Date: March 13 and March 14, 1999
Time: We arrived and entered the fort at about 4:00 P.M. on March 13 and did not leave until about 7:00 the following morning.
Location: Fort Mifflin, Philadelphia, PA
Equipment: Sony Mavica FD71 Digital Camera, Nightowl Nightvision Scope, EPD Raynger ST4L Thermal Scanner, Optimus Handheld Tape Recorder with External Microphone
Weather: It was a sunny afternoon when we arrived, the temperature was in the mid 40s. During the night it got quite cold, dipping into the mid 20s. Although there was a threat of snow for the following day, there was no snow or rain during the investigation, in fact, the skies were clear until the early morning hours.
History: Fort Mifflin played a key role during the American Revolution holding off a British force for several days until the fort was decimated. The fort was rebuilt and strengthened in later years.
During the Civil War it served as a prison. It remained in use into the 20th century. Today, it is open to the public as a historic site.
Present: Andy K., Lew and Sharon G., Bob R., Rachel G., Kenny and Donna B., Jen J., Diane (An employee of the fort), A reenactor and Stan.
Report: After unloading all of our equipment in the barracks area, I proceeded to wander around the fort. I like to spend some time when we are at the fort just appreciating the history of the location.
My first efforts at investigation were done in the casemates inside the fort. I had been fascinated by this location from our last investigation, but, at that time, we were not able to access all of the rooms. I felt a little uncomfortable in the last casemate (#5), but never received any strong impressions. It was not long before I was joined by Bob and Donna B. At one point, we all smelled a very strong, foul odor which at the time, we could not explain. However, later in the investigation I noted this odor again and suspect it was coming from the river.
I wandered around the rest of the fort, entering the blacksmith shop and the sallyports, but still did not get any strong impressions. After warming up in the barracks, I went inside the officer's quarters. This was the second time that I had been in the rooms of this building on this night. The first occasion brought nothing unusual. This time, I noted that Sharon G., Rachel G, and Jen J. were upstairs. I looked in the rooms downstairs and then proceeded upstairs. By the time I arrived on the second floor, everyone had apparently left. I made my way down to the largest room which has a connecting room in the back and an internal staircase that leads down to what had been a kitchen. As I entered, I noticed that Sharon, Rachel and Jen had just left the building and were now outside. As soon as I entered, I heard a thud coming from the back room or from the downstairs. I immediately froze and began to scan the room with my nightvision. I began to hear muffled noises coming from the back room. I tried speaking out to whatever was in the room. I continued hearing noises including the sound of muffled footsteps coming from the room next door (the door to this room was closed). I continued to scan with my nightvision and was surprised when the scope "overloaded" as it often does when someone passes closely in front of me. At that point, I began to get a bit nervous and decided to leave the room.
I saw Sharon, Rachel and Jen and yelled down to them that I was getting good results. They soon joined me. We ended up spending most of the rest of the investigation "staking out" this room. At one point, we noted, shortly after Jen left the room, that the door to the outside, which had been sitting slightly open, slammed shut. This action would be repeated later in the night at a point when Kenny was in the room with us. During the first time when this occurred, the inside door, leading to the stairs to the kitchen, simultaneously began to open. I guess it is possible that this action was caused by some kind of draft, but it seems highly unlikely considering the force with which the door slammed. At another point, it seemed as though the doorknob on the outside door rattled when no one was near it.
The other unusual thing which occurred in this room did so at about 2:30 A.M. I was occasionally speaking out loud to any presence that might be in the room with us. At one point when I asked if anyone was there, we all distinctly heard the sound of slow footsteps. There were about four footsteps and then they stopped. I quickly said "Is that it?" and we immediately heard about three more steps. An immediate check of the rest of the building indicated that no one else in our group was present.
We did get the opportunity to investigate a building outside of the fort that was used as a hospital but is currently used for offices. I got no impressions from this building. I also investigated the outside casemates with Bob R., Kenny B and Donna B early in the morning when it was light. Although the general setting where these casemates are located are "eerie", I did not get any strong impressions from the casemates.
One other thing I must note about this investigation. At one point when I was using Jen J.'s nightvision video camera, I noted how easy it was to mistake flying dust for orbs. These dust particles move so rapidly and in so many different directions that it would be virtually impossible to determine exactly what it was you were seeing. Granted, an orb that is moving slowly would be easily separated from a dust particle, but I can easily see how people using this type of equipment might get false results.
Impressions: Fort Mifflin is very active - of that, I have no doubt. In the two most recent times that I have been there, I have had some of my most vivid experiences in my ghost hunting career. What intrigues me is that the experiences have been of different types and in different locations. To me, that indicates that spirit activity here is quite common and continued investigations are therefore necessary and desired.
Andy K.