The first ghost investigation at Boothbay Railway Village began July 27 with Greg Latimer (Mysterious Destinations, marketing and researcher for Red Cloak Haunted History Tours and author of several books on the subject) and Cathy Orne (longtime investigator with and without Latimer) as lead investigators … and me! Our group will be conducting three more investigations, one each month August through October.

This opportunity to investigate at the Village – and it’s a first – is all possible thanks to Executive Director Margaret Hoffman … not that she didn’t have her doubts at first …

“When Greg initially approached me about the idea of an investigation, I was hesitant. But I knew that one of our most dedicated volunteers, Cathy Orne, was going to be involved. I also knew that some of our staff and volunteers had ‘stories’ of their own and would likely appreciate the opportunity to share them with those interested,” shared Margaret. “In the end, I trusted that Lisa would take great care in being sensitive to people of all beliefs and to the history that the Museum preserves, and so we all agreed to give it a whirl.”

During the initial investigation, we used Cathy’s equipment: a standard EMF detector, a MelMeter (multi-input includes EMF, temp, barometer, and direct contact sensor), a FLIR (forward looking infrared); an SLS (Structured Light Sensor) camera customized with an Xbox Kinect box loaded with software called "Gotcha Ghost." (For more info, visit gotchaghost.com); and a digital camera. Although I brought my pendulum, I was too fascinated by the range of equipment – and I was holding the FLIR throughout the investigation – to use it. Next investigation!

Briefly, regarding the MelMeter – it was created by Connecticut electrical engineer Gary Galka who named the device for his daughter Melissa who died after a car crash in 2004. Galka created it to help him stay in communication with her as it measures electromagnetic and temperature changes. He also created the “Spirit Box” and other devices used by ghost hunters worldwide. Some versions of the MelMeter also have a REM POD.

We chose specific locations at the Village based on experiences related by employees at BRV. They are the Town Hall, Antique Auto Museum, Model Train exhibit, Harrington House and Freeport Station. On July 27 we had to end the investigation before we were able to go to the last two locations. We may start with them when we begin our Aug. 31 investigation.

As we entered the Town Hall, we introduced ourselves to who/whatever may have been there. Greg assured them we were not there to do harm and briefly explained what the equipment we had with us was for. As it turned out, things were pretty quiet there.

Said Cathy, “We scanned the town hall with my SLS camera and found nothing. The FLIR didn’t appear to find any odd heat signatures either.”

Activity in the Auto Museum was quite exciting! After walking the perimeter scanning with the FLIR and SLS (Kinect Box) camera we returned to the area where a new addition, a 1932 Peerless Deluxe Master 8 Cabriolet was, and we started picking up some activity. A figure appeared on the SLS.

"It shows a person-shaped object on the screen that you cannot see with the naked eye then there is something there the IR is detecting and the programming is recognized as a human shape based on body parts and joints together,” explains Greg. “The shapes appear as stick figures known as skeletons.

A few minutes later, another skeleton appeared and the two began moving around next to each other. I said to Cathy and Greg that it looked like they were dancing! (An image of these figures accompanies this column) I can’t tell you how mesmerized I became watching these figures – sometimes disappearing individually for a few minutes – and then returning. And, I gotta say, it was exciting to watch the skeletons. Back when I worked at BRV, during the Bob Ryan years as his assistant, I always felt the Auto Museum housed more than the vehicles and other means of transport therein. Another building is the Harrington House … and I’m greatly looking forward to checking it and the barn out next week!

But, back to the investigation … Greg noted that the dancing figures were not corroborated by other instruments, but they did respond (at times) to his requests for one or both to raise an arm/limb.

“Our practice is not to rely on any single instrument, but to corroborate any revelations with a second or even third instrument and/or observation,” explained Greg, “as in a previous explore where we could see the skeleton (1) respond to our requests to touch a REM pod, then (2) cause the REM pod to activate over three times.”

When the skeletons disappeared, we waited for a bit and then Cathy turned her attention to the pink Thunderbird next to the Peerless.

“I got a strange feeling there,” Cathy said. “I have an EMF meter that I use and its proximity alarm went off. That means that there was a spirit or entity near us at the time. It kept on going on and off for a while. Both Lisa and I noted that the temperature was going down at the same time.” (A decrease in temperature is considered to be another sign a spirit is nearby – a spirit draws on the energy and heat to manifest.)

We three were quite jazzed by the evidence collected in the Auto Museum. I should note that as we prepared to leave it (and the other buildings we visited) we thanked the spirits for appearing to us – and told them that they had to stay there; they were not welcome to follow us. Greg added that we would be back to visit with them again.

Our final stop of the night was the Model Railroad Display. Cathy: “We entered and scanned the room. I put my EMF meter down and began to hear the proximity alarm go off on my meter. I recorded the event on my SLS camera. To our surprise, we saw a figure show up and it began having a conversation with Greg. It responded to all of the questions he asked.

“Another (skeletal) figure showed up as well. It’s amazing when you see it because you don’t see it with your own eyes. The SLS camera sends out an infrared light to detect these figures.”

I can still see the second figure right behind Greg as if it were checking out the equipment he had on the table at the immediate entrance into the Model Train exhibit. Questions Greg – or any of us – asked were answered by the spirit lighting up the REM POD. I had moved closer to Greg to observe part of the Q&A with the spirit … a real gas to see! Things aren’t quite as exciting with my pendulum ...

“We seemed to be getting corroborative results with the SLS and the contact sensor on the Mel Meter in the auto exhibit and the model train display,” notes Greg. “We also seemed to be getting irregular but noteworthy responses from skeletons seen on the SLS when we requested that they raise a limb in acknowledgment.

When we left the model train exhibit, Greg told Cathy and me that he was feeling completely drained … which isn’t all that surprising, really. He had just spent 30 minutes or so with a spirit on either side of him throughout most of the investigation in the Model Train Exhibit. And that takes energy.

“I have yet to see the video with myself and the two skeletons in the model train display, but if the figures are reaching for the contact sensor, and those efforts resulted in the sensor activating, then we have good corroboration. However, just the proximity of the figures to the Mel Meter could have caused a sensor activation,” said Greg.

“Even so, the images we saw and the fact that they responded to some requests were compelling. In some cases the contact sensor on the MEL Meter tended to corroborate these images.”

This was all most encouraging for our small group, for after reviewing the photographs taken with the digital camera no anomalies were captured.

Still, we had witnessed and experienced quite a bit in a two-hour period. And, based on decades of similar investigations, Greg said he’d learned that “ … as paranormal critters ‘get to know us’ they often become more communicative over time.”

All in all, not once did the three of us experience anything that gave us pause or cause fear. The spirits that did reveal themselves, or that were revealed through the use of Cathy’s equipment, seemed content with where they were. And, hopefully, we will be able to visit with them – and maybe even others – as our investigation continues.

All of the findings from the four visits will be revealed by Greg at the Village’s 1847 Town Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 30 (you didn’t think I was going to tell you everything now, did you?!), time to be determined.

I hope to include personal accounts by some of the BRV staff in my next column about this spirited adventure!