Author Archives: Lesley Marden

On a recent public investigation with the New England Ghost Project of the Houghton Mansion in North Adams, MA a curious thing happened. This serves as a reminder that you may stumble upon something you may have never imagined finding.

There was a large group of people gathered in Mary’s room on the second floor. Guests of the ghost hunt were sitting in couches along the walls of the room and in chairs that were brought in to accommodate the amount of people who were not comfortable sitting on the floor. There were guests sitting in a circle on the floor attempting to connect with spirit, and there were multiple pieces of equipment set up and being held by some of the guests.

As we all sat in the darkened room that was dimly lit by the green hue of a laser grid, the Ghost Radar was spitting our random words. Ron Kolek, founder and lead investigator of the NEGP noticed something dart across the room.

“Hey, a cat! I just saw a cat just run underneath that chair, did anyone else see that cat?” No one else saw the it, but Nick Mantello, who had just been leading a groups in other parts of the house said “Our group thought they just saw a cat run through the basement. More than one person saw it.”

From the time we first sat down in the room, I was taking random photographs with my digital camera. Meanwhile, the Ghost Radar generated two very interesting words that seemed to coincide with what we were experiencing.  They were “cat” and “killed”.

When I returned home the next day, I uploaded my photos to my computer. The photos from the session in Mary’s room were dark.
Because it was dark I raised the brightness. Look in the bottom left hand corner of the photo.

Here it is again in black and white

Now, although this is not scientific proof, it is very compelling evidence. We have not one, but two eyewitness accounts in separate areas of the mansion, without knowledge of the other group witnessing the same phenomena, ruling out a hysterical account, a piece of equipment stating “cat” and “killed”, and this interesting photo of what appears to be the form of a cat.  Here is the photo file where I have changed the contrast level in the photo.

What do you think? Leave a comment!

It was an interesting evening of exploring at the Veasey Estate in Groveland, MA.  The New England Ghost Project checked out the different areas of the building while reporters from the Boston Globe tagged along.   Click here to read their article. 

I would like to extend a hearty “Thank You!” to our fearless leader Ron Kolek, Jim Stonier, Karin Ruck, Susan Yeates and our guest investigator Allison Gouveia for another interesting and enjoyable investigation!

Here is an interesting photo from that evening.  Notice the upper right hand window from the church on the property.  What do you see?