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INVESTIGATION #032
USS North Carolina Battleship
Wilmington, North Carolina
Date Of Investigation: June 5, 2010
Time: 9:00pm - 7:00am
Investigators on Scene: Marty Seibel, Robin Tapley, Mychael Hottle, Kelly Hoynoski, Jason Atkins,
Bill McGill, Jill & Andy Currin
Weather: Clear, 80.9 degrees, 99% humidity, Wind: Southwest 8 mph
Moon: waning crescent with 43% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated
Background History
The USS North Carolina ( nickname "Showboat") was the lead ship of her class of battleship and the fourth in
the United States Navy to be named in honor of this U.S. state. She was the first new-construction U.S. battleship
to enter service during World War II, participating in every major naval offensive in the Pacific theater to become
the most decorated United States battleship of the war with 15 battle stars. She currently rests as a museum ship
at the port of Wilmington, North Carolina.
Hauntings
The USS North Carolina Battleship lost 10 men during World War II, 5 killed in a torpedo attack in 1942, 3 from friendly
fire in 1945 and 2 others in seperate incidents. Activity that occurs on the ship would include hatches and doors open or
close themselves, televisions and lights turn themselves off or on. Apparitions have been seen many times, disembodied
voices are heard, people have been touched from time to time. Things move by themselves in front of witnesses.
Danny Bradshaw who is caretaker of the ship and has been for 25 years has had numerous experiences along
with other members of the battleship staff.
Ghost Hunters (Taps) did investigate the battleship several years ago and experienced ghostly voices, loud banging,
footsteps, hatchways opening and closing and other strange noises in various parts of the ship. Also Jason and
Grant saw a moving shadow that they followed. They noticed a bracket which was hanging loose from the
bulkhead was moving as if someone had bumped into it. They followed the shadow into a room which
had only one exit and no possible hiding place.
Investigation Objective
Obtain and document claims of paranormal activity involving disembodied voices, apparitions, shadow people,
and objects moving. This would be no easy task considering the size of the ship. Because of this, we would have
to run our IR video cameras in selected locations. The humidity and heat would also play key factors, so we
prepared accordingly. Plenty of water was taken with us and breaks were taken regularly to avoid heat exhaustion.
Investigation Data
General Information
With a total of 8 investigators, we split into 4 groups of 2 and focused on the brig, the infirmary, the mess hall
& kitchen and the shower area down on the third deck where five sailors were killed in a torpedo attack in 1942.
Video Results
IR surveillance cameras were stationed only in the infirmary as we were very limited with the amount of cable we had
to use and the size of the locations to cover. Cameras were run from 10 pm until 6 am with no activity to report.
Photograph Results
Over 1000 digital photographs were taken through the entire investigation. They produced no significant evidence
of paranormal activity or anything of unusual circumstances. One photograph still under review is believed to
be a result of matrixing.
Views aboard the USS North Carolina
Kitchen
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Kitchen
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Mess Hall
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Medical Offices
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Shower 3rd Deck
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Infirmary
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Infirmary
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Audio Results
Audio work was conducted at every deck level with the most success coming from the mess hall and the brig. Twice
during our investigation disembodied voices were heard and captured during audio sessions in the mess hall and the brig.
| "No" USS North Carolina, The Brig (Wilmington, Nc.) 6/05/2010 by Robin Tapley
| | "No" USS North Carolina, The Brig (Wilmington, Nc.) (cleaned)
| | "Yeah" USS North Carolina, The Brig (Wilmington, Nc.) 6/05/2010 by Jason Atkins
| | "Yeah" USS North Carolina, The Brig (Wilmington, Nc.) (cleaned)
| | "Yeah" USS North Carolina, The Brig (Wilmington, Nc.) 6/05/2010 by Mychael Hottle
| | "Yeah" USS North Carolina, The Brig (Wilmington, Nc.) (cleaned)
| | "Yeah" USS North Carolina, Mess Hall (Wilmington, Nc.) 6/05/2010 by Marty Seibel
| | "Yeah" USS North Carolina, Mess Hall (Wilmington, Nc.) (cleaned)
| | "Sounds ??" USS North Carolina, Mess Hall (Wilmington, Nc.) 06/05/2010 by Marty Seibel
| | "Sounds" USS North Carolina, Mess Hall (Wilmington, Nc.) (cleaned)
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Personal Experiences
Personal experiences centered around the mess hall and the brig, again two of the more active areas it would appear on
the ship. Marty Seibel hears a disembodied voice in the mess hall between 11 and 11:30 pm where just a short time later
investigator Jason Aktins would feel a hand touch him on the back near the same area where the voice was heard and
recorded. Mychael Hottle would hear a disembodied voice in the brig in response to a question he had asked earlier.
Voice is described as being heard at very close range in his left ear. The response was captured during the audio session.
Final Conclusion : Paranormally Active
This was one tough investigation to do as the heat and humidity really took its toll on us. Just the incredible size of the ship
and area to cover is very intimidating, quite easy to get loss or confused. Areas we would have liked to stay in a lot longer
than we did we simply could not because of the extreme heat. The further down on lower decks we went, the more extreme
the heat. All in all, a fascinating place to investigate with a long, rich history. Audio was captured in numerous locations
but the main active areas for the night seemed again to be the mess hall and the brig. We had hoped to captured some
type of photographic evidence or video but that was not the case.
Three personal experiences through the investigation, one member being physically touched and two other members hearing disembodied voices that were indeed captured on recording devices. We indeed believe the battleship to be paranormally
active and plan to investigate again during cooler weather to add to our evidence database. Our hope would be to capture
photographic or video evidence in the future. We do recommend this location to paranormal groups in the field to
investigate, very much so.
Copyright © Marty Seibel & SVPS
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