Haunted State: Theatre of Shadows (2017) - full transcript

- 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.

- How many people
are here with us right now?

Can you give us a number, please?

- 13.

- 13?



The intelligent communication made.

- Michael.

Caitlin.

Flashlights turning on,

all by themself.

Connections to history.

- Paul

Gebert

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

This is footage of an
alleged shadow figure

that showed up in the doorway,

said my name, and disappeared.

- 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.

- On October 21st, 1871,
numerous experiments

resulted in the production
of a small unit map.

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.

- Which led
to the 2002 invention

by Frank Sumption, which is
popularly known as Frank's Box.

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.

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

- Michael.

I'm just like.

- I swear I just heard it say

Michael on there already.

- Wait, say what?

- It said your name, just now.

- 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,

- Michael.

I'm just like.

- 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.

- I'm sitting on a bench right now,

if you wanted to come and
sit next to me, you could.

- I get a gut
feeling and I follow it.

I head back to the jail area.

Are you trying to scare me?

- Michael.

Are you trying to scare me?

- Michael.

Why don't you talk to Todd?

Why don't you talk to Angela?

Why are you talking to me?

- Come at me.

Come at me.

- What color is my shirt?

I wanna establish communications with you.

- Black.

- Black.

Did you hear that?

- I did.

- Black.

- Black.

Did you hear that?

- 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?

- Gloria.

- Gloria?

- Gloria.

- I know.

- Yeah.

My name's Michael, this
is Todd, that's Angela.

Nice to meet you.

- Thank you.

- Michael.

- There's definitely people
up here but it's not.

- Michael.

There's definitely people up here.

On the left side of the screen
there appears to be an orb.

- Psst.

- That was kind of freaky.

It reminded me of something going psst.

- 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.

- Three.

- Three.

- There's a group of
people following us around.

I'm pretty convinced.

- Three.

- Three.

- Well, there's three of us.

Are there three of you?

- Four.

- Four, four?

- At the same
time I get a response,

this orb flies by.

- Four.

- 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.

- Climb over.

Just weird.

This is a class A EVP.

Let's hear this with enhanced audio.

- 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?

- 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?

- 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.

- Michael.

- What?

- I could hear it again.

- You keep sayin' my name.

Okay, I want somebody who
wants me here to come --

- Owner.

- Owner.

- I want somebody who
wants me here to come --

- Owner.

- Owner.

- You're the owner.

Are you Captain Frederick?

Captain Frederick Pabst, is that you?

- Captain.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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?

- It would actually be from --

- 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 --

- You're doing that, okay.

Okay, that's you.

- But they weren't on,

and then they just
randomly popped on for us.

- 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

happen with the lights.

Who was that?

- Hello?

- Hello?

- Hello?

- That was a door.

- It was a door.

- A big heavy door.

- It was a door opening.

It was like somebody tried to come in.

- Who's here?

- Like a big heavy door shut.

- 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.

- Holy crap.

- It was this door.

- The door closed.

- They closed the door on us.

- Oh, wow.

- 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.

That's what we heard.

Were you pointing it towards here, Angela?

- Yeah.

- Angela has a thermal camera

that sees heat signatures.

Did you see anything?

- 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.

- Did they use to
show X-rated films here?

- 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.

- Did they use to
show X-rated films here?

Did bad things ever happen here?

- Went on.

- Light's on.

- Can you turn it off, please?

You nailed it, Anne.

X-rated.

- 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?

- Of course.

Of course.

- Do the lights hurt you?

Are they too bright?

Hold on.

Do the lights hurt you?

Are they too bright?

Hold on.

What did they say?

- I'm tryin' to figure it out.

- 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.

- Trouble.

- Trouble?

Who's trouble?

- Anne.

Trouble.

- Trouble?

Who's trouble?

- Anne.

- Should we turn the lights off?

Do you like the lights?

Or do not --
- No.

- like the lights.

- No, that was a clear no.

- What, what was my question?

- Do you like the lights?

Should we turn the lights
off was what you asked.

- Oh, okay.

After hearing a few voices,

Anne and I depart from the balcony.

- Goodbye.

- What was that?

- Goodbye.

- What was that?

Did you hear that voice?

- Yeah, I did.

- 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?

- There's not.

- There's not.

- There's not, so do you work here?

- No.

- No?

Did you build the place?

You hear a footstep?

- Dave hears a noise
and looks over at Biggie.

Which makes this response
very interesting.

- I moved.

I moved.

