Royalty Radio

Below:  Image captured by Ginny, one of the hosts of the radio show who accompanied the SPIRITS team.  Digital. No flash used. 

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First and Second investigations at Royalty.

This page was last updated on: September 6, 2009

Amy's images:  Digital

Beth's image:  This blue line appeared on a DIGITAL camera; this camera has NEVER created this image before. Of 25 images, this was the only one to appear like this.

Brandy's images:  digital

Royalty Theater 3:

Brandy Stark

Feb. 25, 2004

In attendance  Brandy, Amy, Shelley, Beth, Susan Jeanne, Nicole

Radio:  Rich, Brenda, Ginny, guest, Bob.

Theater:  Socrates, John, Regina

I.History and Location of Royalty Theater

405 Cleveland Street, Clearwater

Established in 1896, the Royalty Theater is the oldest building in Clearwater, and has had several incarnations during its long history.  It started as a performing arts theater, but was converted to a marquee in the 1920s.  It housed Air Force and Marine troops during the World Wars.  In the 1960s, the building was nearly destroyed by a storm.  It served part of the 1970s as a church, but returned to showing movies in the 80s.  Finally, the Royalty was closed in 1995.  The building was slated for destruction

The Royalty's owner, Socrates Charos, bought the building in 1995 after a vivid dream led him to the theater and began to restore it.  That is when the phenomena began. 

He has reportedly invoked Archangel Michael into the building and had it blessed once by a priest.

Currently, the building is listed as a historic site.  Charos has recently been granted permission to expand into a museum and plans to add statues of classical thinkers to the area.  He encourages visitors to come inside and experience the soothing atmosphere he associates with the building. 

II.Socrates:

--A dance instructor from Greece

Has had one prior haunting experience in a home he owned.  Toys moved of their own accord, even when no one was there. 

First Investigation: Pre-Investigation:  Events before the SPIRITS first investigation

--Entities who reside in the theater are very active in expressing themselves. 

--Reports:  They often cause the lights to flash or chandeliers to dance

--Trip the alarm system after everyone has gone for the night.

--Aromas, esp. of lilies

--Heightened activity during the holidays

--Claimed theatre keeps out those who don't belong, attracts those who do

--Animals have a strange attraction to the theatre

--Prays on stage; healing areas

--Strange inverted letter "A" that would not go away until the theatre was blessed.  It was painted over and still reappeared until the blessing.

--The entities also manifest on film.  Charos has a scrapbook filled with photos tourists have taken in the theater and sent to him, showing mists, orbs, and apparitions.

--One of his favorite images was taken the night of Dec. 31, 1999. It reveals a human shaped blue-white aura towering inside the theater.  Charos believes that was the first captured manifestation of the archangel Michael (or Jesus) inside the building.

--Socrates reported that one Royalty Theater employee chased a floating ball of energy in the theatre one day

--During reconstruction of the theatre all of the plastic sheeting flew up at once.

--Reconstruction guided by dreams

Ghosts known before the SPIRITS investigation:

1)  The Captain: While working alone one evening, Charos looked up to see a man standing at the front door.  Dressed as a captain, he wore a blue coat with a fisherman's hat.  He had blue eyes and a goatee.  Keeping his hands in his pockets, he greeted the theater's new owner.  It was as the man walked forward that Charos noticed he had no legs. 

"The ghost walked through me, went into the theater, and vanished.  What an introduction!  He was horrible and often harassed ladies by grabbing their legs and rears.  He also used to make terrible noises, similar to pounding on metal pots, around the front stage."

Charos finally had the theater blessed by a priest, and the captain, much to everyone's relief, has appeared no more. 

(--None of the women on the investigation felt anything unusual)

2)  Angelina:  Those who run the theater call her "Angelina" or "Angelica," and she appears to be a young woman who died early in the 20th century.  A lover of music and dance, she seems naturally attracted to the Royalty, and is a patron of Charos.  He believes that she is the force who drew him to the building.

3)  Bill:  The third ghost may be that of a man killed in the theater during the 1980s.  One of the managers there, he was murdered by drunken tourists who suspected he was homosexual.

His love for the building, however, overcomes his grisly death.  He remains as a guardian, watching for the safety of those who come through.

