The penitentiary, which once housed some of the most dangerous criminals and murders in the country, will be the setting of a 2 1/2 day paranormal event, where fans and enthusiasts will get together to attend a variety of workshops, lectures, socials and, of course, to experience the prison’s dark side.  The penitentiary also served as the location for one of the most talked about investigations/episodes of “Paranormal State.”  We’re talking, of course, about the 1-hour episode “Darkness Falls,” which featured the PRS crew investigating the infamous penitentiary, where six months prior PRS Director Ryan Buell claimed he had an experience there that shook him.

Attendees will get a tour of the prison, attend new workshops/lectures, and of course, get to investigate the prison in a whole new way.

“We’re going to allow some attendees to go through what we did during our investigations during ‘Darkness Falls,’” says Buell.  “In other words, some will get to sit up in the psych ward alone in a room for a bit to see if they can stand the isolation.”  A full tech headquarters will be set up so people can watch real-time investigations.

“In the past, we would just do an investigation for fun,” said Buell.  “But this time, we want everyone to help collaborate with us to conduct a 2-3 day investigation to help add to our file.”

This will be the third PRS/AGH team up for a field trip.  Both Buell and AGH leader Chad Calek agree that this is going to be the biggest experience of the year.

On top of that, Buell hopes to unveil an extended edition of the “Darkness Falls” episode, as well as hopefully offer fans a sneak peek of Season Five.  “A&E has always been great and supportive of exciting the core fan base.  I think we’ll be able to do something really special there.”

Tickets will go on sale Sunday, June 27th at 18:18pm (6:18pm) EST.  Website for the event will go live this weekend at parafieldtrip.com

Sleep at the hotel.  Field Trippers will be able to check in to the hotel and stay there over the entire Field Trip period, therefore allowing oneself to be open to experiencing the hotel’s wide variety of claims 24/7.

Attend the amusement park. Do some group-bonding exercises and just have fun at the amusement park that is on-site.  Yes, there is an amusement park that runs around the Hotel Conneaut property!  (Amusement park will only be open on the first day of the trip – Sunday).

Bonfire Discussions.  Sit with Ryan and Eilfie from PRS as they have a discussion with a small, select group of people.  Other guest speakers will also hold bonfire discussions.

Thought-Form Experiment.  Attend lectures and hands-on workshops regarding the thought-form phenomena (as discussed on the episode).  Can people really create a ghost?  Guest-experts on thought-forms will hold thought-provoking lectures.  Some Field Trippers will also get to participate in a three-day thought-form experiment.

Haunted Boat Ride.  Go on a haunted boat ride and hear the legends of Hotel Conneaut and Conneaut Lake in detail prior to your ghost hunt.

Ghost hunt. Field Trippers will get to investigate some of the most haunted spots of the sprawling mansion.

Much more.  As always, there are a ton of exciting guests and events that are added when the full itinerary goes up.  For those who’ve attended an event before, this will be completely different from all the others.  For newcomers, there’s no better time to hop on and experience a PRS Field Trip for yourself!

Tickets will go on sale Wednesday, February 10th at 3pm EST.

This field trip will allow attendees to tour some of the battlefield sites with PRS, investigate some of the most famous haunts (including the Tillie Pierce House, as seen on “Paranormal State” season three), attend a dinner and Q&A with the PS cast, participate in a Dead Time seance, sit in on circle discussions and more.

As a special bonus,  field trippers have two unique things to look forward to: The world-famous Warrens Haunted Museum will be on display, hosted by Lorraine Warren.  Attendees will get to hear stories and see some of the most dangerous and haunted artifacts ever collected from hauntings.  Also, field trippers interested in historical research will get to go on a hands-on workshop with Eilfie Music to learn how to conduct historical investigations.

For more information, you can check out the official Gettysburg Field Trip page.  Tickets can also be purchased by visiting here.

Returning to the Thomas House are: Ryan Buell, Eilfie Music, Sergey Poberezhny, Heather Taddy, Katrina Weidman and Josh Light.  Chad Calek and Mary Beth Wylie of AGH are also returning.  Special guests include psychic Chip Coffey, psychic/investigator Michelle Belanger and more.

