Nevada is what some call a ghost hunter's dream with several suspected ghost towns and haunted places.
Vipers Paranormal, a group of ghost hunters, set out for an investigation at the Lyon County Museum last Saturday.Â
"Well, we checked with the board, and everybody was kind of interested to see if we did have any energy in here at all and just to see what would come of it," said Mary Page the Treasurer for the Lyon County Board of Directors.
The Lyon County Board of Directors gave the thumbs up to investigate for paranormal activity.
If the museum is found to be haunted, they're hoping it will attract more people.
"I'm hoping that when he comes and gives a report to the board that they'll be happy with it and maybe give us a little shot in the arm and people will be more willing to come and see us," Page said.
Aside from a potential spiritual presence, there's over 100 years of history in the museum.Â
The museum displays a lot of antiques and details of the long history in Lyon County.
All workers are made up of volunteers, who aim to make sure it's not forgotten.
After a trip to it, Vipers Paranormal said that there was work to be done.
"I thought this would be an interesting place to do a paranormal investigation," said Founder of Vipers Paranormal Jerry Olsen.
Vipers stands for volunteer, investigative, paranormal, exploratory, research, society.
The team has embarked into the unknown for almost a decade.
Olsen's interest peaked at a young age.
"Remember when you were a kid and you had to do a book report in school," he said. "Mine was always on vampires, werewolves, ghosts, witches and all that stuff."
Olsen was a Washoe County Deputy Sheriff for nearly 20 years, and he's taken some of those skills and applied them to ghost hunting.
"You can have a scream one minute, you can be totally silent for hours," Olsen said. "You're always on edge and that's the same way you are as a deputy sheriff."
With each investigation, Olsen said there are not expectations for what they may or may not find.
"We try to debunk as much as we can," he claimed. "If we can't debunk it there's a good chance it's probably paranormal."
For frequent watchers of shows like Ghost Adventures, he said that's not the true reality.
"The scary music that you hear in the background on the TV shows is just for show. It's to get ratings. We're here to get evidence."
The passion runs in the family as Olsen is joined by his son and daughter on investigations.
He said his crew's safety is a top priority as trying to contact the paranormal is not something to take lightly.
"You have to take it seriously," Olsen said. "It's not just going out to a haunted house. It's totally different than that."
Anyone can sign up to follow alongside the team.
For a mother and son, it's an experience that means the world to them.
"This is our first time that we've done something together and I think it kind of bonded us a little bit more," said Sarai Romero.
"If she wasn't here, it wouldn't be exciting," said Hunter Romero.
Whether you're a believer or a skeptic, Olsen would love to have anybody come out to join them.
So, what does an investigation look like?
Me, Kaylynn Perez, and Jay Akers from 2 News followed them along.
Before it starts, everyone is required to sign a waiver for liability purposes for things like possession, disfigurement and psychosis.
There's also a set of rules that are advised, such as no running, no whispering and announcing yourself when walking into a room.
"We try to take care and let everybody know that this is something that can potentially hurt you," Olsen said.
A tour of the museum is then given, as antique dolls and manikins are spread throughout.
The crew maps out where they want to set things up, learn the rooms, and see which areas peak the most interest.
There were rumors of a presence of a little girl in the museum, as well as other things.
"We've also heard that there's been things moved and voices heard in the building," Olsen said. "So, we thought this would be a great time. So, I gathered my team up and here we are."Â
After the museum is set up, it's time for the setup. Which includes things such as EMF readers, night vision cameras, and digital audio recorders.
EMF readers measure the strength and frequency of electromagnetic fields to detect a spiritual presence.Â
Night visions cameras help to capture in the dark and the audio recorders help to pick whispers that may be missed by the human ear.
They even use simple five-dollar toys.
Home base is set up in the RV so they can keep an eye on things at all times.
When everything is set in motion, the investigation begins.
First, with using the EMF reader to make simple communication.
We entered the schoolhouse of the museum where Olson started to open a dialogue.
He asked the spirit for its name, and it was silent.
Once he instructed for the spirit to walk near the reader so it could go off, it started to ring.
When he asked if it could step away, the ringing stopped.
"First activity of the night," he said with enthusiasm.
After that, the team went through a sensory deprivation with a blind fold and headphones to see if anything could be heard over AM or FM frequencies.
Our 2 News producer Kaylynn Perez partook in the exercise.
"It feels like something is touching me," she said while we were in the room.
She claims she heard the word, die, twice during the deprivation.
Another practice is the use of a pendulum, which they can only ask yes or no questions.
Sarai asked if it was a boy as the pendulum slowly swung to yes as her wrist was completely still.
Olsen then asked if it was a demon, and anxiously it swung to no.
After a couple of hours, we decided to head back home.
We went to say goodbye and noticed that Olsen was in the schoolhouse again.
He's in the middle of asking a list of questions.
His daughter has an app called GhostTube on her phone that's connected to the recorder.
It translates what the recorder picks up.
One response was, "Am I dead?"
Olsen then said yes, and after what felt like years' worth of silence, Olsen then asked if it wanted us to leave and before he could finish his sentence, the app goes off.
"Run now" came out of the recorder, and we all listened and got out of there.
After the investigation is done, Olsen goes back to review the footage.
He said it's where they get most of their evidence.
"Reviewing is the main thing, when you listen to something, and you hear a voice that wasn't there when you were standing there. That's fulfillment."Â
When reviewing the footage, they found whispers of a "Hey" and "Hello".
Again, whether you believe in ghosts or not, Olsen said the choice is yours if you think it's real.
If you would like to join Vipers Paranormal on an investigation, you can visit their website below to sign up.
