First, the Museum of the Weird and all our staff would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. War forever changes all that it touches. Memorial Day was founded to remember soldiers of the U.S. Civil War. It’s observance has been expanded to include soldiers from all U.S. conflicts.
As we honor the fallen, we can’t help but wonder about the spirits that may linger from these conflicts. It is said that some hauntings are caused by sudden and particularly violent deaths. If that is true, the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-6, 1863, would be a perfect circumstance to create ghosts. Between 46,000 and 51,000 soldiers from both armies were casualties in the three-day battle. The actual fighting occurred over a period of about 24 hours, meaning that a soldier fell about once every 2 seconds!
There are many reports of ghosts in Gettysburg, and it is a popular destination for people looking to have a paranormal experience. Your author poured through a number of videos and sites with everything from TV ghost hunting teams to individuals. There is a lot to see and a quick search will bring it all to you. As a taste, here is an interesting piece of video from an amateur investigator.
According to the notes on YouTube, this video was shot at the Wheatfield, a site of more than 6000 casualties. They did not notice anything at the time of filming, but saw some strange activity at the following marks: 0:44, 0:58, 1:04, 1:30.
This is only one of many pieces of evidence collected around Gettysburg that have convinced people that the spirits of the dead remain. Do you have a personal ghost story related to a war? Share it with us in the comments.