MADISON, Wis. -- A paranormal investigation of an east side bar found some unexplained happenings Tuesday.

TALKBACK: Think Ghosts Are Real?

Some believe a 50-year-old spirit might haunt the Ohio Tavern, and the Madison Researchers into the Paranormal decided to investigate whether there was anything to the ghost stories.

The bar, built in 1913 as a bank, was reportedly a speakeasy. It became the third tavern in Madison to be licensed after prohibition. A person supposedly hanged himself inside the bar in the 1940s. It was finally bought by its current owner in 1993. Stories of hauntings go back decades and touch nearly all of the regulars, WISC-TV reported.

For the current owner, Terre Sims, it all started when she was looking to buy the place.

"I ordered a beer. The bartender set the beer out and while her back was to the door, four or five cupboards opened up behind her and I looked at her and she said, 'That's just our ghost,'" Sims said.

Sims made the purchase anyway. But what she might not have known at the time was that a person supposedly hanged himself in the bar in the 1940s. Since then, cupboards opening, unexplained noise and general spookiness are part of the building's character.

Thirteen-year bartender Kimi Matz has seen some of the same things but she doesn't feel afraid at all.

"It's a very playful feeling. Nothing where your hair stands up, just a, "yeah I know you're here.'"

A mysterious fire in 2003 produced what some said are shadow people in pictures. These images, along with the stories, were enough to get Madison Researchers Into the Paranormal onto the case.

"I love the photos that Terre took. They hold a lot of promise," said Wayne Hackler (pictured left), founder of Madison Researchers Into the Paranormal.

The bar shut down at about 8 p.m. Monday so the paranormal research team could set up their equipment and get to work using science in an attempt to prove the paranormal.

"When you die, your physical body dies. Where does the energy go?" said Gary Westerlund, a MRIP investigator.

They started out taking pictures in an area where a customer once saw trinkets float off the shelves, and when one of their flashes went off, a mysterious circle was spotted near WISC-TV photojournalist Don Cady.

At this time, the WISC-TV camera went out of focus and one of the investigators said he had trouble getting his to work.

"I'm starting to get weird things happening with this camera," Westerlund said as his camera stopped flashing. "I'm a big skeptic, but I have seen, heard, felt, smelled things, and if I was going by what I've seen I'm a strong believer," Westerlund said.

On Monday night, one of the investigators found what he said were two orbs outside, which he said could signify a ghost.

He said when he pointed his thermometer at the spot, it was minus 4 degrees.

Downstairs near the old bank vault, another part of the team tried to call the spirit out, asking for its name.

About five minutes later, the electromagnetic detectors started beeping. They've picked something up, and at about the same time noises were heard in the storage room.

"It sounded like someone was walking on paper," said one of the researchers.

The most exciting find of the night was captured on camera. One of the ghost hunters tried to radio upstairs for the rest of the team but no one up there responded.

But on a WISC-TV camera a voice is heard on tape that didn't appear in person. Could it be background noise or the ghost? For now, the mystery remains unexplained.

For more information about the Madison Researchers Into the Paranormal visit the group's Web site.