- Anne, go for the
question you wanna ask.

- So, we know that
there were X-rated films

viewed here by many people.

Is it time to bring those back?

- C'mon, don't be shy now.

- Porn.

- Porn.

- I heard porn.

- I heard porn.

- Porn.

- Porn.

- I heard porn.

- I heard porn.

- After a few more questions,

it seems the spirits are
only replying to the women.

This gives Dave an idea.

- You get somethin'?

- I got someone.

- Oh, Angela.

- Here comes your brunette.

- We're just offering --

- Yeah, we're offering up, yeah.

- How much?

- Yeah, we're offering up, yeah.

- How much?

- Tell us, would she look
better in heels right now?

Maybe a feather boa?

- A queen?

What?

- A queen?

Is that supposed to be
lighting up like that?

- Not like that.

- So, we know you're close.

Should we go lay in bed together?

We could just read to each other.

- We could just "snuggle."

- Spoon.

You can be the big spoon.

- We don't know where to meet you though.

- Over.

- Over.

- Over where?

- I'm in love.

I'm in love.

- 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?

- 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.

- Oh, they aren't.

- That's the way, I don't know, Amy,

what do you think?

'Cuz you're more of a --

- 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.

- 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?

You know, Anne laughed.

- Did you hear that?

Did you guys hear that?

You know, Anne laughed.

- Did you hear that?

Did you guys hear that?

- What?
- I did,

but he was doing something onstage.

- What did you hear?

- In the back.

- Tell me what you heard.

- It was back there.

- A noise, a pound?
- It was a pound.

- 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?

- 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.

- 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?

- 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.

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.

My name's Michael, this is Chelsy,

we're gonna leave now, okay?

Let's just --

- Can I leave this on?

- Yeah.
- Don't go.

- Don't go?

- Did you say, "Don't go?"

- Can I leave this on?

- Yeah.
- Don't go.

- Don't go?

- Did you say, "Don't go?"

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.

- Leave.

- Leave.
- Leave.

- Leave.

You got it, we're gone.

Thank you so much for your time.

Wanna get that door open?

- Yep.

- Sorry for bothering you.

We're gonna leave.

- Leave.

- Okay.

- Have a nice night, thank you.

Well, at least we got something.

Are you good>
- Yeah.

- I got it, go ahead.

Just felt something behind me.

And that was not a good feeling.

- Come back.

Leave now.

Hang on.

- Chelsy, did
you just make a noise.

- No.

- 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."

- Come back.

Leave now.

Hang on.

- Chelsy, did
you just make a noise.

- No.

- 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.

- Can I leave this on?

- Yeah.
- Don't go.

- Don't go?

- 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.

- Come back.

Leave now.

Hang on.

- 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.

- Michael, footsteps.

- Is there someone out there?

I heard footsteps, above me.

- Yeah.

- They said yeah?

- There's something.

- 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.

- Michael, footsteps.

- Is there someone out there?

I heard footsteps

above me.
- Yeah.

- They said yeah?

- There was something.

- Todd?

- Courtney.

- You're Courtney?

- Oh.

- Courtney.

- You're Courtney?

- Oh.

- Hi, Courtney.

- I can feel it.
- Hello.

It could just be basement cold.

- Water.

- 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.

- Water.

- Water.

Are you in here?

- Hello?

- That was really loud.

- Cool, that's scary in there.

I'm afraid to go in there.

- I heard footsteps

and they were very loud.

- Open it.

- Open it.

Hello, sir.

- Hey.

Hi, there.

- Hi, I didn't, I'm Chelsy.

This is Anne next to me.

- 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?

- Eight.

- How many?

Tell me how many people are in here

with us right now, please.

- Eight.

Eight people.

- How many men are in here with us?

- Eight.

- I hear eight.

- I heard eight before, too.

- Eight.

What's up?

- What's up?

- I thought I
heard that, too, yeah.

- Feeling a lot
of energy and excitement.

We decide to further explore the basement.

- Hang on.

- Hang on.

- In here?

Can someone tell me their name?

- 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.

- Oh, my God.

- Oh, my God.

- Why are you here?

- You people.

- It's the same voice.

Are you trapped in this building?

- Nope.

- No.
- Are you

trapped in this world?

- 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?

- Trying.

- Trying,.

- 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.

- 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.

- Respect.

- Did it say respect?

- Yeah, I heard respect.

- Do you hear
a spirit saying respect?

We mean you nothing but respect.

- Respect.

- Did it say respect?

