014 - Shadows in the Church

​There are many people out there who are dealing with paranormal activity on a daily basis, whether it be in their homes or their place of business. Hauntings can happen almost anywhere. And most people aren't sure who to seek out for help. Many of them will turn to their church for assistance, but what happens when the church itself is haunted? I'm Tom Stewart and this is my paranormal story. Before I start this episode, I just want to thank you for listening. Remember, if you've bought T-shirts or coffee mugs from my website myparanormalstory.com, be sure to send me a selfie with your swag so I can post it on Facebook or Instagram. And don't forget everything you buy on the website helps keep this podcast running. So thank you so much for your support. As a paranormal investigator, I've been to many spooky places, graveyards, museums, theaters, old, abandoned buildings. But for some reason, churches have always made me feel the most uncomfortable. So when we got the call to investigate a cathedral in Woonsocket, RI, I knew the scare factor for me at least was going to be a bit higher than usual. I don't know what it is about churches. Most people go to church for feelings of comfort and peace. From baptisms to weddings and even funerals, churches are a place to celebrate life. But even as a kid, I've never felt comfortable in churches. I can remember sitting in the pews looking at how high the ceilings were. Everything made of stone or marble, the organ music echoing through the Chambers, people speaking in hushed whispers. I've always thought churches looked like spooky castles. Beautiful in a way. But spooky at the same time. Rise up paranormal was called in to investigate St. Anne's Cathedral in Woonsocket, RI. Today it's used as an arts and Cultural Center. For the city. It's quite beautiful and historic. It was built in the early 1900s by French Canadian designers so that their community there in the northern part of Rhode Island would have a place to gather and worship. The walls and ceilings of the cathedral are covered with hundreds of jaw-dropping fresco paintings and stained glass windows as creeped out as I get in churches, I couldn't stop looking around it. All the art and architecture the attention to details. Something like you'd need to travel to Europe to see. It felt as if I had been taken back in time and that the building had just a million stories to tell me. I think it's the most pictures I've ever taken during a paranormal investigation. The staff who work at the Cultural Center have many stories to tell. Just about all who have worked there have heard strange voices, mysterious footsteps, and some have reported seeing a little girl roaming the halls in the basement. The basement of the cathedral has a wide open function room with a built-in stage, a built-in bar slash kitchen and some offices and restrooms. And they use it primarily for different types of gatherings, like wedding receptions or scout retreats and fundraisers and and other functions. It's filled with tables and chairs that are stacked up in corners and up against the walls. One of the stories we were told. A staff member had arrived at the Center 1 morning and went downstairs to find one of the side doors had been opened. And the bar kitchen area, which is kept under lock and key had been broken into. Police were called in to investigate and they found that a case of beer had been stolen. But hastily thrown aside in the function room. They determined that the thief had broken in through that side door, then broke into the bar, stole the case of beer. And then threw the beer down and ran off for an unknown reason. Some of the workers believed that the thief might have been startled by the ghost that is believed to be in. That function room. On another occasion, the police were called in after a male worker had arrived at the center and went downstairs to the function hall to prepare it for a function scheduled the next day. When he heard a female voice coming from the ladies room. He called out to the woman, but she didn't respond. Believing they may have been broken into again, he quickly went to the office and called the police. Two officers arrived and he explained what he'd heard. As they approached the ladies room, they could hear what sounded like a woman crying from inside. From the outside of the door, they asked her if she would come out, but they got no response. They asked several times and then finally decided to cautiously enter the bathroom. When they got inside, there was. No one there. There are many stories like this associated with the cathedral, and when we investigated, we found a few of our own. When we arrived, we did our usual walk through with the lights on, set up various infrared cameras and microphones, and then broke up into teams and went lights out. The first location I was in was in the main church area. I was with several other investigators conducting EVP sessions, asking for signs from any spirits that might be with us. I believe the first thing we heard was the front doors rattled. Several times we could hear the banging of the large wooden doors shaking back and forth in the frame. And a few times it happened on demand. But it was hard to determine whether it was being caused by heavy trucks driving by, or perhaps just the wind. Sometimes you just don't know. Another thing we could hear inside the church area was very soft, but beautiful sounding music. It was hard to hear you had to really focus on it. And we couldn't capture it on any audio recorders or find the source of where the music was coming from. But some of the employees claim to have heard it as well. Could quite possibly be a residual paranormal event. Like a moment in time that just keeps playing itself over and over again. Later that night, during the investigation, I was down in the lower level in the function hall with a few other members from rise up. The