Is the Gettysburg Hotel Really Haunted? Reviewing Exploring With Angelo’s Ghost Hunt

Hello, spooky cats!

We’re back in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and this time I’m reviewing another paranormal investigation at a location I’ve actually investigated myself: the Gettysburg Hotel.

The video comes from Exploring With Angelo, a paranormal YouTube channel I had seen mentioned on several debunking channels but had never really watched for myself.

That made this one especially interesting.

Would the investigation be ridiculously sensational?

Would they capture something we missed?

Would the Gettysburg Hotel suddenly become a paranormal circus for them after being relatively quiet when we stayed there?

There was only one way to find out.

So let’s examine the evidence.

Our Own Investigation of the Gettysburg Hotel

We stayed at the Gettysburg Hotel ourselves, although our suite was in a different section of the property than the room shown in Angelo’s video.

Our investigation was fairly quiet.

One of the more interesting things we captured involved our SLS camera. We keep the SLS stationary rather than walking around with it because movement can cause the system to constantly remap objects.

During our investigation, the camera produced what looked like a small humanoid figure beside me.

Interesting?

Absolutely.

Ghost?

Probably not.

There was a stool beside me, and my suspicion is that the SLS simply misidentified part of the furniture as a human-shaped figure.

That’s a common problem with this kind of technology. An SLS camera doesn’t detect ghosts. It attempts to recognize human-like shapes.

Sometimes a stool apparently looks more human than I do.

We also experimented with one of the paranormal apps during our stay, which at one point dramatically informed us that:

“The devil is here.”

I’m sure the devil has nothing better to do than hang around our Gettysburg hotel room waiting for us to turn on an app.

The Ghost Stories of the Gettysburg Hotel

One of the ghosts commonly associated with the Gettysburg Hotel is said to be a nurse.

According to the story, she sometimes wanders the hotel and has reportedly been blamed for things such as opening drawers and rummaging through guests’ belongings.

We didn’t experience anything like that.

No mysterious drawers.

No shadow figures.

No spectral nurse reorganizing our luggage.

The hotel was actually surprisingly quiet during our stay.

That doesn't mean nobody has experienced something strange there. It simply means our own investigation didn't give us convincing evidence of a haunting.

Would Angelo have better luck?

The Investigation Begins in Room 205

Angelo and his friend began their investigation in Room 205.

They immediately started setting up several pieces of paranormal equipment, including cat balls, a REM-style device, an EMF meter, temperature equipment, an SLS camera, and the Necrophonic app.

And activity seemed to begin almost immediately.

One of the devices reacted.

Then there was reportedly a temperature change.

Then more electronic activity.

That sounds impressive until we look at the environment.

The Problem With EMF Equipment in a Working Hotel

One of the investigators was using a cell phone close to the equipment.

That's important.

Devices designed to react to electromagnetic changes can potentially respond to perfectly normal electronics.

And this wasn't an abandoned building.

The Gettysburg Hotel is a functioning hotel.

Guests have phones.

There is Wi-Fi.

There is electrical wiring.

Hotel employees may use radios or walkie-talkies.

Maintenance workers have equipment.

There are televisions, chargers, appliances, elevators, and countless other potential sources of electromagnetic interference.

So when an EMF device activates in a hotel room, my first question isn't:

“Which ghost is here?”

It's:

“What electronic source is nearby?”

Before calling an EMF spike paranormal, we need a baseline measurement of the room and ideally a way to monitor what ordinary devices are operating nearby.

Temperature Changes Aren't Automatically Ghosts Either

They also reported changes in temperature.

Cold spots are one of the oldest paranormal claims.

But temperature is another environmental measurement that can change for plenty of boring reasons.

Air conditioning.

Drafts.

Heating systems.

Windows.

Exterior walls.

Air circulation.

People moving around.

Even the placement of the sensor matters.

So a changing temperature may be worth documenting, but saying:

“The temperature changed, so something must be coming into the room”

is jumping several steps ahead.

First we need to determine what caused the temperature change.

If every normal explanation fails, then we have something interesting.

Enter Necrophonic

The investigators then began using Necrophonic, a paranormal communication app.

I actually own Necrophonic now and plan to experiment with it myself.

So far, however, I've had the same basic problem with it that I have with many paranormal communication devices.

I don't hear much.

People using these apps frequently interpret vague audio fragments as specific words.

But if I have to be told what something supposedly said before I can hear it, I'm not convinced that we've captured clear communication.

That doesn't mean I won't test it.

Quite the opposite.

I want to test these devices because so many paranormal investigators use them.

But I want to know whether they produce significantly different results in haunted locations compared with ordinary control locations.

If Necrophonic gives me creepy answers in a haunted hotel and gives me equally creepy answers in my living room, that's useful information.

Just probably not useful information for the ghosts.

Strange Smells in the Hotel

During the investigation, Angelo and his friend also noticed an unusual smell that reminded them of something old or antique.

