Newkirk Museum of the Paranormal

Phenomenacon 3: The World's First Online Paranormal Conference Returns Feb. 25, 2022! Speakers, Schedule, and Ticket Info:

Phenomenacon, the first-ever online paranormal conference, is returning for round three! Get ready for another jam-packed weekend of weirdness, dedicated to bringing you the brightest minds in the study of High Strangeness, the biggest stars from your favorite paranormal television shows, and the most accessible, inclusive, and affordable event experience ever!

Born from the mass postponements and cancellations of paranormal events in the midst of a global pandemic, the first two Phenomenacons aimed to temporarily fill the void left by social distancing and nationwide bans on large gatherings, and boy were they a huge success. By providing a highly polished, easily accessible, and inexpensive online event with world-class presenters, Phenomenacon scratched the itch for lovers of the unexplained who've seen their favorite events postponed, shuttered, or returned to the world without proper safety precautions for speakers and guests. 

Phenomenacon isn't just the world's first online paranormal conference, it's been hailed as the best online paranormal conference, the most accessible online paranormal conference, and one of the best paranormal conferences, period. Simply put, Phenomenacon is phenomenal.

Now, we're bringing Phenomenacon back to introduce you to more of the most fascinating names in the study of the strange, from Voodoo Priestesses to Weird Astrologers to Sasquatch Hunters and everyone in between!

Organized and hosted by The Traveling Museum of the Paranormal & Occult, the world's only mobile museum of the unexplained, Phenomenacon is a three day, online event full of workshops, multimedia presentations, and interactive discussions with the most exciting names in paranormal research, ufology, witchcraft, folklore, conspiracy, and more.

Learn how the occult saved rock and roll with author Peter Bebergal! Discover the reality behind paranormal reality television with Kindred Spirits' Adam Berry! Dissect the state of ufology with Mirage Men's Mark Pilkington! Uncover how African spirits influenced Star Trek with Voodoo Priestess Lilith Dorsey! Explore the evidence for Sasquatch with Finding Bigfoot's Cliff Barackman! Plus hours of film screenings, special announcements, and more!

Phenomenacon will be be streamed live in the museum's secret Facebook group where you can interact with other attendees, take part in live question and answer sessions with the presenters, and even visit virtual merch tables where you can snag special deals on each presenter's books, art, films, and other cool stuff that supports their work. 

Not into Facebook? No problem! For the first time, you'll be able to enjoy Phenomenacon with a private link posted right here on Patreon each day - no more burner accounts!

Your ticket is just $15, or completely free for most existing museum members.

All that's needed to attend all three days of Phenomenacon is a membership to the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal & Occult at the Friend of the Museum level [$15] or higher. 

[IMPORTANT NOTE: if you only intend to pledge for access to the conference and don't plan on maintaining a regular museum membership with us - which we would love because memberships support our groundbreaking work and events like these -  please read the important information at the bottom of this page before pledging to avoid any confusion about how Patreon's billing system works. We can't stress this enough.]

All that's needed to attend all three days of Phenomenacon is a membership to the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal & Occult at the Friend of the Museum level [$15] or higher. 

Your membership doesn't just gain you access to the world's only online paracon, it unlocks hundreds of hours of exclusive content just for museum members, including live paranormal investigations, in-depth looks at rare artifacts from the history of the unexplained, classes on magick and the occult, and all the incredible monthly content in our ongoing Paranormal Quarantine event. Your membership also supports our mission to preserve and protect items of historical and paranormal significance to the study of the unexplained, a monthly pledge you can feel good about.

Whether you only pledge long enough to attend the event or decide to stick around end enjoy all the perks of museum membership, $15 is the cheapest paranormal conference ticket you'll ever buy, especially when it comes to the quality of the speakers and hours of varied, top-tier entertainment from the best community in the weirdo world.

There's no need to reserve a ticket, no add-ons or expensive extras, every seat is V.I.P., and to keep Phenomenacon as accessible as possible to overseas attendees and essential workers, each day's presentations will be viewable for about 16 hours after the end of the event!

