After exploring the UFO sightings of Elmwood, Wisconsin in the 1990s, paranormal investigator, Chad Lewis has always had a certain appreciation for anything out of the ordinary.

“The sightings in Elmwood really sparked my interest for all things paranormal, which led me to become a field investigator for the Mutual UFO Network shortly after,” Lewis said. “After that, I went to study the human belief system and perception of the paranormal at UW-Stout.” 

Lewis is also an author and lecturer.He also travels all over the world to investigate the legends of places such as Irish moors and Romanian castles—all while staying connected to his home state of Wisconsin. 

The Oct. 30 event, held at the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library in Whitewater, included Lewis’ research of Wisconsin-based locations. These included a haunted highway in Stevens Point and a wolf-like beast in Elkhorn called “The Beast of Bray Road.” 

For most people who attended the lecture, listening to stories like these so close to Halloween was enough, but for people like Whitewater resident Ann P., it was more than that—it was about getting to hear the tales she had read so often in Lewis’ books.

“I started off with all of the books in his ‘Road Map of Wisconsin’ series, and I’ve read several of his other books since then,” she said. “I just really wanted to hear one of his lectures in person and see what else he had to show us.”

Though Lewis currently has no set plans to return to the Whitewater or the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library in the near future, there is still hope for anyone who missed the Tuesday night show.

“We have paranormal events here quite a bit,” said the assistant director for the library Diane Jaroch. “We’ve had Chad here before, but we’ve also had Linda Godfrey and plenty of paranormal societies come to talk. There will definitely be more chances to catch some sort of paranormal show or event here at our library in the near future.”