Ghost hunters at Detroit’s Redford Theatre detect spirits on stage, in hallway, on chair

Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press
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“I want to believe.”

Fictional FBI agent Fox Mulder made that phrase popular in the 1990s on the TV show "The X-Files" as he and partner Dana Scully explored the paranormal. It’s exactly what members of the Motor City Ghost Hunters LLC say they feel when investigating and exploring haunted places around metro Detroit.

From a nurse to an accountant to an engineer, the all-volunteer 23-member team uses a variety of instruments to find spirits during several weekends of searching, with September through November being their busiest time.

In the haunted dressing room upstairs at the Redford Theatre, Sarah Rupert, 58, of Rockwood, a member of the Motor City Ghost Hunters, communicates with a spirit. Rupert uses a device called a G3 which projects a red grid on the wall to see whether a spirit walks through the grid during the teams "adult walk" at the theatre in Redford on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022,
The Motor City Ghost Hunters stand in a circle and say a prayer near the concession stand before starting a walk to look for spirits at the Redford Theatre in Redford on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, The 23-member team hosted what they call an "adult walk" where people pay to tour with the group and were able to use ghost hunting equipment and participate in the hourslong search of the theatre. The money raised went right back to the Redford Theatre.

The group has been around for 16 years and knows there’s a stigma that comes with honoring their passion for ghost hunting.

“Yes, there are Mulders out there but there’s also Scullys out there, too,” said Rene Watkins, 54, of Brownstown Township, a member of the Motor City Ghost Hunters LLC. “And for the Scullys, it’s the fear of the unknown.”

“People out there want to believe but they’re afraid to voice it because ‘it can’t possibly be true,’ ” said Watkins, on the possibility of ghosts or spirits existing. "It has to do with closed-mindedness. It’s scary, it’s the unknown so people are automatically afraid to tap into it.”

Wendy Smith, 50, of Redford, left, a member of the Motor City Ghost Hunters, uses a pendulum to communicate with a spirit at the Redford Public Library as Jessica Doster, 28, and Krystian Quint, 26, both of Hamtramck, watch on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. The library invited the group to come in after hours to use their equipment to look for spirits while also allowing over 20 library visitors who had signed up earlier to go along on the search.
Krystian Quint, 26, left, and Jessica Doster, 28, both of Hamtramck, use K2 sensors to search for spirits in the kids section of the Redford Public Library in Redford on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. The sensors can pick up a spirit's energy based on the number of lights it's registering. The library invited the group to come in after hours to use their equipment to look for spirits while also allowing over 20 library visitors who had signed up earlier to go along on the search.

On a Friday night in early October, the ghost hunters visited the haunted Redford Theatre, northwest of downtown but still in Detroit, and did what they call an "adult walk." Guest paid $35 to spend three hours exploring various rooms where spirits have been found in the past, from the women’s bathroom to the balcony and the small dressing room upstairs.

“We’re about educating people and having people not be afraid,” said Watkins. “Most of the time people hear a bump in the night or they hear the door slam and they’re like, ‘Oh there’s a demon or a bad spirit in the house.' That’s not usually the case — it's usually a family member trying to communicate with them or just to say, ‘Hey I’m here.’ "

Motor City Ghost Hunters member Colleen Miller, 51, of Oxford, uses the Ghost Tube app on her iPhone, which detected a spirit in a seat near her, inside the Redford Theatre in Redford on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022.
Motor City Ghost Hunters member Colleen Miller, 51, of Oxford, uses the Ghost Tube app on her iPhone, which detected a spirit in a seat near her, inside the Redford Theatre in Redford on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022.

Using a variety of equipment from a K2 meter, which can pick up a spirit’s energy, to a G3 that throws a red grid on the wall to detect one walking through it, Dawn Schmelzer, 54, of Warren, and Starr Camara, 40, of Lansing, listened as the ghost hunters communicated with a few spirits while they both kept their ears open for sounds and their eyes darting back and forth on the lookout.

One app they all used on their smartphones, called GhostTube, would detect a spirit nearby with a green stick figure as the outline. Sometimes the figure could be seen on the stage of the theater while other times it was detected down a hallway or sitting in a chair nearby.

Starr Camara, 40, of Lansing, looks up at the chandelier in the women's bathroom at the Redford Theatre in Redford on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. The chandelier has been known to move on its own before when members of the Motor City Ghost Hunters talked with spirits in this room.
Starr Camara, 40, of Lansing, looks up at the chandelier in the women's bathroom at the Redford Theatre in Redford on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. The chandelier has been known to move on its own before when members of the Motor City Ghost Hunters talked with spirits in this room.
Dawn Schmelzer, 54, of Warren, and Starr Camara, 40, of Lansing, look and listen as members of the Motor City Ghost Hunters communicate with spirits in the balcony of the Redford Theatre in Redford on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022.
Dawn Schmelzer, 54, of Warren, and Starr Camara, 40, of Lansing, look and listen as members of the Motor City Ghost Hunters communicate with spirits in the balcony of the Redford Theatre in Redford on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022.
Motor City Ghost Hunters members start heading into the Redford Public Library in Redford on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, to search for spirits. The library invited the group to come in after hours to use their equipment to look for spirits while also allowing over 20 library visitors who had signed up earlier to go along on the search.
Motor City Ghost Hunters members start heading into the Redford Public Library in Redford on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, to search for spirits. The library invited the group to come in after hours to use their equipment to look for spirits while also allowing over 20 library visitors who had signed up earlier to go along on the search.

While it was a fun and scary evening during the search and the experience of it all, the real beneficiary of the night was the theater itself. All money made from ticket sales of these walks goes right back to the facilities that are toured. The Motor City Ghost Hunters group doesn’t keep any of the money.

“I guess the best thing I can say is when you actually experience it yourself and you see it with your own eyes and you feel or hear it, it changes your mind,” said Watkins.

To learn more about the Motor City Ghost Hunters and their future adult walks or whether an investigation for ghosts is something you need, go to https://motorcityghosthunters.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ghost hunters visit Redford Theatre in Detroit: What they found