In the 19th century, a bizarre murder case brought nationwide notoriety to the Lebanon, PA. area, when six men were tired for murdering an older man to collect a series of insurance policies they had taken out on him. Five of the Blue-Eyed Six (as named by a courtroom reporter) Charles Drews, Franklin Stichler, Henry F. Wise, Israel Brandt and Josiah Hummel were found guilty of the December 7, 1878, drowning of Joseph Raber at St. Joseph Spring, now part of the Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation. All but one of the six, George Zechman (acquitted) were hanged at the Lebanon County Prison. The victim is buried in the graveyard adjacent to the Moonshine Church (several people with this curious surname are also buried their), and the site has a long history of paranormal activity. Virtually any local resident knows several spooky stories about the place, many involving pairs of blue eyes relentlessly pursuing their victim! In the 1980's, a disturbed woman killed herself and 4 children near the church, further adding to the sinister doings in the area. Armed with an array of film and digital cameras, infrared video cameras, audio recorders, thermal scanners, emf meters and more, over 20 members of our group recently visited the church to see just how haunted it was. We were NOT disappointed!

Although a few "rookies" were present, most of those on this outing were already experienced in investigations. After arriving around 8:15pm, Kelly and I reminded all of the common sense protocols to follow when taking pictures (the biggest concern with a large number of people is stirring up dust - this can result in false "cluster orb" photos; heavy rain earlier in the day helped minimize this) and we then entered the graveyard on this clear, beautiful June evening. Just past the solstice, darkness was late in coming, but its wooded location offered shaded backdrops which allowed only a few orbs to be captured in the twilight. However, as darkness fell, it became clear there was little action here, despite its reputation.

One of the ways in which our group differs from other organizations is our use of intuitive people, such as Kelly, during investigations. Do the observations of a psychic by themselves offer any "proof" that spirit entities are present? No. However, when they alert us to areas of activity which are substantiated by photos & video of anomalies, emf & thermal scanner readings and evp recordings, they become an important tool for the ghosthunter. Along with minimal photographic and other evidence being gathered early in the evening, Kelly felt there were spirits around, but they were keeping their distance. She then decided to try an experiment, and asked that two other very intuitive people, Mark Whalen and Rob Moore, join her at a spot near the woods. (This is where two of us had captured apparently the same orb around a large gravestone) Kelly asked the others to hold hands, concentrate and ask that any spirits present join them -- that's when a quiet evening transformed into a real paranormal performance! It didn't take long for all 3 psychics to announce they were feeling a large number of spirits moving in, most above them. Several group members had assembled near them and numerous orbs were captured, indeed above their heads. They also mentioned feeling "sweeping" cold spots around them (as did several of us positioned nearby) - these cold spots were confirmed by thermal scanner readings taken by Ray Krouch and myself, who were standing close to each other. With the ambient temperature being around 60 deg. F, we were astounded to get a constant series of low readings - 40, 36, 30... 22, all the way down to 16 deg F!!! The lowest (22 and 16 deg) readings were taken high in the trees above our psychics, and though this proved out of flash range, other low readings closer to the 3 were indeed correlated by photos. The number of readings 30 and more degrees below ambient temperature we got was like nothing I've ever experienced, not even at Gettysburg! At one point, Rob exclaimed "Someone's touching my left arm"; the resultant photo of an orb "on" his arm accompanies this article. A close-up look reveals the fleshtone of his arm "blending" with the edge of the anomaly. Nightshot video taken at this point also indicates orb anomalies swooping down on our 3 "magnets"! (Note: It is important to recognize what insects look like when filming in this format - they are easily identified by the pattern of their wing movements; moving orbs exhibit a clearly different pattern, especially easy to see in slow motion review)

Clearly, the "bait" offered by Kelly and her compatriots had brought the evening alive (an ironic term indeed!) Ed Dubal brought his American Bulldog, Brutus along on the investigation. Brutus is a wonderful, well-trained and calm dog who rarely gets excited, but at times he was clearly bothered by the spirits around him (dogs and cats are good barometers for such activity). At one point, when Ed's girlfriend was walking him to the far end of the cemetery, he stopped and grabbed her jacket, clearly indicating he wanted to go no further. Not surprisingly, still and video cameras captured anomalies near the dog that night. One of the most spectacular aspects of this evening was an exceptionally clear bit of EVP captured by a member at a family plot which included two children's graves. This woman felt attracted to this certain spot, and remained there for some time, lying on a blanket and feeling a connection with the spirit of a little girl. (Headstones noted a 3 year old girl and 2 year old boy resting here) For some time she had attempted to record EVP without success, and had resigned to move on. She checked the recorder one more time and was amazed to hear what is unmistakably a little girl's voice pleading: "Please don't go!" I've reviewed it myself -- it is not only clear, but very emotional -- some of the best EVP I've ever heard. Spirit activity in cemeteries has long been a controversial subject; some researchers claim there is not evidence of this. I certainly have seen enough evidence over the years to dispute this, and Kelly feels the emotional imprint left in cemeteries attracts the spirits to them. So, just who had we encountered that evening? Both Kelly and Rob Moore say that Joseph Raber (the victim of the blue-eyed six) was present, and got the same message from him! Shortly after arriving, someone announced they had found Raber's grave; when I walked over to get a photo of the stone, Rob walked up noting that Raber, whom he met soon after arriving, said he was "Amazed how no one was really interested in him until he was dead!". Later in the evening, I asked Kelly about her experiences. She too related that she felt Raber's presence, and how amazed he was that all this interest was being shown in him! (Kelly also felt the presence of several Native American spirits amongst the tall trees at the edge of the cemetery and behind the church on the other side of the road)