WHAT IS PORT ARTHUR???
Port Arthur Historic Site is on the Tasman Peninsula, in the South East corner of Tasmania, Australia’s only island state. The historic site covers 100 acres of buildings, ruins and gardens – the remains of the 19th century secondary punishment station. The prison operated between 1830 and 1877, during it’s operation around 12500 sentences were served by adult male repeat offenders.
HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN HAUNTED???
Port Arthur has been infamously haunted since the 1870s. That means that people living in the prison, whilst it was operating, reported weird goings-on; everything from odd lights and noises to full bodied apparitions. Since that time, the stories of the paranormal activity at Port Arthur have ebbed and flowed, with residents and visitors reporting all manner of ghostly stories. Ghost tours started operating at Port Arthur in 1990, and in the 22 years of operation there have been well over 2000 documented cases of paranormal activity.
SO WHY INVESTIGATE HERE???
So far, almost all reports of paranormal phenomena at Port Arthur are anecdotal. We have people’s personal experiences, photographs and videos, but we need more. The aim of the Paranormal Investigation Experience is to gather data over a long period of time, and perhaps find a reason for the ghostly tales.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ‘GHOSTS’???
There are many, many theories as to what is behind paranormal phenomena. The most popular is of course the “GHOSTS ARE DEAD PEOPLE” theory. Then there are the “PARALLEL UNIVERSE“, “POWER OF SUGGESTION” and “THIS IS ALL A BIG PILE OF POO” theories. There’s no telling which one is right, but we aim to dig deeper and at least satisfy our curiosity.
SO WHY BLOG ABOUT IT???
Because when you put groups of people in unfamiliar places in the dark, amusing and sometimes scary things tend to happen. This is where it will all be recorded for posterity.
Want to know more? Check out our Introductory video:
Port Arthur Paranormal Investigation Experience 
Hi,
I did the ghost tour last week-as a bit of fun!-but have a most unsettling photograph, taken in the separate prison. It is of an empty cell-but a “hooded figure” blocks the doorway. I thought you’d like to look at it. Can you tell me how I can send it to you? I’ve found it really unsettling.
Kind regards,
Clare
Hi Clare, we’d love to see it. You can send to paranormal@portarthur.org.au
Look forward to seeing it!
Cheers,
Cait
Hi, my wife and I did the Ghost tour in Dec 2011. It was a stormy night, with high winds, arin, thunder & lightning. I took two early photos of dark pathways. then two photos of the Church while the guide spoke to the group. I then tried to take a close up of the Church. My camera froze and would not work. I simply could not press the shutter button down. Because of the rain, I couldn’t check out the problem. All through the tour I tried to reuse the camera, but it was stuck all night. On getting back to the hotel, I checked again and the camera worked. I looked at my photos and came across an amazing photo after the last shot of the Church. It is a clear image of what looks like a “demon”. look for yourself. Every person I show sees the same demon like image. I’ll send it to paranormal@portarthur.org.au.