By: Chad Alan

Otesaga Resort Hotel – Cooperstown, NY

 
The good news is that the original “Ghost Hunters” is back to finish off their sixth season.  The bad news, it appears that TAPS co-founders, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, are being pulled in a very uncomfortable direction by Syfy and or parent company, NBC Universal.  I’ll save this for a future column, but it is becoming obvious that “Ghost Hunters”, and its siblings, may have “jumped the shark.” 

The Otesaga Resort Hotel would be where TAPS would be setting up camp for the night.  Built in 1909, the hotel has 135 rooms and is still owned by the same family.  People who are aware of the world of sports know Cooperstown for the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame, and having been there myself, the town likes its small comfy offering.  Let me also say that this is not the only hotel in the town that has had paranormal activity.  Guests and hotel workers have reported phantom voices call out their names, seeing shadowy apparitions roam the halls, and the sounds of children running up and down the hall when no children were staying at the hotel.  People staying on the 5th floor, the top and most “haunted” floor, have said to hear furniture being moved upstairs but the upstairs is the roof.  Another guest had a piece of the wall shoot off the wall onto her feet.  One guest saw a women walk from the bathroom and sit on the bed.  There really seems to be endless personal experiences from a lot of people so the expectation was that this was going to be a busy night for the team. 

Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson started their investigation in the ball room and had a few small experiences with some noises, but nothing really paranormal to report.  They then began to walk around various places in the hotel and heard a loud slamming of doors.  No one else on the team heard the doors slam or was closing any doors at the time.  It was audible to the viewer, but hard to really trace the noise to any thing or area.  The next stop on their investigation was to room 590, a room that other members of the team had experiences in during the night.  As they began their EVP session, their K2 meter began registering some activity at the same time a dragging noise was coming from up above them, which is not another floor but the roof. 

Amy Bruni and Kris Williams focused on the room where a spirit was said to have walked from the bathroom and sat on the bed.  They also tried to make contact with the “ghost children” and used the flash light technique where when they ask a question they try and get an entity to make the flashlight light up in response to their questions.  The entity in the room seemed to enjoy a music box that they would play and would make the flash light turn on.   The activity stopped but it was certainly paranormal.  As they were wondering the halls on the fifth floor, Kris believed she heard some noises coming from room 585, as if someone was coming to the door.  She opened the door of the room but nothing was there and because they team had already placed a good amount of recording equipment in there, they hoped something was caught.  As Kris left the room both Amy and the camera man witnessed a shadow figure behind Kris and go into room 585.  They immediately began an EVP session and Amy went into the room and believed she heard some type of whisper, that was caught on audio but not audible as to what was said to her questioning.  They moved on, but this room is living up to its billing.

K.J. McCormick and Britt Griffith took their turn in room 585, where a woman had a piece of wood from the wall shoot out at her.  Believing it may have been one of the kids trying to be playful, they tried to make contact with the ghost children said to inhabit the floor.   As they were asking questions, some noise started coming from the hallway.  They had some equipment set up at the end of the hall and the meters were definitely registering some presence and they did report seeing a shadow figure.  K.J. then saw a figure step out into the hall, look their way, and then disappear into a room.  They ran to the room, room 590, and when Britt entered, he believed he saw a figure jet into the bedroom from a spot in the door.   Britt was sure it was a full figured person.  As he was standing by the closet, a whisper that he heard, and was later revealed to the viewers, said “Amy”.  Mistaken identity or female ghost hunter stalker?  They hoped there cameras picked up the activity and they would be able to track it during their evidence review.

TAPs had plenty of audio to share with the client, ranging from footsteps, to whispers, to doors slamming, something constantly being reported by the staff at night.  Kris and Amy, who slept in one of the rooms where activity has been reported, did have a closet door open in the middle of the night.  The team had many experiences but the viewer was hoping some of the shadow figures would have been caught on video, but apparently none were.  Jason and Grant felt the place was haunted but posed no real threat to anyone working or visiting the hotel.

Ghost Hunters 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)

For more Reality Television Links visit Sirlinksalot.net