Gibraltar POint Lighthouse
Toronto Island, Ont.
June 8, 2018

​The sun was shining, the water was calm, and the tunes were cranked as we left the shores of the Toronto mainland and headed towards the island.  This was not our normal mode of transportation, but it was the one of the best.  We were headed straight for Gibraltar Point Lighthouse aboard the Tiki Taxi, with Abner at the wheel.  Abner was a gracious chauffer and shared his knowledge of the island and the ghost story that lied ahead.  We rounded the corner and there stood the lighthouse – a 210-year-old structure that has withstood the hands of time.  A structure that has a 206-year-old ghost story, or legend as it is known as, attached to it.  We disembarked, waving good bye to Abner and headed towards the lighthouse.  Here, we would meet up with our lovely hosts for the evening, Warren and Sherry.

​Built in 1808, the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse was originally 25 feet from the shore.  It was accompanied by a wood house that would be the home to the Light house keeper and their family (this building has long been gone).  The lighthouse keeper would be responsible for notifying the harbour master of incoming ships by raising flags.  The first light house keeper, John Paul Radelmuller, didn’t last too long at his job.  This was not by his own doing, but by the hands of a couple individuals.  On January 2, 1815 it has been said that John Paul was murdered by two soldiers who were intoxicated and upset.  There are a few different stories, but in the end, John Paul was dead.  Rumour was that the soldiers hacked him up into pieces and buried him around the lighthouse.  A lighthouse keeper in the later years is said to have found a jaw bone and coffin pieces, but nothing was ever proven.  The mystery of John Paul’s murder is still one today.
 
The lighthouse loomed over everyone as we stood by the front step talking to Warren and Sherry.  Sherry then presented the key that would unlock the door and let us inside.  The key was as old as the lighthouse and original in every way.  Rachel had the honour of unlocking the door.  For her to hold the key and unlock the door was like holding and unlocking the past.  It was something she will always remember and feels privileged to have done so.  

​The door was now opened and the climb to the top had begun.  This was no easy feat.  The stairs were wooden and spiral.  What felt like forever, was only a couple of minutes for the team to climb to the top.  The view was undeniable, and one could only imagine what it looked like back in the early 1800’s, even the early 1900’s.  The sun was now beginning to set.  Our huffing and puffing had subsided.  All was calm and quiet.  We decided it would be a good time to set up some equipment and get started.  We set up the REM pod, Ovilus 3, Ovilus 5, K2 Meter and the P-SB7 ghost box and began.

​“Another hour till the sun goes down,” stated Jesse.  A female voice is heard over the ghost box – “What?”  The teamed laughed.  Seemed like someone was unaware that it took longer for the sun to set at this time of year.  “That was amazing,” said Rachel.  The next voice to come through the ghost box was male – “Help.”  “Who needs help?” asked Alison.  No reply was heard. “What’s your name?” asked Rachel.  Again, no reply.  “Where are we now?” she asked next.  A male voice is heard – “Work”.  “Work?” Alison questioned with a laugh.  “What’s this place called?” Rachel asked next.  A women’s voice is heard – “Jump”.  “Did they just say ‘jump’?” questioned Rachel.  Alison agreed.  The Ovilus 3 spoke – ‘Return’.  A male voice was heard through the ghost box – “Hi.”  ‘Hi!  What’s your name?”, Alison asked.  A male voice is heard.  Three words, but only the last word was discernible – “Her”.  “Something, something her?” Rachel said.  A male voice was heard again – “That’s it. Work.”  “Did you work here?” Rachel asked next.  A male voice is heard – “What. Captain”. “Do you know why we’re here?  Do you know who we are?” asked Rachel.  A male voice is heard – “Yup”.  “Is there a Captain here?  If there is a Captain here, can you tell us your name?” Rachel asked next.  No male voice was heard, but instead a female voice.  However, we could not make out what she was saying.  “To the women, what’s your name?” Alison asked.  It was at this point we noticed the K2 Meter lighting up.  “Are you playing with the lights?” she continued.  A male voice is heard – “Sure”.  The Ovilus 3 spoke as well – ‘French’.  Shortly after another male voice is heard through the ghost box – “Wait. Captain.”  “Are we waiting for the Captain?” questioned Alison.  “Well there was a Captain,” stated Rachel.  A male voice was heard – “Paul”. “I heard ‘Paul’,” Rachel stated.  “Who’s the Captain?” she asked next.  A male voice is heard – “Jim”.  “Well there was a James,” Alison said.  “Well the Captain’s middle initial was ‘J’, but I don’t know what it stands for,” Rachel stated.  A male voice is heard again – “Boat. Hello.”  “Hello!” replied Alison.  A female voice is heard – “Hey”.  It was an instant reply that send everyone into a laugh.  “We would like to know who you are.  What’s your name?” Alison asked.  A male voice is heard – “Paul”.  “Did I just hear ‘Paul’?” asked Devin.  Alison agreed.  “I heard ‘Paul’ too,” she said.  “Did you work here?” Rachel asked next.  A male voice is heard – “Yup’.  “What’s your first name?” she asked next.  A male voice is heard again – “Dead’.  “Dead,” repeated Alison.  “How did you die?” asked Rachel.  This time a female voice is heard – “Fish”.  “Sounded like she said ‘fish’,” stated Rachel.  “Can you tell us your last name?” she asked next.  But no response.  A few more questions were asked, but nothing was heard.  

