Hunting for the Goat Man

Date: November 2, 2013

Location: Old Alton Bridge, Denton, Texas

Rumors of hauntings at the Old Alton Bridge in Denton, TX abound. Built in 1884, the bridge was used to connect Lewisville to Alton. According to local legend, just after the turn of the century an African American goat farmer, Oscar Washburn, and his family moved to the north side of the bridge, and Oscar began regularly herding his goats over the bridge, earning the nickname “the Goat Man.” While Oscar was an honest, dependable farmer, local Klansmen were not fond of him, leading to his lynching on the bridge in August of 1938. Legend says that when the Klansman looked over the bridge, Oscar’s body was no longer hanging from their rope. In anger and panic, they went to Oscar’s house and murdered his entire family. To this day many claim that if you cross the bridge in total darkness, the Goat Man will be waiting for you on the other side. Along with the legendary Goat Man haunting, there have also been reports of a female ghost around the Old Alton Bridge who is looking for her lost child.

On a chilly night soon after Halloween while my parents were visiting from Arkansas, we decided to check out this legendary bridge for ourselves. Despite there being a very large gathering of local paranormal investigators as well as local kids at the bridge, we were able to find some peace and quiet in the surrounding woods to do some EVP work. Unfortunately, the Goat Man decided not to reveal himself to us through audio evidence, but we did end up with some rather intriguing photographs from the woods, a few orbs around the bridge, and some video evidence to support my mom’s personal experience of the light on her video camera going turning off and on at random.

Two orbs occur in this photo, a moving white one on the right and a small red one on the left.

This video evidence (featured below) was captured towards the end of the night. My dad, John, and I had all walked down to the west end of the bridge without any equipment on in an attempt to recreate the legendary sightings of the Goat Man that occur when you cross the bridge in total darkness. While this effort didn’t reveal the Goat Man to us, just before we returned to where my mom was standing at the east end of the bridge, the light on her video camera began to flash off and

Photo of my mom (Beverly) taken while the camera light was flashing.

on unexplainably. She had been using the camera to film the KII meter while she asked questions about whose spirit was present at the bridge. The KII and her audio recorder yielded no results, but the flashing of the camera light was quite intriguing since my mom was very unfamiliar with how to work the camera and the three of us witnessed the light flashing several times after we returned. The light stopped flashing as soon as she aimed the camera away from the KII meter. This experience fit rather well with reports we had heard earlier in the night from another group of investigators who claimed that all of the electronic devices had been drained while they were on the bridge.

The red streak of energy on the bridge.

Our only other evidence from the night came from photos. In several photos I captured orbs around the bridge and in the woods. While most of these were typical white/translucent orbs, in a couple of photos the orbs appeared reddish-orange. On the bridge, one picture even showed a bright red streak moving across the bridge. The streak of energy seems to be moving over the middle of the bridge because several bridge beams can be seen beyond the light, and despite my best efforts I could not replicate the photo when cars passed by. These red/orange orbs are in line with many reports of a flying orange light being spotted in the area. 

More interesting, though, were two of the pictures I took in the woods on the east side of the bridge that featured several white streaks of light or energy seeming to move through the air above John. The two photos were taken only seconds apart and seem to show the light/energy moving across the path. In the second photo, some have seen a face forming in the upper blob of energy.

Two photos showing the mysterious energy moving through the woods. 

Zoomed in view of the upper energy blob from the second photo. A face seems to be forming in the misty lower part of the blob.

So while we got no EVPs to help us determine if the Goat Man or the wandering lady do linger around the Old Alton Bridge, we did find evidence of some sort of paranormal energy in the area. We strongly believe the bridge is worth a return visit, just maybe not so soon after Halloween next time.

Hayley.

Books, Movies, and Ghosts... Oh My!

Location: The Old Iris Theater (Books and Crannies); Terrell, Texas

Date: August 10, 2013

The Old Iris Theater in downtown Terrell, TX

After celebrating John’s graduation from the University of North Texas on Friday, we packed up and headed to the small town of Terrell, TX on Saturday night for an investigation. Our destination was the Old Iris Theater, which was built in 1925 and operated in downtown Terrell until 2001. After some renovation, our gracious host Gayle Harris, now operates the theater as a new and used book store, Books and Crannies, as well as a small ladies’ clothing boutique, and a 34-seat theater (in what was once the space behind the original movie screen), which shows classic movies twice a month. We were welcomed not only by Gayle, but also her colleagues Sean Damson and Cozette Moore and the adorable resident cat, Maddie.

We knew this had to be a short investigation due to other travel plans, so we went right to work setting up our equipment and had everything ready to go by 8:30. While setting up the infrared cameras, John noticed that the back corner of the store by the emergency exit had a very oppressive feeling. Out of curiosity I took our rarely-used dowsing rods to the back corner to see if anything would happen. Let’s just say I was not disappointed. As soon as I stood still in the back aisle, the rods felt like someone was trying to pull them from my hands. This continued for over a minute, with the rods swinging quickly from side to side and being tugged upon. When my dad joined me at the back, the rods gave the same performance in his hands.

Don using dowsing rods in the reading area.

