We live in a world where science—to borrow a phrase from Carl Sagan—acts like a candle in the dark. It’s a world where technology, logic, and reason burn bright amongst the shadows of superstition and fear. Those shadows may occasionally spread (Hello, anti-vaccine movement!) but science and common sense are always there, flickering in the gloom, leading us back to the light.
But hey, that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to muck around in the dark now and then, especially when it’s filled with (mostly) harmless stuff like UFOs, ghosts, and Bigfoot. Enter the inaugural Milwaukee Paranormal Conference, which recently released its lineup of guest speakers and events. Organized by Milwaukee author Tea Krulos (Heroes In The Night: Inside The Real Life Superhero Movement), the conference is a day-long gathering for monster hunters, ghost hunters, Bigfooters, Ufologists, and other paranormal investigators. It’s also a promotional event for Krulos’ upcoming book, Monster Hunters: On The Trail With Ghost Hunters, Bigfooters, Ufologists, And Other Paranormal Investigators, out this June from Chicago Review Press.
The lineup includes national luminaries (Jim Sherman from Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot), local names (Noah Leigh from Paranormal Investigators of Milwaukee), and the author of a book called Goatman: Flesh Or Folklore? The conference will also feature plenty of vendors hawking their wares, as well as a “Bigfoot Photo Booth,” which sounds delightful.
The 2015 Milwaukee Paranormal Conference is scheduled for Saturday, June 6, at the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center from noon until 7 p.m. Admission is free. Check out the entire spooky lineup, via the conference’s website, below.
2015 Keynote Speakers
Donald R. Schmitt, expert on UFOs and the Roswell Crash, author of UFO Crash at Roswell, Witness to Roswell, and Inside the Real Area 51: the Secret History of Wright Patterson.
Linda S. Godfrey, author of The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing America’s Werewolf, Weird Wisconsin, and American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America.
Noah Leigh, founder and lead investigator, Paranormal Investigators of Milwaukee.
Paranormal Investigation/ Ghosts
Melissa Tanner, founder and lead investigator, TnT Paranormal Investigations.
Allison Jornlin, ghost historian and proprietor of Milwaukee Ghosts Tours & Investigations.
Panel: “Communicating With Clients: Dos and Don’ts,” Noah Leigh, Melissa Tanner, Valerie Kedrowski (Stevens Point Paranormal).
Sociology
Tea Krulos, author, Monster Hunters: On the Trail With Ghost Hunters, Bigfooters, Ufologists, and Other Paranormal Investigators.
Marc Eaton, professor of sociology, Ripon College.
Cryptozoology & Folklore
J. Nathan Couch, author, Goatman: Flesh or Folklore?
Jim Sherman, Michigan field representative, Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (as seen on Finding Bigfoot).
Irish Folklore speaker TBA
Ufology
Nick Roesler, author, In Focus: Photographic Evidence of Unconventional Flying Objects.
Mark O’Connell, biographer of Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Mutual UFO Network Chief Investigator for Wisconsin.
More
Documentary Screening Session: TBA.
After Party: Shaker’s Cigar Bar (Milwaukee’s Haunted Bar) details TBA.