


Kathy Caslin of Worcester Paranormal is a full time nurse. She investigates otherworldly activities at historic buildings and locations in her off time. She spends as much time looking for what is there as for what isn’t there.

“You can’t go into a building being a true believer. You have to take a skeptical approach," Caslin said.  "A lot of the buildings we’ve done, the historical sites people have claimed to have a lot of activity going on, but we’ve been able to debunk it.”

Through the years, guests have said they felt a presence in Room 353. That's where the team set up infrared cameras that will record all night. The owner, Sanjay Patel, says there have been plenty of stories about that room, and many groups have investigated the building.  Some claim the original owners, the Conely's, are haunting the building.

“There’s one room upstairs, room 353, that on one would clean themselves, that was the room of the Conleys, two girls would have to clean that, because they would find doors would close by themselves and shadows and things like that,” Patel said.

Guests of the hotel have mixed feelings. “Some people think that it’s cool, some people think that its scary," said Katie Kenney, the clerk at the front desk Saturday night. "They don’t want to have any part of it.”

Eric LaVoie, of the Dartmouth Anomaly Research Team said he caught something on his audio recorder, a low moan that could not readily be immediately attributed to something else. The moan, mixed in with other noise, sounded like a female voice nearby.

The group is equipped with suitcases full of infrared cameras, audio recorders, devices to measure electro magnetic fields, vibration and temperature.  Most things they investigate are not readily visible, like voices, sounds, overwhelming feelings and changes in temperature.

LaVoie said there are three major types of manifestations: an anniversary haunt, something that happens year after year at the same time; a residual, which is an ongoing manifestation, like a continuing presence or noise in a room; and lastly, an intelligent manifestation where he said the presence interacts and even answers questions.

Various things in the physical world must be eliminated as well. Ventilation, other people in nearby rooms, electro magnetic forces, not only high voltage, but normal house current, can all play a part in debunking a manifestation.

As much as the team wants to find something, they also carry a healthy amount of skepticism. They want to disprove hauntings as well.

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“That’s not to say we haven’t gotten a few of things over the years that are unusual and I would say that they are paranormal,”  Caslin said.

The team hopes to look at the data and review the recordings over the next month and make a determination if the Yankee Pedlar is experiencing paranormal activity.

Ken Molnar contributed to this report