HAUNTED THEATER

By Nathan Schoonover

In southwestern Connecticut sits a cute little theatre that puts on regular performances for both the living and the dead. A one-time early 20th century church, it is believed that its long-passed minister and his wife decided never to leave. PRSNE was given permission to investigate the long-running theatre to determine whether or not the many stories that have grown over the years had any basis in fact. The following is a report on the two investigations.
PRSNE, lead by its founder, John Zaffis, first visited the theatre with a four-hour investigation starting with a tour of the facilities by one of the board members. Stories ranged from slamming doors, audible music and calling of names to moving objects, flashes of light and writing on mirrors. The PRSNE crew went right to work, running thermal sweeps, EMF readings, video, and audio recordings.

A bluish orb with some sort of a tail can be seen here. This was not visible when the photo was taken.

Photo by Krystyna Korzenko


In areas of the building where activity had been sighted, temperature readings seemed unusually low – there was even a moving cold spot that appeared as a visible gray shadow, moving across the stage where there have been reports of objects moving and on-set doors have been said to slam closed on their own. EMF readings rose to over 3.0 in an area were there had been a reported of a piece of the wall had broken free of the building frame and flown at one of the theatre members. It was followed by a ball of light that shot from one side of the room to the other, exiting though the open doors.

35-mm and digital photos and video were later examined. After all the data had been analyzed by the investigators involved, PRSNE members determined they had what could be considered legitimate evidence. In one 35-mm shot, a thin fog was captured forming around one of the doors. Several EVPs were captured -- a few making religious statements, including “cross your body” and “shhhhh, amen” up in the theatre. Down in the dressing room, a very loud EVP was recorded as two investigators were discussing where they should go to eat when they were done. The voice was determined to be saying, “We aren’t leaving” – and was made by a different voice than the pair of EVPs we had caught upstairs. All of these EVP's can be heard on our EVP section of the site. Click Here to go there now.

A psychic mist can be seen forming here. We checked, and this is not a mark on the wall.

Photo by Krystyna Korzenko

Members of PRSNE enjoyed their investigation so much that a second ten-hour investigation was scheduled three months later. PRSNE returned to the little theatre prepared, we hoped, for anything: even more equipment was brought in for a more thorough documentation of the site. This site had proven active and we hoped to catch more on film this time around.

This evening’s trip to the theatre proved even more interesting than the last. Almost from the beginning of the night, investigators felt cold spots that were measured both by touch and thermometer. There was a 7- to 9- degree drop in Fahrenheit in the dressing room. EMF readings were taken with both an AC and DC detector, showing strange, unexplained increases in electro magnetic frequency coming and going in different rooms in the theatre.

 

At one point, four investigators smelled candles burning in the theatre upstairs, and two of the investigators heard music playing at the same time, on at least three different occasions in the evening. At one point, as three of the investigators stood in the lobby and a fourth was using the bathroom, the three waiting heard the other yell out that she was in there and to wait. When she came out she asked who was turning the door knob, which of course, none of them were.

Another investigator had just started to break down one of the video recorders in the dressing room when he heard running water in the sink behind him. He turned to see there was no water running, but could still hear it. He walked over and a flat sponge with a handle on it flipped over in the basin and started to rock back and forth.

The investigator went to check if any water had been running anywhere else in the theatre at that time, and it hadn’t. Isn’t it funny that even with the best equipment, we can still be caught unawares? After examining the evidence, that which we didn’t miss by taking down our cameras a few moments too soon, a blurry light was caught in a mirror down stairs and up in the theatre. A second photo of a thin fog, around another door to the theater, was caught, and a third, even clearer EVP was captured in the same dressing room: when two investigators asked if the Reverend was there, a third voice was caught saying “Reverend.” To hear that, and the other EVP's, click here.

 

Another psychic mist can be seen here forming. It wasn't cold, and no one was smoking.

Photo by Krystyna Korzenko

This evidence combined with the investigators’ experiences left us with a high probability of an intelligent haunting. Even though the Reverend doesn’t seem too happy that his church is now a theatre, his behavior seemed more like that of a displeased critic. We are hoping further investigation of this location will be possible in the future.