KOTA Territory has its share of spooky places: The Bullock Hotel, The Alex Johnson Hotel and even The Elks Theatre. We’ve all heard the stories but how ghostly are these places?
So I teamed up with some friends at Black Hills Paranormal Investigations in search of paranormal activity at The Elks Theatre.
The Elks has rich history. It also has a mysterious past, one that may include ghostly sights and sounds.
“We were here and heard a couple of what sounded like thuds from the balcony and then ended up with some more footsteps on the catwalk,” said Josh Wennes with Black Hills Paranormal Investigations.
On Sunday, the investigations went in search of those footsteps again.
“Can you please take a couple steps out on the catwalk?” asked Wennes. “We would appreciate it.”
It’s an unanswered call so the search for paranormal activity extends to the second floor, where investigator Maurice Miller recounts his last visit. ”The voice was actually calling my name, why, we don’t know.” said Miller.
“We try to do this with respect,” Investigator Mark Shadley said. “You know we don’t try to run, yell and scream and call up demons.”
But no one or no thing has heard the investigators calls so they head to the Elk’s basement.
“Well some of the claims down here in the basement were people getting the feeling like they weren’t alone, being watched,” Wennes said. “There were a couple of employees who reported seeing shadows down here.”
“Is somebody trying to play with us?” asked Miller, who is standing in the dark basement.
“You have to be careful of false readings, false positives and we are so aware of those things,” Shadley said.
But this time around the investigators found nothing in the basement.
“During the brief time we were here we didn’t catch anything that we know of yet, obviously we have to go over the audio recordings that we have,” Wennes said.
So everything that goes bump in the night isn’t necessarily paranormal.
Black Hills Paranormal Investigators work for free. They volunteer their time by helping people debunk their supernatural encounters. When asked why the do it they said it’s good research and a way to find out what takes place in an environment.
