1
(dramatic music)
(lion roars)
- [Michael Voiceover] When
I close my eyes at night
I still think about it.
The experiences I had three years ago
on a paranormal journey in Wisconsin,
my home,
which is said to be the most
haunted state in America.
I thought about the voices we heard.
- [Woman] How many people
are here with us right now?
Can you give us a number, please?
- [Ghostly Voice] 13.
- [Michael] 13?
(both gasp)
The intelligent communication made.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
Caitlin.
- [Michael Voiceover]
Flashlights turning on,
all by themself.
Connections to history.
- [Ghostly Voice] Paul
Gebert
- [Michael Voiceover] And shadow people.
And over this time I've been
wondering, was that real?
Did all of that really happen?
The skeptic in me won't die,
which is why we need to keep going.
Is Wisconsin really
the most haunted state?
When I thought about
where we could go next,
I wanted locations that
had a historical past
surrounded by decades of folklore.
To me, the choice was easy.
Theaters.
Almost every town has one.
We will visit four locations.
Each location has a unique history.
Its own story to be told.
Is the paranormal folklore
going on inside real?
We will visit the Barrymore
Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Riverside Theater
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
And of course, the Grand Opera
House in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Each location has had reports
of strange occurrences.
Lights going on and off when people
are alone in the building.
Voices being heard.
Footsteps being heard,
and shadow people walking
through the theater.
Together, these theaters are called
the Theatre of Shadows.
(dramatic music)
- [Announcer] Award
winning feature documentary
on the haunted past of some of
Wisconsin's historic buildings.
The film is called Haunted
State: Whispers From History Past
and Michael Brown is executive producer.
The place that we're talking
about is the old Pabst brewery.
- [Michael] It was creepy.
Yeah, we're doing paranormal investigation
and there's a shadow
figure that comes out.
You see its eyes.
It says my name, Michael.
It's just evidence, I
can't get past what it is.
I can't get past what it is.
(words echo)
This is footage of an
alleged shadow figure
that showed up in the doorway,
said my name, and disappeared.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
- [Michael] Michael.
Is your name Michael?
That's my name.
What I feel is the most
amazing and controversial
piece of evidence is behind me.
As we slow it down and zoom
in, I see a head and eyes.
I'm gonna use a filter so you see
there's no tricks of gimmicks being used.
It'll also clean up the noise in the shot.
Here's what looks like to be the head,
and these are the eyes.
And then it simply vanishes.
I can't quite explain
it, though I've tried to.
Over the last three years,
this shadow figure has
appeared in my dreams.
Because of this,
I have too many questions
that are unanswered.
I need to go back to the
former Pabst brewery,
now known as Best Place at the
Historic Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee.
But first, let's discuss the technology
of how we communicate with spirits.
(newsreel music)
- On October 21st, 1871,
numerous experiments
resulted in the production
of a small unit map.
- [Michael Voiceover]
Some say the credibility
that paranormal investigation has
started in October of 1920.
It is then when the American
Magazine published an article
by the great American
innovator, Thomas Edison.
In the magazine article,
he spoke of a device that could
communicate with the dead.
In 1959, Edison's idea leaped forward.
Swedish filmmaker Frederic Jorgensen,
while recording bird songs,
accidentally recorded his
deceased father's voice.
Some say it's the first modern day EVP.
In 1982, George Meek and
his college Bill O'Neill
developed the Spiricom device.
It's a large radio-like apparatus
which gave off a droning
buzz that filled the room.
- The findings I am announcing today
are truly fantastic and far out.
But I can assure you that
they are pure science,
not science fiction.
For the first time, we
have electronic proof
that the mind, memory
banks, and personality
survive death of the physical body.
An elementary start has been made
toward the perfection of
a communication system
that should someday permit
those living on Earth
to talk with persons very much alive
on higher levels of consciousness,
and it should carry
telephone-like conversations.
- [Michael] Which led
to the 2002 invention
by Frank Sumption, which is
popularly known as Frank's Box.
(radio chatter)
The voices heard on these
devices are known as EVPs,
which stands for
Electronic Voice Phenomena.
Furthermore, these devices
emit a white noise sound
that sounds like this.
(static crackles)
In theory, this white noise
can be manipulated by spirits
which are made up of
electromagnetic energy,
therefore allowing them to
communicate in real time.
That's a brief summary of the
radio communication device
that we use to try and
communicate with spirits.
Now, let's head to Milwaukee
and revisit The Best Place at
the Historic Pabst Brewery.
As Todd Dehring and myself set out,
something very interesting happens.
- Her voice is at the beginning and then
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
I'm just like.
- [Angela] I swear I just heard it say
Michael on there already.
- Wait, say what?
- [Angela] It said your name, just now.
- [Michael Voiceover] Haunted
State producer, Angela Olson,
heard a voice that appears to
sound like my name, Michael.
Let's hear that again.
- No voices at the beginning and then,
- [Woman] Michael.
I'm just like.
- [Michael] The voice she
heard was an audible EVP.
This is the same spot
where my name was said
and the shadow person
was seen three years ago.
Knowing that these eyes were focused on me
and whatever it was said my name,
makes me very uncomfortable.
We try our luck, again, in
what I call the jail cell area.
What you're seeing right now
is through a night vision camera.
The room we're going in is very dark.
All right is there anybody here?
Why don't you peek your
head around the doorway?
I'll see you.
That was me, that was me, I did that.
So this is my friend, Todd,
you guys wanna say hi to Todd?
- Let's take a look at that again.
So this is my friend Todd,
you guys wanna say hi to Todd?
The orb is traveling
fast towards Todd's head.
Based on his reaction, he felt something.
Did he feel the orb?
If you look to right side of the screen,
you'll see a second orb appear.
Are these spirits floating around us?
Or just visual anomalies?
The device I'm holding is
a thermal imaging camera.
This camera views temperatures.
Reds and oranges are hot, while
purples and blues are cold.
In theory, if you were to see a spirit,
it would be a cold color.
This device is called the FLIR ONE,
and it plugs directly
into your smartphone.
You can see that's Todd right there.
You can see that's
Angela right over there.
- [Todd] I'm sitting on a bench right now,
if you wanted to come and
sit next to me, you could.
- [Michael] I get a gut
feeling and I follow it.
I head back to the jail area.
Are you trying to scare me?
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
Are you trying to scare me?
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
Why don't you talk to Todd?
Why don't you talk to Angela?
Why are you talking to me?
- [Female Voice] Come at me.
Come at me.
- [Michael] What color is my shirt?
I wanna establish communications with you.
- [Ghostly Voice] Black.
- [Michael] Black.
Did you hear that?
- [Angela] I did.
- [Ghostly Voice] Black.
- [Michael] Black.
Did you hear that?
- [Angela] I did.
- Our camera is shooting with infrared,
which is also known as night vision.
It makes my shirt look gray,
but as you can see from
the footage earlier,
my shirt is black.
After this moment, my
communication device went dark.
We then headed upstairs.
Who's up here with us?
What is your name?
- [Woman] Gloria.
- [Todd] Gloria?
- Gloria.
- [Woman] I know.
- Yeah.
My name's Michael, this
is Todd, that's Angela.
Nice to meet you.
- [Ghostly Voice] Thank you.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
- There's definitely people
up here but it's not.
- [Woman] Michael.
There's definitely people up here.
On the left side of the screen
there appears to be an orb.
- [Ghostly Voice] Psst.
- That was kind of freaky.
It reminded me of something going psst.
- [Angela] That's what
I was thinking, too.
- Yeah, we're definitely being followed,
like, there's a group of
people following us around.
I'm pretty convinced.
- [Ghostly Voice] Three.
- [Group] Three.
- There's a group of
people following us around.
I'm pretty convinced.
- [Ghostly Voice] Three.
- [Group] Three.
- Well, there's three of us.
Are there three of you?
- [Ghostly Voice] Four.
- [Angela] Four, four?
- [Michael] At the same
time I get a response,
this orb flies by.
- [Ghostly Voice] Four.
- [Angela] Four, four?
I think four or more.
- Alright, follow us
downstairs, alright, let's go.
Watch your step here, buddy.
We're gonna go in the old school
that goes back to the 1840s, sweet.
Now, what they did, like Cheryl
explained in the first movie
is they bought multiple
buildings and connected them
as the brewery kept growing, so,
once we break the threshold of
that doorway in front of us,
that is where the school was.
This is the original Pabst building here,
that we're in right now,
but once we cross this
threshold, right here,
this is where the school was.
That's about 1997.
That's when this closed.
- [Ghostly Voice] Climb over.
Just weird.
- [Michael Voiceover]
This is a class A EVP.
Let's hear this with enhanced audio.
- [Ghostly Voice] Climb over.
Just weird.
- It was time I got to the
real reason I was here.
To find out the identity
and the intent of the
alleged shadow figure
that said my name many years ago.
Come in here really quick.
Hello?
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
- In physically the exact same
spot where the shadow figure
poked his head out and said
my name last time I was here.
I walk through a doorway again
and hear my name, again.
Hello?
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
After asking a few questions
and getting some not so pleasant answers,
I get a little irritated.