​“It would be really cool up here in a thunderstorm,” whispered Rachel.  A female voice was heard – “What”.  Rachel laughed.  She didn’t mean for the dead to respond.  “Who’s that women? She is very strong,” stated Alison.  Rachel agreed. “Who’s the women that keeps talking?  What’s your name?” she asked.  Instead of a female voice, a male voice was heard – “Yaaaah”.  “That sounds German,” stated Alison.  Rachel agreed.  “It would make sense,” she said.  “Are you happy we’re here?” asked Alison.  No response.  “Is there somewhere we need to be?” questioned Rachel.  The K2 meter activated while we heard a male voice – “Out. Wait.”  “What are we waiting for?” asked Alison.  The Ovilus 3 spoke – ‘Hobble’.  More voices were heard, but undiscernible.  It was almost as if they were having conversation with themselves.  “We can hear you,” stated Alison.  A male voice was then heard – “Red; Jump; Fred.” “Fred?” Alison questioned.  “What’s your last name?” Rachel asked.  No reply.  Rachel then heard what she believed was someone coming up the stairs.  “Who’s coming up the stairs?” whispered Rachel.  A male voice is heard – “Al”.  “Al?” questioned Rachel.  However, it wasn’t “Al”.  It was Alison’s husband, Denis (who had joined us for our investigation).  The Ovilus 3 spoke – ‘Sold’.  Denis had returned to the top of the lighthouse to relay a message to Rachel.  Upon his departure, the Ovilus 3 spoke again – ‘General’.  “The side of me just got really cold,” said Alison.  A male voice is heard over the ghost box again – “Stop”.  Rachel begins to move around the small space and notices a couple of photos that are posted on the ledges.  She begins to talk about where things would have been according to the photos and the voices coming through the ghost box seemed to agree with hers.  A distinct male voice is then heard – “Friends”.  “We are your friends.  We mean you no harm.  We just want to talk to you,” said Alison.  “I wonder if they can tell us who was murdered?” she asked next.  “Who was murdered? What was his name?” Rachel asked.  But no responses.  “Where you murdered?” she questioned again.  A female voice is heard – “What”, as well as a male voice – “Lake”.  The Ovilus 3 also spoke shortly after – ‘Memories’.  “Do you have good memories of living here?” Rachel asked next.  But there was no reply.  As the team sat in silence, a male voice was heard – “Rogue”.  “Who’s rogue?” questioned Alison.  A male responded – “Wait”.  The Ovilus 3 also spoke – ‘Time’.  “Is it time to go downstairs?” asked Rachel.  A male voice responded – “Wait.”  The team begins to discuss where the house would have been in proximity to the lighthouse.  As Devin, Alison and Rachel discussed and pointed to the area where they thought it would have been (to the south-west of the light house), a male voice was heard – “Yup”.  The Ovilus 5 spoke – ‘Prey’.  “Is it pray or prey?” asked Rachel.  “Prey,” Alison answered.  The Ovilus spoke again – ‘Disregard’.  The team laughed.  Apparently, whomever answered wanted us to disregard the “prey”.

