One of the earliest accounts of ghost stories told by settlers after the first colonists started arriving in the new world comes from New Castle. Here, dozens of witnesses describe an event that remind us all that you cannot simply avoid the strange ways of your old lives by moving to a new world. And just a stone’s throw across the pond a new type of haunting started that soon had the entire village in an uproar.
It all started in spring when the Walton family first awoke to the sounds of what sounded like a massive hailstorm started coming down from the skies above them. As they looked out the window they noticed that the hail stones raining down on them were not white snowy balls of ice as would be expected, but rather a dull brown shape. After a short respite from the constant hammering from above they began to notice that the objects were not hail, as they had expected, but rather a series of small pebble like stones. After checking the roof for any signs of tresspassers they found none and went back inside. As they agonized over the cause of such a mysterious storm, soon the rain began once again. This time, the stones were far larger. As they once again ran outside to discover where the localized hail of stones was coming from they realized that no other houses were being affected. As they went inside they soon heard larger stones falling to the roof of their house and realized that some of the rocks falling on their house were large enough to threaten serious damage on it. Seeking shelter from the hail of stones they found refuge inside and decided to ignore it. It was about this time that the rain was no longer outside the house, but within as well. Stones were falling from the ceilings without any explanation whatsoever. Soon the family felt they had suffered through this long enough and called in the authorities who likewise witnessed the strange unearthly rain both inside and outside of the house. Soon the father of the house, George, decided to perform an experiment. He secretly painted several of the stones and hid them away under lock and key in the basement. These painted stones soon disappeared from storage and once again began raining on the house. As the hapless witnesses looked on the rain lasted for several days before stopping just as mysteriously.
Despite the fact that the rain had lasted for several days the stones used seemed to never increase beyond a small pile around the house as though they were all being used over and over again. No one was caught perpetrating a hoax during this whole time and eventually the case was labeled one of the earliest unexplainable events of the new world. To this day we do not know what could have possibly caused such a mysterious hail of stones or how the painted stones could have been taken from George Walton’s basement and ended up teleported above the house.