Episode Recap: A Soldier's Story

Get ready for a double whammy of Ghost Hunting!  On this episode the team investigates the Sterling Opera House in Derby, CT, and then the team heads to the North Carolina to help out a family being haunted while the Dad is fighting in Afghanistan.

When the good folks of Derby decided to renovate and reopen their local opera house- one of the oldest in the country- they had no idea the spirits they were about to awaken!  Workers have seen a woman in white, a woman in a sparkling evening gown, a woman in a teal dress, shadows in the balcony and a gentleman dressed in period garb.  Could it be the spirit of Mr. Sterling, who died tragically just before the Opera House's 1897 completion.

The freakiest area is the sub-basement, where people have been touched, a child yelled help me, and something gouged a man's leg and left 3 bloody scratches! Oh, and the building has no working electricity, yet the EMF levels are through the roof throughout the entire building! 

The investigation yields mixed results.  Jason and Grant hear voices in the auditorium. Steve and Tango hear footsteps in the basement while debunking the "scratch" as a possible encounter with debris- overall their time in this dungeon was inconclusive.  The tall windows and eerie feel lead Jason and Grant to deduce that people are getting freaked out by the building itself, not by ghosts. 

Tango shows off some magic tricks to get a rise out of the spectral audience, and they hear a mysterious set of thumps.  That's tough to figure out.  Overall, the investigation was an exercise in debunking.  Evidence review does turn up some whispering voices that get the gang all fired up.  "Andy" the child-spirit gets his voice recorded, and there's some moaning and a long groaning sound caught in the background.  So there IS some paranormal stuff going on in the Opera House.

On to North Carolina, where the Leah Rivers is home alone with her two sons and pregnant with her third.  Her husband is in Afghanistan, and she's so terrified she wants to move out of her house.  Naturally, TAPS rushes to put this family at ease.  Because it's a small house and a sensitive situation, only Jason, Grant, Steve and Tango are going to investigate. Amy and Adam will do research and analysis.

Here are the claims: footsteps in the attic, shadows in the hallway, a child saw a black shadow that told him to leave the room and a growling in the kitchen. Leah was sleeping and dreaming of a girl wrapped in a blue tarp- she woke up suddenly to feel an ice-cold pressure on her leg and felt like someone was watching her. Then a clock came flying off the wall and there were paper towels strewn about the living room. The poor woman is petrified!  This is the kind of case Jason and Grant love to do- help a family feel comfortable in their home.

Jason and Grant experience the banging and thumping that has Leah so frightened and they can't debunk the clock falling. Similarly, Steve and Tango can't debunk the shadow that the child sees and there are no high EMF readings.  Then SOMETHING was moving the toys around in the nursery!  What WAS that??  No wonder these kids were scared!

Research and analysis yield interesting results, a good investigation all around!