Hollow Hill

Columbus, Texas – Ghostly Ectoplasm?

Ectoplasm? I’m not sure what caused the odd misty areas in the unretouched photo at left. (And, to be honest, I’m not sure anyone knows what ectoplasm is. We usually use the term to mean an expansive area of colorful, translucent energy.)

Look for the whitish, pink, and red areas in the photo. I have no explanation for any of those anomalies. They remind me of the colorful orb-ish shapes in the anomalies at New Orleans’ Jackson Square.

The photo was taken with a tripod and a delayed shutter. I stood to the side of the camera. When the flash went off, I could clearly see anything that might have been in front of the camera.

In other words, I didn’t see any bugs to explain these odd, colorful areas.

There was no chance of a camera strap, jewelry, or hair reflecting light on the lens. Also, since I was over five feet away when the photo was taken, it’s not breath.

I took over 200 photos in this cemetery, and none of them show insects. As usual, I’d looked for bugs before taking any photos. I saw none except the mounds indicating fire ants. (I was in sandals and kept my distance.)

The Columbus City Cemetery — also called Old City Cemetery — is on Walnut Street in Columbus, Texas, not far from the middle of town. In 1870, it was deeded to the city as an existing cemetery.

No one is certain how old the graves are, but the earliest headstone is dated 1853.

This wasn’t the first time I’d seen non-orb anomalies in Columbus photos. I’d seen possible ecto in a photo taken during a “Live Oaks and Dead Folks” tour, a popular annual event in Columbus, Texas.

This is an especially interesting cemetery. Many of the grave markers were washed away in a flood at the end of 1913. Disturbed graves could explain the recurring fog-like mist or ectoplasm in photos. There are at least 500 unmarked graves there.

This cemetery also contains the grave of Jonathan W. Sargent (1877 – 1929), who was killed in a car accident near Columbus. He’d assisted Howard Carter in Egypt, and may have been a victim of the famous “curse” of King Tutankhamen’s tomb.

In addition, the cemetery was the final resting place of many Confederate soldiers, as well as victims of the 1873 yellow fever epidemic.

Any one of these could account for higher-than-average paranormal activity in this lovely cemetery.

I recommend this cemetery for ghost enthusiasts, but only during daytime hours. After dark, uneven ground and the possibility of snakes make investigations treacherous.

The cemetery is patrolled regularly by police, who visited while I was there. Day and night, they can see activity in the cemetery from at least three nearby roads, so don’t expect to escape notice when you’re in the cemetery.

Since Columbus Cemetery’s orbs can be photographed in daylight, an early morning or late afternoon visit could be worthwhile.

Old Town Katy, TX – Ghosts, Pt 2

KATY TRAIN DEPOT

Most of the orbs were at or near the entrance to the depot, shown on the previous page. The opposite side of the depot building confirmed orbs in the same area, especially above the roof:

MKT CABOOSE

Nearby, the old MKT caboose was a challenge to photograph. With several shiny glass windows, the camera must be positioned carefully to avoid reflected light. However, at least one of our photos produced a strong orb:

The orb in this picture is one of the prettiest I’ve seen:

We have a few orbs in other locations, including the water tower in town, but from our first investigations, the depot area is good for ghost research.

REFERENCES AND RELATED SITES

Handbook of Texas Online: Katy, TX
Texas Transportation Museum
R. Byrnes’ Katy Railroad Railfan Page

Katy, TX – Train Depot Ghosts (Jan 2006)

A romantic couple haunted the Katy Depot area on the evening of January 2nd, 2006.

I don’t often talk about my psychic perceptions, but this imagery was one of those “clear as day” visual images. Others who’ve visited the depot and stumbled onto this website have been amazed that I sensed the couple, as well.

The impression was so vivid, I could sense the couple as soon as I got out of my car. He’s a man in a brown suit with lapels trimmed in braid. She’s taller than him, especially with the tall, perky hat that she wears. And, she holds his arm as they stroll around the depot.

I’ve sensed this couple before, but — until that particular night — their images weren’t so clear in my mind… or in photos.

I like to think that they’re remembering a time when they took a romantic journey by train, perhaps to some still-wild part of the Southwest, or a second honeymoon in Kansas City or Chicago, during a more genteel era.

Did this couple show up as twin orbs in my photos around the depot? Maybe. It’s a fun thought. Here’s one of several photos of the twin orbs, taken over the rail car by the Katy depot:

Of course, I’d suspect that something was reflecting dual orbs, or perhaps a lens flare. When I see orbs in a straight line, I almost always think, “Lens flare.” However, at the depot building at least 20 feet away, my photos included the same twin orbs. Here’s another photo of them:

(These photos are grainy because — too late — I discovered that I was taking the pictures at a film speed of 100.)

Katy, TX – Train Depot (Jan 2006), Pt 2

Ghost orbs continue to appear regularly around the Katy Historical Society’s depot building, and near the bright red rail car displayed nearby. These orbs can be explained in non-paranormal ways, but they’re such fun, I decided to post them anyway.

One of the most vivid photos that I took on January 2nd, 2006, was over the train depot:

Oddly, some of the most visible orbs are also in a straight line, which I’d ordinarily discount as a lens flare. The brightest orb, over the word “Texas,” looks like a light bulb. It isn’t. It’s another orb. It was quite dark at the depot on that quiet Monday evening.

However, my favorite photo of the evening shows a bright green orb that–to me anyway–looks as if it has a classic Halloween “jack-o-lantern” face:

It’s not a perfect jack-o-lantern face, but this one caught my attention because the color is unusual, and the expression is different from the usual “smiley face” orbs.

