Beyond the veil at Boylston’s old town hall
SLIDESHOW ADDED ON SEPT. 20
By Michael D. Kane BANNER EDITOR editor@weeklybanner.com
• Paranormal investigation at Boylston's Old Town Hall
Paranormal investigator Gary Manley at the Boylston Historical Society building earlier this year. Manley will lead another investigation as a
fundraiser for the society this weekend. (Banner photo/COURTESY GARY MANLEY)
BOYLSTON — Gary Manley sees dead people. But you don’t have to take Manley’s word for it. He wants you to go and see for yourself.
Manley, a paranormal investigator from Methuen, will lead two upcoming investigations at the Boylston Historical Society. The first is this
weekend. The second will be in November.
“I think the history of the building is fascinating and why this group is interested in coming in,” said Christi Stille, who is coordinating the event
for the Historical Society. “It has been used for so many different venues.”
The building, Stille noted, has been a meeting hall, a town hall, a jail and a school, and likely had many other purposes over its centuries-old
history. It has served a town that has itself, seen some interesting times, like through the Temperance and new religions movements of the
1800s to the potential for housing the newly-thought of United Nations in the 1940s.
It is just that kind of history, one stretching lifetimes of good and bad emotions, that make old buildings a haven for spiritual activity, Manley
said. And also why it is one of the places that interested Manley and his crew from Nightfall Paranormal, the group he founded about four years
ago.
“We’ve done a lot of work with a lot of different historical societies,” Manley said. “We’ve found that, where there is a lot of history, whether
anyone lived in the building or not, there is still a lot of (spiritual) attachment.”
Reaching out to towns that own such buildings is how Manley found the Boylston Historical Society, he said.
“It wasn’t really anything we went looking for,” Stille said. “They found us.”
“It took them a month or so to respond to us,” Manley noted.
Manley is quick to differentiate between paranormal investigators and “ghost hunters.” His first concern are his clients, and why they may have
spirits in their building, he said.
“I don’t want my clients to be exploited,” he said. “There are a lot of items (in a home or building) that cannot be replaced. A lot of groups come
in with psychics and do a quick investigation and leave without ever getting back in touch with the owner,” he said. “We feel that is improper.
We stay in touch.”
Return trip
This also ties into the group’s upcoming Boylston forays. Manley has twice before visited the Boylston Historical Society, including an
investigation that aired on WBAC Channel 11. Previous trips, he noted, identified an inhabitant likely not known before.
“We caught a little child’s footsteps, a heel (clicking) down the hallway,” he said. “We believe it is a girl.”
Talking to the ghosts while recording has resulted in several “EVPs,” or, electronic voice phenomena, as it is called when a sprit is caught on
audio recordings.
“I asked if it went to school here, and you can hear what sounds like ‘yeah,’ ” he said.
One theory Manley has is that some of the spirits may have attended plays or other performances in the former performance hall upstairs.
Those times of happiness could be why a spirit would gravitate back to the building after death.
“There has been a lot of community involvement in that building,” he said. “I think that’s why they hung around.
“Maybe they performed on the stage or went to see the shows,” he said. “Back in the day, stage shows were the happening thing. Today, we
watch TV. But, back then, you went to a show.”
In terms of his own investigation style, Manley said he has a code of ethics when dealing with ghosts. He never challenges the sprit world, like,
he said, some of the television ghost hunters do. Such actions could open portals for spirits to follow the person home, he said. He never
swears at or provokes spirits, noting “you are in their home.”
“Entities are people. Would you look at the guy next to you and do that? Is that how you would talk to them?”
What you won’t see with Manley is the use of his psychic abilities. He said he really does see dead people, and it started as a 7-year-old when
he saw a mother giving medicine to a child on his couch.
“I ran upstairs and pulled my Snoopy blanket over my head,” he said with a laugh. “I was all done for the night.”
When he finally did get the courage to tell his mother what he saw, “she threatened to have me evaluated,” he said.
“That was the midwest. You can imagine that kind of stuff didn’t go over well there,” he said.
Capturing evidence
Though he claims to have supernatural abilities, he does not use them to investigate. Preferring, instead, capturing evidence that people can
see and hear.
“You want to do everything scientifically,” he said. “You can’t prove anything by saying you felt it. There’s no way to prove anything was actually
there.”
While Manley said believers sometimes find themselves growing stronger in their religious beliefs because of their experiences, he
understands there are skeptics and non-believers. In fact, when the evidence was revealed in Boylston, he said he was quite sure some
members of the Historical Society did not see things the way he did.