After a few minutes of using the dowsing rods to check out the back aisle, we split up when my dad went to investigate the theater, and my mom and I tried some different equipment in the back corner. While we got no EVPs from this session, we do strongly believe we were communicating with a young boy using our K-II meter. To help solidify what the dowsing rods seemed to detect, I swept the entire back corner with the K-II. The light indicators never left the lowest level, green, unless they were near the dowsing rods my mom held, which were still swinging and crossing as we asked questions and tried to stir up some other activity from someone. Satisfied that there wasn’t an electrical cause for the rods crossing and the K-II showing occasional spikes near them, I set the K-II down on a book shelf so we could try to use it to communicate. Almost instantly after we put the dowsing rods away, the K-II started flashing erratically. When it would stop for a second, I would ask a question. After several tries, we finally got pretty prompt responses to “Are you male?” and “Are you a young boy?” It was hard to tell what were responses given the erratic flashing, though, so my mom decided to try talking to the “young boy” like he was one of her junior high students. In her stern teacher voice she told the spirit to leave the meter alone, leaving only the green light on until we asked a question, and then light it up to indicate “yes.” After that he responded very plainly by lighting it up to a short series of questions such as “are you less than 10 years old,” “are there other spirits here with you,” “are they adults,” and “do you like to knock books off the shelves?” 

Note that the lights on the K-II meter are brightly lit.

While we talked to the young boy, my dad also found some activity in the theater. Random noises seemed common in there, but one particularly loud metal clang got his attention and also coincided with a book being thrown from a shelf in the store, which I will discuss shortly.  While he sat in the theater, he got a small amount of activity with something turning his flashlight off and on (shown in the video below), and he also got two EVPs. The first was a male saying “possible” in a very croaky, mechanical voice when Don says, “I sure hope someone’s talking to me.” The other occured after Don says “Oh I’m sorry, is there someone here?” when he heard a noise. At least 2 voices (one male and one female) respond “Not that I know.” The voices were so low and muffled by the voice recorder’s background noise that I amplified their responses in the audio clip below.

While activity in the back corner began to subside and my dad still sat in the theater, John sat watching the infrared camera stream on our monitor. Shortly before my dad heard the loud clanging sound behind him in the theater, John, my mom, and I all heard a distinct “thump” in the bookstore and knew a book had fallen from the shelves. Sure enough, in the romance aisle we found a Madeline Baker paperback (part of the Reckless series, I believe) leaned against the shelf opposite of its original location. Upon rewinding the video footage, we saw the book didn’t just fall— it was shoved from the top shelf with quite a bit of force, which actually made it bounce before landing. When the video is slowed down, you can briefly see a blurred mass moving behind the book as it flies from the top shelf. This video is featured below along with footage of the flashlight activity. Another book, a Harlan Coben hardback, was also tossed from its shelf later in the night, but this occurred much further back in the store just out of our camera’s line of sight.

Orb moving by book shelf.

After the first book incident, my mom and I moved to the reading area in the front of the store. I continued to get strange activity with the dowsing rods, but up here instead of the K-II meter going off, something decided to play with a flashlight we left on the floor of a nearby aisle. This went on for several minutes, and a brief video clip of it is featured below. It is interesting to note that the only two photos I took that featured orbs where caught during this session when Beverly was setting down and picking up the flashlight.

Orb hovering over Beverly.

The next evidence we got came from the back of the store when my mom wandered to the kids section in hopes of talking to the young boy again. While they are very short, we did get two EVPs from this session. The first was after I sneezed at the front of the store and she asked if he had heard that, to which he either whispered “yeah” or said “uh.” Shortly after that she asked if he had a favorite spot in the store and he said “uh huh.” Both of these can be heard in the audio segment below.

After about three hours of investigating, Gayle, Sean, and Cozette returned to see how things were going. At this point, they informed us that there was also a small basement we might want to check out. Part of the theater’s little known past was that a previous owner fell down the basement staircase, receiving a fatal head injury. He died later at a local head hospital. My dad went down there alone to see if he could talk to anyone. At the beginning of his EVP session, while he is standing alone in the basement asking questions, the audio recorder picked up a very heavy, labored breathing sound. More interestingly, though, was what it picked up as he was climbing the stairs on his way out of the basement. My dad ducked to avoid hitting his head on what looked like a showerhead sticking out of the wall, and after he commented on the pipe’s presence, a gravelly male voice can be heard saying, “I never drank.” Our impression is that the spirit of the previous owner still lingers in the basement and was trying to clear up some unpleasant rumors as to why he fell down the stairs. This can be heard along with the other EVPs in the file below. 

Although this was a short investigation, it turned out to be one of the most rewarding in terms of evidence and personal experiences. The Old Iris Theater is certainly worth return trip in the future.

Hayley.

Another night at Rohs Opera House

Date: May, 29, 2013

Location: Rohs Opera House; Cynthiana, KY

Flashlights were a major theme during our return visit to Rohs Opera House. 

