The History Museum – Urban Legends

Downtown, Saint Petersburg

2007 – 2017

Brandy: I found an entry on my personal ghost site dating to 2007. It discusses an urban legend that the History Museum is haunted by the ghost of a mummy stored within. The story of the mummy is that there was a ship that docked and that could not pay its docking fees. To keep the boat from being impounded, the owner traded a late-dynasty female mummy that he was transporting. The mummy’s ghost, disturbed at being so disembarked, is seen wandering as a shadow in the museum at night. Apparently, at least one security guard saw her.

This is what I recorded at that time: Nov. 2007:
The week before Hallowe’en, I was called out to do a TV interview at 5 a.m. at the History Museum in St. Petersburg. Rumor has it that the ghost of the mummy contained within the Museum haunts the building, so between on-air shots I took some time to walk through the Museum (with permission) and take photos. I had my EMF meter with me and I had one phenomenal spike, which I could NOT replicate. It was near the display on the old post box. I took images with two film cameras (nothing) and two digital cameras. This is the only on that had an image. It is not a typical orb and I don’t know what to make of it. Any ideas? It doesn’t track like a hair (long and tubular, with brightness at both ends, but it’s not an “orb shape” — or a “flat bottom orb” as is typical to this camera.

Analysis today: The odd shape COULD be a hair, but I’ve made a habit of testing cameras for false images. Hairs typically show up as illuminated tubes. The shape here remains interesting to me and I do not know what produced the image. It could be dust or other flotsam in the air as well.

11/24/2016: Did an e-chat with an employee of the museum. She did say that the mummy’s ghost is an urban legend. The mummy is peaceful and pass over many years ago in her own time and country. However, there is a second haunting, and possibly a third, that takes place in the building. There is speculation that the ghost may be named Odet. The other potential entity may reside in the archives area.

Visit and interview with Sally 2/8/2017:

I took a class on a field trip to the St. Petersburg Museum of History and got a few stories along the way. The entity in the museum appears to be female. She as particularly attached to a prior marketing director for the museum. Whenever he got upset something would break. She has been heard calling his name as well by an employee who was the only one there and before the museum opened. At least once she has observed a velvet rope swinging strongly on its own (not a breeze, but as if being hit).

There is a wall in the museum where anything that she finds objectionable she pulls off the wall. This includes a broken DVD player, an incorrect timeline (later fixed), certain portraits and images. She is particular as to what is up on the wall. It may be the spirit of one of the original founders of this museum, which is the oldest in the area (95 years old) and the third oldest in the state of Florida.

Brandy: I found an entry on my personal ghost site dating to 2007. It discusses an urban legend that the History Museum is haunted by the ghost of a mummy stored within. The story of the mummy is that there was a ship that docked and that could not pay its docking fees. To keep the boat from being impounded, the owner traded a late-dynasty female mummy that he was transporting. The mummy’s ghost, disturbed at being so disembarked, is seen wandering as a shadow in the museum at night. Apparently, at least one security guard saw her. This is what I recorded at that time: Nov. 2007: The week before Hallowe’en, I was called out to do a TV interview at 5 a.m. at the History Museum in St. Petersburg. Rumor has it that the ghost of the mummy contained within the Museum haunts the building, so between on-air shots I took some time to walk through the Museum (with permission) and take photos. I had my EMF meter with me and I had one phenomenal spike, which I could NOT replicate. It was near the display on the old post box. I took images with two film cameras (nothing) and two digital cameras. This is the only on that had an image. It is not a typical orb and I don’t know what to make of it. Any ideas? It doesn’t track like a hair (long and tubular, with brightness at both ends, but it’s not an “orb shape” — or a “flat bottom orb” as is typical to this camera. Analysis today: The odd shape COULD be a hair, but I’ve made a habit of testing cameras for false images. Hairs typically show up as illuminated tubes. The shape here remains interesting to me and I do not know what produced the image. It could be dust or other flotsam in the air as well. 11/24/2016: Did an e-chat with an employee of the museum. She did say that the mummy’s ghost is an urban legend. The mummy is peaceful and pass over many years ago in her own time and country. However, there is a second haunting, and possibly a third, that takes place in the building. There is speculation that the ghost may be named Odet. The other potential entity may reside in the archives area. Visit and interview with Sally 2/8/2017: I took a class on a field trip to the St. Petersburg Museum of History and got a few stories along the way. The entity in the museum appears to be female. She as particularly attached to a prior marketing director for the museum. Whenever he got upset something would break. She has been heard calling his name as well by an employee who was the only one there and before the museum opened. At least once she has observed a velvet rope swinging strongly on its own (not a breeze, but as if being hit). There is a wall in the museum where anything that she finds objectionable she pulls off the wall. This includes a broken DVD player, an incorrect timeline (later fixed), certain portraits and images. She is particular as to what is up on the wall. It may be the spirit of one of the original founders of this museum, which is the oldest in the area (95 years old) and the third oldest in the state of Florida.