Post by LighthouseLady92 on Apr 6, 2008 6:11:38 GMT -5
Event digs into Bigfoot, UFOs, ghosts
By Mike Cronin
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Buzz up!
Sick and tired of hearing about ghosts and spirits and the like, Brian Schill decided to debunk such silliness once and for all.
But the Aliquippa man with a degree in theoretical physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology soon learned that the world of the unexplained is called that for a reason.
"My biggest epiphany was evidence of occurrences with no mechanism," said Schill, 33, referring to the technical term for things that go bump in the night.
Now Schill, who works at Scott Electric in Lawrenceville, spends part of his free time teaching courses on ghosts and ghost hunting at community colleges in Butler and Beaver counties.
Today, Schill will join a group of Western Pennsylvanians who share an interest in the mysterious at the Butler Paranormal Conference. Speakers will discuss such phenomena as UFOs, Bigfoot and ghosts from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Tanglewood Senior Center on Austin Avenue in Lyndora.
"We hope to find new things to check out," said Brian Seech, 42, of Hopewell, the conference's master of ceremonies. "We invite people to come to talk to us."
Seech's specialty is Bigfoot and the field of cryptozoology, the study of mythological animals. His interest emerged while watching monster movies growing up, said Seech, who works at Gander Mountain, an outdoor apparel store.
Despite the frustration he and his colleagues feel over not finding conclusive remains of a Bigfoot-type primate, Seech said he's "80 to 85 percent" sure the animal exists.
"We believe there's too much evidence out there," he said, referring to sightings and footprints in every state but Hawaii and Rhode Island.
Dan Hageman, 53, of Butler is scheduled to speak about UFOs. The Home Depot employee said he has seen several himself and has investigated reported landing sites.
Hageman said that when he was 27, he and friends in Butler watched an enormous, silent, triangular craft hover tens of thousands of feet above them and launch two smaller spherical-shape craft.
Though some point out that UFOs are simply unidentified flying objects -- meaning no one knows what they are -- Hageman is certain of their nature.
"Definitely extraterrestrial," Hageman said. "I have no doubt there is other life out there."
Much like FBI agent Fox Mulder of TV's "The X-Files," Hageman claims the government has suppressed the public release of information through practices that include intimidating scientists.
"Too many people worldwide from all walks of life -- from the common person to the top-notch professional -- have had similar UFO experiences," he said.
Even government entities sometimes call people like those who will be at today's conference. The Homestead police await a mid-April report by the Greater Pittsburgh Paranormal Society on its investigation of possible supernatural phenomena at the station.
"They've been going on for years," department secretary Vicci Kenna, 53, said of the keyboards that type themselves and the footstep sounds with no owners. "People have known about them for a long time, but no one wanted to say anything."
Mike Cronin can be reached at mcronin@tribweb.com or 412-320-7884.
Original Article Here
www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/search/s_560776.html
By Mike Cronin
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Buzz up!
Sick and tired of hearing about ghosts and spirits and the like, Brian Schill decided to debunk such silliness once and for all.
But the Aliquippa man with a degree in theoretical physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology soon learned that the world of the unexplained is called that for a reason.
"My biggest epiphany was evidence of occurrences with no mechanism," said Schill, 33, referring to the technical term for things that go bump in the night.
Now Schill, who works at Scott Electric in Lawrenceville, spends part of his free time teaching courses on ghosts and ghost hunting at community colleges in Butler and Beaver counties.
Today, Schill will join a group of Western Pennsylvanians who share an interest in the mysterious at the Butler Paranormal Conference. Speakers will discuss such phenomena as UFOs, Bigfoot and ghosts from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Tanglewood Senior Center on Austin Avenue in Lyndora.
"We hope to find new things to check out," said Brian Seech, 42, of Hopewell, the conference's master of ceremonies. "We invite people to come to talk to us."
Seech's specialty is Bigfoot and the field of cryptozoology, the study of mythological animals. His interest emerged while watching monster movies growing up, said Seech, who works at Gander Mountain, an outdoor apparel store.
Despite the frustration he and his colleagues feel over not finding conclusive remains of a Bigfoot-type primate, Seech said he's "80 to 85 percent" sure the animal exists.
"We believe there's too much evidence out there," he said, referring to sightings and footprints in every state but Hawaii and Rhode Island.
Dan Hageman, 53, of Butler is scheduled to speak about UFOs. The Home Depot employee said he has seen several himself and has investigated reported landing sites.
Hageman said that when he was 27, he and friends in Butler watched an enormous, silent, triangular craft hover tens of thousands of feet above them and launch two smaller spherical-shape craft.
Though some point out that UFOs are simply unidentified flying objects -- meaning no one knows what they are -- Hageman is certain of their nature.
"Definitely extraterrestrial," Hageman said. "I have no doubt there is other life out there."
Much like FBI agent Fox Mulder of TV's "The X-Files," Hageman claims the government has suppressed the public release of information through practices that include intimidating scientists.
"Too many people worldwide from all walks of life -- from the common person to the top-notch professional -- have had similar UFO experiences," he said.
Even government entities sometimes call people like those who will be at today's conference. The Homestead police await a mid-April report by the Greater Pittsburgh Paranormal Society on its investigation of possible supernatural phenomena at the station.
"They've been going on for years," department secretary Vicci Kenna, 53, said of the keyboards that type themselves and the footstep sounds with no owners. "People have known about them for a long time, but no one wanted to say anything."
Mike Cronin can be reached at mcronin@tribweb.com or 412-320-7884.
Original Article Here
www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/search/s_560776.html