- 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?

- 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.

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,

- Six.

- Six.
- Six.

- seven, get ready, eight.

Can you turn it on, please?

- Not working.

- Four, five --

- Six.

- Six.
- Six.

- Seven, get ready, eight.

Can you turn it on, please?

- Not working.

- What's your name?

- What's?

- Frank.

- Frank.

Did ya hear it?

- I heard Frank.

- Frank.

- Frank.

Did ya hear it?

- I heard Frank.

- Frank, what's up, man?

- Hi, Frank.

- Wanna have a PBR with us?

You know, I'm a big fan
of Captain Frederick.

So is my son.

- Michael.

- Michael.

- Anne and I decide
to go sit in the theater seats

and get off the stage.

Watch out for that stuff.

- Yeah, I'll go down this way.

- Don't move.

- Did he say don't move?

- Don't move.

- 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.

- I just wanna see if
I could find your flashlight

with the night vision.

- Is it in the middle there, no?

- I took it.

- You took it?

- You took it.

- Is it in the middle there, no?

- I took it.

- 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?

- Was it --

- When we were onstage it was.

- Let's sit, let's just sit over here.

- '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.

- Where's Frank?

Frank, are you still here?

- He is not.

- He is not.

He is not.

Where'd he go?

- 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.

- We wanna get to know you.

You're special to us.

- 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.

- 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?

Oh.

Oh, my God, it just fell
off and it turned on.

- 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?

Oh.

- 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.

Or cats?

- 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 --

- 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.

- 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.

So, you have dogs?

Or you had cats?

- Angela.

- Angela.

- This is the name

of Haunted State producer,

and current camera person, Angela.

I'm comin' back in.

- We lost a flashlight.

It fell on the ground.

- Fell on the ground and turned on.

- 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.

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.

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.

- That was cool.

- 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.

- I can't.

- It's flickering, we can see it.

- It's off.
- Thank you.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- Oh, my goodness.

- Ghost fucked.

- Are you trying to scare
us or be friends with us?

- We feel your good energy.

- Oh, back on.

- Thank you, again.

- Can you turn it off?

- 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.

- Yes.

- I'm gonna clap.

Thank you.

We're gonna have to

I know I'm a weirdo.

- Oh, yep, he agrees.

- Is Michael a weirdo?

- I'm a weirdo.

So can you tell us your name, please?

- Michael.

- Michael.

- Got a name, go ahead, 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.

- 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.

- Anne.

- Anne.

- When I count to five can
you please turn it off?

Okay, don't start trying
until I get to five, ready?

One,

- Angela.

Two, three,

- Anne.

Four.

One, --

- Angela.

- Two, three

- Anne.

Four, five, go ahead and
start turning it off.

- Daniel.

- Daniel?

- Daniel.

- 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.

- After the flashlight goes off,

Angela gets a better
angle of the flashlight.

Can you do that again, please?

- Thank you.

- That is awesome.

On command.

Can you turn the flashlight
off, one more time, please?

- Got it.

- That is amazing.

- Thank you.

- 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.

- Do we have Frank?

Did Frank ever come back?

- I did.

- Oh, I did?

- I'm here.

- Who are you?

- I'm here, he said I'm here.

- Frank, Frank, are you here?

- I did?

- I'm here.

- Who are you?

- I'm here, he said I'm here.

- Frank, Frank, are you here?

- Yes, here.

- Frank, are you here?

- Yes, here

- How many women
do we have in the room

with us right now?

- Three.

- Three.

- How many women
do we have in the room

with us right now?

- Three.

- Three.

- Us?

- There are three women.

It's Anne, and Angela and Sara are here.

- This is an
interesting response

because in the room
with us was PR Director

for the Pabst theater group, Sara Peronto.

- Have dogs ever
been let up in this area?

- Anne.

- I think that was your name.

- You said my name?

- Anne, you got it.

- Frank, do you
have a crush on Anne?

- Yeah.

- Yes.

- 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.

- 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.

- Okay, just when it's off, right?

- Yeah, you just wanna have it

just twisted so it's
just gets to the point

where it's almost off.

Like that.

- I heard a noise behind me.

- Yep.
- I heard it, too.

- Did you knock?

- 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.

- Want me to turn a light on?

- Nope, I can see just fine.

- Just wanna make sure.

- Did you hear that?

- Yeah.

- Back there, did you hear it?

Squeak.

- Maybe my chair.

- There's someone
in here with us right now.

I can feel it.

