Case No.: 090717ROH

Case Name: Rhode Opera House

Date: July 17th, 2009

Time: 22:10-03:57

Location: Kenosha, WI

Investigators: Jay, Katie, Allen, Maddie, Ashley, Amy, Keith, Jackie

Guest Investigators: Bob Jensen of �Ghostland Soceities�, Diane Ebert & Lara Shaffer of �AM1050 WLIP The Mothership Connection�, Milton Smith �The Rhode�s Caretaker� & Heath Sweatman

Details: WPI was invited to investigate the well known Rhode Opera House. There have been claims of apparitions, shadows, voices, uneasy feelings, and moving objects. The Rhode Opera House has been known for this type of occurrences and WPI wanted to catch some evidence of our own. WPI was not requested rather invited to investigate.

History: In 1891, the original Rhode Opera house was built by Peter Rhode, Sr. In 1896, the original Rhode burned down and was rebuilt on the original site. WPI could not find any information about any deaths that occurred in the fire. In 1924, the Saxe Brothers tore down the Rhode and built the Gateway Theatre for a half-million dollars. In 1963, it was renamed The Lake Theatre. There are many original light fixtures and exit lights that are currently still in the Rhode. In the main foyer, a lot of the original tile work is still there as well. The original entrance was to be built in the 5500 block of Main Street (now 6th Ave).

The city would not allow it so the current Market Street (now 56th St.) was chosen instead.

Claims:
Many people have heard screaming and/or voices from areas which were vacant at the time. Apparitions have been seen. Mostly near the costume room which is one of the most active rooms in the building. One of Milton's first experiences was in the larger theater. He was there by himself and he heard a lady laugh out loud. He looked around and walked out to the lobby asking "who's there?" and no one answered. About 10-15 minutes later, the stage manager came in and he asked her if she was in there laughing and she replied �no....I just got here". People have claimed to see shadows and props have been known to move by themselves during play performances. Finally, others have claimed to have been approached by a person telling them that they are sitting in the ghost seat. This �person� then walks away and is not seen again during that night. This seat is located in the right theater which has been deemed the �ghost seat.�

Investigation:

WPI established teams of two or three members throughout the investigation. Teams rotated throughout the property for 1 hour shifts totaling 6 shifts. Equipment responsibilities and set-up were as follows:

� IR Camera 1 Right Theater Left of Entrance

� IR Camera 2 Changing Room back left side theater

� IR Camera 3 Clutter Room basement center of theater

� IR Camera 4 Basement Catacomb Hallway

� Mel-Meter was used on all locations throughout the Rhode.

� Each roaming team was responsible for at least one digital voice recorder. Some teams at one point were using two at a time. One was placed static in various rooms and another was used for sessions. All recorders, with the exception of the session recorder, were synched and ran for over 6 hours.

� One roaming night vision camcorder rotated between the teams covering the Changing Room, Clutter Room and Right Side of the back of the theater.

� Each team also used digital cameras for taking pictures.

� Other items that the team used included the Thermal, K-II,

EMF detector, White noise CD player, IR flashlights, and headlamps.

� Bob Jensen (Guest Investigator) also brought along his equipment which included his six-camera DVR system.

Findings:

WPI did capture evidence during our investigation. We caught 2 inaudible disembodied EVP's and 1 piece of video evidence.

AUDIO:

DVR-A captured breathing behind one of our guest investigators in the clutter room during the 4th shift.

DVR-C picked up an inaudible EVP with Heath during shift 2. Please check it out on our E.V.P. Evidence page.

VIDEO:

DVR-Video Cam 3 caught a fast, moving orb during shift 1. You can view this on our Photo/Video Evidence page.

Personal Experiences:

� Orange ball of light on the right hand side of the balcony

of the right theater.

� A moment of when an investigator�s arm hair stood up.

� A shadow being seen in a doorway above the left theater.

� A push on the concession stand door with no one around the door.

� Equipment malfunctioning in the costume room even after replacing batteries.

� 2 investigators claimed to be followed up the stairs by an extra set of footsteps in the hallway outside the clutter room.

� One guest investigator heard the sound of a man trying to speak behind her in the clutter room.

� An orange/yellow/red object was witnessed on the balcony of the right theater.

� Silhouette of a person leaning against the chairs in the right theater.

� In command a light was seen coming from the right corner of the bathroom.

� An apparition of young girl with pigtails wearing a crochet-collar dress and fingers that looked as though she was peeking around the corner of one of the costume racks in the costume room.

� Blue (glow stick) approximately a foot and a half long that appeared to be hovering above one of the IR camera�s in the balcony of the right theater.

� Although not captured, three footprints were seen in the aisle of the right theater.

� In the left theater footsteps were heard approaching one of the investigators.

� A chair in the left theater was heard sliding out along with the crumpling of clothing as if someone was sitting down.

Conclusion:  

WPI feels that there is paranormal activity at the Rhode Opera House due to the evidence we caught and the many personal experiences. WPI was not there to disprove, but to hopefully capture evidence to validate some of the paranormal claims. We would love the opportunity to do a follow-up investigation to continue to validate the paranormal claims.