"Thank you so very much for investigating my house! you guys were great!I also wanted to let you guys
know that if you have got the time, i may have a few other places lined up."
Private Home Owner
" I thought this was a bunch of BS till I heard those Voices, That is amaizing"
Member of the Union and West End Cemetery
About Public Ghost tours in the Sun Inn 03/13/2009,03/14/2009
"My name is Janine; I was in your group for the 7pm investigation
of the Sun Inn. I got an EVP not even 2 minutes into the investigation of the basement. You asked if they could tell us the
year, and at 1 minute 8 seconds, I got a "no." But it started off low and rose up until it actually said "no".I really had
a great experiance at the Sun Inn; now I have something to show my friends! Thank you again."
Janine Herb
"Hi guys,
We all had a great time last night!! We were
in Steve's group when this picture was taken of the 2nd floor window. Looks similar to the one you showed us.
This is also the picture we showed Joe at the end of the evening. Your thoughts???"
Tom, Helen & Kyle
"Hi guys,
My name is Sherry Hawk and my daughter, niece and her boyfriend went on
the Ghost Hunt on Friday the 13th at 7pm. We had Jim as are guide.
I caught several interesting EVP's. The first one was in the attic - Jim was mentioning how he had caught a cat or baby
crying on one investigation. A couple seconds after he says that, you can hear a faint meowing or crying (like on que!)
In traveling from the basement to the 2nd floor I believe I hear a faint sound of laughter, but with all the noise from going
upstairs it is difficult to make out.
When we were sitting around in the front room after the investigation,
my niece asked me if anyone died in the inn. I asked Jim if anyone died in the infirmary and as I'm asking the question,
it sounds like a music box is playing. I can hear Joe on his computer trying to get up some EVP's and when he does find
the harpsicord, it sounds nothing like the sound I picked up.
BUT - I saved the best for last --- When we were getting
ready to leave the attic, we are all saying goodbye to the spirits and thank you. Jim's K-2 goes off and I said "that
was a hit". He said it was because he got the walkie too close to the K-2 otherwise we'd stay longer to invesigate.
While I'm having this conversation with Jim, the moment I say to him about the K-2 going off I got a very clear voice of a little girl saying over my voice - "Don't go". She sounded so sweet she actually
made my daughter and I cry. We felt guilty that she finally tried to speak and we were leaving her. Anyway, it
is crystal clear. I took my recorder in to work today and I just watched my friend's expressions when the got to that
part. Their eyes got as big a saucers and they all thought she was saying the same thing - don't go. "
Had a great time. Thanks!
Sherry
Bethlehem's Sun Inn is haunted, Lehigh Valley paranormal group says
Friday, February 27, 2009
By LYNN OLANOFF
The Express-Times
BETHLEHEM | Sun Inn Preservation Association founder Hughetta Bender put her heart and soul into saving the Main Street
historic site.
And some believe her soul still remains in the former 1758 hotel.
On a January visit to the inn, a Lehigh Valley-based paranormal investigation group snapped a photo of what appears to
be a woman in a second floor window. The figure looks to have gray hair, glasses and be wearing a white apron.
"I said, 'Oh, my God, that's Hughetta,'" said Bucky Szulborski, a Sun Inn Preservation Association board member who joined
the paranormal group on its investigation. "She wore a white apron."
"For that to appear at the Sun Inn -- it's remarkable," he said.
Bender's likeness was far from the only paranormal observation Lehigh Valley Research and Investigation in Paranormal Activity
made on two visits to the inn -- Jan. 24 and Saturday.
The group caught on tape at least 15 unknown voices and what they say sounds like a half-hour long ghosts' party in the
dining room.
The group ranks the Sun Inn as among the most -- if not the most -- haunted place they've investigated.
"This place is as active as it gets," said member Jim Fitzgerald, a Whitehall Township resident.
The group went room-by-room on both nights, asking if there were any spirits in the inn. They asked about Elizabeth Moore,
a nurse who died in 1897 at the inn.
When they asked if Elizabeth was there, someone responded with the word, "Moore," said member Steve Werner, of Bethlehem.
The response was only heard through audiotape, as were all the other unknown voices. Group members believe ghosts affect
magnetic forces, so they can often only be heard on tape but not in person.
The group played many of the recordings for the media Thursday, including two instances of a strained voice saying "We're
watching you."
On another recording, Werner and Fitzgerald are up in the attic, asking if any slaves were kept there during the inn's
early days. "See my back," someone can be heard saying in response.
"That wasn't us," Fitzgerald said. "Who knows what the attic could be used for -- it could have been used for housing prisoners."
Group members say they're the first to debunk any non-authentic sounds on their recordings. They'll consider outside noises
or if any of them may have moved while the tape recorder was on.
Each member makes his or her own tape of each investigation, as well as taking video and photographs.
There were many other interesting occurrences the group caught on tape. There were several incidents of voices saying "I
hate John," Werner said. Several men named John owned the inn during its early days.
Another time, member Joe Marrero asked someone in the attic what kind of person they were. The answer: "Rich."
The group also was told several times to "get out" but said overall, the Sun Inn ghosts seem friendly.
Paranormal groups from Philadelphia and Cumberland, Pa. also recently investigated the inn. Philadelphia's findings were
inconclusive, but the Cumberland group declared the site as one with paranormal activity.
The Lehigh Valley group took it one step further. The Sun Inn, a certificate they presented to the inn said, is haunted.
The inn plans to display both declarations and advertise its new haunted status through ghost hunting sessions March 13
and 14. Lehigh Valley paranormal group members will lead the sessions.
Szulborski, who never believed in ghosts before, said he may be a convert after seeing Bender's likeness in the photograph.
