Penn State Paranormal Society Enjoys Growth, Popularity

A lot of things have changed since Penn State Paranormal Research Society founder Ryan Buell was a Penn State student.

Buell and the rest of his Penn State crew are now starring in the second season of A&E’s “Paranormal State,” and the small Penn State club he started as an undergraduate has become a national phenomenon.

So has the annual conference he created seven years ago to draw supernatural investigators to Happy Valley.

The conference, which has been held on Penn State’s campus for the past six years, first drew several hundred enthusiasts, Buell said. Last year’s attendance was about 2,000, a number Buell hopes to increase when the seventh annual Univ-Con kicks off Sept. 11 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.

The four-day experience will feature a wide range of events, including presentations by renowned demonologists such as Lorraine Warren, the cast of “Paranormal State,” ghost trolley tours and hunts on campus and a discussion of the effects of paranormal phenomena and the media.

“Everything’s changed since our last few conferences,” Buell said. “We’ve grown up a little bit.”

Aside from changing location, the conference will take a new turn, opening the door to skeptic Michael Shermer to challenge the attendees and explain “why people believe weird things,” Buell said.

“He believes that there’s a psychology involved to some of this,” Buell said. “We’re not afraid of debate. All we can do right now is talk about theories. That’s where things get heated.”

A masquerade ball and paranormal film festival will also add some new flair to Univ- Con.

“We’re young,” Buell said. “We throw this event like one big party. There’s a lot of hype. A lot of color. A lot of fun.”

Buell said that Univ-Con, which advertises activities such as workshops for those with psychic abilities and presentations on quantum physics, has something for anyone, even the biggest naysayers.

“If you want to be scared, there are people who can scare the crap out of you,” Buell said. “There’s nothing like this out there. It isn’t a bunch of old people sitting around talking about the stuff. It’s really animated and lively people.”

With a busy small screen career, Buell constantly asks himself if this will be the last Univ-Con.

“Every year we always say ‘This is it, we’re not doing anymore,’ ” Buell said. “Then we’ll get another great idea.”

Prices and schedules are available at www.univcon.org. Starting this year, the event is no longer free to Penn State students, but Buell said they can receive what he calls a “huge” but as-yet-undetermined discount.

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Penn State Paranormal Society
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