PLUMSTED – It was a chilling autumn evening in October that brought a dozen people to the New Egypt Historical Society Museum for a paranormal experience.
Actually it was a rather humid late summer night, but we at JerseyShoreOnline.com wanted to set the mood for this story that follows several members of the public on a spirited jaunt to see what might be haunting the old building.
They joined investigators of New Jersey Paranormal Investigations (NJPI) who guided them around the museum’s creaky stairway and the musty recesses of a dank basement. They utilized a variety of devices to look for clues. One of the tools wasn’t so high tech – it was a life like cat toy designed to make any ghostly inhabitants of the aged museum feel comfortable enough to poke their spectral heads out to say “hi” to those seeking some communication with those who have crossed over to the other side.
Those along for a ride paid a fee as part of a fundraiser for the museum and they were eager to learn more about those who once called the museum their home. Hopes were high for attendees to communicate with a ghostly former resident of what was once a prominent farmhouse.
Haunted New Egypt ghost hunter Mike Castro explained “this is a public event ghost hunt with NJ Paranormal Investigations. Haunted New Egypt is the paranormal side of the New Egypt Historical Society. We book people to come in and we donate all the proceeds to the museum. We don’t take anything off of that. All the money goes into the donation bin and we like to showcase the history, the location and hopefully some paranormal activity.”
“As investigators we come in and we use our equipment our EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) devices and gather EVPs,” he added. Paranormal enthusiasts consider EVP to be a form of paranormal phenomenon often found in recordings with static or other background noise. Scientists regard EVP as a form of auditory pareidolia (interpreting random sounds as voices in one’s own language) and a pseudoscience promulgated by popular culture.
Castro, a resident of Pemberton said, “I’ve been investigating this location now for 2 ½ half years. I am very familiar with the location. There has been a lot of unexplainable activity and I’m an open-minded skeptic.”
“You get some people who will believe every knock and believe it is a ghost. I try and at least debunk prior to making any claims but there have been some things happening that we can’t explain,” he added.
Castro noted, “there are a lot of locations in New Egypt. We have a lot of older buildings; some are historic and some are private homes that they claim are haunted. We’ve done homes in Philadelphia, Columbus, Springfield, Jobstown – all over the place and its really cool and interesting experience.”
“I have a magazine called Ghosted Magazine. I go to haunted locations all over the country,” Castro said.
The basement and what was once a bedroom that now serves as an exhibit to Stanley Dancer, a harness racing legend and the father of the late Plumsted Mayor/Assemblyman Ron Dancer, were two prominent locations to investigate paranormal activity in the museum. There was also a third floor room and attic space that was probed for poltergeists.
“There has been action on third floor,” NJPI member Barry Ruggiero said. “I have not for all the times we have been here tested for the third floor. I was there about 20 minutes and felt a little warm. Feel free to wander around,” he told the participants.
Although it is now a museum, it had been a farmhouse built in 1815. It was sold to Benjamin Shinn who lived there with his wife and six children. His wife Rebecca died in 1829 and he remarried years later and they had one daughter. Benjamin died in 1835 and the property was sold a year later. It was listed as a plantation and sold to Jane Bryant. John Holmes purchased the property and later the Singleton family bought it and owned it.
The Singletons sold it in 1965 and it saw several more owners until it was leased to the New Egypt Historical Society. There have been unexplained shadows reported, knocks, whispers within the building and it is believed that some energy from past residents is locked within artifacts that are within the museum.
Lakehurst resident Michele DiMeo is a long-time enthusiast of the paranormal and member of NJPI who joined her fellow members for the event which featured a mission briefing and group photo prior to their search. She and fellow member Sandy Burkard joined some of the guests and this reporter in the basement, setting up their light emitting devices and positioning their faux feline on the floor.
DiMeo said the cat has a device on its collar, “if anything comes near it, you’ll hear it but you may not see the collar light and if the (presence) pushes on it you will see the collar light up.”
“They show themselves to you as they wish. There are plenty of times when we are at a location and it is quiet and nothing is going on for hours and it is part of the process. I am always very respectful when I am asking questions and introducing myself. I am sure there are many things they are frustrated by so I choose to be kind,” DiMeo added.
DiMeo explained trip wires and lantern devices pick up electromagnetic signals, “so if something comes near it, it will be triggered by it. If we are in a space – a home usually – we’ll walk around and do a sweep of the area first and try to find if there is something in the home that is electric that is giving off fields because in that aspect we want to stay away because you are going to get a false reading.”
“Spirits are drawn to that kind of field which is why we use that type of equipment. A lot of this equipment is hundreds of dollars and can easily be broken so this is a very expensive hobby so that is why we keep most equipment stationary in a room,” she added.
Over the course of the evening the two main locations did show some flickering of lights indicating paranormal inhabitation as attendees posed questions. Those who took part voiced their enjoyment of having been part of the event and some said they were looking forward to another ghost hunt.
