On Tuesday, Oct. 23, the Idaho State University Student Activities Board hosted the Southeast Idaho Paranormal Organization (SEIPO). Beginning with a brief lecture on paranormal investigation followed by a Q&A session, the primary focus of the event was a paranormal tour of the ISU campus.
John Brian, a founding member of SEIPO, discussed his interest in the paranormal as well as some personal experiences he’s had, ending with the query that brought him to this campus: “Is ISU haunted?” This question served as the guiding point for the remainder of the evening.
Despite the somewhat chilling nature of the evening, the general tone was lighthearted. Lisa Brian, a senior leading investigator of SEIPO joked, “It’s always the guys that run and scream.”
John Brian commented, “We have more to fear from the living than the dead.”
The tour focused on three buildings on the ISU campus: Gravely Hall, the Administration Building and Frazier Hall. Each location was presided over by a member of the SEIPO team. The team member would retell firsthand accounts or rumors about each building, and then lead a brief discussion.
Perhaps the most chilling story was told in Frazier Hall by John Brian. Brian quickly debunked the popular story that the hall is haunted by a ghost named Alex, attributing the rumor to “a group of students and a professor.”
However, he said that he’s had first-hand experiences in Frazier that caused him to believe that the building is indeed haunted. During one investigation of Frazier, a member of ISU Public Safety “let us in and locked the door behind us,” to ensure that they were alone. While investigating the theater area, Brian and a colleague saw someone “walk across the railing of the balcony.”
Brian panicked, thinking perhaps the doors hadn’t been locked correctly, but quickly realized that even if they hadn’t “we would have heard them.” Brian remembers that the figure was carrying keys that made an audible noise.
Brian later spoke to an unnamed woman “with an accent” who told him that Frazier Hall was haunted by a man named Fritz, a janitor who once worked there and “always had keys.”
SEIPO, a local organization, serves two purposes according to Lisa Brian: community involvement and satisfying personal curiosity on the part of the members.
“All of us are in the group for personal reasons,” said Brian, “and we all bring something unique to the table. As for whether paranormal activity truly exists, according to John Brian, “It just depends on how open your mind is.”
SEIPO can be found online at www.seipo.org and on Facebook.