It stares at you-a pale face peering from a window in a photograph of the Colonel Scott group that now hangs in the Humanities House in Officer's Circle.
The mysterious face has sparked the curiosity of hundreds of students who have seen it through the years because, unlike the rest of the people in the picture, the head hovers above the ground and is not attached to a body.
This is one of the many places on campus rumored to be haunted. Using electromagnetic frequency monitors, cameras, video recorders and motion detectors, Mike Christensen and Jeromy Julian, members of the Utah Paranormal Investigation Society, recently examined four sites for scientific evidence of paranormal activity. The following are accounts of these suspicions and the results of the examinations.
The Humanities House on Officer's Circle
This face is not the only intriguing figure in the photograph in the Humanities House. A young girl seated on someone's lap has also remained a puzzle. |
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The girl, who is presumed to be the daughter of someone in the photograph, is rumored to haunt the Humanities House along with the floating face.
Last year, Dan Cairo, who lived in the house for two years, woke up one morning feeling that the little girl was choking him.
"I felt someone in the room, but when I tried to move, I realized that my entire body was paralyzed," said Cairo, a graduate student in communication. "I couldn't talk or move, so I just started praying and it went away."
A fellow student has also seen the little girl walking in the kitchen at night, Cairo said.
The day he moved into the house this year, Cairo he saw one of the chandeliers in the house moving back and forth. Because it was not windy that day, Cairo said he believes the presence belonged to the person with the floating head.
When Christensen and Julian examined the house, no evidence of paranormal activity could be found. |
The Fort Douglas Military Cemetery
Nestled among the research buildings along Chipeta Way, the Fort Douglas Military Cemetery is also rumored to be haunted.
The cemetery, which was founded in 1863, is the final resting site for 1,354 persons who served in all branches of the military.
It also serves as the burial ground for German, Italian and Japanese prisoners of war.
During his investigation, Julian said he heard footsteps following him closely as he walked near the fence of the graveyard. He said he believes the graveyard is haunted based on his personal experience; however, no scientific evidence could be found. |
A group of ghost hunters stop at the Fort Douglas Museum on a tour of rumored haunted places in the area Oct. 21. Museum staff members say they have seen the ghost of Clem, a man who is one of many who committed suicide when Fort Douglas was used as a military base.
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Carlson Hall
Built in 1938, Carlson Hall made history when it became the first women's residence hall on campus.
Now, Carlson Hall, which houses the history department and the ethnic studies program, is making history once again, because rumors say it is one of the most haunted places on campus.
Beth Tracy, administration officer for the history department, said she has experienced paranormal activity in the building several times.
Last year, she opened two offices not being used in the basement to see what they had inside. After looking around, she locked them up and went back upstairs.
Later that day, she went back down to check them again, but the keys would not open the locks.
Another time, her coworker, who was in the office next door, received several calls from Tracy's phone line that kept hanging up. When her colleague walked over to Tracy's office, she realized that there was no one there.
Karen Iannucci, administrative assistant for the history department, said students have caught glimpses of a woman walking around in a white dress.
Lindsay Adams, director of graduate students, said the ghost belongs to a woman who committed suicide shortly after moving in to the building in 1938.
While inspecting the building, Christensen and Julian said they did not find any paranormal activity because of the noise caused by the building's steam room and the natural shifting noises of the building. |
This sign in Chapel Glen overlooks a gulley where some claim to have seen the ghost of a lady dressed in purple. |
The Fort Douglas Military Museum
The story of Clem, the ghost who is speculated to haunt the Fort Douglas Military Museum, has been around for a while.
The ghost was named by a group of boy scouts who, after spending a night in the museum, decided Clem was the scariest name for the ghost.
He was well known by past director Jess McCall, who is reported to have seen a full-body apparition of the ghost.
Clem's activity, however, seems to have mellowed after Robert Voyles took over as director.
The building, which was constructed in 1875, was used to house an infantry company of about 50 men. The building has since served a variety of functions, including being a museum dedicated to the fort's history.
Voyles said when the fort was an active military base, multiple suicides occurred, sparking the stories behind its haunting.
Christensen and Julian did not find any evidence of paranormal activity here, either. |
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