Sunday, February 21, 2010

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY - GILMANTON IRON WORKS, NH


PARANORMAL ACTIVITY - GILMANTON IRON WORKS, NH
                                                              - Donna DiPietro

This is the first house I may have unintentionally caused paranormal activity to occur. My Cousin Bill Krug was an artist who worked for an advertising agency near Laconia, New Hampshire. He was fascinated by the paranormal and loved telling his younger cousins ghost stories as we sat around his living room in the evenings. He was a member of a local acting group and we often took turns reading parts from play manuscripts. My family and I visited Bill and his mother, our dear Aunt Kit, several times a year and we always had a great time. Aunt Kit was the most loving and generous person I ever met. Bill, on the other hand, had a somewhat somber ‘Vincent Price’ similarity. He even looked like Vincent Price and had the same deep hearty laugh. On one of our visits, Bill brought me to the advertising agency where he worked and introduced me to Karen, one of his colleagues. Karen was also interested in the paranormal and had heard from Bill that I was psychic. Karen, her husband Tom and their two children lived in an antique house in Gilmanton Iron Works, New Hampshire, across the street from an old cemetery. Part of the house was built in the late 1700s and an addition was added a century later. (Gilmanton Iron Works was where Grace Metalious, the author of the scandalous novel ‘Peyton Place’, lived with her husband and children when her husband worked as a principal at one of the town’s schools; and she used Gilmanton Iron Works as the town model for Peyton Place.) Karen invited Bill and me to dinner at the house and to test my psychic skills. After dinner and general conversation, Karen, Bill and I moved to the family room and sat at a rectangular-shaped wooden table that had two benches, one on each side. Karen’s husband Tom was a skeptic and preferred observing from his easy chair across the room.  Karen and Bill sat opposite me and they took turns writing words on pieces of paper. One of them would write a word, show it to the other, then fold up the paper and concentrate on the word to see if I could tell them what the word was. For some reason I could never ‘see’ what Bill wrote, but if he showed the word to Karen and she concentrated on it – I would read her mind and tell them what the word was. It was interesting and showed that Karen and I were telepathically connected. I then took a large piece of paper and printed out the letters of the alphabet and the numbers 0 through 9 and printed the word ‘Yes’ in the top right corner and the word ‘No’ in the top left corner. I asked Karen for a piece of heavy thread and something I could use for a pendulum. She found a large marble-like bead and I put the thread through the hole in the bead, pulled it so that the thread was about eight inches long, and made a knot at the end. I held the thread with the bead over the paper and we started asking questions to see if anything would happen. We each took turns with the pendulum but I had the most luck in getting results. I said that if the pendulum swung a certain way we should follow to where it leads, and if it stops on a letter or number or ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to wait and see if it circles around that object. It was amazing that it actually worked. At that time it was all fascinating entertainment and really nothing more. We did not understand any of it and why it worked – it just did. The pendulum swung and circled the letters, numbers, ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ to reveal many facts about people and things that only Karen knew and somehow I was the one spelling out these facts with the pendulum. I know now that I was reading Karen’s mind and probably moving the pendulum myself to spell out what I was picking up from Karen. We had a fun and interesting evening and Bill and I said good-night to Karen and Tom.


I was back home in Boston a few days later when Bill called. He said Karen related to him that unusual activity was now occurring at the house. Doors opened and closed on their own, lights went off and on without anyone near a light switch, and in three of the rooms - drawers opened, and objects taken out, seemingly by invisible hands, and strewn around. This continued for many weeks and was very frightening to Karen, Tom and their children. Apparently, we stirred up a form of energy in the house that we did not intend to activate. It was all good-natured and at the time I did not understand nor expect that what I did was anything extraordinary. I just thought it may be something scientific and there was a logical explanation that would be revealed in the future. I did not understand telepathy until years later when I came to the conclusion that it does exist and I know this for a fact. I experience it every day and it is a normal part of my life. If it does exist, then there is a logical explanation for it. This made me more accepting of my gift and open to psychic expression.  Unfortunately, the paranormal activity at Karen’s and Tom’s house became so unbearable that they eventually had to sell it. Aunt Kit and Cousin Bill passed away in 1977 and I have not had contact with Karen or her family since. I will always remember that evening as something not to be taken for granted. It was a learning experience for a student of the paranormal and I realize I must always tread with caution and expect the unexpected.

7 comments:

  1. Dear Donna,
    While I was reading this story I felt like I was a part of it and I'm still thinking about it. Your writing is so descriptive that it makes me feel that I'm experiencing the actual events. I can't wait to tell people to read your blog. This is something very unique.
    Eleanor

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  2. It's about time someone wrote about this subject in a serious way. I've had many strange things happen to me but I didn't know who to contact. Now at least someone is writing about these things with a positive helpful attitude.
    Jill

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  3. Thanks for sharing your stories. I can't wait for the next one.

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  4. I enjoy your stories. Thank you.
    Ed

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  5. Hi Donna,
    I can't wait for your next story - keep them coming - a friend found this blog accidently, and now we're hooked.
    Jodie L.

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  6. The story is great. It's so interesting that you write about the paranormal in such a normal way that it makes me think about it and want to learn more.
    Ben

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  7. I live in G.I.W. it has quite a reputation on many levels. With so many old home I am sure we could keep you quite busy!

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