The sun was beginning now beginning to set, casting a beautiful light over the lighthouse and the Island.  “Should we go downstairs?” asked Rachel.  A male voice responded – “sure”.  “To the man who’s responding, could you tell us what your last name is?” Rachel questioned “Are people saying your last name right?” she continued.  A male voice responded – “Right”.  “Tell us your last name, please,” stated Alison.  A male voice responded – “Hi”.  “Hi! What’s your name?” questioned Alison.  This time the Ovilus 5 responded – ‘Robert’.  “Robert, what is your last name?” asked Rachel.  A male voice is heard – “Go”.  “How many dead people are here right now?” Alison asked next.  A male voice responded – “Four”.  “How many of you want to talk to us?” Rachel asked next.  The Ovilus 3 spoke – ‘March’.  “Are we going to have more luck talking to you outside?” she asked next.  A male voice is heard – “Ya”.  “I heard ‘Ya’,” Devin stated.  At this point a loud whisper is heard by everyone.  “Did that come through the ghost box?” Alison questioned.  “I sure hope so!” replied Rachel.  “I didn’t think it came from the ghost box. It sounded like it cam from down there,” said Alison as she pointed to the staircase.  “Will you talk to us if we go outside or downstairs?” Rachel asked out loud.  A female voice responded – “Jump”.  The Ovilus 3 also spoke – ‘Life’.  “Was someone born or die in March?” questioned Alison.  Rachel did not know as she hadn’t gone into detail of the family members of the lighthouse keepers.  “Can you tell us who died here at the lighthouse?” asked Alison.  A male voice responded – “Paul”.  “How did they die?” she continued.  Again, a male voice responded – “Head”.  Shortly after another male voice is heard- “Go”.  “Go where?  Where do you want us to go?” Rachel questioned.  A male voices responded – “Meet”. “Go meet what?” Rachel asked.  The Ovilus 5 spoke – ‘Them’.  “Who’s them?” questioned Rachel.  A male voice was heard – “Me; Jump”.  “I keep hearing ‘jump’.  Did someone jump?  Is there rumour that someone did?” asked Alison.  Rachel didn’t know, nor had she come across anything in her research.  “Who jumped?” asked Rachel.  A male voice was heard – “One”.  “Well, they said ‘one’,” Rachel stated.  A few more questions were asked, but not discernable responses were heard.  However, just before the ghost box session ended a male voice was heard – “Don’t go”.  Sadly, we could no longer remain in the lighthouse.  As we stood there, taking in one last look out the windows, Alison felt the floor rumble beside her foot.  Rachel also notices a quick shadow near Alison’s foot.  It was then that Alison had noticed that one of the grates that was open by her foot was now closed.  After trying many times to see if we could recreate it, we could not.  There was also no one underneath us, and even so, it was an extended reach to touch the vent.  Who would have done this?  We still do not know.  With our final goodbye, we headed back down the wooden, spiral staircase and out of the lighthouse.
 
Our climb down was much easier than our climb up. We made it out of the lighthouse and waited for Warren to come lock up.  Our investigation inside the lighthouse was completed, but now we began it investigate around the lighthouse.  Perhaps John Paul would like to show us, or tell us where he was buried?
 
As dusk began to turn into night, we set up on the front steps of the Lighthouse.   It was now time to see if anyone was willing to converse with us.  Check out our video (posted below and on YouTube) for our outdoor portion of our investigation.  During our investigation outside, we did ask who was with us.  Our Ovilus 3 device answered – “Johnny”.  See our reaction on our video!  It was one of those moments that you will never forget.

The Tiki Taxi returned to pick us up and our wonderful driver, Mark, was just as awesome.  The ride back was quieter, but the view was amazing.  We had a blast and couldn’t have asked for a better way to and from the Island.  We are proud to say that we will always use Tiki Taxi as our way to and from the Island if we ever return!  Even the ghosts liked the ride!
 
Gibraltar Point Lighthouse is a place to visit if you love history, or even just to explore for the day.  This is a piece of our past that has been through so much.  To visit, head on over to the Toronto Island.  While you may not be able to go inside (check for Doors Open Toronto – sometimes they let you!), take a walk around.