In addition to the more common sightings and sounds or smells that are associated with specific specters, there’s also the occasional rumbling of an encounter with one of the more unlikely figures from history. Perhaps the most common of these is the sighting of Thomas Jefferson in the distant past, but no specific details are available and no evidence exists that would help to corroborate such a story.
Of all of the spirits that are reported to walk the floors of the White House, Abraham Lincoln seems to be the one whose sightings have a specific purpose. His ghost is said to become particularly active during times of war, when he’s seen and heard restlessly pacing the hallways and knocking on bedroom doors throughout the day and night. Also during such times, witnesses tend to see his gaunt figure standing at the window of his bedroom or the Oval Office, looking out over what were once the battlefields during the Civil War.
The fact that Lincoln is sighted so frequently is of particular interest, since both he and his wife – Mary Todd Lincoln – were known to have conducted séances in the White House, in an attempt to contact the spirits of their deceased sons. Both strong believers in the existence of the afterlife, the Lincolns devoted a great deal of time trying to establish contact with the youngsters, and were said to be quite open-minded about interaction between the two planes of existence.
During recent administrations, no new sightings have been reported, leaving us to wonder whether or not these experiences weren’t, perhaps, the products of various hyperactive imaginations, or if our forefathers and their various family members have finally found peace beyond the strictures of the earth’s boundaries.