HM Frigate Unicorn - Paranormal Investigation Media Files
Use the links below to view some of our photos, view some video files and to listen to some of our EVP files captured aboard HM Frigate Unicorn. Please listen to the EVP files before reading the report in order to maintain your own perception of what is being said. Some of the video clips include audio phenomena, please ensure that you have your speakers turned on.
Investigation Photographs>>>
EVP File 1- EVP File 2 - EVP File 3 - EVP File 4 - EVP File 5 - EVP File 6 - EVP File 7
EVP File 8
Video File 1 - Video File 2 (audio) - Video File 3 - Video File 4 (audio)

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Date: 07/04/2007
Outside Temp: 6 Degrees
Weather Conditions: Clear and dry, extremely calm sea.
Moon Phase: Waning Moon, 87% approx

Investigation Team
Mark Turner, Lisa Lundie, Domenic Capaldi, Paul Muir, Frances Sinclair, Linda McCann, Jonathan Sutherland, Paul O'Brien, Lynn O'Brien

Equipment Used
Digital Night Vision Camcorders, Trifield Natural EM Meters, EMF Meters, Digital Cameras, Infrared Thermometers, Laser Thermometers, Hot Wire Anemometers, Thermal Data Loggers, Two Way Radios, Infrared Motion Sensors, Infrared Booster Lights, Digital and Analogue Audio Recorders, Parabolic Microphones, Low Frequency Microphones, Shotgun Microphones, Trigger Objects, Wireless Infrared Camera System, Laptop PC's, Televisions, Real-Time Spectrum Analyser.

Brief History
His Majesty's Frigate UNICORN, of 46 guns, was built for the Royal Navy in Chatham dockyard, and she was launched in 1824. The classic sailing frigate was a fast and powerful warship, and was one of the most successful and charismatic ship designs of the age. UNICORN's construction, however, is far from conventional. She is a unique survivor from the brief transitional period between the traditional wooden sailing ship and the revolutionary iron steamship. The ship itself never fired its guns and was never involved in any conflict, only being used as a supply ship and for storage most of its life. Suspected episodes of paranormal activity aboard the ship include apparitions and footsteps heard walking the decks.

Psychic Medium Walkround
The investigation began by a walk round of the entire ship to see if our medium Linda could pick up on any spirit presences or paranormal hotspots.

Upper Deck
Linda felt that this deck could have been used as a hospital as she sensed the residual energy of makeshift beds. She sensed someone walking up and down, who pushed against her, touching her hair. As she looked down the length of the deck, she witnessed a man standing at the rear of the boat and was given the name William. On the same deck at the opposite end Linda sensed 4 men standing watching us, but wasn’t given any names. She kept feeling drawn to a set of stairs but wasn’t sure which ones until we discovered there was a set behind the bell leading down to the Gun Deck. She sensed that an elderly gentleman had tragically slipped and died, on the very steep stairs.

Upper Deck – Front Room
Linda sensed a small boy running past, behind a rack of naval uniforms. He then ran out and kicked her on the foot. She was then given the date as 1823 or 53.

Gun Deck
Linda sensed the feeling of people walking about holding candles because of the sway of the boat. She gave the name Ernie or Earnest and felt that he didn’t like us intruding on the boat.

Mess Deck
Linda felt drawn to the front end of the Mess Deck. She sensed the presence of a few young sailors, very active, working hard, beside the barrels and again felt the sensation of being pushed. She sensed the names James, Hector and Victor. The team then stopped half way down the Mess Deck beside the hammocks where one appeared to be swaying on it own. There are two hammocks next to each other and the whole team witnessed one swaying while the other was perfectly still.

Mess Deck – Officers Quarters
Linda felt very uncomfortable atmosphere in the Officers Quarters and had a very bad feeling when she looked into one of the cabins. Again she sensed the name Ernest and was given the distinct feeling that we were invading someone’s private space, possibly Ernest’s.

Orlop Deck
Linda sensed a ‘horrible feeling’ in the first room on the Orlop Deck. She felt the feelings of being extremely frightened of getting locked in, panicky and claustrophobic. Standing outside of the room she felt a slap on back of neck and then a gentle kick.

Orlop Deck - Fore Peak
Linda sense feelings of faint and hunger from very hard work. She felt she had been given a brush to sweep water, possibly sanitation and could sense a scratching sound in the wooden beams, picking up on the past presence of rats. The year 1801 was picked up but Linda wasn’t sure what this was a reference to. Linda also picked up on the presence of a dog in this area and could see a man with a pointed hat. She picked up on the names George and James.

