In Gilford, N.H., population 7,126, surveillance video from a local store has many people spooked, fearing it may be evidence of paranormal activity.
For years, employees at the Ellacoya Country Store, originally built as a residence in 1745, have reported strange noises coming from the counter area while they were working elsewhere.
Employee Nicole Brandt told London’s Daily Mail she’s heard people enter the room while she was at the deli counter cutting meat, only to turn around and greet a customer … who isn’t there.
“You can’t see who’s up front,” she said. “It sounds like someone’s there, and no one’s there.”
The tenant who lives upstairs has even reported hearing people walking around downstairs long after the employees have gone home for the day.
“In 2002 when we opened the store,” store manager Lisa Ferraro-Giles told WMUR-TV, “I had looked, and I had seen a man standing, and it disappeared as fast as I saw it.”
But earlier this month, a video surveillance camera may have captured what others have been saying they’ve only heard.
See WMUR-TV’s initial coverage of the strange event:
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The footage shows store employee Heidi Boyd walking away from the camera, followed a few minutes later by the glass cover to a cake display being mysteriously lifted from the counter and thrown to the ground, apparently all by itself. Boyd can then be seen returning to investigate.
“I heard this big bang and crash,” said Boyd. “I walked around and looked, and it was on the floor.”
Raw video footage of the event can be seen below:
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The restaurant attached to the country store posted the video on Facebook, leading many people to start talking of ghosts in the New Hampshire town.
“It’s pretty scary,” a local resident told WMUR.
“It must be a ghost,” said another.
Store owner Steve Buzzota insists this is no trick.
“There’s definitely no string,” Buzzota told the station, attempting to debunk one possible explanation. “This is definitely not a staged act. This really happened, and it’s really kind of freaky.”
News of the video even prompted a visit from a pair of “ghost hunters.”
Medium Karen Tatro said she felt a presence near the counter where the glass top shattered.
“It feels very heavy there. My heart is like pounding,” Tatro told WMUR. “It almost feels like someone kind of stays in this particular area and is observing the store and what’s happening.”
Parapsychologist Brian J. Cano said he wasn’t quite so sure about the explanation for the mysterious video.
“I can’t say that there’s a ghost in here,” Cano said. “I can say that there is something mysterious happening, and whatever caused that item to move on its own doesn’t have a simple explanation.”
A news report of the “ghost hunter” visit can be seen below:
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