I wanna know who showed their face to me
last time I was here and said Michael,
right here.
I wanna know who it was,
'cuz I wanna know if it was malicious.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
- [Angela] (drowned out by room noise)
- What?
- [Angela] I could hear it again.
- You keep sayin' my name.
Okay, I want somebody who
wants me here to come --
- [Ghostly Voice] Owner.
- [Angela] Owner.
- I want somebody who
wants me here to come --
- [Ghostly Voice] Owner.
- [Angela] Owner.
- You're the owner.
Are you Captain Frederick?
Captain Frederick Pabst, is that you?
- [Ghostly Voice] Captain.
- [Ghostly Voice] Captain.
- All I really have is
my gut feeling to go on
and it tells me that whatever
popped out many years ago,
and said my name, was not malicious.
I then decided it was time to go.
We're goin'.
We're goin' upstairs.
Is that cool?
Thank you, everybody.
Thank you.
Thanks, guys.
I'll see you guys later, okay?
Thank you.
It was really nice to put that behind me,
and now it's on to Madison, Wisconsin,
to the Barrymore Theatre.
- The Barrymore opened in 1929,
the week before the
big stock market crash,
and it was the first talking pictures
movie theater in Madison,
third oldest theater in the city.
It operated as a movie
house for many years.
- I grew up in the neighborhood,
on East Main,
and I'd come here on the weekends.
It was a special time for us
when we could get over here.
We didn't have television.
All we had was radio
so it was a great treat
for us to be able to
come and see the movies.
They always had a series of Westerns
or you had cartoons all for .25 cents.
They had usually two movies,
and there was a intermission
between the two,
and then they would show the newsreel,
just at the beginning,
what was going on during
the war in Germany, Pacific.
They'd show the planes and the tanks
so you knew that the war
was going on in 1944.
- There was a period of time
where it was a porn theater
in the '70s and '80,
and there's been a lot of
structural changes over the years.
It was originally the Eastwood,
and it was also known as
the Cinema for a while.
They showed adult films at night
and then kids films during
the day, which is creepy.
I think that it was a kind
of rough around the edges
type of neighborhood.
There were a number of,
like, concerned citizens
in the neighborhood that just felt like
if they could purchase the
theater and give it a new life
that it would kind of kick-start
growth in the neighborhood,
so it's, it kind of grew out of this,
like, community project,
and we started doing shows,
Louis C.K., Lewis Black,
a lot of bands like Red Hot
Chili Peppers used to play here,
Dave Matthews Band would play here,
Phish would play here,
so there's a lot of these great acts
that you would catch them, Marilyn Manson,
things like that, on their way up.
I had a pretty weird
experience about 10 years ago.
We had a show that went pretty late,
and it was probably two in the morning
when I was cleaning backstage,
and the last thing that I do is mop.
And at the other end of the hallway,
with his arm up on the
banister at the bottom
of the stairway at the other end
was a guy who
looked sort of like a usher
from a much earlier time period.
It was only probably three
seconds that I was staring
and I kind of looked away and
was like what is going on.
By the time that I looked
back, right after that,
it was gone.
- As we were finishing up our interviews,
something happened.
The house lights went up all by themself.
Our cameras were not on,
but I immediately dug in my pocket
for my smartphone and began recording.
Here's what happened.
These houselights just went up
so people watching this right now,
I know you're skeptical,
but the house lights just went off.
Do you see that?
There's nobody else here in the building.
Right, Zach?
We're all by, we're by ourselves?
- Yeah, we're all by ourselves.
- [Michael] I had to,
they're going back on.
I got it.
I had to quick grab my cell phone.
Thank you, whoever that is.
Thank you.
What do you think?
Have you had anything like
this happen to you recently?
- Uh, no.
No.
- Or ever, for that matter?
- I expected those
lights to come on earlier
when I threw the switch,
and I thought it was
odd that they were off.
So, the fact that they just popped on,
and then went out again
and then came back on is really weird.
- [Michael] And I was just
in the middle of describing
to people that we weren't making it up
and now there's nobody in that booth.
Is that, up there where
you turn the lights on?
- [Zach] It would actually be from --
- [Michael] From right here.
We were just about to go
do some more production
on the interviews and these
house lights up here went on.
That light there and this one,
this one that's right there went on
and then those lights went on, too.
Did you guys see that over there?
- I actually was kinda when I came in,
all the switches were up
and these lights didn't come on
and I actually kinda fiddled with 'em
so you can see, you should be able ta --
- [Michael] You're doing that, okay.
Okay, that's you.
- [Zach] But they weren't on,
and then they just
randomly popped on for us.
- [Michael] Wow.
Well, I'm really glad I caught that.
Well, whoever is here,
thank you for doing that.
We're gonna be here
later, so I would love it
if you would do that again later,
when we're all here filming.
That's crazy.
Following this event, I
had to interview Zach.
Having been employed there for 18 years,
he's never had anything with
the lights happen like this.
- And then as we were standing there,
all of a sudden they popped
on and then they shut off,
and then they came back on.
Those are all on the same circuit,
like the, they should,
it was just strange.
They should have been on to begin with
so the fact they popped
on and then popped off
and then came back on again is just odd.
- And that doesn't happen?
- No.
No, I mean it, you know, could it be
an electrical glitch or
something, of course.
I don't know, it was just very strange
considering the circumstances.
- After that exciting beginning,
we begin our investigation.
We're now starting our session
here at the Barrymore Theatre
and as you saw during
our interview process
we had some crazy stuff
(door opens)
happen with the lights.
Who was that?
- [Woman] Hello?
(door closes)
- Hello?
- [Woman] Hello?
- [Man] That was a door.
- [Woman] It was a door.
- [Woman] A big heavy door.
- [Angela] It was a door opening.
It was like somebody tried to come in.
- [Michael] Who's here?
- [Woman] Like a big heavy door shut.
- [Michael] Here, can
you go that way, Biggie?
Let's go this way.
Can I have that flashlight, Amy?
Let's go find out.
Is there anybody here?
Was it this door right here?
This is the door we heard, right here.
Oh, it was this door.
- [Woman] Holy crap.
- It was this door.
- [Woman] The door closed.
- [Michael] They closed the door on us.
- [Woman] Oh, wow.
- [Michael] This was open during our tour.
First, the lights go on and now
a very heavy door is closed.
The building is completely
empty except for us four.
This is a very difficult door to close
because it is a fire door.
This door can only close
if the sensors around it
detect smoke or fire.
(door closes)
That's what we heard.
Were you pointing it towards here, Angela?
- [Angela] Yeah.
- [Michael] Angela has a thermal camera
that sees heat signatures.
Did you see anything?
- [Angela] No, I didn't.
- Alright, is there anybody
in the theater with us?
If you're in the theater
with us right now,
can you turn these house lights on
like you did before, please?
We know you're here because you
turned the lights on before.
I didn't even get to
finish talking about it.
The house lights went on before,
and
as I was telling you about that
the door closed and there's
nobody else in the building.
We're locked in.
Staff isn't even here.
It's just us four, right now.
And we're inside this very dark theater.
It's quite a way to begin.
After the lights went
on and the door slammed
things got quiet pretty quick.
In between sessions, local Madison native
and one of the stars of
my last film, Roller Life,
stops by for a visit.
She's known in the film by her derby name,
Pinky the Glitterator.
In over 10 hours of
footage from this location,
this is the only time this shows up.
We're filming in the infrared
spectrum of our film camera.
There appears to be numerous orbs.
This could be dust but
seeing the activity of this
definitely raises a red flag.
Let's have another look.
During the session I'm
gonna conduct what's called
the flashlight experiment.
It's where you set up a flashlight
and the electromagnetic
energy inside the spirit
completes the circuit
turning the flashlight on.
- [Anne] Did they use to
show X-rated films here?
- [Michael] Anne's line of questioning
comes from what this
theater was in the past.
Remember what Zach said?
- There was a period of time
where it was a porn theater
in the '70s and '80s.
- [Anne] Did they use to
show X-rated films here?
Did bad things ever happen here?
- [Michael] Went on.
- [Biggie] Light's on.
- Can you turn it off, please?
You nailed it, Anne.
X-rated.
- [Anne] X-rated.
- The light bulb dancing
above Pinky's head
is not an orb.
It's a lens flare from the
flashlight shining the camera.
Can you turn it off, please?
Thank you.
- Thank you.
- On command.
So, just so you understand,
and just so everyone else understands.
We have a Maglite flashlight,
the kind that you turn and twist,
the kind that, like, cops have,
but there are smaller versions of it,
and we turn it to the point
where you just can't quite
turn it on, but it's about to go on.
The theory is that when,
ghosts are made up of
electromagnetic energies
so when their energy hits that,
they put their hand over
it, it turns the light on,
and then they can take their
hand off and turn it off.
That's the theory.
And you just kinda saw
what happened there.
It was on command.
Anne asked a question, it went on.
I asked a question and I
asked it to turn it off
and it went off right away.
Thank you for turning
the flashlight on and off
and thank you for giving my
friend here a nice experience.
Pinky leaves and Anne,
Angela, Biggie and myself
all head upstairs to the balcony.
