Category: US – Other

Vermont’s Bennington Triangle has a fascinating history.  It’s a lovely place to hike, but it’s not without significant dangers. Like the Bermuda Triangle, people vanish without explanation in the Bennington Triangle.

Paranormal Triangles – Bermuda, Bridgewater, and Bennington

(As I type that, I wonder, “What is it about triangles and the letter B?”)

The “triangle” phenomena are interesting to study.  The most famous of these locations is, of course, the Bermuda Triangle.

However, the trouble with the Bermuda Triangle is (a) that location is huge and mostly over the water, and (b) it has been so frequently researched, there’s a massive amount of information to sift through to find any patterns… or any angle or explanation that’s been overlooked.

All we can say is: We don’t know why it’s so strange.

Another triangle, the Bridgewater Triangle (MA), offers some interesting quirks that haven’t been fully explored, but the area is densely populated. That’s both a plus (lots of eyewitnesses) and a minus (many locations are difficult to access or on private property).  In addition, sensational headlines and a lurid history sometime attract thrill-seekers and people who think it’s funny to terrify others.

We have enough challenges in paranormal research.  Frankly, we don’t need stupid people making our work more difficult.  Personally, I’m not impressed enough with the Bridgewater Triangle to explore it after dark.

The Bennington Triangle – Where People Vanish

The Bennington Triangle (VT) has remained under the radar for many people.

I’ve deliberately avoided saying much about it, because I believe that location may be very dangerous.

But, as ghost hunting is becoming less trendy, I’m more comfortable talking about it now.

Bennington’s relative isolation also makes it a less-accessible location for thrill seekers. That may be a very good thing.

Also, it’s not really a ghost hunters’ kind of site. A ghostly encounter might be possible, but that’s not the main reason paranormal researchers quietly study Bennington and vicinity.

More about Bennington’s Mysteries

For the original, most intriguing article about the Bennington Triangle,  view this archived link.

Wikipedia gives more geographic information, at Bennington Triangle.

Also check the Virtual Vermonter stories about the Bennington Triangle.

It was no surprise when I learned that author Shirley Jackson (author of “The Haunting of Hill House,” the basis of my favorite fiction-based ghost movie) chose to live there.  I’m not sure I would.

If real gateways to other dimensions exist, the Bennington Triangle is probably one of them.  I’m happy to do most of my Bennington Triangle research off-site.

The links I’ve listed are the tip of the iceberg.

Witnesses are Afraid of Something

The stories that come out of the Bennington Triangle… they’re not like any other stories I’ve heard in the New England area.

Some of them are terrifying. They make no sense.  Even stranger: The people who share their first-person Bennington and Glastenbury stories are as credible as any I’ve met.

These aren’t the kinds of people you can dismiss as over-imaginative, delusional, pathological liars, attention-seekers, or substance abusers.

Most of them seem uncomfortable describing their encounters.

Then, once they start sharing the details, it’s like they’re reliving the experience.  They get pale, break out in perspiration, and tremble a little.

Part-way into the story, they go silent, shrug, and say, “I’ve said enough.”  After that, you can’t get another word out of them… not about the Bennington Triangle, anyway.

At a later date, I may post more of my own research.  The deeper you look into this strange phenomenon, the weirder it gets.

One of Hollow Hill’s most popular real ghost photos was taken near the Guard House at Fort Worden, in Port Townsend, Washington, near Seattle on the night of April 4th, 2003.

When this photo was taken, colorful orbs and sparkles appeared all around me. Most of them were to my right and left, and I did not see them through the viewfinder of my camera.

I knew that I was getting some great photos that night in April 2003, but until I saw this print, I had no idea that I’d captured something this startling.

According to local legends, Port Townsend (near Seattle) is one of America’s most haunted towns. With Fort Worden–a former military base–plus the town’s colorful pirate history, you can expect ghosts… and plenty of them.

This real ghost photo was taken at Fort Worden’s haunted Guard House. Local stories claim that a soldier was assigned to the Guard House, but the loneliness of the work began to bother him. Whether it was carelessness or something else, the despondent soldier accidentally shot and killed himself at the Guard House.

His ghost lingers there today, and manifests often.

In two investigations, we found him to be a shy and sometimes angry ghost. This is our only clear photograph of him, taken during our 2003 investigation with artist, ‘Zanne B.

Read the full story of that investigation, with additional photos, in a two-part report starting at Fort Worden ghosts, part one

Fort Worden is a lovely park and conference center in Port Townsend, Washington State, about an hour from Seattle. Fort Worden is an ideal place to vacation, with a hostel and a campground on the property. Other haunted areas of the park include the Schoolhouse, the bunkers, and–maybe–the wooded area next to the cemetery.

Ghost Investigation: Friday evening, April 4th, 2003

FORT WORDEN CEMETERY

Fort Worden Military Cemetery 

There are a few ghost stories associated with Fort Worden’s cemetery. I arrived for this investigation hopeful, but the reality was disappointing. I saw rows of tidy white markers, each of them identical in size, but the cemetery didn’t feel particularly haunted. My photos and EMF readings showed nothing unusual.

WOODED AREA

Woods next to Fort Worden Cemetery 

The wooded area next to the cemetery felt odd. But, nothing unusual appeared in those photos either. Next time I’m at Fort Worden, I will spend more time there. I’d be willing to bet that those woods witnessed something unfortunate, and–perhaps on the anniversary of it–those woods may be the most haunted spot at Fort Worden. My “gut feeling” is usually right, and I feel that there is some connection between those woods and the haunting at the Guard House.

GUARD HOUSE

My next stop was the Guard House. According to legend, when Fort Worden was active, a soldier accidentally shot & killed himself in the Guard House, and he has haunted the building ever since. It’s a great story, but a little too quirky.

