Review of the American Ghost Society Conference

2010′s AGS conference in Decatur, Il was an event our team looked forward to, especially since most of the team would be attending this year. With another wonderful line up of speakers by Troy Taylor we anticipated an overkill of info by speakers who have been studying paranormal history and technology for most of their lives. Our team has only been investigating as a team for 2 1/2 years and have a thirst for new ideas to try out during investigating. As a team we often have unanswered questions which warrant further clarity. For the most part, the conference does not fill our quench. This is not to say that the speakers or Troy Taylor did not do a fantastic job, they did, it’s more to say that this type of conference is geared towards anyone interested in haunted history more so than paranormal investigating. However, Troy did bring in two speakers whom we enjoyed immensely for their technological research in the paranormal field. Our hats are off to Troy for this.
Dale Kaczmarek and Michael Esposito were the highlights of our weekend. Both brought a wealth of personal experiences as investigators to the podium. Dale’s work with the Ghost Research Society is known world wide and he is very respected in this field. One of his best comments was telling the audience that evidence may be missed because most researchers do not have the time to review video clips frame by frame. We whole heartedly agree with this statement so it was refreshing to hear Mr. Kaczmerak echo this.
Michael Esposito gave us more info to chew on about EVP research in 45 minutes than did all the speakers combined. Talking one on one with Mr. Esposito was like discussing our work with fellow team members. He was truly interested in our questions and found the time to answer them for all. We find his work using different forms of sounds waves such as white noise, colored noise and vintage audio frequencies intriguing. We look forward to using his theories in our investigations. Thank you Mr. Esposito.
Our low point of the conference was the insensitive parody of one speaker’s interpretation of orb photography. Throwing blue bouncing balls into the air while taking pictures of them using a disposable camera may be humorous to many, but rather closed minded to some. In a field where no one is an expert, it is a danger to not keep an open mind about what evidence research finds. Yes, 99% of orbs are bugs, dust or reflections, but there is that one percent to keep a watchful eye on. To boldly announce that they are not worthy to even discuss, shuts the door and minds to that one percent. Enough said.
All in all, our group had a great time at the conference. We look forward to going again next year when it will be located in the Jacksonville, Il. Troy Taylor has been living paranormal research for a multitude of years now and has written many books on the subject. We hope his interest never falters and he always has as much thirst for bringing this world to the public to share. As a final note, Mr. Taylor, would you like your Belwitch Cave rock back???? It seems one member of the team has already broken a toe and wonders…..could it be?

Jun 30, 2010