Do you like the balcony because
that's my favorite spot?
- [Ghostly Voice] Of course.
Of course.
- [Michael] Do the lights hurt you?
Are they too bright?
(electronic sounds)
Hold on.
Do the lights hurt you?
Are they too bright?
(electronic sounds)
Hold on.
What did they say?
- [Angela] I'm tryin' to figure it out.
- [Michael] Do you, we're sorry,
we're trying to figure out what you want?
Are the lights bothering you?
Is that what the problem is?
With Biggie already downstairs,
the three of us were
ready to head downstairs.
- [Ghostly Voice] Trouble.
- [Anne] Trouble?
Who's trouble?
- [Ghostly Voice] Anne.
Trouble.
- [Anne] Trouble?
Who's trouble?
- [Ghostly Voice] Anne.
- [Michael] Should we turn the lights off?
Do you like the lights?
Or do not --
- No.
- like the lights.
- No, that was a clear no.
- [Michael] What, what was my question?
- Do you like the lights?
Should we turn the lights
off was what you asked.
- [Michael] Oh, okay.
After hearing a few voices,
Anne and I depart from the balcony.
- [Ghostly Voice] Goodbye.
- [Michael] What was that?
- [Ghostly Voice] Goodbye.
- [Michael] What was that?
Did you hear that voice?
- Yeah, I did.
- [Michael] Dave, Amy, Anne
and Biggie all head upstairs.
Right away, they're getting
readings on a K2 device
which measures electromagnetic energy.
Dave is curious if electric
power lines are in the floor.
Dave, out loud, just asked
is there power flowing through this floor?
- [Ghostly Voice] There's not.
- [Group] There's not.
- [Dave] There's not, so do you work here?
- [Ghostly Voice] No.
- No?
Did you build the place?
You hear a footstep?
- [Michael] Dave hears a noise
and looks over at Biggie.
Which makes this response
very interesting.
- [Ghostly Voice] I moved.
I moved.
- [Dave] Anne, go for the
question you wanna ask.
- [Anne] So, we know that
there were X-rated films
viewed here by many people.
Is it time to bring those back?
- [Amy] C'mon, don't be shy now.
- [Ghostly Voice] Porn.
- [Ladies] Porn.
- [Anne] I heard porn.
- [Dave] I heard porn.
- [Ghostly Voice] Porn.
- [Ladies] Porn.
- [Anne] I heard porn.
- [Dave] I heard porn.
- [Michael] After a few more questions,
it seems the spirits are
only replying to the women.
This gives Dave an idea.
- [Anne] You get somethin'?
- [Dave] I got someone.
- [Amy] Oh, Angela.
- [Anne] Here comes your brunette.
- [Amy] We're just offering --
- [Anne] Yeah, we're offering up, yeah.
- [Ghostly Voice] How much?
- [Anne] Yeah, we're offering up, yeah.
- [Ghostly Voice] How much?
- Tell us, would she look
better in heels right now?
Maybe a feather boa?
(electronic sounds)
- [Amy] A queen?
What?
(electronic sounds)
- [Amy] A queen?
Is that supposed to be
lighting up like that?
- [Dave] Not like that.
- [Anne] So, we know you're close.
Should we go lay in bed together?
We could just read to each other.
(laughs)
- [Amy] We could just "snuggle."
- [Anne] Spoon.
You can be the big spoon.
- We don't know where to meet you though.
- [Ghostly Voice] Over.
- Over.
- Over where?
- [Ghostly Voice] I'm in love.
I'm in love.
- [Michael] The spirit box dies down
and we try a new tactic.
A casual approach, down in the basement.
This is the same location where Zach
saw a full body apparition.
You like it down here.
If you like it down here,
please turn the flashlight on.
That's how we're trying to
communicate with you right now
is by you turning it on, it means yes,
for all of our questions, please.
And just leave it off for no.
It's really calming,
I mean, I felt really
comfortable down here.
Do you guys do, to?
- [Amy] I do, too.
Yeah, thank you.
You feel comfortable, too?
For you people watching
that don't believe us
that's fine, no problem,
but when you have a flashlight
go on and off on command.
We just asked it a question right now
and it went on immediately.
And throughout this evening
we've had flashlights
go on and off on command, okay?
If it's just going on and off, I mean,
it could have a explanation for it,
but when it's consistently
doing it on command,
I challenge you to prove me wrong.
Prove us wrong.
See, people don't believe in you.
Can you show them that you're
real by turning it off?
We know you're real, but
the camera recording you,
there's people watching right now
that don't believe, there ya go.
Very good, thank you.
So there's some proof,
right there for you guys.
And there's nothing we're
doing to manipulate this.
There's theories out
there on how this happens
and why it happens and thing is,
we ask the question it goes on.
We ask another question for, you know,
to turn it off and it goes off, so.
And the point of this here, too,
is not to make people who
are skeptics, believers.
You make your own choice.
You make your own decision,
say what you will.
Like, you think about this.
We have bodies, we have energy.
These things, these spirits don't.
So for them to do this, I mean,
I don't know how this works,
I don't know if anyone does
and there's people who are
gonna try to debunk this
and that's fine, they can do that, but
the way I understand it is
the electromagnetic energy
is what helps it go on
and then when they remove that energy,
I mean, it goes away.
But I don't think they're
like literally twisting it.
- [Amy] Oh, they aren't.
- That's the way, I don't know, Amy,
what do you think?
'Cuz you're more of a --
- [Amy] Oh, yeah, I
actually don't know either.
But the way you're explaining
it makes a lot of sense
and that's what I agree with.
- [Biggie] More of a touch
completes the circuit.
- Right, the touch completes the circuit,
that's the way I understand it to work
but see if they leave it
there and then they leave,
that's how it's gonna stay.
After a good 10 hours of
filming, we are exhausted.
It seems the spirits are
sharing that sentiment.
We try to see if we can squeeze any energy
out of this place one last time.
You just do one more
big thing and we'll go.
I will tell you from,
I'm speaking for myself,
I'm very impressed with the
things you've done tonight,
all of you.
From the lights going
on to the door slamming,
to the voices we heard up there.
The flashlight before, was
all really amazing stuff.
One last burst.
I'll approach the flashlight.
You can take all my energy,
whatever I got left, take it,
turn this flashlight on and we'll go.
For many hours, the Barrymore
Theatre was like that
one friend you have that won't stay quiet.
The theater is now silent.
It's amazing how quiet it is, huh?
(thuds)
You know, Anne laughed.
- [Amy] Did you hear that?
Did you guys hear that?
(thuds)
- You know, Anne laughed.
- [Amy] Did you hear that?
Did you guys hear that?
- What?
- I did,
but he was doing something onstage.
- [Michael] What did you hear?
- [Amy] In the back.
- [Michael] Tell me what you heard.
- [Amy] It was back there.
- A noise, a pound?
- It was a pound.
- [Michael] The energy in
this room is like the air
was let out of a balloon.
I believe this was their way
of saying it's time to go.
And that's exactly what we did.
Next stop, the Riverside
Theater in Milwaukee.
- The Riverside theater was built in 1927,
originally as a vaudeville house.
It was built with the
Empire building in the '20s.
- The block looks really similar.
There was a tobacco shop
there, and there is now.
I know that that land
where the Riverside is
was designated specifically for a theater
and a theater happened there.
- The Riverside Theater
hosted vaudeville performers
such as Abbott and Costello,
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
From there up until about
when we took it over in 2005,
was a music hall.
- At the Riverside sometimes
working late at night
you may be the only
person in the building.
It's such a large, expansive place
you can't help but feel
that you're under scrutiny
or you're being watched.
You need to almost ask
permission to be there
and I've actually
vocalized like, you know,
when I started getting that dark feeling,
you know, moving around late at night,
I've kind of said, like, "Well, you know,"
just announcing myself, like, "I'm here.
"I hope that's okay with you."
- Yeah, creepy at the Riverside for sure.
- Bar staff experienced people
tapping them on the shoulder
in the basement, by the bar coolers,
and also people see people
sitting in seats all the time.
That still happens to this day.
- I was sitting kind of in
the middle toward the back
and the hairs on my neck kind of stood up
and I looked over to my left
and there was a gentleman
sitting there who was
in work clothes and when
he saw me looking at him,
that I could see him he
gave me a really dirty look
and then disappeared.
Jason who works here had used to,
he would hear children
running up and laughing.
- And a co-worker and I
experienced that one night
as we were kind of wrapping up the day,
and it just sounded like
kids running up and down
the hallway, laughing,
and we went upstairs and
there was no one there.
- In some ways, I didn't want
to learn about that history
especially at the Riverside
for fear of maybe having
more knowledge that would,
you know, make me more
accessible to these energies in a way
that I didn't want to be accessible.
- The first experience I ever had
at the Riverside was in 2007.
I was walking onto the stage
and it sounded like someone
like, yelled in my ear, "Hey,"
and I looked around and there
was no one in the theater,
and my dog became paralyzed in fear,
dropped to the ground,
and I had to pick him up and
carry him out of the theater.
- A few hours have gone by.
