Night Visions

Written by: Darren Dedo
Case Filed: 7/26/01 - Vicksburg, Mississippi
Executive Producer: Rick Garner

Some people say the river city of Vicksburg is a hotbed of paranormal activity. One of the most famous sites, Vicksburg's National Military Park, is where Ghost Hunter Janis Raley first became interested in the supernatural. "I haven't been out here with equipment at night, and since we're so close to everything that was happening up to a fever pitch, right now, it's perfect."


Thanks to the national park service, NEWSCHANNEL 12 was given unprecedented access to the park in the middle of the night. Armed with night vision digital cameras, temperature gauges, and electro magnetic meters, we conducted numerous investigations.

Park Ranger Rick Martin was our personal guide for the night. He's worked at the park for the last four years. "I've been here at all hours of the night, all hours of the day. I've slept in the park at night, out in the fields. I've never seen or heard anything unusual."

We hoped to show Rick something unexplained. Our first stop: Thayer's Approach. The site of several casualties during the siege of Vicksburg, Thayer's Approach has an overpowering feeling of despair. We snapped digital photos in the darkness and captured several orbs. Ghost researchers believe these unusual circles represent energy and maybe spirits. In the pitch-dark tunnel below the main road, I roll video and record something that's hard to explain. Raley believed the streaks of lights are ectoplasmic mist, a form of supernatural energy. We cannot say without a doubt these streaking lights might be bugs, however, Janis believes more than a few were streaking orbs.

We head across town to the McRaven where strange activity is a daily occurrence. Our most unusual experience was a "hot spot," detected by a thermal scanning devise. The area wouldn't have been detected by one's skin, however, the device uses a laser beam to collect temperature readings from several feet away. The hot spot was in one corner of Mary Elizabeth Howard's former bedroom. Raley has taken pictures of this same corner and viewed very blurred images from the spot.

In May, we snapped an amazing photo of what looks like an apparition in 14 Mile Creek. After seeing this, Raley wanted to conduct an experiment to find this ghostly figure again. Civil War reenactors went down into the creek where several 19th century soldiers were killed. Some paranormal researchers believe recreating a scene from the past can bring the "real" soldiers back. We did capture some "strange" images among the 21st century soldiers.

After walking the battlefields of Vicksburg and experiencing strange phenomena at McRaven and 14 Mile Creek, it seems some things in the universe will remain unexplained.

Night Visions Raw Video Footage