“That’s OK. Everyone is entitled to what they will or won’t believe,” Manly said. “I respect that. What I can say is, it’s active.”
Often, people have ghostly experiences, but do not recognize them for what they are, he said. Since talking to ghosts is sort of like “talking to
air,” it’s easy to miss responses if you do not know what to look for, he said.
And that’s why Manley is inviting people to see and hear for themselves. He offered an open paranormal investigation night at the Historical
Society. He does not charge for such events, but allows organizations to charge as a fundraiser.
Stille said she did not know what to expect, at first. But the first event quickly sold out and Manley agreed to a second night. Because of the
historical value of the displays, the event was limited to 10 people each night, Stille said. Loose items will be secured.
Tools of the trade
Manley said the night will consist of a two-hour discussion on paranormal investigating and equipment. Attendees are encouraged to bring
their own flashlights, cameras and recorders if they own them. If not, Manley will discuss the best equipment to buy.
“We’ll talk the basics: equipment, setting up and operating, night vision, what a K2 meter is and voice recorders – a lot of people ask which kind
of (recorder) is the best to use,” he said. “I feel you can stay with the cheaper recorders and still get as good of results as you do with the $150
to $200 models.”
Video cameras should have night vision capabilities; cameras can be film or digital. Manley has also invited a paranormal photography expert to
Boylston.
“He’ll discuss orbs versus dust,” he said. “A lot of people get new digital cameras and get dots on their photos and think they’ve got spirits. No.
You have dust.”
Investigators will be encouraged to do their own investigation.
“We’ll be there to help. They can certainly interact with me and the team, but if they want to spend the four hours alone, that’s OK,” Manley said.
“We won’t leave them stranded. We’ll be there to help.”
Manley’s top priority for the two fundraiser nights in Boylston is for attendees to enjoy themselves, he said. After having been in the building
several times, he says, with confidence, there are no evil entities to fear.
“It’s going to be an exciting night. It’s going to be an educational night for everybody,” he said. “A lot of people see ghosts. They are not going
to harm you and there is nothing to be afraid of. This will be a learning process for people who want to come out and see what this is all about. It
will be a lot of fun as well.”
Photos Below were taken by Micheal Kane from the Banner Paper.
SLIDESHOW ADDED ON SEPT. 20
By Michael D. Kane BANNER EDITOR editor@weeklybanner.com
• Paranormal investigation at Boylston's Old Town Hall
Paranormal investigator Gary Manley at the Boylston Historical Society building earlier this year. Manley will lead another investigation as a
fundraiser for the society this weekend. (Banner photo/COURTESY GARY MANLEY)
BOYLSTON — Gary Manley sees dead people. But you don’t have to take Manley’s word for it. He wants you to go and see for yourself.
Manley, a paranormal investigator from Methuen, will lead two upcoming investigations at the Boylston Historical Society. The first is this
weekend. The second will be in November.
“I think the history of the building is fascinating and why this group is interested in coming in,” said Christi Stille, who is coordinating the event
for the Historical Society. “It has been used for so many different venues.”
The building, Stille noted, has been a meeting hall, a town hall, a jail and a school, and likely had many other purposes over its centuries-old
history. It has served a town that has itself, seen some interesting times, like through the Temperance and new religions movements of the
1800s to the potential for housing the newly-thought of United Nations in the 1940s.
It is just that kind of history, one stretching lifetimes of good and bad emotions, that make old buildings a haven for spiritual activity, Manley
said. And also why it is one of the places that interested Manley and his crew from Nightfall Paranormal, the group he founded about four years
ago.
“We’ve done a lot of work with a lot of different historical societies,” Manley said. “We’ve found that, where there is a lot of history, whether
anyone lived in the building or not, there is still a lot of (spiritual) attachment.”
Reaching out to towns that own such buildings is how Manley found the Boylston Historical Society, he said.
“It wasn’t really anything we went looking for,” Stille said. “They found us.”
“It took them a month or so to respond to us,” Manley noted.
Manley is quick to differentiate between paranormal investigators and “ghost hunters.” His first concern are his clients, and why they may have
spirits in their building, he said.
“I don’t want my clients to be exploited,” he said. “There are a lot of items (in a home or building) that cannot be replaced. A lot of groups come
in with psychics and do a quick investigation and leave without ever getting back in touch with the owner,” he said. “We feel that is improper.
We stay in touch.”
