By Len Dorman

I had somehow picked up two of my ultraviolet flood lights during this time, so I started to run the lights up and down The White Lady’s body hoping that the full spectrum camera (which was not picking up anything using infrared lighting) would pick up something this way. Somehow, I do not remember how or when Ursula got the full spectrum camera and was keeping The White Lady centered in the screen for several more minutes.

She also told me that she was moving back and forth, away from me then back close then away again, seeming to see if I really was seeing her. I am so surprised by this and staring so hard I can hardly even hear what Ursula is saying, like I was in a dream, everything slowed down. I can still see flashes of The White Lady in the U/V light so I keep them on her, the mist throwing a slight shadow on the wall and allowing my eyes to pick up air movements in front of me. After a few more minutes, Ursula wanted to try for communication via her Frank’s box, so she handed me the camera.

I continued talking to The White Lady as she put thoughts into my head that she is NOT Alma Schierbaum (the woman who left her husband Ben Schierbaum) and resents being called her, but is actually Anna Schierbaum, who loved Mineral Springs as her crippling arthritis was cured here and died here in 1911. I am getting chills as I type out these events right now. She also indicated to me that Alma ran off with another man, which is NOT mentioned in any of the histories, written or verbal.

I put the U/V lights down, pointing them at Anna then reached out to The White Lady with my left hand, running the tips of my fingers down from her shoulder to her elbow, feeling a firmness under my skin. I then held out my left hand, and in just a few seconds she placed her hand onto mine. I continued recording this with the full spectrum camera. After a few more minutes, she started moving away from me. I kept recording with the camera. Upon review of this part there is another female figure in white standing down the hall in front of the break-room door. Was this Alma, returned in search of husband Ben who shot himself out of grief for her loss?

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By Len Dorman

Upon our return to the Massage Room, one person tagging along, I began to set up my lights. They included 2 infrared mini-floods (since I wasn’t using them on a camera), 4 ultraviolet mini-spots, 8 infrared mini-spots and 8 electrical charge warning lights. I also set up 4 green positive charge indicators and 4 red negative charge indicators. Spirits are thought to be formed of an electrical charge, so these lights flicker, go dim or go out when an electrical charge come close to them, warning of possible paranormal activity. I also set up one of my full spectrum camcorders as a static cam while attaching the handle and large infrared spot/flood combo light to my handheld camcorder.

I also set up my 3 motion detectors. These specially made detectors don’t have a built in noise maker but send a signal to a box with an alarm (which I keep turned off ) and 3 numbered lights, which tell me which motion detector has spotted movement. While I was doing this, another male teenager and two female teens joined the one male teen that had been following me. I turned out the lights and asked them to be still and quiet, which they were. I called out for any spirits who wished to talk or appear to please do so, that we were not here to hurt anyone, just to make contact and talk. I explained to my small crowd that this is what paranormal investigators do with most of their time, sit in the dark and talk to a room. For a long while nothing happened.

I kept stalling, thinking that the rest of the real tour group would show up and give me some real help with this room. Suddenly the reflection of one of my red lights changed shape so I started to watch it, making sure what I was seeing was not a shadow caused by the two girls seated nearby on the floor or outside lighting. Neither was the case. I opened my mind, maybe dangerously so, but this was an unexplainable event. I watched in shock as something, someone, tried to form between me and my red light. I told everyone to be still and quiet, especially the girls, who I asked if they were alright. They answered with a “Yes, why?” I answered that a spirit was trying manifest just three feet away from them and to hold still.

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By Len Dorman

Ever since I have lived in Chicago, I have studied the paranormal history of the entire area. One place that caught my eye for its paranormal, historical and relaxing points of view was the Original Mineral Springs Hotel in Okawville, IL, just this side of St Louis.

I have suffered from a knee injury for many years, a football injury from my high school days playing a wide receiver. I also played semi-pro baseball until I was 37 years old. A few years later I found my knees locking up and the doctors told me they needed cleaning out so they did that using orthoscopic surgery. In my right knee they discovered a very old tear of my meniscus cartilage, so they trimmed that back as well. I underwent a few weeks of painful therapy, but for a few years I was just fine.

That is, until I moved to Chicago, and in a few year, the arthritis hit my thumbs, shoulders, neck and mainly my knees. During this time I was compiling a list of paranormal sites in the area that I wanted to visit, and decided that The Original Mineral Springs Hotel would be not only fun to visit but challenging and therapeutic as well. I worked with two different paranormal teams, first Chicago Paranormal Meetup Group, and then helped form Midnight Paranormal Society.

Neither group had Mineral Springs on their “to go to” lists, as Okawville is in the far southwest part of the state. I began working with Ursula Kalin, who not only is a spirit-medium, she also did tours to places with set charges and minimal numbers of people. This is a great service if there are only 2-3 people interested in going to a location. I noticed that Ursula had a group going to Mineral Springs and was only too glad to help her show her customers just what a true paranormal investigator does and the modern equipment used.

I previously worked with her during a Casa Madrid investigation, where another investigator (Frank Heiburger) saw, then got on full spectrum video, a short shadow figure eclipsing two lights on sensors designed to pick up the electrical charge that spirits are theoretically made up of. I had set up my equipment in an old pool room without thinking of what I was doing or knowing that this was the most active room in the building. Ursula Kalin and I enjoyed working with each other at that event, so when I left Midnight Paranormal Society, we worked together on other tours, including to The Original Mineral Springs.

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