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TRANS-ALLEGHENY LUNATIC ASYLUM:
Overnight Investigation: September 9th, 2017
Team Members: Terrie McClay, Terry Susi, Dan Rieder, and Kelly Payne.
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, constructed between 1858 and 1881, is the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America, and is purportedly the second largest in the world, next to the Kremlin.
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Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, previously known as The Weston State Hospital, or the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane would be intimidating even without the ghosts.
Its monumental main structure, the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America, divides 242,000 square feet over four floors, is a staggering 1,296 ft long, and is outfitted with 921 windows and 906 doors. A 200-foot tall clock tower stretches up from the center like a hand reaching to God. The walls are two-and-a-half feet thick, dense enough to muffle the screams of even the most tormented soul, alive or dead.
September 9th, 2017
Terrie McClay, Terry Susi, Dan Rieder, and Kelly Payne.
I finally had the chance to go through some of the audio that our team recorded at the Trans-Allegheny Asylum on Saturday evening, September 9th, 2017.
During our sessions we made use of the the Ovilus V, the EDI meter, infrared camcorder, laser grid, thermal imaging camera, digital recorders, and several other instruments.
After listening to three hours of audio, what stood out the most for me was what the Ovilus V had captured on the juvenile ward on the second floor.
Yes, the asylum was not only active, but eerily disturbing.
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When I first entered the old bathroom on the second floor I immediately felt uncomfortable. It wasn’t the dark hidden corner, the stall door hanging lopsided from its hinges, or the stench of old urine that unnerved me. It was the sense that someone or something was lurking inside. When I mentioned this to Terry, she immediately marched into the room with the Ovilus, while I followed on her heels with the digital recorder and the EDI.
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As the Ovilus chatted away, we heard the distinct words, “I killed Mark.” We both felt an instantaneous chill that caused the hairs on our arms to stand on end. I looked down at the EDI meter. The temperature had dropped over three degrees – from 68.9 to 65.3 – in a heartbeat. This happened three times while we were in the room.
Experimenting with the Ovilus on all three settings from phonetic, to proximity, to ABC’s and back again, we were able to capture several responses. In fact, the Ovilus was so active that it chatted for the entire three hours. This has never happened before. The name Mark so many times that if someone paid me a penny for every time the word came up I could have paid for the team’s dinner.
