A team of paranormal investigators have selected the Berlin Mermaid Museum as a space of interest for potential spooky ongoings and plan to find out what’s there on Aug. 10.
The interior of the Berlin Mermaid Museum on the corner of Main and Jefferson streets is pictured.
File photo
By Tara Fischer, Staff Writer
A team of paranormal investigators have selected the Berlin Mermaid Museum as a space of interest for potential spooky ongoings.
The group’s mission is to unveil any phantom apparitions lurking in the halls of the historic structure.
The Mermaid Museum has operated on Jefferson Street in downtown Berlin since March 2021. The facility is committed to highlighting the myth of the sea creature, with oddities ranging from Mexican votive paintings showcasing mermaids to Japanese fishermen’s “spirit charms” and costume tails.
Smithsonian Magazine reported in August 2021 that the space on the second floor of the historic building displays “mermaid scales” discovered on the Isle of Wight and walls dedicated to tracking sightings of the mythical fish from the first century C.E. to 2017.
Now, the Pasadena-based Dead of Night Paranormal Investigators have their ghostly equipment pointed at the museum to capture any otherworldly visitors. This time, the focus is not on mermaids but on spine-chilling spirits.
Mermaid Museum owner Alyssa Maloof said that she was contacted by investigator Olen Prince on May 3. Prince, who was on a trip to Berlin with his wife, was captivated by the museum. He reached out to the business to schedule a time for him and his team to evaluate any mysterious, unearthly activity.
The mermaid expert said that employees of the oddity exhibit have reported their own paranormal occurrences. A curator captured an unexplainable moving cabinet door on video; another noted sets of footprints where there had been none the night before at closing time.
The strange experiences may be connected to the ancient history of the property. Maloof said the museum’s structure is an old Odd Fellows building. The
Odd Fellows is an international fraternal order founded in England in the 1600s and formally brought to the United States, beginning in Baltimore in 1819. The fraternal order is also committed to elevating the values of love, friendship, truth, faith, hope, and charity and promoting harmony among people and nations through universal brotherhood and sisterhood.
Prince said that his interest in the building came from the symbol above the door, a traditional marking of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. As he specializes in historic structures, his curiosity was piqued.
The investigator’s entrance into the paranormal business in 2012 was based on his historical intrigue and desire to help people.
“You can’t always call the police or the fire department,” he noted. “Psychiatric doctors will think it’s something else. You have to have someone else you can call.”
The Dead of Night team, founded by Prince, includes investigators Tammy Leishear, Jimmy Leishear, Jay Leishear, Allison Blankenship, medium Jennifer Garrett, tech specialist Brandon Garrett, electronic voice phenomenon specialist Heather Prince, and a pastor to perform house blessings. Also integral to the organization is licensed counselor Tracy Harris because, according to Prince, “not everything is paranormal, and sometimes it is just grief.”
Still, the group often encounters unexplainable situations. The founder detailed a home investigation in Lynchburg, Virginia, describing it as “demonic.”
A family originally owned the house in the 1940s and 1950s, where a girl died after being pushed down the stairs. The structure was sold in the 1980s, and the new resident’s son’s girlfriend passed after coincidentally tumbling on the steps.
The Dead of Night team investigated the space. During the evaluation, Prince said that while the pastor was performing a blessing, the back door opened, revealing an ominous figure staring at the group. The researcher believes that the family is currently trying to sell the home.
“It’s not always the house,” he said. “You could have a whole new condominium building, but still paranormal activity. It’s about the history of the space.”
The spooky organization is always looking for new members and even teaches classes. The medium explains the psychic aspect of paranormal work while the investigators discuss the different types of hauntings and the importance of looking for a logical explanation first. The team also has lessons on the equipment they use.
Prince said that Dead of Night employs an array of devices during its investigations, including electromagnetic field meters, an SBox Ghost Scanner for radio frequency sweeping, and digital recorders.
Anyone interested in joining the paranormal group can visit its Facebook page or contact Prince at ojprince83@icloud.com.
The haunting exploration at the Mermaid Museum is scheduled for the evening of Saturday, Aug. 10. Any audio or video secured by the ghost hunters will be shared with the exhibit’s operators.
“I hope they find a happy ghost who loves its home and mermaids,” Maloof said.