The truth is out there

Mar. 27—HERMITAGE — The legendary Shenango Valley Dog Boy is only that — a legend, said Brian Seech.

"The legend is a covenant of witches conjured him up to protect the land around Shenango Lake," Seech said.

He and his wife Terrie were among the speakers at Saturday's Penn-Ohio Paranormal Conference at the Hickory VFW in Hermitage. Dog Boy has been featured on TV shows like "Monsters and Mysteries in America."

Dog Boy's first sighting was in the 1950s on Hopper Road in Jefferson Township, Seech said.

A thorough study by the couple came up with a conclusion — the man known as Dog Boy suffered from hypertrichosis, a rare disease better known as werewolf syndrome that causes hair to cover the entire human body.

The Sheeches believe the man died more than 20 years ago.

"This was not a creature," he said. "This was just a boy who became a legend."

But Dog Boy shouldn't be confused with Dog Man — a completely different character who generates sightings in Erie, Seech said. And there's very little evidence supporting the existence of "Pig People" which are occasionally believed to roam Radio Tower Hill near Meadville.

A low-budget horror movie based on this legend is in the works, according to a November story in the Meadville Tribune.

It was a cherry atmosphere at this conference where the subjects of ghosts, aliens, monsters and other unworldly dealings were openly discussed.

Seech is a serious Bigfoot hunter in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia but he's never seen one.

But Coshocton, Ohio, resident John Turley said he did. Among the vendors at the conference Turley said at age 9 he spotted a Bigfoot while hiking in the deep woods of Ohio. Like other sightings he said this was a 7-foot tall giant.

"He had a conical head and wide shoulders," he said. Turley said he ran away from the beast.

It's also clear there's money to be made in these eerie shows. Over 30 vendors were on hand hawking goods such as Bigfoot t-shirts, ghost detecting equipment along with services such as tarot readings.

Most attendees expressed open minds on subjects. But there were limits.

One woman vendor claiming she could heel pain by waving her hands over the affected area found numerous skeptics.

Turley has been a Bigfoot vendor for seven years. His goods include Bigfoot t-shirts, jigsaw puzzles and coaster pads.

He's seen a huge growth in these trade shows. The annual Ohio Bigfoot Conference at Salt Fork State Park in Ohio draws 5,000, Turley said.

"Any more it's OK to be weird," he said. "These are safe places to talk about your experiences about these kinds of things."

And people are willing to travel for these experiences.

Larry Lazich of Warren was among them.

"I'm finding this very interesting," Lazich said while checking out the Hill View Manor booth. Lawrence County operated Hill View Manor, in Shenango Township just outside New Castle, as the county's nursing home before it closed about 20 years ago.

The now-closed center has attracted international acclaim for its presumed ghostly presences.

Amateur ghost hunters Jim and Pat Bond drove in from their Vineland, N.J., home with their friend MaryAnne Rockelman.

Jim Bond said he believes in ghosts and that he enjoyed the event. "It's very down-to-earth here."

Jim Krug spoke on out-of-this-world experiences. Krug is planetarium director of the Neil Armstrong Planetarium at Altoona Area High School. His topic was "The Secret Space Program."

He spoke on a range of events and theories such the belief that the U.S. moon landing program was an elaborate hoax — a contention that got conspiracy theorist Bart Sibrel a sock in the mouth from astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin — to the famous Roswell, N.M., incident in 1947 where some believe space aliens crash landed their ship.

Lesser known but much closer is the Kecksburg, Pa., incident where some say aliens crash landed on Dec. 9, 1965.

Krug makes a case that it might have been an acorn-shaped space ship created by Americans who copied it from Nazi Germany scientists. It's possible it wasn't just about creating a weapon or space travel.

"Was this the first German attempt at a time machine?" he questioned. "There were 250,000 Nazis who completely disappeared after the war."

There's one report on the discovery of an alien space ship 3.5 miles long that crashed on the dark side of the moon, Krug said.

"And there was a female alien in stasis that was brought back to Earth," he said.

Like other speakers Krug said he wasn't there to promote legends or theories. Rather, to inform others about them.

He does believe there's a very good chance American space technology is far more advanced than what the government is saying. Further, that means right now there could be well-hidden colonies on the moon and Mars.

Bill Rigby of Sharon who hosted the event estimated a couple thousand attended throughout the day.

There's no question this event is returning next year, Rigby said. He booked the Hickory VFW for March 30, 2024.

"I'm totally blown out of the water on the crowd we had," he said.