Alien abductions, demonic possession, bio-energy healing and crop circles are all going down at the Holiday Inn.
The first Annual Night Search World Paranormal Forum and Psychic Fair lifts off this weekend at the Holiday Inn at Mt. Moriah and I-240.
"This will be the biggest paranormal forum ever held in the Mid-south region and it will cover the entire gamut of unexplained and misunderstood phenomenon," said Eddie Middleton, host of the Night Search radio program and organizer of the event.
The list of speakers for this weekend is lengthy and all are renowned experts in their chosen fields.
"I will be talking about different possession states and several exorcism cases that I have been involved with over the years," said John Zaffis, world-renowned psychic researcher who has investigated thousands of reported possession cases.
"This past fall I worked on an investigation and while the clergyman was performing the actual exorcism I witnessed a young woman actually levitate off her chair. That was the first time I had seen anything like that in my 33 years working in this field."
Edd Edwards, whom the John Travolta movie "phenomenon" was based upon, will conduct a workshop on energy healing and awakening higher brain functions.
"I discovered my talents for manipulating the body's latent energy when I was two years old," said Edwards. "My grandmother was a Baptist Sunday school teacher and was what we called a hands on healer. I soon discovered that I could also do some strange things."
Edwards claims that he can manipulate electric and magnetic fields within another person, even over the telephone.
"Many things are possible with our own internal forces," Edwards said. "Let us put it this way: I was always very popular with the young ladies."
Nancy Talbot, a member of BLT Research Team Inc., will present evidence that crop circles are not man-made.
"We believe that crop circles are formed by turbulent thermodynamically unstable vortices stemming from plasma systems are forming in the upper dialosphere," Talbot said. "Plasma occurs naturally in our environment in both lightning strikes and the aurora borealis, and new research indicates that these very powerful plasma energy systems are something relatively unknown to science at this time."
David M. Jacobs will be lecturing on the phenomenon of alien abduction. Author of "Secret Life" and "The Threat," Jacobs has taught a class in Unidentified Flying Objects and American Society at Temple University since 1977. This is the only accredited course dealing with UFOs in the United States.
"This is definitely not an American phenomenon," said Jacobs. "There is no distinction for class, race, nationality or level of education."
Jacobs conducted a study in 1991 that suggests that as many as 2 percent of the worldwide population has been abducted. It has happened to a great many people who remain unaware of it, according to Jacobs.
"In almost all cases there is an element of memory loss." Jacobs said. "Often the abductees return home bearing fully healed scars which are scientifically unaccountable."
Evidence of abduction extends back to the 1890s and seems to follow generational lines, according to Jacobs.
"If your grandmother was abducted, it's increasing likely you will be too," Jacobs said.
When questioned as to the reasoning behind the kidnappings, Jacobs has his own theories.
"We used to believe that we were being studied, but now it seems more a systematic program of exploitation," Jacobs said. "There is a beginning, a middle and an end, and it seems to be goal oriented."
No matter your stance or level of belief in unexplained phenomena like these, the paranormal forum promises to be an interesting event.
"We will cover the types of things that the mainstream media automatically present as hoaxes, but anyone with a slightly open mind should give consideration to," Middleton said.