No EVPs, no communication from
the spirit world whatsoever.
At this point, it's safe to say,
we're all pretty frustrated.
So, we're at a point now
where nothing's happening yet.
We've heard all the stories.
Nothing's happening.
We're coming off of investigation
where everything was happening,
and that's kinda how it is is, you know,
I wanna note for the record,
right now, nothing's happening.
Hopefully, future me is happy seeing this
because something, hopefully, will happen
'cuz we put a lot of
effort into filming these.
We try to be a scientific as we can and
when you put a lotta time and effort
and energy into it and nothing happens
it is a little frustrating,
but it is what it is.
Obviously, if this stuff was easy,
everybody would be doing
it, so fingers crossed.
Hopefully, we catch something soon.
Our next stop was upstairs.
This is access at a
location the general public
does not get to visit very often.
The lighting booth.
After about 20 minutes of no activity
finally we get our first
intelligent response.
- Did you work here?
- [Michael] No.
- We're not trying to force
anybody to say anything.
We don't want to be rude
or disrespectful to anyone.
Very much would appreciate
it if anyone would be able to
try and communicate with us.
There's
some way that you can
use some energy from,
whether it be batteries in our equipment
or even from me.
I would like to communicate
with someone here tonight.
If that's possible.
(electrical sounds)
- [Michael Voiceover] At this
point, we're really struggling
to get any evidence at all.
- Can someone say hi?
Or hello?
If I say it, hello, to you?
- [Michael] After about
another 15 minutes,
we decide it's time to go.
Alright, let's bug out of this room
'cuz we're, I feel, I
don't know what you feel,
but I feel dead.
Here's what I wanna tell you guys.
Later on when we're filming,
if you want to scare someone,
I want you to scare me, okay?
But only while I'm here.
(low tones)
After I give the spirit
permission to scare me,
it sounds like it's reacting to it.
I can't tell if it's mocking me
or if it's excitement.
I want you to scare me, okay?
But only while I'm here.
(low tones)
My name's Michael, this is Chelsy,
we're gonna leave now, okay?
Let's just --
- [Chelsy] Can I leave this on?
- Yeah.
- Don't go.
- [Chelsy] Don't go?
- [Michael] Did you say, "Don't go?"
- [Chelsy] Can I leave this on?
- Yeah.
- Don't go.
- [Chelsy] Don't go?
- [Michael] Did you say, "Don't go?"
(vocalization)
If you want us to stay, say stay.
If you want us to leave, say leave.
And if you're quiet, that means leave.
You got about 10 seconds.
- Leave.
- Leave.
- [Michael] Leave.
- Leave.
- Leave.
- [Michael] Leave.
You got it, we're gone.
Thank you so much for your time.
Wanna get that door open?
- [Chelsy] Yep.
- [Michael] Sorry for bothering you.
We're gonna leave.
- [Ghostly Voice] Leave.
- Okay.
- [Michael] Have a nice night, thank you.
Well, at least we got something.
Are you good
- Yeah.
- [Michael] I got it, go ahead.
Just felt something behind me.
And that was not a good feeling.
- [Ghostly Voice] Come back.
Leave now.
Hang on.
- [Michael] Chelsy, did
you just make a noise.
- No.
- [Michael] Was that you?
What we have here are three class A EVPs.
The only thing I heard was the growling
or grunting noise after "Leave now."
- [Ghostly Voice] Come back.
Leave now.
Hang on.
- [Michael] Chelsy, did
you just make a noise.
- No.
- [Michael] Was that you?
As I point the camera in
the room I was just in,
coincidentally we noticed
two orbs in the same region
where I received the EVPs.
Might these be the two
women speaking to me?
Let's pause and take a step
back through these events.
Remember what I had said earlier.
If you want to scare someone,
I want you to scare me, okay?
But only while I'm here.
Also, remember in the room,
these are the two responses
we got when we were leaving.
- [Chelsy] Can I leave this on?
- Yeah.
- Don't go.
- [Chelsy] Don't go?
- [Ghostly Voice] Leave.
- Leave.
- Leave.
You got it, we're gone.
Thank you so much for your time.
As I came down the stairs,
it seems as one spirit
wants me to stay and
one wants me to leave,
the same thing that happened
when we left the light room.
- [Ghostly Voice] Come back.
Leave now.
Hang on.
- [Michael] This is an
intriguing chain of events.
We'll leave it up to you
to decide what you think.
Next, we went downstairs to
investigate the basement.
- Horrified.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael, footsteps.
(thud and floor creaks)
- [Michael] Is there someone out there?
I heard footsteps, above me.
- [Anne] Yeah.
- [Michael] They said yeah?
- There's something.
- [Michael] Todd?
There is a lot going on here.
If you listen closely,
you'll hear a female say,
"Michael, footsteps,"
and then you hear the footsteps
and the creak of the floor above us.
I call for Haunted State
investigator, Todd Dehring,
there were no members of
the Haunted State cast
above us at this moment.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael, footsteps.
(thud and floor creaks)
- [Michael] Is there someone out there?
I heard footsteps
above me.
- Yeah.
- [Michael] They said yeah?
- There was something.
- [Michael] Todd?
- [Ghostly Voice] Courtney.
- [Anne] You're Courtney?
- [Michael] Oh.
- [Ghostly Voice] Courtney.
- [Anne] You're Courtney?
- [Michael] Oh.
- [Group] Hi, Courtney.
- I can feel it.
- Hello.
It could just be basement cold.
- [Ghostly Voice] Water.
- [Michael] Water.
It doesn't get any better
than these two EVPs.
Class A and crystal clear.
- I can feel it.
- Hello?
It could just be basement cold.
- [Ghostly Voice] Water.
- [Michael] Water.
Are you in here?
- [Woman] Hello?
- [Michael] That was really loud.
- Cool, that's scary in there.
I'm afraid to go in there.
- [Michael] I heard footsteps
and they were very loud.
- [Ghostly Voice] Open it.
- [Chelsy] Open it.
(exhale)
Hello, sir.
- [Ghostly Voice] Hey.
Hi, there.
- Hi, I didn't, I'm Chelsy.
This is Anne next to me.
- [Ghostly Voice] Hey.
Hi, there.
- Hi, I didn't, I'm Chelsy.
This is Anne next to me.
- How many people are in
here right now with us?
- [Ghostly Voice] Eight.
- How many?
Tell me how many people are in here
with us right now, please.
- [Ghostly Voice] Eight.
Eight people.
- How many men are in here with us?
- [Ghostly Voice] Eight.
- I hear eight.
- I heard eight before, too.
- [Ghostly Voice] Eight.
What's up?
- What's up?
- [Angela] I thought I
heard that, too, yeah.
- [Michael] Feeling a lot
of energy and excitement.
We decide to further explore the basement.
- [Ghostly Voice] Hang on.
- [Ghostly Voice] Hang on.
- [Chelsy] In here?
Can someone tell me their name?
- [Michael] As we're
about to call it quits
from this room and figure
out what our next move is,
this orb flies in front of our camera.
Not having much luck, we
decide to head back upstairs
to the stage.
- [Ghostly Voice] Oh, my God.
- [Ghostly Voice] Oh, my God.
- [Chelsy] Why are you here?
- [Ghostly Voice] You people.
- It's the same voice.
Are you trapped in this building?
- [Ghostly Voice] Nope.
- No.
- Are you
trapped in this world?
- [Michael] My screen keeps
freaking out on this FLIR.
Like something's, like,
putting it's hand over it.
- Are you messing with Michael's camera?
- [Ghostly Voice] Trying.
- Trying, (laughs).
- [Michael] The Riverside Theater
was an interesting location.
We love Milwaukee so much
we're gonna head down the road
to the world-famous Pabst Theater.
- The theater dates back to 1895.
As far as the history of
the Pabst is concerned,
I'm aware that there was once a building
that stood on these premises.
- Because I believe it was
called the Stadt Theater.
It was a German theater
and the Captain bought it
and I believe he was in
Germany or he was off
on a vacation, holiday, and
the theater burned down.
His telegraph response I
believe was, "Rebuild."
- Ship Captain Frederick Pabst
rebuilt a theater for
his love of the arts.
- I think they rebuilt
it in like nine months
or a little over a year
when it normally took double
whatever the time was and yet
it's so ornate and beautiful,
and has stood the test of time.
- You know as you look around,
today you can get a sense
for what Captain Pabst
was trying to integrate into the theater.
I mean, it's beautiful.
To my knowledge it was
one of the first theaters
to have air conditioning.
Probably because of the original building
on this site burning down,
it's also fireproof.
It had one of the first electric organs
of any theater in the United States
- Well, there are a lot of
notable performers here.
The biggest one for Milwaukee though,
was having Liberace here.
This was the first
place that he performed.
That's a big deal considering
he was from Milwaukee.
- We are one of the
fourth oldest continuously
operating theaters in the
United States, to this day.
- I feel incredibly lucky
to work at the Pabst.
It's a beautiful theater.
Anybody who'd seen a
performance here would agree.
- I think that there may be an
energy at the Pabst Theater,
however, it almost feels
like a positive energy.
