LEWISTON – With Halloween just around the corner, nearly 60 believers in ghosts, phantoms and other mystical incarnations of the spirit world gathered for the 2005 New England Ghost Conference at the Ramada Inn on Saturday.
The crowd watched videos on unexplained phenomena such as Stonehenge and heard tales of ghost investigations. Attendees also listened to lectures on how to counsel people who’ve had their first out-of-body or paranormal experience, and how to use psychic senses for paranormal research.
Pamela Rogan and Kathy Veloski of Belmont, N.H., woke up at 4 a.m. to drive to the daylong event, which was run by Lewiston’s own Maine Paranormal Research Association.
“It’s reinforced a lot,” Veloski said during a break. She said it was nice to be among people who believed in the paranormal and didn’t make odd faces when talking about ghostly encounters.
Usually when such stories are shared, Rogan added, “People look at you like, ‘OK, how are those drugs you’ve been taking?'”
The morning got off to a slow start, but no one complained. Nancy Washell, who heads the hosting research association with her husband, Bill, joked that “the paranormal” could be blamed for problems like a DVD player that wouldn’t work. Everyone laughed graciously.
Even when twin brothers Keith and Carl Johnson of the SciFi Channel’s “Ghost Hunters” didn’t show, everyone watched a substitute video without complaint.
Cheryl Sabin, from the Boston area, said the conference was what she’d expected, people coming together with a quest for knowledge
“It’s fascinating and very accepting,” she said.
Sabin had just days before joined the Cape & Islands Paranormal Research Society in Massachusetts as an investigator-in-training. “I’m a sensitive,” she said, meaning she’s more aware than your average person when there’s a paranormal presence. “It’s something I’ve been aware of, but over the summer I have had some interesting experiences, and I’m looking forward to developing my skills.”
While this year’s Ghost Conference had the best attendance on record, Nancy Washell said it should continue to grow. “Next year, we’re doing three days in Portland, October 13, 14, and 15,” she said.
The change of venue will be in part to celebrate the event’s five-year anniversary. Details will soon be posted on the association’s Web site at www.http://www.mainesparanormal.com/
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