Psychic Investigation of the Howard Steamboat Museum

The Louisville Ghost Hunters Society in conjunction with Jeffersonville’s Howard Steamboat Museum sponsored a psychic investigation as an activity for people attending the The Mid-South Paranormal Convention, which was held in Louisville last weekend.

Sixteen people rambled around the beautiful old Howard Mansion that dates back to 1894. The activities started at 11 p.m. Saturday and went on until 2 a.m. Sunday morning. Along with museum staff and board members, my wife Diane and I volunteered to help monitor the event, so that the museum’s artifacts would remain secure. The Louisville Ghost Hunters Society also sent along five members to direct the investigation.

I am proud to report that on my watch in the mansion’s den, no artifacts levitated away or were damaged by flying ectoplasm. And I was only mildly terrified when I was left all alone there with those creepy stuffed birds, elks and other hunting trophies. I was almost sure that those glassy eyes were following me around the room and at midnight it seemed highly possible that the spirits of those animals just might return to wreak their revenge.

The ghost-hunting participants were mostly enthusiastic amateurs decked out with digital cameras and recorders and a variety of other hi-tech electronic devices designed to capture paranormal activity. I am only glad I didn’t have to watch the basement or the attic. I’ve heard some stories from the museum staff and volunteers.

Diane was on duty up on the third floor with some people who had a radio-like apparatus that emitted static sounds, interspersed with something that sounded like occasional human speech sounds. They claimed that the words were being spoken by the ghosts present in the room.

The device was used like a Ouija Board to ask questions. They also asked if the ghost would give them a sign, or if it had a message for someone there. Diane said she was silent pleading that any sign or message should not involve her in any way. Fortunately, neither was forthcoming.

Most of the participants were dressed casually in blue jeans and T-shirts advertising their affiliation with their local psychic investigation group. Some of them came from as far away as Maryland. There was a wide range of ages represented and this sort of activity — which I though would have been dominated by males — evidently appeals to both genders.

There is something about being in such a situation, however, that makes you want to tell total strangers about every peculiar experience you have ever had, even if you are normally a complete skeptic. I heard a lot of weird stories being told and even told a few myself, in the spirit of the evening.

It gets sort of competitive after a while and you find yourself searching for things to say just to hold your own. I could kick myself for not telling about the old log cabin we stayed at in North Carolina. Diane got a lot of mileage out of that one.

There were people present who had investigated the Waverly Hills Sanitarium in Louisville, the prison from “The Shawshank Redemption” in Ohio and even the resort hotel that was the setting for Stephen King’s “The Shining,” out west. Diane was very popular with this crowd, as she has a bona fide murder/suicide in her extended family.

It seemed that the more directly you claimed to have experienced paranormal phenomena, the higher status you held in this group, up until the point that others decided that you might be delusional and or just making things up. Many folks described how they talked directly to spirits and some even reported seeing full body apparitions. Mostly, at the Howard Museum, however, they were just looking get some sounds on their recorders that suggested possible paranormal activity.

According to the Gallup Polling Organization, about one-third of Americans believe in haunted houses and about the same percent believe in the existence of ghosts. Younger people and liberals tend to be less skeptical than older people and conservatives. For example, an 18-29 year old is more than twice as likely to believe in the existence of ghosts than someone 65 years or older and 42 percent of liberals believe in haunted houses compared to only 28 percent of conservatives. But anyway you look at it, a lot of people are believers.

Overall, this investigation provided no conclusive evidence of any psychic phenomena at the museum, but that’s no reason to not visit the museum anyway. The Howard Steamboat Museum and Mansion represents an important part of our local heritage and is a living connection with our past — something well worth experiencing and preserving. And if you have to see a ghost, I have heard stories about the Belle of Louisville, and in a pinch there is always the Industrial Nightmare this time of year.

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Psychic Investigation of the Howard Steamboat Museum
Psychic Investigation of the Howard Steamboat Museum