by Chad Alan

 

"Haunted by Heroes"

 

USS Yorktown- Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina

 

The USS Yorktown served its country for 3 decades from World War II through the Vietnam wars.  141 men lost their lives while serving on the ship and it's very possible that the souls of these men believe they are still on active duty.  The current caretakers, of the now floating museum, constantly see apparitions of sailors in military uniforms walking down the halls of various parts of the ship and climbing ladders seemingly heading for their post for the night.  Doors slam open even on the most peaceful nights on the ocean and the sounds of men on duty fill the air.  Shadow figures with faceless features have also been reported.  The ship is old and the paint is peeling but the size and the amount of metal before your eyes is quite a sight and you realize it will still be there decades after our own time has come and gone.

 

TAPS co-founders Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson were the first to enter the ship in the museum area where apparitions have been seen.  Noises across the room got their attention and they felt as if they were not the only ones in the room.  Their thermal imager caught a figure, clear as day, appearing to be leaning on the wall, get up, and walk away.  Maybe one of the best images every caught on their thermal equipment.   Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves would later get an audio recording in this same area that sounded like a person clearing their throat, but it certainly wasn't them.  The next stop was an area that has had a lot of paranormal activity reported, including footsteps and doors slamming.  As if on cue, audible footsteps from the floor above came strolling out yet nobody was up in that area.  It was not long after this that something pushed Grant on his upper right chest, leaving a handprint seen by their thermal imager.  Next stop was an area where a sailor took his life using an AK 47 rifle.  More lifeless footsteps greeted them a couple of different times and they chalked it up to a residual haunting, a non-intelligent spirit unknowingly repeating an action.

 

Amy Bruni and Adam Berry patrolled the flight deck of the ship where shadow figures and apparitions have been reported.  A figure walking along the fence caught their attention and then disappeared.  Nobody else was on the deck with them, of course except the ghost that they just seen.  They were able to catch this on their video camera but it was pretty grainy.  Turns out, the area where the figure was, was an area where a plane crashed killing multiple people.  They headed to the engine room where full bodied apparitions have been seen.  They set up two "shadow detectors" which fires of an alarm if something enters the space between them.  They left the area to avoid contaminating the devices.  As they were saying that they heard some people talking, followed by footsteps, their shadow detector alarms went off so they headed back in that direction.  Nothing was around and they did not receive any more alarm notices. 

 

K.J. McCormick and Brett Griffith headed to the engine room where Amy and Adam had just spent some time.  They too, just like Adam and Amy, reported hearing a conversation followed by very loud footsteps and strange noises that they could not track down to any particular piece of equipment on the ship. 

 

The team had plenty of personal experiences on the ship, and as on most old ships, residual hauntings seem rampant.  One interesting EVP they caught was when Grant made a statement saying "I don't know what these are."  The EVP response, "I don't know either."  The other evidence has already been mentioned and there is no doubt the USS Yorktown is haunted. 

 

Ghost Hunters airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Syfy. 

 

Check out the archive of past show recaps here!

 

(Image courtesy of Syfy)

 

Contact Chad Alan at [email protected]