Researchers find evidence of paranormal activity in Boone

By SUSAN HILDRETH , Boone News Editor

Members of the Iowa Paranormal Advanced Research Team (IPART) investigated Ericson Public Library Saturday evening into early Sunday morning to justify claims of paranormal activity made by library employees.
IPART officially began their investigation with the lights out at 9 p.m.

"It took about an hour and a half to get our equipment set up and going," said LeAnn Berger, IPART case manager. "We used several audio set-ups throughout the first and second floor. We also used several video cameras that were linked together and monitored constantly at our makeshift "home base."

As stated in the report, some investigators experienced whistling, mumbling, the sound of movement back among the bookshelves and the elevator doors seemed to open on their own.

"The mumbling we found could have possibly been from a pair of investigators near the investigators who reported hearing the mumbling," Berger said. "However, this could not be proved or disproved at the time and we will listen to and review the audio that was set up in the area."
As for the whistling, she said that couldn't be disproved in anyway.

"It was heard by a few investigators with each hearing it at the exact same time," Berger said.

She said the elevator doors opened before anyone was even close enough to press a button.

"As three investigators approached the elevator, it opened on its own as if someone was welcoming them on to (it)," Berger said in her report.

The seven and a half hour investigation concluded around 3 a.m. with investigators coming to the conclusion that the Ericson Public Library is experiencing a "residual haunting" (Bessie Moffat, director of the library for over 30 years died in the 1930s) and an "attachment haunting" (Senator CJA Ericson, who built the building in 1901 and donated it to the city of Boone and died of natural causes in 1910), according to the report released by Berger.

She said a "residual haunting" occurs when over a period of time in the past, someone has performed a certain action or task over and over.

The "residual" events that are experienced later in time after their death is not actually the person's spirit performing the task or action, but it is the person's leftover energy playing out the same task or action just as the person did in life.

"It is comparable to a VHS tape that continually loops a certain segment over and over," Berger said. "This residual energy will continue over and over until it is eventually played out over which could be days, months, years, or possibly not even in our lifetime."

She said this would explain why the sounds of books being put onto the shelves at the library and books dropping on the floor and the sound of rustling pages can be heard, but not seen.

The "attachment haunting," Berger said, could be attributed to Sen. Ericson as he built the building and donated it to the city of Boone.

"The building and the Senator's reasons for donating it to the city must have been very important to him and his family, as his daughter then donated money for an addition on to the building 10 years after his death," Berger said. "It would be interesting to know the personality of Sen. Ericson to know if he was a fun type of individual who liked to play tricks. Sen. Ericson could be the individual whistling and bumping against employees or breezing past them."

The IPART team has started reviewing the audio that was taken from the library. She noted that the process is long and said for every hour of audio, it takes two hours to review it. The team collected a total of 97 hours of audio.

Berger noted IPART is in talks with the library to come back and give a public presentation of their findings and the evidence collected from the investigation.
IPART is a non-profit organization and there is no charge for their services.

IPART members are volunteers. IPART Manager Dan Berger, of Waukee, said the volunteers come from all walks of life and are lawyers, in the medical field, construction workers, etc.