In an attempt to further develop my psychic senses, I have been subjecting myself to places that myself or others know to be haunted. My goal is to get to the point where I can tell what it is that I am feeling when I sense a spirit or other entity so that I feel more in control and less threatened by them. For most of my life I have sensed the presence of spirits and other entities. When I was a kid I could actually see them. Although I cannot see them like I was once able to, I have found that I can pick up impressions from the spirits or entities that can tell me something about them. I feel that this could not only help myself but also the spirits or those who have felt threatened by them. One of the most haunted places in central Ohio is the landmarks around The Oval at The Ohio State University. My girlfriend attends this college and was more than happy to take me on a tour of the four haunted areas in this relatively small plot of land while simultaneously enjoying what this campus had to offer in the form of worldly things. I had done minimal research before my visit. I wanted to compare my experiences with what had already been documented by others once I had returned home.
>This is one of the oldest buildings on campus and was the most active, paranormal wise, during our visit. I was told that it was haunted by Edward Orton, Sr. (the person for whom the building was built for) and that his spirit is usually seen up in the tower.
From the moment that we got to the front steps of the building, I picked up on the "smell" of an old moth ball smelling suit or sweater and a taste that I originally thought to be tobacco. It was a very odd oily taste. I later found out that Orton used to read with an oil lamp up in the tower. I also caught the scent of old books before I entered the building. I later found out that the building houses a library. We made our way to the exhibit room inside the building and we were greeted by this.
This had been the first time that I had seen dinosaur bones so I naturally got out my camera to take a picture. That's when I started hearing someone knocking on one of the double doors that we had entered the room through. I checked to see if it was a staff member who was opposed to us taking pictures, but no one was there. The doors had windows so I could see through to the other side. As I investigated this knocking further it got louder and became accompanied by rattling. It became very loud and physical sounding, but I could find no physical explanation for it.
Once I actually started to browse the exhibits, the noises stopped entirely. I later found out that Orton, along with a "caveman built like a football player" are known to make these sounds in an attempt to maintain order in the building.
Our next stop was at Hayes Hall. The part of the building that is said to be haunted, the downstairs entrance room, is closed from the general public but we were able to walk underneath the main floor entrance. I was not told anything about this haunting other than that there was a haunting there.
As we came to the door which was underneath the main entrance way, I felt right away that there was something significant about it. I tried to connect with whatever spirit that was residing in the room behind the door but it did not wish to reveal itself so I respectfully moved on after a couple of instances of sensing nothing but a dark figure coming up to me and going away.
I later found out that this particular area of the building is supposedly haunted by former President of the United States of America Rutherford B. Hayes. The building was erected in his honor. If I had known this ahead of time, I would have been much more respectful in my approach and would have addressed him as President. Could this be why he did not wish to reveal himself to me? I later found out that it is reported that he unlocks the door under the main entrance when students cannot seem to get in through the main entrances and have legitimate business there.
Once I had done more research on President Hayes, I found out that he was very involved in academics at OSU before and after his presidency. He helped found the school during his stint as governor of Ohio and served on the board after his presidency. He advocated the introduction of African American students in to college. I also discovered that he was once married but had to live through the passing of his wife in his later years. His last words were "I know that I'm going where [she] is." With all due respect, I have to wonder if he really did end up where she is or if he is stuck at Hayes Hall with unfinished work.
Our next stop was at Hopkins Hall where a female student had gotten stuck in an elevator over night and reportedly ended up having a nervous breakdown. She had written things on the walls of the elevator during her ordeal. She was later killed in a car accident after she had graduated. It is reported that her writings can still be found in the elevator from time to time and that the elevator still gets stuck on the fourth floor, particularly when a student is running late for class.
My girlfriend did not wish to ride the elevator up because of her general dislike of being stuck in elevators (not because it was supposedly haunted). Aside from the doors being dreadfully slow, we did not experience anything while riding in this elevator. I glanced around to see if I could spot writings but I could not find anything but scratches near the floor which were likely from shoe scuffs over a long period of time.
After we had exited the elevator, I opened myself up to sensing anything from it. I got the impression of a female banging on the doors and finally coming to rest in the back right corner of the elevator. There was definitely an impression left there from the student's ordeal but I didn't feel as if the student was still there herself.
After this experience I began to feel some pain in my head. I believe that this may have affected my abilities at the last two haunted locations that we visited. At the last one, Mirror Lake, I did not feel or experience a thing so I will leave it out of this entry. Instead, I will now only focus on our second from last haunted stop which was Bricker Hall.
I was not told much of anything about this haunting, mainly because my girlfriend had forgotten any details of it. However, she did mention that the person's ashes were stored in a brick that was a part of the inner building. While we rested in the main lobby, I noticed a light flickering. I did not think much of this at the time, but I later found out that this was a classic report of this particular haunting. The ashes belong to a member of the Board of Trustees, and there have been reports of the spirit of this person drinking punch in the main lobby.
However, I didn't feel as if there was a spirit in the main lobby until just before we were about to leave. I mostly felt a presence downstairs which seemed to be moving from place to place. Whatever it seemed to be very busy and did not seem to have any influence over the physical world, at least at the time we were there. Either that or the pain in my head was preventing me from experiencing much. The most that I could pick up on was the person's hair, or lack thereof, and a possible sweater.
Being that this is a college and rumors run wild at colleges, I would expect that some of what is told about these hauntings may be exaggerated. The proximity of these hauntings and the similarity in some of the tales may suggest this as well. However, I believe that Orton Hall, in particular, is a very active haunted site. I do not wish to discredit the other hauntings, though. I picked up psychic impressions at all of them except for Mirror Lake and I believe it was due to the fact that I had exhausted my abilities. The area around The Oval at OSU campus is the oldest and thus it makes sense that there would be at least some activity there. I simply believe that there may be other explanations, such as hazing, that could account for some of the experiences.
If anything, this is testimony from an objective outsider who seriously believes in the possibility but takes a skeptical stance until certain criteria are met. Orton Hall met my criteria for both psychic and physical evidence. The rest were just psychic impressions, which while very real to me, prove nothing to anyone else. My girlfriend also heard the banging and rattling at Orton Hall. That's good enough evidence for me.
