Robinson Bowling Alley Investigation

History: Not much is known about the history of the bowling alley however it contains an entertainment center with pinball machines, pool tables, and a bookstore and houses the radio station headquarters of Haunted Voices Radio. Directly across the street is the New Robinson Cemetery.

Hauntings: A dark shadow figure has been seen walking into the main doors and passing by the front of the bookstore by employees of the bookstore. Another dark shadowy image has been observed walking along the far side of the lanes from the back of the pinsetters towards the scoring tables. A figure has also been seen in the vicinity of the men’s washroom sitting on the end bench where the lockers are located. The owner has had a book float off the shelf across the room and slam to the floor nearby him. He is still somewhat skeptical of the whole incident. The sounds of pins hitting the floor and sometimes actual pin falls have been seen when the lanes have been shut down. There has also been some activity in the front of the bookstore where a noose is hanging.

Located at 1302 E. Main St., Robinson, IL. 62454, 618-421-4280

Website: http://www.hauntedvoicesradio.com

The Ghost Research Society investigated Robinson Bowling Alley on June 10, 2010. Investigators present for the investigation included Dale Kaczmarek, Stan Suho, Jim Graczyk, Joey & Nicole Tito and we were joined by radio show host of Haunted Voices Radio, Todd Bates.

Equipment setup: Graczyk’s Nightshot camera was setup in the bookstore facing the noose area and entranceway where the shadow figure has been seen to walk. Nicole Tito’s Nightshot camera was facing down the small hallway towards the men’s washroom and lockers and later moved to face inside the men’s washroom. An EM pump was also employed there. Another Nightshot camera and large IR lamp was setup to face the entire bowling alley lanes. A full spectrum camera was setup in the back near the pinsetters.

Personal encounters:

Dale Kaczmarek: While using a Melmeter in the men’s washroom I picked up extremely high EMF readings near a cider block partition as high as 12 mg! As I got close to the wall, I read nothing and the only other section of the room that gave high readings is when I put the Melmeter right next to the fluorescent lighting. There was some electrical paneling on the other side of the wall which should have increased the readings but the device showed nothing. It only read high near the cider block wall and no where else. A Nightshot camera was placed in the doorway to monitor this anomaly and when a secondary sweep was conducted much later in the night, the same Melmeter read. 0.0 near the cider block. The anomaly was gone!

While recording the lanes with a handheld Nightshot camera, my camera kept going out of focus near lanes 5 or 6 as though something was interfering with the infrared focus. I had Graczyk take a series of digital trap camera pictures there which were unremarkable.

While conducting some provoking experiments in the back of the pinsetters, I noticed that my full spectrum camera had gone dead rather quickly. An extended IR light had been firmly balanced on top of a metal ashtray situated on a wooden stool. I unplugged the IR light and quite by accident recorded that the light was still firmly on top of the ashtray. I took the full spectrum camera back to base camp and when I arrived back to retrieve the IR lamp, I noticed that it had been completely moved off the ashtray!

Stan Suho: The site turned out to be a bowling Alley/Bookstore complex. After Dale's interview and the bowlers finished up, we began our setup.

Since we were traveling light I did not have the full G.E.I.S.T. setup available. I did set up the Ion Detector, Geiger Counter, and the Tri-Field.

These were monitored by Jim's Night Shot Camera. The rest of the evening I remained busy taking 35 mm photos, digital and VHS recordings. I also made an extensive walk through with the Digital Audio Recorder. When I wasn’t busy doing this I was walking around with my Night Vision viewer.

I concentrated on the rest room area and behind the alleys. After the interviews there were reports of shadows in the radio station area. I spent time monitoring this area also.

Upon reviewing the media, I did not find anything of interest although it was a pleasant trip and the Radio Station was interesting.

Video evidence: The static Nightshot camera facing the bowling alley lanes picked up a weird orb anomaly at 56:19 that appeared to disappear within the frame of the camera. Other evidence included:

1:10:17 a voice that appears to say “Hear me now?”

1:11:18 a voice that appears to say, “um” followed by a crashing noise.

1:11:51 what sounds like a distant scream

1:12:23 what sounds like a chirp or whistle

1:51:43 whispering voices through 1:52:05

1:54:52 a strange ring sound

1:57:51 strange ring sound again

2:00:22 what sounds like a screech

2:00:54 loud audible ringing sound followed by Nicole saying, “What was that?”

2:01:33 someone of our team saying “Let’s go back there again” followed by a squeaky voice, bird sounding

The full spectrum camera behind the pinsetters picked up the following evidence:

7:16 a female sounding humming sound that repeats three times through 7:45

10:24 streak from left to right

24:53 arcade sound then Nicole saying, “What was that?”