Here's your official schedule for Phenomenacon 3!

5:30PM EST:  GREG NEWKIRK | YOUR GUIDE TO PHENOMENACON

Join Traveling Museum of the Paranormal & Occult director Greg Newkirk for a warm, weird welcome back to the best-ever online paracon dedicated to everything from ufology to witchcraft, folklore, ghost hunting, and everything in between.

6:00PM EST:  MAIGHDLIN KELLY | THE WEIRD ASTROLOGY OF HELLIER

Maighdlin Kelly [they/them] is an astrologer, diviner, witch, and weirdo with a love of all things bizarre and beautiful. Maighdlin is responsible for Weird Astrology, which takes a deep dive into some of the most fascinating astrological quirks of your favorite cases of High Strangeness, from UFO reports to the birth charts of famous paranormal figures like Coast to Coast AM's late Art Bell. You might even recognize Weird Astrology from season two of Planet Weird's award-winning series Hellier, where Maighdlin lended their talents to deciphering the television show's strangest synchronistic moments.

From making making magic potions in the woods in their childhood to providing astrological consultations to paranormal investigators in their adulthood, Maighdlin's life has never ceased to be curious and eventful. When Maighdlin is not seeing clients and posting videos to their Weird Astrology patreon, they can be found tinkering with handmade jewelry or gazing up lovingly and ecstatically at the night sky.

Maighdlin joins Phenomenacon for a deeper dive on the astrological oddities of Hellier, presenting a talk that's sure to delight fans of the Appalachian mystery series.

7:15PM EST: AMY BRUNI | A SECRET, INTERACTIVE EXPERIMENT!

Amy Bruni [she/her] is one of the biggest names in paranormal research for a reason. Not only is she the the Executive Producer and co-host of Travel Channel's Kindred Spirits, the author of  Life with the Afterlife: 13 Haunting Truths About Ghosts, the host of Grim & Mild's Haunted Road Podcast, and the CEO of the spooky boutique travel company Strange Escapes, but she's spent the last two decades building a reputation as one of the paranormal field's most respected figures.

Join Amy Bruni from a secret location as she conducts an interactive paranormal experiment!

8:30PM EST: GREG NEWKIRK | EGREGORES FOR FUN & PROFIT

Greg Newkirk [he/him] is an award winning producer, full-time paranormal investigator, and founder of the world’s only mobile museum of the unexplained. In other words, he’s a professional weirdo. For the last two and a half decades, Newkirk has been tracking down and investigating cases of high strangeness ranging from flying saucer crashes to cursed artifacts and everything in between. Whether he’s guiding beloved actor Jeff Goldblum on a Bigfoot hunt for Disney+, building ancient spirit communication devices on the Travel Channel, or orchestrating mind-blowing alien abduction experiments in the hit series Hellier, Greg has become the go-to source for new and exciting adventures into the unknown. 

Join Greg for a presentation covering a rarely-discussed though frequently encountered phenomenon with massive implications for the study of paranormal: egregores. In this talk, Greg will highlight the historical study of thought forms, pinpoint pop-culture egregores that have manifested into full-fledged hauntings, and offer a solution to the frightening problems that "intentional hauntings" present to the world of the paranormal.

9:45PM EST: DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? | DIRECTED BY BRAD ABRAHAMS

A short documentary about the unofficial artist of conspiracy theory culture, the controversial and recently departed David Dees. An artist for Sesame Street for 13 years, Dees was on the track to a lucrative career as a commercial artist in Los Angeles. Then, 9/11 happened, and he forever went down the conspiracy theory rabbit-hole. But is there a way out of the darkness? 

10:15PM EST:  CLIFF BARACKMAN | THE BEST EVIDENCE FOR BIGFOOT

Cliff Barackman [he/him] has been doing Bigfoot field research since 1994, work which has taken him to 46 states and 5 continents in search of evidence supporting the existence of undiscovered hominoids worldwide. As the evidence analyst on Animal Planet’s hit television show, Finding Bigfoot, Cliff has applied his skill and expertise to a variety of photographic, video, film, and sound evidence. Thanks to his extensive work documenting evidence of the existence of Sasquatch, Cliff now curates the North American Bigfoot Center in Boring, Oregon, which features the largest public collection of Bigfoot evidence in the Pacific Northwest. Additionally Cliff cohosts the popular Bigfoot & Beyond Podcast.