Return trip
This also ties into the group’s upcoming Boylston forays. Manley has twice before visited the Boylston Historical Society, including an
investigation that aired on WBAC Channel 11. Previous trips, he noted, identified an inhabitant likely not known before.
“We caught a little child’s footsteps, a heel (clicking) down the hallway,” he said. “We believe it is a girl.”
Talking to the ghosts while recording has resulted in several “EVPs,” or, electronic voice phenomena, as it is called when a sprit is caught on
audio recordings.
“I asked if it went to school here, and you can hear what sounds like ‘yeah,’ ” he said.
One theory Manley has is that some of the spirits may have attended plays or other performances in the former performance hall upstairs.
Those times of happiness could be why a spirit would gravitate back to the building after death.
“There has been a lot of community involvement in that building,” he said. “I think that’s why they hung around.
“Maybe they performed on the stage or went to see the shows,” he said. “Back in the day, stage shows were the happening thing. Today, we
watch TV. But, back then, you went to a show.”
In terms of his own investigation style, Manley said he has a code of ethics when dealing with ghosts. He never challenges the sprit world, like,
he said, some of the television ghost hunters do. Such actions could open portals for spirits to follow the person home, he said. He never
swears at or provokes spirits, noting “you are in their home.”
“Entities are people. Would you look at the guy next to you and do that? Is that how you would talk to them?”
What you won’t see with Manley is the use of his psychic abilities. He said he really does see dead people, and it started as a 7-year-old when
he saw a mother giving medicine to a child on his couch.
“I ran upstairs and pulled my Snoopy blanket over my head,” he said with a laugh. “I was all done for the night.”
When he finally did get the courage to tell his mother what he saw, “she threatened to have me evaluated,” he said.
“That was the midwest. You can imagine that kind of stuff didn’t go over well there,” he said.
Capturing evidence
Though he claims to have supernatural abilities, he does not use them to investigate. Preferring, instead, capturing evidence that people can
see and hear.
“You want to do everything scientifically,” he said. “You can’t prove anything by saying you felt it. There’s no way to prove anything was actually
there.”
While Manley said believers sometimes find themselves growing stronger in their religious beliefs because of their experiences, he
understands there are skeptics and non-believers. In fact, when the evidence was revealed in Boylston, he said he was quite sure some
members of the Historical Society did not see things the way he did.
“That’s OK. Everyone is entitled to what they will or won’t believe,” Manly said. “I respect that. What I can say is, it’s active.”
Often, people have ghostly experiences, but do not recognize them for what they are, he said. Since talking to ghosts is sort of like “talking to
air,” it’s easy to miss responses if you do not know what to look for, he said.
And that’s why Manley is inviting people to see and hear for themselves. He offered an open paranormal investigation night at the Historical
Society. He does not charge for such events, but allows organizations to charge as a fundraiser.
Stille said she did not know what to expect, at first. But the first event quickly sold out and Manley agreed to a second night. Because of the
historical value of the displays, the event was limited to 10 people each night, Stille said. Loose items will be secured.
Tools of the trade
Manley said the night will consist of a two-hour discussion on paranormal investigating and equipment. Attendees are encouraged to bring
their own flashlights, cameras and recorders if they own them. If not, Manley will discuss the best equipment to buy.
“We’ll talk the basics: equipment, setting up and operating, night vision, what a K2 meter is and voice recorders – a lot of people ask which kind
of (recorder) is the best to use,” he said. “I feel you can stay with the cheaper recorders and still get as good of results as you do with the $150
to $200 models.”
Video cameras should have night vision capabilities; cameras can be film or digital. Manley has also invited a paranormal photography expert to
Boylston.
“He’ll discuss orbs versus dust,” he said. “A lot of people get new digital cameras and get dots on their photos and think they’ve got spirits. No.
You have dust.”
Investigators will be encouraged to do their own investigation.
“We’ll be there to help. They can certainly interact with me and the team, but if they want to spend the four hours alone, that’s OK,” Manley said.
“We won’t leave them stranded. We’ll be there to help.”
Manley’s top priority for the two fundraiser nights in Boylston is for attendees to enjoy themselves, he said. After having been in the building
several times, he says, with confidence, there are no evil entities to fear.
“It’s going to be an exciting night. It’s going to be an educational night for everybody,” he said. “A lot of people see ghosts. They are not going
to harm you and there is nothing to be afraid of. This will be a learning process for people who want to come out and see what this is all about. It
will be a lot of fun as well.”
Photos Below were taken by Micheal Kane from the Banner Paper.
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