These are digital photos taken at a slow (100 ISO) speed, so they are more grainy than I’d like. At a higher film speed, I might have captured far more orbs that night.

It was an ideal evening for ghost hunting. Fog in the early morning hours had reduced dust and pollen as factors. By evening, the air was quite dry, but the dirt hadn’t dried out enough to be a problem. And, it was too chilly for bugs.

Spring, TX – Ghosts, Part 1

The vicinity of Spring, Texas features many wonderful cemeteries, and Old Town Spring has the reputation of being very haunted. On Sunday evening, 22 May 2005, we visited several locations, with interesting results.

Wunsche Cemetery

Wunsche Cemetery is a lovely little cemetery with a big reputation, located between the feeder road and I-45, immediately after the Cypresswood exit, heading north. This can be a challenging place to stop, although there is a small parking area for visitors. (You will be re-entering feeder road traffic, including cars leaving I-45 that may still be driving at interstate speeds.)

We checked Wunsche Cemetery twice, and feel that it may have some low-level hauntings. However, we were there during daytime hours and at dusk; it may be better after dark.

Wunsche Bros. Cafe

This is one of the few sites in Old Town Spring that’s almost sure to be haunted. We have no conclusive outdoor photos yet, but several good indoor pictures.

At the right is a photo of one of the rooms where EVP has been reported. According to legend, it was one of the girl’s rooms when the cafe was a brothel.

When a Wunsche Bros Cafe staff member is available to show guests around, he or she will escorts patrons upstairs and point out a few of the important haunts on that level.

You’ll be climbing steep stairs to see a rocking chair that we’ve observed rocking when no one was nearby. Generally, you can linger as long as you’d like, and take photos and EVP recordings, unless an event or private party is scheduled in one of the upstairs rooms.

Cemetery #1 (our name for the cemetery, not its real name)

This cemetery is in a quiet, residential area and we’re not comfortable sharing the exact location at this time.

Because the cemetery is well-sheltered from breezes, bugs can be a problem. These are our best photos from our second visit there:

The orb in the tree (right photo) is probably a true anomaly. The two orbs in the photo on the left are probably insects. See a closer look at this photo, below.

The orb on the left (Orb #1) has the right translucency, but genuine “ghost orbs” are almost perfectly circular; the irregular shape of this orb suggests that it’s a moving insect captured on film.

Orb #2 on the right is the correct shape, but it is a little too brilliant and the edges are slightly fuzzy. This also suggests an insect or – more likely – moisture, but it’s possible that it’s a very odd “ghost orb.” Because of the insects in the area, we have to discount this second orb as well.

Spring, TX – Ghosts, Part 2

langhamcreek2 — A too-black photo. Not from the Spring cemeteries, but it might have been.

Sometimes, it’s not the ghost photos you get, but the ones you don’t get… yet should have.

Spring, Texas features many wonderful cemeteries, and Old Town Spring has the reputation of being very haunted.

On Sunday evening, 22 May 2005, a couple of us visited several cemeteries in the area, with interesting results. Photographs–especially “ghost orbs”–are just one anomaly that we note when investigating a site that is supposed to be haunted.

We also use EMF and compass readings, EVP (recordings of ghostly voices), and other detection techniques.

However, one of the most frustrating (and telling) signs of a genuine haunting is when an otherwise reliable camera won’t work properly. That is what happened at Cemetery #1 (as we’re calling it) on 22 May 2005.

Black photos and lost photos

I use the famous “sparkles” camera to tell when a site is probably producing orbs and other anomalies in photos. Then, team members rely on digital cameras, since they are more sensitive to the electrical disturbances that seem to accompany orbs.

On this evening in Spring, Texas, a digital camera (which I’d used reliably since January 2002) worked fine at Wunsche Cemetery, and then recorded nothing but blackness — for over 25 photos — during our stop at Cemetery #1.

At our next stop, investigating a rural cemetery in the area, the camera was still a little odd but recorded about 30 good photos — many with orbs — that we could see on the camera’s preview screen. In fact, we reviewed the photos several times during our drive back to Houston.

However, upon arriving at home, when the camera card was placed in my desktop computer, an error message said that the card wasn’t formatted. I received the same error message on my laptop computer, and even in an external card reader. A restart of the desktop didn’t resolve the problem. I had no choice but to reformat the card. I lost over 100 photos from that evening.

Oddly, another team of researchers was at Cemetery #1 when we arrived, and — although she probably didn’t hear me complaining about my camera — one of those other researchers announced similar camera problems.

When she showed me her camera’s preview screen, it showed all-black images (full frames) just as mine did.

Polarity?

Because most of the “sparkles” seemed to appear around two trees, and we were standing between them, my husband speculates that the trees may be energy sources, like two poles.

My camera was fine when I was in other parts of the cemetery, but when I stood between the two trees, all of my photos turned out black.

I’ll return to this cemetery during daylight hours to measure any electromagnetic energy that is there. The cemetery is not near any power lines, and–although we were in a residential area–it’s unlikely that we were near underground cables. Nevertheless, it’s worth checking, just in case.

Cemetery #2 (also our nickname, referring to a different cemetery)

We visited another cemetery twice on May 22nd, once during the day and once after dark. This cemetery is larger and slightly more rural than Cemetery #1. It’s also full of ant hills by day, and has considerable uneven ground that makes after-dark visits risky.

Our daytime digital photos — now lost — produced several with odd blue areas around some of the more isolated headstones. There were also two huge black, winged figures (perhaps vultures) that flew up from the back of the cemetery and seemed to vanish. (I mean that literally. They were there, and we were admiring their flight. Then, they disappeared.)

Digital photos at night — also lost during the reformat — had produced numerous good orbs. Our film photos had no reliable orbs in them.