Cliff joins Phenomenacon to present some of the best-ever evidence captured that points to the existence of Sasquatch as a physical creature lurking in the forests of North America and beyond. Don't believe in Bigfoot? After Cliff's talk, you might just change your mind.

OFFICIAL PHENOMENACON EVENT MERCH: LIMITED TIME!

Want to commemorate your time at the world's greatest paranormal conference? Grab the official Phenomenacon Tee! We've stocked the merch store with a unisex and women's cut shirt and a classy as hell Phenomenacon pint glass featuring Ivan, our event mascot!

These items will disappear the day after Phenomenacon, so snag them quick!

3:15PM EST: WELCOME TO PHENOMENACON DAY 2

Join museum director Greg Newkirk for a welcome to the second day of Phenomenacon with announcements, news, and a preview of the day's events.

3:45PM EST: LILITH DORSEY | SPIRITUAL LESSONS FROM THE SCI-FI UNIVERSE

Lilith Dorsey M.A. [they/them], resides in New Orleans, a city known worldwide for its rich Voodoo and Hoodoo history, which is perfect, seeing as Lilith is of the most sought after Voodoo practitioners in America. With a background education in plant science, anthropology, and film at the University of Rhode Island, New York University, and the University of London, Lilith's magickal training includes numerous initiations into Santería—also known as Lucumí, Haitian Vodoun, and New Orleans Voodoo. 

A professional psychic and teacher for over three decades, Lilith is the author of the bestselling Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens (Weiser, 2020), Voodoo and African Traditional Religion (Warlock Press, 2021), Water Magic (Llewellyn, 2020), and The African-American Ritual Cookbook (Kindle, 2012).

Join Lilith for a special Phenomenacon presentation that dives into the spiritual lessons behind your favorite science fiction films and television shows. What does Worf from Star Trek have to do with Africa’s Ogun? What do little green men have to do with Sirius and Amazonian shamanism? How can the pitfalls to your destiny be found in the Twilight Zone? For the answers to these questions and more, don't miss Lilith Dorsey!

5:15PM EST: KEELIN MATHEWS | HAUNTED STORYTELLING

Keelin Mathews [she/they] is a long-time member of the Traveling Museum and a recent college graduate from Hampshire College, earning a bachelor’s degree with concentrations in anthropology, linguistics, and literature, along with interests in storytelling, museum studies, and decolonial methodologies. While she finds the paranormal fascinating, she finds even more intrigue in the community engaged with it and the relationship between people and the unknown. When she’s not theorizing about those relationships and collecting stories from people, Keelin spends her time binge-watching Star Trek, doing hand embroidery, and making memes about the museum to harass the Newkirks with. 

Keelin joins Phenomenacon to present Haunted Storytelling: Investigation, Belief, and the Unknown in a Paranormal Community, an ethnographic study exploring the relationship between the paranormal and the community engaged with it, primarily through the ways community members investigate and tell their stories. This study asks how we define a community, what hidden meanings lie in the structure of our stories, and how we can differentiate between believing and knowing. Lastly, this study warns against the dangers and problems of Western colonial ideals in the paranormal community.

6:30PM EST: MHARA STARLING | MODERN DAY WELSH WITCHERY

Mhara Starling [she/her] was born in North Wales, raised on the Isle of Anglesey, and is a native Welsh speaker. She is a transgender woman who has been practicing witchcraft from a very young age, and her witchcraft videos on TikTok have more than a million views. Mhara is a celebrant and a tarot reader, and she runs moots, gatherings, and open rituals. She was featured in the BBC Wales documentary series Young, Welsh and Pretty Religious.

