Joliet Arsenal Investigation

The Joliet Arsenal was an ammunition plant opened in 1940 as WWII raged in Europe. By 1942, the ammunition plant was in full swing and production was going 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to meet the demand. On June 5, 1942, at 2:45 a.m., tragedy stuck the plant violently. A static spark on an assembly line ignited the explosives. The building detonated.

The explosion was felt as far away as Waukegan, which was 60 miles north of the accident. Most of the people in the building were killed instantly. All told, 48 people were reported dead or missing.

Eventually, the arsenal was used during both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The plant ceased operations in the late 19701s. Today, the site has been redeveloped. It currently houses the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.

Some concrete bunkers still exist and can be visited by looking for them between Stops 22 and 23.

Address: Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie Site, Route 53 near Wilmington, IL 60481

Phone: 815-423-6370

Website: www.fs.usda.gov/midewin

Owner: United States Department of Agriculture

Hauntings: An old army ammunition plant where ghost cars are heard but not seen or seen but not heard far enough from main road where you cannot hear or see those cars, footsteps in empty buildings are reported as well as strange noises that cannot be explained and have been witnessed numerous times.

To this day, people report seeing the workers who died in the 1942 explosion at the site of the accident. The workers appear to be going about their work, although the building and machinery are no longer there.

IL-53 is haunted by a host of ghost cars. Cars are said to suddenly appear and disappear. Others may be visible but cannot be heard. Other cars can be heard but cannot be seen. People also hear footsteps near them when they are in the area.

The Ghost Research Society investigated the old Joliet Arsenal on May 22, 2022 and the team members included: Paul, Adams, Charles Williams and Dale Kaczmarek

Equipment setup: Just hand-held equipment was used such as digital recorders, cameras and 4k camcorder, REM Epod, Melmeter with telescopic probe, Phasma Box and Ovilus V.

Experiments performed: The first session the Phasma Box malfunctioned so we proceeded to the second session where we used the Ovilus V in phonetic mode and dictionary mode.

Personal experiences:

Charles Williams: Equipment- I used a GoPro Camera, Melmeter and a Full Spectrum Camera

Personal Experiences- None

Experiments- EVP Spirit Box, Ovilus V.

Did a quick hike to one of the open bunkers where they stored munitions. Got a few responses

Dale Kaczmarek: This was a little bit of a hike to get to the first munitions bunker and when we conducted the EVP session there, it was like talking in an echo chamber and was difficult to ascertain the questions asked due to the parameters of the bunker.

We did get a direct intelligent response to a question asked regarding a name; “Jack.” No other relevant responses were collected during our time there. It wasn’t a creepy place just a snapshot out of time from a long-forgotten place.

Evidence collected:

Jack arsenal.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus V session in a munitions bunker, a question was asked, “Anyone wants to talk with us, can you tell us your first name?” The device almost immediately responded with, “Jack.”

Words spoken by the Ovilus V in dictionary mode: Jack, three, do run, gasp, speed, shy, arrived, Norman, farmers, rent, foreign and forty; Ovilus V in phonetic mode – here, hi & birthday.

Conclusions: In my opinion, the area wasn’t that active seeing that the explosions occurred almost 80 years ago. The spirits, if any, may have moved on long ago and were not present during our investigation there.

It was a fascinating look back at an old munitions factory and bunkers during the World War II. If we had more time, we could have looked at the other bunkers on the property and the herd of bison that roam the fields near this Tallgrass prairie site. Perhaps another time.