by Chad Alan

 

"Knights of the Living Dead"

 

Higgins Armory - Worcester, Massachusetts

 

Incredible would be one word to you to describe this mammoth four story shrine to ancient Arms and Armor.  It was built in 1924 by a local industrialist named John Higgins solely to store his massive collection of Arms and Armory from Medieval Europe, Futile Japan, and Ancient Greece and Rome.  He died in 1961 after an ax from one of the armored Knights decapitated him while he was dusting.  Actually, he died of natural causes but that doesn't make much of a story.   In 1970 the building was turned into a museum and this is when the paranormal activity started.  Visitors and museum caretakers have reported loud knocking and banging, the sound of footsteps and people having conversations, hearing swing era and church music being played, doors opening and closing, and reports of being touched.  Of course the Armory has its share of apparitions, and John Higgins is said to be one of them.  The building has many rooms and one area called "The Great Hall" gives the impression of bring back in Medieval times, castle architecture and all. 

 

TAPS co-founders Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson started their investigation by trying on a few pieces of armor, clearly gearing up for the battle against the paranormal.  They fully believe that this equipment, from all over the world and from various times in history, may very well be carrying with it some spiritual energy.  They did experience one of the doors sounding like it was open then closed.  As they tried to chase down the door that may have been closed, they came across a stockade that had a chain that was moving and was described as "ice cold" by Jason.

 

Amy Bruni and Adam Berry headed to the basement to investigate the report of an apparition of John Higgins.  They set up a bunch of equipment hoping to trap any paranormal activity.  Their conversation was stopped by what sounded like somebody walking in the hall.  They couldn't track it down and hoped their recorders would later reveal something more.  They headed to the gift shop where a shadow figure is commonly reported, as well as, strange noises and they feeling of being watched.  Adam noted that the K2 meter was not picking up any unusual readings.  They began hearing loud footsteps coming from the upstairs area which used to be the office of John Higgins.  The office was silent by the time they got up there but the decided to lay out some more equipment just in case.  Next stop was "The Great Hall." As they were running their EVP session, they both heard a voice that may have been responding to them.  Hopefully their audio recorder would reveal some type of paranormal evidence.

 

Dave Tango and Britt Griffith, filling in for the "under the weather" Steve Gonsalves, made their way to "The Great Hall" where just about every type of paranormal activity has been recorded.  They set their Geo-Phone, used to measure vibration, which comes in handy to try and track down the reports of footsteps.  As they were reviewing all the items of death lining the hall walls, both were interrupted by what they called "hard soled footsteps" coming from a balcony above.  They headed to John Higgins old office and made an interesting find, a sound system connected to speakers throughout the building...could this be the answer to the reports of music?  They also noticed at least one door, that after it opens, takes an extra long time to close.  Could this be freaking people out who are unaware of people coming or going through that door?

 

The team did catch some interesting audio clips.  One contained the loud, heavy, footsteps that are constantly reported by the staff.  Another one was a woman's voice saying something that Amy thought might have been someone mimicking something she just said.   Jason and Grant were also able to show the client one instance where the Geo-Phone was lighting up, coupled with footsteps that were very audible to the viewer.  The last piece of evidence was the chain swinging and it's hard to debunk that one.  TAPS felt the Armory is probably dealing with residual haunts but nothing the staff needed to be concerned with.

 

Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Barry FitzGerald, Amy Bruni, Kris Williams, and Adam Berry at this year's Reality Rocks Expo!

 

 

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

 

(Image courtesy of Syfy)

 

 

Contact Chad Alan at [email protected]