Miami, OK
History
Built
in 1928 by George L. Coleman, Sr., a local mining magnate, the
"Coleman Theatre Beautiful" began as a vaudeville theatre and movie
palace. On April 18, 1929, opening day, all 1,600 seats were
filled and since that day the theatre has never been
"dark."
With it's Louis XV design, the
Coleman Theatre is sure to impress any visitor just as it did when
it first opened. The theatre served host to some of
Hollywood's biggest names, such as Dean Martin, Will Rogers and Bob
Hope. Rich opulent reds and golds invite you to step back in
time to a more sophisticated era.
Underneath the Coleman's exterior lies the
reported existence of several paranormal presences. Volunteer
workers who have been with the theatre for many years have had
countless personal experiences with those who permanently reside at
the Coleman Theatre. A veil of mystery covers this opulent
structure, perpetuated by remnants of a funeral home and morgue,
complete with crematorium, located in what is now the basement of
the Coleman Theatre. Adding to the mystery, the entire
theatre was built by the Boller Brothers in less than one year;
moreover, there is no known documentation or photographs of the
Coleman Theatre's construction.
The Coleman Theatre is currently
undergoing extensive renovation to restore it to its original
grandeur. With its grand design, perfect acoustics and
paranormal occurrences the Coleman Theatre Beautiful is certainly
one amazing place to visit. Whether you wish to see an opera,
join a mystery tour or marvel at one of Oklahoma's greatest
treasures, the Coleman provides a worthwhile gaze into Oklahoma's
past.
Reports of Paranormal Activity
• Disembodied voices
• USPs
• Kinetic activity
• Full bodied apparitions (including interactive apparitions)
• Orbs seen with the naked eye
• Olfactory manifestations
Investigation Saturday, February 10th, 2007
Team Members Present: Derek, Anthony, Tony, Russell, Trey
The
Team has visited the Coleman many times in the past year. We
were able to sweep and investigate many rooms in this terrific
theatre. Many of the team members had their own
personal experience, including witnessing apparitions, shadow
people, orbs and kinetic activity. In one instance, the whole
team witnessed as one investigator was hit harmlessly with a ball.
We all heard the ball make contact with the investigator and
then hit the floor and roll a few feet, however, regardless of our
search, we were unable to find said ball. Later the team
member remarked, "It didn't hurt, kind of felt like a small rubber
bouncy ball."
We are planning a return visit to
The Coleman Theatre in the following few months. Look for our
more in-depth investigation results.
Equipment Used
• RCA Digital Voice Recorder
• Canon Digital ELPH Camera
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Investigation Saturday, March 10th, 2007
C.O.P.S. Team members present: Tony, Russell, and Conrad
Coleman Employees Present: Larry
This
investigation was for the most part unplanned. Tony and
Russell went to pick up Conrad from Joplin, Missouri and stopped by
the Coleman Theatre to ask Larry a few questions about future
investigations. By the wishes of Larry, COPS stayed to
conduct a full investigation of the Coleman Theatre.
There are eight main areas to the Coleman Theatre:
The Lobby/Mezzanine
The Stage (both front and backstage)
The North Basement (Under the stage, contains the green room and the room)
The Dressing Rooms
The Balcony
Coleman's Office (Now used as storage)
The South Basement (Old Boiler, generator/HVAC room, and Stuart's room)
The Ballroom
To say
the Coleman Theatre is huge is an understatement. There was a
lot of ground to cover with just four people, so the investigation
immediately began around 8 o'clock. The team started out in
the stage/balcony part of the theatre. Video was set up on
stage as well as the voice recorder. Russell, Tony, and Larry
remained on stage while Conrad and the two Elders went up to the
balcony with the ELF EMF and the IR thermometer. Russell had
the Gaussmaster to help facilitate any communication with the
spirits of the Coleman.
Russell led the IRC's on stage while the balcony
team swept the balcony with the ELF and IR thermometer. While
up there, Conrad noted a temperature drop and EMF activation.