Phantom smells are a common part of paranormal stories.

People report perfume, tobacco, flowers, smoke, and all sorts of scents supposedly associated with spirits.

And I've experienced something similar myself.

But smells are difficult evidence.

Historic buildings contain old furniture, carpets, wood, ventilation systems, cleaning products, fabrics, and decades of accumulated odors.

A smell appearing suddenly might be unusual.

It isn't automatically paranormal.

I'd want to know whether it returned.

Where was it strongest?

Did both investigators describe it independently?

Was the heating or air conditioning running?

Could it be traced to furniture or another part of the building?

Again, interesting experience.

Not proof of a ghost.

Leaving the Gettysburg Hotel for Sachs Covered Bridge

Later in the video, Angelo left the hotel and traveled to Sachs Covered Bridge, another famous Gettysburg paranormal location.

We've investigated Sachs Bridge ourselves.

And there's one important legend that I researched after hearing it repeated over and over.

The story claims that three Confederate soldiers were hanged from the bridge.

It's a wonderfully creepy ghost story.

The problem?

I couldn't find evidence that it actually happened.

That doesn't mean Sachs Bridge couldn't be haunted.

Gettysburg saw tremendous death and suffering, and the bridge is surrounded by battlefield history.

But the famous hanging story appears to be folklore rather than documented history.

And that distinction matters.

If paranormal investigators repeatedly tell a tragic story that never happened, eventually viewers begin treating folklore as fact.

Ghost hunting should involve historical research too.

Equipment Failure at Sachs Bridge

While exploring the bridge, Angelo's light suddenly shut off.

This was treated as potentially strange.

But photography and video equipment fail.

I've worked with photography equipment for years.

Batteries lose charge.

Connections become loose.

Lights overheat.

Contacts get dirty.

Electronics occasionally decide they hate us.

It happens.

A light turning off unexpectedly is frustrating.

But before blaming a Confederate ghost, I'd replace the battery and check the connection.

Ghosts are further down the troubleshooting list.

Shadows in the Woods

Angelo also reported seeing strange movement and what appeared to be a black shadow approaching him.

Again, Sachs Bridge is surrounded by woods.

There are animals.

There are deer.

There are other people.

There are nearby homes.

And he's standing outside in darkness with limited visibility.

Peripheral vision is particularly unreliable in low light.

Our eyes are excellent at detecting movement but much worse at identifying exactly what created that movement.

Something moving in the edge of your vision can become incredibly creepy when you're already standing alone at a supposedly haunted Civil War bridge.

That doesn't mean he imagined seeing movement.

It means we don't know what moved.

The Bridge Was Creaking

At one point, Angelo heard noises that sounded almost as though someone might be walking on the bridge.

Could that have been interesting?

Sure.

But Sachs Bridge is made largely of wood.

Wood moves.

It expands.

It contracts.

It creaks.

People also visit the area frequently, and nearby residents or other visitors could have been moving around outside his view.

There was also significant water noise nearby, making quiet sounds more difficult to identify accurately.

Without another camera covering the surrounding area, there was no way to know exactly what caused the sounds.

So again:

Unidentified noise?

Yes.

Ghost footsteps?

Not enough evidence.

Gettysburg Battlefield After Dark

The investigation eventually moved to another area around the Gettysburg battlefield.

Angelo described the atmosphere as extremely creepy and reported hearing various noises.

He also mentioned something that is absolutely true about the reputation of Gettysburg:

People report ghosts everywhere.

Gettysburg has apparition stories, battlefield sounds, shadow figures, soldiers, strange lights, and other paranormal claims scattered throughout the area.

Even walking through town comes with ghost stories.

And that's exactly why Gettysburg can be a difficult place to investigate objectively.

When You Expect Ghosts, Everything Becomes More Ghostly

Expectation matters.

If you're standing in your backyard at midnight and hear an animal moving through the bushes, you probably think:

Raccoon.

Stand on the Gettysburg battlefield after dark and hear exactly the same noise?

Suddenly it's:

Civil War soldier crawling through the woods.

That's human psychology.

We interpret ambiguous information using the context around us.

Gettysburg provides one gigantic paranormal context.

You've heard the stories before you arrive.

You know thousands of people died there.

You're standing in darkness.

You're actively looking for a ghost.

Your brain is primed.

That's why controls matter so much in paranormal investigations.

Gettysburg Has Been Collecting Ghost Stories for a Long Time

One interesting point mentioned during the video was the idea that Gettysburg ghost stories didn't begin recently.

Stories have circulated for generations about strange soldiers, phantom figures, and unusual battlefield encounters.

That historical depth makes Gettysburg fascinating.

But longevity doesn't prove the paranormal explanation.

A story being old tells us that people have been telling it for a long time.

It doesn't automatically tell us what originally happened.

Still, it's one reason I keep going back.

Gettysburg has enough specific paranormal claims that we can actually attempt to test some of them.

