Oblong Odd Fellows Lodge Investigation

This former lodge in Oblong, Illinois is now the Oblong Gym. The actual lodge site was upstairs in a couple of small rooms. I have come across little yet to determine when this lodge started or when it disbanded.

While not necessarily known as being haunted, the Odd Fellow, as well as the Free Masons conducted sacred rituals and perhaps some former members of this lodge are still hanging around.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Oblong Odd Fellows Lodge July1, 2017 and the team members included: Stan Suho and Dale Kaczmarek, with help from Jason Snider from Crawford County Ghost Hunters

Equipment setup: Only hand-held equipment and devices were used during this investigation.

Experiments performed: Ovilus X session was performed in the upstairs room, formerly used for IOOF meetings.

Personal experiences:

Stan Suho: Because of the rapid pace there wasn’t much time to do much setup.

Dale Kaczmarek: Jason Snider seems to have the “Keys to Crawford County” and graciously showed us this former lodge used by the International Order of Odd Fellows. After entering through the downstairs street level, we had to pass through a workout area before climbing a set of stairs to a couple of small, stuffy rooms where the IOOF meetings were held in the past.

Jason was quite amazed by a number of words that the Ovilus X produced in dictionary mode that had a direct relationship to both Odd Fellows and Masons alike! We conducted a EVP session without any disturbances or contamination except the occasional passing of a car or truck at ground level.

Evidence collected:

Column cry oddfellow.MPG – while conducting and Ovilus X session in dictionary mode, the device says “column” followed by “cry.” Snider, being a Mason said that it was a very symbolic combination since in Masonic theology, there is a picture of an angel crying over a broken column.

Hope oddfellow.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in dictionary mode, the device says, “hope.” According to Snider, “hope” is a very important word for the Odd Fellows; i.e. hope, love and charity.

Tap on window oddfellow.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in dictionary mode, a loud tap was heard by all on the windows across the room.

Words spoken by the Ovilus X in dictionary mode: loaded, suddenly, happens, Frank, P, increase, mammoth, James, anger, circle, shepherd, man, hope, bomb, warrior, ground, column, cry, there, empty, Kelly, frame, Buddha, best, seed, soak, trace, fest, captain and dollar.

Conclusions: It was incredible, especially watching and listening to Snider’s reactions to some of the words produced by the Ovilus X. Another word “trace” came through and it could relate to a tracing board; according to Wikipedia, “Tracing boards are painted or printed illustrations depicting the various symbols of Freemasonry. They can be used as teaching aids during the lectures that follow each of the Masonic Degrees, when an experienced member explains the various concepts of Freemasonry to new members.”

Another word that came through was “Captain” and according to Snider, there are Captain’s in Freemasonry as well and shepherd was another Masonic-related word that was produced by the device.

The word anger came out directly after I asked if the Odd Fellows would accept a female for entry into their order. Of course, the Odd Fellows and Masons are strictly for males only. And, finally, circle was another word of interest.

While we only received a few direct responses to questions asked, the other words produced by the Ovilus X truly amazed both Snider and I. It was a most interesting investigation and Ovilus X session.