I Saw a White House Ghost. Was it the Lincoln Ghost?

Have you ever seen something so crazy, you have a hard time believing it? Today, I saw a White House Ghost – the Abraham Lincoln ghost to be exact. Or was it just something else? I’ll let you guys decide.

The White House, is not only the most famous residence in the United States, but its also rumored to be one of the most frequently haunted houses in America. Presidents, first ladies, White House staff members and house guests have all reported feeling ghostly presences, hearing unexplained noises and even seeing actual apparitions over the years.

It kind of makes you wonder, if all those tough decisions made by our country’s leaders, tempt them to return to pace the halls and contemplate historic events. Or do they just like to stop by and see what changes have been made to their former residence, while making a little noise?

Are there ghosts in the White House?

Is the White House haunted?

There are several ghosts that reportedly inhabit the White House. Over the years, the number of White House ghost stories just seem to grow and grow.

President Andrew Jackson hasn’t been seen, but he has been heard cursing and stomping around, by Lincoln’s wife and others. The Rose Room, Jackson’s former bedroom, is said to be the most haunted room in the White House.

Others have seen Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, wandering around carrying laundry.

During President Wilson’s tenure, his wife was having the Dolley Madison Rose garden re-located, when the gardeners reported an encounter with a very angry Madison. She must have been really convincing, because to this day the garden is in its original location!

Even with all the other White House ghosts, probably the most famous and most reported is the ghost of Abraham Lincoln.

Who has seen Lincoln’s Ghost at the White House?

There are countless stories about Lincoln’s ghost in the White House from over the years. Staff have been known to hear mysterious footsteps outside rooms Lincoln most used, like the Lincoln Bedroom. Some Presidential dogs often bark at nothing. President Harry Truman and his daughter, Margaret, often heard Lincoln pacing at night.

When Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands visited in 1942, she also claimed to see Lincoln’s ghost after hearing a knock on her door one evening. When she answered it, she was faced with the ghost of Lincoln fully dressed in his signature top hat and suit.

When she told the Roosevelts about her experience the next day, they reportedly were sympathetic but really not that surprised!

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt used the Lincoln Bedroom as her study, and often said she could feel his presence.

The most famous Lincoln ghost sighting is probably that of Winston Churchill who claims to have seen Old Abe leaning on the fireplace mantel as he was climbing out of his bath one evening.

The encounter happened while the British Prime Minister was a guest at the White House after WWII. After taking a bath, he entered his bedroom wearing nothing and enjoying a cigar. When he saw President Abraham Lincoln’s ghost standing by the fireplace, he has been reported to have said, “Good evening, Mr. President. You seem to have me at a disadvantage.”

The White House ghost has been seen and heard so often that some staff just dismiss the sounds of someone pacing on the upper levels of the White House as it’s just “old Abe pacing the floor.”

What makes you think you saw the White House ghost?

I was actually testing out my amazing new Samsung Galaxy Camera. It has an incredible 21x zoom on it and with the distance the fence around the White House makes you stand away, I thought it was a good opportunity to showcase this feature.

So I took a photo at 1X.

Then another at the point where I liked the frame of my subject (The White House) but zooming in a bit.

And then one a bit closer.

And another fully zoomed in.

Mind you, I actually wasn’t aiming for anything in particular at this point as I was really just testing out the quality of the zoom on this super compact digital camera.

I snapped the photo of the windows and continued on with my day, having no idea what my photography session would later reveal.

Did I see the Lincoln ghost?

It wasn’t until I looked at these pictures later that I saw the ghost in the window.

But wait, there’s more. While the most zoomed in photo is the most obvious, the creepiest thing is that he isn’t just in the one photo, he is in ALL FOUR photos I took.

If you look real closely or use a photo app to zoom in on the high res versions of the other photos, you can see him in each one! So it’s difficult for me to dismiss the apparition as some sort of reflection or a temporary light flash or whatever other excuse I’ve tried telling myself.

I took these photos over the course of a few minutes and shifted my position and angles of where I was aiming the camera at each time.

With today being Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, was it a coincidence that I saw something? Is it possible the 16th President’s ghost was roaming the White House looking for birthday cake?

Like I said earlier, there have been several different ghosts reported to roam the 132 rooms of the White House. The ghost seen more often than others, is Honest Abe.

President Truman, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and President Reagan’s daughter, Maureen Reagan, have all claimed to see the ghost of Abraham Lincoln.

Sightings have been reported in Lincoln’s bedroom, the hallway, and standing at the window of the Oval Office (which is where my photo shows him). Several have said they’ve heard Lincoln’s footsteps in the hall outside the Lincoln Bedroom.

So what do you think, do you believe in ghosts? Is that President Lincoln standing in front of the window, or is it just my imagination?