In the Dorset countryside lives one of the largest and most impressive collections of military hardware in the world. The tank museum boasts five cram packed halls of 150 types tanks and armoured vehicles of from over 25 countries ranging from WW1 to the modern day Gulf War. It is a theory that not only places and buildings that have hauntings, but so do objects and vehicles. Many of the vehicles in the museum would have seen horrific action and it is said that the soldiers that may have died within these vehicles may still be there. Mediums have visited Bovington and felt connections with many of the tanks here, giving the same information. Recent paranormal activity in the WW1 and WW2 halls have been reported, such as visitors frequently reporting strange things in photographs they have taken. Photographs also taken using standard 35mm cameras have had strange lights and distortions on the prints that can't be explained. Other stories include an occasion when a warden opened the museum one morning to discover that every light bulb in what is now the WW2 hall had been removed from its fitting and placed carefully on the floor directly below. Not one was broken – even though the light bulbs hung some 15’ up. A local myth relates to the mysterious death of Bovington resident Lawrence of Arabia, who was knocked off his motorbike at nearby Clouds Hill. At dawn, 5.30 am, it is said that the distinctive sound of his motorbike can be heard at the place he fell from his bike.

We arrived at Bovington Tank Museum on a bitter January night, based on what appeared to be a deserted Military base deep in the Dorset countryside. Upon entering the museum, greeted by sound effects from the 1st World War, it became suddenly apparent how vast the location was, certainly in contrast with many of our smaller venues where as many as 8 people can be squeezed into a single bedroom - this would certainly not be a problem here. After a surreal 3 course dinner in one of the hangers (by candlelight no less) surrounded by tanks of every denomination, we embarked upon the initial walk around with our mediums Ron and Kim, ably assisted by staff member and historian Sarah. The most significant revelation was an accurate description of the German officer believed to haunt a particular open-top vehicle in the World War 2 section. I had already discussed with Sarah her recollections of various encounters with the supposed spirits at Bovington, and could verify that the description of the German Officer which came instantly to Ron when standing by the vehicle was an exact match for the man Sarah had earlier described to me. The night was shaping up to be a good one.

My first vigil took a team, assisted by Paul Grove, to the very same vehicle in the World War 2 section where Ron had perfectly described the officer, who he felt was not a welcoming soul, believing that he had been shot in the head by his own men. This revelation also coincided with a particular phenomena experienced by Sarah when standing by the vehicle, as she had earlier described to me a sensation of extreme heat and pain right through her head, as if she'd been shot. Our intention was to hold a small glass divination experiment behind the vehicle, in an attempt to make contact with this officer, and then to move throughout the rest of the museum exploring various other vehicles. However, as were to discover, we were destined to remain in that very spot for the entire vigil. The early signs though were not encouraging, as the 6 members of the team placed their fingers on the glass without a solitary movement or vibration. At the point where we had decided to give it one last try, suddenly the glass moved. We had decided to ask out for other spirits, no longer concentrating on the officer, and for the next 10 minutes it apparently transpired that contact had been made with a soldier named 'Joseph', who confirmed that he was aware of a second man (an Officer) nearby. After some significant glass movement, we encouraged the officer to make his way forward. It then became apparent that the glass was responding to another supposed energy in the room, as the movement appeared to change from a simple, serene flow, to what I can describe as an aggravated and more powerful connection. No questions were answered, as the glass simply continued to move back and forth across the table, never responding to our requests to stop. I then instructed the team to remove their fingers and attempt a second experiment with the glass in an attempt to rule out unconscious or deliberate movement from one or more of the group. I asked them to replace their fingers, but this time 'upturned', so their finger-nails were placed on the glass edge, making it distinctly more difficult to move it, even deliberately. I fully expected the movement to stop, however even with their fingers upturned the glass began to move, slowly at first and then picking up pace, returning to the aggravated and aggressive movements witnessed earlier. A number of cold draughts were sensed by some of the team as the atmosphere became steadily more sinister, at which point we commanded that the energy give us a more definite sign, maybe by tipping the glass over. Sure enough, the movement slowed, until the glass began to tip forward and eventually flip over onto its base. This happened for a second time, after which it became apparent that our hour had flown by and it was time to return to base. The night had started with a bit of a bang.

Our second vigil took place in the World War One recreation area where we started with a quick séance sat on the floor outside a recreation of a French Cafe. When asking out for audible signs of any presence we did get the occasional tap and knock responding to the odd question, however this was clearly a result of the building cooling, especially as the air conditioning system kicked in every few minutes. We then split the group up to cover the entire area, placing individuals in different sections to see if any of us could experience some kind of phenomena. Apart from one the team believing they heard the distant sound of a piccolo, all remained quiet. We ended the vigil by congregating in a line and linking fingers while sitting within the recreation of a World War One trench, attempting to connect to the energy of a young girl who our mediums felt could be heard running around this section from time to time. A few of the team members felt emotional at this point, while once of the team suggested feeling a poke in the back while drifting off to sleep momentarily and then suddenly waking up. Much of the phenomena experienced was typical of a large group huddled in a cramped and claustrophobic environment, and in truth nothing truly out of the ordinary occurred.

The final vigil for the night took place in the Sultan Room on the other side of the museum complex, where we were also joined by members of the Museum staff including Sarah, who had previously experienced the apparition of a man in uniform in this room. We started with a group séance sitting on the floor, asking out for any sign of activity. After a short while certain members of the group started to experience a drop in temperature, although this was in the corner of the circle backing onto a fire exit under which a small draught could easily be felt. Sarah, however, insisted she could sense something nearby, and some of the team suggested seeing shapes and shadows in the corner of the room behind her. At this point Paul, who was videoing this part of the room, remarked that something strange had just passed across in front of the fire escape [View Here] while Sarah insisted being able to the see the shape of a man stood 'within' one of the nearby tables. We felt it was then time to attempt some glass divination, and the team assembled around a small square table. We did receive some significant movements, and response to questions suggested a possible connection with a French man picked up earlier by Ron during the walk around. A second attempt at divination with upturned fingers also brought similar result to the earlier experiment in the museum, although movement was not nearly as significant.

The vigil in the Sultan Room concluded and our night came to an end, with some intriguing phenomena recorded by many of the other teams. One investigator in particular described seeing a pair of legs walking behind the German vehicle in the museum, only to fail to re-appear on the other side. This was described as the area where Sarah had seen an apparition some time before, although on reflection we agreed that there could also be a more rational explanation and the only disappointment was that we failed to capture the phenomena on film. Bovington provided a unique and educational location for a paranormal investigation, and fears that the event might be less atmospheric than others due to the light having to be left on in some areas proved to be unfounded. A thoroughly enjoyable night all round.