Meet our Past Speakers

Angela Zabel - 2025

Angela Zabel is an intuitive guide, medium, and spiritual teacher who has communicated with other forms of consciousness since childhood. What began as a young girl’s ability to see those who had passed evolved into a deep, lifelong practice of receiving guidance and comfort from the spiritual realm. Through her own experiences connecting with departed family members, Angela realized that these gifts were meant to be shared, helping others bridge the gap between our physical world and the spirit side. Throughout her career, Angela has transitioned from individual readings and public expos to a broader mission of spiritual education. Her work is rooted in the belief that personal and spiritual growth are intricately linked. She teaches that by understanding our own nature as spirits, we can unlock untapped strength and create lives of genuine joy. Rather than following rigid religious or metaphysical rules, Angela encourages her students to embrace their own unique path and energy. Today, Angela shares her insights through a variety of platforms, including in-person and online classes, retreats, and webinars. She views the multi-dimensional plane of existence as a resource available to everyone and seeks to help others recognize the divinity within themselves. While she believes our connection to the divine is personal and requires no intermediary, Angela considers it her greatest honor to serve as a guide who helps light the way for others on their journey of discovery.

Barnaby Jones - 2025/2026

Bob Anderson - 2026

Bob Anderson is a Chicago Land based paranormal radio talk show host/podcaster. His show, "Bob After Dark" celebrates it's 8th year in 2026, and is internationally syndicated. He is a paranormal researcher, and investigator. Speaking and hearing people's stories all across the country, Bob is well rounded in all aspects of the unknown.

Chad Lewis - 2025

Chad Lewis is a researcher, author, and lecturer on topics of the strange and unusual. His background is in the field of Psychology as he did both his Bachelor and Master degree work in the field- but for nearly 30 years he has traveled the globe in search of unique and bizarre stories and history.

Christopher Fleming - 2026

Christopher Fleming is an internationally recognized paranormal investigator, medium, counselor in private practice, and speaker with over five decades of firsthand experience exploring consciousness and spirit communication. He grew up in a haunted house and has had a lifetime of strange encounters and contact between the veil with ghosts, angels, demons, and various entities—experiences that shaped his path and research. Rising to international prominence as co-host of Dead Famous, which aired in over 20 countries, he has since appeared on Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Psychic Kids, Portals to Hell, Help! My House Is Haunted, Spooked Scotland, and Spooked Ireland for Discovery/Warner Bros. Known for developing innovative investigative methods and contributing to advancements in instrumental trans-communication (ITC), Chris combines field research, documented case evidence, psychology, and personal experience to bridge spirituality and technology. Following a recent battle with AML leukemia, he is currently in recovery and gradually returning to fieldwork, while also focusing on creating music and art during this period of healing.

Dustin Schutta - 2026

Dustin Schutta is a ufologist that has been studying the UFO phenomenon in Wisconsin for the past 12 years. He is one of the host from “Flying Chariots-The Rise” podcast. Dustin is also the custodian of Colonel Wendelle Stevens photographic archives.

Ellie Weisensel - 2026

Rooted in a deep, lifelong connection to the spiritual world, Ellie Weisensel initially pursued a path in science, earning two degrees and dedicating over three decades to the food industry and a science-based government agency. However, during the latter years of her scientific career, a more insistent spiritual calling began, gently guiding her toward blending her analytical mind with the world of energy healing. This unexpected transition led her to become a Reiki Master and Certified Psychic Medium, specializing in the complex work of entity release—a role Spirit revealed was part of her soul agreement. Further expanding their expertise, Ellie integrated The Emotion Code and The Body Code into her practice, and following a spiritual nudge to look deeper into client bloodwork, she learned to read functional blood chemistry, allowing her to connect emotional, energetic, and physiological imbalances in a profound way, all while maintaining her lifelong residency within a small radius of their Wisconsin birthplace.

Ian Steven -2026
 

Ian Steven is a Madison-based filmmaker, licensed drone pilot, and the creator of the YouTube channel Alien Wisconsin. His work moves beyond the pursuit of grainy footage to explore the "human element" of the phenomenon—specifically how ordinary lives are fundamentally reshaped by Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) and Non-Human Intelligence (NHI). As a researcher and content creator, Ian focuses on grounded storytelling, seeking to provide a bridge between the high-level legislative shifts in Washington D.C. and the deeply personal experiences of witnesses in the Midwest.