Guests will get to take a tour of the Thomas House, attend special lectures and workshops within the Inn, enjoy a special paranormal dinner theatre and ghost hunt with PRS/AGH afterhours.  The date for the event is August 7 – 9, 2009.  Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, May 13th, at 12:01am EST.

The network obtained a tape from a house where the family ended up mysteriously disappearing. The only thing that was left behind was this tape. I have since rewatched it and now being, “older?” and/or “wiser?” I have seen how horribly fake it is, but it still does not change the fact that the story of a family getting victimized by The Greys is frightening to me. It should be to anyone for that fact. Slowly being consumed by an unknown life form which makes your loved disappear one by one.

The idea of another form of conscious, intelligent life is exciting to think about. Where would, we as the human race, fit in the intergalactic puzzle? Would we suddenly turn into a third world planet? But then again, we are just beginning to tolerate others who are different from us, would be really be able to handle an entirely different species from another world?

Leave all your expectations behind; the ranch is a place where one can feel safe to get lost without the fear of never coming back.

PS
just jokes to the title

For most investigations, the Tech side of PRS has a distinct plan that’s been slowly evolving with each new case. Setup up the cameras and HQ, run the baselines, do whatever new experiments we’ve decided upon for that case, do the DT shuffle, review data, repeat, and pack up. Of course each case has its idiosyncrasies, but they generally have a similar methodology about them. While coming up with new techniques and technology represents its own challenges, it can get down right monotonous. Which is why Serg and I dived right into the unique opportunities that the UFO ranch afforded us.

Ever wonder what goes through our minds prior to a case? By some miracle (read: laziness) when the old office migrated to the new one, it was right after the UFO ranch case and not everything made the transition. That includes the massive white board we drew our plans on. By some further stroke of fortune, the plans are legible despite the board remaining outside. Here it is:

Figure 1.  White Board Blast from the Past

For those with poor vision, and to cover up the vast number of spelling errors, here’s a transcription:

UFO

Cameras Mounted Skywards

with CHDK motion detection

Aerial Photography via weather balloon

–or rocket

Thermal camera—to find people in the woods or craft heat signature

Frequency jammer at 27-49 maybe 2.4/5.8GHz

-Rules out R.C. Hoax

Video Cameras with 120X Zoom – Chad

Modify High Res WebCam with IR filter removed & zoom

EMF grid of entire property

-Google maps & GPS

Investigate Mountain “Doorway”

Stereo Photography –IR camera

Check Meditation mound

Long distance laser range finder (1 mile)

Nightvision Binocular scope

Telescope

Spotlight

Light speaker

Light microphone

Scanner

Yacuma Tribe Lore

Ley Lines

And now the run down on all that nonsense. Cameras mounted skyward only makes sense—how else is one supposed to capture lights in the sky? More on this later. CHDK is the Canon Hackers Development Kit, an alternate firmware for Canon cameras. The motion detection script would have allowed us to ascertain where and when something in the sky was mobile—this proved to be unnecessary as the objects were more easily observed that we had originally anticipated. Aerial photography would give a good look at the property and possibly the ever elusive…BatSquatch! You never know. The thermal camera was to find out if there were hoaxers in the woods, find the the cryptoid, and if the alleged semi-translucent craft got close enough determine the heat signature and a sense of the shape of the object.

The frequency jammer was to block out RC transmitters in the event that this was all a hoax. Video cameras with 120X zoom. Chad was supposed to supply us with a number of cameras with third generation nightvision scopes, but there was a SNAFU along the way—he did get us a number of cameras though for which PRS was quite grateful. The modified webcams were to get around bringing the surveillance system, something that did not travel well. The previous flight had crushed the surveillance computer like a tin can.