When one of the elders tried finding the source of the EMF
fluctuation, none could be found. Meanwhile on stage, Russell
continued to ask questions while holding the Gaussmaster to allow
activation of a possible responsive answer. None were
noted. EMF meters are hard to use in the theatre because of
the miles of electric wire used throughout the building and on
stage. After a knock test, the team headed back into the
lobby to wait while Larry took to the two elders home; however, the
team did leave audio and video recording on stage.
The
next area the team focused on were the dressing rooms, the very top
dressing room in particular. Because of the size of the
dressing rooms, two people went up at a time. Russell and
Larry went up first and set up video and audio. Tony and
Conrad stayed in the stage area observing. Once Russell and
Larry were in place, Russell began asking questions. The
story behind the dressing rooms is that of a young chorus girl who
does not like it when other people are in her dressing room.
Because of this story, Russell geared the questioning to this woman
spirit. Questions such as "Why do you not allow people up
here," and "what was the last play you remember as a chorus girl,"
were asked. Russell knocked on the counter three times with
no response. After about 15 minutes, Larry and Russell
switched positions with Tony and Conrad.
While
Tony and Conrad were up in the dressing room, they styled the IRC's
a little differently. Instead of outright asking questions,
they carried on a normal conversation about ghosts and the Coleman
Theatre. Sometimes when just speaking with a fellow
investigator disembodied voices can appear on audio. Maybe
they feel left out of the conversation; maybe they want to add
their opinion to it. These are some of the different
techniques COPS tries to utilize during an
investigation.
Instead of sitting and observing the theater as
Tony and Conrad did, Russell and Larry went behind the curtains to
the backstage area. No recording devices were used during
this time, but Larry did tell the story of the only reported
menacing presence in the theatre: The Stage Phantom.
Apparently, the stage phantom only stays near the stage area and
will not enter any other part of the theater. A young
football player, alone, once entered the theatre late in the
evening to retrieve something accidentally left behind. After
entering the theatre through the stage doors, he quickly retrieved
what he lost. Before he could exit the stage, though, an unseen
force pushed the football player off the edge of the stage and onto
floor below; Larry also reports experiencing the exact same
phenomena whilst on stage. These stories in mind, Russell
began asking questions as to why the phantom is so violent towards
people. It was at this time both Russell and Larry felt a
cold breeze blow by when there was no draft. In conjunction with
the breeze, something touched Russell on the chest and air became
much thicker and harder to breathe.
Tony
and Conrad came down from the dressing room and set up equipment
backstage. Russell and Larry decided to head to the south
basement while Tony and Conrad conducted IRC's. Through the
20 minutes or so of IRC's, Tony and Conrad did not experience
anything out of the ordinary; however, our voice recorders recorded
several EVP's from this period. Larry told Russell some more
history about the south basement, how it contained the foundations
of the funeral home that had once stood there, and this history of
Stuart and his "room."
Many
believe Stuart to be the poltergeist spirit that roams the Coleman
Theatre. Poltergeist is a German word meaning "ghost."
Contrary to the movie by the same name, Poltergeists are rarely
evil and violent beings but rather ones of a playful nature.
Activity of a poltergeist can include kinetic activity, lights
turning on and off, and electronic equipment malfunctioning or
operating on said equipment's own accord. On the last visit
to the Coleman, a member had left a hat on a chair in the lobby,
and upon returning, the team found the hat on the other side of the
room. Most associated with The Coleman believe "Stuart” to be
a little boy whose body happened to be in the funeral home the
night it caught fire. When George Coleman built the theatre,
Stuart stayed behind and now haunts the building. Stuart's
Room is simply a crawl space underneath a ramp entering one side of
the theatre. It is thought that Stuart comes to this room
when he is scared or hurt. When the theatre was in its first
stages of restoration, some workers found a door blocking the
entrance to what is now Stuart's room. Written on that door, in
white chalk, the words "Stuart's Room" covered top half of the
door. The name has stuck since.
Tony
radioed Russell to meet back up with them in the lobby to head to
the next location together. The team chose the north end
basement as our next area of investigation. The north basement is
directly underneath the stage and contains the green room, and two
storage/prop rooms. One of these rooms, the dark room, is
simply a workshop where stagehands create molds and props can be
stored. The room obtained the name "dark room" because once
one turns off the single bulb, one cannot see their hand in front
of their face.
