This past Friday and Saturday, investigations were taking place in Manilla, but these were not of the typical variety. The Ventures Paranormal of Manilla team were at the former IKM-Manning middle school to see if they could get more reaction from spirits reported to frequent the halls. Founding team member, Chad Reynolds of Vail, said they have recorded phenomenon in the building in the recent past.
Reynolds along with other team members, Susan Harrison, Jeremy Ertz, Brad Bramley and the other co-founder, Michele Ertz, have reported a variety of ghostly events in Manilla, having done several investigations at the Klondike Hotel. Reynolds said they get a lot of activity there, he believes, because of the tragedy and hardships that revolved around the 1800s’ railroad hotel. The school, however, is a different story. The team has not yet been able to figure the out the hauntings as they have no reports of extraordinary events or tragedy occurring on the site. The team opens their investigations to the public, and Michele Ertz gave a background of their experiences to the group gathered Friday night, saying their team and others have heard the name Dawson at the school several times.
A psychic, Rick Rhoads, who is originally from Maine, relocated to Irwin in the early 2000s and has been actively involved with Ventures Paranormal since they formed a little over three years ago. He says he encountered the janitor figure in his very first visit to the school.
The investigators explained the various pieces of equipment, like those used to gather Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVPs), the ghost meters, K2 meters and other motion detecting devices that were available for participants to use. One piece, reserved for use by investigators, was a Kinect Xbox camera that will pick up and record only human forms. This new technology, Ertz explained, is used frequently now in paranormal investigations as they are able to pick up the stick figure images of entities who can’t be seen with the naked eye. The group said a prayer, divided up and set off into the dark and deserted portion of the building. Investigators did record stick figures on the Kinect with no physical bodies present. Flashlights were turned on and off by request, and psychic Rhoads said he was hearing a voice tell them all they shouldn’t be there. And whether you believe or not in what was happening at the Manilla school this past weekend, it is an interesting experience for anyone who wants to learn more about paranormal investigation.
