BHP Hosts Second Annual Northern Panhandle Paranormal Conference

Brooke Hills Playhouse is having a fundraiser, the Second Annual WV Northern Panhandle Paranormal Conference on Saturday, May 17, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Playhouse. This event is sponsored by Fred Saluga from WVCUE (West Virginia Center for Unexplained Events) and Brian and Terrie Seech from CCS (Center for Cryptozoological Studies). Admission is free.
Five noted paranormal speakers will discuss their personal observations and experiences in trying to understand phenomena or experiences that may be considered to be outside of normal scientific understanding, sometimes involving claims of supernatural or mysterious activity.
Taking the stage at 11:15-12 p.m. is Ed Kelemen, a retired Allegheny County police officer where he was one of the founders of the Bomb Squad. Presently he is an author, playwright, and columnist who spends time with the Pennsylvania Investigators of Paranormal Phenomena (P.I.P.P.) as both a technician and a paranormal investigator. During the course of writing his Haunted Pennsylvania Collection consisting of eight books, he has been involved in over 350 paranormal investigations.
Bill Rigby will speak at 12:15-1 p.m. He is the founder of the Agents of the Unexplained Research Group and Podcast which can be found on Facebook and You Tube. He has been researching Bigfoot and other cryptids along with paranormal activity and UFOs. In August of 2021 he witnessed a Bigfoot about 15 feet away. He has found trackways of prints and has been hit with infrasound (sound waves with frequencies below the lower limit of human audibility) twice and was followed out of the woods by something large and bipedal.
Linda Sigman, born and raised about 20 miles from Point Pleasant, WV, will speak from 1:45 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. In 1967 she had a terrifying encounter with two UFOs and a large creature whom she perceived to be the Mothman. Her earliest paranormal experience occurred when she was three with a visit from her Guardian Angel. She is a psychic empath and has the gift of discernment , which she considers a blessing and uses it to help others. Sigman has been featured on the History Channel’s The UnXplained with William Shatner, the Travel Channel’s Monsters and Mysteries in America, Exposing the Strange: Cryptids Documentary 2024 and will appear on an upcoming documentary this summer on Fox Nation.
Kevin Paul, a resident of Greene County, PA, will be sharing details of personal encounters with the paranormal from 2-3:30 p.m. A lifelong experiencer of the unexplained, he is the only researcher and investigator to focus exclusively on the 578 square miles that comprise the creepiest corner of the Keystone state. His latest book, “Politics and the Paranormal in Greene County, Pennsylvania” joins Amazon best sellers “Haunted Hills and Hollows: What Lurks in Greene County, Pennsylvania,” and “Hollows II: Still Lurking in Greene County, Pennsylvania” as chronicles of regional anomalies.
The final speaker, John Stasko, a veteran paranormal investigator and researcher, will speak from 3:45 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. He has dedicated 58 years to exploring the unknown and has over 5,000 cases under his belt. He has covered UFO sightings, alien abductions, Bigfoot encounters, hauntings, ghosts, Mothman, unknown cryptids, and demon possessions, all while asserting that expertise in the paranormal is an elusive goal. He tackles the skepticism that often surrounds the paranormal as he emphasizes the importance of validating people’s unique experiences.
In addition to these renowned speakers, various vendors are on site to offer a variety of products from crystals, ornaments, meta-physical/spiritual hand crafted items, tarot, tarot readings, reiki healing, Bigfoot t- shirts, hoodies, toys, comics, hand painted wooden wall hangings, jewelry, art, cups, coffee mugs, stones, handcrafted fairy doors and fabric crafts as well as food and drinks in the Playhouse lobby.