The unique qualities of the ranch prompted the idea to map out the EMF of the property—after all, there were UFOs, Cryptoids, and the Ranch was being used as an energy workers playground. If there was some correlation between this and EMF it could prove interesting to experiment with in the future. The property was too large to grid, however we did check out the most reportedly active locations to nothing of intrigue. The mountain doorway is allegedly the approximate location where the crafts were seen to appear and disappear but which upon further investigation appears to be solid rock. We were unable to make time for the trek out.

Stereo photography would give us a better spatial representation of the craft while the IR camera might reveal other properties. We brought the IR camera we had borrowed from the PSU forensics lab, but found nothing to note. There is a mound on the property referred to as the meditation mound, upon which we attempted to find something unique to this pile of earth. Nada. A laser range finder would be used to find out just how close the craft is getting and verify that it is in fact something large at a distance instead of something small yet close.

Nightvision binocular scope. We had a few generation threes, as did James—they were particularly efficacious at picking up the lights and tracking them when they were far from standard visual discernment. Telescope is an obvious choice, but one we forgot about getting once we were in Washington. The spotlight served a few purposes, pointing out a BatSquatch for instance. But there was also reports that the UFOs responded to flashed of light. Compounding this, we considered making a light speaker/light microphone. By using a photocell as a microphone, it’s possible to listen to a modulated light source and by modulating a light source with an amplified voice, it might be possible to communicate. It was a theory at least.

Scanner…you know, I can’t really remember what this was to be used for. Peculiar, I know, considering its normalcy. Yacuma Tribe Lore—we’d heard that there was some folklore involving beings from the sky. No, it’s not part of tech, but I do have other interests. Including mythology. Similarly the ley lines, or natural energy lines were something that were investigated to no avail.

If this doesn’t strike up some unusual conversations at the trip, I don’t know what will. See you all there!

I first heard about the famous Gilliland Ranch in December 2006.  Dave Schrader, an Internet paranormal radio host, told me of his unbelievable experiences.  I listened for over an hour as he told me about all the things he experienced – lights forming in to a triangle and then merging in to one bright light, seeing a large creature move from tree to tree, etc.  He told me that several other people have had even more intense experiences, both spiritual and other-worldly.  I asked him about James, the owner of the ranch.  I couldn’t help but be a little skeptical when I asked him, “do you REALLY believe this guy?”

He told me that at first, he too had his doubts.  He had allowed for James to go on his radio show, “Darkness Radio on the Edge of Town,” and talk about the experience.  But Dave allegedly didn’t believe it at first, to which James responded, “come up here and experience it yourself.”

And that’s exactly what we did.  I remember telling the producers for “Paranormal State” about Gilliland’s Ranch.  The majority of them were less than thrilled, mainly because they didn’t understand it.  Aliens?  UFOs?  Batsquatch?!?  In their eyes, it didn’t necessarily fit under the rubric of ghosts and demons.  But I wanted to do something different.  I wanted to push the boundaries.  Most importantly, I wanted to see it to believe it.  Somehow I was able to win over their support, and we went to the beautiful state of Washington in August of last year for what would be our final episode for season two.

I remember telling Chad Calek that we were finally going.  He had heard me talk about going to the ranch for months now.  “Dude, you gotta let me go,” he said.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Chad and I both have that childhood awe about certain aspects to the paranormal.  And Gilliland’s Ranch brought about as much excitement to us as a trip to Disneyworld would be for any red-blooded American child.  Yes, Gilliland’s Ranch was our amusement park.  We had high hopes for the place, but as with everything, I worried that I’d be disappointed.

So, was I?  Obviously not.  We’re going back and words can’t describe the excitement I have about going back with friends and colleagues of mine.  More importantly, I’m excited to see the wonder from our fellow Field Trippers who get to experience it for the first time.  I can’t wait for them to look up in to the sky for the first time on Friday night and shout to one another that they just spotted an anamoly!  I can’t wait for them to roam around Gilliland’s ranch, take a swim in the pond or try spiritual meditation on the meditation mound.  It’s going to be an experience unlike any other.

That wonder and awe that we experienced will now be handed to a group of newcomers, and I can’t wait to see their reactions.

I’m envious of all of you who are going to Gilliland’s for the first time.

Blast Your Power!

RYAN