PHOENIXVILLE - Investigators from the Chester County Paranormal Research Society gathered in the Phoenixville Public Library on Saturday to collect evidence relating to the possible presence of ghosts inside the library walls.
CCPRS Founder Mark Sarro began the investigation and research group last September. He said he's always had an interest in the subject of ghosts, and both he and his wife Katherine felt the need to step up and create a team of researchers into the paranormal.
"We have a very good core group of people who are very dedicated," he said. "It's Saturday night and we're not getting paid to do this."
In fact, every investigation the group takes on is free of charge. The goal is to collect physical evidence such as recordable changes in the environment. While reports of sensations, goosebumps, chills and general feelings of being in the presence of something not visible are common, what these researchers look for is hard evidence.
"If we didn't have a single picture or reading to corroborate, we wouldn't ever say a place was haunted," Mark Sarro said.
The first step in Saturday's investigation was to map out the library floor plan and take base readings. Using graph paper, the investigators documented the location of every electrical outlet, light switch and piece of machinery and equipment such as computers and fire alarms.
In the Children's Library, which is in the basement of the building, Cindy Starr-Witman and Ruth Himes used a digital reader to determine the reading of the electromagnetic field (EMF), which is created by charged particles in motion.
EMFs are usually generated by currents in electrical conductors. Any reading over three may indicate the presence of paranormal activity, Starr-Witman said.
"What we're doing now is taking base readings, so under normal circumstances, this is how the room reads," said Starr-Witman. "If we're in here later and something fluctuates, we know there is something causing that and it could be something paranormal."
Starr-Witman and Himes have been best friends since seventh grade. Prior to joining CCPRS, both were "big fans" of ghost hunters.
"I decided to take the plunge and I told her she was coming with me," Starr-Witman said of Himes.
After moving back to the area from upstate Pennsylvania, Himes said she was glad to join her friend investigating the things that go bump in the night.
Throughout the building, members of the CCPRS team were mapping out other areas. Some set up cameras and prepared to use equipment to capture electronic voice phenomena (EVP).
Phoenixville Public Library Executive Director John Kelley gave the team a tour of the building prior to the start of the investigation and gave them information about the physical history of the structure. He left out details about the ghosts said to haunt the building.
As dusk faded into darkness, lights inside the library went off and the investigation began. Using night-vision video, digital cameras, digital thermometers and EMF readers, the group broke off into pairs and set off.
Starr-Witman's sister, Carol Starr, and Kim Ritchie chose an alcove at front of the library directly to the left of the original entrance to the building. The base EMF reading in the room was 1.5.
Starr set up a voice recorder, and, as Ritchie a night-vision video camera, she reported a sensation of being pushed on her shoulder.
At 8:34 p.m., they began recording.
"We are in the computer room of the Phoenixville Library," Starr said into the recorder. "Anyone here who would like to make contact, show us your presence."
While there were no voices, and the temperature inside the small room remained 81 degrees, the EMF level rose to 5.6. Starr took digital photos.
Unbeknownst to any members of the ghost-hunting team, the alcove as well as other areas in the front of the library are said to be occupied by the ghost of an older man and his dog.
After ten minutes in the room, the team moved to the original lobby of the building, located between the two sets of doors facing Main Street. Inside the lobby, a door leading to the building's attic was open, and Ritchie placed her night-vision camera inside, pointing up a steep, narrow stairway.
At 8:48 p.m., the temperature was 82 degrees, and the EMF reading was 1.0. Within seconds, the reading jumped to 3.3, and the temperature dropped to 79 degrees, according to Starr's digital equipment.
Starr asked anyone present to make themselves known. Noises came from above - a knock, tapping, something Starr said sounded like foot steps and a chair being dragged. In the lobby, the EMF reading fluctuated back and forth between the 2.0 and 4.5.
There was a consistent reading of 3.4 about six feet off the floor just inside the lobby door.
"Do you want us to leave?" Starr asked.
The reading dropped to .05.
In a reading alcove named for Mr. and Mrs. Donald Harrop just to the right of the lobby, Starr and Ritchie recorded EMF readings as high as 4.4. As Ritchie set up her camera, she heard a drawn-out sigh coming from an area near the book case behind her. Starr snapped a photo and captured what appeared to be an orb, energy that is said to manifest itself in balls of light, just over the book case.
She also captured a similar anomaly near a window that faces Main Street.
In what investigators and Kelley saw as one of the most exciting happenings of the night, a book titled "The Secrets of Qi Gong" reportedly flew off a shelf in the middle of the room and ended up in a far corner of the library.
"I heard a noise, and this book literally flew off the shelf. The book next to it was pulled out like this," Kelley said, demonstrating the book's position. "This shelf was packed so tight, there is no way it could have fallen, there's no way it could have fallen and ended up back there."
In the Children's Library, Mark Sarro reported something following him, which he was able to detect because it was triggering motion sensors located in the security gates just inside the doors.
"Something's tripping the sensor," he said.
Mark Sarro also reported seeing moving shadows in a corner of the Children's Library.
There were other reports of unusual activity throughout the night, such as cameras that would go out of focus for no apparent reason and batteries that were prematurely drained of their life.
When the three-hour investigation wrapped up, the team began to set up cameras and recordable DVDs that were left in the building through the weekend in hopes the team would capture some type of activity.
Although it is too early in the investigation to make any determinations, "we've been pretty lucky in the few hours we've been here," Mark Sarro said.
"The problem is we only get to do this for three or four hours at one shot," he said.
That is where investigators are hoping the cameras will be able to collect additional evidence. After they are removed from the building and investigators have a chance to review their individual information, they will gather for an evidence party, where everyone who was part of the investigation that night will compare notes, share experiences and review the documented evidence. They will then decide where to go from there.
The group hopes to come back in the future for a second shot at the building, and Kelley said they are more than welcome. But until then, library employees and those who are just there for a visit will live with what they believe are more permanent residents of the hundred-year-old building.
"In spite of our cramped quarters here at the library and our serious need for more space, we always have room for poltergeists," Kelley said.
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