"He actually kept someone from falling," Charos adds.  "When the theater was being renovated, one of the workers slipped.  He almost went over the railing, but he felt someone grab him and pull him back.  When he stood up, no one was there.  We think our ghost friend was looking out for him."

SPIRITS Investigation I  December 1, 2001

A.Stage Area:

During the SPIRITS team investigation, members sensed Angelina

particularly during the inspired performance of a young man playing the piano.  More readings were taken, but proved inconclusive.  It was the photographs that gave tangible proof of her presence.  A very large and solid orb image appears in one picture.  Another captures a white streak near the back stage curtains.  Several show multiple orbs near the ceiling.

"I felt as if she was a carefree spirit.  I could almost envision her dancing around the stage to the music, even as we did our investigation," adds Karen West.

The stage investigation concluded with Socrates praying with a sick SPIRITS member, who reported feeling better.

B.Balcony:

At least one SPIRITS member sensed a shift in the atmosphere in the area of the balcony.  However, nothing appeared through readings or photographs.

    --Several images appeared near the balcony of orb-like images.

C.Offices (Upper Balcony)

Aromas:  Scent of lilies, incense

--Several felt "swirls" of energy in the area.

D.Attic

There is a strange octagonal or hexagonal room in the attic of the Royalty; it is covered with old movie posters.  While climbing in the attic (Brandy) got an orb image, though it is likely dust.

Investigation 2:  July 2002:

Pre Investigation:

Charos has had the large orb image examined by several groups.  He reports that the conclusion is that it bears the marks of an "angelos orb."   These orbs are created as manifestations of higher level angelic beings, such as archangels. 

Investigation:

With the exception of one member, the SPIRITS investigation team consisted of entirely new group, many of whom had never been to the Royalty before. 

Channel 13 news crew came along for part of the investigation.  A Christian rock band played at the Royalty that night, which over lapped with part of the investigation.

A.Repeated Areas of Activity:

Orb images appeared in perfect synchronicity with electromagnetic surges detected by the SPIRITS equipment. 

There were tangible cold spots felt.

A new team sensitive repeated, nearly word-for-word, the same sensations experienced by the first team in December 2001:  There was someone dancing across the stage as we investigated, and mention was made of an auburn haired woman. 

B.Balcony

Unique aromas drifted from the projection room and upstairs offices.  One team member described the smell as burnt toast, another as machine oil. 

C.New Activity: Stair wells

--EMF, cold spots,

--psy-sensitivity:  A guardian figure

--no strong tangible proofs as a result of the investigation

The second search revealed different areas of activity in the stairwells leading to the balcony.  Socrates revealed that, indeed, both stairwells had manifested phenomena in the past; several reported feeling a protective presence watching them ascend to the second floor.

D.Basement

The Royalty is one of the few areas in Florida to have a basement. 

Sensitives picked up some activity to the top back of the basement, underneath areas of the dressing rooms.

Very mild orb image picked up in the basement.

SPIRITS investigation 3, Feb. 25, 2004 (Ash Wednesday)

Pre-Investigation reports:

Shortly after midnight on October 31, 2003, Charos and his wife were called to the theater by their security company.  Something had triggered the alarm and strange flashes of light could be seen inside the theater.  Upon arriving, both had a strange visionary experience.  They witnessed an angelic aura fighting with a dark energy outside the front lobby of the theater.

New smells emanate from the stage:  gardenia, cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate are among the scents made manifest.

Charos continues to associate this with the presence of archangel Michael (Re-iterated "Angelos orb" idea).  

Also claims the presence of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit (via a triple orb image taken in the theatre).

Charos has opened the theater to free daily healing sessions.  Anyone may attend the theater between the hours of 12 - 2 and use the time to pray, meditate, or read scripture.  Believes that those who have experienced healings include the restoration of injured backs, legs and necks and the cessation of pain. 

Still claims greater activity during holy days; Ash Wednesday was selected by the Radio crew because it worked with the airing of the show and it reflected the "Angel" hauntings of the theater

Investigation:

This time, several teammates had been to Royalty.  We had 7 members present, plus a radio crew of 3 people; the investigation was aired live with WTAN 1340.  Royalty had 3 employees present.

During the investigation, an acquaintance of Socrates also came and began to interact with SPIRITS members.

