Ghost hunters: Derby opera house has energy

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Ghost hunters: Derby opera house has energy
August 18, 2010
By Patricia Villers
New Haven Register

DERBY — The stately Sterling Opera House is filled with energies and entities, according to several paranormal investigators who visited the 121-year-old building Friday night.

Rich DiCarlo, the Cultural Commission chairman, is trying to get the public interested in the future of the opera house, which needs a major renovation.

The Elizabeth Street structure was the first building in Connecticut to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In its heyday, it played host to performers ranging from musician John Philip Sousa to comedian Red Skelton to magician Harry Houdini.



In 1936, flier Amelia Earhart addressed a city women’s club there.

DiCarlo invited a team from Above the Realm into the dusty opera house, and asked the Register to tag along for what he has described as a “fascinating” visit.

Haunted? You be the judge.

DiCarlo has taken several groups of paranormal investigators (ghost hunters) through the building over the past year.

Above the Realm was founded by Colchester resident John Silviera, a former real estate agent. He said during a break they had found plenty of activity inside. For information about Above the Realm, visit www.abovetherealm.co.cc.

Dee Dove of Enfield accompanied the group. She said her role as a psychic is “to demystify and educate people” about the energies found everywhere.

She said she has had psychic experiences since she was a child.

Dove and the investigators spoke with what some believed to be a boy named Andrew in the second-floor stairwell. The team put several toys, including a ball, on the steps, and placed a flashlight there.

They told him if he wanted to play catch with them that he should turn the flashlight off and on.

After a while, the light did go off and on. DiCarlo said investigators believe there are spirits of more than one child in the building.

When the group descended into the basement, Dove felt the presence of a man who held a hammer-like object. She could see the hammer being used as a weapon against another man. Dove drew the weapon on a piece of paper on a clipboard, talking to investigators as she drew.

Dove sensed a tragic accident had occurred near a coal furnace. She could “see” someone gasping for breath and said it was possible that a worker had been smothered by coal that had come down a chute and buried him.

When the team ascended the narrow stairway into the building’s tower, members sat in a circle on the floor and used a “ghost box” to try to communicate with spirits.

DiCarlo said a box “is a radio that has been altered and is on all frequencies simultaneously.” He said it was “a common tool” for paranormal researchers, which allows a spirit “to communicate in the white noise of the sound spectrum.”

While using the ghost box, the group seemed to make contact with a man named Elliott. The investigators asked the spirit the name of the town in which they were located. After a brief pause, the word “Derby” could be heard through the static.

DiCarlo said for those visitors who are open to the possibility, the opera house can be seen as a place filled with spirits, and active ones at that.

He said he has heard footsteps, seen shadows and sparkling lights and felt cold spots, all things that lead him to believe there is a lot of activity within the walls.

“Having an open mind is essential,” DiCarlo said. “We’ve got something here. People should just look at it, and enjoy.”