Trick, treat or truth? For the students of Clarion, the truth came out in stories about some haunted university buildings. Dr. Todd Pfannestiel, along with the Clarion University History Club and Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, hosted the sixth annual Clarion University Ghost Experience 2009, Oct. 21 through 23.
“After Autumn Leaf and Homecoming, it’s usually a pretty quiet time on campus. So, we wanted to find something sort of late October, and some of the students said, ‘Well, Halloween …’ I said, ‘Find the ghost stories.’ So they found a few, and I found a few,” Pfannestiel said.
This year, the program featured the Rouge Paranormal investigation team, based in Western New York. “We were doing a house not too far from here. We passed by and looked at this building [Hart Chapel] and thought it would be really nice to come here and do this place. We heard some stories about the place,” said Dave Getway, paranormal investigator.
Pfannestiel said members of Rouge Paranormal’s investigative team spent anywhere from four to eight hours on different nights to observe and record information in campus buildings. The team used night-vision video cameras, temperature readers and Electronic Voice Phenomenon recorders to search for paranormal activity in structures, including Hart Chapel and Becht Hall, where activity is said to be present.
“Hart Chapel is one of the more haunted buildings on campus,” Pfannestiel said.Pictures, voice recordings and video were presented to students, who were free to interpret the cause or causes of the unusual occurrences. The evidence revealed by the investigation team at the program sent chills through some students.
“The pictures didn’t bother me too much, but the voices that they caught on tape and played while we were sitting in the dark freaked me out,” sophomore Nichole Kubaska said. In addition to Hart Chapel and Becht Hall, other buildings on campus are sites of reported hauntings. Victims of tragedies that took place on Clarion campus are said to haunt Wilkinson Hall, Givan, Ralston and Founders.
“Any building in which students, faculty or staff are able to report an activity they can’t explain, we’d be more than happy to come in and investigate, whether it’s the professional paranormal investigators or the new student organization which we are still forming,” Pfannestiel said.
Although there is no formal approval yet, Pfannestiel said an organization of at least 185 members hope to form the “Eagle Student Paranormal” investigation team. The organization must first be approved by Student Senate and the president of the university. If it is approved, the team will conduct paranormal investigations on campus and around the Clarion community.
Information about evidence gathered by Rouge Paranormal is available at www.rougeparanormal.com. For further information about joining ESP, contact Pfannestiel at tpfannestiel@clarion.edu or Dr. Andrew Keth at aketh@clarion.edu.
