With more than 26,000 students, Stony Brook University has had an abundance of inexplicably strange moments and experiences, many of which have been shared on Reddit and some have even been a continuation of campus folklore. “Anomalies,” as this article will reference, are phenomena, creatures, people or incidents that would have any student second-guessing what they might have seen.
Shristi Tuladhar, the president of The Stony Brook Paranormal Society, defined the term “paranormal” as an umbrella term for all things considered to be abnormal. She listed aliens, spirit energies, tarot card readings and the mythical creature Bigfoot as examples of paranormal legends and practices. There are a lot of common abnormal experiences, Shristi said, “Sometimes you can explain it, sometimes you can’t.”
Anomaly #1: The Ghost of Stony Brook’s Country House Restaurant
In an interview with Newsday, ghost historian Kerriann Flanagan Brosky expressed that at the Long Island restaurant she witnessed the ghost of Annette Williamson, a young woman who is believed to exist during the American Revolution. Her name would become infamous among Long Island residents, as she was believed to have been murdered by local town folk for housing loyalist soldiers.
Bob Willemstyn, the owner of The Country House Restaurant, believes that her spirit has remained within the property ever since and now roams the restaurant and makes her presence known to all who visit her eternal domain. The story is transcribed on the restaurant’s home page and is a ten-minute drive from the main campus.
The Statesman interviewed Willemstyn who has been working there for 44 years. When asked if he believes in the paranormal, he said, “Of course.”
He discussed Williamson’s story, said she was “violently and wrongfully murdered” and her “spirit remains to protect the house.”
He said the spirit has been witnessed by people for 300 years to this day. He mentioned reports of “bursts of energy” in rooms, electronics being messed with and objects being thrown in the restaurant such as spoons.
“She likes the attention,” he said.
Anomaly #2: The Story of Sherman A. Raftenberg
On Feb 8. 1973, 18-year-old freshman Sherman A. Raftenberg walked back to his dorm at 10:45 p.m. when he came across an open steam vent and fell 25 feet into live steam. According to interviews by The New York Times, several students complained about the construction sites, warning about potential accidents even before his unfortunate passing.
From the year of his death until 2018, students would gather on the anniversary of his passing in Lot 13 at the closest steam vent to where he had fallen. This group of mysterious students were members of Stony Brook University’s 55-year-old organization Science-Fiction Forum, celebrating the annual “Sherman Raftenberg Day.”
Chris Shamah, the president of the Science-Fiction Forum, explained that for every anniversary, club members would drive to a local White Castle and eat a meal by the spot where Raftenberg died as a tribute since burgers from this specific chain are steamed rather than grilled. The standing club president would then jump over the vent three times, and food would be left behind as tribute.
Regarding the tradition and its end, Shamah explained he was glad that the tradition is an act of the past.
He said “how f****d it is. It took a while to reconnect the fact that this was a real person who died … we talk about it in the [general body meeting].” Instead, the forum uses a general body meeting to commemorate the student’s spirit.
May Raftenberg’s tragic story and his soul rest.
