April 17, 2008
GH: Mt. Washington Hotel
This enormous hotel in New Hampshire is visually impressive and comes with a full compliment of ghostly tales reported by staff and guests alike. TAPS had the honor of being the first team of Ghost Hunters to do a full investigation of the premises. I know, I know… another commercial location. The cynics will say it's pre-destined to receive a "Haunted" verdict. Spoiler Alert: It does.
Also of note: Grant unnecessarily mentions he believes this might be a "residual haunting" for what seems like the five-hundreth investigation this month. I'm beginning to think he's trying to make my head explode.
Some of the more prevalent reports revolved around a Princess who often stayed at the hotel. She preferred to stay in her own bed, which was apparently carted around by her staff. This original bed is still located in room 314 of the hotel and guests staying in that room have reported some very interesting occurences.
One guest heard a knock on the door and when she opened it there was a whitish mist which disappeared through the door. Another guest reported waking up in the middle of the night to see a woman sitting on the end of the bed looking into the mirror, pulling pins out of her hair and brushing it.
There were also reports from guests in the dining room that there were repeated thumping noises apparently coming from a padlocked room above. The room in question is known for its "Wall of Names" which was signed by many guests throughout the hotel's history.
Jay & Grant head up there and suspect there might be a normal explanation. Jay goes downstairs and notes he can hear Grant walking even when he tries to be quiet. Grant offered the possibility of employees perhaps sneaking off for unscheduled breaks.
In room 314 not much seems to go on during the evening. It was visited by Dave & Steve first and later Jay & Grant, both times doing some EVP work. Jay asks for a sign and gets one: a banging sound. He quickly debunked it, however. Apparently the heat chose that moment to come on. It just goes to show how easily some evidence might be misconstrued as paranormal without good debunking, but in this case Jay thankfully delivers a solid debunk.
Steve & Tango head over to the south tower, which has stairs everywhere and seems impressively labyrinthine. Steve says it looks like "Secret Hideout". They hear some footstep-type noises coming from above them and the noises are audible on the production footage. Unfortunately they can't find a way to get up to the level where the noises seem to be coming from.
Jay & Grant go up there and within minutes hear something fall to the floor nearby. A quick check with a flashlight reveals a piece of glass as the likely suspect. Interestingly the glass doesn't appear to match the type of glass in any of the broken windows nearby.
Quick note: Jay actually experiments by placing the piece of glass on top of a nearby pipe and knocking it off to see if it creates a similar sound. It did in-fact make a similar sound, but noticeably louder. I mention this primarily because during the evidence review Jay retells the event thusly: When he and Grant entered the south tower a piece of glass "slammed to the floor" a few feet away from them. This kind of vast exaggeration of the facts just takes this show further in the wrong direction, in my opinion.
While they were up there they also heard footsteps, and managed to find a way up to the highest level of the tower, where the sounds seemed to come from. Grant tried to win the spirits over by proclaiming, "We're plumbers. We just want to check out your plumbing". I have no comment on that.
According to Jay & Grant (…and yes, Jay does say, "Grant and I") they can actually hear fabric shuffling in-time with the footsteps, as if pant legs are brushing up against each other while walking. In any case, there is clearly no one else up there and they did catch some of the footstep-sounds on their audio equipment.
The highlight of the investigation came, as the best ones do, during the evidence review. During the trips to room 314 by the two different teams they both managed to get an apparent response on the wireless audio. On the one hand, it's wireless audio — which immediately brings up suspicions of potential interference from other wireless devices, stray radio-waves and the like.
On the other hand, we mentioned on the podcast that logic dictates that a "real" EVP should only affect one recording device. We know it didn't affect the production audio, and it wasn't explicitly mentioned but the assumption (which could potentially be wrong) is that the voice did not show up on any of the other audio recording devices (like the mini-dv camera) that were in the room at the time.
And this EVP is wholly impressive. In both cases it goes on for some time and when Jay & Grant are in the room it seems almost intelligible and, if their interpretation is accurate, then it really does seem to interact with them — not on a limited basis but on an extended one.
