Public Building In Southern Wisconsin

History

The building is located in Southern Wisconsin and was erected in 1892. When the building opened it housed the police department, the fire department, the jail and the city library. A public auditorium is located in the upper part of the building but is no longer in use and has not been since at least the 1950’s. It has hosted traveling theater troupes, class plays, graduation ceremonies and served as a movie theater until 1917 when a separate theater opened in the city. The building is currently in use. The building is a beautiful structure located in the heart of the downtown area.

The staff currently feels that some of the former occupants/patrons are still present in the building. They would like for us to see if we are able to capture any evidence of paranormal activity, there by validating their experiences.

Paranormal Activity Reported

· Lights were turned off in the basement but when the employee left the area and turned around the lights were on again.

· The smell of spice incense smelled in the office area with no explanation to its source.

· On one occasion while an employee was in the basement she sensed that someone walked past her followed by the smell of perfume and a breeze.

· One employee, while alone in her office, heard footsteps in the main hallway. No one else was present in the building at the time.

· Early one morning an employee heard the distinct sound of a cabinet open on its own while in the main office.

· An employee experienced the smell of lilac perfume in the building. However no one wears that scent.

· Often perfume or a basic pleasant smell of a woman is sensed.

· Aftershave of a man often smelled.

· The feeling of someone unseen following people down the hallway.

· One long time employee heard the voice of a man say “hello” in April 2021.

· The sounds of several people talking at once but no words can be made out or understood.

Investigation

Blaschka, Beaudry, Kasper, Brown and Christiansen arrived at the property on August 21, 2021 at 4:00PM. We met with our contacts at that time. They gave us a walk-through of the building while explaining the activity they or others have experienced. After the tour of the structure our team split up to place our equipment for the evening. I elected in this particular case to have our contacts investigate with us as they were required to stay at the site while we conducted our investigation.

We decided to use (5) DVR Zero Lux cameras during this investigation. The following cameras were placed accordingly and are listed below.

Camera #1 – View of staircase by the office.

Camera #2 – Main hallway toward front entrance.

Camera #3 – View of hallway looking toward newer addition.

Camera #4 – Hallway leading to front entrance.

Camera #5 – View of entrance to basement.

We conducted several EVP sessions on the first floor as well as one session in the basement of the building. Some of those sessions included our contacts participating with us. During those sessions some minimal results were achieved. One investigator stayed behind in order to monitor the DVR surveillance. During our session one of the questions asked was “are you sad”. This was in reference to the current condition of the building. On our audio recording we picked up what sounds like a response of “No”. Another question asked was ‘did you not like me doing that”. On our audio was a faint response of either “No” or “Go”.

Base line readings were obtained in the building. Temperature readings and energy levels were all within a normal range with no anomalous unexplainable spikes in the magnet field. The only variation in EMF fields occurred near the display case in the hallway area. The case contains some Civil War relics which could possibly hold some residual energy but without removing the items we cannot be absolutely certain that the higher spikes are coming from the items directly. Also, there was a higher amount of static field in that main hallway area that could be related to this anomaly.

Upon review of nearly 130 infrared and full spectrum photographs, only one had a questionable image. The image that we cannot identify is by no means considered 100% paranormal. The photo taken in the basement area has an image of what looks like a face, but it could just be the product of pareidolia.

Review of the DVR footage did not show any signs of paranormal activity.

We also had several personal experiences. Personal experiences are not scientific and have low credibility. However, I feel they should be noted nonetheless as some of these experiences were heard or experienced by more than one investigator.

Ø At approximately 9:52PM some of our investigators heard what sounded like a man coughing or clearing his throat in the main hallway area. No males were present in that area at that particular time.

Ø During our walk thru of the building one of our clients had made a comment to whomever was present, “you can turn the lights off when you’re done”. The lights unexplainably switched off and no one was near the switch when it occurred. Inspection of that switch showed no signs of it being faulty.

Ø Investigator Blaschka heard investigator Beaudry’s voice in an area of the building. However, Beaudry was not in that area at that time.

Ø Once during the evening investigator Blaschka felt a very strong sense that someone was following him down the main hallway area. This is something that has been experienced by others in the past who work in the building.

Conclusion

In closing we did not capture a great deal of what could be considered paranormal activity. Considering the long history of the site and the multiple uses it has been host to. I feel it is very possible something has been left behind such as spirit activity or just residual energy that was imprinted on the site. Further investigation of the building would be needed to draw a better conclusion as to who may be haunting it and the possible collection of further evidence.