Monika Leininger
mleinin1@uwyo.edu
On a crisp October night just three days before Halloween, two paranormal investigators and a gathering of curious students joined forces in the basement of the Wyoming Union.
The evening was dedicated to individuals getting the chance to enquire, listen and interact with the other realm of existence.
It isn’t just the orange falling leaves, the thin brittle air and the eerie shadows that brought these paranormal investigators to the area. A legend passed down through the ages has told the tale that the University of Wyoming campus is haunted.
“We heard from other ghost hunters about haunted Knight Hall, so we were really excited to come explore the building,” said Stephanie Smith, paranormal investigator from Denver, Colorado.
As legend has it, in the 20th century Knight Hall was built to be a residence hall. It’s one of the older buildings on campus, and the outside exterior proudly reveals it age. The long and narrow hallways of Knight Hall are lined in red store, donned with long, rectangle paned windows and dimly lit with sconces bordering the doors.
It has been a long-told tale that Hoyt Hall, Ross Hall and Knight Hall were built on the Laramie Cemetery. In the recent construction project of the parking lot between Knight Hall and the Library, remains were found of what was believed to be Indian settlers.
In order to continue work on the parking lot, ancient graves had to be moved to another eternal resting place and the souls of many settlers from our past were believed to be disturbed in the process.
To this day, visitors and staff of Knight Hall have told stories of seeing apparitions of Indian settlers in the building, as well as experiencing indescribable noises such as the beating of drums and mysterious voices
To further explore the mystery, the Campus Activities Center (CAC) invited two professional paranormal investigators to take groups of students through Knight Hall on a paranormal ghost investigation. The event was rather coveted in the fact that it only allowed 20 students on each of the hour-long investigations.
Stephanie Smith and Elise Mozell, the featured ghost hunters of the evening, started communicating and investigating with other ghostly realms 15 years ago
They said they discovered their passion when they found themselves in the same Ghost Hunting group. They established that they made good teammates because their differences of beliefs.
Smith has had paranormal experiences since she was a child, whereas Mozell is still a skeptic when it comes to believing in supernatural presences.
“Tonight we really hope to capture some evidence and be able to verify student’s experiences,” Mozell said. “I’m sure that everyone who’s joining us tonight has had an experience themselves or knows someone who has, that’s just how common it is.”
Smith believes that connecting with the paranormal realm is a capability that everyone shares, but not a skill that everyone has developed
“It’s like a muscle, you just have to exercise it,” Smith said.
On this evening of exploration, the two ghost hunters had brought with them a variety of instruments to capture evidence of paranormal activity. Instruments used in the investigation included: voice recorders, cameras, Ouija boards and special lighting equipment such as infrared light and ultraviolet light sensors.
Before the scheduled paranormal hunts, the two investigators showed the audience the EVP’s, also known as electronic voice phenomenons, and a variety of photos and videos that document the two professional’s past interactions with spiritual entities.
The ghost hunter’s took questions from participants before they embarked on their surreal experience.
As believers and skeptics meandered across the moonlit parking lot to Knight Hall, taking steps over the very spots that passed souls had once rested in peace; there was a sense of excitement, curiosity and adventure.
The evening of ghost hunting was one of the many activities offered Halloween week by UW.
