The Reel Paranormal (Truth is Stranger Than Paranormal)

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From The Exorcist to The Exorcism of Emily Rose, from Poltergeist to Paranormal Activity, the popularity of paranormal in movies and TV continues to span generations with no end in sight for the overwhelming popularity of stories that deal with the paranormal and supernatural. While a majority of these hair-raising creations are the product of Hollywood’s imagination, like the old saying goes, “There is some truth to every story“; and in my quest to find some truth of this elusive world, I was amazed to discover a gold mine of it in a real-life investigator and explorer of the paranormal amidst the entertainment industry.


 The Reel Paranormal (Truth is Stranger Than Paranormal)

Christopher Chacon is an international paranormal investigator/researcher who has investigated more real-life paranormal phenomena than any fictional TV series or movie can depict. And if you think this “calling” is unorthodox enough, it’s actually the balancing of this extraordinary work and his creative endeavors in the entertainment industry that makes it all the more compelling. Chacon is a writer, director, and producer of feature films and TV and was the creative force behind the dramatic scripted TV series PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal starring Matt Frewer, Michael Moriarity and Dan Aykroyd. The series ran for 88 episodes and was broadcast in over 30 countries. Chacon’s creative roots began as a professional magician/illusionist, play-write/director and filmmaker. When he is not creating movies or TV series and typically every weekend, Chacon is traveling around the world dealing with what he refers to as “situations” or “clients”. He is regarded as one of the world’s foremost authorities on paranormal and supernatural phenomena, anomalies, and the occult and has appeared on hundreds of news and TV documentary shows, from Dateline to 20/20, from Unsolved Mysteries to National Geographic Explorer.

Chacon’s unique expertise and hybrid method of investigating come as a result of thousands of case investigations, decades of field research and the interfusing of several scientific disciplines and schools of thought. For starters, before entering the world of TV, Chacon was educated as a Parapsychologist and spent a dozen years investigating and researching all manner of phenomena. After that, he was recruited by a scientific think tank; similar to RTI (Research Triangle Institute), RAND (Research and Development Corporation), or SAIC (Scientific Applications International Corporation); and trained as an Anomalist to scientifically investigate and research all manner of phenomena around the world. Because of the organization’s research relationship with some of the world’s largest technology corporations, the group had seemingly unlimited resources, allowing researchers to utilize state-of-the-art technology and cutting-edge methods.

As part of a rotating team of scientists, ranging from astrophysicists to zoologists, Chacon participated in thousands of cases from around the world to analyze and study each reported “phenomenon” first-hand. Chacon recalls, “Unlike my earlier years doing parapsychological and paranormal research, the time I spent with the organization had us following protocols that applied every discipline of science and often had extreme blind-control procedures to analyze every aspect of the environment and subjects, as well as the phenomena in question. Looking back, while we had to always remain in a constant state of complete control before, during and after making our observations, the circumstances we were dealing with were often completely out-of-control.” The many years Chacon spent as a scientific operative with the think tank were then followed by an equal amount of time exploring these phenomena from an occult, metaphysical, mystical, and spiritual perspective. Unlike any other paranormal investigator or researcher, Chacon utilizes a unique hybrid approach in dealing with phenomena with a broad spectrum of models at his disposal including his vast parapsychological education, his specialized anomalistic training and countless alternative methods in addition to those that involve metaphysical and occult techniques/skills. Because of his vast experience, Chacon offers an amazing one-of-a-kind insight, not only into these elusive phenomena but also into the challenging research and investigation of them.

In the many decades he’s been investigating and researching the paranormal, Chacon has dealt with reports of virtually every type of phenomena imaginable on every continent, from violent demonic possessions to extraordinary UFO close encounters and alien abductions. Some of the many types of phenomena he’s investigated include poltergeists and haunts, encounters with unknown life forms (i.e. cryptids), miracles and incidents of divine intervention, psychic phenomena of all types (i.e. psychokinesis, teleportation, etc.), and ill-defined anomalies like space/time distortions, spontaneous human combustion, and even hailstorms of toads. Additionally, Chacon has also participated in countless international expeditions involving ancient supernatural and occult discoveries, witchcraft/sorcery practices and newly discovered mystical sites and relics.

