Believe it or not, the daytime job of local paranormal investigator Brandy Nance is as Emporia State’s web content and marketing communication manager.

During the day, Nance can be found in the Marketing and Media Relations office in Plumb Hall. But at nights and on the weekends, she works with a team of investigators called Flint Hills Paranormal.

Nance is the co-founder of Flint Hills Paranormal with teammate Linda Clarke. The group of eight provides free consultations, clearing services and referrals to other professionals, according to their website.

Nance has been a paranormal investigator for almost 10 years. Paranormal investigators perform home and business investigations into paranormal activity like ghosts. While the terms “ghost hunter” and “paranormal investigator” are interchangeable, paranormal investigators form more professional teams and take a more scientific approach than ghost hunters. Checking for leaky faucets and vents always comes first.

“We try to disprove before we prove,” Nance said. “That’s an important difference between us and what you see on TV. It’s nothing like TV.”

The main goal is to help the clients, according to Nance.

There are two types of hauntings, according to Nance: Intelligent and residual. Intelligent hauntings are ones where spirits can interact with investigators and talk to them. Residual hauntings, on the other hand, are just the “leftover energy” of the Spirit.

“(The spirit is) not really there so it can’t talk to us, can’t communicate with us,” Nance said. “It’s just going to work like it always did.” 

It takes a lot of energy for spirits to interact with the living, according to Nance.

“When you’re dealing with the spirit, they’ll be real energetic at first and then all the sudden do nothing,” Nance said. “It takes so much energy for them to come forward and talk to us.”

While about 90% of the spirits Nance encounters are positive, some can be negative.

After an investigation last Saturday at Plumb Place in Emporia, Nance found bite marks on her right hand. She didn’t even notice the injury until after she got home.

However, none of her team has ever been seriously injured. Injuries usually include minor scratches and bruises.

“(Injuries) are few and far between, but they happen,” Nance said.

At the beginning of each investigation, the team will envision a white light surrounding them to protect them, according to Nance. They will also conclude each investigation by telling whatever may be attached to them that it needs to stay behind and can’t come home with them.

“It’s just so important that professionals do what we do because you don’t want to take this home, you don’t want to take whatever bit you home,” Nance said. “You don’t want to take negative anything home.”

Nance and her team have performed several investigations in Emporia, including at Plumb Place, the Emporia Gazette building and multiple private investigations. Flint Hills Paranormal even led an investigation in 2018 in ESU’s Albert Taylor Hall. She explained the paranormal investigative process from the stage along with theatre manager and campus events coordinator Madeleine Bock.

There is a spirit that supposedly haunts Albert Taylor Hall whom the theatre crew has affectionately named “Albie,” according to Bock. The theatre was named after ESU’s fifth president and it is believed that he is the one haunting the space.

Crew members and employees like to say “hello” and “goodbye” to Albie as a tradition, according to Bock.

“In my head, it’s just honoring and respecting the person who’s been here longer than I have, kind of like an elder,” Bock said. “And being very clear that I respect the space, I appreciate the opportunity to be in it and please don’t ever let me see or hear you.”

Bock remembers a time almost two years ago when Albie messed with the lights above the stage. These lights are LED and not programmed to change colors. However, during a tech check for the Shanghai Acrobats, they began to flash pink and green when she tried to turn them off.

“I just kind of stepped out of the booth over there and kind of titled my head up and said, ‘We need to have a rehearsal now, Albie,’ and it stopped,” Bock said.

There have been other encounters and even stories of a figure in a hat moving through the theatre from before Bock’s time. However, Bock hasn’t seen any figures herself and thinks of it as a comforting presence when she is alone in the theatre.

“The space is sacred,” Nance said. “And being able to communicate with the paranormal is such a sacred thing.”

Nance has also reported seeing the ghost of a Civil War soldier in the Memorial Union.

“I almost ran into him,” Nance said. “I was like, ‘I’m sorry, I almost ran into you.’ I looked back up and (he was) gone. Nowhere.”

Being able to see ghosts can be a gift, according to Nance. However, she believes that most people tend to filter these encounters out as “silly.”

“As adults, we sort of lose that ability to experience things without judgement,” Nance said.

Patrons can have their own chance at seeing a spirit during one of Flint Hills Paranormal’s guided investigations. The team will be leading an investigation at 7 p.m. on Nov. 6 at the Lyon County History Center at 711 Commercial St. Admission will be 10 dollars and all participants must be 18 or older.