It's almost like a, you know,
someone's looking out for you, in a way.
- I just have a feeling Captain Pabst,
being the good German that he was,
would never let anything
happen to this building
which is why it's still here.
He wouldn't let bad ghosts here.
I just don't think he would.
- I'm not as aware of
what could be happening
from a spiritual way than
other than the good old Captain
certainly loved that
place and while his spirit
would probably love to be at the mansion
and love to be in his
office at his old brewery
part of it would wanna be at the theater.
- It's all friendly entities
and it's kinda cool to me
to think that if someone
has stuck around as a ghost
that they're comin' here
to see a show so, you know,
we're offering stuff that people wanna see
and ghosts wanna see so I'm
cool with that. (laughs)
- Alright, so we're here
at the Pabst Theater.
You've heard the stories,
now we're gonna see if they're true.
This is by far the darkest
theater, would you agree, Anne?
- Yes.
- Very dark.
You're seeing us right
now in night vision.
We're gonna pan through the theater here
to give you a look at the theater,
and then we're gonna turn night vision off
so you can truly see how dark it is.
So it's the seats, now we're
gonna turn night vision off
right now so that is what it
looks like right now in here.
Okay, go ahead and turn it back on.
Okay, so you can see how
dark it truly is in here.
Very dark and so I'm actually,
so you can see all my stuff
that's here right now,
I can't actually see it but I know,
okay, I've got my equipment here,
and we're gonna go up onstage right now.
You're gonna follow behind us here.
We're gonna go onstage,
and see if we can get some communication
here from our friends.
I'm gonna introduce myself.
Hello, spirits.
My name is Michael,
this is Anne right here.
And we're here to communicate with you.
We also have Angela here
with us behind the camera
and we have equipment and
devices that can see you
and communicate with you,
and we'd really love it
if you would contact us.
I do wanna tell you
that I have a soft spot
in my heart for Pabst, for
Captain Frederick Pabst.
I have visited your brewery
and I have been in contact
with some of the spirits there.
They've said my name.
Hopefully, you can say
some of our names tonight,
so we can hear some of your
names, hear your story,
'cuz that's really why we're here.
This place is beautiful,
and we just wanna know if you're here.
We're gonna turn on a device right now
that will allow you to
communicate with us.
As I place the Zoom
recorder down and stand up,
note the power indicator
on the Zoom recorder.
This red light here, at this time,
we did not know our Zoom
recorder turned off.
Anne and I then hear a
few unintelligible voices.
We then get our first clear response.
Tell us, we hear stories about you,
and I'm just curious, are you
protective of this theater?
"Cuz I do wanna tell you right
now, we mean you no harm.
We mean you nothing but respect.
- [Ghostly Voice] Respect.
- [Michael] Did it say respect?
- [Anne] Yeah, I heard respect.
- [Michael] Do you hear
a spirit saying respect?
We mean you nothing but respect.
- [Ghostly Voice] Respect.
- [Michael] Did it say respect?
- [Anne] Yeah, I heard respect.
- Respect.
What color is your shirt, is that white?
- White.
- Can you tell me either
Anne's shirt color or my shirt color?
- [Ghostly Voice] Blue.
- Blue.
- Did he say blue?
My shirt is not blue
but it is a dark color.
That's very good, though that
they did answer with a color.
That's a very intelligent
response, right there.
If it was blue.
After a few responses that have
to do with beer and alcohol,
we try an experiment.
(taps against stage)
It's not going on.
Alright, so when I count to six, no,
we're gonna make it eight.
That's my magic number.
When I count to eight, I
want you to come over here
and turn this light on if
you like beer or alcohol.
We can't see you.
We can't hurt you, so
don't worry about it, okay?
One, two, three, four, five,
- [Ghostly Voice] Six.
- Six.
- Six.
- [Michael] seven, get ready, eight.
Can you turn it on, please?
- [Ghostly Voice] Not working.
- [Michael] Four, five --
- [Ghostly Voice] Six.
- Six.
- Six.
- [Michael] Seven, get ready, eight.
Can you turn it on, please?
- [Ghostly Voice] Not working.
- [Anne] What's your name?
- [Michael] What's?
- [Ghostly Voice] Frank.
- Frank.
Did ya hear it?
- [Anne] I heard Frank.
- [Ghostly Voice] Frank.
- Frank.
Did ya hear it?
- [Anne] I heard Frank.
- Frank, what's up, man?
- [Anne] Hi, Frank.
- [Michael] Wanna have a PBR with us?
You know, I'm a big fan
of Captain Frederick.
So is my son.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
- [Michael] Anne and I decide
to go sit in the theater seats
and get off the stage.
Watch out for that stuff.
- [Anne] Yeah, I'll go down this way.
- [Ghostly Voice] Don't move.
- [Michael] Did he say don't move?
- [Ghostly Voice] Don't move.
- [Michael] Did he say don't move?
As I'm getting off the stage,
I can't find one of my flashlights.
Where'd my other flashlight go?
I don't know what the hell I did with it.
We good?
- Yep.
- [Angela] I just wanna see if
I could find your flashlight
with the night vision.
- [Anne] Is it in the middle there, no?
- [Ghostly Voice] I took it.
- [Anne] You took it?
- [Michael] You took it.
- [Anne] Is it in the middle there, no?
- [Ghostly Voice] I took it.
- [Anne] You took it?
- You took it.
Is that what he said?
Here's where I noticed
the Zoom recorder is off.
You may not think this is a big deal
but a common theory in
paranormal investigation
is battery drainage.
It's when a spirit,
which is made up of
electromagnetic energy,
drains the batteries from your devices,
stealing that energy and using
it to communicate with you.
Again, it's all in theory.
I'm not saying this is what happened
but it's definitely interesting.
Did you turn my device off?
This was off.
And I don't know for how long.
That sucks 'cuz all those voices we heard.
Did you notice, was this glowing at all?
When we came onstage?
- [Angela] Was it --
- When we were onstage it was.
- Let's sit, let's just sit over here.
- [Anne] 'Kay.
- Why don't you sit behind me, Anne?
Alright, now, I've made it
a little easier for you.
I don't know if they can see it on camera.
You can knock the flashlight down, too.
The flashlight is, can you see it?
It is not moving, at all.
We'd appreciate it if
you turn it on though.
There's a flashlight in front of me.
Turn it on whenever you want.
- [Anne] Where's Frank?
Frank, are you still here?
- [Ghostly Voice] He is not.
- He is not.
He is not.
Where'd he go?
- [Anne] We miss you, Frank.
- Well, if Frank's not here, who are you?
I'm Michael, that's Angela, that's Anne.
We have a device here that we,
you can communicate with us.
I have a light right
here you can turn it on,
we'll know that you're here.
We're patient with you.
Don't worry about it.
- [Anne] We wanna get to know you.
You're special to us.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
- Just like this place is special to you.
Just went off again.
Are you turning off our device?
I find it interesting my name is said
and then the digital recorder turns off.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
- Just like this place is special to you.
Just went off again.
Are you turning off our device?
I just saw it go off.
I'll check the battery.
And I had it locked, too.
Even though the batteries
weren't completely drained
I figured it was a good idea
to go get some new batteries.
I first turn the digital recorder on,
I'm walking away now, and
we pick it up where Anne
and Angela are alone in the theater.
- Did you ever have any pets, any dogs?
Or cats?
(flashlight clatters)
Oh.
Oh, my God, it just fell
off and it turned on.
- [Michael Voiceover] Keep
your eye on the flashlight
on the bottom of the screen.
This flashlight sat here for
over eight minutes before
it seemingly falls off.
Or cats?
(flashlight clatters)
Oh.
- [Michael Voiceover] Listen closely,
there was a breath moments
before the flashlight falls.
Could it be possible that a spirit
was breathing on the
flashlight and pushed it over?
For this replay, I'm gonna
zoom it back to widen the shot.
(exhale)
Or cats?
(flashlight clatters)
- [Michael Voiceover] Also,
note the flashlight does go on
before it makes contact with the seat.
I'm gonna freeze it right here.
The flashlight is not touching the seat.
It is just about to fall over
and the flashlight is on.
Oh.
Oh, my God.
It just fell off and it turned on.
That just --
- [Angela] You weren't anywhere near it
and neither am I.
- No, I'm three
feet back from it.
- I'm done.
- Well, thank you, if that was you.
- [Angela] You weren't near it
and neither am I.
- No, I'm three
feet back from it.
- I'm done.
- Well, thank you, if that was you.
Scared the shit out of me (laughs).
So, you have dogs?
Or you had cats?
- [Ghostly Voice] Angela.
- [Ghostly Voice] Angela.
- [Michael Voiceover] This is the name
of Haunted State producer,
and current camera person, Angela.
I'm comin' back in.
- [Angela] We lost a flashlight.
It fell on the ground.
- Fell on the ground and turned on.
- [Michael] Did it really?
- And I didn't move it.
It just, on it's own.
- Did you do that?
So, were you turning off our device?
Our device is still on
so if the battery was drained
I mean, the battery's
low, but it's not drained.
If it was drained, it
wouldn't be going on.
