After the January meeting, members of the Indy Chapter went out to the Pepsi Coliseum to see the Indiana Ice hockey team take on the Lincoln Stars. Of course, our team of ghost hunters had a dual purpose... besides having fun watching hockey with friends, the Pepsi Coliseum has a tragic history, and is rumored to be haunted!

Indy member Lorri Sankowsky told the story of the disaster in the Coliseum in the January chapter meeting, and a past one as well. On Halloween night 1963, there was a terrible explosion in the Coliseum, one which killed 74 people. Lorri's own father was scheduled to work that night, but by fortunate chance didn't. The Indianapolis Star has an article with file pictures available.

Click on the image to the right to see the plaque that's on the wall as you enter the Coliseum, in memory of those who died in the explosion.

After interviewing several staff members who had been at the Coliseum the night of the disaster, IGT members confirmed that the location of the explosion had occurred in Aisle 13, Section 29. Section 29 was closed off, the seats covered, but members managed to get close in the next section over to try to get any impressions, photos or audio. Since a game was in progress, however, this proved difficult at best.

Still, despite the poor ghost hunting conditions, some sensitive members did feel a sense of sadness in the area, and it was a good exercise in combining history, research, interviewing and creative ghost hunting, and it was fun to get out and socialize among friends.