"I now say, when I leave the building, goodnight to her," he said. "If anybody's spirit is at the Sun Inn, it would be
her, looking over the place."
Reporter Lynn Olanoff can be reached at 610-867-5000 or by e-mail at lolanoff@express-times.com.
Bethlehem's Sun Inn is haunted, paranormal group claims
by Sarah Cassi
Friday February 27, 2009, 12:33 AM
Communicating with someone from beyond the grave may be as close as a quick trip to Downtown Bethlehem.
A Lehigh Valley-Based Paranormal investigation group claims their investigation into the Sun Inn on Main Street found
several instances of paranormal activity.
A photo from a January visit shows what appears to be a woman, with gray hair, glasses and wearing a white apron, in a
second-floor window
Tapes made of the visits have two instances of a strained voice saying "We're watching you" and several
incidents of voices saying "I hate John."
Sun Inn officials said the John could refer to one of the several men named John who owned the inn during its early days.
A member asked someone in the attic what kind of person they were.
The answer: "Rich."
Lehigh Valley Research and Investigate Paranormal Activity said the Inn could be one of the most haunted
places they have investigated.
The group may have also converted a skeptic in the process.
Bucky Szulborski, a Sun Inn Preservation Association board member who joined the paranormal group on its investigation,
said he never believed in ghosts before.
But the photo of the woman on the second floor, who could be Hughetta Bender, could be enough to convert him.
"I now say, when I leave the building, goodnight to her," he said. "If anybody's spirit is at
the Sun Inn, it would be her, looking over the place."
From the Bethlehem Press March 11, 2009, page A3
Hughetta’s Haunting
Paranormal Investigators certify spirits at Sun Inn
By Bekah Rusnock
Before locking the door at the Sun Inn, Bucky Szulborski
calls out good night to a ghostly group who may be roaming the 1758 building. One he calls by name.
Szulborski, secretary of the Sun Inn Preservation Association,
believes the spirit of Hughetta Bender, the woman responsible for the inn’s restoration, may be lingering around the
building, making sure the preservation she worked so hard to accomplish is not undone.
“I always say ‘Good Night, Hughetta,”
Szulborski said. “If anybody’s spirit is in the Sun Inn watching over the place, it’d be Hughetta.”
Though initially a skeptic of a spiritual presence,
Szulborski is less sure after viewing a photograph taken by a local ghost hunting group. Lehigh Valley Research and Investigation in Paranormal Activity investigators captured an image of
what appears to be a figure wearing a white apron peering in an upstairs window. The apron immediately reminded Szulborski
of Bender, who was photographed several times wearing the Moravian style dress.
Bender, the wife of a Bethlehem Steel executive, worked
tirelessly to collect funds and grants to preserve the one-time hotel. Her efforts led to the establishment of SIPA in 1971.
She died in 1995.
While Bender may be a fairly recent addition to the
Sun Inn spirits, RIPA members said most of the ghosts are likely much older and date to the inn’s 18th-century
heyday when guests as prominent as George and Martha Washington stayed in Bethlehem.
RIPA has certified the Sun Inn as a haunted building.
Co-founder Joseph Marrero cited dozens of Electronic
Voice Phenomenons the group recorded while investigating the inn Jan. 24 and Feb. 21. Investigators carry digital
recording equipment, tape recorders, digital cameras and video
cameras to capture evidence of ghosts.
Marrero said most investigators do not usually see
or hear ghosts but can collect evidence on recordings because the spirits move magnetic energy that can be imprinted onto
a digital format.
RIPA members usually investigate at night, searching
for ghosts by asking open ended questions-What year is it?-How old are you?-Why are you here?-and telling any paranormal presences
the investigators are interested but not looking to harm.
Any recordings or photographs collected are pored over
by RIPA members who can take weeks to complete investigations.
RIPA co-founder Stephen Werner said members debunk
each other and are skeptical of each fuzzy noise heard in recordings. Members repeatedly took photographs of the window where
Bender’s spirit seems to have appeared in an attempt to recreate the image perhaps by flash or shadow. None were successful.
in the Sun Inn , RIPA members uncoveredwhat they describe as
a " Hot Bed of paranormal activity.,
“This place is as active as it gets,” RIPA
director Jim Fitzgerald said.
“Usually where there’s history, there just
happens to be ghosts,” Werner said. “We’ll give you the evidence, you decide for yourself.”
The group has also investigated Hotel Bethlehem, which
they said is “definitely haunted,” and plans to investigate Donegal Square, the Boyd Theatre, and the Tally Ho
Tavern.
Members played recordings from the Sun Inn where unattached
voices responded to investigators’ questions, sometimes with humor. One investigator asks, “What kind of person
are you?” and a voice seems to respond, “rich.”
When another investigator plays “God Save the
Queen” on a clavichord at the Sun Inn, a voice clearly responds “God save the Queen!” RIPA members swear
the voice did not come from them.
In other recordings, a voice says, “Get out”
and in another, one says, “We’re watching you.”
Another clip from a recorder left in an empty room
captured warbles, rasps, glasses clinking and murmers of words in several different languages. Members said the spirits appear
to be having a party.
Szulborski said he is still not convinced of a ghostly
presence, but RIPA’s certification is certain to attract more attention to the Sun Inn. Two other ghost hunting groups
have also investigated the building.
As for Bender, Szulborski said he’d be happy
to have Hughetta visit her old haunt.
“The woman worked very hard to save the inn,”
Szulborski said. “I guess she still is.”
To capitalize on its newfound notoriety, SIPA and RIPA
teamed to offer ghost tours March 13, 14, 20 and 21. The tours sold out and a third weekend has been added March 27 and 28.
