The Investigation

Darkness settles down over 111 Main St.

The streets clear, people drift off to sleep and all becomes quiet. Except inside the restaurant where the Chicago Paranormal Detectives are now under way with the investigation they have come to perform.

All the media and onlookers have left and it is now approximately 3:00am. Time for us to attempt to answer questions and also try to collect any factual evidence we can. All of our senses become heightened and as our cameras roll, we all begin to try and prepare ourselves for the unknown which lies ahead.

All of us gather together in the darkness on the 3rd floor of the restaurant with Jack Coulter, the owner sitting on the second floor intensely watching the cameras through the laptop. We all begin by walking the floor and checking specific areas in order to see if anything sets off our sensors. As we walked from room to room, our eyes still becoming accustomed to the lack of light, none of us truly felt at ease yet at the same time, there was nothing happening and while I knew it was early, I was beginning to wonder if something was going to happen at all. Not more than 2 minutes later, we heard Moriah exclaim “He’s in there!” and she pointed to a back hallway in a secluded room. All of us raced to where she had indicated with sensors and cameras in hand. Nothing. Moriah then indicated that ‘he’ was moving and was now further down the hallway behind another door. The ‘he’ she was referring to was an older man named “Vincent” who had identified himself to us through her a little earlier in the night when the media and onlookers were still present. While “Vincent” did not portray himself as evil spirited, at the same time he was not the most pleasant. We all continued on after “Vincent” and tried to capture some type of evidence of him. After several minutes of this chasing, we all decided to just sit down in silence and let whatever or whoever come to us in order to make contact.

All of us moved to the main room of the 3rd floor and sat down in reasonable proximity of one another. After a few minutes, we all be began to ask some probing questions. See who we could stir up. Moriah stated she could feel some presences; however, none of them were coming forward. On we all sat, waiting and hoping. I many ways, it was a lot like fishing. You never know if you are truly in the right spot, using the right so called bait and then finally, you just have to wait and see what happens. As we sat in the dark, we continued to ask questions and listen for answers. After some time with no apparent responses, it was now time to turn things up a notch. Austin and I began to provoke the spirits to see if that would generate some type of response. We began to make comments like “There is no one here”, “I guess you can’t do anything which proves our point that you do not exist.” and “If you are truly here prove it. Don’t waste everyone’s time; if you like to scare people try to scare us.” I realize that these comments are not very intense or extreme but at the same time we are trying to keep things somewhat civilized. So on we went and the out of the blue it happened. A flash of light blinded us all. As we were trying to regain our sight in the dark, I could hear Ron say “Check to see if someone was outside taking pictures.” Tom and Brian jumped up and ran to the windows and looked outside. The street was completely empty. Not a soul out there. Just as they are coming back to the group, we hear Ryan Boughton, Jack’s chef begin to speak. He said “I’m staring right at it above me” as he pointed to the ceiling. Then we heard Ryan say “I have nothing to prove to you” and with that, the flood light on the lighting track went on. Now I am not saying that it went on and then off, I mean IT WENT ON! What makes this even harder to understand is that we had been on the 3rd floor since 9:30pm and the light never went on, in fact Jack did not know where the switched even were as the floor was being renovated and to the best of his knowledge, the lights were all controlled by the breakers on the electrical box. In addition o this, none of the other lights anywhere on the entire floor went on. Just this one. With that, we then heard Ryan say “I don’t trust you” and then Ron heard “Hello” come from the doorway.

Without warning then, the light went out and Ryan sprang up from the floor and stated “He’s not the one I say goodnight to.” We asked Ryan what he meant by that and he told us that each night when he locks up the restaurant, he has always said goodnight. Not to anyone in particular but just in general. As if this wasn’t enough, once Ryan made this last comment, all of us noticed that his voice was totally different. All of us were trying to determine what was going on when a shrill whistle cut the darkness. Jack needed us and continued whistling to have us come down to him. All of us ran from the 3rd floor to Jack as we did not know what was wrong. When we got to the second floor, Jack was exclaiming how the EMF detectors located on the second floor were going off like crazy. As with the light on the 3rd floor, the EMF detectors had been in place sine about 9:30pm and had not gone off once when suddenly, they were being activated with extreme intensity.

Once we had finished appraising the situation and hearing what Jack had seen, we saw that Ryan was being helped down the stairs by Moriah and Austin. He was in shock and physically drained. Our priorities and concerns had now changed and making sure Ryan was alright was now all important. We sat Ryan own and gave him some water. We were able calm him down and once he was feeling better, he told us that he did not remember anything that had happened. Ryan stated he recalled the initial flash of light and then the next thing he remembered was being helped down the stairs. We all then proceeded back upstairs to get answers.

