Paranormal investigator Kenny Harris explaining where cameras and motion detectors were set up throughout the theater at the Earlville Opera House. (Photo by Sarah Genter)

Last Friday, I attended one of the Earlville Opera House Paranormal Tours with my husband Dustin. We chose the 10 p.m. to midnight time slot, and when it finally rolled around I was chomping at the bit to get ghost hunting!

The EOH Executive Director Michelle Connelly had told me all about the alleged hauntings within the building just two weeks prior, and her stories swirled in my mind as we pulled up to the looming structure. The 20 or so people in attendance gathered in a room just outside the theater, and seasoned paranormal investigator Kenny Harris explained the different types of ghost hunting equipment he had brought along that evening.

His arsenal included electromagnetic frequency (EMF) detectors, a spirit box, motion detectors, and more. He also told us where he and his crew had set up cameras and motion detectors in the theater, and explained that in the past they’ve witnessed more spiritual activity when a musical act was performing on the stage.

During our investigation, we would get to hear the musical stylings of Reyna Stagnaro, a local singer-songwriter. And with any luck, it would stir up the spirits of past musicians and illicit messages from them.

We went into the theater and settled into the audience, rife with anticipation. Reyna took the stage and played a couple songs for us, and afterwards Dustin told me he swore it sounded like someone was sitting next to him harmonizing with her!

Throughout Reyna’s performance, a “cat ball,” which is essentially a light-up motion detector resembling a cat toy, that was set up on the back staircase was going crazy. Harris and his team took notice, and began asking questions to see if they were truly interacting with a spirit.

And amazingly, when they asked the spirit to turn on the light, it would turn on! Then, when they asked it to turn it off, the light would go off.

Next, they fired up the spirit box, which rapidly sweeps through radio stations creating white noise. It is believed that spirits can use the energy emitted by the spirit box and the white noise to speak to us. Unfortunately, we didn’t receive any messages for some time.

Something spooky did happen to me, though. At one point early on in the investigation, the cat ball lit up and of course we all turned to look at it. A little to the right of the staircase, I swear I saw a tall, human-shaped figure glide across the floor and disappear. It had no discernible features, and looked almost like a three-dimensional shadow. A ghost? I hope so!

We heard a few more songs from Reyna, and then the group split to investigate the green room, a small alcove off of stage left. The investigators set up the spirit box in there, and we took turns filtering in and out, hoping to catch a word or two.

At this point in the night, I decided to fire up a few tools of my own. I’m not ashamed to admit I have my own small arsenal of ghost hunting equipment on my cell phone!

I started out with my SLS camera, which can detect human-like figures in an area, and displays them as jointed stick figures on the screen. While it did detect the shapes of the fellow living people in the room, I didn’t catch any unexplained figures.

Next, I pulled out what the app calls an EVP recorder, but is actually more akin to an Ovilus. An Ovilus is a device that utilizes a word bank, and supposedly spirits can speak into it, and the word box will detect these words and display them on the screen.

Now, I’m not sure how much I really believe in this one. The way my phone app works, the spirits are supposed to spell out what they’re trying to say, and when enough letters are detected it will display the completed word. Seems like a lot of work for such a short message!

Nevertheless, I got it up and running and kept it going for most of the night. While I didn’t get anything definitive, I will say I received more messages in that hour than I have in the weeks I’ve been using it.

In my opinion, the most convincing message I received through the Ovilus was during a period in which there was no music being played, and the spirit box was in the other room. Investigators and EOH Executive Director Michelle Connelly were simply speaking to the spirits, and welcoming them to communicate with us.

At one point, Connelly asked if there were any ghosts in the room that were connected to a member of the audience. Immediately, my screen displayed the name “Julianne.” So, if there was anyone named Julianne at the Earlville Opera House with us that evening, someone was trying to talk to you!

A few other messages came through that were, maybe, slightly compelling. Towards the end of the night, one of the investigators made a comment about the cat ball being the most effective tool that evening. When they asked if the spirit enjoyed the device, my phone displayed the word “keep.” I guess they really did like it, and wanted to keep it for themselves!

It is also worth mentioning that I had been using this device for several weeks before using it at the EOH, but that night was the first time I have ever seen misspelled words displayed. This could absolutely be an issue with the app, but it made me wonder if perhaps the spirit communicating just wasn’t the best at spelling.

For example, Connelly told us about Daniel, a drummer who performed at the EOH in the 1940s, and who often shows up as a blue orb in videos, hovering above the drummer of whatever band is performing.

She explained that Daniel had told them during a prior investigation that he passed around the time of WWII. It is unclear, however, if his death was actually a result of the war.

But, as she was talking about him, I got the word “solder.” Of course, solder is an actual word, but could it be possible Daniel misspelled it and actually meant “soldier”?

One last interesting message: the words “touched” and “body” were displayed one immediately after the other. It is also pertinent to note that Dustin, normally able to regulate his body temperature like a normal person, was absolutely freezing for most of the night. Sure, it was chilly in there. But I’m usually the one with chattering teeth in 70 degree weather, and I was perfectly comfortable!

Is it possible there was the spirit of a singer sitting next to him through the night, harmonizing with the performer and touching Dustin, making him cold? I’ll let you decide for yourself!

The final impressive piece of evidence from the night was in the green room. Dustin and I finally made our way in and listened to the spirit box for a while, without hearing much. But, when Harris came in to retrieve it and bring it on stage, being sure to tell the spirit it was their turn, a voice came through saying, “Let’s go!”

While we didn’t receive any definitive evidence during our investigation, there were still several things we experienced at the Earlville Opera House that could have been caused by lingering spirits. Overall, Dustin and I had a fun evening, and it’s pretty cool to know we were a part of an actual ghost hunt with a team of paranormal investigators!

I hope the EOH brings their Paranormal Tours back next October, because I would love to return and see what other messages we receive from beyond the veil.