A piece of roof slate from the attic of the supposedly haunted Old Botany building lay among a violin and several Ouija boards at the Haunted Exhibit portion of the UNIV-CON Seven The National Paranormal Conference.
"It's interesting that they would keep this stuff. I don't think I would just have this kind of stuff lying around," conference attendee Jaime Chandler said.
The National Paranormal Conference, the largest of its kind in the country, was held this weekend at the Penn Stater Conference Center, drawing an estimated 500 to 600 attendees.
"Basically we are trying to create a forum for people of all beliefs to discuss the paranormal," said Paranormal Research LLC media director Alan Urtz (junior-journalism) said.
The conference draws experts from all over the country to share their knowledge of paranormal activity and educate attendees.
"Education is still the first thing we try to promote heavily. We have entertainment for them to make the event fun, but the focus of UNIV-CON has always been education," conference manager Topher Young said.
Michael Shermer, founder of the Skeptic Society, spoke to a crowd of about 100 people Thursday night about "Why People Believe Weird Things" and encouraged them to look for natural explanations for natural phenomenon.
"I would even go so far as to say that there is no paranormal or supernatural. There is just the normal, the natural and the stuff we don't know about yet. Words like paranormal and supernatural are just placeholders until we can explain it," Shermer said.
Some of the most popular attractions of the convention included ghost tours and ghost hunts, Young said.
A ghost hunt is "where they get to do a mini investigation of a haunted or rumored-to-be haunted location at Penn State," Young said. This year about 20 people conducted a mini investigation every night of the convention in the Old Botany building.
It is believed by some the ghost Frances Washburn Atherton, former Penn State President George Atherton's wife, looks out a window of the Old Botany building to watch over her husband's grave.
Those who participated in the ghost hunt went in the building together and sat in one room together quietly. The hunt leaders turned on a recording device in hopes of picking up something paranormal.
The participants were then allowed to walk around the building to see if they could see or hear anything on their own. Then they participated in another quiet session in the basement, conference attendee Josh Gillin, 28, of Windber, said.
"It was pretty cool. I don't know if they caught anything, but it was fun," Gillin said.
Another attraction of the convention was a masquerade ball. The Penn State Juggling Club and the Penn State Belly Dance Club performed at the ball, Young said.
"I thought the ball was great, and because of the field we're in, there is a lot of [spiritual] pressure on the investigators, so it's important to have functions like that so we can let off some steam and come together for an atmosphere of joy. Being with other investigators and being able to relax and have fun re-energizes us for the next investigation," conference attendee the Rev. Tomas-Martin Bell said.
Lights....camera....action! Over the years UNIV-CON has screened many upcoming movies and television series in front of audiences. This year UNIV-CON, in their usual format, once again wants to offer something more to their attendees and fans...something better. For the first time in UNIV-CON history, the conference will be hosting a film festival for supernatural and paranormal films and shorts.Films will be selected by a panel of judges that all have ties in the television and movie industry. Directors, filmmakers, and even producers of some very well known TV shows will be reviewing and selecting films to be screened at the conference, and the possibility to be given an option for a full production of their film with a major network. Films must be submitted to UNIV-CON no later than August 1, 2008. For more information on the UNIV-CON Film Festival 