| The Key Theatre in Hazelton, Pa |
Location- Key Theatre, Hazelton, Pa.
Date(s)- June 8, 2002
Times- Started @ 10:30 PM ended approx 1:30 AM
Those Present- KennyB of PIRA, Joe and Mindy of LVGHS. Carl and John(owner and employee).
History- We're currently reseaching the history, but here's the little bit we have right now. The building dates back to 1914 when I believe it was used as an auditorium. The stage area where the movie screen is, was much wider then. I believe it was used as a playhouse. There was some remodeling done in 1941. The original owner, when it became a theatre was a man by the name of John Hersker. He was also the projectionist.
Reported Activity- An apparition, believed to be that of John Hersker, has been seen in the area just outside the doors, next to the conssesion stand. Several people have also witnessed a man standing on the stage, just to the right of the movie screen. This apparition, also believed to be John Hersker, seems to be watching the crowd. A shadow has been seen on the right side of the theatre, in the seating area. Behind the screen, several people have reported seeing "glowing, red eyes" that are only a few feet off the ground.
Report of Investigation- We began, as usual, by finding a place to store our bags and checking equipment. Joe set up Carl with my EMF detector and instructed him on its use. I took a walk around the one room theatre to note temperatures and get a basic floor plan.
I continued to walk around using my night vision scope. I settled at the back of the auditorium, scanning the entire area. I watched as Joe and Carl were taking readings around the right side section of seats. About three rows behind them, I caught some movement. It looked like a dark figure got up and moved a few seats closer to the wall. I told Joe what I saw, and he and Carl moved back to take readings. Although no abnormal readings were found, Joe did note differences in the wall.
I then began talking with John (the owner) about the experience they've had here. He offered to take me behind the screen, where "glowing, red eyes" have been witnessed by several people. We got behind the screen, but I was unable to get any readings. Photos also showed negative results. John then showed me the "stage behind the stage." There used to be plays put on here, but when it was converted to a movie theatre, the stage was partitioned in half to conserve heat. When we got back there, I used my night-vision to take a look. When I raised my infra-red light, the entire area right in front of me was bleached out. Please note that there was nothing visible right in front of me, yet it looked like my light was shining on a wall. I lowered my night vision to take a peak…nothing. I raised my night-vision again and saw the back of the stage, nothing of what I had just seen a few seconds before. There were no temperature differences noted.
After some more discusion, John mentioned that the others (Joe, Mindy and Carl) were up looking at the "bad things" door. When questioned about this, John said that they keep the room locked because when it is opened, bad things happen. Naturally, this peaked my interest and asked to see this room. The "bad things" room was behind the projector room. This room was being used for storage right now, but upon entering, I caught a peculiar scent. At present, I still cannot place it, although it seemed extremely familuar to me. It was gone within a minute. Pictures in this room yielded negative results, as did EMF and thermal readings.
I again made my way back to the main theater area, where I spent the rest of the investigation. Several times I observed what the staff call "snowflakes". These are small white lights that float around behind the screen. I can't see them being reflections, due to their distance and the lack of light. I must say that I'm puzzled by this phenomena, because no matter what I did…I couldn't find a plausible explanation for these lights.
Near the end of the investigation, I walked around with Carl (employee). He had been taking reading all night with my EMF meter. He approached me with a question about the doorway to the right side of the movie screen. He showed me an unusually high EM field just in front of the doorway. I traced all around the door, finding only a minor 1mg field. However, about two feet in front, we registered a reading of 8mg. We could not find a power source that could be traced to this reading. Stranger still, within a matter of a minutes, the field was completely gone. It reappeared briefly, as if to say "Yup, I'm still here." After the second reading, it did not show up again.
Conclusion and Impression; To be perfectly honest, I don't know what to make of this one. I had some very weak activity, but it was activity none-the-less. The readings suggest that there could definitely be something here.
The staff gave the impression of honest people who have witnessed several genuine paranormal events. A taped interview by Joe gives very detailed descriptions of the activity going on here. Some of this was duplicated during our investigation.
A conclusion that this site is haunted would be premature at this time. I believe a follow-up investigation is warranted, as well as research into the property.
Account written by KennyB
PIRA