Arrival
The group arrived at the location at 8:30 pm to take a quick tour of the location before setting up their equipment for the night’s public investigation. The group was told ahead of time that about 60 people signed up for the event.
After meeting with Oliver, who works at the theater, the group went around with him trying to see where all of the paranormal claims were reported. Once the group went through the entire building, at around 9:30 pm they started setting up their equipment for the investigation.
Quickly trying to get everything set up, the group was then ready around 10:30 pm to meet with those who signed up for the event. Deciding to break the large group into two smaller groups (about 30 each), they then had about 10-11 individuals go with each investigator leader, which included Noah, Karen and Gravy – Mary and Stephanie were paired with one of the leaders for the investigation.
Each team leader would take their groups to different areas to begin the night’s investigation.
Investigation
Costume Room – 10:51 pm
The group took a few minutes of silence to observe the normal sounds of the building – Stephanie was with Noah during this part of the investigation. Noah heard a few knocks coming from the Costume Room with the catwalk but it was determined to be building noises. They then started an electronic voice phenomena (EVP) session in the hopes to contact any spirits in the space that wanted to speak with them.
The investigators were spread out throughout the entire floor. No events occurred during the EVP session.
As the group was leaving the floor, one of the investigators who was in the Hat Room stated they detected a cold sensation on the left side of their face. Since this was not brought up when it occurred the experience was not investigated further.
END TIME: 11:05 pm
The group then moved to its second location of the night. Stephanie then went to Gravy’s group for this part of the investigation.
Basement under Stage – 11:16 pm
The group took a few minutes of silence to observe the normal sounds of the building. They then started an EVP session.
The investigators again spread out throughout the basement with some people in the Furniture Room and others in the Dirt Floor Room. After several minutes of EVP, it was determined that one of the other groups in the Men’s Room Basement could be heard. The noise was coming from the Tunnel that connected the two basements.
After ten minutes, the individuals in the Furniture Room switched with the people in the Dirt Floor Room. The EVP session continued, but no events happened.
Oliver, the manager of Rhode, came down to talk with Noah and it was decided to end the investigation with this group to allow the other people waiting to begin their investigation.
END TIME: 11:34 pm
East Theater – 10:46 pm
After spreading out throughout the theater, the group took about four minutes of silence to observe the normal sounds of the building – Mary was with Karen during this part of the night. It was noted they could hear the other group in the basement as well traffic noises from outside. Karen placed her K2 meter in the center part of the aisle on one of the chairs arms so most group members could see.
Once the group started their EVP session, they started asking questions toward any spirit who they felt would answer. At 11:02 pm Mary and several other members of the group thought they saw a light flashing on stage and near the stage lights. Unfortunately the camera was not facing the stage at the time, and the lights were not captured. These are to be considered personal experiences.
After asking questions for a few more minutes, the group then took some time to carry on casual conversation as PIM believes spirits may try to communicate more when people are ignoring them.
Gravy’s team then came into the theater and it was time to switch locations.
END TIME: 11:10 pm
The group then moved to its second location of the night.
Men’s Bathroom Basement Side – 11:15 pm
Mary and one other member of the group stayed in the Men’s Bathroom area while the rest made it down to the Basement level. The group spread out through the space and took a few minutes of silence. It was noticed there was water dripping in the one corner, and voices could also be heard down the Tunnel that connected the room to the other side of the basement.
Once the group started the EVP session, Karen once again brought out the K2 meter and placed it in the middle of all of the group members so they could see it in case there were any electromagnetic field (EMF) changes. At one point, one of the members reported hearing a loud humming. Karen brought out her Safe Technologies EMF detector to see if there were any areas with a large amount of EMF. She found an electrical box on the side they were standing which was emitting 120.0 (a normal reading is 1.0 or less). EMF detection of 1.0 or higher can make a person have symptoms of nausea, dizziness, paranoia and the feeling of being watched. Some people are more sensitive to higher levels of EMF than others.
After the group conducted the EVP session for several minutes, they all heard a loud bang come from the Tunnel. Karen and another member of the group headed down it to see if they could find the source. Once Karen opened the door to the other side, she saw it was Noah and his group. They were heading upstairs and he told her to have her group meet back upstairs as well.
END TIME: 11:40 pm
Men’s Bathroom Basement Side – 10:42pm
The group spread out through the Basement. A few people moved down through the Tunnel while the rest remained in the utility area. Once settled and situated, the group took a few minutes of silence to observe the normal sounds of the building. They then started an EVP session.
