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!
Rarely mentioned regarding my friend and fellow researcher, Gray Barker, but he was a well-educated, degreed person living right in the heart of the Appalachian lore of monsters, men in black, UFOs, and other paranormal phenomena. He was usually first on the scene. I don't think of UFOlogy as even remotely a religion, thus 'belief' seems an inappropriate term. Gray was a folklorist with a flair for catching the eerieness of the phenomena in his books and newsletters. Those of us who have read Jung and Joseph Campbell tend to think this is a really better approach to the phenomena than attempting to explain the numinous in terms of nuts'n'bolts UFOlogy. Gray also had a sense of humor (rare in ufology circles), and disliked the pomposity of many self-appointed researchers.
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