The
team set up video and audio inside the green room to start
out. As everyone was turning off the assorted number of
lamps, everyone heard footsteps above them, on stage.
These could have been the same footsteps captured on audio the
first time the team went to the Coleman. No one else was in
the Coleman at this time, but Tony and Conrad went to check if
anyone was there anyway. No one was present. Russell
led the questioning and conversation aspect of the audio
session. Assorted noises did filter through the green room
ceiling but were too faint to correctly identify. Before the
team went into the dark room, Russell went on stage to recreate the
footsteps everyone heard earlier.
The
team members headed into the dark room and set up audio and
video. Russell led the standard EVP session but no one noted
anything of unusual origin. Russell and Larry did however see
a white streak of light in the dark room. There are no
possible leaks of external light in the "dark room." To no avail,
the team tried to recreate lights shining from various origins.
Therefore, the teamed ruled out any natural light as a possible
false positive. In addition, we captured several EVP's before
and after the streak of light in the dark room. (Disclaimer: When
listening to the EVP's recorded from this location, some of the
voices do swear.)
After
leaving the north basement, everyone headed to Stuart's room to
conduct a sit-down. The team placed a recorder in the middle
of the room and Russell led the majority of the questioning.
The entire team, including Larry, was curious to hear any answers
at all. Unfortunately, after reviewing the tape, Stuart did
not speak to COPS that night.
The
final room left to investigate was the ballroom. Built
originally as the Coleman ballroom, the Mason’s soon converted Mr.
Coleman's ballroom into a makeshift Masonic Lodge. Coleman
himself was a high level Mason and after their lodge burned to the
ground, Coleman opened his doors to his brothers. Bricks with
engraved Masonic symbols served as the floor and ceiling of
otherwise wooden rooms standing in the middle of the
ballroom. It is thought that perhaps past mason brothers
still haunt the ballroom and their lodge, not allowing anyone that
is a non-Mason to enter.
COPS
entered the ballroom through the double set of doors leading from
the sidewalk. This is the only way in and out as of this
writing. Plans are underway to install an entrance to the
ballroom from the mezzanine level inside the theatre. The
tape recorder was placed in the direct center of the room and
everyone stood around as several questions were asked regarding the
Mason spirits' feelings about the renovations and if they wish for
their temple work to be completed. No voices were found to be
on the tape later during review. After this, the team decided
that it was finally time for the investigation to shut
down.
The
Coleman Theatre is a great place to visit even without the reports
of paranormal activity. The beauty of the architecture and
the miraculous detail put into everything from the carpet to the
gold leafing trim in the raised ceiling is enough to inspire awe in
anyone who walks through the lobby doors. COPS is grateful
for the chance to investigate this theatre and wishes everyone who
is involved with the theatre a bountiful thank you.
Equipment Used
• Sony ICD-120 Voice Recorder
• Canon ELPH digital camera
• ELF EMF detector
• Gaussmaster EMF detector
• Sony Handycam Camcorder
• 48 LED IR Illuminator
• Sony HI8 Camcorder
_____________________________________________________________
Investigation August 25th, 2007
When
the invitation was extended for the Central Oklahoma Paranormal
Studies team to return, once again, to the Coleman Theatre, we
gladly accepted. This particular site is one that we hold dear; the
splendor and elegance of the facility is simply inspiring. Our
earlier investigations had yielded many possible paranormal events,
and we simply could not ignore another opportunity to continue our
study of such a place. It is important to note that the town of
Miami, Oklahoma had recently fell victim to serious flooding. Many
homes and business were damaged and the town left ravaged in the
flood’s wake. However, the fortitude of this great community came
together and did not let this disaster damage their resolve. In
situations such as this, The Coleman Theatre serves the town as a
control point but, unfortunately, did suffer some flooding as well.
The towns engineer crews worked diligently and with great fervor to
pump water from the basements of the Coleman, circumventing and
helping to prevent any damage to this wonderful Oklahoma
landmark.
Our
team was few in numbers for this investigation, but we have found
that in some sites the fewer the people, the more the paranormal
results. Persons present during the investigation:
C.O.P.S. members: Tony (who joined late due to automobile mishaps),
Russ, and JohnColeman Employee: Larry
Guests: Chris Brethwaite, a paranormal investigator from Kansas City and Sharyl, John's wife, who assisted in monitoring the DVR system.