Normally I'm not a big fan of putting words into the invisible mouths of audio anomalies but in this case I have to admit I found the interpretation to match up extremely well with the actual recording. Jay & Grant begin talking and suddenly a female voice seems to say, "Hello? Is there someone there?" The voice even seems to have an accent, which goes a long way in my mind to reduce the possibility of it being interference or the guest in the next room. It also lines up with the Princess story.
But the tape continues. Jay & Grant ask, "Princess, are you in here?" and the immediate reply seems to be, "Of course I'm in here. Where are you?" Shivers down my spine, I tell you. I'm reminded of several Twilight Zone episodes and numerous theories on spirits and ghosts.
Failing a hoax, this has got to be one of the finest EVP recordings ever captured by anyone. And as I said, the fact that it's a female voice with a slight accent — exactly what we should expect and I would expect more difficult to fake convincingly — really impressed me.
Of course, there is always the built-in problem of chain-of-evidence and the fact that since this is on TV we can't be 100% certain of anything, but as far as uncertainties go in my opinion this audio recording easily outclasses any of the videos TAPS has captured over the years.
And it wouldn't be a Ghost Hunters Season 4 investigation if it didn't leave you grinding your teeth. Jay feels it necessary to mention during the reveal that their research revealed that the hotel was built on granite, and that "one theory" is that granite fuels paranormal activity. He then goes on to enlighten everyone further by letting us know quartz and limestone are also thought to fuel paranormal activity. I guess if you want to avoid paranormal activity you should build your hotel on top of sand, or perhaps somewhere out at sea.
[POSTSCRIPT] Be sure to check out Veronimica's corrections below. My inability to listen and take notes at the same time finally caught up with me on a few details, which she has thankfully filled in correctly. 
Filed under Ghost Hunters, Posts by Logisti
 |
| ^ Please Support our Sponsor |
Comments on GH: Mt. Washington Hotel »
Veronimica @ 2:03 am
Just a few polite corrections, Logisti… the report of the "white form" at the door came from the employee's quarters in another area of the hotel (not in the princess' room). Also, the princess in question was partial owner of the hotel; some of the history background they discussed on the show mentions that she would check in with various guests. I'm watching it right now, so I just thought I'd share that!
As for that EVP… if it's real? Wow. I can't really say what that was about, but man, that gave me some serious shudders, and was amazing.
On a side note… I don't know if anyone caught the Destination Truth episode that was on tonight… but after watching their version of paranormal investigation (on Pemba Island), I'll stick with TAPS.
numyer @ 5:32 am
I'm one of those cynics with the commercial location – predestined to be haunted bias haha
. But seriously those were some amazing EVPs, I still am a little skeptical about running words across the bottom of the screen of what we are "supposed" to hear, but in this case it seemed to fit right in. What a welcome break from recent EVPs where I had to wonder if there was something wrong with my hearing cause I didn't seem to hear anything.
"We're plumbers. We just want to check out your plumbing". haha that needs to be a new TAPS slogan.
Mary @ 8:36 am
Ok. This is my take on the 'noises' coming from the towers. If you look at the outside pictures, you will see large flags and flagpoles, and it appears these flags are blowing quite hard. Since all the ghost hunters claim this sound comes from high above them, why did none of them mention the large flags, which would be above them. (and account for the 'cloth' sound, as well)? The posts certainly would cause a creaking or banging noise that could resemble footsteps. The posts have to be anchored on the roof, right?
Wes @ 8:48 am
As for the "foot steps" and other noises from the tower, as Mary alluded to, I can't imagine a huge, old wooden structure not making various creaking and banging noises …
The EVP — so much better than most and fairly impressive. The "princess" was Carolyn Stickney, an American (as far as I can tell) who later married a French prince, so I'm not sure if an accent actually helps authenticate the EVP …
Logisti – LOL with the granite! Why couldn't he leave well enough alone – he might as well have said "One theory is that large, empty hotels with creepy passages attract ghosts … "
Mary jj @ 9:47 am
I was actually quite impressed with the evp this week. I could hear what "she" said. But, I didn't really think she had so much of an accent, really more like an older woman speaking "properly". Like I would think a peson of royalty would sound, I guess. The fact that "her" voice overlapped with Jason and Grant's seemed to lend it more credibility.
