High, Low, and Pretty Much All Over
— By Jack Roth —
Plum Run Creek, also known as Bloody Run, is a small stream that runs through a gorge known as the Valley of Death. This valley is located between Devil’s Den and Little Round Top, which made it a natural clashing point during the Battle of Gettysburg. The creek earned its infamous nickname after it ran red with the blood of fallen soldiers, mostly Confederates who were trying to overrun Little Round Top. On July 4, 1863, one day after the battle ended, heavy rains caused the creek’s shallow banks to overflow, and several Confederate wounded, who couldn’t move and had not yet been retrieved by their comrades, tragically drowned. Veterans of the battle described the valley surrounding Plum Run as littered with so many bodies that it took over a week after the battle ended for all of the fallen men to be buried.
It all started at approximately five p.m. on July 2, 1863, when Union Brig. Gen. Samuel W. Crawford moved two of his Pennsylvania infantry brigades forward across the Valley of Death (which subsequently garnered the nickname the Slaughter Pen) against approaching Confederate infantry who were attempting to reach the summit of Little Round Top and flank the Union left. Between the Second U.S. Sharpshooters, who were stationed behind an insulating stone wall at the base of the hill and Union Capt. James Smith’s remaining cannons from his Fourth New York Battery, severe casualties were inflicted on Rebel infantry from both the Second Georgia regiment advancing along the creek, and the Fourth and Fifth Texas and Fifteenth Alabama regiments advancing toward the open south side of Little Round Top. The Valley of Death and Plum Run Creek became an inferno of gun and cannon fire, resulting in high casualties and forever entrenching these geographic landmarks into the tragic lore of the battlefield.
Early one evening in the spring of 2004, while investigating Devil’s Den, a young couple in our group looked out of their car and saw what they described as bright flashes of light appearing randomly above the tree line just beyond Plum Run Creek. Most orb-like phenomena tend to be photographic in nature and are very controversial, but the fact that they saw these lights with the naked eye makes this a more unique encounter. It was a very clear night, and they were able to watch these flashes of light for approximately three minutes as they appeared to move lower and closer to them as time went by. As is often the case when witnesses have the time to carefully analyze what they are seeing, they were able to rule out some mundane possibilities. They stand by their testimony and remain adamant that these lights were not car or plane lights, flashlight reflections, shooting stars, or fireflies (aka lightning bugs).
I immediately documented their description of the lights, and we stayed around Plum Run Creek for a while in case the lights came back. The lights did not return, but the witnesses managed to take digital photographs while observing them, and as a result captured glowing anomalies on just about every one of their shots. No details could be discerned from the photographs, but they did confirm the validity and location of the sighting. The following is their testimony:
“It was probably around nine thirty p.m., around that time frame, and we were over by Devil’s Den, parked down farther to the right of the last few spots if you were looking down at the parking lot from the big boulders,” said Eric. “Almost everyone from our group was back on the other side of the parking lot heading over toward Little Round Top. There was also a bunch of other people who were walking up toward the top of Devil’s Den … moving up the hill with flashlights. We decided to stay down more toward the woods near the creek because it was much quieter down there.”
Tammy added that they also got back into the car because they were cold.
Dead Confederate soldiers in the Slaughter Pen. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Eric continued: “We were just kind of hanging out, and it was pretty dark over in that spot and we started noticing some flashes of light kind of up high over the tops of the trees.”
I asked them what they thought these lights may have been at first, and it occurred to Eric right away that there could be a road back behind the wooded area and that they could be seeing car lights flashing through the trees as the cars drove by, but they ruled this out and then thought maybe it was a low-flying plane, and that they were seeing its lights blinking as it flew behind the trees.
“But that just wasn’t right; it didn’t fit the description because a plane never came into view, and the lights didn’t flash in a line,” said Eric. “They were random in nature, and they covered a pretty wide area above the trees. At first they were up high. Right after we ruled out car or plane lights, we started seeing more flashes down low, and much closer to us.”
“They were high, low, and pretty much all over, which was just very strange because they didn’t seem to look like any lights we had ever seen,” added Tammy. “They were more like starbursts than anything else.”
“Could they have been the flashlights from the other people who were climbing up the rocks at Devil’s Den?” I asked.
“No way,” Tammy quickly responded. “These lights were way too bright, and they didn’t move like someone was moving a flashlight around. I can say with certainty they weren’t flashlights.”
