'X' Marks The Paranormal Spot - Live from the Mountain to the world every weeknight

Photo by Gord Bowes - Hamilton Mountain News

Gord Bowes - Senior Editor

Hamilton Mountain News

Friday, November 21 2008
Arts and Entertainment

Every weeknight, Rob McConnell settles in behind his desk in the basement studio of his Mountain home, connects to TalkStar master control in White Springs, Fla., and opens the door to a universe that listeners around the world tune into.

UFO sightings, Bigfoot encounters, angels in our midst and the arrival of Planet X— for four hours, McConnell's ‘X’ Zone radio show discusses just about everything under the paranormal umbrella.

Broadcasting from the heart of the "Great Lakes triangle, the show’s motto, or disclaimer if you prefer, is “Where fact is fiction and fiction is reality.”

"People want a place where they can talk, where they can be safe," says Mr. McConnell. “It’s okay to believe in leprechauns, it’s okay to believe in fairies. It's okay to believe in Bigfoot or in extra-terrestrials.”

The ‘X’ Zone has its beginnings in 1993, when Mr. McConnell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis following a heart attack. His doctor told him he had to slow down.

With a longtime interest in the paranormal, sparked by a UFO sighting as a boy in 1957 that he still can’t explain to this day, Mr. McConnell started the ‘X’ Chronicles newspaper. At first, he couldn't give away the 20,000 copies of the monthly publication.

“Then came the X-Files on TV, about two months after we started publishing,” says Mr. McConnell.

It wasn't long before the paranormal publisher got a call from CHML producer Brian Wilde asking him to appear on Bill Kelly’s afternoon radio show.

No money, but great exposure, thought Mr. McConnell. After that, he started approaching other stations around North American, offering to be a guest.

Then in 1995 he bought airtime on CKDX in Newmarket, Sunday nights from 11 p. m. to 1 a. m., selling his own ads to pay for the show. That led to a London radio station calling, where he was offered a Friday night show and commission for the ads he sold.

He eventually ended up at CKTB in St. Catharines with a Friday-Sunday show — “And I was getting paid.” That eventually turned into a gig as executive producer of talk programming at the AM station.

Today, Mr. McConnell, 55, is syndicated on the TalkStar Radio Network, on three dozen stations across Canada and the U. S. and streamed live every night over the Internet (www.xzoneradio.com). He also runs Rel-Mar, his own web design and media consulting business.

Married to Laura — “She’s my inspiration” — with six children ranging in age from 18 to 32, and five grandchildren, he's called Hamilton home since 2002.

The ‘X’ Zone features a wide range guests and topics, such as recent segments titled “A Shocking Look Inside Jehovah's Witnesses” and “Was George Washington a Gay Pot-Smoker?”

The audience ranges from a mix of conspiracy theory fans and people like himself, with a lifelong interest in the paranormal, to the usual insomniacs searching the dial in the wee hours of the morning.

Mr. McConnell is gentle on most callers— “If anyone takes time out of their day or night to listen, why would I put them down?” — but doesn't suffer foolish guests lightly. Those who are legends in their own minds are relegated to the The ‘X’ Zone Order Of Woo Woos, a long list of peole with the initials DNR — Do Not Rebook — after their name.

People like the infamous hoaxer who last summer proclaimed he had a Bigfoot corpse in his freezer.

“I threw Tom Biscardi off our show three years ago,” says Mr. McConnell.

And just because he opens the airwaves for discussion of all the mysteries in the world, he doesn’t necessarily believe or endorse the idea they are all real.

He doesn’t believe Bigfoot is walking among us, that aliens crash-landed and were dissected at Roswell, or that extra-terrestrial beings have been mutilating cattle and leaving crop circles in fields around the world.

“Where's the proof?” Mr. McConnell asks. “Don't you think by now, with all the digital cameras, wouldn’t someone have a picture of Bigfoot?”

But he believes there is paranormal activity in the world, possibly partially explained by a portal between dimensions.

“I think quantum physics is going to open a lot of doors.”

Until a recent format change, the ‘X’ Zone could be heard locally on The Mix CKNS out of Caledonia. The show can be seen live via the Internet nightly or via iTunes podcasts. If you ever miss a show, they’re all archived at xzonearchives.com.

The radio veteran has a number of things in the works, including a DVD version of his X Game board game. There's a special ‘X’ Zone iPod on its way, with a number of special paranormal-based applications already loaded.

Mr. McConnell, who stresses he is a Christian, is also finishing up a book, “You Don't Know God,” which takes a look at how the Bible would be written today based on our current scientific knowledge.

Ideas such as explaining the story of Noah as a spaceship and DNA samples rather than an ark capable of carrying two of every animal on Earth.

He expects it will be published next September.

“I’m not worried,” Mr. McConnell says of the potential for backlash from the religious community. “I’m not being disrespectful, I’m just putting forward ideas.

“I love asking questions.”