During this part of the walk round, Mark ascended the stairs to the Mess Deck after hearing a noise and was closely followed by Domenic and Paul M. On reaching the Mess Deck he was immediately aware of footsteps coming from the Gun Deck above. He immediately shouted downstairs to Bob, our guide from the Frigate Unicorn, to ask if anyone else was present on the ship, to which he was told “no”. Mark then quickly went to the Gun Deck to check and found nobody else on the ship and all doors leading to the outside had been locked from the inside. Mark described the noises as, “approximately 12 footsteps followed by a bang as if someone had laid down a heavy object”.

Main Investigation
For the main investigation, the team split into three cells to cover as many areas of the ship as possible. The sea on the night of our investigation was extremely calm causing movement of the ship to be at an absolute minimum, although it was always noted that ship movement could be a factor with any activity that we experienced.

Upper Deck – Vigil 1
Present – Mark, Domenic & Jonathan
Details – EVP Recording Experiments
Base Temp – 13 degrees
Mark, Domenic and Jonathan set up an array of sound recording equipment on the Upper Deck of the ship where apparitions have been witnessed in the past. A variety of analogue and digital recorders with various microphones were used in this session. The team had indentified seagulls walking on the roof and possible light contamination from passing cars as potential hazards to be taken into account. They proceeded to ask a series of relative questions in an attempt to record information that could be checked later. During these experiments, extreme cold blasts of air were felt moving around the team intermittently. The weather conditions were extremely calm and the team investigated but could not find a source for these apparent cold blasts. At one point Domenic felt as if he had been touched on the back of the leg as the team continued to ask questions. After a detailed analysis of the sound files from this session, the following anomalous voices were identified, "come through to get me", "Im Sleeping", "he thinks I'm a person", "David" and "don't be daft you, your a ____" (we are unsure of the last word in this file). We found it quite frustrating that the information coming through was not of the nature that could be checked against historical records, with only one possible first name being recorded. This session passed off without further incident.

Upper Deck – Vigil 2
Present – Paul M, Frances & Lynn
Details – Filmed vigil
Base Temp – 13 degrees
Paul M, Frances and Lynn conducted a filmed vigil on the Upper Deck to attempt to capture visual or physical activity. They set up their equipment and began by asking out for some form of communication. During this vigil the team felt that the atmosphere had changed dramatically from their previous visit during the psychic walkround stating that the room now felt 'very flat'. Although the team persisted in asking for communication, they were unable to get any visual, audible or physical responses. Using a digital voice recorder, the team again asked out, however this also produced nothing of note. This session passed off quietly without any activity. All temperature and EMF readings remained constant throughout this vigil.

Mess Deck – Vigil 1
Present – Paul M, Frances & Lynn
Details – Filmed vigil
Base Temp – 7.5 degrees
Paul M, Frances and Lynn set up filming equipment to conduct a vigil on the Mess Deck. The team got settled and began by asking out for some communication. Several noises were heard that sounded like footsteps. There were also some clicks and bangs heard throughout the vigil. As all other team members were taking part in vigils elsewhere, the only logical explanation for these noises was the natural movement and creaking of the ship, although movement of the ship appeared to be virtually non existant, we could not overlook this as a possible explanation. During this vigil, some members of the team felt quite uncomfortable and had the impression that they were being watched. These feelings only seemed to last for about 10 minutes. Several small flashes of light were seen by the team and one team member saw what appeared to be a face looking out from behind a barrel. Frustratingly, this was not captured on our filming equipment, however, the footage did show up several light anomalies, one of which looked like a piece of ribbon moving around in mid air. On detailed analysis, this appears to be a piece of thread or hair lit up by our night vision lights and floating up due to heat rising on the ship. Another interesting light anomaly was captured travelling across the ceiling if the Mess Deck, it appeared to be pulsating as it moved, click here to view the footage. All temperature and EMF readings remained constant throughout the vigil.

