Point Lookout Lighthouse Investigation

Location: Scotland, MD

Date: Saturday, December 3, 2005, 4:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Moon Phase: Just past new moon.

Solar Weather: M class flares, geomagnetic field unsettled.

Investigators present: Hillary M., Paul M., Robert H, guest investigators Amy and Jayson Kowinski.

Equipment: Olympus C-3000 digital camera, two Sony digital video cameras with Nightshot and IR extenders, Extech EMF meter, Olympus DS-1 Digital Voice Recorder, Extech IR thermometer, Olympus C-4000 digital camera, Olympus 2000 digital voice recorder, NightOwl Nightvision Monocular, Olympus D-370 digital camera.

History: The PRSNA has investigated this lighthouse several times.

Investigator Robert Hall was recently granted permission by the U.S. Navy to conduct an EVP study within the lighthouse for several months in 2005. This investigation was part of his study. Complete history of Point Lookout Lighthouse can be found at:

http://www.ptlookoutlighthouse.com/

The significance of this date in the history of the lighthouse is that a child of keeper William and Catherine Yeatman died after coming home from school on December 4, 1892.

Investigation: We arrived at the lighthouse just after 4:00 p.m. Since this was Jayson and Amy’s first visit to the lighthouse, Robert started by giving them a complete historical tour of the building. We then took several control pictures and temperature readings throughout the lighthouse. The average temperature was 34 degrees, but it felt much colder.

At 4:50, Jayson, Amy, Robert, and Paul spread out in the second floor of the building to begin an EVP session. I placed my recorder in the north side living room, and I moved to the doorway between the north side dining room and kitchen. We were hoping to experience the loud “moving of furniture” sounds in the living rooms, which we have experienced in previous investigations between 4:30 and 6:00 p.m. Unfortunately, we were disappointed, however, we did pick up a tapping right next to my recorder after Robert asked “Can you move some of our stuff downstairs?” Also, 12 minutes into the session, Robert’s camera batteries went dead. He turned the camera off and on again, and the batteries were fully charged again; the batteries finally died 8 minutes later.

At 5:36 p.m., I moved upstairs to the north side small bedroom. At 5:49, Robert, Amy and I heard a noise coming from the end of the hallway, near the steps to the cupola. Paul and Jayson, who were on the south side of the house, did not hear it. At 6:00 p.m. we took a dinner break.

At 6:30, we spread out in the two living rooms with Paul and I on the north side, and Robert, Jayson, and Amy on the south side. During this session I got a picture of a moving orb next to Paul, near the stairway.

At 7:00 p.m., we all left the lighthouse to take a bathroom break and to warm up in our cars for awhile. I left my recorder running in the north side living room. Twenty minutes into this recording, the tone of the background static (white noise) changes for a duration of one minute and 39 seconds. During this change in tone, my recorder picked up a shuffling noise, which sounds like something being dragged across the floor.

When we returned to the lighthouse at 7:30, I set up my video camera in the south side hallway upstairs. Robert set up his camcorder in the south side living room. At 7:40, we all began an EVP session in the north side bedroom. Three minutes and 45 seconds into the session, Paul and I both heard a faint whistling, but Robert, Jayson, and Amy (who were in the same room with us) did not hear it.

At 8:14 p.m., Robert, Amy and I moved down to the middle section of the south side basement for a recording session. We may have obtained some possible EVPs at this time, which are still being reviewed.

At 8:33 p.m., Paul and I sat down in the north side living room while Robert, Jayson, and Amy went into the north side basement for a recording session. Fifteen minutes into the session, Paul, who was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, heard a door open on the second floor. We packed up and left the lighthouse at 9:00 p.m.

Conclusions :  The PRSNA has investigated this lighthouse several times, and we're always amazed at how light and airy the building feels. Many southern Maryland residents are too terrified to enter this lighthouse due to the stories they've heard, but this lighthouse seldom seems to have the heavy atmosphere usually associated with haunted sites. Even at night, the atmosphere within the lighthouse does not live up to its reputation. Once again, the PRSNA investigators left the lighthouse believing that we obtained very little in the way of positive results, and once again, we were proven wrong when we actually reviewed our results. To our surprise, we found that we obtained many moving orb pictures, some in succession.  We also obtained a good number of EVPs. We did obtain some positive video as well, but did not post it because we could not be certain that it wasn't just dust.

Submitted by Hillary Murdoch.