Coloma: Pioneer Cemetery

So it may not exactly qualify as "hiking" but spending an afternoon hanging out in a haunted cemetery is a very close second.  I have been dabbling in the paranormal for the last year, going to various conferences and training sessions sponsored by local groups here in Sacramento.  I have made acquaintances with many different investigators from many different groups but haven't really found one that I would be interested in joining as a member yet.  American Paranormal Investigations is probably the one I would join if given an opportunity in the future but for now I am content doing my own private investigations and finding my own way through an ever-growing popular new science.

 The entrance to the cemetery.

On October 13, 2013 my wife Ami and I headed out to Coloma, California to do an investigation I have been wanting to do for a long time: the Coloma Pioneer Cemetery.  A part of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, the cemetery is well known for its "Lady in Burgundy" that has been seen by visitors and passerby going back many years.  What makes this situation unique is that the apparition has been seen in full daylight and in very bright color, hence the name "Lady in Burgundy." She has been reported to be wearing a loose white shirt that was common during the late 19th Century and a very bright burgundy skirt.  Her facial features are very distinct and not the blurred image that accompany many reports of apparitions.

Until recently most investigators were ready to write this off as a residual haunt (kind of like a movie clip that plays over and over -- an image of the past if you will) but ongoing investigations have shown that the Lady appears in many different spots within the cemetery and not just in one location, as a residual haunt would suggest.

There have been several investigations done in the cemetery, some more noted than others.  Probably the best and most extensive was done by Nancy Bradley and her team in 2009 (Investigation).  This is also highlighted in her book Be A Ghost Hunter (with co-author Robert Reppert, 2009).  A previous one was done in 2007 by El Dorado Paranormal Investigations and is a great example of how a professional investigation is conducted (Report).  The cemetery also gained national fame when it appeared on Episode 5 of the Syfy show Haunted Highway (Pioneer Cemetery).

My investigation wasn't going to be anywhere near as extensive as the previous ones I have mentioned, but I was hoping that with just the two of us it would help draw out any spirits that might be present.  Since I didn't have the resources of a established group I decided to concentrate on two main areas, the site of the Chalmers' family resting place (the original owners of the property and a reported hot spot) and the very top of the hill the cemetery rested on.

My equipment was pretty basic: my IPad with the HawesParaKit Application (designed by Jason Hawes of Syfy Ghost Hunters fame); a digital camera; and a flashlight.  When we arrived I took my IPad and accessed the EMF (Electric Magnetic Field) meter through the HawesParaKit.  I did a quick sweep of the area to establish a baseline EMF reading then got started with the actual investigation.  The sky was blue, the temperature was in the low 80s and the air was still.  Not ideal weather for an investigation of this type but I was here and it was time to do this.

Before I started a EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon -- when electronic devices record a sound not heard at the time of the recording) session at the Chalmers' site I was talking with Ami when I noticed a EMF spike on the IPad.  I had placed the IPad on a small stone wall and I noticed it spike from a .02 up to a 1.6.  There was no rhyme or reason for this spike.  I looked for a cause but was unable to find any natural reason. After a full minute the reading went back down to a .02.  What exactly did this mean?  Nothing conclusive, but it was a strange anomaly that remains unexplained.

 The Chalmers' Family grave site.

The area where I picked up the EMF spike.

I spent the next 20 minutes doing a EVP session at the Chalmers' site.  Then I slowly made my way up the hill, doing another EMF sweep and taking photos of the cemetery as I went.  At the top of the hill there was a small bench that I set my IPad down on and also placed my twist-top flashlight next to it.  I started a EVP session and asked three simple questions:  Was the ghost of the Lady in Burgundy with me?  Was the ghost of the little boy with me?  Were the ghosts of the two hanged men with me?  Shortly after I asked the last question my flashlight turned on.

 From the top of the hill.

The top of the hill: you can see the bench over on the right.

The next eight minutes were spent communicating with the presence through the use of the flashlight.  Whenever the answer was "yes" to a question the light went on.  After I verbally thanked them the light went off.  This happened a dozen times.  I'm still not sure if I was communicating with just one, or possibly two spirits.  When I went back to listen to the recordings I discovered a lot of interference at the section where the flashlight turned on and I could barely hear my own voice, even turned up at full volume.  It sounded like someone was blowing directly into the microphone.  Only, there was no wind blowing that day.  Still not conclusive evidence of anything, but certainly strange and out of the norm.

EVP session: you can see the flashlight I used on the right.

The only real evidence I picked up was a what sounded like a sigh down at the Chalmers' site.  I was in the middle of asking a question and there was a long sigh that sounded on the recordings over my voice.  It was not Ami, who was on the other side of the cemetery at that point.  I did not hear it at the time and it did catch me off guard when I was reviewing the recordings.

Can I say the place is haunted with the evidence I personally collected?  No.  But I sure had fun doing it.