Luann Jolly and Gabrielle Lawson, cofounders of the paranormal research group, Whaling City Ghosts, have recorded voices at Ananwan Rock speaking Wampanoag words meaning “friend” and “kinsmen.” They also captured a voice speaking in English. One cold night in February, as the two ladies were approaching the rock from the parking lot, Luann reminded Gabrielle to be very careful and avoid injury in the dark. At that moment, their audio recorder captured a voice saying, “Here we go.” When I heard this audio clip, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the trapped spirit of a militiaman, moving in on Ananwan and his men for all eternity.
That very same evening, Gabrielle Lawson videotaped balls of light moving past her while she was standing at the top of the rock. There was no wind that night and the weather was dry and cold. Whatever the orbs were, they could not have been snowflakes, and they certainly were not flying insects. The big shock of that night came towards the end of their investigation when Luann Jolly saw the figure of a man standing only a few feet away from her. Luann told me she only saw him briefly, but there was enough ambient light to make out the detail of his garments. She is certain the figure was an American Indian. Even though she cannot prove it, Luann’s gut feeling tells her that it was Anawan’s ghost.
On the evening of August 31, 2008, Matt Moniz of Spooky Southcoast Radio and I conducted our own investigation of Ananwan Rock. The first strange thing that occurred that night was a ball of light I saw hovering in the air behind the rock. It disappeared as soon as my mind acknowledged that it was there. I said nothing to Matt. A few minutes later, Matt saw the same floating orb himself. I asked him where he saw it and he pointed his flashlight beam to the exact same spot as my sighting.
Then Matt asked me to stand next to him and look out into the swamp. I saw nothing at first, but then I was astounded by the unmistakable sight of firelight flickering on the underside of the forest canopy. The light was fleeting, but anyone who has sat around a campfire knows what firelight looks like when it illuminates the underside of the leaves on the trees above. There was no visible light source that could have created this effect. We kept an eye out for it throughout the night, but never saw the firelight again.
The third thing that happened on our vigil really shook us up. Matt and I were standing only a few feet apart with our backs to one another. That August night was quite warm and there was no breeze to speak of. All of a sudden, the air between us became as cold as ice. It felt like someone had walked right between us, turning our skin into gooseflesh. Later Matt and I laughed as we recalled the looks on our faces at the very moment we turned around to face each other, not knowing what we were going to see.
Spotlight On: The Freetown State Forest Freetown, Massachusetts
The Freetown State Forest is a place well steeped in legends about devil-worshipping cults, gangster slayings, zombies, supernatural beings, and ghosts. My good friend Christopher Balzano has extensively researched the dark tales of the Freetown area and the state forest itself. On an afternoon in the spring of 2008, I met with Christopher at the forest’s main entrance, and he gave me a guided tour of the most haunted places there. We were also there to meet up with Ron Kolek and members of his New England Ghost Project team for an investigation that night.
The first place Christopher brought to my attention was a spot called Profile Rock, located right off of Slab Bridge Road. The rock has a natural formation in the shape of the profile of a man’s face. It is said that the local Wampanoags believed it resembled their great sachem, Massasoit. His son, Metacomet, would go there often to meditate and commune with his late father’s spirit. Many hikers and mountain bikers use the paths around this part of the forest, and Christopher Balzano has interviewed some who have seen the ghost of a Native American on top of the rock.
From there, we drove to an area called the Reservation, located near the entrance of State Forest Road. On the way there, Christopher pointed out Copicut Road to me. He said that there are stories about a mad trucker who appears out of nowhere and hassles people driving along the road. This crazed phantom pulls up close to their car’s rear bumper, honking his horn and flashing his lights as if he is in a desperate hurry. The mad trucker then disappears without a trace.
We turned onto State Forest Road (off of Bell Rock Road) and parked at a small, dirt lot. The Reservation is an area set aside for the Wampanoags to hold their yearly meetings and spiritual powwows. Christopher has talked to people from all walks of life that have seen ghosts in and around the vicinity of the Reservation. One common thread in all their tales was that the witnesses did not feel threatened by any of these spirits.
A middle-aged couple very interested in Native American history and customs visited the Reservation in the summer of 2000. When they got out of their car, they heard the sound of drums coming from the forest where the Wampanoags hold their meetings. The couple assumed that there was a powwow in progress and decided to walk into the woods in the direction of the drums. They saw no one as they approached the meeting area. What they saw instead were five human sized columns of what looked like smoke or storm clouds, positioned motionless in the corner of the covered picnic pavilion. Even though they felt privileged to see such a sight, they thought it best to leave quietly.
Christopher spoke to a young woman who would sometimes go to the Reservation to pray, meditate, and practice Wicca. One afternoon while assembling an altar out of branches and other natural materials, she felt the sensation of being watched. When this feeling became too much for her, she went through the procedures needed to properly close down her altar. As soon as the young woman finished and started to leave, she caught sight of a teenaged boy skipping silently over the grass. He was wearing only a pair of pants; but stranger still, he was glowing a light green color. The strange boy stopped, looked right at her, and smiled. He then turned away and faded into thin air.
Before heading to our next haunted destination, The Assonet Ledge, Ron Kolek and members of his paranormal group arrived and assembled at the Reservation. They were hoping to capture evidence of the supernatural creatures that are said to inhabit the forest. The Wampanoags call them Puckwudgies. They are troll-like beasties that use balls of light called Tei-Pai-Wankas to lure unsuspecting victims to their doom. Ron and his team chose to walk through the forest under the light of the full moon while Christopher and I decided to take my four-by-four to the Assonet Ledge and meet them there.
The Assonet Ledge is an old, disused quarry located deep in the forest at the end of State Forest Road. The New England Ghost Project team was using a GPS unit to find the ledge as they walked along deer trails that paralleled the dirt road on which Christopher and I drove. Our two parties stayed in touch with hand-held radios. Shortly after Christopher and I arrived at the base of the quarry we tried to radio Ron’s party. What we got back over the radio was something about their psychic, Maureen Wood, being attacked by an elemental.
While we waited for them to arrive at the old quarry, Christopher told me about the ghost that is often seen standing at the top of the Assonet Ledge. Known as “The Lady of the Ledge,” this sad female ghost is thought to be a suicide victim who jumped to her death with a broken heart. Though this cannot be confirmed, there are many known suicides and accidental deaths at the Assonet Ledge. In the early 1990s, our friend Matt Moniz saw this ghost and thought she was a real, flesh-and-blood person. Matt had arrived at the top of the quarry right before sunset to do some stargazing with a few friends of his. As he walked out on the ledge, he noticed a woman in a white dress standing only a few yards off to his left. Matt turned around and told his friends that they weren’t alone, and when he turned back, the woman was gone. There was no sound of a splash from the deep pool below, and the water was as smooth as glass when Matt looked over the edge. His friends stared at him for a moment and then explained that he had just seen “The Lady of The Ledge.”
When the New England Ghost Project finally arrived at the base of the Assonet Ledge, they told Christopher and me about the encounter they had in the forest. Their psychic, Maureen, had sensed an evil presence stalking them through the woods.
