As the night went on, it started to drizzle then snow very lightly. I had to stop photographing otherwise my pictures would be altered and not an authentic indication of paranormal activity. We did however explore many haunted places that night and I was able to get multiple orbs in six of the locations before it started snowing. The orb activity is not as compelling as other evidence I have captured at other haunted locations but the feelings that I encountered that night, as well as the morbid history behind these locations are worth mentioning. I do believe I captured some true orbs that night. If these orbs were weather related they would have appeared in all fifteen locations that night but they only appeared in six. Some were very large and bright, others appeared right in front of my camera, while others hovered around certain windows of the houses. After leaving these places I felt truly frightened and unsettled the rest of the night.
I remember pulling up to this menacing looking building. I was impressed with the massive size of this Gothic looking apartment complex.
I started taking pictures immediately as I got out of the car. I captured many huge white glowing orbs. One was right in front of me. It looked like it was moving very fast towards my car.
It was very cold that night and it started snowing lightly. I took more photos while it was snowing and also got what appeared to be orbs. I compared the orb photos from before it started snowing and after it had snowed. The orbs looked very different. The orbs that were photographed before it started to snow appeared to be hard and white and seemed to have a slight trail behind them. It looked as if they were moving, burning and radiating its own light source. I believe these particular orbs were paranormal in nature.
The other photos that were taken when it began to snow looked like they were caused by the environment and not paranormal. They probably were dust, moisture, or flakes of snow. They didn't appear as large; they were more consistent in size. They were more translucent and they didn't have a glowing or burning trail behind them.
There was an obvious difference in the orb photographs. I sensed the charged electricity in the air. There seemed to be spirits walking among us.
I would like to go back to Denver and explore other haunted locations. We only toured a small section of this very haunted city.
Peabody Whitehead Mansion
Denver, Colorado
10/2010
Silverware, pots & pans fly around by themselves / Dishes & glassware break suddenly / Lights flashing on by themselves / Sounds of ringing servant's bells & phones / Flickering chandelier / Apparition of a woman in the mirror / Strong odor of pipe tobacco / Apparition of an older man
Haunted History
The Peabody Whitehead Mansion was built in 1889, by architect Frank Edbrooke. He also designed "The Brown Palace Hotel."
It is a three story brick mansion that is $6,635 square feet. It was constructed for $15,000. The architecture of the house employ's the massive masonary walls and chimneys and a steeply pitched roof of an English county house. It has a big porch and the original facade that faces the street.
The mansion served for two years as the state governor's residence during the tenure of Governor James Peabody. It was also the home for William Riddick Whitehead and his family. Dr. William Riddick Whitehead served as a battlefield surgeon. He had performed surgery in the blood soaked Russian Crimean and US Civil Wars.
The Crimean War is known as one of the dirtiest and deadliest wars in modern world history due to atrocious medical treatment aggravated by a sweeping cholera epidemic. The number of battlefield soldiers dying while in Whitehead's medical care mounted during the American Civil War. Confederate General Thomas 'Stonewall Jackson" was among one of those who died undergoing Whitehead's surgical knife. Some people believe that the traumatized spirits of Whitehead's battlefield patients followed him to Denver from New York and haunt this mansion.
Many years later, the building was converted into a boarding house. In the 1980's, several restaurants and bars occupied the mansion.
In the 1990's the mansion was purchased by Richard R. Arber Associates, an engineering firm which renovated the structure into office spaces. Then Maber properties, LLC, acquired the Peabody Whitehead Mansion through a tax deferred real estate exchange.
In 2010, when I went to visit this building and attend the ghost tour, this building was vacant.
Paranormal Phenomenon
In the 1970's, restaurants such as the Carriage Inn, Bentley's, La Scala, the Bombay Club, the BBC, Albies, and Senor Peabody's occupied the mansion. There were many reports of ghostly visitations at this time.
Restaurant owners were perplexed by trays mysteriously tipping over as well as dishes and glassware suddenly breaking.
Guests and employees reported seeing knives, forks, pots, and pans flying around the kitchen and dining areas. They also heard the ringing of disconnected servant's bells and phones, the occasional unexpected flashing of the disco lights.
A restaurant owner called an electrician to fix a constant flickering chandelier. The electrician said he could not do anything because the chandelier wasn't hooked up to any electrical wiring.
In 1983, on Halloween night, an entrepreneur opened a bar named "Spirits." That business was forced to close within the year. During the time that the bar was open, a ghost poured a bottle of beer down the shirt of a cook who had disparaged homosexuals.
In the 1970's, owners brought in psychics, parapsychologists and camera crews to discover more about the spirits.
One of the investigative teams reported that a young woman named Eloise, or Ella haunted the second floor. They suggested that she may have died after being abandoned by her fiance. Some people have seen her image hovering in the mirrors. A few men have also reported glimpsing her in the men's restroom.
There are rumors that the basement contains a restless spirit including that of a waitress who hung herself with her apron from the basement's overhead pipes one night after closing.
Another spirit that occupies the first floor women's bathroom is a spirit of older gentlemen. He is accompanied by a nauseating, strong cherry scented pipe tobacco odor. The smell comes and goes.
Psychics that have visited this site have said that the spirits of the Peabody Mansion are benevolent. The ghosts are grateful for the thoughtful care during the home's restoration.
My Investigation
As I first approached this mansion I felt a dark, foreboding feeling as I walked closer to the house. I sensed a menacing presence here and I kept looking behind and down the long walkway on the side of the house.
It was dark and cold that night but the sky was very clear. I remember that I was impressed with the architecture of the building. It is a brick house with a pitched roof. It reminded me of the many houses that I photographed in Salem, Massachusetts. This was similar looking to the "Witch House" and the "House of Seven Gables."
It is only a three story house, but it looked a lot taller than that. I zoomed in with my 35mm camera, concentrating on the windows of the third floor. I was able to zoom in on the walkway on the left side of the house. This is the area that I