Chacon is quick to point out that not all reported phenomena is real, “A good seventy to eighty percent of all recurring phenomena that is reported is not paranormal at all, but rather logically explainable.” That of course leaves some twenty to thirty percent of reported phenomena that is confirmed to be quite real. Chacon goes on to describe how popular beliefs over many generations have formed misconceptions and perpetuated countless falsehoods about the paranormal even among other experts, “Misinterpretations and misconceptions of real phenomena is one of the most prolific fallacies occurring around the world. Phenomena that is defined one way (as a poltergeist, possession, miracle, alien abduction, etc.), has turned out to be an entirely different phenomena all together. Additionally, the origins, mechanics and dynamics of phenomena, including how to deal with it, are among the most incorrect and misunderstood beliefs regarding many paranormal phenomena. Just another reason why it’s never advisable to rush to conclusions.” By encountering thousands of cases of phenomena that dispel commonly accepted beliefs and age-old preconceptions, many of Chacon’s investigations and explorations redefine phenomena and our expectations of how we presumed they worked.

 

As a result of his many years as a parapsychologist and his time with the scientific think tank, as well as his global expeditions and explorations into ancient occult phenomena and supernatural practices, Chacon has established a discreet clientele from all walks of life in every corner of the world, ranging from Vatican representatives to government intelligence agencies. Chacon points out, “Whether I’m working with medical doctors and scientists, religious leaders and shamans, government agencies or the military, or just plain everyday people, they often simply need another perspective on a situation and sometimes to assess the proper course of action in dealing with it.” His unparalleled lifetime of experience, vast knowledge and reputation has placed Chacon in high demand among those who deal with legitimate phenomena and require very discreet assessments of extraordinary circumstances. Preeminent Parapsychologist Dr. William G. Roll speaks highly of Chacon, “We had the opportunity to work together on several occasions and was always incredibly impressed! His wealth of experience and innovative methods on investigating and researching takes the field of parapsychology to new heights.” The late Father James LeBar, formerly the U.S.’s highest Vatican authority on exorcism, praised Chacon in an interview, “He (Chacon) has the uncanny ability to step outside-the-box of the situation and of conventional thinking, to better understand and deal with the dark forces he confronts. Few have had such a vast array of experiences and acquired such a broad understanding to deal with them. This is why Chacon is so highly regarded by myself and my colleagues around the world.” Physicist and one of the world’s most prominent UFO researchers, Stanton Friedman, gives Chacon the highest admiration, “There are few scientific investigators, with such an overall knowledge of all types of phenomena, that is capable of researching and investigating so thoroughly as Chacon does.” An Australian Government Official who prefers to remain anonymous also stated, “Chacon has assisted us and one of our top scientific institutions on several occasions in confidentially assessing some extraordinary events that have occurred. While many who utilize his skills consider him to be the last resort, he is also often the first person you track down when you need an objective and accurate assessment.

As a writer/director/producer and one of the world’s top paranormal authorities, Chacon has an insightful perspective regarding the authenticity of the paranormal in movies and TV; “While depictions of phenomena in most movies and TV are uncannily similar to those real-life experiences being reported around the world, that’s pretty much where it ends, as the depictions of underlying mechanics of the phenomena, origins and how to deal with them are rarely ever accurate, even among those that claim to be inspired by actual events. But this disparity between depictions and facts should be no surprise to anyone, as the primary objective of movies and TV series are to entertain and not convey factual information.” Among the movies that Chacon notes as having the most accurate depictions of phenomena and reactions to it included, the 1963 classic The Haunting, The Exorcist, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Poltergeist. “Because the plot, through-line and character arcs, among other creative aspects, take precedence in movies and TV, there is a proclivity among many writers, directors and producers to tailor the phenomena to fit the story, also conforming it to what has been generally accepted over time based on accepted beliefs and cultural and historical expectations.” Chacon admits that most real phenomena does not fit so conveniently into categories and is not so easily understood and resolved, “Most real phenomena reported resembles characteristics depicted in Hitchcock’s “The Birds”; in that no confirmable origin or inciting event is ever determined, no understanding of the phenomenon itself and no resolution or conclusion is ever found. In many ways these type of stories, that presents itself and concludes with these types of unknowns, are far more compelling and chilling than those that offer exposition.” On a side note: Some researchers of cinema and the media have claimed that Hitchcock based the explanation of the birds attack and his 1963 movie on a 1961 incident that took place in Monterey Bay two years prior where birds got disoriented after ingesting a toxic algae, but this theory couldn’t be farther from the truth. Hitchcock actually based his story on the 1952 Daphne du Maurier novel, The Birds; where no explanation is ever found, the birds demonstrating the mysterious unbridled power of nature as a reminder to humans who is really in-charge. Chacon described hundreds of actual cases around the world where nature (i.e. animals, insects, plants, atmospheric and geological conditions, etc.) exhibited similar extraordinary anomalous behavior that could not be explained scientifically.

