Spooky CCTV footage of a swirling mist reveals the awakened spirits of seven dead monks, a paranormal investigator has claimed.
Lee Roberts, 39, was watching the film while a group of ghosthunters held a vigil on Friday night at grade-II listed building The Village in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
The group used a Ouija board, and held hands, calling out for spirits to show themselves, but did not realise they had been enveloped by the mist until Roberts showed them the CCTV.
The father-of-four says he has been leading ghost hunts at the 19th century building for two years and has never seen the mists appear before.
He told the Huffington Post UK: "The Village was built in 1802 as a slaughter house and malt house, the malt house carried on till the 1970s when it was turned into a nightclub and then abandoned in 2001.
"Before this building was here a barn stood on farm land which had a secret tunnel to St. Peter's church 500 yards away from the location. Monks at the church used the barn to hide in. The barn was eventually burnt to the ground with seven monks inside."
Roberts, who has been investigating the paranormal for over 20 years, said: "I'm very scientifically minded and I'm usually able to explain nine out of 10 'ghost sightings' or pictures I see through natural means, however I simply can't explain this one.
"Some people are saying it is smoke or something from outside, however smoking and vaping is banned in the building so I know it wasn't that and there are no windows down there so there was nothing coming in. Also, smoke doesn't move like that – it was moving very oddly. Bizarre really.
"What is even stranger is that the vigil team did not see it while they were there, even when it was appearing on the CCTV.
"Some have claimed it could be an air phenomenon that the building has, however I have been investigating that place for two years and have never seen this before or since. It appeared moments after the vigil finished, came in waves for about an hour and then disappeared.
"Others have said it looks like spirits walking around or the first manifestations of something such as a ghost or poltergeist.
"I get sent a lot of footage that turns out to have a simple explanation but this is one of the first we have seen where we can't explain it.
"It's right there in front of your eyes, which is fantastic to capture. I was over the moon with the footage.
"To have this story of the seven monks and then this appear on camera, the two things together is really exciting.
"It was very, very eerie down there that night. People commented on it. It did feel like there were things around us watching."
The group went into the area just through the door visible in the footage around 9.30pm, according to Roberts, and began holding hands and calling out to any spirits present to show themselves.
Roberts, who then saw the mist appear only minutes later, said: "When I showed the group the footage some of them were really freaked out and even refused to go back in there.
"Others thought it was really interesting and went into the room to see if they could see it, but despite it still appearing on the CCTV, there was nothing there.
"We are going to be investigating and watching the venue closely over the coming weeks but I don't know if we'll ever see it again."
The venue is currently used as an activity centre for children and can also be booked for hen parties and stag dos, as well as being used by the Village Paranormal Events group.
Jo Phillips from Asylum666 Paranormal Events was one of those involved in the vigil when the mist was spotted.
The mum-of-two from Coventry said: "Quite a few of the ladies in our group felt very uneasy once inside the room. It was a little bit odd in there.
"I did not know the stories about the monks because I prefer not to know the history before we go into a place, however a few of us did report sensations of fire, including myself.
"We were just in the back of the room when the footage was taken but we did not see anything with the naked eye. We have never seen anything like this before.
"It's the way the mist comes and then suddenly goes like that, which really makes you wonder what it could be.
"I don't jump to any paranormal explanations as it is only mist, it's not like we saw a ghost. However I just can't think of a logical explanation for it.
"There was no foul play or trickery going on as we would have noticed and no one was smoking or vaping. There was nothing visible to the naked eye, which is very strange."