Scottish Rite Cathedral, St. Louis - 8/22/2009

Location: The Scottish Rite Cathedral on Lindell Boulevard in St. Louis. The Scottish Rite is a Rite of the worldwide fraternity of Freemasons.

Members of the Scottish Rite all had some very interesting stories to tell us about their time in the building. One member recalled an event where he was sitting behind a desk in one of the office areas only to look up and see a man dressed in a green suit. He asked the man if he needed any assistance with anything but the man only shook his head. The Mason directed his attention back to his desk, but upon looking up a moment later noticed the man had vanished without a trace. In addition, in the hallway right outside this office, another man was observed running down the length of the hallway only to disappear straight into a closed door.

Also in this hallway, one of members noticed a large painting that was missing from one of the walls. He went to go ask someone if the painting had been moved without his knowledge, but when he returned to the location he found the painting hanging back in its original location. It is an extremely large painting that is difficult to move even with more than one person.

The building is also home to a large theater and people have reported hearing footsteps following them as they walk down the aisle in the upper balcony. Also, chairs are reported to sometimes move on their own in one of the banquet room areas.

Equipment Used: Canon 10D DSLR, Canon 30D DSLR, Extech 480823 EMF Detector, Olympus VN-4100PC digital audio recorder, Two Craftsman Digital 82345 Multimeters, Two Mastercool 52224 IR Thermometers, Two Sony ICD-P620 digital audio recorders, Two KII EMF Meters, Sony DCR-HC21 Camcorder, Sony DCR-TRV70 Camcorder, and 13 LED IR and UV flashlights.

The Set-Up: We split the group into two teams and cycled through the hot spots for paranormal activity. Because of the sheer immensity of most of the rooms, our static night vision cameras were rendered almost useless. The vast darkness swallowed up our IR lighting. Consequently, we hand held our cameras for the majority of the investigation. One static camera was set up with a wide angle lens to cover the hallway area.

Personal Experiences: There was only one personal experience of note. Seven people were present in a room which can only really be described as a "morgue". This room served as a staging and preparation area for Masonic funerals held in the building. During an EVP session, everyone present in the room clearly heard a mumble or whisper come from somewhere in the room. We are currently attempting to see if any of the recording devices in the room were able to capture this voice.

Meter Readings: Our KII had some unusual readings in the upper balcony area in the theater. We were able to isolate a static EMF field that seemed to be emanating from one of the side walls in the theater. Further investigation revealed that it might be tied in with some of the electronics associated with the building's elevator.

However, while sweeping through this area, we kept stumbling across pockets of EMF that would "bury the needle" on the KII. The areas seemed not very well defined, and after finding a pocket we would leave the area and try and come back to it later to find the pocket in a nearby, but not always identical location. The duration of these fields and their static nature make us believe that they are non-paranormal, but we were unable to isolate their source. The wall they were close to was a solid stone outside wall and the floor was solid concrete. If they are man-made, these high levels could contribute to why some people feel uneasy while in the area.

Results and Analysis: Analysis is ongoing. We will post results and evidence as we come across it.

Audio Anomaly One:

This clip was recorded in the "morgue" area of the building. Given the nature of this building, this clip does not appear to make much sense on the surface. On first listen, our initial reaction was that this was the disembodied voice of a woman or a child. However, the Freemasons are fraternal men's organization and women and children were generally not permitted in the building ever. The clip is unintelligible so a meaning can't help us answer any additional questions here.

Audio Anomaly Two:

This voice was recorded in the smaller dining room in the lower level of the building. At the beginning of the clip you can hear an investigator finishing expressing thanks to any entities thanking them for allowing us to spend time with us this late at night. This thanks is followed by a faint whisper. It is hard to make out exactly what is being said, but it sounds as if it might start with the word "home" and might contain the phrase "shouldn't be there" towards the end.

Photographic Anomaly One: