Episode Recap: Little Drummer Boy

Case #1 - Staten Island, NY - Church of St. Andrew

 It seems that the Holy Spirit isn't the only presence that roams the grounds of the historical Church of St. Andrew on Staten Island, New York. Church members and other eyewitnesses have made claims about paranormal sightings in and around the church, so the team arrives on the scene eager to investigate. Jason and Grant begin the hunt in the chapel. On one occasion the alter boys where rehearsing there when the chimes began to sound on their own and the fire on one of the candles near the chimes suddenly became engorged. During the investigation Jason and Grant quickly notice there's a large vent near this area. They find that when air comes out of the vent it adds more oxygen to the air, stoking the candle's flame. They also agree that the air from the vent is the reason why the chimes move "unexpectedly".

But the wind is no logical explanation for the large shadow that passes by the back window of the chapel. Yep, you read that correctly. As soon as Jason and Grant notice this figure they head outside of the chapel to investigate but no one's there. Oddly, they don't find any evidence of footprints either which means that whatever they saw, floated rather than walked by. Let's all say it together, "Creepy!"

Meanwhile Steve and Dave analyze the storage room where people walking outside claim they've seen a black shadow passing back and forth in the room. After surveying the area, the lighting and the proximity of the window both Dave and Steve note that from the ground level of the church someone looking up may think they're seeing a "strange shadow" moving back and forth but in actuality it's just a person walking past the window. So from a street level view the high mysterious windows appear to be more eerie than they actually are.

Later on, Kris and Amy take their turn in the chapel and hear sounds in the room. The noises continue to get closer and closer until it appears that whatever's making the sound is standing right next to them. And although they aren't able to see the culprit they have the DVR camera, digital camera and wireless mic all running to capture any evidence.

And of course, the investigation wouldn't be complete without a thorough analysis of the cemetery where the ubiquitous spirit of "the little drummer boy" is said to roam. According to a local historian, a small boy who used to play drums for the soldiers was accidentally killed during the American Revolution and buried within the church cemetery. While there, Steve and Dave try to set up a rudimentary drum to see if they can provoke the boy to come out and play, yet they don't have any luck.

All of the TAPS members agree that there are definitely some interesting events taking place at St. Andrews but since they aren't able to support any of the evidence the verdict is still out on this location and another investigation in the future may be in store.

 Case # 2 - Chicago, IL - Benton House

TAPS goes to the Windy City (that's Chicago for those of you not on a first name basis) to investigate Benton House. Established in 1907, Benton House used to serve as a town hall meeting site and today it functions as a community services and outreach center for children and teens. When the team arrives on the scene the director of programs, Angela Dedenbach, gives them a grand tour of the place, a brief history lesson on the house, oh yeah and she also mentions that one of their dead investors, Katherine "Ma Benton" still likes to hang out there.

Jason and Grant begin their analysis on the third floor and before they can really get started they see what appears to be a child run past. They go to catch up with the figure but he or she has vanished. They next head to the third floor bedroom where Angela claims she heard footsteps walk into her room, but when she turned to see who was there she was alone. Jason and Grant immediately notice that the floorboards in that area creak so loud that the footsteps Angela heard were likely coming from someone walking into the music room next door.

On one occasion, workers were trying to move a table in the gymnasium when the furniture suddenly became extremely heavy and came crashing down. Steve and Dave head to this site to investigate. They notice that the EMF detector has extremely high readings of 1.7 and above. The average house has an EMF reading of .2 so they quickly debunk the notion that the eerie feelings and mysterious events taking place in the gymnasium are paranormal. More than likely, these feelings are caused by high electromagnetic fields.

To wrap things up, Jason and Grant investigate the library/common area where the spirit of Ma Benton allegedly closed the door. The two Ghost Hunters survey the door and find that it has a high amount of "swing back" action and merely closes easily on its own. Not quite the handy work of Ma Benton.

Outside of the strange sighting of the child-like figure on the third floor TAPS is able to debunk many of the Benton House mysterious. They feel that there's nothing but positive energy present on this location.