A group of seven investigators set up cameras with night vision screens, audio recorders and a multi-screen
digital video recorder throughout the three floors of Ashburnham’s former meeting house.
After the sun set on Saturday, April 9, the recorders and cameras were turned on while loosely assembled
flashlights and electromagnetic field meters were placed on tables in the basement and the ground floor of the
meeting house.
“You know who we are, we’ve been here before,” Gary Manley, the founder and lead investigator of the
Methuen Chapter of Nightfall Paranormal, said introducing himself to those entities in the building.
Over the course of the last year, the Ashburnham Historical Society has allowed in members of the Methuen
Chapter of Nightfall Paranormal to conduct investigations into their Main Street building.
The group spent several hours in the building - which has had a varied history both on Main Street and on
Meeting House Hill - on Saturday night as they conducted their fourth investigation in search of and to
communicate with paranormal entities. Why Ashburnham’s meeting house?
Members of the Historical Society have been cautious, as they have worked with Manley and the other
investigators. They have tried to balance the reactions of those who are skeptical about the ability to
communicate with the dead and those who want to experience the paranormal.
“We’ve been very careful to keep it in house,” said George Cornwall, a member of the Historical Society Board
of Directors. “There are so many people that are interested in [the paranormal] that may want to get in here.”
The Society does not want to become known for having a haunted building but they also do not want to limit the
possibility of finding out information about the building or the history of the building.
“Their request came to the [Society’s] Board of Directors,” said George Cornwall. “I was a new member. I
picked it up and said we ought to do this.”
Cornwall describes himself as someone that keeps his options open.
Manley approached the Ashburnham Historical Society because the building intrigued him. “The history of it and
what it was used for,” Manley said, adding that he believed there would be many spirits in such a building.
The building was constructed in 1791 on Meeting House Hill, in the northern and then-more settled part of town.
It was the town’s second meeting house and was used for town business, as a church and for other functions.
The building was moved in 1838 to its current location on Main Street, and served as town hall until 1905. During
the more than 60 years it served as town hall the building not only housed town offices, it also was used a jail.
Historical records have indications the building housed businesses at one time.
The building was bought by the Historical Society in 1905 and for many decades housed the town’s museum, as
well as dances and plays.
Manley and his crew would like to spend some time investigating the paranormal in some of the other buildings in
town. What they look for
Manley counts the investigations in Ashburnham as successful because the audio recordings have picked up
electronic voice phenomons (EVPs) – which are the recordings of voices that do not belong to people in the
room that range between clearly understood words and soft, mumblings. The investigations have also recorded
changes on a KII meter – which monitors electromagnetic fields.
Those who are skeptical about the paranormal communication will identify the EVPs as part of background
noises, random radio signals or even doctoring for the recording.
Manley said the Historical Society’s building has been full of EVPs. He cites recordings that show more than 100
EVPs during their last visit, when a normal investigation usually picks up about 30.
Manley said that some of the EVPs are open to interpretation and sometimes other people who have more
knowledge of the area have a better understanding of what might be being said.
“I don’t know everything,” Manley said. “I’m not always right.”
Through the course of the investigation - which usually last for about six hours and start as soon as it gets dark -
Manley and his group of investigators break into teams to work in different parts of the building. They begin by
introducing themselves and telling the entities that may or may not be in the building that they “just want to talk to
them,” and that they “are not there to cause harm.”
As the time progresses they ask the entities questions, such as who the president is, how many stars are on the
United States flag, and why are they there. After each question the investigator waits in case one of the entities
is responding through EVPs, which will be studied later as the recordings are reviewed.
The investigators also ask the entities to walk or go near the KII meters in hopes of picking up the
electromagnetic waves and as the entities to turn on or off the flashlights that are placed on the table, when
asked specific questions.
“We want to communicate with them,” Manley said.
The group has not decide how many more times they will be returning to the former town meeting house.
Showing their wares
But they will be opening up the process to the public on Saturday, April 30. On that evening the Ashburnham
Historical Society will host a program, Tools of the Paranormal Investigators 101 by Nightfall Paranormal, the
Methuen Night Watchers Chapter, starting at 6 p.m. when Manley and his team will explain their process, their
tools and some of what they have done in Ashburnham.
The event will be held at the Meeting House, 79 Main St., Ashburnham and tickets will be sold at the door and
are $15 for Historical Society members; $25 for non-members (those under 18 are asked bring an adult). All
proceeds to benefit the Meeting House repairs.
digital video recorder throughout the three floors of Ashburnham’s former meeting house.
