It was a cold and windy night when the Ghost Geeks of Penns Ghost Paranormal arrived at the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower in Reading Pennsylvania for a paranormal investigation. Before diving into the experiences of the night, let’s first go over the tower and some of it’s history.
Built in 1939 with funds from FDR’s New Deal and Public Works Administration, the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower stands 120 feet tall and sits on Mount Penn with spectacular views of Reading and surrounding areas. It is made up of fire proof material, unlike it’s predecessor that stood in the same spot and burned down in 1923. Both towers served as fire lookout and tourist attraction. The original tower, with it’s dance floor, small gaming machines, and pool tables was one of the popular attractions along the gravity hill railroad. So too was the neighboring Summit House Hotel which was torn down in the 1950’s, but the foundation of still sits in the vicinity of the Fire tower.
Before the investigation, I heard of paranormal reports not only within the tower, but outside of the tower as well. With the location being a very secluded, the area has seen its fair share of tragedies and violence. I have come across several articles of crimes over many years along skyline drive.
As we gathered at the base of the tower, our psychic/medium, Michelle, sensed the spirit of a little girl in the woods. She said it was as though she was playing peek-a-boo, or hide-n-go seek. Unfortunately the cold and wind prevented us from a complete investigation of the exterior. We hope to investigate soon again to look into the claims of lights being seen in the woods, as well as the sound of big-band style music. No doubt being played by a phantom band from a by-gone era, a recording of sorts, not an intelligent type of haunt, which we seemed to encounter as we ascended the tower……..
After speaking with Corrie Crupi of the Pagoda-Skyline inc. about what we may expect, we went to work setting up equipment. We set up an IR camera on the 1st landing of the tower where the sighting of a woman have been reported, we also had 2 camcorders with night vision, digital voice recorders, and ghost box.
It was a great setting for a ghost story, as we went dark, turning off the lights that circle their way to the top landing, and the whirling wind outside of the tower.
We set up a communication session using the flashlight technique on the first level. I know this has become something of a controversy in the paranormal community; the responses during the night seemed to be something more than coincidence. We determined we were communicating with a male who was tied to the property in some way. Perhaps we were communicating Mr Walker, who was a long time caretaker stationed at the tower and seems to find comfort in the place he cared for. It was in this section where I felt someone grab my elbow. No one from the team was nearby, and I confirmed it wasn’t one of them.
As we climbed the stairs to the top floor for another communication session, lead investigator Heather, felt someone touch her on the head. I found it hard to decipher if what I was feeling was a little bit claustrophobia, as it seemed the tower got smaller the closer you get to the top, or if there was a spirit trying to convey that we weren’t very welcomed. Michelle confirmed this with a similar feeling. She sensed the presence of woman with us on the top floor. Very high-society type. It wasn’t that she was evil or harmful, she just didn’t seem like she wanted to be bothered by some meddling ghost hunters that night. The flashlight session was inconclusive; we also used the ghost box, again coming up inconclusive. At one point I asked, “are you the only one who is in the tower” to which Michelle said the woman replied with a smart remark of “of course I’m not the only one here.” We are not sure just who this spirit could be. She gave the impression of being from the locations heyday area. Perhaps she loved the location, or was a victim the deadly gravity railroad accident?
We went back down to see if we could have another successful communication on the first level, and say our thank you and goodbyes when we heard a stone falling from above to the bottom floor. It’s easy to assume that on a windy night it’s possible for a stone come loose. After the investigation I was ready to make that conclusion, however, upon reviewing the evidence of the night, soon after the stone fell there was an EVP we caught, you find the EVP and other details here.
Overall this was a good experience for the team. The weather was a bit of hindrance, but we managed. We document a good EVP and had some personal experiences. We look forward to investigating the tower again in the near future. Thank you to the crew and to Corrie Cruppi for giving us access and allowing us to investigate this evening. We look forward to working with you again.