The comment about "We're plumbers…", I just had to laugh and said, "Oh, they've never heard that one before.".
Logisti @ 10:16 am
Veronimica, Sorry about that and thanks for the quick corrections!
Mary, that is brilliant. Thumping and fabric moving in time, all wrapped up in the neat package of a flag! Great catch. Even though we can't verify it (because we aren't there) that's one of the most plausible debunks I've seen. Certainly moreso than some of the unlikely "debunks" Jay & Grant come up with
Wes, as Mary JJ pointed out it wasn't much of an accent, and certainly not a full-blown London accent or anything. I would say it sounded like the kind of accent you might hear while watching an old film like "Rebecca" (Classic!) — Certainly American, but with a certain lilt you don't hear in modern speech.
SZ @ 11:59 am
the EVP was the only evidence i found having a potential paranormal cause. and what a GREAT EVP that was, holy crap! i really want to believe that was paranormal, and i just might til proven otherwise. from the skeptical perspective though, you have to factor that this IS the SCIFI channel, so who knows… it certainly seems the TAPS team would not have faked it, just too many of them involved and between picking up their equipment and the review… any tampering would've needed to happen then or during the taping. there are several somewhat elaborate, complicated possibilities that could have caused a hoax or tampering. so it's hard to say with certainty. but wow, great evidence.
interesting that while seeming like an intelligent response, it seems to hear but not SEE them. it's almost like overlapping time and space.
FYI, i picked up on the accent immediately. it may be a more pronounced accent had we been able to hear it more clearly.
Robbin @ 12:26 pm
Logisti excellent synopsis as usual for this case. Again with the footsteps what is up with the footsteps? I could not really hear them and am growing weary of them. Am I correct in my thought that the footsteps have been the item du jour? That and the residual haunting speel prior to anything being discovered. The crack about we are here to check your plumbing, was as silly as Donna on GHI asking do you like to crochet.
I thought the hotel was beautiful and reminded me of the Stanley Hotel that I have been to and am happy to report did not encounter any jumping tables.
The EVP was very impressive and I could actually hear something this time. This season I have not really been able to hear anything. It did seem to be saying some of the things TAPS said it did. To me it seemed more real due to the length of it. It just began to talk and rambled on regardless of what was happening in the room.
It was a pretty good episode although I think they could have made this one a full hour by itself. It would have been cook to learn more about the history of the place and have them stay over in the Princess Room.
Lar @ 12:44 pm
Jason & Grant should've provided their EVP to the TV audience through a direct feed. That is, played through the SCI FI camera's audio input, as opposed to the cameras picking up the audio through lap top speakers.
That EVP should be analyzed by a 3rd party. I know as a rule they do not allow that, but you can really slice n' dice audio today.
Sci Fi cameras never capture anything EXCEPT EXCESSIVE NOISE, FOOTSTEPS, BANGING…
14,987 alledged shadows seen, 109,873 cold spots experienced, but the Sci Fi cameras never experience one. If it's so cold how come their lenses never fog?
If it's true that ghosts PULL energy out of batteries (we've seen countless ghost humter camera batteries drain) how come the Sci Fi cameras never die!?
The only great capture, & most likely their greatest for all time will forever be "DUDE RUN!"
Donna R. @ 1:43 pm
I have to admit. I ride the fence on what is true or believable and what is fake and/or far fetched. I often wonder what "other" beings, alive or dead live amongst us. Watching Ghost Hunters, I want to believe nothing is done or said for Tv ratings and they (Me and Grant) haha are legit. Each week I hope for the evidence that spirits exist and lasts nights episode of the New Hampshire Hotel was by far the best. I wonder though…when you post your debunkings that aren't revealed on the show, are they ever commented on by the cast of the show? I agree with what most of you have come up with for debunking scenes that get sensationalized. Donna
Logisti @ 2:11 pm
I'm not sure what you mean by "debunkings that aren't revealed on the show". If you mean the debunking that we do here, the reason you don't see it on the show is because we're not affiliated with the show in any way. We're just fans, like yourself.
