Kelly Roncace
Ryan Buell and Sergey Poberezhny
Ryan Buell formed a paranormal investigation club as a student at Penn State and today he’s touring the country, gathering tales of the unknown for his own TV show.
Buell, director of the Paranormal Research Society and star of the A&E TV series “Paranormal State,” visited the Locust Walk area of the University of Pennsylvania Thursday as a part of the Paranormal State Tour.
The tour began on Nov. 30 in San Francisco, and hit 10 cities before the last stop on Friday in New York City.
“We’ve heard a few good stories,” Buell said. “The tour has been great so far. It’s a lot more personal. Instead of just an ad campaign, we’re getting out there and meeting people.”
He started the team when he was just 19 years old.
“PRS has been together since 2001, so when the show came along, we told them ‘this is what we do, but you can come along for the ride,’” he said. “The show kind of built up around us.”
PRS Managing Director Sergey Poberezhny said he has heard many interesting stories along the way.
“We referred a few to investigative teams who are closer to where they live, and have gotten some information from some people to possibly revisit them,” he said.
Tour Director Mark Anderson said about 50 fans — eager to tell their stories — approach the team at each stop.
“They’ve gotten some amazing stories,” Anderson said.
Buell told the story of a woman who mysteriously lost her mother.
“They didn’t know how she died,” he said. “She said while she was preparing for her mother’s funeral, she sat down exhausted and said out loud, ‘Mom, I just wish I knew what happened to you.’”
At that moment the lights dimmed and a strange shadow appeared on the wall.
“There was a rocking chair there, but the shadow of the rocking chair was rocking, and her mother was sitting in it,” said Buell.
The woman then saw a man’s shadow approach her mother in the chair and kill her, he said.
“She went to the police and told them she had reason to believe her mother had been killed,” he said. “They asked her why she thought that, and she told them she just had a feeling.”
An autopsy revealed the woman had indeed been murdered and upon further investigation, it was discovered the man was a burglar.
“Apparently the man didn’t think anyone was home,” Buell said. “He was surprised that she was there and killed her out of panic.”
The police caught the killer, he said.
(Editor’s Note: Buell didn’t explain how the woman had been murdered in a manner that, at first glance, had escaped police notice.)
Buell said there are many facts to consider before performing a formal investigation.
“We’re looking for current claims that can be investigated,” he said.
Also, Buell said, the team has to be careful weeding through all the stories to get to the real experiences and those people who need help.
“One woman told me she has a ‘high ranking demon’ in her house,” he said.
Though the woman may have a real haunting, more than likely it would turn out to be debunked, Buell said.
“Some groups investigate a place, say ‘congratulations, your house is haunted,’ and that’s it,” he said. “But some people want help and that’s what we try to do.”
For the most part, Buell said, the tour has been incredible.
“It’s really cool to meet the fans,” he said. “It was an ingenious yet simple idea to just go out on tour.”
In addition to collecting paranormal experience stories, Buell and Poberezhny are promoting the premier of the fourth season of “Paranormal State” on A&E Dec. 15.
“We were in the Atlanta airport parking lot and a guy walked by and sang ‘December 15th,’ and just kept walking,’” Ryan said.
Poberezhny said the man didn’t stop to meet them, he just chanted the date of the premier and disappeared.
“It was great,” Poberezhny said.
Paranormal Research Society is headquartered in State College, Pa.
Tags: Ryan Buell
Hi…Ryan, I think you are good investigator I ever seen. Good luck.