Empress Theater…..

We are very excited to have been granted access to the Empress Theater in Historic Magna, Utah. This is an investigation that we have wanted to do for some time now!

A little background onThe Empress Theatre; This majestic theater opened in 1916 originally as a Burlesque show for the local miners at Kennecott. In 1917 it began showing silent movies. The theater remained open as a movie theater through at least 1930.

The theater sat vacant for nearly 50 years until the late 70’s when it was purchased and an extensive renovation began. The theater then passed through multiple owners and it was nearly 30 years later before it finally re-opened in 2006.

This theater is full of history, intrigue, and multiple ghost sightings, and we hope to uncover some of her mysteries!

Ogden Exchange II…

We have been posting about the Ogden Exchange investigation for a few weeks now, and after going over all the evidence we would like to present this EVP for you…

Here is some background; our little team of investigators was doing an EVP session in the main lobby of the Exchange building. Part way through the session, we could see something moving down the end of one of the long hallways. 3 of us saw the figure (or outline) of a woman coming in and out of one of the rooms, and stepping into the hall. After watching it for a few minutes we went down to the end of the hall and proceeded to ask questions.

You will first here one of our female investigators asking if the entity wants the men in the room to leave…..you will then hear another of our investigators say “There it is” (we were doing the mag light test, were you turn off a mag light and set it on the floor. You then ask questions for the entity and ask it to turn the light on for yes or off for no).  When our female investigator asked if the entity wanted the men to leave…..the light turned on. That was why our other investigator Sais,” There it is”. You then hear one last question, “Do you want the men to leave? If you want the men to leave turn it off again and the men will leave.”

If you listen closely you will hear something / someone starting talk behind the final question….and then you will hear a very distinct female voice say, “Yes Sir” …. We looped the audio, so that you can hear it a few times in a row.

WE feel that this was a direct response to the question being asked.

Shadow Figures / Shadow People…..

Shadow figures, and shadow people are one of those “controversial” subjects; (However, let’s face it…if you decide to become a paranormal investigator EVERYTHING about this field is controversial)… But shadow people and shadow figures are at the top of the list.

I don’t usually turn to television programs for examples, BUT this scene from The Ghost Adventures, has got to be one of the very best examples I have seen caught on film. Some may say its all a hoax, and I cannot say whether this particular example is real or not..(However I believe it is). I can say that I have indeed seen such shadow figures for myself, and so I know they are out there.

Please take just a minute to watch this, and let us know what you think!!

Passive Infrared Motion Sensors Anyone?

Motion sensors are used in ghost investigations to monitor activity and to alter the investigating crew of potential activity. The model we use (and will be testing out on our next investigation) uses a basic sensor to detect both heat and motion (within a 3’ radius of the device). If there is either a sudden increase of heat or if there is movement around the device it will light up for 30 seconds.

Other investigators have used them in rooms that didn’t seem to have any activity, however after reviewing their data they discovered there was in fact activity. Both the sensors were activated, and they reordered EVP’s that went along with the triggered sensor.

We will let you know how it goes, and give you our feedback!

Is Paranormal Investigating a Passing Fad?....

For those of you who think that investigating the paranormal (or ghost hunting) as it has been dubbed is a new thing introduced through the modern “reality T.V.” phenomenon, take a look at this:

The first recorded ghost investigation was in 100 AD by Pliny the Younger, a lawyer, author and magistrate in ancient Rome. He wrote about the investigation of a haunted house in ancient Athens. Even before that, in biblical times the followers of Jesus though Jesus himself was a ghost walking on water. That reference has to say something about the ancient belief in ghosts.

In 168, one of the first full time ghost investigators was Joseph Glanville. He was a chaplain of King Charles II, and he investigated paranormal activity all across the British Isles. His most famous case was the Drummer of Tedowrth, and he even published his results in Saducismus Triumphant.

The first recorded organization (formed for the purpose of investigating haunted locations) was the Ghost Club, founded in London in 1862. In the mid 1880’s the American Psychological Association suggested applying scientific method to paranormal investigating and the idea gained strong support fro England. As a result the Society for Psychical Research was formed in order to study the existence of ghosts or spirits. This group is STILL in existence today!!

So when people say that paranormal research is bogus, and a passing fad that will die with reality T.V.…. you know it’s been around a lot longer than anyone of us!!

Thomas Edison….Father of the modern EVP!

Thomas Edison was one of the most respected scientists in modern history, and he believed that it would one day be possible to build a machine that would help humans communicate with the dead! In a 1920 essay, Edison wrote: "Now what I propose to do is furnish psychic investigators with an apparatus which will give a scientific aspect to their work."

Eddison is also quoted as saying: "If our personality survives, then it is strictly logical or scientific to assume it retains memory, intellect, other faculties and knowledge we acquire on Earth.
Therefore...if we can evolve an instrument so delicate as to be affected by our personality as it survives in the next life, such an instrument, when made available, ought to record something."
~Thomas Alva Edison~

Early EVP’s have been recorded since the introduction of sound recording in the early 1900’s At first these unexplained voices were dismissed as anomalies, but as early as 1936 scientists began looking at EVP’s as possible “Voices from the Universe”

In 1982, Sarah Estep developed a rating system for EVPs: Class C are the faintest recordings, sometimes indecipherable; Class B voices are louder, clearer, and make more sense; and Class A voices are clear, can be heard without headphones and can even be duplicated onto other tapes. This system gives a new researcher a way to describe the EVPs he or she discovers to others in terms they will understand.

Ghost, Mist, Smoke, or Light???

Believe me when I tell you the list of non-believers is immense compared to those that do believe in the paranormal. This is why we do our best to prove as well as disprove everything that we can.

That being said I wish to present another photo taken from our Ogden Exchange Investigation last month. The interesting thing about this photo is that one of our investigators saw something moving in the corner of the room. None of the rest of us saw anything so a few of our members started taking pictures. In a group of probably 6-10 photos taken one after the other this photo was the only one that had anything show up on it.

To us it appears to be a paranormal mist; which is believed to be swirling energy that resembles fog, illuminated by light. It is something that can be seen by the human eye (but typically it is captured by camera because the phenomenon happens so fast).

As with all our evidence, we present it to you and want you to make your own conclusions!!

Ogden Exchange Building…

Last month we were privileged to do an investigation in the Ogden Exchange building. This building is reported to be one of the most haunted locations in Utah. This building was erected in 1930 and used as a livestock exchange until 1959 when Weber County purchased it and converted it into the Weber County Mental Health Institute.

There have been murders, suicides, and one reported death due to a heart attack.

We did get some very compelling EVP’s…(coming soon)….But we wanted to present this picture. The first picture is the original. At the time it was taken one of our investigators stated that they could see something in the hall.

At first glance this is what the photo looked like. Our tech manager then started lightening up the photo to see if we could get anything from the shadow.

So here is the same photo lightened up a bit……Look closely on the left (you can click on the photo to see it in a larger frame). Upon seeing an outline our tech manager zoomed in on the now lighted photo and this is what we got.

As always, we are not claiming that this is necessarily paranormal…however we did have an investigator see something in the hall, and there does appear to be the outline of a person coming out of the doorway.

It was a really good investigation, and we will be posting more about it soon!

Welcome To The New Team…

We want to welcome all of our Salt City Ghost Seekers friends! This will be their new home. We have combined forces to create a bigger and better team of like minded individuals.

Don’t we worry we will still be investigating and posting our findings as usual; we will still be answering questions and doing our best to help “illuminate” the paranormal.

Please stay tuned for some really important updates and an exciting new chapter for all of us here.