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Is White House haunted? Jen Psaki 'spooked' by creaking noises during briefing: 'Maybe it’s Lincoln’s ghost'

As Psaki was taking questions from reporters about new CDC guidelines that let vaccinated people go mask-free outdoors, a long creaking noise suddenly sounded from over her left shoulder

When White House press secretary Jen Psaki's press conference was interrupted by spooky noises on Tuesday, April 27, she joked to the press pool, saying, "Maybe it’s Lincoln’s ghost."

As Psaki was taking questions from reporters about new CDC guidelines that let vaccinated people go mask-free outdoors, provided it was not a crowded setting, a long, creaking noise suddenly sounded from over her left shoulder. The sound made Psaki glace quickly over her shoulder. However, she kept her calm and reassured the room, joking about a supernatural probability. "Have no fear. The ceiling is not falling that I’m aware of… It’s an old building," Psaki said. "Maybe it’s Lincoln’s ghost. That’s quite something. Maybe it is," she joked with a reporter.

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However, as she continued to take questions, 25 minutes into the daily briefing, the mysterious sound was heard again. She was just about to get into the skepticism regarding the COVID-19 vaccination process when the noise interrupted her briefing again. "Engaging with the Covid team, ensuring that we are taking the right steps forward, we have a plan that’s being implemented across the country right now, a very robust…" she began before the alleged spirit of Honest Abe interrupted her for a second time. "OK, maybe it’s former President Lincoln’s ghost, I’m going to go with that."

Psaki admitted that it was "a little spooky" before leaving the press briefing room. However, soon after she left the room, reporters who were willing to play ghostbusters quickly found the source of the noise and it was far less paranormal than initially guessed to be. "Ole Abe’s ghost makes for a better story but the creaking during the WH briefing was the swiveling of a robo cam," Reuters’ White House correspondent, Steve Holland, said in a tweet.

Is the White House haunted?

From former President Ronald Reagan to first lady Michelle Obama and overnight guest Winston Churchill, have all reported experiencing spooky happenings at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

In 2009, school children who were visiting the White House were told by then-first lady Michelle Obama that she and then-President Barack Obama sometimes heard strange noises in the hallway at night. There were also times when Obama family members felt like something was gnawing or chewing on their feet. “I imagine that President Lincoln was really proud to have an African American family in the White House after the sacrifices he made,” Folklorist Lattanzi Shutika, an associate professor at George Mason University, told VOA News. “But as far as the unexplained sounds and feelings, I would chalk that up to there just being spiritual energy in the house from people who've been there before.” 

Reagan, who led the country from 1981 to 1989, said that his dog barked frantically at the entrance of the Lincoln Bedroom and refused to go inside. Reagan’s daughter and son-in-law also said that they saw an apparition in the room.  

Churchill also claimed to have witessed Lincoln’s ghost when he stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom. “It has this really well-known bed called the Lincoln bed that was purchased by Mary Todd Lincoln during their time in White House and it's unlikely that he actually slept in the bed, but other presidents have slept in the bed,” says White House Historical Association historian Lina Mann. “And, of course, since that was a space where he had an office, it is like the Lincoln room.”