Ghost hunters searching Galveston submarine
WWII-era ship is a hunting ground for ‘paranormal activity’
GALVESTON — The USS Cavalla has been attracting a new kind of visitor: ghost hunters.
After hours, when all the other visitors have left, paranormal investigators have been setting up to record video and use other equipment to explore the submarine for activity that might be considered ghostly.
The ghost hunters were at work on a recent evening, but that wasn’t the first time paranormal investigations had used the Galveston Naval Museum as a hunting ground, the Galveston County Daily News reported. The museum on Pelican Island in turn uses the video images in advertising for a Halloween event it hosts every year, said Aubrey Flaherty, assistant curator at the museum.
But reactions to the investigations, which have taken over the World War II-era submarine for two weekends this month, have been mixed, Flaherty said.
Some people find it disrespectful to veterans and a mockery of the ships and their historical significance, she said. But the museum’s staff members, some of whom are veterans of war, don’t see it that way, Flaherty said.
The museum, which manages the Cavalla and the USS Stewart, is willing to try different things to draw traffic to its historical attractions, she said.
Annette Luevano of Texas Ghostly Gatherings claims they’ve identified something three times, such as dramatic drops in temperature, increased kinetic energy and unexpected sounds, like that of a dog barking.
Most things are subtler, she said.
“It’s not going to be like on TV where things are moving and there are loud voices,” Luevano said. “It’s not nearly as glamorous as people might think.”
Flaherty has never experienced anything she considers paranormal, and that’s OK with her.
“I’m here for the history aspect, not the paranormal aspect,” Flaherty said.