So, someone's messing with us here.
- Did you just give us a sign
and move the flashlight,
'cuz that was great?
- And there is no airflow in here?
I mean we're obviously,
I mean, point it up,
we're not near any vents.
(low noise)
Did you hear that?
- Yeah.
- Oh, my God, I heard that.
Was it a hiss?
- It was something.
- Something behind us.
- I'm not moving.
- obviously, I mean, point it up,
we're not near any vents.
(low noise)
Did you hear that?
- Yeah.
- Oh, my God, I heard that.
Was it a hiss?
- It was something.
- Something behind us.
- I'm not moving.
I'm sitting absolutely still.
- [Ghostly Voice] That was cool.
- [Ghostly Voice] That was cool.
- Are you hissing at us?
Or were you trying to make another noise?
I heard a noise, I don't
wanna say it was a hiss.
What did you hear?
- Something like a hiss.
Like, but it was back there.
It wasn't ...
- Doin' that noise again.
You hear it?
The flashlight's gonna go off.
- Yep, thank you.
You're dimming it.
We see you.
- [Ghostly Voice] I can't.
- [Anne] It's flickering, we can see it.
- It's off.
- Thank you.
- [Michael] Thank you so much.
- [Anne] Thank you.
- Oh, my goodness.
- Ghost fucked (laughs).
- Are you trying to scare
us or be friends with us?
- We feel your good energy.
- Oh, back on.
- Thank you, again.
- [Michael] Can you turn it off?
- [Anne] Thank you.
- The interaction of this flashlight
is extremely controversial.
One side of the argument
says it's just the battery
reacting with the flashlight
while the other side
says it's a paranormal activity.
Personally speaking, I see
both sides of the argument
but for me, I stand on
the fence on this one.
But I will say when the
flashlight's going on and off
on command it's tough to argue.
The light ball you see on
the screen is not an orb.
It is a lens flare from a flashlight
hitting the camera head on.
So can you tell us what your name is?
And notice I haven't
changed the batteries yet
and this light is still on.
And the battery's right here.
- You're dimming it again, thank you.
We see it.
- You're really close.
- Yep.
You got this.
You got this.
- Almost.
- Yep.
- Use my energy, go ahead.
I had a Red Bull earlier.
- [Both] Yes.
- I'm gonna clap.
(applause)
Thank you.
We're gonna have to (drowned
out by background noise)
I know I'm a weirdo.
- Oh, yep, he agrees.
(claps)
- [Angela] Is Michael a weirdo?
- I'm a weirdo.
So can you tell us your name, please?
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
- [Ghostly Voice] Michael.
- Got a name, go ahead, Angela.
- [Angela] There's something
in between the two of you
and it's not that there's,
it's the glare from the flashlight.
I just wanna let everybody
know that that's not an orb.
It's the glare from the flashlight,
but it looks like it's
something like an orb.
- 'Cuz the flashlight's hitting your lens
and it's a lens flare.
So now I still have the
batteries in my hand.
I have not changed these
batteries and it's still on.
This is like a 2 or $300 device.
The Zoom 2 is what it's called.
- [Anne] Could you do it again?
We were talking about dogs and cats.
Do you miss dogs and cats and pets?
- Are you a dog?
- See, is there a dog?
- Or dog lover?
- I know you're here.
Can you do it for us again?
Oh, thank you.
- [Ghostly Voice] Anne.
- [Ghostly Voice] Anne.
- When I count to five can
you please turn it off?
Okay, don't start trying
until I get to five, ready?
One,
- [Ghostly Voice] Angela.
Two, three,
- [Ghostly Voice] Anne.
Four.
One, --
- [Ghostly Voice] Angela.
- Two, three
- [Ghostly Voice] Anne.
Four, five, go ahead and
start turning it off.
- [Ghostly Voice] Daniel.
- Daniel?
- Daniel.
- [Ghostly Voice] Daniel.
- Daniel?
- Daniel.
- Oh, Daniel, you're Daniel?
We see you dimming it.
And off, thank you.
- Wow.
- Daniel, we're happy that you did that.
- I don't have words.
I've never seen anything like this.
- I was gonna say, does
this happen all the time?
It's new for me.
Thank you again.
- Oh, it still comes on like that.
- Thank you again.
- [Michael] After the flashlight goes off,
Angela gets a better
angle of the flashlight.
Can you do that again, please?
- [Anne] Thank you.
- [Michael] That is awesome.
On command.
Can you turn the flashlight
off, one more time, please?
- [Angela] Got it.
- [Michael] That is amazing.
- [Anne] Thank you.
- [Michael] After that
amazing interaction,
we head upstairs and try our luck
in the sound and light room.
- We are outside of the lighting
room at the Pabst right now
and we're about to head in there,
just to see what we can get.
- [Anne] Do we have Frank?
Did Frank ever come back?
- [Ghostly Voice] I did.
- [Angela] Oh, I did?
- [Ghostly Voice] I'm here.
- [Anne] Who are you?
- [Michael] I'm here, he said I'm here.
- [Angela] Frank, Frank, are you here?
- [Angela] I did?
- [Ghostly Voice] I'm here.
- [Anne] Who are you?
- [Michael] I'm here, he said I'm here.
- [Angela] Frank, Frank, are you here?
- [Ghostly Voice] Yes, here.
- [Angela] Frank, are you here?
- [Ghostly Voice] Yes, here
- [Angela] How many women
do we have in the room
with us right now?
- [Ghostly Voice] Three.
- [Group] Three.
- [Angela] How many women
do we have in the room
with us right now?
- [Ghostly Voice] Three.
- [Group] Three.
- [Anne] Us?
- [Angela] There are three women.
It's Anne, and Angela and Sara are here.
- [Michael] This is an
interesting response
because in the room
with us was PR Director
for the Pabst theater group, Sara Peronto.
- [Angela] Have dogs ever
been let up in this area?
- [Ghostly Voice] Anne.
- [Angela] I think that was your name.
- [Anne] You said my name?
- [Michael] Anne, you got it.
- [Angela] Frank, do you
have a crush on Anne?
- [Ghostly Voice] Yeah.
(laughs)
- Yes.
- [Michael] About 15 minutes go by,
and the activity seems to stop.
We pick things up outside the light room.
So, since we're in here.
Let's talk about what we got.
- Not much in the light room.
Didn't seem like, we had
a few numbers in there.
- I think the challenge in there
is that when it's tiny and small
but we're still getting responses.
It's just not a ton.
- [Michael] We all agree
we should go in the theater
one last time.
Just to show everyone.
Here is what we see.
That is what we see right there.
Pitch black.
- [Woman] Okay, just when it's off, right?
- [Angela] Yeah, you just wanna have it
just twisted so it's
just gets to the point
where it's almost off.
Like that.
(three knocks)
- [Michael] I heard a noise behind me.
- Yep.
- I heard it, too.
- [Woman] Did you knock?
- [Michael] There's
spotlights there, though.
Did you put one of the chairs down?
All the chairs were up.
Let's see if we can find one that's down.
- [Woman] Want me to turn a light on?
- [Michael] Nope, I can see just fine.
- [Woman] Just wanna make sure.
- [Michael] Did you hear that?
- [Woman] Yeah.
- [Michael] Back there, did you hear it?
Squeak.
- [Anne] Maybe my chair.
- [Michael] There's someone
in here with us right now.
I can feel it.
- [Anne] Okay, we're back again.
Daniel, are you here?
The flashlights are right
in between Angela and I.
The red one that you used before
and there's a new blue one there, too.
You moved it off the chair before.
- [Michael] That was me
Did you hear that?
- [Angela] I did.
- [Michael] Are you in
the back of the theater?
If you are, do not be alarmed.
We're here to be friends with you.
We decide we should try
the flashlight experiment in reverse.
We're gonna start with the flashlight on
and see if anything can turn it off.
- Can you tell us your name?
- Michael.
Hope.
- Can you tell us your name?
- Michael.
Hope.
- [Angela] Is your name Hope?
Thank you.
Oh.
Hi.
We're so glad you're still here with us.
I was worried you left.
Hope, are you here?
If you could turn the light off, Hope.
Thank you.
Oh, I'm so glad you're still here.
Wow.
- [Anne] Well, just
turn it on one more time
and then we can go.
- [Angela] Okay.
Sounds like it's time for us to go.
- [Michael] We all agree
this is a good time
to end this session.
With it being the Pabst Theater,
I had one more question to ask.
And I wanna ask one last question.
Whatta you have?
- [Ghostly Voice] Pabst.
- I heard Pabst.
- [Michael] And I wanna
ask one last question.
Whatta you have?
- [Ghostly Voice] Pabst.
- I heard Pabst.
- [Michael] Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Us, too.
Thank you so much.
- [Michael] After an amazing
experience in Milwaukee,
it's time to visit the Grand Opera House
for the oldest member of
the Theatre of Shadows
in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
- So the evolution of the Grand,
what the space was used
for is kind of arced
and found its way back
to its original purpose.
When it was built in 1883,
it was meant to be a performance hall
where touring artists could
find their way to Oshkosh,
which was then the second
largest city in the state,
and also a place where
the community could gather
for either performances or public events.
