Thursday, Oct. 30, 1997

Londoner is a real-life ghost-buster

Rob McConnell is in demand this week. As London's and perhaps Ontario's premier authority on the paranormal, McConnell is getting asked to appear in various capacities to help what he calls Halloween "hype."

He turns down most offers.

That's a switch for a normally busy guy. McConnell heads up The 'X' Chronicles, described in their promotional material as "an international multimedia corporation that specializes in the paranormal and parapsychology with corporate headquarters in London, Ont."

It's quite the operation. The McConnell's are the publishers of The 'X' Chronicles newspaper, executive producers of the 'X' Zone radio show on CJBK every Saturday and the 'X' Update on CHCH (now ONTV) every Wednesday. They have recently invented The 'X' Game and are planning the 'X' Symposium here in London in January.

That's about the time the BBC will be in town filming a documentary on McConnell's businesses, which beyond all the endeavors above, investigates alien sightings and abductions, poltergeist encounters, ghosts, mysterious photographs, and anything the police or you and I can't explain.

Doing field work

When he isn't doing media commentary, school seminars or speaking engagements, McConnell is doing field research and publishing his findings in his newspaper, which has more than 6,000 subscribers in Canada.

He investigated the infamous 1969 Bigfoot photographs and film by Roger Patterson and declared it a hoax, saying it had, "all the characteristics of a guy in an ape suit."

He uncovered the myth of the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull of Doom, an artifact of uncertain origin and world renown that now resides in a private home in Kitchener.

"There is no scientific proof whatsoever that the crystal skull has been responsible for any harm falling on a person or any miraculous healing or any other miracle," McConnell says.

He has also debunked 13 different published UFO photographs.

On the other hand, McConnell says that about 5% of the incidents that he investigates simply cannot be explained.

"We work both sides of the coin."

We're not alone

While he is quick to question and uncover hoaxes, he is among those who believe that we are not alone.

"There are things we can't understand. Do I believe in aliens? You bet I do. And ghosts have been around for centuries."

Having read police reports of an alleged poltergeist in St. Catharines several years ago, McConnell says all the evidence points to the real thing, if you'll pardon the expression.

Too many people are in the fast buck business when it comes to the paranormal, he says. Psychic hotlines, for example, are ruining the reputation of legitimate psychics.

McConnell's goal, other than to run a growing business, is to give the paranormal a better name, to demystify it. Helping hype Halloween won't do much for his cause, but he'd be glad to speak at any other time.

"Right now, UFO-ology or the paranormal is where homosexuality was 20 years ago," he says. "People are afraid to open their mouths because of the ridicule."

Far be it from me to make matters worse.

[End]