This is my report on the investigation of Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia. The investigation took place on 4/28/98 from 1900 to about 2130 hours. I was with members of the Philadelphia Ghost Hunters Alliance and Pa. Ghost Hunters Society. My primary piece of equipment was the Sony Mavica FD-7 digital camera, but I also used a EMF detector and magnetic field detector. I did not try for EVP on this investigation. Since the fort was at the end of one of the runways of the Philadelphia International Airport, you can imagine the potential problems.
I love old forts. I love going in and looking around and trying to picture what life was like back then. So, needless to say, I was looking forward to this investigation. Dave met me at my house at about 1730 and we drove down together to Fort Mifflin. Outside the fort, we met the other members. It was still light out which allowed me to get a pretty good view of the outside of the fort. I was pleasantly surprised to find the fort in such good condition, considering that it was built in the 1700's. I was also surprised at how low the planes were. They were only a couple hundred feet up, almost right above our heads, as they were coming in for a landing at the airport.
We met Dori, our tour guide, in the parking lot outside the fort. She took us inside and started pointing out the different areas. It was still light out, so I didn't bother taking any pictures yet. The first area we went to were the dungeons.
The jail was located right next to the main gate. We had to watch our heads when we walked in, as the ceilings were pretty low in the hallways. There were about 5 rooms that made up the jail. I started taking pictures in the hallways and then in all the rooms that I went into. I didn't take a lot of pictures. I did not feel that I was going to get the results that I wanted. I was starting to get a little tense because everyone was bunching up and staying together. I usually don't get real good results when this happens. I went outside to wait for the others and to see where we were going next.
While waiting, Dave and myself took a brief walk on the walls of the fort. It had a great view of the river. Finally, everyone was ready and we walked over to one of the buildings across the courtyard.
I talked to Andy outside and he told me of a feeling that he had in the jail. He said that he felt "resistance" as he was entering the last room in the jail. We both kind of felt the same way about large groups of people, so we decided to come back to the jail later by ourselves. Dori told us of some of the stories in the building, then led us up to the second floor. I tried to be one of the first up there so I could take my pictures and get some readings before I was crowded out when the whole group arrived. In the 4 rooms that I was in, I did not get any readings or any feelings.
After investigating the building, I started to wander around by myself to stay away from the group. I took a picture of the reenactors for the fun of it. I was standing at the entrance to the powder magazine reading the plaque when Lew came over to me and asked me who just went in. I told him that nobody went in since they would have to walk right by me and I didn't see anyone. Lew said that he saw someone walk in. We walked in and could not find anyone inside. At one point, while I was taking pictures, I noticed that my camera was going in and out of focus. I kept my camera still, pointed in one direction, and it was still going in and out of focus(I have noticed, in the past, that when this happens, there is often something there). I got a sudden chill. I called to Lew and told him what was happening. He checked the area with his thermal scanner, but didn't find anything. I did get a couple pictures with balls of light. At this time, more people started to come in, so I left.
I met Andy outside and told him what happened. We were going to go back in to the powder magazine, but there were too many people there, so we decided to go back to the jail by ourselves. We walked through each room in the jail to see if we could get anything. We went straight to the last room where Andy felt the resistance. I walked in the room and took some pictures. I did not get anything on my detector. After being in the room for a few minutes, I started to get the feeling that there was someone else in the room with us and that we were being watched. I'm just not sure how much of this feeling was real and how much was my imagination. I was taking the feeling with a grain of salt. Since Andy said he was having a feeling, I am not sure that it influenced me or not. I did not have any other feelings in the jail.
After the jail, myself, Andy, and Dave went back to the powder magazine. We walked around inside and took pictures. I did not get any readings or any feelings. I went back to the same place I was at before when my camera was going in and out of focus. I pointed my camera at the same spot. It did not go out of focus once.
It was getting late and we weren't sure how much time we had left, so we saw the rest of the fort very quickly. We went into the guards rooms at one of the other gates, we went to the blacksmith building, and then walked past the stables. At this point, Lew came up and told us that Dori wanted to lock up. As we walked back to the group, we walked into and out of the torpedo storage area real quick. We didn't have a chance to see any other areas.
Overall, I thought that it was a pretty good investigation. I was fascinated by the fort. I wish I would have had more time to look around and investigate. The only thing that I had a problem with during the investigation was the way all the people bunched up together. I don't like being in a large group of people. I think that it limits the results that I get . I'm not saying that this is the case or that being in a large group is wrong, its just the way I feel and work. I think that we should definitely have a follow up investigation soon.
On the way home, I was talking to Dave about what happened while we were in the powder magazine with the focus on my camera. Dave said that he has seen that happen before. He said that the problem arises with the autofocus. Due to the low light conditions, it is unable to focus properly, so that's why I see it going in and out of focus at the time. I agree with Dave and it make complete sense. I just have a slight problem with that explanation. One, I take a lot of pictures in low light conditions. Having my camera going in and out of focus like it did is very rare. Two, I have had my camera do the same thing in normal light conditions. Three, when this was happening, I kept my camera still and pointing at the same spot on the wall. It seems to me that it would either be in focus or out of focus and stop. I can see it going out of focus when I move it, but not after it has been sitting still. Four, when we went back, I stood in the same area and pointed my camera at the same point on the wall. It did not go out of focus once. Why not? Five, in times past, when this has happened before, I have had other people take pictures and have gotten balls of light in the area. I'm still not sure and I don't know if I'll ever know, for sure, why its acting this way.
Tom Hartman