During the session, Gravy asked “How old are you?” in which one of the investigators in the tunnel heard a response of “17”. Due to the load noise of an air unit, no evidence of such response was captured on any recording device. Gravy also asked “What year is it?” The investigators in the Tunnel reported hearing a mumbled response. Again no evidence was captured at this time.
Shortly after, Noah radioed Gravy and requested the groups move to their next locations.
END TIME: 11:10 pm
The group then moved to its second location of the night. Stephanie then joined Gravy’s group for this part of the investigation.
East Theater – 11:15 pm
Again, Gravy’s group spread throughout the Theater. After a few minutes of silence to observe the usual sounds of this area, the group began their EVP session.
There were many reported sounds including metal-on-metal which came from the right side of the Theater area. It was determined the sounds were coming from outside. From the middle-left side of the Theater, a female felt a cold breeze and heard footsteps coming down the left aisle. Gravy proceeded to move to the same location to try to experience the same activity to validate the claim but nothing happened.
A female in the group experienced chills down her back. The cause was never determined as the group became distracted by a bang and a light anomaly behind the stage area. It was soon determined an employee of the theater was passing by with a flashlight.
Upon wrapping up the EVP session and leaving the Theater it was observed that Row T Seat 15 was moved forward. All seats were returned to their upright position when PIM initially entered the Theater earlier in the night. It was undetermined at the time if someone in the prior investigative group sat in the seat prior to the EVP session and forgot to return the seat to its original position.
END TIME: 11:45 pm
At this time, all groups met back upstairs in the Great Hall. With the other half of the public group waiting to start investigating, PIM had all of the members of the 1st group of public investigators go into the East Theater until they hashed out details as to how to handle this part of the night.
Noah and Gravy then brought the newer group of public investigators into the West Theater to go over a quick overview of how the night was going to go. Karen, Mary and Stephanie stuck with the group in the East Theater until Noah and Gravy had the newer group in place in the Basement and Costume Room.
4th Floor Dressing Room Side – 12:00 am
After the group arrived to the level, there was a metallic noise that was heard around 12 am. There was a possibility that part of the ceiling plaster on the ground may have been kicked off the side accidently.
Shortly after, one of the group members mentioned that they were hearing organ music that sounded like someone warming up before getting ready to perform. This carried on for several minutes.
While trying to conduct an EVP session, one of the other group members reported feeling “someone” move behind them at around 12:10 am while they were under the catwalk stairs.
Continuing the session, at 12:14 am a loud noise was heard by Karen, Stephanie and another member of the group. It was felt through the concrete under them as they stood in the stairwell area. No other groups were near the area, and they were unaware of what could have caused the noise.
At 12:25 am there was a footstep heard from stage right at one point, and one of the group members thought they heard the word “four”.
It was also noticed at one point that one of the cables from the fly area kept moving back and forth with no explanation, but it is not believed to have been anything paranormal in nature. As the group ended the session on this level a different group member was under the catwalk stairs and reported feeling as if someone grabbed their arm.
The group then headed back downstairs back to the stage to investigate a little while. At 12:30 am footsteps were heard by the catwalk area.
Karen then met up with Noah in the Great Hall to discuss what the next steps were going to be. It would be the end of the night for this group for the investigation.
Karen, Mary and Stephanie thanked all of the group members for coming out and hoped they had a goodnight. They then would all split up in between Noah’s and Gravy’s groups for the remainder of the night.
END TIME: 12:35 am
Costume Room – 12:06 am
The investigators were once again spread out throughout the floor. After two minutes of control silence an EVP session was started. During this session one of the investigators claimed to have the name “Randall” pop into their head. Questions directed to “Randall” didn’t elicit any response and nothing was recorded during this session either.
The two investigators in the Hat Room stated they heard a whistling noise when Noah started the EVP session. This was told to Noah after the fact and as such was not investigated further when it occurred. At 12:23 am Noah rearranged the investigators on the floor.
Investigators in the first room off the top of the stairs were getting hits on the KII meter. Though they timed the hits, they did not seem to have a pattern and exploration with a 3-axis meter did not yield any EMF field. It is concluded that the field being sensed by the KII would have been radio or microwave in nature, and most likely not paranormal. No other events happened.
Another group was waiting to investigate this area, so the EVP session was concluded.
END TIME: 12:45 am
The group then moved to its second location of the night.
East Theater – 12:49 am
Noah had the other investigators spread out throughout the theater and waited until Karen’s group left from behind the stage. Once the group left, two minutes of control silence were observed when it was noticed that street noise could be heard. An EVP session was then started.
