Seeing ghosts

A two-man team of paranormal investigators will try to find unearthly spirits that some believe exist in Middleborough's ornate Town Hall

Len Anderson (at left) and Ed Beaulieu will use cameras and thermal detectors in their attempts to prove the existence of ghosts in Middleborough Town Hall. Beaulieu took the photo of a ropelike ectoplasm at a house in Middleborough (inset). (Boston Globe Photo / Tom Herde )

It may seem far-fetched - it may be far-fetched - but the idea that a ghost has taken up residence in the Middleborough Town Hall's cavernous, second-floor auditorium has intrigued selectmen enough that they will allow two local amateur paranormal investigators inside to check it out.

Oak Point resident Ed Beaulieu and his business partner, Len Anderson of Bridgewater, will conduct their ghostly investigation tomorrow night, once the building empties. They will use the same equipment they say has helped them detect unearthly spirits in several places in the region and around the world.

That equipment includes thermal detectors - a rapid drop in temperature of 8 to 10 degrees can indicate a spiritual presence, they say - and digital cameras to shoot hundreds of pictures.

Beaulieu, a former nuclear medicine technologist , and Anderson, a research biochemist, will then scrutinize the photos for circles of light. Such orbs are ghostly energy, they say. The pair will also look for ropes of light, or ectoplasm, said to indicate a spiritual presence, and for "shadow people," who show up in photos as dark patches or, in some cases, discernible silhouettes.

Those phenomena, Anderson and Beaulieu say, are visible only on film, not to the naked eye.

Marsha Brunelle, chairwoman of the selectmen, is particularly curious about the investigation because of her own experience in Town Hall.

"When I was a clerk for the Finance Committee several years ago, I was working in a room next to the auditorium by myself," Brunelle recalled. "I heard footsteps walking across the auditorium, but when I walked out, there was nothing there."

Anderson and Beaulieu said numerous reports of footsteps on the Town Hall's second floor were what intrigued them. "We're always looking for places to explore," Anderson said.

Some of those explorations include the historic First Parish Cemetery, a house on Thompson Street known as the "House of Five Suicides," and an 18th-century house that had been moved from Plymouth to Carver and was the scene of a murder.

Photos taken by Anderson and Beaulieu at those sites show orbs, ectoplasm, and even a "shadow" person in a cemetery photo, they say.

Once the pair was asked to check out the Horace Mann auditorium at Bridgewater State College. "We got a call that students didn't like to practice in there because it was creepy," Anderson said. "We went in and shot some pictures while students were drumming." The photos showed an orb slowly progressing up the wall of the auditorium. "They seem drawn to music," Anderson said.

As one might imagine, there is not exactly a consensus on whether spirits exist - and, more specifically, whether they frequent the creaky upper level of Town Hall.

Ted Eayrs, a local artist and restoration specialist who did most of the detail work on the building's interior when it was renovated seven years ago, spent hours alone in the large ballroom, applying multiple shades of purple to the walls and gold leaf to the ceiling, in keeping with the building's Victorian style.

"I worked there by myself countless nights and I heard absolutely nothing outside of the creaking of an old building. It's a wood frame with large free spans and no crossbeams. Of course it's going to move. I, frankly, think the noises they have heard are more in line with that."

Michael Maddigan, a member of the town Historical Commission and the author of a booklet on the history of Middleborough's distinctive Town Hall, is another naysayer. "I've been going to the Town Hall for 20 years, and I've never heard anything."

But Lorna Brunelle, the owner of a local performing arts school, has become convinced there are spirits in the immense second-story room. Shortly after 9/11, she decided to record a fund-raising CD of her students singing.

"One of the dads set up a video camera and taped the concert," Brunelle said. "Later that night, when we were watching the video, we saw this huge, beautiful, white ball of light rise out of the wood floor, and float peacefully above the heads of the teachers. We were singing 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' and a ballad called 'Hear Our Song.' The orb floated slowly up to the ceiling and then zoomed quickly through it."

Anderson's interest in the paranormal dates back about 16 years. He is a member of the International Ghost Hunters Society.

Beaulieu, formerly a skeptic, wasn't convinced until six years ago when he was asked to take pictures at a wedding.

"Out of 135 pictures, there were at least 30 with orbs," Beaulieu said.

The spirits, he said, are "drawn to happy occasions."

To this pair of investigators, the auditorium in Middleborough Town Hall is a likely spot for paranormal activity.

Built in 1873 in a distinctive Victorian style, the Town Hall has supported several uses over the years.

Three banks operated there in the late 19th century. The town's high school, Plymouth District Court, and the local public library were all headquartered there at various times.

In the basement, thick-walled brick cells served as lockup for "tramps and transients," according to local history.

The vast auditorium - also known as the grand ballroom upstairs - has been the scene of numerous happy occasions during its 115-year history, including school dances, graduations, wedding receptions, dance recitals, and musicals.

Anderson and Beaulieu plan to check out the entire Town Hall, although their focus will be on the upper level.

In the probe, Anderson and Beaulieu plan to experiment with a highly sensitive digital tape recorder, running it while they ask some simple questions - "Things like, 'What is your name? Why are you here?' And, 'What year is this?' " Beaulieu said.

Responses to those queries - known as "electronic voice phenomena" - may be detected when the tape is replayed, he said.

Asked whether they ever felt threatened while on a ghost hunt, the two men both said no. "Most are benign," Beaulieu said of the spirits.

"I think many just enjoy a good time," Anderson said, "so they come for celebrations."

Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com.