I did not expect the Guard House to be haunted. However, I tried a few photos with my now-famous “sparkles” camera.

I have never seen such bright and colorful sparkles. They were vivid, crayon box colors. They were large; the smallest was the size of a baseball, and many others were as large as beachballs. Most people would probably describe them as orbs.

Generally when I go ghost hunting, these lights and orbs are at least 20 feet away. At Fort Worden, they were next to me. Some were probably close enough to touch, but I was taking photos too quickly to pause and investigate.

(These “sparkles” never show up in the photos. They are simply an indication of when we are likely to get anomalies on film, as well.)

Most of the Guard House photos looked perfectly normal, with nothing of note in them. We discount faint orbs because of reflective glass windows, etc. At least 80% of my photos looked like the lower of these two:

Top photo: Some orbs in photos at Fort Worden’s Guard HouseA few photos had dim orbs in them. These were not bits of dust; the evening was too humid for dust. And, the wind was fierce, so any bugs, pollen, droplets or particles would have appeared as streaks, not orbs.

Analyzing these photos, we’d ordinarily discount any orbs due to some car lights in the nearby parking lot. However, this is the advantage of having many photos to work with: If the lights had caused orbs, we’d have orbs in most of the photos. We don’t.

On the next page, The Man in Blue, see more dramatic orbs and one of our most startling photos, ever: A ghostly blue figure standing just outside the Guard House.

The Bell Witch was first seen in 1817. After tormenting an entire town and killing John Bell, she vanished for years.

Today, she haunts a cave near the Bell family farm. She is one of America’s most frightening ghosts.

President Andrew Jackson, who spent a sleepless night at the haunted Bell home, said, “I’d rather fight the entire British Army than to deal with the Bell Witch.”

The Bell Witch is one of the most colorful ghosts in history. Late in 1820, three years after the Bell Witch first appeared to John Bell, she murdered him.

Then she disappeared… for awhile.

In 1935, after over a hundred years’ silence, she returned to “her” cave on the Bell property, as promised. People say she’s still there. Their frightening photos and videos prove it.

The Bell Witch – How it all began

The mystery of the Bell Witch began before America was colonized. The land around the Bell Witch cave was sacred.

The Mississippians were the last Native nation to live in that area. They buried their dead in stone boxes. They placed the boxes in caves such as the one where the Bell Witch is reported today.

The Bell Witch might protect sacred Native American graves. But, those stone boxes aren’t her only eerie connection to Native lore.
She appeared to Drewry Bell and his father, John, when they were out hunting one day in 1817. At first, they thought that it was a huge turkey, and they shot at it. It started to fly away, and then it seemed to vanish into thin air.

Later, John and Drewry told friends and family that it had looked “like a human.” But, it didn’t have a face like a human. In fact, it was terrifying.

(This echoes the tales of Pennsylvania’s frightening “Snallygaster” and may relate to Native American “Thunderbird” legends.)

Soon after the hunting incident, the Bells and their neighbors saw many other strange creatures at the Bell’s farm by the Red River in Tennessee.

One had head of a rabbit but the body of a dog. At least one person tried to shoot it, but–like the “turkey” they’d shot at earlier–it vanished.

Another time, in the orchard near their house, Drewry and his younger sister Betsy saw an old woman walking slowly. Since the town was small, they were puzzled by this unfamiliar visitor.

When Betsy started to speak to the old woman, she disappeared.  Then, the situation became worse at the Bell homestead.

The “Witch” attacks the Bell family

Each night, the family heard scratching and chewing noises outside their home, as if a large animal was trying to get inside. Next, the family heard odd whispering. Finally the Bell Witch began making sounds inside the home, like loud swallowing.

She pulled the covers off beds when the children were sleeping. She physically tormented Betsy Bell, leaving ugly, red, stinging handprints where she’d slapped the child.

Around this same time, John Bell began having difficulty swallowing. Something seemed to be wrong with his jaw and his tongue.  He recovered from these symptoms, but he became sicker and sicker with new and different symptoms. The Bell Witch seemed to be wearing him down.

Religion fuels the controversy

To make sense of what happened next, it is important to understand early 19th century society.

After the American Revolution, people wanted to live quiet, normal lives again. They preferred to blend in with their neighbors. If someone was called “exceptional,” that meant different, and that was frowned upon.

John Bell was an Elder at the Red River Baptist Church, to which his family and neighbors belonged.

However, in 1817, religion was changing dramatically. Traveling revivals became popular, driven by a new movement called Evangelicanism. It had spread like wildfire from its American roots in Mississippi.

New churches, such as the Baptists and Methodists, challenged established faiths to prove their worthiness in the eyes of the Lord.  Many churches–and religions–began to compete with each other for members.

At John Bell’s church, some members–including the minister’s son–were asking questions about God’s grace, predestination, and whether Salvation was ever assured.

Many older church members felt that these questions were the work of Satan. They began watching their neighbors suspiciously.

The Bell Witch’s attacks grew worse

At about the same time the church was trying to squelch controversy, the Bell Witch increased her attacks on John Bell and his family in their home.

Not wanting to attract attention, Mr. Bell quietly asked his closest friend, John Johnston, to spend the night at the Bell home. Mr. Bell hoped his friend would have an answer to the Bell Witch problem.

Instead of helping, Mr. Johnston’s presence made things worse. For the first time, the Bell Witch spoke, mimicking the voice of Mr. Johnston.

Soon, people were talking about the Bell family and the odd events at their home.

In the next article – The Bell Witch reveals the neighbors’ darkest secrets, and murders John Bell and perhaps others: Bell Witch – the murders

References

Religion in Mississippi, by Randy J. Sparks, 2003. (No longer online, as of early 2016.)