Several years ago I visited Farragut State Park, when it was under a different superintendent, and toured the museum there with the assistant superintendent at the time. The museum was still in its growing stages, and being a professional storyteller who specializes in telling ghost stories, I inquired about the ghosts I had heard were roaming this building.

The man who was showing me around confirmed that indeed there was some spiritual activity in this building, especially in what was once the "brig" area of Farragut Naval Base. He proceeded to tell me a story that had been told to him by one of the yearly returning veterans who had been stationed at Farragut Naval Base.

Apparently a German had been captured and brought to this particular naval base for holding. He was placed in this very same brig. He was uncooperative at first in sharing information, but after days of "convincing" by those who were questioning him, he begin to share facts about German plans.

Those that were in charge of questioning this prisoner in a private location apparently got a bit too eager to get more information, and the prisoner eventually died while in custody. His body was left in a lower level room in which he had been kept, and the door to this area was securely locked.

Those that were involved in this act did not speak about it and left the body where he had died. It is that area of the brig that is so highly active with unexplained noises, movement of objects, lights that go off and on - the typical paranormal activity. Some night watchmen in the past have even stated they have seen the ghost of a German soldier peering at them through the mist or a window from the building.

I asked my guide if I could take some photos of this area, to try and capture something on film. I had been successful in the past in certain extremely haunted places in the south, capturing "orbs," which show up on photos as foggy-like small circles. In researching orbs, it is acknowledged that these whispery-like formations floating through the air usually appear in areas of high spiritual activity, and are thought by some to be actual spirits only seen by the camera and not the naked eye.

The attached photo I took clearly shows orbs floating in the air. They were taken very close to the area of the door that led to the room in the basement, which is kept locked and no one visits anymore. I hope in transferring these photos to you that the orbs show up easily.

Whether one believes in this phenomenon or not, there really isn't a good explanation for those circles appearing on this photo. Other photos taken with the same camera throughout Farragut Museum showed nothing. The camera was digital, so "water marks" during developing which some used to attribute to things such as this is not a possibility.

Having moved to Idaho from east Tennessee, I learned a lot about the stories I was hearing and collecting. The people sharing their stories enhanced my research into legends and lore, and I thank the Appalachian friends I made for sharing many of their beliefs regarding supernatural activity, ghosts, spirits, etc. For instance, the word "haint" came about because in describing those pesky "haints," they "ain't quite alive and they ain't quite dead;" ergo the word "haint."

Many unexplained things happen throughout anyone's life, and not everything has a simple reason for happening.

Bev Twillmann is a Harrison resident and award-winning storyteller. Info: www.interpretivevoices.net