Arrival
Noah, Jann, and John arrived at the Old Baraboo Inn at around 5:15 pm. They went into the bar and located the owner. We introduced ourselves and talked with the owner for a while about some of the goings on at the bar. We then took care of some paper work and then the owner’s fiance took us up to the apartment where we would be staying the night. After she had shown us around the apartment, she left and the group unloaded their equipment and took it up to the apartment.
John and Noah began setting up their cameras while Jann took baseline photos of the apartment. Jann then took outside environmental readings while Noah and John placed their cameras and other equipment in the apartment. Once the equipment was placed, Noah helped Jann take EMF and temperature baseline readings while John did his sensitive impressions. John finished upstairs before Noah and Jann were done so he headed downstairs to the bar to continue his impressions while they finished up in the apartment.
Jann also placed some trigger objects throughout the apartment before she left. There were two teddy bears and a ball with a motion activated LED light inside that was placed on the bed in the North Bedroom as well as a keyboard that played music that was placed in the South Bedroom and a toy train that was left on the Kitchen table. Jann also placed some jewelry on the table in the North Bedroom.
Noah and Jann then headed to the bar to continue taking baseline EMF and temperature readings while John finished up his impressions. The group then spoke with the owner about going into the Basement so they could finish their baseline readings and determine where to place cameras. Before they went down, they ordered dinner so that it would be ready to eat by the time they were done.
The owner was busy when the group was ready to head to the Basement, so he had Tom from Sauk County Paranormal show the group around the Basement. Once the baseline readings had been completed, and we had decided where to place our cameras, the group came upstairs. Noah and Jann ran back up to the apartment to put some equipment away while they ate and met John back down at the bar.
Missy arrived at the Old Baraboo Inn at around 7:45 pm. The group’s food had just arrived so she sat and talked about what had occurred so far while the group quickly ate their dinner. The owner had Missy fill out some paperwork while Noah went and talked with Sauk County Paranormal for a short time as they were leaving for the night. Once the paperwork was complete, the group went back upstairs to the apartment to get the equipment that would be going into the Basement and to set illumination on their cameras in the apartment as it was now getting dark.
While upstairs, Noah reported a spider web type feeling when he entered the North Bedroom to check on some equipment set up there. Noah checked the EMF levels and didn’t see any variations from what was recorded during baselines earlier. The group finished up upstairs at around 9:20 pm and headed back to the bar to set their equipment in the Basement.
John and Noah set up cameras in the Basement while Jann and Missy set out trigger objects of whiskey, a necklace and perfume. John’s camera was facing the Basement Stairs while Noah’s camera was on the other side of the freezer from the stairs pointing toward the cistern. The owner then went back upstairs with Jann and Missy and turned off the lights in the Basement so that John and Noah could check the illumination for their cameras. John and Noah then headed upstairs at about 9:55 pm.
The group spent a couple of minutes in the bar and then decided to head back to the apartment at 10:00 pm.
The group decided to take a quick break once they got up to the apartment and talk about the game plan of the investigation. The group decided to start the investigation at 10:30 pm.
Claims of Activity
- Kitchen cabinets being heard opening and closing by themselves
- Shadows seen moving down the hallway from the kitchen in the apartment
- Whiskey bottles being thrown in the bar
- A woman heard asking for help in the basement
- Hearing the sound of laughter and running in the Women’s Bathroom
Investigation
2nd Floor Apartment – 10:30 pm
Noah – Kitchen, Missy – Living Room, John – North Bedroom, and Jann – South Bedroom
The group observed five minutes of control silence to get used to the normal building noises. After the control silence and EVP session was started. During the session several taps were noted and once the geophone on the kitchen table went off but none of it seemed to correlate to any questions and was not repeatable. No other events occurred during this session and it was concluded shortly thereafter.
END TIME: 11:00 pm
The group then met in the North Bedroom to discuss the next part of the investigation before heading back to the first floor at 11:11 pm.
When the group entered the Bar, the Back Bar was empty so they headed there since some activity had been reported to occur in this area. Noah asked Jann and Missy to head to the Women’s Bathroom to conduct a mini-investigation while Noah and John stayed in the Back Bar area.
Main Bar – 11:15 pm
Back Bar – Noah and John; Women’s Bathroom – Missy and Jann
Missy and Jann conducted an EVP session in the Woman’s Bathroom. No audible responses were noted during the session and Noah came to get them after 20 minutes of investigating to go down to the Basement to check the cameras.
While Missy and Jann were in the Woman’s Bathroom, Noah and John spoke with one of the locals about some of the activity he had experienced while helping out at the bar. The owner also thought they should check their cameras in the Basement as there had been problems in the past with cameras being shut off or otherwise tampered with while in the Basement. Noah went down to the Basement with Jann and Missy while John finished up talking with the local man.
END TIME: 11:35 pm
Basement – 11:37 pm
Noah headed over to check to see if John’s camera was still running and when he did this he noticed that the door to the video ports on John’s camera was open, which was a reported phenomenon. He quickly went to check his camera and the door covering the video ports on his camera was also open. Noah later figured that the door on his camera may have come open during transport of the camera. John arrived in the Basement a short time later and Noah asked about the door on his camera but John could not think of an explanation for why the door on his camera was open.