The night began with two impressive flashlight displays.  After setting up the infrared cameras and DVR, I had sought out a quiet location in the front row of the auditorium.  I’d been sitting in the dark for only a couple of minutes when my mom came down to bring me a voice recorder.  She sat down in the same row, and we began to talk to what we believe is the most prevalent presence in the room—the spirit of a little girl.  We’d set a flashlight up on stage, positioned so that any minor twist or spark of energy could turn it on.

She didn’t show any interest in this flashlight.  But she was apparently interested in the flashlight I was holding.  Without any effort on my part, my flashlight began to glow.  I placed it on stage in front of the camera, stepped away from it, and the phenomenon continued.  The presence effectively communicated with us by turning the light on and off in response to questions (during this question-answer session, she confirmed that she was a little girl). The video footage of this can be seen below.

She also responded vocally.  When my dad asked her to please speak to them, telling her that she could be heard on a recorder even if they couldn’t hear her at that moment, she said very quietly, “Okay.” This EVP can be heard below.

Soon after this episode, my dad and I went up to the balcony.  We set a flashlight on the ledge in front of one of an infrared camera, sat down not far away from it, and began to talk.  A few minutes later, the flashlight came to life and began to flicker.  This continued for several minutes. Along with the flashlight incident on the balcony, we also caught video of a rather intriguing orb. Both this and the flashlight footage from the balcony can be watched at the bottom of the page.

These were the two most significant events that the opera house provided, but they weren’t our only encounters with the inexplicable.  Hayley and Mom experienced a cold sensation while watching the monitor in the front hallway.  According to the digital thermometer, the temperature in the area dropped inexplicably from 75 degrees to 69 degrees.  In this same location, Hayley also saw what appeared to be two wispy blue “legs” walking down the aisle in the auditorium to her left.  And late in the night, shortly before we began to pack up our equipment, I was sitting in the stairwell that leads up to the balcony.  Mom and Hayley were sitting higher up in the stairwell; my dad was downstairs at the monitor.  Hayley snapped a picture at some point that appears to capture a red-tinted, oddly-shaped orb sitting on one of my legs.  And it was about this time that we heard a very loud banging noise coming from somewhere upstairs.  We have no theories about the source of this noise at all, but it certainly wasn’t caused by the mouse that our infrared caught on the balcony ledge. (Our furry little friend is also featured in a video below).

 

Red orb on Mitch's leg.

The flashlight experiences we gathered on this night are among the best we’ve ever had, and the EVP of the little girl in the auditorium is particularly noteworthy.  Rohs proved to be a worthy place for our return visit.

Mitch. 

Return to Octagon Hall

Date: May 28, 2013

Location: Octagon Hall; Franklin, KY

Our prior trip to Octagon Hall yielded one of the best phenomena we’ve ever captured: the floating pillar of light in the winter kitchen.  Despite its inhuman appearance, this specter is arguably the closest we’ve come to capturing a full-body apparition; it certainly behaved in a human-like manner.  And it was because of our prior success that we decided to return as a group to the Octagon.

The night began with a trek down to the cemetery to set up a flashlight and video camera.  While in the cemetery, I snapped a few pictures and captured in one what seems to be a moving orb, a small horizontal smudge of light.

"Moving orb" observed in the cemetery. 

Shortly after this event, Don went upstairs with a voice recorder and tried to find a silent location.  This proved to be difficult, and when he casually expressed his frustrations by saying “They sure are noisy, aren’t they?”, his voice recorder picked up on a very casual response that he didn’t hear at the time: “Yes.” This EVP can be heard below. 

The only other notable event of the night occurred when Hayley and Beverly went down to the winter kitchen.  Like before, we had set up an infrared camera that was aimed towards the room’s fireplace.  Between the camera and the fireplace was a table, and on this table was a flashlight, placed there so that any possible presence in the room could turn it on and off in front of the camera.  Shortly after Hayley and Beverly entered the room, the flashlight began to roll across the table.  There are, of course, a number of perfectly normal explanations for this, and Hayley was unfortunately blocking the camera’s view of the event.

Image showing the original location the flashlight left in the winter kitchen.

Image showing the location of the flashlight after it rolled across the table while Beverly and Hayley observed.

The Octagon did not provide us the excellent results that it did the first time, but capturing something truly remarkable on every visit to any place, no matter how haunted it is, is not a realistic expectation to have.  We’ve enjoyed every visit to the Octagon, and it has provided us hours and hours of quality investigation.  For obvious reasons, we maintain that Octagon Hall is extremely haunted.

Mitch. 

A Brief Update

Last week we returned to Octagon Hall and Rohs Opera House, and, although we are still working through the audio and video footage, we should have some interesting results to report soon. We also have another investigation planned for later this month in Terrell, TX at the Old Iris Theater. Please check back often for new information!

Coming Soon!

The Sebourn Paranormal Investigations team has some exciting new hunts coming up next month. At the end of May we will be returning to Kentucky for follow-up investigations at Octagon Hall in Franklin and then at the Rohs Opera House in Cynthiana. We are also hoping to add on a third new investigation site while we are in the very haunted and charming town of Cynthiana. We look forward to returning to these locations given our interesting past experiences at each. Thanks for visiting our site, and we will keep you all updated on what we find next month!