TV Channel 12 Erie, PA Reporter John Last
explores the paranormal at the Knickerbocker Hotel, Linesville, PA.
Ghost Hunters- Part One Video
Part One
May 26, 2008, 5:34 pm
The Knickerbocker Hotel in Linesville is home to the local Rotary Club, many luncheons and parties, and a few ghosts. Peg Knickerbocker is the owner. She began to notice strange occurrences when she first acquired the property in 1993.
"When we started doing restoration work on the building, that's when we started noticing footsteps on the stairwell or what we couldn't explain." she said. "Or we would go and we would think someone was in the building. We'd be in the basement and we'd hear someone walking around. So we'd walk up from the basement. We'd look around. There wouldn't be anybody around. We'd go back down and they would start again."
The occurrences were not a one-time thing. As restoration of the hotel continued, so did the unexplained events.
"We were feeling more activity. We were hearing more things." said Knickerbocker. "We were seeing more things. We would hear a door close and we would know there would be absolutely no one in the building. We would go downstairs and we would turn something off and then would turn around and it would be back on."
There can always be explanations for things that are heard. But Peg eventually saw something that cannot easily be dismissed.
"I was upstairs and I was doing some cleaning." she said. "And I looked around from the bathroom I was cleaning. It was about 2:30 In the afternoon and I actually saw what looked to me like a small child looking at me. And I got frozen cold. I couldn't move. And I was like "OK, what is going on here? Are there kids in this place?" And I go running and there's nobody there."
Peg then contacted a group from Erie who studied such activities. The group said they experienced the same visions, and the legend of the Knickerbocker Hotel was born.
In Part Two of the series, John Last talks to a group that uses technology and science to gather evidence that the Knickerbocker Hotel ghosts do exist.
Part I WICU TV Channel 12 Video
Ghost Hunters - Part Two Video
Part Two
May 27, 2008, 4:56 pm
It's a moonlit Saturday night at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Linesville and Leo Glenn is there, hunting ghosts. CLICK FOR VIDEO Some people may think it's a strange way to spend a weekend night, but for Leo, it's nothing new.
"My dad was a paranormal investigator." he said. "While most kids were playing baseball and watching TV, I was on ghost hunts and investigating UFO sightings."
Leo is a member of the Keystone Paranormal Team. They have members from throughout Northwestern Pennsylvania. They will spend the entire night here, using thousands of dollars in equipment, looking for evidence of ghosts.
"I think I can speak for all of us. We're all kind of natural skeptics." said Glenn. "But we've all experienced enough to believe that there's something more than just somebody's imagination."
The Knickerbocker has a reputation for being a home to ghosts. The team has been there before. A camera fell from it's base in an unoccupied room for no explained reason during the group's last visit. The team also collected audio evidence.
"The last time we were here we got a recording of a little boy saying "Mommy" up on the third floor." We've heard unexplained noises, foot steps, that kind of thing." said Glenn.
As the team set up for their night in Linesville, they were anxious to find out what new evidence they may find to explain the existence of ghosts at the Knickerbocker Hotel.
In Part 3 of the series, the group's equipment is ready and the waiting begins.
It's almost midnight on a moonlit Saturday night in Linesville. Members of the Keystone Paranormal Team are setting up equipment to hopefully obtain evidence that ghosts live inside the Knickerbocker Hotel. There's no Ouija boards or psychics with this group. They take a scientific approach.
"We have infrared digital cameras. We have digital voice recorders." said member Leo Glenn. "We have remote thermometers to test air temperature and electromagnetic field detectors. So our goal is to find evidence rather than just personal experience."
The hotel is well known for paranormal activity. Owner Peg Knickerbocker claims to have seen the ghost of a young child at one time. The ghost hunters would love to see a vision, but they also concentrate on getting voice readings.
For most of the night, the crew waits quietly in front of the video monitors. They realize that an obvious sighting or sound may never come.
"It's kind of like fishing." says Glenn. "Certainly there are quiet nights when nothing happens and there are other nights where things are very active."
This night will be a night where nothing apparently happened. But there's still hours of audio and video to screen. Days after our visit, the team discovered a voice that was recorded in a third floor room. The voice appears to be saying "Go!"
The sound on the recording could be called a nibble from the large pond called the Knickerbocker Hotel. These ghost hunters will be back hoping to land a larger catch next time.
For more information on the Keystone Paranormal Team and their investigation at the Knickerbocker Hotel, log on to their web site at
www.keystoneparanormal.com.
Part III WICU TV Channel 12
Video
On May 17, 2008, during our follow-up investigation of the
Knickerbocker, The Keystone Paranormal Investigation Team set up several
cameras and audio recording devices and were able to capture the
following possible EVPs:
This was recorded as Investigator Robb entered
a room on the second floor.
For this clip you may need headphones between
when Investigator Ed says "You can touch my hat" and
"Don't be afraid".
The next two possible EVPs were captured by
Investigator Leo. For these you will need headphones as
the voice is very weak. Several of the Team
Members agreed as to what the faint voice is saying. Email
us your opinion of these EVPs.