- 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.

- That was me

Did you hear that?

- I did.

- 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.

- 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.

- Well, just
turn it on one more time

and then we can go.

- Okay.

Sounds like it's time for us to go.

- 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?

- Pabst.

- I heard Pabst.

- And I wanna
ask one last question.

Whatta you have?

- Pabst.

- I heard Pabst.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Us, too.

Thank you so much.

- 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.

- Testing.

Hello.

- 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.

- 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?

- Go back.

- What was that?

- 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.

- Hello.

- 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?

- Thank you.

- 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?

- No, no, it's in control.

That person's in control, we
have no control over it, so.

- 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.

- Thank you so much.

- 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.

- I've done it.

- I heard something on playback.

- You've got a couple of voices.

- It's hard to decipher what's bein' said.

- 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.

- Having difficulty figuring out

what's trying to be said,

we call in audio expert David Williams.

- Are you still here?

- No.

- No.
- No.

- I'm not here, no.

That's actually kinda funny
guys, think about that.

Are you still here, no?

- He's joking with us.

- Then where are you.

Are you a funny man?

Tell us about your dog.

Dog.

- I thought he said Lucky.

- I heard Lucky.

- I heard two syllables.

- Lucky, okay, okay.

- Is your dog named Lucky?

- I have a dog.

His name is Eddie.

- Did you hear stage?

- Stage, I heard stage.

- I do.

- 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?

- Pretty please,
with sugar on top?

- No problem.

- No problem.

- No problem.

- No problem.

Do it then, my friend.

- Turn it on at anytime.

- No.

No.

- Did you guys hear that?

We all heard the second no.

This was an audible EVP.

- No.

No.

- Did you guys hear that?

- Do you want us to
leave for a little bit?

Are you pooped out?

You tired?

- 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?

- Yep.

- 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.

- Yeah, from the stairs.

That's a big orb.

- What is that?

- What was that?

- Three syllables.

- What is that?

- What was that?

- Three syllables.

- Do you know about my recent news?

- Excellent.

- They said something.

- 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?

- Sorry.

- 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.

- I thought I felt
something come right past me

really fast that was cold.

- As I'm walking
away to investigate

where the cold air is coming
from something amazing happens.

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.

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.

- No.

- No?

- He said no.

- Who do you wanna talk to?

- Certainly not me, you're
not bein' very responsive.

- Frank.

- Then you tell me who?

- 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?

- Who do you wanna talk to?

- Certainly not me, you're
not bein' very responsive.

- Frank.

- Then you tell me --

- Then you tell me who?

Who do you wanna talk to?

- 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?

- Amy
tried several techniques

but the spirit box has gone quiet.

As Amy goes to hand Biggie the equipment,

something doesn't seem right.

- Leave.

Leave it.

- First response is an EVP.

To me, it sounds like he's yelling.

The second one is through
our spirit box device.

- Leave.

Leave it.

- 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?

- Ed.

- Ed.

Okay, is Ed short for
Edward or is it just Ed?

- Again,
the spirit box goes dark.

Most of us are thinking it's time to go.

- 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?

- 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.

- 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?

- No, I'm behind it.

- Can you do that again, please?

- Oh, there was something.

- I saw it like, I was wondering

what the hell that was.

- It was like the northern lights.

There it is.

- Thank you.

- Who's doin' that?

- Okay, turn it off, please.

Thank you.

- Okay, I heard the switch.

I heard the switch on the lights.

- Up there, no behind you.

- Behind me?

- There's somebody up there.

As a filmmaker, I have
never had a moment like this

and neither has my film crew.

- Did you see that?

- I did.
- It was up there.

- Yeah.
- Who fucking did that?

Anybody do that?

- No, I'm behind it.

- Can you do that again, please?

I saw it like, I was wondering
what the hell that was.

- It was like the northern lights.

There it is.

- Thank you.

- Who's doin' that?

- Okay, turn it off, please.

Thank you.

- Hey, I heard the switch.

- We
all sat there, stunned.

Not knowing what to do.

It was almost like we were paralyzed.

We were in shock.

- There's somebody up there.

Who's up there?

- That was awesome.

- Thank you.

Is that your way of saying leave?

- That was awesome.

I don't know, did you work
the lights at one time here?

- Is everybody on stage right now?

- No.

- Who?

- I'm in the chair right here.

- You're in the chair over there?

But everybody is in here?

- 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.

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.

Do you guys know for a fact,
is that controlled up here?

- Yes.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.