Park City Ghost Tours….

It’s that time again my friends, time to go out and participate in your local ghost tours! Most major cities offer them and they are a good way to learn a little bit more about local “hot spots”… They are a fun, and Non-threatening way to be a ghost hunter!!

Here is the information for the Park City Utah Ghost tour….

*Tours open every night 8:00 pm

*Call (435) 615-7673

*Meet at the Miners Park on Main Street (Across from the 421 Bistro)

Thank you to our friends at the Park City Ghost Tours (and tell them The Salt City Ghost Seekers sent you)!!!

Is My Home Haunted???

This is a question we get quite often, no one wants to jump to conclusions and declare a home haunted. The reality of paranormal activity is exciting for some, and terrifying for others. Here are some of the basic questions we ask people when confronted with this question…

Have you recently lost a family member or close friend?
Has anything like this happened before?
Do you seem to lose important items and they show up again later?
De pets (such as dogs or cats) avoid and seem afraid of certain areas of the home?
Do lights or televisions turn on and of by themselves?
Have you heard someone call your name when you are home alone?
Do you feel as though you are being watched?
Have members of the family used a Ouija board or similar items in the home?
Do photographs in the home appear with unexplained mists or orbs?

Is any member of your family involved with the occult or participated in any form of Satan worshiping?

Is your home built near any sort of cemetery, or otherwise sacred land?

Have there been any murders, or other dark activities take place in your home in the past?

These are just a few of the questions we will ask people when they think they might have something paranormal going on. If you answered yes to any or all of these questions then you might consider contacting a local paranormal investigator, or talking to your local clergy.

2011 Ghost Hunting Season

As the prime ghost hunting season is upon us our team is getting together to plot out our research areas. We will be returning to the old Miners Cemetery near Copperton, and we still have unfinished business at the Ft. Douglass Cemetery (last time out we experienced a total equipment failure due to a nasty electrical storm).

We are open for suggestions, that means YOU our faithful followers….(all 3 of you) Ha ha ha…If you know of any haunted spots in the Salt Lake area please feel free to send in your suggestions!

Jack-O-Lanterns

With our favorite holiday just around the corner we wanted to add a few fun posts about the season and its origins!

Here is some cool information about the Jack-o-Lanterns

A jack-o'-lantern is typically a carved pumpkin. It is associated chiefly with the holiday of Halloween and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called ignis fatuus or jack-o'-lantern. In a jack-o'-lantern, typically the top is cut off, and the inside flesh then scooped out; an image, usually a monstrous face, is carved onto the outside surface, and the lid replaced. At night, a light is placed inside to illuminate the effect. (Sources taken from Wikipedia)

• Since 1995, trick or treating in the town of Sandusky, Ohio, has been against the law for anyone older then 14.


• Pumpkins originated in Central America.


• It is very rare for a full moon to occur at the same time as Halloween. It has only occurred in - 1925, 1944, 1955, and 1974. The next time it is said to occur is 31 October, 2020.


• Pumpkin seeds can be roasted as a snack.
• The word Halloween appeared in the Dictionary in the 1700s.


• Eighty percent of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available in October.


• Dunking for apples arose from a practice of divining the future. It was believed that if you could hold an apple between your teeth you would have a fulfilling romance with whomever you choose.


• The name pumpkin originated from "pepon" – the Greek word for "large melon."


• According to ancient superstitions, if you stare into a mirror at midnight on Halloween, you'll see your future spouse.


• Colonists sliced off pumpkin tips; removed seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. This was baked in hot ashes and is the origin of pumpkin pie.


• The pumpkin is one of the best sources of Vitamin A.

Can an Object be Haunted?

This is a question we have been asked many times before, and the answer is YES…. The inanimate object in and of itself is not haunted, but it is referred to as a “Trigger Object”. A trigger object can be anything associated with a deceased person that is used to catch the attention of that entity.

These items can be, keys, toys, coins, photos, anything….There have been documented cases where a trigger object (such as a stuffed animal) was placed in a room and that object was seen moving. There is also a case where a ball was placed in a hallway and the ball was also moved from its original location.

Some trigger objects are not so innocent and can attract entities that don’t just want to roll the ball… In some cases these trigger objects have been known to attract poltergeists, and have also ushered in other entities besides the one attached to the trigger object.

IF you think you might posses an object that is triggering paranormal activity, try getting it out of your house for a while. Give it to a friend to hold, or put it in a safe deposit box at your local bank. See if getting rid of the object stops the activity.

What is a Poltergeist???

Poltergeist is the German word for ‘Noisy Ghost’. . Poltergeist manifestations can include (but not always) inanimate object being thrown or moved around a room, knocking, pounding, or banging noises. In VERY RARE cases the person witnessing the event has been physically attacked.

Because the study of the paranormal has no conclusive scientific explanation of this event..(And there are many who do not believe these events even occur) it is difficult to say why and how this phenomenon occurs. Some studies indicate that the troublesome spirit is trying to make contact with a particular person and is doing it in the only way they know how. Other studies suggest that these entities are simply mischievous spirits who like to scare the living.

One study that I have found to be rather interesting suggests that a poltergeist is brought on by the individual experiencing it. Through prolonged periods of unresolved or repressed stress the individual is allowing their negative energy to be used by the entity to fuel its ability to manifest. Often times when the individual seeks counseling (or other forms of help to relive this stress) the reported poltergeist activity stops.

In most reported cases the activity will only last from 1 to 6 weeks and then it will just stop. Once again (as stated before) due to the lack of scientific explanation all we can do is continue to study these cases and hop that one day science can help up understand why these things happen, and how to control the situation.

Your feedback is always welcome!!!

And the Plot Doth Thicken

Hold on to your EMF detectors, ghost seekers!

SCGS is continually trying to follow up on previous investigations. One of the investigations that has puzzled us has been the Fort Douglas Cemetery. There is a section of the cemetery where 12 German POWs are buried. We were unable to find out what happened...until now.

While looking at our new favorite website, we found the death certificates of some of the men killed on July 8, 1945. They all say that they died due to gunshot wounds. All were ruled as "Accidental", but later on, someone went in and underlined "Homicide". Double click on the image to make it bigger and easier to read.

Upon a little further investigation, we found that all of these men were killed in what is known as the Salina POW Massacre. According to Wikipedia:

The Salina, Utah, Prisoners of War massacre caused the death of nine German prisoners of war and the injury of 20 more.

The incident happened on the night of July 7–July 8, 1945, two months after the German surrender. Private Clarence V. Bertucci (September 14, 1921 - December 1969) returned to the camp from a night of drinking, and relieved the guard of the tower nearest the commanding officer's cabin. He proceeded to load and fire a .30 caliber machine gun into the German prisoners' tents. Within thirty seconds of the start, his belt of 250 rounds was expended. Nine were killed and 20 were injured.

Salina was the home of some 250 German prisoners of war (both from Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS) who were being used as workers on the local harvest. At the time of the incident the prisoners were waiting to be repatriated.

Bertucci was from New Orleans, Louisiana and had previously been convicted twice by court-martial for minor military discipline infractions; hence he was still a private even though he had enlisted in 1940. Due to his mental illness Bertucci spent some time at a New York mental institution. He was one of three Americans prosecuted for killing Axis POW's: the other two were related to the 1943 Biscari massacres in Italy. Bertucci died in December 1969.

This puts a new twist to the story. This story was so big that Times Magazine even did an article about it in 1945. We will be heading back to Fort Douglas soon to reopen this case and see if we can visit with the men that were killed under undeserved circumstances.