Story By: Chad Alan

 

El Morro and San Cristobal Fortress - San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

Considered the western hemispheres best preserved 16th century fortresses, El Morro and its connected neighbor, San Cristobal, now seem misplaced sitting on the coast of San Juan.  Large stone walls hardly look weathered by father time and could easily serve as a post against today's modern pirates.  Tourists, not soldiers, currently occupy the grounds but many visitors would agree some of the former tenants haven't left.  Apparitions of soldiers, as well as, people in 16th century attire have been reportedly seen on the grounds and walking through walls.  A former Chinese prisoner still cries out "Help Me" from areas in the dungeon.  One tourist who was feeling a bit uneasy took a few photos and might have actually caught some orbs.  The grounds of the two fortresses are enormous so the team really had to stretch out to cover every active area and a rainy night wouldn't help. 

 

Kris Williams and team lead, Barry Fitzgerald, started their investigation around the lighthouse where one worker saw a spirit walk through the outside wall of the lighthouse.  It would later be revealed that there used to be a doorway in the previous lighthouse right where the worker saw the ghost walk through the wall.  Although Barry believed he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye, nothing paranormal made its presence during their time in that area. 

 

Susan Slaughter and Paul Bradford headed to the "tunnels" area of San Cristobal and began making out high school style.  Just kidding, the camera never showed them actually making out.  Apparently a ghostly soldier has been reported in the tunnels.  An audible shuffling came from one end of the tunnel and Paul thought he saw somebody standing that direction.  He tried to chase it down, but found nothing.  Susan was not feeling very but toughed it out hoping that something was trying to make contact with her.  An EVP of what sounded like a laugh was discovered during the review of the evidence. 

 

Joe Chin and Scott Tepperman headed to the dungeon, which is now serves as a theatre for the museum.  Joe spoke Chinese to see if I could get the attention of the former Chinese prisoner who continues to call out for help.  An outline of a person sitting in a chair caught Scott's eye but disappeared.  Off to the shoulders barracks where the tourist believed she caught some orbs.  They took a few pictures and believed it would be too hard to separate dust particles from actual paranormal orbs.

 

Not enough evidence to call the fortresses haunted but the team did have a few personal experiences and a few EVP's were caught.

 

Tapia Theatre - San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

Although the theatre was built in the 1800's, the land was previously used as a place where they would hang criminals.  Many times that kind of activity leaves scares forever no matter what is put in its place.  One worker experienced not only seeing an apparition but having something hold and tug on him.  This worker quit and never came back. Another user reported someone saying "Excuse Me," but no one was around.  Shadow figures, doors opening and closing, and a woman singing in the stage area have been the other items reported. 

 

Joe and Scott headed to the mezzanine level where the worker scared himself to unemployment.  They both believed they heard something and then their EMF detector started getting very active.  Something shoved Scott's arm forward, almost knocking him over and then knocking the EMF detector out of his hand.  Footsteps and a shuffling noise coming from above them followed Scott's experience and did end up on their audio recorder. 

 

Kris and Barry headed to the basement to investigate a set of doors opening and closing.  The doors seemed pretty snug and they believed it would take some serious energy to open them up.  Paul and Susan did get some high EMF readings later in the investigation.  They later uncovered a very claustrophobic tunnel system which they crawled through and reported hearing voices on a few occasions.  They moved above ground and headed to the stage.  They took many pictures out into the crowd and balcony's to see if they could trap some of the shadow figures reported by actors on the stage.  They reported many noises and shadow figures but you had to think their eyes and ears were playing tricks on them at this point.

 

The review of the evidence revealed an EVP that said "Help, let me out!" which came from Kris and Barry's tunnel experience.   They also got a strange occurrence recorded on their full spectrum and thermal camera that may very well have caught a bit of a shadow figure.

 

The team believed that the theatre has lived up to its paranormal reputation and called it haunted.

 

Ghost Hunters International airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Syfy.  Check your local listings, especially since the HD channels offer different times for the show.

 

(Image courtesy of Syfy)