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[Rick]

As you all know we had the RVPRI (ghost hunters) out her looking for "paranormal Activity".  I was out with them during the investigation and was very impressed.  They handled themselfs very profesionally and did not disturb anything.  We split up in 2 groups and recorded sounds and took a bunch of photos.  I can testify that during this time no one else was on the boat and the power was shut off.  I personally did not see or hear anything out of the unusual.  But remember I am a sceptic.  With that said,  they did present to me a photograph that prooves to be very intriguing.  I will let you all be the judge of this photo.  This was taken in the crews quarters facing forward.  I had to enlarge  it to see what they were talking about.  Look through the hatch the image inquestion can be seen on the steel plating that covers the yeomans office dead center of the red circle.  This occured in only one pic and did not occure in the pics taken just after.  They also collected some EVP's.  I am not going to post them here as I do not hear them very well.  I would never have heard them unless they showed them to me.   

Part of the fun thing here is that this crew never expected to find anything.  In fact they were hoping NOT to.  They were testing a theory about any kind of paranormal activity and vessels that never had any deaths.  This just blew that theory out the window...

Now on the good side.  The Lex had the Ghost Hunters on their ship that had deaths on it and never found a thing.  We had a group from Fort Smith AR come on our little boat and found this pic.  I think I have some bragging rights now.   

[MWALLEN]

through the hatch the image inquestion can be seen on the steel plating that covers the yeomans office dead center of the red circle.

That is weird...but the funny thing is...it kinda looks like Rick     No, seriously...it does.

[Rick]

LOL.    I should have known I would be drug into a conspiracy theory.......

I was behind them (towards the forward engine room) when this was taken....

[Mark Sarsfield]

Looks like an image/outline of a "person" facing the electrical switch boards or the starboard bulkhead aft of the yeoman's office.  Then, I look at it again and it looks like there is a face looking back at you, but no real body.  Funny thing is that I have spent a lot of time in that area alone and never sensed or heard anything.  I've been in houses before that really creeped me out, too. 

What did the voice supposedly say on the EVP recordings?  Were the recordings in the same location as the image?

[Rick]

I could not understand anything that they said,  but I have always had problems hearing anything in them.  The investigaters also were not able to clearly determin what they said.  The EVP's were caught in the control room and after torpedo room. 

Interesting side not.  One of the female investigaters swears that she saw a person in the conning tower.  This was not caught in photos though....

[Travis McLain]

You know what this means Rick, we better call Ghost Hunters from the SciFi channel to come out and investigate.

When I was looking at it, I kind of saw what looked like a jg lieut. hat and profile standing by the high pressure air manifold, to the right of the "face" or whatever it is.

[MWALLEN]

One of the female investigaters swears that she saw a person in the conning tower.

I wonder if it was because she wanted to see something.  The mind does funny things sometimes.

Here is basically the same view with the lights on...just an FYI.  From Rick's original photo, it's just the way the light is reflecting off of the metal as it goes thru two compartments.

[Lance Dean]

I must say, all of this stuff is pretty neat-o.

[Mark Sarsfield]

After comparing the black and white photo to the color one, I seriously believe that the face and body outline are reflections off of the dented and scuffed stainless steel.  To convince me, you would have to drape up a black piece of cloth over that part of the yeoman's office and take the photos, again.  Anything white that would show up would obviously not be a relfection at that point.

There have been times when I am in the control room and I think I see a visitor standing in my peripheral vision, but when I look, no one is there.  There is so much clutter in that area, though, that I often dismiss it as my mind mistaking equipment for a person.  I'm not creeped out or anything.  The girl/lady that thought she saw someone probably had a similar mind trick.  As you guys said earlier, when you're looking for this kind of stuff, your imagination can really kick into high gear.  These ghost hunters probably "see" ghosts 24/7.

Now, the Ghost Hunter show has really caught some creepy stuff on film.  Especially on the Queen Mary.  I'm not sure if our boat is really worthy of their talents.  It would get publicity, but we don't need Goths and other freaks visiting the boat to talk to spirits or looting it, because they thinks it's cool - like what happened to the town in MD that they filmed the Blair Witch Project in.

[Travis McLain]

I know that light can reflect in different ways, and this is just a thought, but if the power was off in the boat, what would cause the reflection on the metal? Would the camera flash be able to travel that far through two compartments, and reflect off of that small piece of metal? If anything, I would think that area would still be black, and the only illuminated area would be the crews mess and sleep area. Also, in Mark Allen's photo he is much closer to the yeomans office with the lights on in the boat.

[MWALLEN]

Yes, it would travel that far and be more pronounced in a dark ship.  Notice how overexposed the bunks are?  The only thing reflecting light are the flat metal parts...similar to what my photo shows.

[Mark Sarsfield]

They need to shoot without the flash.  The camera needs to be put on a tri-pod and a slow exposure used.  A dim light source from the torpedo room might help a bit, too - like a 5W night light.  The only way to really do this is with a film camera, as opposed to digital.  Set the focus on infnity, open the iris, and slow the exposure.  Night film would probably be required, as well.

A lot of the really good ghost photos from decades past were caught this way.  Sometimes I think technology gets in the way.

[Tom Bowser]

Hey guys, thats the night crew, don't call ghost busters, put out some brushes and paint and a list of what you need done. When you come back in the morning and find some of the work done, then run and call the busters or put out a bigger list
Tom Bowser

[Rick]

Tom, 
I have been staying out.  but I cannot resist. 

BZ to your last post......

 

[Travis McLain]

Ok, I just was not sure. I am not all that good with how light reflects off things so thanks for clarifying.