After the sun set on Saturday, April 9, the recorders and cameras were turned on while loosely assembled
flashlights and electromagnetic field meters were placed on tables in the basement and the ground floor of the
meeting house.
“You know who we are, we’ve been here before,” Gary Manley, the founder and lead investigator of the
Methuen Chapter of Nightfall Paranormal, said introducing himself to those entities in the building.
Over the course of the last year, the Ashburnham Historical Society has allowed in members of the Methuen
Chapter of Nightfall Paranormal to conduct investigations into their Main Street building.
The group spent several hours in the building - which has had a varied history both on Main Street and on
Meeting House Hill - on Saturday night as they conducted their fourth investigation in search of and to
communicate with paranormal entities. Why Ashburnham’s meeting house?
Members of the Historical Society have been cautious, as they have worked with Manley and the other
investigators. They have tried to balance the reactions of those who are skeptical about the ability to
communicate with the dead and those who want to experience the paranormal.
“We’ve been very careful to keep it in house,” said George Cornwall, a member of the Historical Society Board
of Directors. “There are so many people that are interested in [the paranormal] that may want to get in here.”
The Society does not want to become known for having a haunted building but they also do not want to limit the
possibility of finding out information about the building or the history of the building.
“Their request came to the [Society’s] Board of Directors,” said George Cornwall. “I was a new member. I
picked it up and said we ought to do this.”
Cornwall describes himself as someone that keeps his options open.
Manley approached the Ashburnham Historical Society because the building intrigued him. “The history of it and
what it was used for,” Manley said, adding that he believed there would be many spirits in such a building.
The building was constructed in 1791 on Meeting House Hill, in the northern and then-more settled part of town.
It was the town’s second meeting house and was used for town business, as a church and for other functions.
The building was moved in 1838 to its current location on Main Street, and served as town hall until 1905. During
the more than 60 years it served as town hall the building not only housed town offices, it also was used a jail.
Historical records have indications the building housed businesses at one time.
The building was bought by the Historical Society in 1905 and for many decades housed the town’s museum, as
well as dances and plays.
Manley and his crew would like to spend some time investigating the paranormal in some of the other buildings in
town. What they look for
Manley counts the investigations in Ashburnham as successful because the audio recordings have picked up
electronic voice phenomons (EVPs) – which are the recordings of voices that do not belong to people in the
room that range between clearly understood words and soft, mumblings. The investigations have also recorded
changes on a KII meter – which monitors electromagnetic fields.
Those who are skeptical about the paranormal communication will identify the EVPs as part of background
noises, random radio signals or even doctoring for the recording.
Manley said the Historical Society’s building has been full of EVPs. He cites recordings that show more than 100
EVPs during their last visit, when a normal investigation usually picks up about 30.
Manley said that some of the EVPs are open to interpretation and sometimes other people who have more
knowledge of the area have a better understanding of what might be being said.
“I don’t know everything,” Manley said. “I’m not always right.”
Through the course of the investigation - which usually last for about six hours and start as soon as it gets dark -
Manley and his group of investigators break into teams to work in different parts of the building. They begin by
introducing themselves and telling the entities that may or may not be in the building that they “just want to talk to
them,” and that they “are not there to cause harm.”
As the time progresses they ask the entities questions, such as who the president is, how many stars are on the
United States flag, and why are they there. After each question the investigator waits in case one of the entities
is responding through EVPs, which will be studied later as the recordings are reviewed.
The investigators also ask the entities to walk or go near the KII meters in hopes of picking up the
electromagnetic waves and as the entities to turn on or off the flashlights that are placed on the table, when
asked specific questions.
“We want to communicate with them,” Manley said.
The group has not decide how many more times they will be returning to the former town meeting house.
Showing their wares
But they will be opening up the process to the public on Saturday, April 30. On that evening the Ashburnham
Historical Society will host a program, Tools of the Paranormal Investigators 101 by Nightfall Paranormal, the
Methuen Night Watchers Chapter, starting at 6 p.m. when Manley and his team will explain their process, their
tools and some of what they have done in Ashburnham.
The event will be held at the Meeting House, 79 Main St., Ashburnham and tickets will be sold at the door and
are $15 for Historical Society members; $25 for non-members (those under 18 are asked bring an adult). All
proceeds to benefit the Meeting House repairs.
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Few are looking beyond the expected in Ashburnham’s old meeting house
By Caitlyn Kelleher
By Caitlyn Kelleher