Mhara joins Phenomenacon to present a special talk centered around the Witchcraft of Wales and how you can incorporate its rich history of magical practice into your own daily work with exercises for honoring those who came before, connecting with the spirit of your home, protecting against adversity and malignant spirits, changing the weather, and much more!

7:45PM EST: ABDUCTION PRODUCTION | DIRECTED BY COLLIN BLACK

A sci-fi comedy short film about a monotonous young couple, Barney and Beth, who are inspired by sci-fi b-movies to fake an alien abduction to spice up their relationship. They hire a local filmmaker and landscaper, Cletus, to create the most “realistic” UFO sighting video to help prove their elaborate hoax. It doesn't go quite as planned...

8:30PM EST: DANA NEWKIRK | BEWITCHING THE PARANORMAL

A practicing witch for well over two decades, Dana Newkirk [she/her] has managed to expertly blend her knowledge of witchcraft and tarot with her career as a paranormal investigator in order to help both the living and the dead, a rare talent that’s proven invaluable in her line of work. When she’s not conjuring up conversations about high strangeness on hit television shows like Planet Weird's Hellier, Travel Channel’s Kindred Spirits or Disney+'s The World According to Jeff Goldblum Dana can be found giving tarot readings, interactive lectures, and hands-on workshops to packed houses across the country, sharing her expertise on everything from herbal magick, divination, traditional conjure & rootwork, practical magic, and more.

Join Dana for a special Phenomenacon talk on how magick, witchcraft, and the occult go hand-in-hand with explorations of the paranormal, and discover how a little magick can enhance your own adventures in the unexplained.

9:45PM EST: ADAM BERRY | THE REALITY OF PARANORMAL REALITY TV

Adam Berry [he/him] is currently the co-star and Executive Producer of Travel Channel's hit television series Kindred Spirits, but he's been chasing the unexplained on television for over a decade, first winning the the SyFy Channel competition series Ghost Hunters Academy before spending the next five years as a cast member on Ghost Hunters. With a focus on helping families and spirits alike, Berry has traveled the country changing the way the world thinks about ghosts and what happens after we shuffle off this mortal coil.

Adam joins Phenomenacon to discuss his work in the paranormal, his journey from competition winner to executive producer, what it's really like behind the scenes on some of paranormal television's biggest series. How are locations chosen? What's the crew do? Who decides what to show and what to cut? Why do they play music? All your questions about television production and more will be answered by Adam's talk!

OFFICIAL PHENOMENACON EVENT MERCH: LIMITED TIME!

Want to commemorate your time at the world's greatest paranormal conference? Grab the official Phenomenacon Tee! We've also stocked the merch store with a unisex and women's cut shirt and a classy as hell Phenomenacon pint glass featuring Ivan, our event mascot!

These items will disappear the day after Phenomenacon, so snag them quick!

3:00PM EST: GUIDE TO PHENOMENACON: DAY 3

It's the final day of Phenomenacon! Join museum founder Greg Newkirk for some important announcements, news updates, and a preview of the day's events!

3:30PM EST:  MARK PILKINGTON | MIRAGE MEN AND THE STATE OF UFOLOGY

Mark Pilkington [he/him] is the author of Mirage Men: an Adventure into Paranoia, Espionage, Psychological Warfare, and UFOs, the brains behind independent publishing press Strange Attractor, and musician with particular interest in the fringes of knowledge, culture and belief.

Mark makes a rare public appearance at Phenomenacon to discuss the legacy of Mirage Men, the current state of ufology, and what the Mirage Men are up to a decade later.

4:45PM EST: KRISTEN ANDERSON  & WILL ROGERS | BRO-ST HUNTING

Hosts of the delightful Guide to the Unknown podcast, Kristen Anderson [she/her] and Will Rogers [he/him] are siblings who were raised on mysteries, and now delight in bringing them to the masses. They’re interested and interesting, goofy and thoughtful, they’ve seen Scream like a million times, and they watch loads of paranormal television.

