Students Search For Ghosts In Longmont Auditorium

cbs4denver.com: Students Search For Gh In Longmont Auditorium Advertisement Water Cooler Save Nov 3, 2005 8:08 am US/Mountain Students Search For Ghosts In Longmont Auditorium (AP) LONGMONT, Colo. They scoured Vance Brand Civic Auditorium from top to bottom, looking for g apparitions, ectoplasmic mists and translucent orbs. They shot video and took digital pictures in the balcony, in the control booth, on stage, backstage an storage rooms, trying to capture paranormal activity. In the storage room behind the stage, 23-year-old Rachel Nielsen said she got goosebumps and her watering, signs that a ghostly presence was nearby. She and 20-year-old Jonathan Tsengouras are taking a parapsychology course at the University of Co Boulder, where they study the paranormal. As part of the class, they decided to visit the auditorium t disprove the presence of a ghost, nicknamed "Edison" for the power he supposedly exerts over the a electrical systems. Edison is rumored to be the ghost of a janitor who was supposedly killed when the auditorium's balco during construction in 1978. Stories of the incident abound on Haunted Colorado Web sites, although John Benton, the auditorium

manager for 18 years, said nobody ever died in the Skyline High School auditorium. A number of Internet sites report that students have felt cold spots in the auditorium, seen lights tur when nobody was running them, and heard footsteps on the catwalks and screaming in the hallways student claimed to have seen a ghostly figure watching from the back of the balcony. Tsengouras is a graduate of Skyline High. As a marching band student, he practiced and performed i auditorium for four years. He claims to have seen ghostly figures and heard strange noises, and he c how anyone at the school could say there are no ghosts in Vance Brand. Nielsen and Tsengouras say a previous foray into ghostbusting, using thermal imaging cameras, pick figures in a cornfield. They decided they would tackle the auditorium's ghost on a recent Friday morning, because many pe stories about it but nobody has ever gone in with equipment to try to prove Edison's existence. As they split up, taking different aisles through the auditorium, both were convinced they saw a ghos the balcony. After climbing up to investigate, they whispered and conferred over whether they had ac anything. Tsengouras claims he saw the head and torso of a man standing beside a large American flag, which stage for one of the school's theater productions. When the two stopped to look at their pictures, nothing out of the ordinary appeared. "It's fun to play around and see what we catch," Nielsen said. But, she readily admitted, "I don't thin anything." Charlene Cashion, the auditorium's business manager, said she has worked there for eight years and experienced any paranormal activity, but "walking in and out, with the ventilation system, you hear n footsteps or anything." In the event Cashion did see something, she said she "would probably never come back here at night Nielsen and Tsengouras asked Benton to explain some of the stories they have heard about the audit

A skeptic in his 19th year at Skyline, Benton said he has videotaped the stage at night and even spen the auditorium by himself, and he never experienced anything that couldn't be easily explained. Spotlights that used to turn themselves on at "ghosting" levels, for example, were the product of a "v analog control board that would cause dimmers to fire whenever transient voltage moved through it, Now the auditorium uses an all-digital control board, and the ghostly lighting effects have been absen Benton said. He added that people's senses are heightened at night; they are more aware of the auditorium's ven which can cause cables to sway and fire doors to rattle, he said. Benton said he doesn't mind students telling ghost tales, as long as they maintain their focus on wha doing, whether it be rehearsing or building sets. As for the story behind Edison, he said the balcony did collapse during auditorium construction after incorrectly the first time. But "the thing about someone dying here is not true," Benton said. "Nobody died." "It sounds like he is hiding something," Tsengouras said, unconvinced by Benton that Vance Brand is "The more he talked about it, the more he made me think there is something, and he doesn't want p drama class getting unfocused." Tsengouras said that while he and Nielsen didn't find anything at Sk not going to stop us from investigating things in Longmont and other parts of Colorado." ( 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, r redistributed.) From Our Partners Coupons: Print free grocery coupons SPONSORED LINKS Trade Stocks Online At TD AMERITRADE Trade free for 45 days & get $100. No maintenance fees. Sign up now. www.tdameritrade.com Compare Mortgage Rates Rates still near historic lows. Get your free instant quote here! rateslide.com

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