Since the Internet’s boom, audiences have become more and more fixated on all things with a “reality spin”, consequentially boosting the demand for fact-based stories or at least compelling stories that make us question the truth. And while movies “based on actual events” have always enticed audiences, such films as The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Haunting in Connecticut continue to fuel an already fascinated audience while appealing to an even wider demographic because of their basis in reality. And if the hook of a fact-based story isn’t good enough to get your “reality fix” of the paranormal, then you can always take the chilling next step and immerse yourself in the “reality experience” vis-à-vis the mockumentary, Paranormal Activity. “This found-footage film utilizes a cinéma vérité style of raw filmmaking that lures the mind into lowering its defenses and suspends your disbelief into thinking you are seeing real events unfolding,” says Chacon. The first commercially successful film to have success with such a mockumentary style was The Blair Witch Project, some ten years prior. In speaking with a marketing executive at Paramount Studios, she described how Chacon was one of the major key factors in the success of Paranormal Activity as the studio had Chacon conduct hundreds of national and international interviews and press junkets to discuss paranormal phenomena. Chacon is regarded by all the major movie studios as one of the world’s foremost authorities in paranormal and supernatural phenomena.

But whether capitalizing on fact-based stories or just fooling you into thinking it’s real, good writing and directing can’t take all the credit for the popularity of paranormal and supernatural genres since recent Gallup polls reveal that 75% of Americans have some sort of “paranormal belief”. Similarly, a CBS poll revealed that one in five Americans has seen or physically encountered a ghost, and still another survey taken from over 400 college students with the highest GPA’s found seniors and grad students more likely to believe in the paranormal than their “uneducated” freshman counterparts.

The appetite for stories, settings, and characters that are either fact-based or with a heightened realism is directly aligned with the overall appeal of elevated genre films and TV series of all types that seek to be relevant to contemporary audiences by keeping elements of the story as grounded and believable as possible no matter how extraordinary the story is. For stories dealing with paranormal topics, the challenge of making the phenomena and the circumstances surrounding it believable is crucial in order to allow the characters to unabatedly drive the story forward. Chacon points out, “Maintaining the realism of paranormal depictions not only suspends the audience’s disbelief, but more importantly keeps the overall story believable. This is accomplished by preserving the integrity and continuity of the phenomena’s workings which coincides with sustaining the internal logic of the story.” Certainly any paranormal creation that is “based on” or “inspired by” actual events or has a creative mind behind it that is rooted in the “realism” is far more compelling to today’s plugged-in audiences than those simply spun from fantasy. For this reason, writers and producers of movies and TV series are all racing to develop paranormal/supernatural stories that are fact-based or have some intrinsic perspective that grounds it in the real world. Chacon emphasizes, “Stories that are based on documented or reported paranormal phenomena can not only better attract fans of the genre but obviously also help to ensure a believable storytelling foundation.” Chacon adds, “However, like any movie or TV series, the difference between a good story and great story comes with nurturing compelling characters and an overall fascinating story arc that maintains the continuity and narrative through-line, whether fact-based or fictional.

Having been established as more than just a trend, the highly lucrative and ever-growing demand for realistic fact-based paranormal movies and TV series are driving writers, directors and producers to work feverishly on developing new creations to satisfy this ongoing appetite. That being said, as the only entertainment creative executive that also deals with the real world of the paranormal, Chacon’s encounters with real-life phenomena, his vast expertise and breakthrough insights into the paranormal, offers tremendous crossover opportunities for jaw-dropping new movies and TV series that could meet the demands for years. And with the hunger for gripping new fact-based paranormal stories a certainty, we can be rest assured that countless new movies and TV series are on the horizon being developed to fascinate our imaginations, while giving us a taste of the chilling realities of the paranormal.

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