A swelteringly humid July evening saw the return of the GHOST PRO team to Poinsett Bridge in northern Greenville County. Though only six months had passed since the site had been initially investigated, a lot of changes had occurred for the group. New members had joined the family and others had departed, choosing to follow other paths. Photos and EVP from the former visit only tweaked the desire of the ones who hadn't been there to experience it for themselves. On a rare Friday afternoon when everyone was able to sneak away from other demands on time and attention, the team met early enough to get in a photo shoot before settling down to business. (By the way, you'll be seeing the best of the best from the session on our websites soon!)

Since the history of the bridge was covered in the original investigative posting, there is really no need to go back over it, but if you are unfamiliar with the background or any of the legends associated with Poinsett Bridge, you may read the article here.  A reorganized GHOSTRO team wasn't the only change since December. Rather than below-freezing temperatures and a chill nipping at the nose, a full-blown southern summer held sway. Even as sunset approached, the thermometer stayed in the mid-nineties and perspiration made clothing cling like a wet cocoon. In winter a biting wind had whistled through bare-limbed trees, but any hoped-for freshening breezes failed to stir so much as a leaf that evening. The only relief from the heat came when we inadvertently -- and deliberately -- splashed in the tiny cool stream flowing beneath the arch.

While GHOST PRO was on site, a group of sightseers dropped in and returned later in the night with a few more friends so that the ladies with them might have a chance of seeing a slave's ghost hanging from the bridge. After just a few minutes' absence they came dutifully shrieking back up the trail, with  loud exclamations of having witnessed something most horrible and dire "down there" in the dark. As none of the GHOST PRO team had gone with them, we have only their word for it, but during the nearly five hours we spent there, nothing of equivalent import cared to reveal itself to any of the investigators. While nerves calmed within a friendly circle of light, the visitors chatted briefly and shared their versions of the stories which was "what they had always heard" about the location.

The variations of the murdered slave story and the slave and/or Indian labor gangs the GHOST PRO team was already familiar with, but one statement alleging dozens of dead workers' bodies being dumped in among the stones of the bridge while under construction, this investigator must respectfully disagree with.

Charlton Heston as Moses in the epic movie The Ten Commandments correctly observed, "Blood makes for a poor mortar." Logic dictates that any great numbers of bodies so disposed of, would upon decomposition, leave sizable voids in the underlying foundation, and therefore compromise the structural integrity to the point that the bridge would not be standing after 190 years. Further, neither the bridge nor its approaches from either side are sufficiently of breadth or depth to accommodate dozens of bodies without discovery. There is no external evidence of depressions or bulging stones or displaced weight pressure to presume any sort of internal shifting as human fill eventually returned to clay and stones ground the bones to powder. One need only observe the massive natural blocks of stone just a few hundred feet downstream that had been cut and quarried during the construction to conclude where the bulk of building material came from. Bodies buried in the bridge are very unlikely, though unmarked graves among the surrounding hillsides are a distinct possibility. This, of course, is the underlying theory that supposes the cause of the area's reports of unexplained lights, though the visitors also imparted their tale of a demon horse with fiery red eyes to account for that particular mystery. I must admit that the story was a new one for the team, but while we did encounter strange lights that night, no one mentioned hearing or seeing a phantom devil steed charging about.

The phenomena GHOST PRO members, both individually and as a group, did witness and could not find reasonable means for explanation were several instances of a faint blue glowing ethereal patch of light. It exhibited all the characteristics of a "will-o'-the-wisp" or faerie fire. Not large in total area, it appeared to be between twelve to sixteen inches in height, and no more than half that in width. It flickered in and out of sight even as all watched it. Two members had maneuvered themselves so as to view it from a different vantage point when it slowly began to approach them. Citing discretion above confrontation, they quickly abandoned their positions and returned to the secure safety of the team. An immediate physical search of the area where the phenomena had been spotted failed to turn up anything of cause, and a close daylight survey of the same ground had not revealed any reflective foreign objects nor decomposing vegetation that would produce the natural luminosity known as foxfire.

Notably absent this visit were the light anomalies witnessed in December. At that time single pinpoints of red and white light had been seen in the woods on both sides of the road. Perhaps the variance of temperature or other atmospheric differences between the two seasons may explain the lack thereof, but the only things flickering in the surrounding trees in July were very active fireflies. Several of those happy little insects made their way into photographs taken during the evening, but are easily and definitely distinguishable from the many orbs that were present once again. Despite the dryness that allowed dust particles to be kicked up, negating any substantial pictorial proof of paranormal activity, at least half a dozen photos taken at various times showed a unique and consistent alignment of three orbs. The odds of getting three dust particles to line up in a straight row once must be low, to do so twice, slim indeed, three times, positively miniscule, but to repeat the same positioning in six separate and random shots must defeat all calculations. Accordingly, GHOST PRO has opted to call those particular orbs "The Three Guardians". This christening seems appropriate as an EVP was digitally captured in response to a question posed to any entities present about the significance of the bridge . The reply was "Guarding". That may be interpreted in a number of ways, but as there appears to be absolutely no malevolent energies in residence, the team accepts it as a sign of a benign stewardship. Just precisely by who or what and from when are yet open to debate.

Mariel repeated her good fortune from December of obtaining the shot of the night when she photographed a spectacular vortex. Her excellent reflexes enabled her to capture the anomaly as she saw it occur. Looking very much like a lightening strike, the vivid and clearly defined zigzag flash descended from above and ended at waist-level above the ground in front of another team member. Despite every attempt to "debunk" the photo by calling into question each possible aspect of the picture including angle, orientation, subject position and likely source of light, five of six investigators stand firmly united in agreement as to the circumstances of the moment. The remaining member, myself, does not dispute the facts, yet can not corroborate them. It happened right in front of me and I didn't see or feel a thing out of the ordinary!

As the night grew deeper and our clothing more clammy, the GHOST PRO team decided that we had disturbed the guardian spirits enough for one day. While packing in our gear we compared both group and individual experiences. For those who had been there previously, our belief in the "something" we'd encountered before was reaffirmed, and for those who had not, they were now properly acquainted with the serene mystery of one of our favorite GHOST PRO investigation sites.   ~~LadyJEM  8/7/09