Because of these phenomena, protocol could not be as strictly upheld

Split into two teams:  Amy, Shelley and Beth headed subteam "A" and Brandy, Susan, Jeanne and Nicole were team "B".  Brandy joined in at the theater.

New Anomalies:

1.Seating on first floor of Theater

Nicole reported that she had an orb in the right wing of the seating in the theater.  I also captured orb images in approximately the same area; orbs also appeared in chairs closer to me.  Amy's images also captured an orb in this area. 

What is unique is that further exploration found a floating hot spot; it was nearly 2 and ½ feet above a chair, near the level of a head, had a person been seated there.  This hot spot was initially in the middle of the row, then moved to the far right side. 

Both teams discovered it independently.  I can only discuss my team's discovery:

I found it first, and others were able to also find the spot.  What is remarkable is that I could remove my hand from this spot and wait a minute, then go back and find it again. 

It was also a round shape almost a tangible orb.  Yet, the orb did not appear to give off any unusual recorded heat. 

Only parts of the body that had touched the orb appeared to increase in temperature (the hand I had used to touch the orb registered 5 degrees higher than my other hand, and the heat was raised for several minutes after I stopped touching the orb).  It had definition at the top and bottom and "felt" curved. 

We could not find reasons for the hot spot/orb:  no unusual vents, no lamps in the area, etc.  I called over the second team and they reported that they had also found that area

The radio personnel were also able to "touch" and find the orb, though that runs the risk of being suggestion as we told them about it. 

Susan picked up the name Steve or Peter who watched his wife perform there

Pictures of the area continued to reveal a small tight white orb.  EMF was higher at waist level, though that could also relate to wires running through the building.

Older areas of Anomalies:   The Stage

From the stage, several took pictures into the audience seating sections of the first floor. 

Anomolies were produced:  The PRIME Photo came from one of the radio personnel

She used a digital camera with no flash to capture the image.SPIRITS were present; no known reason for the image.

Camera behaving oddly:  Cameras drained of batteries and acted up.  My back up digital camera, tested and used on other paranormal investigations, in the hands of another teammate produced an image similar to a "light leak" though it was a digital camera.  It has never produced such an image.

Orbs captured on stage:  Orbs were captured resting on chairs and floating near the podium on the stage.

Susan picked up a woman's spirit there; a former singer with long brown hair.  (Could this be Angelina?)

Amy and her team witnessed an increase in activity on a chair on the stage.  The asked if anyone was there and saw the chair rock slightly, as if someone had gotten up and left it. 

Non-protocol activity:

On stage, theater owner Socrates invoked God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit within the theater.  This was not requested, scripted, or expected.  However, he also ordered us to take pictures of the event.  Pictures taken during this time show an increase in orbs on the stage; orbs appear over Socrates, on the curtains, and even in his hands as he does the invocation.

Backstage:

Amy said she felt a presence.  She asked the presence to make itself known and felt a single hair pulled from the center of her head at that exact moment.

Balcony:

Up in the balcony, I experienced an EMF jump from 1.5 to 3.0 when waling past the first row, middle section, first 3 chairs on the right (if facing the balcony from the railing).  Running the meter over the area several times I got similar jumps. 

Sensitives did not pick anything up in the area, but my camera caught an orb over the chair. 

Also, Amy's team felt something push by them when they were exploring the balcony.

The result of the investigation has been multi-fold.  Nearly everyone got orb images.  Orbs also appeared in colors:  Amy and I got pink orbs.  Beth picked up an odd blue line in one of her images.  Light streaks manifested for the radio show folks and their cameras. 

Jeanne's images, 35 mm camera.