Recently recognized at MidWest WeirdFest for Best TV/New Media Short, Ian’s latest projects delve into the intersection of consciousness and contact. He is currently developing multi-agent AI simulations to model global reactions to potential disclosure, blending his technical background in local AI orchestration with his investigative work in the field. Whether he is documenting disciplined meditation practices used to open lines of communication or sharing insights from regional sightings like "The Viroqua Incident," Ian provides a practical, level-headed language for discussing the inexplicable with both skeptics and believers alike.

Jay A. Bachochin - 2026

Jay Bachochin is a family man in the state of Wisconsin. He is a graphic designer, cinematographer and film editor. Jay is the founder of The Wisconsin Paranormal Investigators (2007) and also the Midwest Cryptid Director for Goosebumps Paranormal in PA. He has been on a solo quest searching for The Wisconsin Sasquatch in southeast Wisconsin since 2013.

Jay has been featured on The Travel Channel’s ‘In Search of Monsters’ and also featured in the Small Town Monsters Productions film ‘The Bray Road Beast’. Jay has filmed and produced 2 documentaries of his own research in The Kettle Moraine. His first film, ‘Finding Jay’ was released in 2019 and his follow-up sequel ‘Beyond the Kettle: Finding Jay 2’ in 2022. Both are streaming on Amazon Prime, and ParaFlixx. They also can be purchased on 1080 HD Blu ray’s on the storefront.

Jeff Finup - 2026

Jeff Finup is an author, researcher, explorer, and the creator of Badgerland Legends and co-host of the Wisconsin Legends Podcast. As a citizen historian and folklorist, he writes about the people, places, and things that make Wisconsin legendary. His latest book, Wisconsin Legends for Kids, is now available.

Jeremy Socha - 2026

Jeremy is the host of the Infinite Rabbit Hole podcast. When he was 9 years old he in the woods of Southern Vermont he witnessed an upright walking hairy creature, which lead to a lifelong obsession with the unknown. Jeremy spent 8 years in the Navy as an Aviation electrician. He researched numerous topics within the realm of Fortean, and has been featured on shows such as Into the Fray with Shannon Legro and the Hush Hush Society as well as being named the headliner for the upcoming UFO day’s festival in Elmwood Wisconsin.

Ken Gerhard - 2026

Ken Gerhard is a widely recognized cryptozoologist, author, and lecturer who frequently appears on television. 

Ken has traveled the world searching for evidence of mysterious creatures including Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Chupacabra, Mothman, and the Beast of Gevaudan.

In addition, he’s written six books on the subject of unknown animals. His research has been featured on numerous TV shows including: Missing in Alaska, MonsterQuest, Ancient Aliens, America Unearthed, The UnXplained (with William Shatner) and Legend Hunters. 

Ken has appeared on major networks including Travel Channel, Science Channel, National Geographic, Syfy and Animal Planet. 

He can currently be seen on the History Channel series – The Proof Is Out There

Larry Eissler III - 2026
 

A distinguished author, filmmaker, historian and paranormal researcher, Larry Eissler III has over 15 years of experience and 7 years in paranormal video production. His work spans documentaries, social media content and an episodic series, focusing on lesser-known haunted locations in the American Midwest. Larry’s dedication to the paranormal community is evident through his Telly award-winning production, extensive publications and his role as and educator and historian.

Lee Hampel - 2026

Lee Hampel is widely known for his firsthand experiences and long-term research connected to the legendary Beast of Bray Road. He has appeared as himself in multiple paranormal television series and documentaries, including:

The Beast of Bray Road (small Town Monsters), Legend Hunter (travel Channel), In Search of Monsters (travel Channel), Paranormal Declassified, Expedition X (Discovery Channel)

Miranda Young - 2025

Miranda Young grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee in the very rural town of Robbins. She holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis in Journalism & Advertising. Her professional background includes 21 years as a director in marketing, graphic design, and public relations professional. She is also a professional photographer and artist, specializing in drawing historic buildings and monuments. Miranda is the founder, host, producer and marketing executive behind Ghost Biker Explorations, a world recognized web-series which highlights her travels on her motorcycle to historic and haunted locations around the country. She has been featured in numerous magazines and local newspapers, and she has been a guest speaker at events and on podcasts and radio shows across the country. While available on multiple social media platforms, Ghost Biker Explorations is also a popular series on the Mixl04.l ( Mix TV) web-tv platform. In 2021, Miranda co-founded the company History, Highways and Haunts, LLC and co-owns the Historic Scott County Jail true crime museum and paranormal research center in Huntsville, TN. In May of 2023, the business expanded with a partnership with the Village of Historic Rugby. Through this partnership, Historic Rugby After Dark was formed offering all of the historic village's after dark programming.