“Right,” added Eric, “and they were all over, so we were able to rule out the plane theory and the flashlight theory right away. Then the last thing that occurred to us was that they might be lightning bugs, you know, fireflies, but again it wasn’t a good explanation. These lights were much brighter and bursting.”
“So they weren’t really floating around like fireflies do,” I said.
“They weren’t pulsating as much as they were flashing,” said Eric. “In other words, there was no dimming up and down, just very quick flashes. You couldn’t see any kind of pulse like you would see from a lightning bug. And right about the time we ruled out just about everything ‘normal’ it could be, they started really flashing all around us.”
I asked Tammy how she felt at this point, and she said she started to get very intrigued because the lights were moving closer to them. She wasn’t scared at all, but very excited.
“Tammy jumped out of the car with the digital camera and started snapping a few photographs, and from what we could tell right at first glance, there are some round circular lights that showed up in them,” said Eric.
Tammy showed me her digital camera, and these lights appeared every picture she took. Some seemed farther away then others, but a few were really close to them.
Photo of one of the strange light anomalies that Tammy and Eric saw that night. Photo courtesy of Jack Roth.
“It was so cool,” said Tammy, “because your intuition just tells you these things were not natural. They seemed other-worldly.”
Eric reminded me that it was their first paranormal investigation, and it was the first time they had ever experienced anything like that.
“It was very fun, very cool,” he added.
Tammy, thinking it might be time-of-day related, wanted to come back at the same time the next night to see if they could see the same thing.
A great idea, I told them that we would definitely make it a point of doing that.
I also expressed my excitement over the fact that their first paranormal experience was such a positive one.
“Did you feel strange while you watched these lights, or did you feel like the atmosphere around you changed at all?” I asked.
“We were in the car at first, but the windows were open, and then of course we got out to take pictures as the lights got closer. But it’s funny you ask that, because as time went by, it seemed as if everything else around us didn’t exist,” said Eric. “I can’t recall any sounds, natural or man-made, so maybe I was just very focused on the lights. I can’t speak for Tammy.”
“I ask this because sometimes people experience what is known as the Oz Factor, which is when the environment actually changes as you’re experiencing a paranormal event,” I explained. “The atmosphere becomes different to people, and it’s very hard to explain.”
“I felt strange, but Eric and I were talking to each other, so that interaction was real,” said Tammy. “The lights themselves were strange, though. They seemed not of this world, so to speak. I think you can just tell when something isn’t right.”
We hung out for a while longer to see if anything else manifested, but all was quiet. Eric wanted to know what happened in this area of the battlefield that might explain the lights. I told him that soldiers were fighting all throughout this area and many of them died in this creek. There was a lot of gun and cannon fire, which could explain the lights as a residual phenomenon. “Many people see flashes of light all over the battlefield, and they aren’t all fireflies,” I assured them. “It makes sense,” I said, “but only if you believe residual hauntings are possible.”
“I can see that for sure,” said Tammy.
“They did look like flashes of gunfire in the dark,” said Eric. “That would be the most accurate description yet. Wow. I can really see that, but why high above the trees at first?”
“I can’t say for sure, but certain kinds of artillery fire did explode above the trees, raining down shrapnel over the enemy,” I explained. “We can never know for sure, but I think your experience tonight was a really good one.”
I still think about Tammy and Eric’s experience for several reasons. First and foremost, they were really cool people and made for outstanding eyewitnesses. They weren’t flaky and really performed an objective analysis regarding what they saw as they saw it, which should be commended. Also, my intuition tells me they saw something truly paranormal. Usually, lights and orbs represent tenuous evidence at best, but when they are seen by more than one witness for a prolonged period of time with the naked eye and appear in a way that defies all logical explanations, then such an event should be taken seriously and documented thoroughly.
The location factor also comes into play in this instance. Bloody Run, the Slaughter Pen, Devil’s Den—these places are bathed in a history of bloodshed, emotional trauma, and loss of life, all of which must be taken into account when examining evidence or eyewitness testimony, especially when such evidence imitates the natural phenomena associated with the actual battle (gun flashes, cannon fire bursts, etc.).
For me, the best part of this story remains the fact that Tammy and Eric had what they truly believed was a real paranormal experience, and it was a positive and exciting one. We will probably never know what they saw that night, but I remain very happy for them because they experienced something special. Experiences like theirs often urge people to become more involved in paranormal research. I sincerely hope they continue to show an interest in investigating paranormal phenomena and approaching it in such an objective, logical manner. I, for one, believe they would make great field researchers.
