Dawn was breaking, splitting the sky into shades of red soon to match
the ground of Plattsburgh during the War of 1812 as the British invasion began.
Master Commander Thomas Macdonough would
leave a legacy more profound locally than just his military heroism in the famous battle, for his name would forever be attached
to the haunting in Plattsburgh State.
A foggy veil of
rumors wraps itself around Macdonough Hall, where many students swear to have felt the presence of the paranormal within its
walls, as stories of ghosts and murder waver among the inhabitants.
Though imagination may have mingled with
truth, historically, the field behind the residence hall was a British hanging ground during the Battle of Plattsburgh.
On March 28, 2009 the Lake City Paranormal
Society and its friends from the Burlington Paranormal Investigators of New England came to investigate the hall from 6:30
until approximately 10:30 p.m.
Randy Lucia, president of the Lake City
Paranormal Society located in Plattsburgh, said there was evidence that at least one paranormal entity was within the hall.
Lucia said a student had been studying
in a lounge when she suddenly heard the piano in the lobby of Macdonough begin playing by itself.
“She said she heard the piano going
off and somebody laughing,” Jeff Stewart, head of the Paranormal Investigators of New England, said.
Neither group was able to identify the
student, but both confirmed that there was paranormal activity by the piano.
Lucia said he picked
up a “very faint female voice” in the room with a digital recorder.
He said he believes the voice might be
electronic voice phenomena (EVP), but was unable to make out any words.
Lucia said EVPs can only be picked up using
a sound recorder and are hard to trace because of excess background noise.
Stewart said that “a lot of interferences”
coming from surrounding noise may have disrupted the investigation.
“A lot of the evidence we were trying
to capture was disrupted by noise pollution,” he said.
Other indicators commonly associated with
paranormal activity were also found at the site.
According to many paranormal investigators,
a decline in temperature indicates the presence of a spiritual entity.
When in the lobby, Betty Dupont of the
Burlington group began talking to the spirit when this occurred.
“As soon as Betty started asking
questions, the temperature went down,” Lucia said. “At first I thought it was just the land that was haunted.
When Betty started asking the questions we saw it go down from 73 to 70.”
Because of this, Lucia said he believes
the spirit was female.
Lucia said when
the men attempted to speak to the entity, they had negative results and only when Dupont asked questions did they register
a temperature change.
However, Dupont said she “can’t
say there were a lot of results of convincing activity,” but believes it was a step forward for the investigation.
Amanda Kaufman
Staff Writer - Cardinal Points
April 17 2009
I would also like to add, that Macdonough
Hall was never a morgue for the old hospital. It was built in 1951 and was built mainly for a student dorm. It was used for
a short time as the college cafeteria/store, untill the college store is built now in its location. The whole morgue thing,
is nothing but an Urban legend.
We were the First Paranormal Group to investigate
Macdonough Hall with Plattsburgh State TV and to have it aired on News Watch 17, the College's TV station, on cable channel
17.
Thank You very much Taylour, it was Great
to work with you and Whitney on this investigation. Best of luck to you two as you move on with your career's.
I would also like to thank Amanda from
the Cardinal Points, Plattsburgh State's College News Paper.
Thank You for writing a Great article on
our investigation at Macdonough Hall. Best wishes to you as well!
I
would also like to thank John Krueger and Professor Clukey on helping me with the history and research on this investigation.
Thank You very much, I really appreciate it!
