of us investigators who drive up the hill to a residential section of Stowe. Lori K. and Lisa P.

Investigation:

EVP SESSIONS: Because the noise of the rushing river below was a factor in recording audio, we conducted only the regular type of EVP. We asked several questions including but with the rushing river it was impossible to discern anything in particular as far as sound.  Anything we obtained was through photographs.

An orb Trio at Emily's Bridge in Stowe, VT
PHOTOS: Lori K. and Lisa P. both took photographs of the site. Lisa P's camera turned up nothing, but Lori K. captured some orbs containing faces!
A Closeup of the Orb Trio


Personal Experiences:
A pretty location but with definitely a creepy vibe. Both of us walked back and forth through the bridge, stood on either side and even spent some time looking into the deep ravine  where the water rushed below. As we conduct our investigation we are keeping in mind the stories of  Emily's bridge and its haunting that we read before arriving. Some believe that Emily was a bride jilted at the altar who hung herself from the rafters of the bridge back in the 19th century. Others tell the tale of Emily dying in an accident when the wagon she was travelling in across the bridge tipped over. Many accounts have been documented of footsteps, a woman screaming, cars being scratched, and the apparition of a white lady. We experienced nothing comparable to these accounts, just the feelings of unease.

A small orb by the floor of the bridge
Conclusion: Emily's bridge did not yield as much as we were hoping. Perhaps the daylight hours were an issue?  No EVP's that we could detect, and no spectacular experiences but some pretty great photos! I think that this is definitely worthy of a nighttime investigation. Emily's Bridge has its own website with some pretty interesting experiences and photographs posted. Visit: Emilysbridge.com.
A closeup of the little orb. Do you see the smiley face?



Hunt 2--West Cemetery in Middlebury August 2011

Location & History:
West Cemetery in Middlebury Vermont
West Cemetery is one of the oldest in Middlebury and contains some of the most distinguished local residents, including Gamaliel Painter, Seth Storrs, and Horatio Seymour. There is even Prince Amun-Her-Khepesh-Ef, a two-year old Egyptian prince who died in 1883 B.C.E. and whose mummy was put to rest at West after it started to decompose while on display at the Sheldon Museum.

Part of the purpose of our investigation is to get in touch with Lori K's father-in-law who has recently passed and was buried in West Cemetery. The other goal of this investigation is to get in touch with other Spirits who may be wandering around; maybe even some of its most famous 'residents'. This is our first night investigation. It is a beautiful summer evening at the cemetery. Lori K's husband Rob K. has joined us.

Investigation:
EVP SESSIONS: We conducted two types of EVP. The first one was straight question asking with the digital voice recorder. We then play it back to see if we get an answer to our questions. We performed two of these; one with specific questions for Ted K., and the other as a general question and answer for any other Spirits wandering the Cemetery. The second type of EVP was with the Ghost Box whereby we ask the questions and listen for responses 'real time' with the bits of words and sentences picked out of the radio frequency of which we conducted 1 with Ted K. I have not yet figured out how to get the digital information from the recorder to the computer, so we don't have any audio bits to add. Instead I will provide some transcript of what transpired during the EVP sessions.

Sessions 1and 2 Straight EVP: We asked several questions for Ted. Rob K. asked "Father are you here with us?" Lori K. asked "Is there anything you would like to say?" and Lisa P. asked "for a sign." of his presence. Lori K. and Rob K. mentioned Ted's wife Helen who is still living. No discernible EVP's were found on the voice recorder though several of us witnessed both a flag and the bushes next to the grave stone moving without a breeze blowing. During the second EVP session we tried to get in touch with any other Spirits who may have wanted to communicate. As we wandered through the cemetery we asked questions and made comments. Chris F. mentioned the many flags erected throughout the cemetery and thanked those who served in the military. Lori K. found a headstone for her mother-in-law's brother. Chris F. asked "Does anyone want to tell us what it is like on the other side?" Again, there were no discernible recorded EVP's. Session 4 Ghost Box: We got a two messages from the Ghost Box session, but again were limited by not being able to filter our findings through the audio editor in the computer.

Question Lori K.: "Any message you want to send to Jim or Ronnie?"
Answer: "cut it out." 

Question Lisa P: "We'll talk to you soon, Ted"
Answer: "tell her I love her"



PHOTOS: Lori K., Lisa P. and JoAnn K. took photographs of the site. Lori K. produced two pictures
Strange light anomaly. Firefly or Spirit?
with Orbs! Lisa P. has a photo with an interesting light "trail" anomaly and JoAnn K. recorded another light anomaly.

Personal Experiences: Besides being eaten alive by the mosquitoes, nobody had any strange feelings or saw anything particularly peculiar. The orbs and light manifestation in the photos were not present at the time they were taken. Everyone felt relaxed and in good 'spirits'.



Close up of trail anomaly
Conclusion: We all wish there had been more physical evidence and personal experiences. The cemetery was quiet as far as activity was concerned. Perhaps coming back at a later time in the evening or in the early part of the morning when the veils between the worlds are thinner would reveal more intel? Either way Rob and Lori K. were happy to at least try to communicate with Ted, even if there was no clear response from his spirit.






Light Anomaly
Addison County Ghost Hunters & a Guest?
Closup of the Guest