The group decided to spread out and do a quick EVP session. Jann was in the far back room with John sitting on a chair in the room with the windows in it and Missy was sitting next to the freezer motor and Noah was standing in front of the freezer door. After only a short time the freezer motor kicked in, which made doing an EVP session very difficult. Initially Noah wanted to wait to see if it would kick off after a short time but after 5 minutes it was still going so it was decided to head back upstairs.
END TIME: 11:57 pm12:00 am
Back Bar – 12:00 am
The owner had stated that he would close the Bar soon so the group spread out in the Back Bar and waited for the last few patrons to leave. While waiting, the group decided to try an EVP session since they had been told that many EVP’s had been captured in that area. The Back Bar used to be a liquor store and the entrance to the store is no walled up. Noah and Missy were monitoring the EMF levels in the area and noted that they fluctuated from about 2.6 mG to almost 4 mG for no apparent reason.
The owner came back a few times to recount stories of other investigations when EMF fields had seemed to move with bar stools etc. No activity was noted during this session and after a short time the final patrons left the Bar. Noah had asked if the owner would take part in a last EVP session in the Basement before he left and the owner had agreed so the group and the owner headed into the Basement.
END TIME: 12:25 am
On the way to the Basement Stairs, Missy stated she felt a cobweb feeling on her hand about three feet off the ground. Jann stated she could also feel the same sensation when she put her hand in the space that Missy indicated. No cause for this sensation was found and the group headed into the Basement.
Basement – 12:28 am
Noah checked all the cameras to ensure they were still running and then the owner stated that Noah should retrieve the voice recorder he had put in the back basement storage room. The owner went with Noah to retrieve the recorder. Once in the room, the owner and Noah began an EVP session to see if anything would respond. No events occurred and the owner suggested we move back toward the front portion of the Basement.
John was seated in the room with the windows while Jann, Missy, and the owner were near the freezer motor and Noah moved down to where the cistern was located. Another EVP session was conducted and shortly after it was started a loud crash was heard coming from the 1st floor. It sort of sounded like ice falling and there was an ice machine located on the 1st Floor but the owner stated that it was not in the correct location in relation to where the sound came from. No other events occurred during this session and the owner needed to leave soon so he headed for the stairs while the group stayed behind and broke down the equipment and gathered the trigger objects.
As the owner headed toward the stairs he stated that he saw a shadow move from right to left behind the stairs. John’s camera was pointed right at that spot but unfortunately the view was blocked by the owner. The owner then went upstairs and continued cleaning up for the night while the group gathered up their equipment and headed back upstairs.
END TIME: 12:53 am
The group carried the equipment back up to the Apartment and then Noah and Missy headed back to the Bar to give the owner the key to unlock the door to the Apartment and discuss when the group would be leaving in the morning.
Once Noah and Missy had bid the owner goodnight, they headed back to the Apartment. When they arrived at the bottom door, they noted that it was open. Missy had been the last one out and insists that she closed the door securely. When Noah and Missy arrived back in the Apartment they asked if John or Jann had gone down to the parking lot while they were out. Both John and Jann had not left the Apartment and had not heard anything after Noah and Missy left either.
Noah and John put away the equipment that was in the Basement and then the group took another quick break until around 1:30 am.
Apartment – 1:30 am
The group spread out in the Kitchen, Dining Room, and Living Room of the Apartment and conducted an EVP session. During the session, the group thought they heard a sliding noise coming from the direction of the Bathroom. Later, it was decided the noise probably came from melting ice that were in cups near the sink in the Kitchen.
Noah attempted a session using the iOvilus application on his iPod to see if any intelligent responses could be captured. Unfortunately nothing happened during this session.
END TIME: 2:30 am
At this point the group was becoming a little tired, so Noah suggested that they let the Apartment sit empty for a time while the group went outside for some fresh air. Noah brought his thermal imaging camera to test the focal length while being outside. Jann took some pictures of the outside of the building as well. The group headed back into the Apartment at around 3:00 am.
Apartment – 3:04 am
The group spread out in the Dining Room and Living Room and had casual conversation to see if by ignoring the spirits maybe they would do something to get our attention. Besides a few pops that were attributed to the building contracting as the temperature dropped, no events of note occurred during this session and Missy stated that she needed to get going.
END TIME: 4:45 am
Missy left to drive home and Noah and the rest of the team decided that instead of going to bed they would back up the remainder of their equipment and get an early start home as well.
The team packed up their equipment and loaded it into the van. Noah then called the owner to let him know they would be leaving earlier than planned. Since the owner did not answer, Noah left a message and the group got on the road back to Milwaukee at a little after 6:00 am.
Conclusion
No evidence was captured during the investigation.
PIM had a wonderful time investigating the Old Baraboo Inn. Although no one had a personal experience, there were some strange things that happened during the investigation. The door to the video ports on John’s camera coming open by itself was a strange occurrence and something that had been reported previously. Other than that not much else occurred that was noticed. However, PIM does not like to draw conclusions based on one investigation. The building has a rich history and many reports of activity so PIM hopes that it will be invited back to investigate again sometime soon.
PIM would like to thank the owner of the Old Baraboo Inn for letting them investigate this historic building and hopes that PIM will be invited back soon.