Meditation and Crop Circles and Bigfoot, Oh My! More Fun with St. Albans Paranormal Discussion Group

I've fallen behind with my monthly recaps, so today I'll be sharing about the last THREE meetings of the St. Albans Paranormal Discussion Group! The St. Albans Paranormal Discussion Group is an awesome opportunity for like-minded individuals to get together each month and hear a presentation on a wide variety of paranormal topics, with plenty of time after for questions and discussion. The group is open to everyone, and meets on the last Wednesday of the month at the St. Albans Historical Society building.

Adam Good on Meditation

Our February meeting was a little different than our normal routine. My friend, Adam Good, gave a talk about the benefits and process of meditation, and then led the group in a guided meditation. Honestly, I was a little wary. I have tried and tried over the years to utilize meditation for relaxation, but I just can't do it. I either fall asleep, or get so hyper-focused on some aspect, like breathing, or outside noises, or some other distractions that I feel like I don't achieve any sort of meditative state. So yeah, I was pretty amazed that Adam was able to make meditation more accessible. His guided exercise was extremely simple, yet effective. I found myself easily relaxing and being able to follow along with the instructions without difficulty. I thought that it would actually make it harder for me to participate in a meditation exercise with so many other people, but to my surprise, a group meditation just felt easier. Perhaps it was a collective group energy, but I really enjoyed the process and hopefully will be able to incorporate daily meditations into my everyday life. 

Tony Breeden on Crop Circles

Our March meeting brought us author, Tony Breeden and a discussion on crop circles.  What did we learn about crop circles? Absolutely nothing! Actually, I learned quite a bit. I went into this discussion with a certain level of skepticism, and was fascinated to learn that there are plenty of crop circles that have popped up that as of now, have not been proven to be man-made. Back when I was younger, crop circles were constantly in the news...well, at least, the Weekly World News...and now it seems like no one talks about this strange phenomenon anymore. I still don't know whether some of these crop circles are done by extraterrestrials, ultraterrestrials, or even time travelers, but I feel like they are the result of some type of intelligent design trying to tell us SOMETHING. I'll also definitely be keeping an eye out for reports, although our particular area is sadly NOT a hot spot for this particular phenomena, despite our otherwise high instances of high strangeness.

Joe Perdue on Bigfoot

Finally, April was a huge hit with a presentation on Bigfoot with Wild and Weird's Joe Perdue. Bigfoot is always a super fun topic, and Joe definitely has plenty of experience roaming the woods, investigating the hairy creature in the Mountain State. Although there wasn't a slideshow presentation due to technical difficulties, Joe did a great job just talking about his personal experiences, the cases he's researched, and the work of other researchers in the field. He also had with him his extensive collection of Bigfoot track casts. Being somewhat of a Wild and Weird groupie, I've heard most of these tales before, but it was still a fun talk and I still learned a few new things. I especially appreciate that Joe looks at the whole Bigfoot phenomenon with an open-mind, willing to look at all the data, including that which often gets thrown out by others as being 'woo.' 

Next month, Joe's Wild and Weird partner Ron Lanham, will be the featured guest speaker, giving a talk on remote viewing. This meeting will be held at 6pm on Wednesday, May 24th. The meeting takes place at the St. Albans Historical Society building on Fourth Avenue in St. Albans, WV. Everyone is welcome, and we'd love to have you join us for another fun and educational evening! Please LIKE and FOLLOW the St. Albans Paranormal Discussion Group Facebook page for more information. 

*January's meeting was a talk on the Rake and Other Ghouls by founding member, Barry Miller. You can read my blog on that meeting HERE!*

August 2022 Paranormal Discussion Group with Tony Breeden

Okay, I'm playing some MAJOR catch-up!! Last March, I was really honored to be asked to present to a new group that had formed in the St. Albans area. As part of the St. Abans' On Purpose Project, a young man named Barry, with the guidance of Angie Breeden, started a monthly Paranormal Discussion Group. Each month, the group would meet to discuss a new topic in the paranormal field, and there were so many awesome speakers with a knowledge in so many different aspects of the field. I attended as many of these meetings as I could, and each one I attended, I tried to feature on my blog. Unfortunately, the latter half of 2022 was a REALLY rough time as my mom's health continued to decline rapidly. So, there were two speakers that I didn't get to give proper credit to.

Tomorrow, I'll post a blog about September's speaker, Joe Perdue, of the WV High Strangeness Collective, but today I wanted to focus on August's speaker, Tony Breeden!

Tony Breeden is a West Virginia author who has written an impressive number of books, both fiction and nonfiction, but is notably an excellent UFO researcher with a unique and refreshing religious slant to the UFO phenomenon. He also knows more about the (in)famous WV UFO researcher, Gray Barker, than any other person alive today! And, it was Gray Barker who was the subject of Tony's presentation.

Gray Barker was a fascinating guy. Born and educated here in West Virginia, he held several different jobs, including working for a string of drive-in movie theaters. His work in the field of ufology, however, is what made him famous. Thanks to him, the world knows about cases such as the Flatwoods Monster and the Grafton Monster. He gave us many publications and books that are staples in any ufologist's library today. But, the man was not without his controversies, and to be completely honest, despite the awesome, well-researched information provided in the presentation, I still haven't made up my mind completely as to whether Barker ever really even believed in UFO's. His pranking of John Keel while Keel was working the Mothman case during the mid 1960's is the stuff of legends, but just scratches the surface of the alleged fraud that Barker may have been involved with over the years. 

There was so much information packed into the presentation that I can't remember everything, and Tony presented it with a delightful mix of authority and humor...which perfectly suited the subject matter! He talked a little about his books, and answered lots of questions from the participants, several of who opened up with some pretty strange stories to share. It was a really fun evening of learning about a weird aspect of West Virginia's history among those who share my passion for the paranormal! 

You can find Tony at his website, TonyBreedenBooks.com or you can find his work on Amazon. You can also follow him on Facebook to see what events he'll be vending at and other information! Also, come join the Facebook page for the Paranormal Discussion Group and see what 2023 will bring!