TV-Reviewed

Though this episode’s title would lead you to believe that the Betsy Ross House would be the first investigation of the night, you’d be wrong. In fact, I’d say the first case shown–the Hannum House–yielded more compelling evidence than the latter. I’m not saying at any point was I on the edge of my seat–that’s very rare for me nowadays when it comes to the show (I guess, the whole thing has played out for me so many times that it’s now old hat)–during this investigation, but the experiences–both personal and otherwise–did seem to correlate surprisingly well with the homeowners’ claims of activity. That was surprising, because that doesn’t always happen.

So, first up was the Hannum House. The structure itself had played host to many different functions over the years. It had once been everything from a church to a brothel. Yeah. There’s no irony there, right? Right…Anyway, Jason and Grant bumped the place up to the top of their priority list when they learned the case involved the paranormal harassment of a six-year-old girl. Chances were good, I thought, that this investigation might yield some exciting evidence. Did it? Well, that’s debatable as usual.

Most of what was caught were mysterious footsteps, bumps and thumps. However, they did end up capturing two EVPs–none of which were anywhere near the girl’s bedroom. They were discovered instead on the audio recorder Amy and Kris had with up in the attic. I guess I should talk about those later, though. It’s probably better to get to how exactly the experiences of TAPS seemed to verify the homeowners’ claims.

Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of Ghost Hunters

In the master bedroom, where the husband claimed to have once seen a shadow-entity, Grant discovered that the clock-radio was putting out some rather high EMFs. But, the field was only localized about a foot in each direction. Then, that’s when the sound of footsteps were heard–and where the camera crew’s equipment had been able to pick them up. The footsteps, indeed, sounded genuine–having believable acoustics for the room. And, to me, they sounded like somebody walking around in old-fashioned boots. The guys decided to go for an EVP session. But, just as they went to start, Grant’s K2 meter lit up. Then, only moments later, interrupting the session, were the sounds of more footsteps. Could that have been the entity messing with them?

Next, Jay and Grant made their way into the girl’s room. Here, they once more encountered the footsteps–footsteps that I could definitely hear. Then, when Grant sat on the bed, the K2 meter lit up once more. Coincidence? He also reported the bed to be vibrating. Yet, I have to ask if Jay pushing on the bedpost could get the whole bed going…Well, that could mean any slight movement from either of them could have got the bed to vibrate. Jason had tried to see if the furnace, which was on at the time, was causing the vibrations, but I’d think that’d be pretty tough to sort out–unless the furnace was really grumbling. Of course, before Grant reports the bed vibrating, Jason says he hears footsteps. You could here one or two, then nothing, though he said he heard what sounded like thumps out in the hall. I don’t know. Again, you’d have to go on faith.

The attic was where two pieces of tangible–well, as tangible as it usually gets–evidence were caught: the two EVPs I mentioned. Amy and Kris decided to try the attic for an EVP session. But, before we could get to that, Jason had to remind us what an EVP was. Argghh! I get tired of that. I know why they do it–to inform first time viewers of the show what the various acronyms are, but it gets irritating to those of us who’ve been watching since day one. Now, during the gals’ EVP session, there were some odd occurrences, the first of which was what I’d describe as a squeak-thump noise. They had decided to try and provoke the entity. Kris had said, ”I dare you to scare us. Do to us what you do to the family.” Shortly after that is when Amy reported that it felt like a cobweb was being drug through her hair.

It was only later the two EVPs were discovered: ”Thousand” or “Thousands.” It’s really faint; you really have to listen to hear it, and even then it was debatable as to what was being said. However, it does sound feminine; I agree with that assessment. The second EVP: ”You’ll find it in this wall.” I couldn’t really decipher it until Jay gave his opinion as to what it was saying. During the reveal the wife had said many artifacts had been found in the walls already. Could there be something that’s keeping this supposed entity in the house? Some artifact? Who knows.

The experiences of TAPS at the Hannum House and the evidence they collected there did seem to support the claims. Though the guys found nothing in the basement, at least, two of the stories seemed to check out. Next, it was onto the Betsy Ross House. On the way there Steve had to get Tango going. It was hilarious as Tango was trying to wrench the walkie from his hand. Hey, Dave, who’s driving?

The Betsy Ross House was in what looked like a built up neighborhood. I have to imagine it looked very different when she lived there. The story as to why she was supposedly chosen to do the flag was simple: George Washington knew her from church. It was ironic this came up as a mini-history lesson for Tango–with Steve doing the teaching. Though I seriously doubt ol’ George had said, ”Yeah, I know this awesome upholsterer.”

Investigation-wise, there were two buildings for TAPS to cover–the house itself and nearby gift shop. The two main points of concern were the gift shop’s basement and the director’s office. The basement was where the security guard was shot dead, of course, and the office was where a former director had gotten so scared that she had actually climbed out onto the flagpole. Yeah, no mater how spooked I got, there’s no way I’d be going out there–that would be a three story drop to the pavement below.

To sum things up, the sound of unexplainable footsteps was caught by the camera crew’s equipment as Jason and Grant were in the basement of the Betsy Ross House. High EMFs were noted coming from the electrical equipment. Then, the guys heard what they thought was a disembodied moan. I’d say it was just electro-magnetic interference, though, with the TV crew’s equipment. That’s what it sounded like to me, anyway. Lastly, there was the EVP captured in the loft area: ”Don’t go…” Also, when in the director’s office, Jason had said he had heard movement coming from locked attic room behind the office. Could he have been hearing the sounds of mice playing?

While the Betsy Ross House investigation wasn’t terrible, it was clear why the show’s producers put it on last: The first case had a few more bells and whistles. Yet, it’s interesting how mysterious footsteps played a role during both investigations. Over all, this episode was enjoyable. One beef I have with it though was that there was little in the way of debunking efforts made by the TAPS team.

Rating: 7.0