Noah took out a plasma ball to see if it might attract the attention of any spirits at the theater. After several minutes of questioning and no response it was decided to end the EVP session and move to the final location of the evening.
END TIME: 12:58 am
The group then moved to its third location of the night.
4th Floor Dressing Room Side – 1:05 am
Three of the team members were spread out on the 3rd floor by the dressing rooms while Karen, who joined the group for this part of the night, sat on the stairs between the groups. Noah and several of the other members in his group were by the catwalk.
At 1:10 am a loud metallic noise was heard from the theater, which PIM later found out was Oliver throwing something in the theater. He didn’t mean to startle anyone.
After conducting to do an EVP session Karen asked Noah at 1:19 am if the group members from the 3rd floor could come up the stairs closer to the rest of the group since each small group was trying to do an EVP session and was talking over each other.
During the session, it was asked if any spirits could make a knocking noise in response to a question that was being asked. At 1:25 am there were some knocks reported by a few of the group members on the stairs. It is not known if this was paranormal in nature.
No other activities occurred.
END TIME: 1:30 am
Basement Under Stage – 12:03 am
The group spread out in the basement. A few people went into the Dirt Room while two people sat in the hallway at both ends and four people moved into the Furniture Storage Room. The group first observed silence for a few minutes before beginning their EVP session.
During the moments of silence group members in the Dirt Room heard a loud bang on one of the pipes in the room. It was undetermined the cause of the noise which occurred once more at 12:08 am. At 12:05 am in the Furniture Room two people experienced a cold spot move pass them. Gravy then moved into the room to see if a draft caused the cold spot. There was no draft and the door leading from the stairwell into the room was closed.
The group then switched places within the basement area to see if the experiences could be replicated for others. At 12:11 am, the cold spot was experienced by four people in the furniture room. Moments later a male reported seeing a small-red light move through the room and disappear. Gravy tried to replicate the event in case it was a reflection of his voice recorder light. However, he was in the doorway of the hallway with his left arm – where the recorder was attached – facing away from the room. The event was not replicated.
END TIME: 12:25 am
Costume Room – 12:30 am
The group separated and situated themselves in the Costume Room. For a few minutes the group observed silence to recognize normal sounds of the room. At 12:35 am what sounded like a footstep was heard on the catwalk. As one of the claims of hearing footsteps and seeing a shadow figure on the catwalk, Gravy furthered the investigation in that area to determine where the sound might have come from. No cause of the sound was found.
The attention of the investigation shifted when a male in the Costume Room claimed to have felt fingers brush along the back of his neck. It was possible his neck was brushed by some of the clothing hanging behind him, but it wasn’t fully determined that it was the real cause.
At 12:46 am an uncertain echoing bang was heard that sounded as if it came from the stage area below. It was later determined that a group was moving into the East Theater and was the cause of such sound. Minutes later at 12:52 am a female felt as if a child grabbed her wrist. No evidence of this was caught.
END TIME: 12:58 am
Men’s Side Basement – 1:10 am
Stephanie and Mary then joined Gravy’s group for the rest of the night’s investigation. Again the group spread out in the Basement, observed silence and conducted an EVP session. Due to the noise of some of the utilities in that area, nothing was heard and no experiences were had. No activity was reported during this time.
The group then proceeded to the main level. A few members left for the night and for the few that stayed moved on to one last location.
END TIME: 1:23 am
Women’s 1st Floor Bathroom – 1:25 am
With little time left for investigating, the remainder of the group moved into the women’s bathroom to further investigate the claims of the “Lavender Lady”. A female member felt uncomfortable standing in the Women’s Bathroom, and said felt as if someone was standing behind her. Gravy switched places with her and did not have the same feeling.
Gravy then started a provoking session. Provoking is a practice sometimes utilized to force a response from possible entities. Unfortunately there were no other reports of activity in the room and the investigation came to an end.
END TIME: 1:30 am
The groups then thanked the 2nd group of public investigators for coming out for the night and escorted them to the doors. The group then quickly went around and grabbed their equipment from all areas of the building and made sure everything was back in place as they had found it.
The group then thanked Oliver for allowing them to investigate with the public. All equipment was then packed into the car and the group officially left the location around 2 am.
Conclusion
PIM was honored to have an opportunity to lead an investigation at the historic Rhode Opera House. Although there were some personal experiences, no evidence was captured during this investigation. However, PIM believes that further investigation is warranted to try and elucidate what is occurring at Rhode Opera House and looks forward to its next investigation there.
PIM would like to thank Rhode Opera House for allowing them to investigate. We look forward to coming back to investigate the building at a later date.
