Get To Know All The Sage Speakers

 Jeff Belanger is an author, adventurer, and one of the most visible paranormal researchers today. He’s the Emmy-nominated host, writer, and producer of the New England Legends series which debuted on PBS in October of 2013, and the weekly New England Legends Podcast.

Since 1997, this journalist has interviewed thousands of eyewitnesses to paranormal occurrences. He’s the ultimate insider and knows how to connect with people from all walks of life when it comes to the unexplained.

He is the author of over a dozen books on the paranormal (published in six languages) including the best sellers: The World's Most Haunted Places, Weird Massachusetts, Our Haunted Lives, and Who's Haunting the White House? (for children). He's the founder of Ghostvillage.com, the Web's most popular paranormal destination according to Google, and a noted speaker and media personality. In January of 2014, he was asked to give a prestigious TEDx talk in New York City.

 Jeff Belanger is an author, adventurer, and one of the most visible paranormal researchers today. He’s the Emmy-nominated host, writer, and producer of the New England Legends series which debuted on PBS in October of 2013, and the weekly New England Legends Podcast.
Numerous television series including Ghost Adventures, Paranormal Challenge, and Aftershocks on the Travel Channel. He's been a guest on hundreds of radio and television programs including: The History Channel, The Travel Channel, Biography Channel, Reelz, PBS, NECN, Living TV (UK), Sunrise 7 (Australia), The Maury Show, The CBS News Early Show, CBS Sunday Morning, FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS affiliates, National Public Radio, The BBC, Darkness Radio, Australian Radio Network, and Coast to Coast AM.

Additionally, Belanger is a Sandy Hook Elementary School alumni who served on the Board of Directors of the Newtown Memorial Fund, Inc.--a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a long-term fund to provide support to those affected by the tragedy, a memorial to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, and to establish academic scholarships in the victims' names for generations of Newtown students to come. He holds a B.A. from Hofstra University, and currently haunts Massachusetts.

​(APPEARING AT SAGE PARACON USA 2023) 

John Zaffis, the godfather of the paranormal, has nearly 50 years of experience studying and investigating the paranormal. He has had the opportunity to work for and with his aunt and uncle, Ed and Lorraine Warren. This sent John beyond looking for ghosts and hauntings and into studying demonology under the Warrens. This led to John's involvement with cases of possession and exorcism, which allowed him to work with prominent exorcists in this field, including Roman Catholic priests, monks, Buddhists, Rabbis and Ministers. John has assisted and worked with well-known exorcists - Bishop Robert McKenna, Father Malachi Martin, and the Reverend Jun.

His research has taken him throughout the United States, Canada, England and Scotland covering several thousands of cases. Through hands-on investigating with other investigators and clergy, he has obtained a great deal of knowledge and understanding of the paranormal and is considered one of the foremost authorities in the field today.

John has a lot of first-hand paranormal experience, including experience with ghosts, poltergeists, and demonic and diabolical entities. He has also worked extensively with both spiritualists and psychics concerning how their knowledge is used for channelling, reincarnation (past-life regression), calling of the spirits for information, and how they use meditation to acquire the information which they are seeking. Because of his personal experiences with hauntings, ESP, near-death experiences and other paranormal activities, he is firm in his conviction that such phenomena exist.

John has been featured in the SyFy television series Haunted Collector, Discovery Channel's documentaries A Haunting in Connecticut, and Little Lost Souls. John has also appeared on Unsolved Mysteries, Piers Morgan Tonight, and many other print and news media events. John also appears in Graveyards and In A Dark Place, both books written by Ed and Lorraine Warren. John's first book, Shadows of the Dark, co-written with Brian McIntyre, was released in September 2004. John has also appeared on Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures. John is working on multiple follow-up books currently and is lecturing all over the United States at colleges and universities.

Over the years, John has collected many hundreds of possessed items either given to or sent to him by people wishing to be rid of them. The John Zaffis Paranormal Museum opened in 2004 to display these items, and continues to be open today. John wrote and starred in the documentary film Museum of the Paranormal, released in 2010, which gives the viewer a tour of his museum and the stories behind some of the objects.  John was the starring role in the television series Haunted Collector which ran on SyFy from 2011 through 2013.

