Date: Saturday, October 4, 2003.
Time: Arrived on location at 7:00 PM. Begin time was approximately 7:30 PM. The investigation concluded at approximately 10:15 PM.
Location: The Old Jail Museum, Jim Thorpe, Pa.
Equipment: E.L.F. Zone Electromagnetic Field Detector, Raynger ST2 Infrared Non-contact Thermometer, Panasonic IC Digital Audio Recorder. NightOwl Cyclops Night Vision Monocular Scope. Minolta Maxxum HTsi Plus. Film -- Kodak Gold Max 400 speed.
Weather: Cloudy with temps in the mid 50's. The investigation was conducted indoors.
History: Carbon County Jail was built in 1871. The Carbon County Jail served as the main county prison until 1995. Its imposing castle-like structure is built into the side of a rocky mountain. Legend has it that the famous Irish coal miners, convicted of murdering two of their bosses, were housed in this building that resembles an ancient castle. The immigrants fought for better conditions in the mines and swore to their deaths that they were framed by none other than Asa Packer and some of the owners of the coal mines. Alexander Campbell, John Donohue, Michael Doyle, and Edward Kelly were executed at the jail's gallows on Black Thursday, June 21, 1877. Moments before his death, Campbell placed his hand on the wall of Cell 17, and willed that his hand print always be visible, a true sign of his innocence. That eerie hand print can be seen by visitors to this day, even though there have been many attempts to remove it from the wall. All of the brave Irishmen dubbed the Molly Maguires have gone down in history as being largely responsible for the birth of organized labor in this country.
Type Of Location: Old prison built in 1871.
How Many Occupants: None.
Pets: None.
Those Present: Sharon & Lew G, and Andy & Tonya K.
Report: After meeting with the host/owner of the prison and explaining who we are and what we do, we began our investigation at approx. 7:30 PM. On this night we investigated the main cellblock which consisted of 2 floors (the second floor being open to the first), and also the dungeons that are located below the main cellblock. There is still an entire area (the Warden's/Employees living quarters) that has yet to be investigated that we are hoping we will get to on a later date.
To start off, we situated our night shot video cameras in the dungeons while we all investigated the main cellblock area. Nothing significant occurred in the area during the time we investigated. Nothing but one thing. While I was standing next to cell 24 I heard who I thought was Lew (who was in cell 24 at the time) say "I need some water". I immediately turned and said, "Well, we can ask him (meaning the owner) if they have a water fountain or something". Lew then came out and asked me what I said and if I was talking to him. I told him yes, I was talking to him. He then asked me what I said because he didn't hear me. I again repeated that we could ask the owner if he had a water fountain. He asked me why I would say that to him and I said because you said you needed some water. He then told me that he hadn't said he needed some water. So, I asked Andy who was across the room in another cell if he had said it and he said no. Which didn't surprise me because the voice I heard came from my right and would have come from either cell 24 or 23 which was down a little further. Nothing else significant happened in this area except that Lew thought he heard a knocking sort of sound coming from the area of the gallows. However, he later checked it out and said that it could have been the drop floor settling because it had made the same sounds when he tried to move it. After investigating this area a little over an hour we moved our video cameras up to the cellblock area and investigated the dungeons.
Shortly after we arrived in the dungeons, and after we had already done a recording session that lasted about 10 min, Lew and I both heard what sounded like boots walking across the floor in the back area of the dungeons. The back area is separated by a big heating unit but it is accessible. You just have to duck under some pipes. Lew checked things out through his night vision scope and could see no one. He went down to further investigate while Andy, Tonya and myself stayed in the main area of the dungeon taking readings in each of the cells. About 10 min later we thought Lew started coming back towards us so we all waited for him to return. We saw what we thought was his penlight coming from the right side of the dungeons and asked him if he was walking towards us. As soon as we asked that we saw his light go on from further away in the dungeon and no where near the right hand side where the light was. Which meant that the light we saw was coming from another source and much closer to us than Lew had been. Andy, Tonya and myself all saw what appeared to be a blue light emitting from one of the cells next to the heating unit on the right. The light was bright enough that it appeared to be coming from inside the cell and it also cast it's light out onto the floor of the main hall. We then agreed that we would all go check out what and where the light was coming from. As we approached the area, Tonya and I saw the light again. It lasted a few seconds and then was gone. We looked all over in that general area for a source of light. We did find a box on the wall near that area that had a tiny yellow light about a half inch in diameter. But, this clearly couldn't have been the source of the light we saw earlier. What we saw was much brighter and lit up a good size area. We finally worked our way to the very back of the dungeon and past the heating unit. There are a few more rooms back in this area. We looked around and took some reading and started to head back to the main area on the dungeon when we saw the light again. We then decided to stop and just look in that direction with our night vision scopes. After a few minutes Andy said he had seen a black object come out of one of the cells furthest away from us, hover and then go back in. At this point Lew put his scopes up too. However, this event did not repeat itself. While we were standing there looking through the scopes I heard someone walk up behind Lew and I (we were in the back of the line behind Andy and Tonya). It was almost as if someone had been standing about 3 feet behind us and then just decided to walk up closer behind us. I say this because it wasn't like the footsteps could be heard walking from another location far away from us. One minute they weren't there and the next they were. I said nothing to no one about it at the time. After a few more minutes we worked our way back to the main dungeon area. When we got back I told Lew that I heard someone walk up behind us. He laughed and said that was funny. I said I didn't even want to know what he was about to say. So, he didn't tell me until later after we had left (you can read why Lew mentioned this by reading his report from this night). After investigating the area of the dungeon for over an hour, our host came down. Our time was up and he wanted to go home after being at the prison all day and night. After packing up we thanked our host and left.
Impression: Based on the voice I heard in the main cellblock area I'd have to say that it would definitely be worth investigating further. Not to mention what happened in the dungeons. We didn't have nearly as much time as we would have liked. But, our host had been at the jail all day and night and we certainly understood that he was tired and wanted to go home. We do hope that he will extend the invitation to investigate the prison again in the near future. I am ecstatic that this will be the investigation location for our upcoming Inn at Jim Thorpe Ghost Hunters Weekend in November. This should be very exciting for the seminar attendees.
Special Note and Thanks: It should be noted that the owner had admitted that he did come down into the dungeon while we were down there. However, he said that he had come down around the time that we had first entered that area. So, I do not think the boots we heard walking around down there was him. Besides, he was wearing sneakers. I would like to thank the owner for allowing us the opportunity to investigate the jail. It was a privilege to be the first paranormal organization to conduct an investigation of the prison. Thank you.
Sharon G.
Vice-president
10/5/03