Arrival
PIM was called in to investigate this location mainly due to the sightings of the “Tan Man” in Theater #1. The group focused its investigation on trying to capture the “Tan Man” on video, which we were not successful in doing. PIM also investigated the other claims in the building, and were not successful in capturing evidence of any other activity. However, PIM believes a return visit to the theater would be warranted to attempt other techniques to try and elicit a response before rendering any final conclusions about the location.
The members of PIM would like to thank the owner of Towne Cinema for inviting them in to investigate the location. We look forward to returning in the future.
Investigation
Costume Room – 9:05 pm
The group took a few minutes of silence to observe the normal sounds of the building, then Noah left briefly to make sure his car was locked. On his return, Noah climbed up on the catwalk, John and Chris P. settled in the old dome room, Mary stood in the room with hanging racks, and Chris R. remained just outside the hat room. Chris P. led the group off with some EVP questions, and Noah and Mary joined in.
During the session, Chris P. heard knocking noises several times to his right, near the old dome and catwalk, but Noah felt the regularity of the sound suggested normal building settling noises. Chris R. heard a scraping metal sound a little later, and the whole group heard a sort of “yelping” sound around 9:20 pm. The group also noted hearing cars go by outside, people talking, music playing from the tavern next door, and a train horn blowing in the distance.
After roughly half an hour, the group moved on.
END TIME: 9:36 pm
Furniture Room in the basement – 9:45 pm
The second location of the night was the Furniture Room in the basement under the West Theater. Mary and Noah remained in the Furniture Room itself, while John positioned himself in the hall outside. Chris P. headed toward the room with the dirt floor down the opposite hallway, and Chris R. stayed in the hall about half-way between the Furniture Room and the room with the dirt floor. The group sat in silence for a few moments before beginning an EVP session.
Immediately the sound of dripping water could be heard. Chris R. closed the door to the corridor connecting the two sides of the basement, and the group tagged the loud booming noise for all control recorders. Since sound seems to travel so well throughout the building, it was felt the booming sound might be captured on recorders everywhere.
After about 20 minutes of questioning without noticeable response, the group decided to move on.
END TIME: 10:10 pm
4th Floor Dressing Room Balcony – 10:20 pm
For this session the group decided to visit the 4th Floor Dressing Room Balcony – the landing above the stage. Mary and Chris R. spent time on the balcony itself in order to keep an eye on the ceiling to floor fly lines, which had been seen to move during the public investigation during September. Chris P. stood at the top of the stairs right outside the balcony, and Noah and John were positioned on the 3rd floor landing below.
The group began with the usual few moments of silence. Voices and music from the tavern next door could be heard, as well as cars driving by. At one point during this session, Noah heard what sounded like a metal chair sliding across a wooden floor, and was able to find the sound on his control recorder. None of the other group members heard it, and it was not caught on any other control recorders. During evidence review, Mary noted that her recorder in the organ loft often caught the sounds of wind pushing objects down the street, which produced a similar scraping noise. Although it was not windy during this portion of the investigation, it was decided to disregard the noise because it was not in response to a question and was not documented on video.
After an uneventful EVP session, the group left this area in order to take a short break on the first floor.
END TIME: 10:37 pm
Basement under the Men’s Bathroom – 11:20 pm
The group spread throughout the basement under the downstairs Men’s Bathroom for their next session. The usual preliminary period of silence revealed a loud dehumidifier or exhaust fan, which made it difficult to listen for normal building sounds. The fan cycled off at around 11:40 pm, so the group began an EVP session at that point.
Mary, who was standing on the platform next to the wall where the apparition of a man in a jumpsuit was reported to pass through, thought she heard a voice at around 11:45 pm. Unfortunately nothing unusual was heard on any recorders.
At 11:50 pm the exhaust fan cycled on again, so the group moved on to its next location.
END TIME: 11:50 pm
For the next session, the group wanted to spend some time in the 1st floor Woman’s Bathroom, where the “Lavender Lady” is reported to make her presence known in the form of a strong smell of lavender. Unfortunately, on this occasion, hand soap in the bathroom dispensers was discovered to be lavender scented. The group chose to relocate, since claims could neither be verified nor debunked.
East Theater – 12:05 am
After leaving the Woman’s Bathroom on the first floor, the group headed to the East Theater. Noah and Chris P. sat on the stage, facing the audience seating. Chris R. and John sat in the area between the seats and the stage, facing the stage. Mary sat in one of the audience seats near the back.
The group sat in silence for a time before beginning an EVP session, noting some car noises coming through the east exit, but not much else. The actual EVP session produced little activity, although Noah did notice a white or green light blinking out in the audience at one point. Mary did not see this.
END TIME: 12:20 am
4th Floor Dressing Room Balcony – 12:20 am
The group decided to revisit the balcony landing off the 4th floor dressing room at this point. For this second visit, Noah and John sat on the landing over the stage, Chris R. sat in the dressing room at the top of the stairs, and Mary and Chris P. settled on the stairs.
During the initial period of group silence, it became apparent that the wind had really picked up outside and was causing quite a bit of noise throughout the building. Noah attempted to conduct an EVP session for a short time, but decided that any possible evidence would be invalidated due to unpredictable background noise. After half an hour, the group decided to relocate a final time to what was felt to be the most active location in the building, the Costume Room.
END TIME: 12:45 am
Costume Room – 12:50 am
For this session, Chris R., Chris P., and John arranged themselves in the area next to the old dome ceiling, while Noah and Mary climbed up on the catwalk: Noah on the east side, and Mary on the west. Almost immediately, Noah discovered an opening through the roof, probably caused by animals. Sounds from outside could be heard clearly. Noah communicated this finding to Oliver at the end of the night. At the same time, Mary, walking around the other side of the old dome, could clearly hear people talking and music playing from the tavern next door, cars passing, and wind blowing. Interestingly, on reviewing the footage from the recorder in the organ loft on the other side of the building, Mary could be heard speaking clearly, as though much closer to the organ loft than she was.
The group conducted a brief EVP session and then chose to finish off the investigation with a brief walk through of the west side of the building, including the dressing rooms near the balcony over the stage. Unfortunately, there was no noticeable activity, so the investigation was ended after about fifteen minutes. At this point the group gathered their equipment and called Oliver to return to let them out.
END TIME: 1:30 am
Conclusion
PIM was very excited to be able to investigate the historic Rhode Opera House. The location had quite a reputation for being haunted, so PIM was really excited to investigate. PIM was lucky enough to conduct a public investigation there in mid-September which allowed them to hear the stories and scout the location which made setup much easier for this investigation.
PIM found while conducting their investigation that sound traveled really well throughout the building making noises from very far away, including from parts of the building that you wouldn’t think possible to hear, audible from many different locations. PIM also discovered some holes in the building leading to the outside which allowed outside noises more easy access to the interior of the building. PIM feels that any noise related activity should be carefully considered due to what was discovered and as such PIM has thrown out some possible audio evidence to be on the safe side. Unfortunately, this has left nothing for tangible evidence from this investigation as the video recordings didn’t yield any evidence either.
However, PIM feels that further studies are warranted due to the rich history of the building and the multitudes of reports of activity from staff, patrons, and other investigative teams. PIM looks forward to continuing the study of the building.
PIM was honored to investigate the beautiful, historic Rhode Opera House for a second time. We would love to return again in the future and are always available for any needs.