At
approximately 2057 hrs, John and Russ began setting up the DVR
cameras and stationary audio recorders. Once these items were set,
Russ, enlisting the help of Larry and Chris, continued to set up
the equipment while John and Sharyl did a walk through of the
theatre. Sharyl had never visited the Coleman Theatre and was
excited to observe the opulent beauty and subtle nuances that
endear the building to one’s heart. Sharyl and John started out in
the South basement, walking through and looking, simply taking in
the theatre. They were, however, not without audio recorders and a
video camera during this time. No unusual events were observed
during this part of their walk through.
After
moving from the basements areas, at approximately 2150 hrs, Sharyl
and John walked through the Backstage/Greenroom/Darkroom areas
while running audio and video. Again, nothing paranormal was
witnessed. After a quick sweep of the areas, Sharyl stationed
herself at the DVR system and began monitoring the four video
feeds.
With
all equipment in place, Russ, John, Larry and Chris moved to the
south basement at 2204 hrs. The team began I.R.C.s on the boiler
side at 2207 hrs, at which time shadow movement was observed and
confirmed by all present. Debunking the shadows proved to be a
difficult task due to the amount of equipment in the basement.
Russ, however, attempted to recreate the shadows or find a
plausible cause but exhausted all options and turned up no relevant
conclusions. The group performed a knock test at 2212 hrs, yet, no
response was noted. At 2220 hrs, the group observed the shadow
movement once again, but the cause remained unknown. At 2224 hrs,
the group moved to the "Stewart's Room" area of the South basement.
Upon arriving the group observed an olfactory anomaly of slight bay
rum; which, this olfactory occurrence is typical of this site. The
story goes that a former Stage Manager, Mr. Roberts, who worked
very hard during his life of devotion to the Coleman, had a habit
of wearing a considerable amount of bay rum cologne in attempts to
cover his personal odor that occurred after a day of constantly
breaking a sweat. They say that the spirit of Mr. Roberts is one
that still remains in the building. The slight bay rum olfactory
soon turned much more noticeable, for at 2230 hrs, three of the
group experienced a strong smell of bay rum, enough to cause a
stinging, burning sensation in their nostrils. A few minutes later,
at 2238 hrs, John experienced a cold spot on his right hand, which
the infra-red thermometer confirmed: showing a difference of 5 °F
between the surface temperatures of his hands. No other correlating
events were experienced in the south basement and at 2251 hrs, the
group left the area.
The
bay rum smell seemed to follow the group as they ascended the
stairs leading to the greenroom. At approximately 2327 hrs, John,
Russ, Larry, and Chris entered the Greenroom doors. Two minutes
after their entry, the bay rum continued, for Russ, Larry and
Chris, however John did not correlate the smell. While everyone was
sitting still, listening and observing, John and Russ heard what
sounded like a swallow, cough or hiccup in the center of the room,
but there was no apparent cause. Another knock test was performed
at 2335 hrs, with no response. Shortly after the knock test, Russ
and Chris experimented with attempting to, at their request, induce
a temperature variance in the room. When Russ and Chris asked for
the temperature to increase by a few degrees, contrary to
expectation, the I.R. thermometer recorded a marked increase in the
room’s ambient temperature. The experiment proved successful, once
again, as Russ and Chris requested for the room’s temperature to
noticeably decrease and the I.R. thermometer, as it did before,
recorded a drop in the room’s ambient temperature. This process was
repeated twice, once asking for an increase in warmth and once
asking for the temperature to decrease. As before, with both
requests, the temperature responded to their liking. A little while
later, 2343 hrs, Russ and John heard a growling noise in the center
of the room. At 2353 hrs. the group concluded in the Greenroom and
moved to the Darkroom where they began I.R.C.s. While in the
darkroom, at 2358 hrs, there was a footstep-esque noise at the back
of the room away from where everyone was standing. At 2359 hrs. a
large metal frame that was leaned on the wall, near where we heard
the first sound, slid sideways and crashed on the floor. All
attempts to recreate this event proved pointless. The movement was
significant and would take a great deal of pressure to push the
metal frame in such a manner to make it fall sideways. The loud
crashing sound was a bit unnerving to most of the group. At 0018
hrs, a knock test was administered with no response and six minutes
later, 0024 hrs, the team concluded the investigation in the North
basement.