Once we were back on the 3rd floor, the first thing we did was to check the track lighting where the one floodlight went on. Standing on a stool, Tom knocked the light bulb and there was nothing. Again and again he knocked on it with no effect. He also checked to make sure the bulb was screwed all the way into the socket and discovered it was. Finally, Tom proceeded to hit the light with such force that the entire track swayed overhead. With this, the light flickered on and then blew out. In addition to the light, e all observed a fake tree that had been standing in the middle of the room to now be lying on the floor. No one could recall bumping into the tree on the way downstairs and only the camera footage would tell us the true tale.

Now that we were all back upstairs, we attempted to pick up the investigation where we left off. Again we threw out questions and provoked in order to get some type of response. Nothing worked this time. Over and over we tried everything we could and nothing seemed to work. We all continued on like this until we heard the words from Moriah “They’re gone.” We knew then that our night, our investigation was over. With all of us coming to this realization, we began the net big task of breaking own our equipment and getting it all packed up. I looked at the time and it was almost 6:00 am. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess.

Everyone wanted to know what we caught on video and audio. Did we capture the holy grail of paranormal investigations? Will we hear voices from beyond? What discoveries and astonishment would be revealed to us? Only time would tell…and the clock was now ticking!

111 Main Street "Open House"

Chaos had beaten us to Galena.

As we all pulled into town, we all realized how much work lay ahead of us over the upcoming days. There were interviews, production meetings, equipment preparation and the usual miscellaneous last minute details which need to be taken care of prior to us beginning our investigation. As you have seen from reading my last post, the media had already informed the public that we were coming and as a result of that, everywhere we went, we met new people who were interested in what we do and wanted to know more. Interacting with people to explain and share experiences is truly enjoyable and one of the parts of the investigation that I enjoy the most. Even with the delays and unique challenges, the experience is one I will remember forever and the people I met and got to talk to were great.

When we arrived at 111 Main St Restaurant, there was already a group of people gathered along with media personnel from several newspapers. Once at the location, we began to unload all of our gear and were all amazed at the turn out and response. People kept coming. Not only were there residents from Galena, but also people who were visiting Galena while on vacation as well as people who came from out of state just for this investigation. We all knew that people were going to be there to attend an "open house" we had planned for the evening and to see us in action, but none of us were prepared for what lay ahead. As we began to set up our equipment, we all noticed that there were people just walking down the street who would come in and ask to watch. Everyone we spoke to stated that they had heard of us coming to town to do this investigation and that their curiosity had been peaked. Everyone wanted to know more, not just about us as a group but about the restaurant as well.

During the setup of the equipment, we were able to speak with all the people who came out to see us. This time allowed us to interact with everyone and gave us the opportunity to demonstrate our equipment and let them have a hands on experience with the cameras, EMF detectors and thermal imaging. We were able to explain to people how the devices worked and the people were able to actually see how the images and data were captured by us.

As a final perk, Chicago Paranormal Detectives opened the first part of our investigation to a select few. People were able to actually experience what a paranormal investigation was like. They got to stand next to us and experience the exact same things we did in the dark that night. The hair standing on end, the eerie feeling that comes over you, hearing the bumps and actually feeling the temperature drop. All of these things that we as investigators experience on a routine basis, these people were able to witness as well. A truly unique experience and opportunity for these people and one that I am sure they will never forget. I look forward to our next "open house" and hope that our turnouts only grow allowing the other investigators and myself to continue to have these one on one interactions.

Here we come!

C.P.D. was recently asked to perform an investigation at 111 Main St. in Galena Il. There had been several accounts of people experiencing paranormal activity at this restaurant. We at C.P.D. planned a trip in order to capture any possible evidence of paranormal activity.

Below is the news article announcing our planned arrival and some of the things that the employees have experienced. Now that the ghosts knew we were coming, would they come out for us and really put on a show or would they hide from us and not want to be found?

Paranormal detectives plan visit

The Chicago Paranormal Detectives will set their sights on the unseen in Galena.

At 11 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, a seven-member crew will descend on the restaurant One Eleven Main to investigate claims of such ghostly activities as a piano moving on its own and a woman appearing in a white dress. The lady, who is carrying a bird, disappears before employees can approach her, according to the detectives group.

The restaurant served as a mortuary and a casket-making shop before becoming a downtown fixture.

"What we're coming to do is either debunk these claims, or we are here to give them more credibility," said Detective Tom Froelich, a member of the organization that includes four police officers who work on paranormal activities in their spare time, two crew members and a medium.

Although the investigation is not open to the public, their work can be viewed on their Web site, www.chicagoparanormaldetectives.com. For more information, call 847-207-5388.

Copyright (c) Woodward Communications, Inc. 2008

Look for my next posting to see what happened. Our experiences, the obstacles we faced and what evidence we captured! Maybe there was nothing . . . . but then again......