Stacy Brown Jr. - 2025

Hailing from the swamps of North Florida is filmmaker and Skunk Ape researcher Stacy Brown Jr. While watching “Unsolved Mysteries” in the early 90’s Stacy came across a segment on the Florida Skunk Ape and immediately became fascinated with the thought of a hairy monster running around the woods in his neighborhood. Over the next thirty-one years, he would dig through the libraries for information, speak with hundreds of eyewitnesses and even spend countless hours in the swamp in search of the creature. On November 6th, 2011 his work would finally pay off. That night he had his very first sighting of a Skunk Ape along the Apalachicola River. Months later his father Stacy Sr would capture what is to be considered the best piece of footage of a Skunk Ape or Bigfoot-type creature on thermal in northern Florida with a FLIR camera while camping one night with his son. Since then you may have seen Stacy Brown Jr. on Finding Bigfoot, Strange Evidence, the Travel Channel, and Spike TV's 10 million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty, in which he was awarded the $100,000 research grant. In 2019, Stacy released a film documenting the best evidence and stories from his years of research titled "The Skunk Ape Lives" which is available on YouTube now.

Squatch America - 2025

Squatch America is the Bigfoot-researching, husband and wife team, Scot and Hannah Violette, combining Scot’s and Hannah’s expertise in anthropology and sociology research and communication. They are "investigating the unexplained, not explaining the uninvestigated." Their mission is to construct a cultural-behavioral narrative of the hominid species known as "Bigfoot." Scot, a Native American cultural anthropologist, was led into Bigfoot research through his pictograph-analysis work with the Miwok tribe of Northern California. Hannah, a master social worker and human behavioral researcher, supports this research by identifying behavior patterns common to both Bigfoot and humans. Together they've made unique discoveries, had sightings, and are actively teaching the broader community to conduct field research. They travel nationwide and host community town hall meetings to collect encounter reports which are building their pursued cultural-behavioral narrative.

Sylvia Shults - 2026

Sylvia Shults is the author of several books of paranormal nonfiction, including 44 Years in Darkness, Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital, and Grave Deeds And Dead Plots. She sits in dark, spooky, haunted places so you don’t have to. She has spent the last twenty-five years working at a public library, slowly smuggling out enough words in her pockets week after week to build a book of her own. She lives a short, ten-minute motorcycle ride away from the haunted asylum that features in so many of her books. She considers it the highest privilege to share the incredible, compassionate history of the Peoria State Hospital.

After battling an intense, lifelong fear of the dark, Sylvia decided to become a ghost hunter. (What WAS she thinking?) As a paranormal investigator, she has made many media appearances, including a tiny part in the Ghost Hunters episode “Prescription for Fear”, about the Peoria State Hospital.

Sylvia loves hearing from her readers, especially when they have spooky stories of their own to share with her.

Terry Cullen - 2026

Terry Cullen’s career in conservation began long before he stepped into a university lecture hall, sparked by a childhood fascination that saw him conducting fieldwork by age 13. By 17, he was already navigating the ecosystems of South America and the Caribbean, gathering the field experience that would define his life’s work. In the summer of 1964, Terry founded the Dragonwood Wildlife Conservancy, a visionary project that has evolved over six decades from a modest sanctuary into a massive 400-acre Florida nature reserve supported by four satellite facilities across the United States. To complement his decades of hands-on experience, Terry pursued formal degrees in Zoology and Environmental Science, cementing his status as a leading expert in herpetology. His influence now spans the globe through senior roles in prestigious organizations like the IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group and the Species Survival Commission (SSC). From pioneering crocodilian DNA research to leading the Philippine crocodile conservation initiative, Terry has spent over 60 years bridging the gap between adventurous exploration and critical scientific preservation.

Terry Flick – 2026

Terry Flick is the founder of Soul and Synergy LLC, where he weaves together a lifetime of spiritual exploration, metaphysical practice, and community leadership. As a gifted intuitive and event organizer, Terry creates spaces for learning, healing, and connection through galleries, expos, and workshops across the Midwest. His work centers on helping others discover their own pathways to spirit, whether through psychic development, energy work, or transformational gatherings. With a passion for building community and honoring diverse spiritual traditions, Terry continues to inspire and guide others on their journeys of growth, insight, and empowerment.

Zach Skrede - 2026

Zach is the visionary behind CE-5, a business dedicated to teaching the CE-5 protocol. CE-5, which stands for "Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind." CE-5 is a process that facilitates human-initiated contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. Zach’s passion and expertise in this field make him a leading figure in the growing community of individuals seeking to explore and understand the profound implications of these encounters. Zach offers workshops, seminars, and one-on-one sessions to those interested in learning the CE-5 protocol.