In the first half of Episode 404, “Ghost Fleet/Japanese River Monster,” the Destination Truth team travels to Truk Lagoon in the Chuuk Islands of Micronesia. The Chuuk Islands served as a Japanese naval base during WWII, until a lethal attack by Allied forces left 3,000 people dead. Hauntings are reported throughout the islands, with many reports centering around the sunken naval fleet.
The Truk Lagoon is a popular destination for SCUBA divers. According to one local diving expert, if you dive to the Hoki Maru – a ship that went down with a cargo hold full of trucks – at a certain point you can hear the engines of the trucks “turn over and start up.” Other eyewitnesses report more conventional, terrestrial ghosts, including an older woman who spotted a glowing light floating through a nearby cave.
Diving at the Hoki Maru, the team hears exactly what the locals had described. As Gates swims into the cargo hold, he hears the sound of engines starting up all around him, and these engine noises are clearly audible on the soundtrack. Their own dive boat had its engines off, and there were no other boats in the area.
Later that night, they split into two teams. The first team goes on a night dive at the wreck of the Fuji Kawamaru. As the dive boat passes over the ship’s engine room, Mike hears the noise of machinery and grinding gears on the hydrophone. Josh swims to the engine room and hears the same noises, which seem to be emanating from a corner of the engine room near what used to be the ship’s engine… and a pile of human remains.
The second team investigates ruins on the nearby island. They get hits on the tri-field meter deep inside a cave, hear footsteps in the forest, and see a shadow flicker past a doorway. Dan feels someone touch his hand, just as they capture FLIR footage of what looks like a human figure ducking behind a doorway.
I am 100% freaked out right now.
- Shawn Goodwin
Back in Los Angeles, Ghost Hunters Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson examine the evidence. They conclude that the FLIR footage and the footsteps probably belonged to a real person – perhaps a local person sneaking out to see what was going on. They dismiss an underwater EVP as being possible contamination from a distant source. However, they have no explanation for the engine noises, although they agree that they sound exactly like truck engines.
More Research
- More about the history of Truk Lagoon on the Paranormal Stories website.
- A book about the WWII attack, and locations of the wrecks, by William Herman Stewart.
- “Ghost Destroyer of Truk Lagoon,” an article that appeared in Advanced Diver Magazine.
What an awesome Story. Enjoyed the information
of the stories of history& from the local divers.
me gustaria saber cual es el titula de la cancion del programa