- Opening and being, in its
time, the big performance house
of the area,
Oshkosh was a good stop between
Milwaukee and Minneapolis.
They're getting a lot
of the stars of the day
in 1883 and around the
turn of the century.
- And largely the Grand existed
that way, and then became,
as the touring happened,
a vaudeville house.
The vaudeville era was
followed by silent movies
and then talking movies,
all the while still keeping
an identity with an occasional performance
and a lot of community events.
At one point during its evolution
it was an adult movie house.
A lot of people referred
to that as a dark time.
At the same time, you have to acknowledge
in the great history of this
building that during that time,
the '50s into the early '60s,
a lot of these buildings
were shuttered and closed
and if for nothing else that
period kept the building
open long enough
for the community to rally and renovate.
- Fell into a state of
disrepair in the '70s and '80s
and was then refurbished
over a three year period,
1983 to '86,
and reopened as the Grand
Opera House in 1986.
- As the first renovation
happened in the '80s
it had come full circle, and once again,
our foundation was formed
to run the building,
to create, and to book touring artists.
Some of the notables over
the years on our stage
include Mark Twain, the Marx Brothers,
John Philip Sousa, Maud Adams.
- Houdini was here, Helen Keller was here.
This building is important to us.
It means a lot to the community.
I don't know if everybody truly
understands its importance.
I think they have to be in here to,
to really understand it.
- I feel like we are the
stewards of the building
for the community and for the future.
- I think of her as a grandmother that has
just 100 stories and all
her children played here.
- For some reason, the
spirits of the Grand
have not chosen to make
themselves known to me.
Some of these stories have happened
during the time I've been here.
Others predate my time here,
but among the occurrences have been
pianos playing themselves.
- I did hear the piano
playing on stage one day.
I was here by myself,
working down in the basement.
And, honestly, took me
a few minutes to realize
that I should not be hearing
the music at this time
because I'm the only one here
and I stopped what I was doing,
started to come up the stairs,
and as I was coming up
the stairs, it stopped.
I walked through the building,
all the lights were off,
the doors were locked.
I was the only one here.
- There have been all kinds of lights,
on and off, flickering.
There have been voices.
- I could hear singing on the stage,
and I thought, "That's weird
'cuz we're closed today."
So, I came upstairs and I
walked down the center aisle
and there was nobody here,
but by then the singing had stopped.
By the time I got up the stairway,
and I entered the historic
lobby, I didn't hear it anymore.
- There have been dog barks.
I prefer to think that since theaters
are places of imagination that
the person who is involved
in making up their own mind
makes up his or her own mind.
- Todd and myself are
not quite ready to film.
Keep your eyes on the
left side of the screen.
You'll see the orb fly outside the frame
and then come right back,
brushing right against my head.
On this slow motion replay, you
can see the size of the orb.
The fact there are no wings on this
shows that it is not a bug.
If you look closely, you can
see it rotating as it travels.
This is the best evidence of an orb
I've captured on film, so far.
My name's Michael.
This is Todd.
And that's Biggie back
there on the camera.
We've got two recording devices.
We've got one in the
second row and one here.
Just walk on up to it and whisper into it,
and we'll hear you.
Say your name.
- [Ghostly Voice] Testing.
Hello.
- [Michael] The Grand Opera
House is known to have
paranormal investigations
during off hours.
It may be possible the spirits here
are well equipped and know what to do.
This is a really intelligent response.
- [Ghostly Voice] Testing.
Hello.
- Okay, so right here, oh,
that's where I was sitting.
That's why it's warm.
Moments later the orb returns.
I feel like it's curious to
find out what we're up to.
Our own curiosity takes us
upstairs to the balcony.
Are you sitting up here with us right now?
If you are, we don't wanna crowd you,
we're just here to see the show, like you.
The lights blinking are
on a device called the K2.
The K2 is an electromagnetic
energy reader.
These lights blinking indicate there's
electromagnetic energy in the area.
This may or may not be paranormal.
So, we have a device right here in my hand
that we can communicate with you.
It's going off again.
I'm wondering if it may be the lights.
- But there's no light,
well, it's possible.
This row does not have a light in it.
- Here, put it, put it right here.
I haven't gotten one voice yet.
Is there anybody up here?
Any spirits?
- [Ghostly Voice] Go back.
- What was that?
- [Ghostly Voice] Go back.
- What was that?
Can you come sit down right by me here?
I'll see you.
Come on over by Todd and touch him?
We've heard some very,
very interesting stories
about this place.
We wanna see if it's true.
Can you walk across the stage right now?
I'll see you.
I have a special camera that allows me
to see heat and temperature.
That's Biggie over there.
That's Todd over there.
My name's Michael.
Can you say one of our names, please?
Preferably not mine.
- Are you up in the
balcony with us right now?
I've never seen this happen before,
but the K2 goes off when we talk.
- Only when we talk.
- No.
It's going off --
- I see it right down there.
- It's almost like a VU meter for audio.
- We know you're here, okay?
We're not wondering if
you're here anymore.
We know you're here.
We see you're setting off
our communication device.
Are you happy that we're up here?
Here's the deal.
There's gonna be some other
people coming through here,
and I want you to say
a secret word to them.
Okay?
They're not gonna know what it means
but I want you to say it.
The word I want you to say is taco.
Okay?
It's a fun game we like to play.
Who sits up here in the corner?
Anybody?
Oh, my gosh.
- [Ghostly Voice] Hello.
- [Michael] Hello,
someone just said hello.
I'm gonna turn my flashlight off
and if you wanna say hello
just come on over here,
touch my flashlight
and turn it on, okay?
And I'm actually gonna
step away from this, too.
I'm gonna put it right here.
I'm gonna step away.
And if you wanna turn that thing on,
just to let us know you're
here that would be fantastic.
Can you turn it on?
I'm gonna count to, there's a voice.
I'm gonna count to five
and if you can turn it on
at five please for me.
All you do is go touch
it and it'll turn it on.
One, two, three,
four, five.
Okay, turn it on, please.
Okay, thank you.
Can you turn it off, please?
- [Todd] Thank you.
- [Michael] Can you turn it off?
Gotta turn it off.
About 45 seconds go by and
the flashlight stays on.
In order for this
experiment to be successful
the flashlight needs to
go on and off on command.
I then realize my initial reaction
to the flashlight turning on
might have been too excitable.
It's possible I scared the spirit.
Do you think it got spooked?
- [Todd] No, no, it's in control.
That person's in control, we
have no control over it, so.
- [Michael] We're sorry if we scared you.
We were excited to see you turn that on
exactly when I asked you to.
Just take your time and turn
it off, please, thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
Fantastic.
Awesome.
- [Todd] Thank you so much.
- [Michael] Sonya enters the theater alone
to try her luck onstage.
- Can anyone here show me
that they're there with us?
Who's in here with me?
Make a sound.
- [Ghostly Voice] I've done it.
- I heard something on playback.
- [Man] You've got a couple of voices.
- It's hard to decipher what's bein' said.
- [Man] Well, you said,
make a noise and, like,
immediately somebody said something.
Did you hear that?
That was someone talking right there, too.
That was three syllables.
You've got something going here.
- [Michael] Having difficulty figuring out
what's trying to be said,
we call in audio expert David Williams.
- Are you still here?
- [Ghostly Voice] No.
- No.
- No.
- [Michael] I'm not here, no.
That's actually kinda funny
guys, think about that.
Are you still here, no?
- [David] He's joking with us.
- [Michael] Then where are you.
Are you a funny man?
Tell us about your dog.
Dog.
- [Biggie] I thought he said Lucky.
- [David] I heard Lucky.
- [Angela] I heard two syllables.
- Lucky, okay, okay.
- Is your dog named Lucky?
- I have a dog.
His name is Eddie.
- [Angela] Did you hear stage?
- Stage, I heard stage.
- [Ghostly Voice] I do.
- [Michael] Not having a ton
of luck on clear responses,
Biggie comes up with a good idea.
- I know you're struggling with maybe
having some communication with us,
but on stage right
the theater has what's
called the ghost light.
I'm sure you're familiar with it.
Would you be able to use that energy
to turn that light on for us?
- [David] Pretty please,
with sugar on top?
- [Ghostly Voice] No problem.
- [David] No problem.
- [Ghostly Voice] No problem.
- [David] No problem.
Do it then, my friend.
- [Biggie] Turn it on at anytime.
- [Ghostly Voice] No.
No.
- [Angela] Did you guys hear that?
We all heard the second no.
This was an audible EVP.
- [Ghostly Voice] No.
No.
- [Angela] Did you guys hear that?
- Do you want us to
leave for a little bit?
Are you pooped out?
You tired?
- [Ghostly Voice] Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Okay.
We will do that.
We'll come back.
We'll go take a little rest.
We'll come back.
We'll talk to ya in a little bit.
Okay, how's that sound, okay?
- [Ghostly Voice] Yep.
- [Michael] Yip.
Alright.
Alright, we'll be back in a little bit.
As we head into our last session.
It's about 1:30 in the morning.
We have been filming for seven hours
and we're all very exhausted.