31:19 weird streak from right to left

37:53 bright rod from far right top to bottom

48:48 streak

The handheld Nightshot camera picked up the following evidence:

5:54 deep breath

12:30 two linear orbs

21:07 metallic sound

22:04 a sound that appears to say, “whoo whoo”

22:46 evidence of IR lamp firmly on top of metal ashtray

27:00 female breath

41:06 a sound that appears to say, “hooo”

Nicole Tito’s Static IR Camera:

Nicole’s camera was initially facing down the corridor where the lockers and benches were located and later moved to face inside the men’s washroom after very high EMF readings were picked up by a Melmeter.

Breath #1 was heard on the audio portion of the video tape.

Breath #2 was heard on the audio portion of the video tape.

Noose Area an EVP was captured in this area of the bowling alley.

Weird Male Voice was heard on the audio portion of the videotape and doesn’t sound like any of the researchers present. It appears to be asking a question. Running it through Audacity with amplification and high pass filter it sounds like a male voice asking, “Miss?”

Here is a collection of those EVPs in one video: EVPs

A follow up investigation was conducted on August 20, 2010

GRS members present: Jim Graczyk, Stan Suho, Joey & Joe Tito and Nicole Tito. Todd Bates from Haunted Voices Radio was our host.

Equipment setup: Video system was set up in the bookstore so that it could later be viewed by the webcams for the live investigation. G.E.I.S.T. command center was set up on a table by the bowling alley counter and the devices were placed behind the pin setter.

Dale’s IR camera and illuminator was placed in facing the far wall where the shadow figure was seen exiting from the back. Jim’s IR camera was placed facing inside the bookstore. Joey’s IR camera was feed through a ventilation fan into the area behind the pin setter and Nicole’s IR camera was again placed in the hallway facing the restrooms. An EM Pump was placed in that hallway.

Personal encounters: I experienced higher than normal EMF readings again in the men’s restroom but not anything like the last time. The readings were only in the 3.0 range. I still cannot find a source for the readings nor do I have an answer to what causes them. There was another thunderstorm and rain this time as well but not quite the intensity of the last storm.

Stan Suho: Arrived about twilight and made a walk through. Since this was our second investigation, this went quite fast. After sundown and the interviews were over we began the setup. I set up G.E.I.S.T. in the rear of the alleys, back near the pin spotting machines. It was the normal setup along with Ghost Camera and Ghost Mic. After G.E.I.S.T. was up and running I started monitoring several locations with my Night Vision Monocle. I monitored back in the pit area, the rest room corridor, and the alleys themselves. I also used the Laser Grid pen with the monocle. While doing this I was taking 35mm and Digital pictures. In addition I was using my VHS Camcorder.

The rain started after a while and created quite high background noise. This was all picked up by my Ghost Mic, which drowned out a lot of the other sounds that were being picked up. I made a walk through with my Digital Audio recorder in several locations.

After viewing my photos, videos, and recordings, nothing significant showed up on any of them. I did take several pictures of the back wall of the rest room area. This was an area where a caller said she saw a face on the wall. I did find some markings on my pictures, and these were turned over to Dale for analysis.

Nicole Tito: I did not capture any EVPs. I also hear the "F you," and "Evil," segments from the hallway session with the talker, but did not clip them out as you have them as well. There is no other audio from the rest of my EVP sessions.

As for the video, there is nothing again. The face appears in all the tapes (5 hours) and does not change therefore it is just how the IR light is reflecting off the wall.

Jim Graczyk: Jim Graczyk

Equipment: Sony Nightshot, 12mp digital camera

My camera was set up facing the book store area. The only thing I experienced was that when I was behind the lanes where the pin setting machines are located, by the very first lane area, I felt uneasy. I was back there with Stan and Joey whom were on the opposite end, as I walked around and took pictures I just felt like I wasn’t alone. I did take a few pictures and walked back toward Stan and Joey. Maybe it was just the darkness and unfamiliar area but I never went back there again throughout the night.

Video Review

My Sony Nightshot was set up facing the book store from the pool table and video game area. This area where I was monitoring for most of my recording was a high traffic area. We had the team setting up equipment as well as the radio station situated in back of the book store. The area did settle down at times so I listened and watched for anything out of the ordinary. Upon review of just about over four hours of tape, I did not see or hear anything out of the ordinary that I could not explain. This bowling alley does have paranormal activity going on which we documented in the past as well as with hand held equipment. I recommend going back at any time and doing a follow up investigation.

Picture Review

I looked over my pictures with my 12mp digital camera and did not see anything out of the ordinary.

Video evidence: None.

Audio evidence:

Evil.MPG were recorded on the audio track of the full spectrum camera during an EVP session with Todd, Nicole and I behind the pin setter. The Ovilus PX says in phonetic mode something that sounds like, “You are evil.”

Fuck.MPG were recorded on the audio track of the full spectrum camera during an EVP session with Todd, Nicole and I behind the pin setter. After Nicole asks the question, “Are you talking to me?” The Ovilus PX in phonetic mode says, “F you.”