As for cast members commenting, we've been lucky enough to have a few people stop by from time to time but none of the Ghost Hunters regulars have graced us with any comments to-date.
Wes @ 2:26 pm
To play devil's advocate, for all we know, the princess had a lisping, Southern drawl … and so I'm just sayin' I don't think that the "accent" (or however you want to describe the voice) helps validate the EVP at all. When you really stop and think about it, it really doesn't make logical sense that a spirit's "voice" would be the same as the living person's – after all, the lungs, tongue, etc. that produce voice quality are long gone … and if we are "hearing" a residual spirit, it obviously couldn't also be an interactive spirit answering direct questions.
That said ……. I ultimately agree with you Logisti, et. al, that this EVP was a rare ray of evidence sunshine in a sometimes cloudy season.
Sully @ 3:12 pm
Well, I dunno about EVPs. Yeah, this one was one of the clearest EVPs we've heard on GH, and it was impressive (and intriguing).
What always bugs me about EVPs, though, is that they're technology-dependent evidence that's discovered after-the-fact. There is always the possibility that something in the equipment could be causing an EVP, or that suggestion is encouraging us to hear what we want to hear, or what we think we should hear — what the GH team calls matrixing, or what I would call the subconscious mind filling in the blanks.
For me, EVPs are just too much like orbs. I guess I'm not going to be convinced until a spook walks up to me personally and says hello!
Logisti @ 3:47 pm
Wes, considering the location in New Hampshire I'm going to have to stick to my conclusion that the accent makes it more compelling. Not a lot of Southerners in New Hampshire nowadays, not to mention way back when.
But I take your point, we don't really know the specifics. I don't presume to, I'm just saying the slight accent to the voice makes it, in a very general way, seem more plausible to me (than a non-accented voice, which would make me more suspicious) and also adds an additional layer of complexity if this were a hoax.
Regarding voices, lungs and whatnot, again I am not presuming to know specifics of how such a phenomena might work. Using common ideas of a "spirit" or "residual haunting" you're right, it doesn't seem to make sense — but keep in mind that those are just made-up constraints. If this isn't some lady talking on a mobile phone in the next room, and if this isn't a hoax, then really we have no idea what it *is* and what rules apply.
pete @ 7:18 pm
To me, it didn't sound like an accent. It sounded really off, almost like someone with a speach defect, and tinny like it was coming from a cheap radio. I realized what it sounded like. It sounded exactly like a computer-generated voice. Especially the intonation. I just listened to it again on youtube and got the same impression.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1fkX0LntF-8
Jef @ 7:46 pm
What impressed me about the EVP's was that it seemed to be the same voice both times around. Two separate teams catching it. Cool.
Unfortunately, I just barely watched the episode so everything I might have mentioned (how lucky for you folks) has already been covered.
Dixie @ 7:48 pm
I didnt hear an accent, I dont know what to make of EVP's. I do believe it possible some materials may hold sound. This EVP seems to be answering J.
One thing that puzzled me when the EVP asked " where are you" if its a ghost; can it not see them in the room?
Jef @ 8:16 pm
Dixie, that's a good question but at the end of the day we don't know what a ghost sees.
Maybe it has something to do with the granite. Is a hotel built on quartz better for ghost vision? I'll have to ask Jason.
Kathy @ 8:24 pm
With the majority of people thinking this EVP was authentic and exciting, someone needs to run – not walk – to that hotel with the proper equipment and talk to this spirit. I would love to ask specific questions like "where are you?", "when are you?", and "IS THIS Princess Carolyn?" If there is truly a portal, opened for communication between our time and their time, what a wonderful opportunity to explore it. The skeptics will be skeptics no matter what, but the rest of us that are open to all possibilities, will consider it such a gift – if, of course, responses are captured as it was on GH.
Dixie @ 8:46 pm
Hey Jeff, I agree at the end of the day we know very little.
I swear the more I listen to the EVP the more its sounds southern. Maybe thats why I didnt hear a accent at first ….because I have a southern accent myself…