We all head up onstage to soak in
the beauty of this theater,
and we convince Jeff, an
employee of the Grand Opera House
to join us onstage.
- I did hear something, yeah.
- Why is there, oh the
light is on from the stairs.
- [Sonya] Yeah, from the stairs.
That's a big orb.
- [Ghostly Voice] What is that?
- [Sonya] What was that?
- [Michael] Three syllables.
- [Ghostly Voice] What is that?
- [Sonya] What was that?
- [Michael] Three syllables.
- Do you know about my recent news?
- [Ghostly Voice] Excellent.
- They said something.
- [Ghostly Voice] Excellent.
- They said something.
I don't mean to be offensive but
do you know that you're no longer with us?
I mean, you know you're dead?
- [Ghostly Voice] Sorry.
- [Ghostly Voice] Sorry.
- We all begin to feel a cold
draft surrounding all of us.
I know personal experiences
do not translate
to the movie screen,
but this is worth noting
because everyone is experiencing it.
There's that breeze again.
Feel that?
- A little.
- I feel a breeze.
Come over here, Sonya.
Right here.
Go right over there.
You feel that breeze comin',
face that way, do you feel
it comin' from behind you?
- There's a little
somethin' right back here.
- [Sonya] I thought I felt
something come right past me
really fast that was cold.
- [Michael] As I'm walking
away to investigate
where the cold air is coming
from something amazing happens.
(static noise)
Remember earlier?
There's gonna be some other
people coming through here,
and I want you to say a
secret word to them, okay?
They're not gonna know what it means,
but I want you to say it.
The word I want you to say is taco.
Okay, it's a fun game we like to play.
(static noise)
My film crew and I are
deciding if it's time
for someone else to come on the stage.
Well, you guys, what do you wanna do?
I'll switch.
- [Ghostly Voice] No.
- [Sonya] No?
- He said no.
- [Sonya] Who do you wanna talk to?
- Certainly not me, you're
not bein' very responsive.
- [Ghostly Voice] Frank.
(laughs)
- [Sonya] Then you tell me who?
- [Michael Voiceover] I
can't tell if this laugh
is sinister or lighthearted.
The only thing I can think of
is she was laughing at my sarcasm.
What do you think?
- [Sonya] Who do you wanna talk to?
- Certainly not me, you're
not bein' very responsive.
- [Ghostly Voice] Frank.
(laughs)
- [Sonya] Then you tell me --
(laughs)
- [Sonya] Then you tell me who?
Who do you wanna talk to?
- [Michael Voiceover] I leave the stage
and on the stage comes Amy.
- Is there anything you could do
to show us that you're here?
Touching someone's shoulder?
Making a noise?
- [Michael Voiceover] Amy
tried several techniques
but the spirit box has gone quiet.
As Amy goes to hand Biggie the equipment,
something doesn't seem right.
- [Ghostly Voice] Leave.
Leave it.
- [Michael] First response is an EVP.
To me, it sounds like he's yelling.
The second one is through
our spirit box device.
- [Ghostly Voice] Leave.
Leave it.
- [Michael] Getting the
vibe we're not wanted,
Biggie tries a last ditch
effort to try to communicate.
- Say your name was Pete?
Was it Pete or was it Steve?
- [Ghostly Voice] Ed.
- [Biggie] Ed.
Okay, is Ed short for
Edward or is it just Ed?
- [Michael Voiceover] Again,
the spirit box goes dark.
Most of us are thinking it's time to go.
- [Biggie] We're gonna
give this one more shot.
Seems like you're tired,
we're probably tired.
Are you ready for us to
just leave here tonight?
- [Michael Voiceover] The
creaking noise you hear
is me coming onstage.
I'm letting everybody finish talking.
In the back of my mind, I
was ready to call it a night.
(stairs creak)
- [Man] Did you turn out the lights?
- Who's doin' that with the lights?
Did you see that?
- I did.
- It was up there.
- Yeah.
- Who fucking did that?
Anybody do that?
- [Man] No, I'm behind it.
- [Michael] Can you do that again, please?
- [Man] Oh, there was something.
- [Michael] I saw it like, I was wondering
what the hell that was.
- [Man] It was like the northern lights.
There it is.
- [Michael] Thank you.
- [Man] Who's doin' that?
- [Michael] Okay, turn it off, please.
Thank you.
- [Man] Okay, I heard the switch.
I heard the switch on the lights.
- [Man] Up there, no behind you.
- [Angela] Behind me?
- [Michael] There's somebody up there.
As a filmmaker, I have
never had a moment like this
and neither has my film crew.
- [Man] Did you see that?
- I did.
- It was up there.
- Yeah.
- Who fucking did that?
Anybody do that?
- [Man] No, I'm behind it.
- [Michael] Can you do that again, please?
I saw it like, I was wondering
what the hell that was.
- [Man] It was like the northern lights.
There it is.
- [Michael] Thank you.
- [Man] Who's doin' that?
- [Michael] Okay, turn it off, please.
Thank you.
- [Man] Hey, I heard the switch.
- [Michael Voiceover] We
all sat there, stunned.
Not knowing what to do.
It was almost like we were paralyzed.
We were in shock.
- [Man] There's somebody up there.
Who's up there?
- [Man] That was awesome.
- [Michael] Thank you.
Is that your way of saying leave?
- [Man] That was awesome.
I don't know, did you work
the lights at one time here?
- Is everybody on stage right now?
- [Man] No.
- Who?
- [Woman] I'm in the chair right here.
- You're in the chair over there?
But everybody is in here?
- [Woman] Yes.
- There's something up there,
I just saw it.
I realized I needed to immediately
investigate the source
of where this came from.
While my film crew
investigated the lights,
I made my way upstairs,
alone, in the light booth.
This is the most scared I've ever been.
Right now.
We heard you up here.
(inhale)
This creepy breath is from
the audio on my camera.
The microphone only picks up
sounds in front of the camera
therefore it is impossible
for it to have been me.
(inhale)
Do you guys know for a fact,
is that controlled up here?
- [Man] Yes.
- [Michael] Can you move the switch,
I'm filming the board right now?
We'll see it move.
Thank you.
It seems whatever turned the lights on
it's no longer there.
I then headed back
downstairs to talk about this
with my film crew.
(jumble of voices)
- [Michael] So, let me talk to you.
So, what do you think about that?
- Um, it freaked me out a little bit
just because I saw it
but I didn't recognize it
actually until Jeff said,
"Hey, what's goin' on?"
And then it really hit home with me.
And then after it happened,
I actually, I heard the
switch up in the balcony area
shut the light off.
I mean I heard it.
You know.
- [Michael] What was freakier?
The fact that it happened or
that it happened on command?
- Kind of on command, I think
we had thought that things
kind of settled down
and it had gotten quiet
so I'm not sure any of
us were really expecting
something more to happen.
- Came out of nowhere.
- Yeah.
- The thing is when you guys
said that you noticed it,
I didn't catch it the first time,
but the second time around,
I had it pointed directly
at there and I watched this
turn directly on and off,
on command.
I mean, I've never seen
anything like that.
- [Michael] Dave.
What'd you think about what just happened?
- I really don't know how to explain it.
It's obviously nothing
I've ever seen before.
And we're tryin' to debunk it here
and tryin' to figure out what happened.
I don't know.
I really don't know.
It's shocking to say the least.
- [Michael] What do you think, Amy?
I, it's crazy how it
seemed so intentional.
And it just put on a show
for us that was, like,
it wasn't a mistake.
And we were all up here,
so, it had, and that you guys,
you heard noise up there.
- And it was on command.
- Yeah.
And it happened two times.
That's huge.
Major.
- So, I was comin' up the
stairs and if you go back
and listen you'll hear
the creak and I saw that
and I think I said what is that?
And right when I said what is that,
someone else noticed it and
then everyone noticed it,
and then I asked, "Can
you please do that again?"
I don't remember exactly
what I said 'cuz my brain,
my brain is mashed potatoes
right now 'cuz it's very late.
We've been at this a long time,
but it was like the
flashlight experiment earlier
when I counted down and it
went on and then it went off.
Same thing happened here,
except this was even better.
It's hands down the best thing
I've seen with my own eyes
from the paranormal realm of things.
(electrical whirs and clanks)
- [Michael Voiceover] I had
to go back to the Grand.
I showed the staff the footage
and immediately they
brought down the light rig.
They were just as baffled as we were.
The lights that turned on
had to have been turned on
in the control room.
For everyone involved,
it remains a mystery.
And that pretty much sums up
the paranormal in one word,
mysterious.
If you accept, or reject,
what you've just seen,
it all comes down to our belief system.
But our belief system is
attached to our experiences
and no matter what you
believe, my hope for you
is not that you'll
believe, or not believe,
in the paranormal, but
that you open your mind
to all of the possibilities
that surround you.
Though my mind is open,
my team and I all remain
skeptical believers.
Does Wisconsin have the
most ghosts per square mile?
This one question is at
the heart of our quest.
We will continue to investigate
and uncover evidence of
Wisconsin being the most
Haunted State.
(driving music)
(rock music)
(lion roars)