Mess Deck/Officers Quarters – Communication Board
Present – Whole team
Details – Communication board, filmed session
Base Temp – 7.5 degrees
For the next part of the investigation the whole team gathered together for an experiment with the communication board to attempt to gather information. Linda led the session and began asking for anyone present to move the glass for us. After a few minutes, the glass began to move slowly. Through a series of questions and answers, we were able to get several names as well as some other information. We got the names Robert, William and Philip. We also got an age of 29 for William. It seemed that whoever was communicating through the board was very unhappy that there were women present on the ship. When we asked if they would prefer if the women left the room, we got the response ‘yes’. In superstition, it was believed to be very unlucky to have a woman on board a ship and even unluckier if a woman was whistling whilst aboard! We did ask the woman of the group to whistle to see if there would be a reaction, but nothing unusual was recorded. At one point during this session the team heard a bang coming from nearby, click here to view the footage. No explanation was found for this noise. Temperature and EMF readings remained normal throughout this session. There was no unusual visual activity picked up on the filming equipment during the team's experiment in this area. The information gathered during this communication board session was to be used later in the investigation and cross referenced with any information picked up by the team's EVP experiments.

Orlop Deck (Rear) – Vigil 1
Present – Lisa, Linda, Paul O'B
Details – Filmed vigil
Base Temp – 5 degrees
Lisa, Linda and Paul O'B conducted the next part of their investigation at the rear of the Orlop Deck. Before the vigil commenced, Paul experienced several technical issues with his equipment. His camera switching itself off and his torch batteries also appeared to be drained. The light from the torch gradually drained and then blinked out. This was witnessed by all three team members present. After a while, Paul decided to try his torch again and it was working fine. The batteries within the torch and the camera were brand new and the team could not find an explanation for this unusual activity. There were several dips and rises in the temperature during the vigil. The temperature was ranging between 5 and 13 degrees. The team kept getting a strong smell like smoking wood throughout the vigil. The smell did not appear to be there constantly but instead would get stronger and then disappear several times. Linda felt very unwell during most of this vigil and it seemed that something or someone within the area did not want Linda to be there. She was able to pick up on a man by the name of Fredrick. Linda saw a white mist at one end of the room beside Lisa. Paul and Linda both saw a shadowy mist which appeared to be a person standing in the doorway but when we moved closer, there was definitely no physical person present and nothing showed up on the film footage that could suggest anything other than a trick of the light. At one point during this session, Paul felt something small hit his back, as if something had been thrown at him, click here to view the footage. All members present heard the sound of something hitting the floor at the same time, but after checking the floor area, no object could be found. Linda also appeared to almost fall over with dizziness and it seemed she was sensing a man who had lost a leg. The team thought that they heard a shuffling noise at one point but this was not picked up by the camcorder microphone. However the footage did pick up on a voice or murmur that appears not to have been made by any members of the team but on analysis it was too low to make out any clear words. EMF readings remained normal during this vigil.

Orlop Deck (Rear) – Vigil 2
Present – Mark, Domenic & Jonathan
Details – EVP Experiments using digital and analogue audio recorders.
Base Temp – 5 degrees
Mark, Domenic and Jonathan descended to the Orlop Deck to conduct more EVP experiments. The team stated that there was an uncomfortable feeling in this room and it felt icy cold. They proceeded to ask questions attempting to get names and dates and other verifiable information using the audio recordering equipment. At the end of one particular session of questions, Mark asked if any spirits that were present could themselves known by other means such as showing themselves or making a loud noise. Approximately 10 seconds after this question was asked, a very loud crack was heard and appeared to have occurred no more than two feet from where the team were sitting. This noise was picked up on three audio recorders and by the microphone of a camcorder that was locked off filming on the Mess Deck above, listen here to the audio file, click here to view the locked off camcorder footage that also picked up the noise. The team switched on torches to investigate and found nothing that could have made such a startling noise. This noise was picked up on 3 audio recorders and also on a locked off camcorder that was filming on the Mess deck above. The team continued to ask relevant questions for a short time before ending the session. A radio microphone was left in this room and was hooked up to a laptop computer in the Captain's Cabin 2 decks above. On analysis of the audio recorded by this microphone, it appeared to have picked up a loud noise judging by the waveform pattern in our analysis software, but on playback of this particular section no noise came through which completely defied what was witnessed by the apparent amplitude on the waveform pattern. After a detailed analysis of the audio recordings made during this session, the following anomalous voices were identified... From the information received during previous communication board session, the team asked "do you know Phillip" and the response came through as "he's dead". The next file is a response to the team asking for a name, "it's Patrick" and in the last file you can hear one of our team members saying "thank you" before hearing an anomalous "thank you" in reply. Other reponses were recorded during this session but unfortunately were too distorted to make out any clear words.