Dudes who yell at ghosts on TV: you know them. You love them(?). But you may or may not give them credit for their emotional aptitude. At first glance, it's all toxic masculinity, ghost-style -- at second glance, well, it's still that. But there's a charming vulnerability as well.  The podcasting siblings of Guide to the Unknown will take us through the softer side of fears and perhaps come close to answering the age-old question: what's the deal with these guys?

6:00PM EST:  DR. LYNNE MCNEILL | WHAT WOULD A FOLKLORIST DO?

Dr. Lynne S. McNeill [she/her] is an assistant professor of folklore in the English Department at Utah State University. She holds a PhD in Folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research interests include legend, belief, fandom, and digital culture. She serves on the boards of the Western States Folklore Society and the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research, serves as reviews editor for the journal Contemporary Legend, and is the co-director of the Digital Folklore Project. Dr. McNeill is a regular guest on Travel Channel's Paranormal Caught on Camera, and the author of the popular textbook Folklore Rules. Her work has been published in Western Folklore, Contemporary Legend, and other journals and edited collections. 

Dr. McNeill joins Phenomenacon to discuss the folklorist's approach to paranormal research, offering an alternative research method for exploring the world of the unexplained.

7:30PM EST: PETER BEBERGAL | HOW THE OCCULT SAVED ROCK N' ROLL

Peter Bebergal [he/him] is the author of Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll, Too Much to Dream: A Psychedelic American Boyhood, and Strange Frequencies: The Extraordinary Story of the Technological Quest for the Supernatural. He writes widely on music and books, with special emphasis on the speculative and slightly fringe. His recent essays and reviews have appeared in The New Yorker online, Slate, The Times Literary Supplement, The Quietus, BoingBoing, and The Believer. Bebergal studied religion and culture at Harvard Divinity School, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Peter joins Phenomenacon to discuss his adventures unearthing the full influence of occult traditions on rock and roll -- from the Beatles to Black Sabbath -- ultimately proving how the marriage between mysticism and music changed our world.

8:45PM EST: TELOS OR BUST BY MATT RALSTON, KAI WADA ROATH, & BRAD ABRAHAMS

Ascended masters, new religions, inner-Earth cities, crystals and lost continents. Immerse yourself in the confluence of strange myths and beliefs of the citizens of Mount Shasta, California. Brad Abrahams’ Telos or Bust is the pilot for his brand-new, upcoming docuseries Keep Folklore Alive, featuring episodes about cryptids, aliens, yokai and more. 

9:15PM EST: ROZ HERNANDEZ | FINDING THE FUN IN THE SUPERNATURAL

Roz Hernandez (she/they) is a comedian, actor, and drag queen known as Roz Drezfalez. Based in Los Angeles, her paranormal interview podcast Ghosted! by Roz Drezfalez features conversations with celebrities, paranormal professionals, and every day people about their true experiences with the other side. Previous guests include Margaret Cho, Chris Colfer (Glee), Nicole Byer (Nailed It!), Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs), Busy Philipps, Karen Kilgariff (My Favorite Murder), multiple stars of “Rupaul’s Drag Race”, and paranormal TV celebrities like Jack Osbourne, Amy Bruni, Adam Berry, Katrina Weidman, Dalen Spratt, and many many more! New episodes of Ghosted! by Roz Drezfalez are released every Thursday everywhere you get podcasts. Ghosted! is produced by Starburns Audio-the podcast network created by the same people responsible for TV’s Rick And Morty.

Roz rounds out our final hours of Phenomenacon 3 with a fun-filled presentation about the lighter side of the supernatural, showing us why it's ok to laugh when everyone is screaming.

11:00PM EST: PHENOMENACON AFTER PARTY [NOT RECORDED FOR LATER VIEWING]

Grab a relaxing substance of your choice and join us for a fun, low-key afterparty to celebrate the end of another Phenomenacon. We'll have some fun guests join us on camera, recap our favorite moments from the weekend, and present something very special you won't see anywhere else. This stream is ONLY available to view in the Facebook group. Don't miss it, because the after party IS NOT recorded!

OFFICIAL PHENOMENACON EVENT MERCH: LIMITED TIME!