At
approximately 0045 hrs, Tony arrived on location and immediately,
without doing a walk though, moved to the stage area, where he
remained for the following hour. In complete darkness and with
audio recorders and video recorders focused on him, Tony observed
unknown noises and a white ball of light in the balcony area, as
well as what appeared to be a shadow silhouette of a human in the
same location. He also heard what sounded like a female voice
saying "hello" or "help" from the balcony area. After the female
voice, Tony said he heard what sounded like a metal object similar
to a ring scraping along the metal railing at the edge of the
balcony. While near the back stage area, Tony stated that he
experienced a feeling of being watched or threatened by something
or someone in the backstage area and heard what sounded like a
chair scraping when no chairs were around. At one point, Tony
stated that it seemed as if there were a large crowd of people
staring at him and his body temperature increased, as if hot irons
were pressed against him. It is important to note that none of what
Tony experienced was captured on audio or video and his stay on the
stage was purely subjective and could only become objective in the
event that correlating data was collected.
At
0200 hrs, Tony and John moved to the balcony area to conduct
conversational I.R.C.s. Both team members heard a female voice that
appeared to be in distress, like a moan or distant yell. Shortly
after this noise, Russ interrupted this investigation due to his
observation of movement on the stationary DVR camera that we
positioned in the Backstage area. Tony and John rushed to the
Backstage area to investigate, finding no human interaction with
our equipment. Tony and John uncovered no evidence of anyone in the
area and all persons inside the Coleman were accounted for during
the time of the movement. It is important to note that the movement
was very slight and all attempts to recreate proved futile. DVR
cameras, historically, have a shortcoming of what is referred to as
"Digital Shift". Digital shift occurs when the image being
recorded, "shifts," usually up or down and gives the appearance
that the physical camera has moved. The cause and reasoning behind
this is not known to the team at this point, but will be
investigated further to understand why this occurs. The apparent
movement Backstage could have been a result of "Digital Shift" and
will be discounted due to no other corroborating
evidence.
At
approximately 0300 hrs, Chris departed the investigation to head
home. Around 0330 hrs, the team broke down the equipment and packed
up the vehicles. John and Sharyl left the investigation at around
0430 hrs., while Tony, Russ and Larry continued to sit in the
auditorium area quietly observing until the sun came up, at which
time they departed as well.
Conclusion
This
investigation proved to be most interesting to say the least.
Everyone present has these events as part of their memory and
certainly will cherish it. The C.O.P.S. team feels so close to the
Coleman Theatre and the wonderful ambiance it imbues. Our trips to
the Coleman are much like going to a close friend's home and being
able to visit with this site and its people is comforting, joyful
experience for us. The personal experiences that we had as well as
the evidence collected will greatly add to furthering our
understanding of the paranormal nature of sites such as this. We
would like to say that a deep felt thanks goes out to the
individuals responsible for the Coleman and for keeping part of
Oklahoma's history alive and well. We look forward to many more
evenings well spent at this awe inspiring location.
Equipment Used
• Four Camera DVR System
• Sony Handycam Video Camera
• Sony ICD-B120 Audio Recorder
• Sony ICD-B500 Audio Recorders
• RCA RP5022A Audio Recorder
• RCA RP5012B Audio Recorder
• K-II EMF Detectors
• Fieldpiece IR Thermometer
• Kodak EasyShare Digital Camera
Weather/Environmental Data for 08-25-2007
Mean Temperature: 76 °F
Dew Point: 70 °F
Average Humidity: 90%
Precipitation: 1.75 in.
Sea Level Pressure: 29.99 in.
Wind Speed Average: 7 mph
Max Wind Speed: 23 mph
Max Gust Speed: 29 mph
Visibility: 9 miles
Sunrise: 6:44 AM
Sunset: 7:57 PM
Moonrise: 6:32 PM
Moonset: 3:20 AM
Moon: waxing (Full on 8/28/2007)