MYSTERIOUS FLICKERING LIGHTS IN NEW YORK CHURCH

Christ Church  Manhasset  New York

I came across this video of an alleged haunted church in New York named Christ Episcopal Church in Northern Boulevard in Manhasset.




The poster explains what happened:

"Ok so my friend was driving by this church on long island that he says is generally believed to be haunted according to locals, and he noticed the lights in this one section of the building flickering like crazy.

This video is actually 5 different video clips, as he went by 4 or 5 times over the course of a couple hours, and the lights did not stop flashing (this was between the hours of about 4am and 6am)

There were no cars in the parking lot, and no one appeared to be in the room or the building. there were a few other lights on in the building (which you can see on the video) and those lights were NOT flashing. also the lights are flickering in a way that wouldn't really be possible through the use of a light switch (and keep in mind this went on for like 2 hours).

Also note that there is more than 1 flickering light, so its not like it's just ONE bulb on the verge of going out. The big light you see coming from the outside of the building is a flood light being controlled by the person taking the video. At the end of the 1st clip, my friend actually stopped filming because he heard an engine revving behind him and thought a car was behind him, but there was no one there. (around 1:10)

Notice during the 3rd or 4th clip when he actually approaches the building on foot, and you can see some form that appears to come through the doorway in one of the windows and comes to the window. and the window on the far right also seems to have some type of moving shadow in it. (look in the lower left & lower right corners of the 2 windows that come into view around 2:10, watch those locations throughout this clip) -- what are these shadows? people (maybe one with glasses on its head??)? an oscillating fan casting a shadow across the room? something on or behind the window that just LOOKS like it's moving on the camera? something else???

It's hard to tell in the dark, but the video also shows a big uprooted tree on its side (around 3:00, and again at 5:00 in daylight). recently uprooted, or growing sideways or something, as you can see the tree is green and still (or recently) alive, but on its side.

The groaning noises you hear in the background are creepy, but i would assume they're either just my friend's car, or the sound of cars driving by in the background.

the last clip is at about 6:30am, just after sunrise when he went back and the lights WERE NO LONGER DOING IT, although there was still no one around and no cars in the parking lot.

All very creepy if you ask me".

MY THOUGHTS

The church has it`s own website and from what I can see, the likelihood of kids or hoaxers getting inside to continuously flicker the lights is fairly remote over such a period of time.
My other and more plausible thought would be whether there was an electrical fault.
If that was the case, surely it would have shorted and cut out?
Perhaps any electrician here who reads this can comment on a possible natural occurrence.
It`s worth noting that in 1999 the church suffered fire damage from a heating system failure.
Presumably the electrics would have been checked and overhauled during restoration.
Overall, I find this quite interesting, and I hope you do too.

HISTORY OF CHURCH

In 1800, the North Hempstead farmers of English descent and religion were not happy with the situation in the town of Hempstead, which was predominantly anti-English. For these people the trip to St. George's Episcopal Church was an all-day affair. This was especially true on rainy, snowy or cold days when either mud or ice made the poor roads almost impassable. Some people took the family in farm wagons, some went on horseback, and a few actually walked the twelve miles barefoot and put on their boots to enter the church properly. They were obliged to carry their food for the midday meal and as they returned home after the long trip in the afternoon they were almost glad that Sunday was finally over. Small wonder, then, that these devout Episcopalians wanted their own church in their own region.

The vestry of St. George's gave permission to the people of Cow Neck to raise money, to buy land, and to build a church. The people went to work, and by October 1802 they had raised $2046.50 by subscription. But this was not enough and the vestry of St. George's told them to try again. Early in December the total grew to $3725.50 and everyone was pleased. On the 31st of December in 1802 they bought from George and Sarah Onderdonk "two acres and 97 square rods of land for $197.47 in cash." This is the property now occupied by the Church, the cemetery and the Parish Hall.

Work on the church building began in the early spring of 1803 by carpenters. The Right Reverend Benjamin Moore, Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of New York, dedicated the structure on November 17,1803. The small shingled colonial church had a tiny balcony, was lit by candles and heated by a wood burning stove. The choir sang to the strains of a cello and violin until an organ was purchased in 1859. Pews were rented and a donation to the rector in the form of fruit or vegetables was customary.

The salary of the rector was determined largely by the income from Christ Church Academy, founded shortly after the church. It was the first private school in North Hempstead and offered a "standard curriculum to children of all ages." After the Academy ceased operations due to the advent of public school, the building was used as a combined rectory and parish house.

The first rector was the Reverend Seth Hart, who was also rector of St. George's. On alternate Sundays Mr. Hart came to Cow Neck instead of the Cow Neck people coming to Hempstead. This arrangement, unsatisfactory though it was, lasted for fifteen years. Following Mr. Hart, a series of clergymen were engaged but most of them lasted only a few years due to the abysmally low salaries offered. Not until long after the Civil War was a decent living offered the rector.

In 1868, the original church was completely remodeled and greatly enlarged. Not an outward trace of the original building was left and instead there rose a Victorian Gothic wooden church, painted brown with a tall spire topped by a small cross. This structure lasted until 1912 when it was hit by lightning and burned to the ground. The vestry discovered there was insufficient insurance to build a new church of the type they wanted but they persevered. They gave the architect instructions to build a building for $25,000. He drew a handsome set of plans but these proved to be much too expensive and he was given forty-eight hours to come up with something cheaper. These plans became the present structure although it, too, was struck by lightning in 1935. The damage was restricted to the north part of the church containing the organ, chancel, sanctuary and altar. Generous members of the parish quickly raised the extra money not covered by insurance and the entire church was refinished.

The exterior looks much the same today as it did in 1935, with the addition of a new vestibule in 1965 at the south entrance. The interior was completely remodeled in 1972 when a magnificent Cassavant pipe organ was installed. Fire struck again in 1999 when a temporary heating system failed. A devoted church member carried a burning space heater out of the building with his bare hands to spare further damage. During restoration from fire and smoke damage, burned floorboards were replaced and the organ pipes were removed for professional cleaning.