Want to commemorate your time at the world's greatest paranormal conference? Grab the official Phenomenacon Tee! We've also stocked the merch store with a unisex and women's cut shirt and a classy as hell Phenomenacon pint glass featuring Ivan, our event mascot!

These items will disappear the day after Phenomenacon, so snag them quick!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: READ THIS BEFORE PLEDGING!

1. IMPORTANT: If you only plan on pledging to the museum just to attend the conference, be sure you drop your pledge before midnight on Feb. 28 or you'll be charged for March.

2. TO REITERATE: This conference is presented in support of the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal & Occult and the speakers attending. If you join the museum just to attend the conference and drop your pledge afterwards, or forget to cancel your pledge before midnight February 28th, please keep in mind that we cannot offer refunds for any reason other than a complete cancellation of the event.

Please do consider sticking around, though, as we organize great stuff like this often and can truly use your support at a time when our traveling museum can't do much traveling, and the future of IRL paranormal events is in a state of flux. Check our past content and we think you'll see how valuable, fun, and enriching maintaining a membership to the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal & Occult is. Besides, we've got big stuff coming this year.

3. Speakers, screenings, and time slots are subject to change. Accidents, illnesses, and internet outages happen, especially during global pandemics. We'll do our best to make sure things go smooth, but unavoidable changes may occur.

4. While you'll be able to view the conference via a private link posted each day right here on Patreon, the live chat streams will be broadcast through our private Facebook group, therefore you must have a Facebook account if you plan to interact with the hosts, guests, and other attendees. If you have an aversion to social media, we recommend creating a burner account just for group access, which has worked out really well for dozens of our museum members. In the unlikely event that Facebook suffers an outage during the stream, we'll email every member a backup stream link. It is your own responsibility to make sure your email address on file with Patreon is correct.

5. Livestreams will be presented in the highest video quality possible, but due to each individual speaker's unique computer setup, internet strength, and audio/visual gear, video quality may vary from lecture to lecture. We'll do our best to keep things as consistent and polished as possible, but there may be the occasional hiccup. Please bear with us.

6. These live presentations will only be saved until the following day's event, so roughly 16 hours. This is to accommodate our overseas attendees and the weekend workforce. Be sure to watch the streams before 2PM EST the following day, because they'll disappear after that. Just like a real conference, if you miss it, they won't be repeated.

7. Phenomenacon is a safe, inclusive event for everyone, and the instigation of bad faith arguments, disrespect of the speakers, spamming the chatroom, fighting with with attendees, causing disruptions, or anything that might be considered "trolling" will result in an immediate removal and ban. If you want to spend $15 just to be dick, know that you won't last long and a refund will not be issued to you. Be courteous to your fellow attendees, be respectful to your speakers, and don't be a jerk. It's rough out there. Be nice.

8. If you plan on watching Phenomenacon and participating in the live chat (and not just watching the streams live on each day's Patreon post) please request access to the private Facebook group before 3:00PM EST on Friday, February 25. While we'll make every possible effort to approve pending requests to the group during each night of the conference, requests sent after 3PM EST each day will not be immediate, and there's a chance you may not be accepted to the Facebook group in time to participate in the live chat, as we'll be busy actually running the conference.

9. Only emails sent to [email protected] or [email protected] will be seen. If you have questions about the event or your membership, do not send direct messages to the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. of the organizers. They won't be seen or responded to.

10. We lack any ability to help with Patreon or Facebook platform issues. If your pledge was declined by Patreon, your Facebook account locked, or other technical issue on the end of the platforms, you must contact their customer support for assistance.

11. We highly recommend attending the conference on a laptop, desktop computer, or screencasting the event to a television for the best experience. If you choose to attend the conference on a tablet or mobile device, your experience will be limited and prone to issues with mobile data, screen size, and software limitations.

12. *ABOUT TIPS: At the end of the weekend, all tips will be divided equally among the speakers, excluding Greg & Dana Newkirk. This is a great way to support the Phenomenacon family during the COVID-19 conference shutdowns if you just want to make a direct contribution. You can tip here. Tips are in $5 increments, but you can always up the number of increments.

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