Orlop Deck (Rear) - Communication Board
Present – Whole Team
Details – Communication Board, filmed vigil
Base Temp – 5 degrees
The team all gathered together once again to conduct another communication board experiment at the rear of the Orlop Deck. They set up the board and began the session by asking for anyone present to communicate with us by moving the glass on the board. Although there were several movements on the board, the only information of note coming through was one name, Frederick. Interestingly enough, Linda had sensed this name during an earlier vigil in this room. Many questions were asked during this communication board session but the team were unable to get any coherent information with the glass appearing to move to random letters. The decision was made to end the session and move on to another area to attempt more experiments. Temperature and EMF readings remained normal throughout this session. There was no unusual activity picked up on the team's filming equiment.

Orlop Deck (Fore Peak) – Vigil 1
Present – Lisa, Linda, Paul
Details – Filmed vigil
Base Temp – 5 degrees
Lisa, Linda and Paul O'B conducted the only part of the investigation that was to take place at the Fore peak of the Orlop Deck. During this vigil, all team members witnessed small flashing lights along towards the other end of the ship. There were also lots of faint tapping noises which we could again possibly have been put down to movement of the ship. These sounds were also too distant to be picked up by the microphone on the camcorder. The temperature although quite comfortable at the beginning of the vigil, seemed to dip to the point that the team were feeling extremely cold. Lisa felt so cold that she was shivering. This seemed to last for only a few minutes and then stopped completely as the temperature seemed to return to normal. The team also experienced what felt like icy breezes at different points throughout the vigil. Again, they were not constant but seemed to come and go. Lisa also felt something touch the side of her face, as if someone had 'placed a hand on her cheek'. Towards the end of the vigil, Lisa pointed out to the rest of the team that she felt as if every hair on her head was standing on end. When the other team members turned on a torch to look, several hairs were standing bolt upright on Lisa’s head. Again, as was experienced by this team at the other end of the Olrop Deck, batteries seemed to be rapidly drained in torches. The batteries had just been replaced with brand new ones just before the beginning of this session. At one point the team all heard a very loud bang which sounded like a door being slammed. It was later found out that this noise actually happened directly next to the Mark, Domenic and Jonathan who were conducting EVP experiments in a room at the other end other end of the ship. The team stated that the temperature appeared to drop during this vigil but this was not verified by the temperature readings which remained constant throughout. EMF readings remained unchanged.

Gun Deck - Vigil
Present – Whole team.
Details – Filmed vigil, audio recording experiments.
Base Temp – 12 degrees
The team gathered together on the Gun Deck to conduct the final experiments of the investigation. Filming equipment was set up and the team settled before asking for some audio, visual or physical communication. The team stated that atmosphere felt 'extremelt flat' and proceeded to set up audio recording equipment to attempt to capture anomalous voices. After only 10-15 minutes of this session, Linda appeared to have gone into trance. Several team members tried asking her questions but got no response. The only sound Linda made was a choking sound and Lisa firmly suggested that if someone was trying to communicate through Linda, that they should draw back to prevent her choking. Linda then began to laugh and spoke in a very deep, growling voice saying the name ‘Fredrick’. This experience seemed to be quite distressing for Linda. Even more so because she stated earlier that she was certain he was angry about us being there, especially the women of the group. Linda stated that she did not remember anything of the time when she appeared to be in a trance state. Temperature and EMF readings remained constant throughout this vigil and no other activity was recorded on the filming equipment or audio recorders.

Summary
The paranormal investgation at HM Frigate Unicorn proved to be a fascinating one. The most prominent forms of suspected paranormal activity recorded during the investigation were temperature anomalies and apparent voices picked up by the audio recording equipment. The footsteps heard during the initial walkround coupled with the loud cracking noise experienced by Mark, Domenic and Jonathan during their EVP session on the Orlop Deck proved to be extremely interesting events that the team could find no rational explanation for. Linda picked up on information such as names and dates that so far we have been unable to verify one way or the other.

We would like to thank HM Frigate Unicron staff for the opportunity to investigate past occurences of suspected paranormal activity aboard this fantastic ship. The Ghost Finders team will definitely return to the HM Frigate Unicorn in the future to conduct a follow up investigation.