room was dark and felt empty. I was sitting on the edge of the stage as we all took turns asking questions during an EVP session. And that's when things started getting strange. Evps stand for electronic voice phenomena. It's when you ask spirits to try and communicate with you by imprinting responses to your questions onto a digital audio or video device. Later, when you review that audio or video, you might hear that EVP the response from the spirit. I was sitting there on the edge of the stage, just trying to focus on the room. When suddenly I heard someone whistle. It was just a quick. Was that one of you I asked? Was what one of us? I just heard a whistle that wasn't you. No the other investigator said. Here it was again. This time they heard it too. We quickly asked the spirit is that you trying to get our attention? And suddenly we all heard a creaking on the stage. Like someone was walking across it. Is that you? We asked, can you move something? Let us know that you're here. Suddenly we all could hear what sounded like one of the chairs on the stage being moved. Like someone or something was sliding the chair over. And I didn't just hear the chair. I could feel the vibration of the chair moving on the floor from where I was sitting on the edge of the stage. We heard a. Few more creaks and a few more bangs and then nothing. But during the EVP session we did get a response on the audio recorder. It's a male voice that was responding to the questions we were asking, but apparently we weren't asking the right questions. Here's the audio. Here it is again. Since there were several reports of people seeing a little girl roaming the function hall, we set up several night vision infrared cameras to record video to a multi channel DVR system. We pointed one of the cameras at the bar area with a beer thief. May or may not have had his encounter. And the other camera was pointed at the hallway where the door to the ladies room is located. The one where the crying voice was heard. We let the cameras run for the entire investigation. And we also set up a laser grid to help us see any shadows that might pass by. Laser grids are a small pen like battery operated light that emits a large green pattern of laser lights. The green dots from the lasers form a large square grid and makes it easier to see if anything is moving in the room. At one point while investigating the function hall. One of the other investigators heard something coming from the bar area he thought he'd heard a voice. So he quickly turned towards it and started taking a bunch of pictures with his digital camera. And one of the pictures revealed something very interesting and unexplainable. In the photo you can clearly see something distorting the green lights inside the laser grid. It was tough to make out, but when we analyzed the photo closer, it appeared to be a dark shadow, about the same size and height of a child. Perhaps the little girl? We continued to focus on the idea that there was a little girl in the church with us. We set up trigger objects like a ball and a balloon. Trigger objects are familiar items used to try and attract a spirit to a certain area or to make them feel more comfortable. And as we continue to investigate different areas of the cathedral. We kept many cameras and microphones recording throughout the night. And at one point it seems as. If the little girl Might have been looking for us as well. One of the audio recorders picked up this EVP. Of what sounds like a little girl. Here it is again. One of the other areas that we focused on. The most was that hallway where the ladies room is. The small hallway in between the kitchen bar area and the bathroom doors. The hallway leads to three or four stairs. Then it turns right with another set of three or four stairs to the left, and those lead up to locked doors that lead to the street area. There's also a small St. level window in between each set of stairs that lets in just a small amount of light. The ladies room is small. But a typical public bathroom? With two stalls that have closing doors, a small sink and a mirror. We investigated the bathroom and the hallway thoroughly to try and determine what the crying sound could have been. We also tried some EVP sessions but didn't capture anything of substance. But when we reviewed the video on the DVR system from the camera that was pointing at the hallway. We did spot something pretty interesting. Now remember the hallway and function room are completely dark. Aside from the small amount of light that comes in from the window at the. Top of the stairs. And that light shines against the wall at the top of the stairs. At one point during the investigation, while we were all in other areas of the cathedral. The infrared camera captured a figure walking in front of that light. It wasn't a person, though it was more of a shadow. And it blocked out the light from that little window as it walked by. And then you can slowly see the shadow walking down the stairs towards the entrance to the ladies room. And then. It disappears. My paranormal story is written, produced and narrated by me. Tom Stewart. Music from this episode, courtesy of [email protected]. If you enjoy my stories and would like to support the podcast. You can go to buymeacoffee.com/my paranormal or just click on the donate button on my website at my paranormal story.com. I also have T-shirts and coffee mugs for sale. Unfortunately, podcasts cost money and your support helps me keep this podcast running. Thank you for your support. Please don't forget to subscribe so you'll know when I've added new episodes and feel free to follow me on Facebook and Instagram. Just search for my paranormal story. If you have a podcast and you'd like to have me as a guest, or if you would like to ask me a question or tell me your paranormal story, you can e-mail me at [email protected]. Thanks for listening. I'm Tom Stewart and this is my paranormal story.