Supernatural class investigates the paranormal in Palmer

On Friday, April 8, a group of students from Professor TJ Wellman’s class “Vampires, Miracles, Ghosts and God(s): The Supernatural in American Popular Culture,” gathered in Palmer Auditorium to try their luck at a little ghostbusting.

Despite its young age, Connecticut College has several buildings which are said to be haunted, notably Harris and Palmer, which was ultimately chosen as the stake-out spot for Wellman’s class.

Recently in our culture, there has been an explosion of ghost hunting shows and shows about paranormal activity, such as the classic Ghost Hunters on Syfy. Viewers’ fascination with the supernatural world has fueled the creation of dozens of ghostly reality shows.

“These shows have led to a surge in ghost hunting chapters throughout the country,” said Wellman. It also inspired the class’ experiment. “We’re more interested in the staged nature of this. We’re not going to confirm or deny, but explore what exactly it is.”

Wellman believes in what he calls “open-minded skepticism.” He’s not a believer in ghosts, but he’s also not completely opposed to the idea that some kind of supernatural being could exist. “A very large number of people seeing ghosts are just from mistaken identity or mistaken perception, but I don’t know if we can assume that for all cases.”

He added, “I believe that people have experiences that for personal and cultural reasons they interpret as ghosts. I am agnostic as to whether or not it’s a being without a body and on top of that, if it is to be interpreted as a dead person or a dead human being. There are some plausible explanations for why humans see these beings.”

With these ideas in mind, Wellman brought his class to Palmer Auditorium in search of some answers from beyond the grave.

Students were scoping the scene for two “full-bodied apparitions” in particular—Ruth, a woman who still lingers in the auditorium long after her death, and an unnamed male professor who passed away there in the middle of giving a lecture; he’s been sighted in the wings of the stage.

The ghost hunting process began around 9:30 PM, at which time Wellman and Campus Security Officer Shamus Denniston led the group of students through the auditorium, Denniston pointing out where the supposed hauntings occurred. Students were then separated into groups of six or seven and led into the auditorium.

“We spent some time studying the environment to familiarize ourselves with the regular sounds and visual cues provided, and then stood watching to see if anything worth remarking about occurred.  Officer Shamus also led a series of questions, which in a formal investigation, are usually recorded for “EVP” (Electronic Voice Phenomena). Allegedly the recordings of ghost voices that are not audible to human ears.”

Groups stayed in the auditorium for roughly forty-five minutes at a time and then went back into the foyer to let the next group try their luck. No formal equipment was available for use, as all proton packs and slime blowers were already checked out of Shain, so some students brought their own digital cameras and recording devices. This didn’t stop them from finding some spooky stuff.

According to Wellman, “Several people, myself included, reported some odd visual experiences, such as apparently random momentary dimming of the running lights along the seating in the auditorium or dimming of the exit lights over the doors.” Other people claimed to see random sparks of green, red or white light moving around the auditorium. Unfortunately, none of these creepy occurrences was captured on camera. Were they ghosts or just people’s minds playing tricks on them?

“I don’t feel that any of the experiences reported come close to what is usually considered paranormal in popular culture. The lighting issues, I think, were due to standing for a long time in darkness or low lighting, especially with a high degree of anticipation and situational creepiness,” said Wellman.

Many students also said they felt pretty creeped out or full of anxiety, and some even claimed that their body temperatures were changing drastically. “The only thing people reported consistently was a creepy feeling, which is not unexpected when standing in an empty auditorium at 2:30 AM looking for ghosts,” said Wellman.

Students found no signs of Ruth or the professor. “Neither was seen, though most of the visual weirdness people reported was located in roughly the area where Ruth is supposed to be seen,” said Wellman.

So no actual ghosts were found. Maybe they don’t exist or maybe they were too shy to show themselves to a bunch of rookie student ghost hunters. Whatever the case, the experiment wasn’t a total bust.

Said Wellman, “The students seemed to have enjoyed it, and it provided a great deal of primary experiential data for our discussions in class this past week about the rise of the ghost hunting activities in American popular culture over the past decade.”

He added, “I was particularly happy that the students got firsthand experience of the investigatory methods commonly seen on TV, had a chance to think about what constitutes evidence in such programs and to experience (and reflect upon) the degree to which ghost experiences reported on those shows are set up (which is not to say that they are necessarily fraudulent) by the way that the investigation is conducted.”

The night was entertaining, educational and eerie despite the lack of ghostly figures. I’m sure the ghost stories will continue, sightings will still be made and people will try their hardest to validate or debunk the creepy claims. Whether or not you’re a believer, just remember: the next time you’re getting ice cream at Harris and you feel a chill come over you, it’s probably a famished ghost and not the chill from the freezer. •