Paranormal investigators may have spotted some supernatural activity inside Davenport's Rock n' Roll Mansion this Halloween.
On Saturday, October 31, 2015, a group from Rock Island Paranormal spent the night inside the mansion at 1229 Brady Street, home to 104.9 The Hawk, 97X, and B100.
Before the building became a radio station in the late 1980s, the Rock n' Roll Mansion was Hill and Fredericks Mortuary. The funeral home was originally built in 1929, just before the stock market crash.
DJs have long reported unexplained phenomena in the building, including an elevator that supposedly moves between floors and mysterious footsteps above the studios.
On Halloween, investigators set up five infrared video cameras throughout the mansion, as well as several motion detectors. Groups also conducted EVP sessions in the upstairs sales offices and the basement, asking questions and hoping to capture any electronic voice phenomena on audio recorders.
"The goal is to give validation," said Jason Hess, a member of Rock Island Paranormal. "It's nice to be able to go to these people and say, 'You know, I experienced the same thing, and I caught it on tape. Is this what you saw?' And if it's the same, it puts a lot of people's minds at ease."
Hess explained that real investigations, though, are nothing like the TV shows. It typically takes him two hours to review every one hour of recorded audio, and long stretches can go by without any sort of paranormal activity.
That stretch was broken Saturday night when Hess discovered two unexplained voices captured by an audio recorder in the basement.
"At that time, we left the room and I was standing about 10 feet away from the room, watching the motion sensor," said Hess.
More investigation will be needed as the group tries to debunk their own findings. Still, members say there may very well be something supernatural inside the Rock n' Roll Mansion.
"I believe there's something here. I believe there's some paranormal activity. If it's haunted or not... that depends on your definition," said Hess.