Back at the Hotel: The Ouija Board

Later, Angelo and his friend returned to the Gettysburg Hotel and brought out a Ouija board.

I used to experiment with Ouija boards too.

I don't use them much anymore for paranormal investigations because I think the most likely explanation for their movement is the ideomotor effect—small unconscious muscle movements made by the people touching the planchette.

The obvious test is simple.

Remove the people.

If the board works because a ghost is physically moving the planchette, then theoretically it shouldn't require human hands.

But without people touching it?

Nothing happens.

Some believers say spirits need human energy to move the planchette.

Maybe.

But that explanation conveniently makes the experiment impossible to separate from unconscious human movement.

So personally, I don't consider Ouija boards strong paranormal evidence.

They're great for spooky atmosphere.

Evidence?

Not so much.

The Estes Method

The investigators then attempted the Estes Method.

In this experiment, one participant listens to spirit-box audio through noise-canceling headphones while being isolated from the questions asked by another investigator.

The goal is to prevent the listener from consciously tailoring responses to the questions.

We've experimented with the Estes Method ourselves, and I think it's more interesting than a standard spirit-box session because at least it attempts to introduce some separation between the question and answer.

But there's still a major problem.

The listener is hearing constant random audio fragments.

With enough questions and enough random words, coincidences are inevitable.

For the Estes Method to become really compelling, we need specific responses that would be difficult to produce by chance.

“Who Is in Danger?”

During their Estes session, one response reportedly included the word:

“Danger.”

The natural follow-up question was essentially:

“Who is in danger?”

Then the listener responded:

“You.”

That sounds dramatic.

But there's a problem.

These investigators know each other.

If someone hears the word “danger,” it isn't difficult to predict the type of question likely to follow.

“Who?”

“Am I in danger?”

“Is my friend in danger?”

Those are obvious next questions.

This is why I'd like to see a genuinely double-blind Estes experiment.

The listener doesn't know the questions.

The questioner can't hear the responses.

Everything is time-coded.

Then the two recordings are synchronized afterward.

That would make an accurate answer significantly harder to explain through normal conversational prediction.

Lots of Activity From Devices That Don't Prove Ghosts

That was ultimately my impression of much of this investigation.

There was activity.

Lights flashed.

Apps produced sounds.

Meters changed.

Devices responded.

But none of those devices have been scientifically demonstrated to detect ghosts.

An EMF meter detects electromagnetic fields.

A temperature sensor detects temperature.

An SLS system maps shapes.

A phone app produces audio.

A Ouija board moves under human hands.

Each device may produce something interesting.

The real question is:

What caused it?

That's where the investigation needs to begin—not end.

Did Exploring With Angelo Capture Evidence at the Gettysburg Hotel?

Based on the sections I watched?

I don't think so.

To be fair, we skipped through parts of the original video, so this isn't a frame-by-frame analysis of every second of their investigation.

But from what I saw, they didn't capture anything more convincing than we did when we stayed at the Gettysburg Hotel.

The EMF activity had possible electronic contamination.

The temperature changes lacked environmental controls.

Necrophonic produced ambiguous responses.

The equipment failures had ordinary technical explanations.

The sounds at Sachs Bridge could easily have come from the wooden structure, wildlife, water, or other people.

The Ouija board didn't produce evidence I would consider reliable.

And the Estes Method responses weren't specific enough to eliminate coincidence.

Interestingly, Angelo wasn't nearly as sensational as I expected based on some of the commentary I'd previously seen about his channel.

I disagreed with several interpretations, but I didn't come away thinking every single event was being declared undeniable proof of ghosts.

Is the Gettysburg Hotel Haunted?

After watching this investigation and comparing it with our own stay, I'm still undecided about the Gettysburg Hotel.

There are ghost stories.

There are reports of a nurse apparition.

Guests reportedly experience cold spots, shadows, strange sounds, and other unusual events.

We captured an interesting SLS figure, although I think it was probably the camera mapping a stool.

But neither investigation gave me anything I would consider convincing evidence.

That doesn't mean the hotel isn't haunted.

It means we haven't demonstrated that it is.

And those are very different statements.

Gettysburg Keeps Us Coming Back

Gettysburg remains one of my favorite places to investigate because there are so many paranormal claims packed into such a small area.

Hotels.

Battlefields.

Bridges.

Historic homes.

Restaurants.

Entire streets.

If ghosts exist, Gettysburg seems like exactly the kind of place where we should eventually capture something compelling.

But being surrounded by ghost stories also means we need to be even more skeptical.

Every creak can't be a soldier.

Every EMF spike can't be a nurse.

Every shadow can't be an apparition.

And every creepy word produced by an app definitely isn't the devil dropping by for a visit.

So did Angelo find ghosts at the Gettysburg Hotel?

Not that I saw.

Did he find enough interesting activity to make me want to keep investigating Gettysburg?

Absolutely.

The search continues.

Stay spooky, cats.