Believers assemble for festival of the paranormal (27 photos)

Sasquatch, psychics, ghosts, spiritualism, and more were discussed at the 6th Annual Michigan Paranormal Convention (MIPARACON 6) on Friday and Saturday at Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, MI.

Paranormal community celebrities presented on topics such as the Bermuda Triangle, Jack the Ripper, cryptozoology, and psychic premonitions.

The event also included “gallery readings” by mediums, ghost walks, and a vending area where autographs, books, psychic readings, and more were offered.

Organizers are confident saying that the annually growing event with a 2015 attendance of 1,100+ is the “largest (paranormal conference) in the Midwest” and have heard it might be the biggest in the U.S.

Attendees made-up of “housewives, professionals, children, and older people” not only came for the presentations but also so they could open-up with like-minded enthusiasts says organizer Tim Ellis. 

“Everyone has a ghost story whether they want to admit it or not. (Either) they know someone who witnessed something or they did themselves. (In their) professional world they won’t always talk about it because they’re not comfortable but (at MIPARACON) they can (without being) judged or ridiculed,” said Ellis.

Jeff Belanger, who presented on ghost stories, asked, “How many people here believe they have seen a ghost?”

About 3/4 of the audience numbering several hundred raised their hands. 

Medium Rev. Tim Shaw, who comes from a family of religious spiritualists dating back to the 1800s, gave intimate, 25-person gallery readings where he channeled messages from the deceased.

Shaw explained that “anyone can (be a psychic medium)” as he believes it involves a sort of spiritual muscle that lays dormant from an earlier stage of our evolution and underused in today’s society.

Shaw says spiritual messages can seem odd or like “gibberish.” He attributes this to the human “pea-brain interpreting the vast universe”.

Paranormal researcher and historian Rosemary Ellen Guiley presented on the Ouija and in the vending area sold homemade black-painted mirrors.

Black mirrors are divining tools which Guiley says are more powerful than Ouija and have evolved from the ancient art of “scrying” (“to succeed in discerning” or “to make out dimly”) which entails staring into a reflective surface to see images or have mental visions.

Joshua P. Warren, who presented on the Bermuda Triangle and Puerto Rico’s paranormal potency, sold handmade “radionics” or “wish box” devices that record and amplify human intentions via the power of crystals.

Warren says that “scientifically, (the devices) shouldn’t do much of anything” however users report success.

“Even if it is the placebo effect ... the placebo effect works,” says Warren.

Idaho State University Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology Dr. Jeff Meldrum, who dislikes being, but often is labeled a ”cryptozoologist”, shared his conviction “on the basis of evidence” that Sasquatch (aka Bigfoot) is likely a real, "nocturnal, solitary, (and) far-ranging" species whose entire North American population might number around 2,000.

Meldrum says he “potentially jeopardized (his academic) career” by taking the idea of Sasquatch seriously after discovering puzzling footprints in 1996 but is “secure enough” with his research findings to have them presented alongside the paranormal at MIPARACON.

Lawyer Jeff Mudgett attempted to settle the mystery of Jack the Ripper with an audience-participation mock-trial, presenting evidence that his great great grandfather H. H. Holmes (“the most evil man that ever lived”) was also the notorious killer of London. 

The audience-jury ruled that Holmes was indeed Jack the Ripper.

Media celebrities included Ernie Hudson of Ghostbusters, Josh Gates of Expedition Unknown, Nick Groff of Ghost Adventures and Jael de Pardo of Destination Truth.

MIPARACON was created by the Upper Peninsula Paranormal Research Society whose founders are Ellis, Brad Blair, and Steve LaPlaunte.

(PHOTO: Ernie Hudson, who played Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters films, speaks at the 6th Annual Michigan Paranormal Convention. Jeff Klassen for SooToday)