Long before THE 'X' FILES made it hip to hunt the paranormal, Niagara's Rob McConnell had an ear for the eerie.

Now the chairman of the Canadian Registry of Paranormal Activity is joining the publishing game with his own monthly newspaper, THE 'X' CHRONICLES. Hitting stores the second week of May, the 16 page newspaper will cast a light on the weird and unexplained, and give local readers and writers a forum to relay their own strange occurrences.

"We will investigate and report on the information that the general public calls 'fringe'," writes McConnell in his first-issue editorial. "What the skeptics call 'balderdash', we will explore - and more."

For McConnell, a gray-haired St. Catharines resident, the time is right to let the 'X' mark the spot. Rapidly-improving technology is making news of the paranormal events easier to access - indeed, McConnell's living room is humming with new state-of-the-art computer equipment.

And the success of Fox's creepy THE X-FILES certainly doesn't hurt. In the past year, the filmed-in Canada TV drama has enjoyed critical acclaim, surging ratings, and a fan base that indicates Trek-like conventions on the horizon. McConnell feels that the show has helped vindicate paranormal research, and swayed the attitudes of cynics. Suddenly, more attention is focused on the government, and their 'TOP SECRET FILES' regarding UFOs, mysterious disappearances, etc.

The weekly exploits of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully may be fiction, but more people are curious about the facts.

"I think (series creator) Chris Carter has done a fantastic job of bringing it to the public," says McConnell. "People who used to sneer at me are now a lot more acceptive. It has added credibility to the paranormal investigator."

Enough for McConnell to risk $10,000 putting THE 'X' CHRONICLES on the street.

Forty thousand copies of the first issue are being printed, most of them to be given away. Once the word gets out, McConnell hopes to attract more advertisers and establish a strong, local readership - he' seven making temporary plans for an 'X' CHRONICLES convention in Niagara Falls in September.

It's not a rag full of rumors and propaganda, he insists. Every month, readers will get investigative reporting, Canadian paranormal news, and stories submitted by readers and freelance writers.

Occasionally, issues will have a theme - June edition spotlights the mysterious 'GREAT LAKES TRIANGLE', where ships, planes and people have vanished in and around the Niagara area.

"I've had two years minimum - of gathering information and speaking to people," says McConnell. "I'm like an archeologist. I go after the facts pertaining to parapsychology."

It's a fascinating gig, he says. McConnell is constantly surprised at what's sent to him, from a computer-generated video explaining how the CIA accidentally shot John F Kennedy in Dallas, to theories on how the Germans used UFO technology.

Every once in a while, McConnell is reminded why he does this: Nearly two weeks ago, he woke up crying from a dream in which he couldn't find his children, and where he was trapped in a building which was going to explode. Later that day, news of the Oklahoma City bombing arrived.

"Maybe NOW's the time, after two years of THE 'X' FILES," he says. "I'm very enthused, very intrigued, and very gung-ho that things will start happening over the next five years."