Pinal County, Arizona Courthouse Ghosts Require Further Investigation

"Go back to heaven."

Now, really, what an odd thing to say ... unless, of course, you're a ghost?

This is just one of seven electronic voice phenomena (EVPs) recorded on the evening of April 19 and early morning of April 20 when the East Valley Paranormal Society spent the night in the Second Pinal County Courthouse.

After hearing and viewing all their audio and video of that visit, the group presented its findings to a small group of Pinal County government representatives earlier this month. The society collected EVPs and several photos and videos of unexplained sights, but stopped short of calling Florence's 1891 courthouse haunted.

The East Valley Paranormal Society classifies the places it investigates from 1 to 5. A "1" is a place with no interaction, and a 5 involves interaction with spirits by several witnesses. After their initial visit, they classified Florence's old courthouse a 3.

The society wants to return, with a smaller group of perhaps just six investigators and only one or two county government observers, to see if the kind of evidence they saw last month is still there.

The group is especially interested in a second-floor room it used as its control room. The room was locked all night and was empty except for one of the group's infrared cameras on a tripod.

The tape reveals a shadow appearing on the wall and door five different times. At other times, a dark object darts through the door at about waist level. An infrared camera represents dark objects as white, and vice-versa, so the shadow is actually showing the presence of light. The dark object is apparently not a bat, because bats appear white.

"We feel that's an actual apparition walking around in that room," Kim Mann, founder and director of the East Valley Paranormal Society, told county staff.

The group is hesitant to call the courthouse haunted, however, without more study. "We want to make sure there's no way for light to be coming through from behind the camera," Mann said, although the tape did not indicate a shadow made by the camera or tripod. The room was last a Juvenile Probation office before county government vacated the building.

A camera in the courtroom also recorded a black object darting over the railing at least four different times and "a big ball of light" that was "not your typical orb," according to the society's written report of the evening.

Cameras elsewhere in the courthouse captured white or blue orbs, which some society members believe are balls of energy indicating a paranormal presence. There were three orbs in the old courtroom, one in the lobby, a couple of them moving around in the basement, a solid white one in the attic and a blue one in an old records room. In all, the group captured 12 phenomena on film.

Just before 11 p.m. there was a loud metallic clattering on the main floor near the front doors. It was heard by the entire group of 10 society members scattered around the building, plus county government chaperones. They were unable to find a natural explanation for the noise.

Electronic voice phenomena, or EVPs, are noises and human-like voices that occur in room noise at a frequency below what humans normally hear. The society's digital voice recorders are turned all the way up to capture the sounds.

The group recorded a total of seven EVPs in the old courthouse. All were played back for Pinal County representatives and the local news at the group's presentation. Besides the one noted at the beginning of this article, another of the more interesting ones was a melodious baritone voice singing or yelling in the old conference room behind the assessor's office.

Another can be heard saying "Angie" - the name of a group member - in the main floor jail room.

In the courtroom, an investigator can be heard asking about feelings. An EVP is heard to clearly respond with the word "sad." At another time, also in the courtroom, an investigator is speaking and an EVP sounds like a woman's voice saying "hi."

"We believe there are spirits present," the group's conclusion in its written report states. "So many things happened this evening that are unexplainable. Noticeable temperature fluctuations, the loud strange noise and (an) unexplainable feeling someone was watching you are typical with an intelligent haunting.

"On a scientific point of view, we would have to say there is inconclusive evidence that this building is haunted. However, it does have its share of unexplained activity.

"We feel in order to really determine whether or not the building is truly haunted, a reinvestigation is needed. A smaller team would be brought in and we would concentrate on those areas where we feel the greatest need would be focused."

Pinal County Arizona Courthouse Haunted
Pinal County Arizona Courthouse Haunted