(APPEARING AT SAGE PARACON USA 2023)

Richard Estep has been a paranormal investigator for the past 25 years, researching claims of paranormal activity on both sides of the Atlantic. He is the author of fourteen books, on subjects such as ghosts, hauntings, UFOs, breaking into publishing, and serial killers; several more are in the pipeline. Richard’s work appears in the TV shows Haunted Case Files, Paranormal 911, Haunted Hospitals, and Paranormal Investigators. 

He writes a regular column for Haunted Magazine. Richard lives in Colorado, USA, with his wife, cats, dog, and far too much Lego.​

 ​(APPEARING AT SAGE PARACON UK 2023) 

MJ Dickson is a Paranormal Investigator, Psychic Medium, Writer, Paranormal Television Producer, and Director, based in Warwickshire, UK. She is known for her work as the co-host on Sky Pick TVs hit paranormal show - ‘Paranormal Captured’ and has worked on shows such as ‘Destination Fear’, ‘Most Terrifying Places’, ‘Paranormal Lockdown’, ‘Hotel Paranormal’, and three seasons of ‘In Search Of The Paranormal’, as well as other popular shows and documentaries. 

Her experiences with the paranormal began at a young age and she soon realized that she had inherited her mothers’ psychic abilities. Paired with her military father’s penchant for logic, MJ found that this unusual combination of psychic and sceptic lent itself perfectly to becoming a successful paranormal investigator. Those skills came in handy when she suspected she was living in a haunted house and wanted answers. 

MJ has investigated hundreds of locations worldwide. Her research has taken her from the UK, USA, and Europe to places such as South Africa and Zimbabwe, in search of all things strange. 

MJ lectures at paranormal conventions around the world, teaching others the risks involved and the basics of investigating as well as a wide range of other topics, a popular Paracon lecturer. Due to her professionalism and the level of evidence she was able to document, Dickson is recognized as one of the top female investigators within the field worldwide. 

She is the founder of ‘Sage Paranormal’, a paranormal events and holiday company based in Warwickshire, UK. In 2016 MJ launched the ‘Sage Paracon’, the most exclusive paranormal convention within the UK. She has recently launched Sage Paracon USA as well as Online conventions. 

In addition to her paranormal investigation events, the ‘Sage Paracon’, and her busy lecture schedule, MJ hosts Sage 'Dark Departures' Paranormal holiday aventures. These range from spooky weekend getaways exploring all things paranormal to her ‘Sea Adventures’- a 10-night Paranormal Cruise, as well as her ‘Land Adventures’ which are 10-night adventures to haunted locations around the world. 

In 2018 she worked alongside ‘Groff Entertainment’ as the Production Location Consultant for season 4 of the popular television series 'Paranormal Lockdown'. MJ has not only worked onscreen but also as the Production Coordinator for Travel Channels ‘Most Terrifying Places’, The UK Fixer on ‘Hotel Paranormal’, and a producer on ‘Destination Fear’ for Travel Channel & Discovery+  

She has also filmed 'Paranormal: Captured - Dead Of Winter (90-minute special) which aired on Sky Pick tv in December 2020. MJ’s show ‘In Search Of The Paranormal’ is now available on YouTube – Season 1 is Drakelow Tunnels, season 2 is The Skirrid Inn, and soon to be released – Season 3 sees the team spending 8 nights investigating Bodmin Jail. 

It is very rare that she is not doing something along the lines of investigating, researching, and exploring all things weird and unknown. In her free time, she can often be found singing and playing guitar on stage at her local open mic nights, she also enjoys writing for numerous publications. 

SOCIAL MEDIA & WEBSITE:

www.mjdickson.com 

www.facebook.com/mjvdickson 

www.instagram.com/mjdickson_

www.twitter.com/mjdickson_ 

(YOUR SAGE PARACON HOSTESS)