Alton, IL

Oct 29, 2004
An informal gathering. Six members of the group enjoyed a long night of vigilance outside the renowned McPike Mansion to benefit the refurbishment of this home. Built for Henry Guest McPike in 1869, it was one of the most elaborate homes in Alton in its' heyday. After 50 years of standing vacant, weather and vandals left the home almost irreparable. In 1994, Sharyn and George Luedke purchased the house at auction and determined to restore it to its former glory. In an effort to raise money for that cause, they held their annual campout on the grounds of the McPike Mansion. Mike, Sherry, Melinda, Eric S., Tracee and Eric K. spent the evening comparing experiences, photo's and video, along with about 20 other interested campers. We also took a few more pictures and, we are proud to say, we did not come away empty-handed. If you'd like to learn more about the McPike Mansion, visit our Links Page.

Eric took a digital picture behind the house about 2:00 AM and was surprised to see a bright light emanating from this stump. He did not see it when he took the picture. On a very high-resolution screen, you can make out that this light does not go in front or through of all of the twigs around the stump. It actually appears to bend behind at least one of them. Also striking, is the apparent texture of the beam of light and the fact that it makes an abrupt downward turn at the top.

	We intend to return to this stump soon to try to recreate this effect. Due to the uncontrolled environment on the night of this campout, we feel that additional testing is required to ensure that this image wasn't the result of human intervention. We will update you with our findings.

Mike took this digital photo of energy of some sort near the roof of the house. This photo was taken with night shot and is most likely a planet or a star. The erratic light pattern is typical with night shot if a light source is present. We can't take this anomaly too seriously. Another photo taken of this same area of the house less than an hour later, shows only black sky here. However the second photo was taken without the night shot feature. For other examples of this effect, please look at our Photos Page.

The following four pictures were taken by Eric K. and Tracee. The first three were all taken near the back of the house. The smoke evident in the first picture was not visible when the picture was taken and no one was smoking in the area. The fourth picture was taken at the Mineral Springs Hotel in Alton. This underground pool is well-known for being a haunted site. We hope to have a formal investigation of the site soon.