This battleship in Wilmington, NC was involved in WWII military campaigns and lost 10 men during the war. We were excited to join celebrity ghost hunters on an investigation, including Steve Gonsalves from Ghost Hunters. While exploring the ship we had a startling experience of our own.

 

Date: January 5, 2019

Location: Wilmington, NC

Investigators: Chris, Matt

 

Location History

The USS North Carolina is a WWII battleship commissioned in 1941 that was involved in a number of military campaigns, including fights at Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. The ship lost 10 men during the war and survived a direct Japanese torpedo hit.

Today it rests along the Cape Fear River in Wilmington, NC as a floating museum where it is visited by a number of tourists looking to learn more about this military marvel. The ship is said to be haunted with everything from full-bodied apparitions to disembodied voices to objects being moved with no explanation.

Our Experience

Ghost Hunts USA hosted an overnight paranormal hunt on the ship with professional ghost hunting TV celebrities Steve Gonsalves from Ghost Hunters, and Chris Smith and Mike Goncalves from Tennessee Wraith Chasers. Ticket holders were given the opportunity to hunt alongside the celebrities.

Upon arrival, we were briefed about the ship and history and given a chance for some Q&A time with the TV personalities. The live aboard watchman shared some of his personal experiences including hearing footsteps and voices as well as seeing flickering lights.

Before being broken into groups to start our hunt, one of the Ghost Hunt USA hosts excitedly got our attention to share an experience she had just had. Apparently, she walked by a room and saw a blonde haired man inside. When she asked the watchman who was in that room, he reported that no one is in there. It was a locked room that is off limits to the public. She went back to check through the window again, and no one was in there. The watchman said there is often sightings of this blonde haired man reported by visitors.

We broke into 4 large groups of about 20 people each where we went off to explore the ship. We spent time in the engine room, the mess hall, the torpedo room, medical facility, as well as crew quarters. The TV Personalities were stationed in various areas so that each group had a chance to spend time hunting with them.

Unexplained Phenomena

Matt had one startling experience. The group and I were sitting around tables in the mess hall conducting an EVP session. Matt had wandered alone over to the far side of the room to stand in the doorway between the 2 main sections of the mess hall. With his audio recorder going, and headphones on to listen in live, there was a sudden loud bang right next to him. On audio we captured the bang, along with his startled exclamation of “what the?!” and then a second bang (which was his head hitting the low ceiling), before the room erupted in laughter.

What caused that first bang? We still don’t know. He was standing stock still when it happened and neither he nor I could recreate the sound when we tried.

Did we capture paranormal evidence?

Maybe. We captured a loud bang in which we could not pinpoint the source.