Our group met at the Royalty Theatre at 7pm. In attendance were Brandy, Susan, Amy, Beth, Shelly, Nicole, and myself. The theatre's owner, and several of his staff were also present. We were met by three people from the radio station who were doing a live show from the theatre. We began our investigation by dividing into two groups. Brandy, Amy, Beth, and Shelly started in the back of the theatre, and Susan, Nicole and I started in front. We went behind the stage first, and got no EMF there. Then we went up a stairway to the dressing rooms. In the first dressing room, we got no EMF. In the other dressing room, I got no EMF, but Susan heard the name Lianna or Illianna. She sensed a beautiful woman with dark hair who was a singer in the 1940's. We went back downstairs, and Susan still sensed a female presence on the stairs. I took some 8mm video of the stairway, and the backstage area. Then we went out onto the stage. I took video, and pictures on stage and in front of it. One of the theatre staff was talking with us, and told us about an area near the left side of the stage where they have experienced a strong floral fragrance. I got no EMF there, but took pictures and video of the area. Next, our group went through the seating area. Toward the back, we met up with Brandy's group, who had discovered a warm spot over a seat. I could feel it, too.  We checked around the area for heat vents, or lights, but found nothing to explain it. We stayed around that area for a while, taking photos, checking EMF and temperature readings. The warm area moved around to different seats while we were there. The radio people joined us, and they could feel it also. It was 8pm, and time for the radio show to start. They were doing the show over the phone, and Brandy joined them to talk on the air. The rest of us continued with our investigation. Next, our team went to the balcony. I got a lot of EMF in the booth because of the equipment, but none in the seats. Susan heard the name Laura there. We went back downstairs and joined the rest of the team and the radio crew to listen to the show.  They were up on the stage talking with the owner. He called for us to come up and join him onstage. Then he started calling for God and to come down and be with us. He told us to take pictures. I took pictures and video. He told his piano player to play. The piano player went down and played, and the owner continued to call for God and the angels to come down. It was all pretty surreal, and I continued to take video and pictures. This was all during the radio show. At 9pm, the show ended, and we closed the investigation. It certainly was an interesting night. Later, I watched my video footage, and saw nothing unusual in it. Most of it was rather grainy looking because of the darkness of the theatre. It gains up to adjust for low light, which affects the picture quality.  In my 35mm photos, I got 3 photos with orbs. One was on a seat near where we felt the warm spot. Another was near the piano. The third orb was on the stage during the owners invocation.

Shelley's report:

Royalty - Upstairs landing between dressing rooms, consistently felt a draft though we did not find where it was coming from.

Felt hot spot upper balcony over area we felt hot spot in first floor seats - back right.

Noticed chair start rocking on stage.  Jumped near chair and it did not move.

Overall good experience with medium activity.

Maybe the third time really IS the charm.  The SPIRITS went back to Royalty Theatre for a live radio broadcast of an investigation.  It was a risky venture; the spectral world does have a sense of humor, particularly when the media is involved.  Would the entities cooperate and manifest with a radio crew present?

This investigation started off a bit more unusual than the others.  The activity, itself, took place on a Wednesday evening instead one of our usual weekend excursions.  Each of the attending SPIRITS members dragged into the place on a drizzly evening after work.

Also, it was the Christian holiday of Ash Wednesday.  It was topical, as the Royalty claims a connection with the angelic.  Socrates Charos, the owner of the Royalty Theatre, had referred to more active happenings during religious holidays.

Several of the attending members had been to prior investigations at the Royalty, while others were new to it, but had heard the stories.  Therefore, not all went in "cold" to the haunting activities.

Happily, the entities did decide to cooperate with us with new forms of manifestations.  One of the first things to happen was a "hot spot" hovering approximately 2 feet above seat level.  The "spot" had dimensions and "felt" like a round ball of heat.  Hands that touched the spot increased in temperature, though the area itself did not register any ambient heat or EMF activity.  In addition, at least 9 different individuals were able to find and identify the ball.  Perhaps distracted by our attention, the energy actually shifted over several seats to hover again.

The most impressive image of the night was snapped by one of the radio personnel.  Utilizing a digital camera without flash, and in the presence of 6 SPIRITS members, the theater owner, two guests, and other radio crewmen, the picture captured a flame-like anomaly arching across several seats in the audience.  The cause for the image is unknown.  However, Charos did offer one theory:  the theatre's supernatural occupants like the attention and the energies of the SPIRITS group.

Other areas of activity included old favorites, as example:  a chair backstage rocked without being touched.  The stage spewed forth several orb images. The balcony had a hovering EMF patch above another chair.  Photographs later revealed an orb floating over the area.

The old theatre never fails to awe those who visit it. Filled with positive energies and active spirits, community projects and noteworthy intentions, the Royalty remains a wonderful venue to visit.  Perhaps part of its charm is in the reciprocal relationship between the living and those beyond the veil:  each keeps the other well entertained.