Whether in the basement or on the third-floor, rumors of Maxcy Hall being haunted are buzzed about constantly throughout the University of New Haven campus.

Some students agree that Maxcy is sinister, while others believe it is a building whose eeriness is merely attributed to its antiquity. Yet there is no denying that Maxcy Hall has been a hot topic among the student body and UNH faculty for many years.

For 46 years Maxcy was the New Haven Temporary Home for Children. It then comes as no surprise that students and staff claim to have heard activity relating to children.

On Saturday, Oct. 26, SCOPE brought in famous ghost hunters Brian Cano, Syfy’s Haunted Collector, and Chris Mancuso, producer of the Internet show Scared! These two men have been in the field for many years, and have now begun a Paranormal Mystery tour at colleges around the U.S.

Cano and Mancuso spoke to a crowd in Dodd’s Theater about their experiences in the ghost-hunting business and how they fluctuated from skeptics to believers.

The presentation began with an explanation of the different kinds of ways energy of a spirit can manifest itself, whether it be as an orb, ectoplasm, a voice on a recording or a chill in the room. Photos with real and fake spirit manifestations were shown, and the audience had to pick the good ones out of the bunch.

Cano and Mancuso then discussed the equipment used to capture such phenomena. A Spirit Box, for example, is a tool that scans through radio stations without stopping, and thus allows energy to transfer in the radio frequency, and hopefully a voice will be audible. An EMF detector is used for finding electromagnetic frequency, which is triggered by electronics, but if there are none around, can signify another type of energy. Thermometers are used to detect unusual changes in temperature.

Cano and Mancuso spoke about their experiences with the different types of tools, and how situations differed from one location to another. They discussed the most haunted locations they’ve been to, and weren’t hesitant to mention ghost-hunting experiences that didn’t work as planned. Some locations simply didn’t result in the evidence that they had hoped for, but as Cano says, “If it made you think about things you didn’t before, then it was successful.” Cano and Mancuso never tried to force their own opinions on anyone else, and actually wanted to hear controversy from the audience.

There was a mix of skeptics, believers, and people in between at the presentation; each with their own share of questions. Some wondered why we tend to leave a spirit or entity alone if we have found evidence on its existence, or why ghost hunters move from place to place instead of focusing on the haunting of one location and exploring that. Cano responded saying, “What more do we really desire from the entity?”

After an abundance of questions, it was nearly midnight, and the first forty people at the event got to go on an exploration with the investigators in nothing less than Maxcy Hall. Students got their own piece of equipment, varying from a simple thermometer, to a complex EMF detector. Everyone was set loose to explore the first floor together, and then it was time to head to the third floor.

Everyone gathered around the wooden enclosure on the third floor, where all other floors were visible below. Cano and Mancuso began an EVP session. Everyone sat down in a circle, and each person asked a question ranging from, “Why are you here,” to “Do you like cats or dogs.” The session was recorded, and upon playing it back, some people thought a voice did say something, while others believed it to just be an extraneous noise.

However, one playback that about 90% of people agreed upon, was hearing a response of “Scott” to the question, “Who are you.” Some people jumped and others were in silent awe of what sounded like a clear voice.

“Hearing the voices from the EVP session sent chills down my spine, but it was a great experience,” says freshman Jordan Taylor.

Next, a Sprit Box was used. This tool works with radio frequencies to make it easier for the spirit to project itself. This made the words a little harder to pick out, as there is a lot of background noise when the device skips through radio stations. Something that made nearly everyone in the room gasp was a response to the question, “How old are you?” A distinct voice said the word “seventeen,” all three syllables, which would be difficult for radio stations to mimic.

PIRO member, Josh Lowe, has experience doing paranormal investigations. “I was excited to hear about it from people who have done it for years. They didn’t seem to be ‘fake’ or ‘for the effect’ type of people you see in the field. They were quite legit in my opinion,” he said.

PIRO president, Kirstie Nicholson, and her eboard agreed Cano and Mancuso “approach their investigations in a scientific fashion, not trying to disprove or prove the paranormal, but to instead find solutions to what is happening.” Nicholson said PIRO would further investigate the EVP’s and listen to them with headphones multiple times to prove their validity.

Whether this article has convinced you further of Maxcy’s haunting, or made you more of an unbeliever, evidence is evidence. Take a walk up the stairs to see for yourself. Sometimes all it takes is a chill in the air; then fancy equipment is no longer necessary (but running shoes are).