Investigator Spotlight regularly on its own, the sound of footsteps in various locations around the theater, and of apparitions WPRS Strives to Better witnessed on the stage and up in the second balcony. We were hoping to either prove or disprove some of Understand the Paranormal these claims. Sherrie: The theater was in outstand- ing condition, and the employees were great. Derek was able to take some great pictures of the location. By Michelle M. Pillow During the investigation, I personally saw two questionable t a Borders’ book signing shadows. One was when I was up last September, I had the in the catwalk above the stage and Apleasure of meeting several saw a shadow walk into an electrical members of the Wichita, Kansas- room and heard questionable female based Wichita Paranormal Research voices from that location. Society (WPRS). Their passion for And once while on the stage, I the paranormal and the professional- saw a dark shadow up in the balcony ism in which they talked about their chairs. I thought it was one of us; WPRS is 100% non-profit, and their services are free of charge. As paranormal craft were evident. however, I found out later it was not. investigators, the group is committed to authenticating evidence and document- With new TAPS family member ing the existence of any paranormal activity via audio, video, and other electronic means of equipment. cards fresh from the printers and Q: What other locations has WPRS an assorted display of paranormal- investigated? themed WPRS t-shirts, they were Bob: There are so many . The about to leave for an investigation at one word very loud right after I was recorded on video items moving on best one to me was a house just the Brown Grand Theater in Con- touched. She had said, “Peace.” their own. We also have on video north of town. I got touched and had cordia, Kansas. While investigating the Or- a strange occurrence with multiple a conversation with something via WPRS includes: pheum, we always get several un- lights in one location being turned the K-II Meter. • Founder Shane Elliot known EVPs. off and on in separate rooms, at • Case Manager-Public Relations Sherrie: Well there are so many The Old Cowtown Museum, on separate times from one another. Manager & Investigator Sherrie Curry great places — a few I can’t mention the other hand, we have investigated We have had several investiga- • Photographer & Investigator due to privacy issues. I’ll just men- multiple times throughout the year. tors witness a shadow person, or Derek Pinkston tion a couple. Several locations are very active with persons, around the location, and • Investigator/Tech Bob Gilmer WPRS members include (from left to right): Donna Chaffin, Lori DeWinkler, The Orpheum Theater is a paranormal activity. The Murdock have heard claims from employees • Tech Manager Shaun Reeves Sherrie Curry, Shaun Reeves, Shane Elliot, Bob Gilmer, Jeremy Webster, Derek great place. We have investigated house is always interesting: seeing and guests of the museum that have • Investigator Ted Thomason Pinkston, and Ted Thomason. there several times. During a tour, a shadow people, mists, voices, bangs, witnessed the same thing. • Historian Lori DeWinkler (All photos: Copyright 2009, WPRS and Derek Pinkston of ICT Photography.) guest investigator felt something tug and footsteps. These seem to happen The Orpheum Theater. We • Software Tech Manager Jer- on her pant leg. We dismissed this inside the house and outside the house. have investigated several times, and emy Webster occurrence thinking it was possibly We have also had footsteps we have recorded what could be Q: Tell us a little about the investi- investigate because of the acoustic • Investigator Donna Chaffin her pant being caught on a chair from the Devore Farm, enclosed paranormal activity. But at the same gation at Brown Grand Theater. qualities. So, we started off with just • Investigator Charles Harding while she walked by; however, later wind chimes moving five times time we have debunked a lot of a couple of investigators at a time Three WPRS members took a Shane: This was a beautiful location in the night we were in the same spot within a 30-minute period, voices, claims there as well. actually investigating the theater. We moment out of their busy schedules to investigate. With original seating sitting down taking pictures, and I and camera movement. This is just The Beaumont Hotel. Over the had plenty of room to cover with all to talk with me about their recent in- in the balcony boxes and many of felt a finger run down the back of my to mention a couple of hot spots at years, this has been an interesting the seating area on the main floor, vestigation and their group in general. the original theatrical posters framed left leg, from the knee down to my Cowtown; there are several others. location to investigate. One of the the balcony, the stage, the catwalk, A big thank you to Sherrie Curry, around the theater, you couldn’t ankle. I heard nothing. claims is of a cowboy, named Zeke, and the basement with boiler room. Shane: The Old Cowtown Mu- Shane Elliot, and Bob Gilmer. help but feel like you were being Later while going over the audio who roams the halls of the hotel. Some of the claims where of seum. We have recorded close to pulled back into the early 1900s. recordings and coming to that spot, During one of our first investiga- * * * * * a door that opened and closed 100 EVPs from that location and Theaters can be very tough to there was a female voice that spoke tions there, most of our EVP ques- 14 Paranormal Underground November 2009 November 2009 Paranormal Underground 15 Investigator Spotlight Q: Have you ever been disappoint- loose screen door, I made my way way of the paranormal, but in May say, “It’s okay.” I immediately felt ed by a location? downstairs to check things out. As of 2005 that all changed. calm, and my son fell back to sleep. the investigator was explaining what My son was two weeks old and The next evening my wife was Sherrie: Every location is interest- was going on, it happened again. sleeping soundly in his crib. My watching an episode of Ghost Hunt- ing in its own way. We have been This noise was definitely inside and wife and I were sound asleep in our ers. Up until this point I had never disappointed with the lack of activity not an outdoor screen door, but room when suddenly my son awoke watched this program or any of the during investigations many times. obviously something slamming shut. crying. This woke me up, and I laid various paranormal shows for longer Then we go over the evidence and than a few minutes. It just wasn’t some- find great things. thing that interested me. But due to We were investigating a school “I had More than 50 EVP’s during what had happened the night before I with great history and tons of stories thought I would watch this show. from past students who saw ghost, that investigation. It was crazy What impressed me was that mists, etc. We investigated and found all the way around.” the TAPS team didn’t come in and nothing. Once we went over our find a bunch of paranormal things recordings, we found a lot of EVPs. So we looked around and found there for a minute to see if he would going on. Instead, they went into Shane: We have had a few people a cooler in the back with a sliding go back to sleep, or if I needed to the families’ homes with a list of lie to us just to get us to come out door that stored drinks. The door go check on him. Suddenly, I heard claims and actually found normal to their home or business. That had a spring on it, and if you opened a humming come over the baby reasons that could cause all the By using current high-tech equipment, WPRS is able to conduct extensive scien- is always disappointing, but those it and let it go, the door would slam monitor, and I immediately thought, paranormal claims. tific investigations, interpret the evidence collected, and present evidence to the instances are few and far between. shut, sounding very similar to what “Okay, we are picking up a radio or I realized I wanted to start client in the hope of creating a better understanding of the current activity and we had heard. By this time all the maybe a commercial truck.” researching this myself and began possible options to be taken. Q: Any funny/unexpected stories? investigators where down in the But then it changed to a woman looking online for local teams. At Sherrie: Well, with Shaun around kitchen standing around this cooler, singing a lullaby. I immediately real- the time there really wasn’t anything tions were directed toward Zeke. At Shane: The Old Cowtown Muse- you can always expect the unex- and I was asking something to the ized my wife was lying next to me here in Wichita. After spending the end of the night, one of the EVPs um. And the most interesting piece pected. He’s the clown of the group, effect of, “If you opened this door and someone must have broken into months looking for a team, some of we captured said, “What’s Zeke?” of evidence so far would have to be whether he is trying on random hats could you please do it again?” our house.