The Truth from a Former PRS Client

Copyright 2008-2014 By Kirby Robinson

This is a repost of the article that was the beginning of the end for the credibility of  Paranormal State and the para-celebrities that took part in the deceptions perpetrated by the show and its producers. This is told primarily from the client's point of view.


I’ve had my say, I have presented you with my analysis and research into the conduct of the Paranormal Research Society, Paranormal State, Chip Coffey, Ryan Buell and numerous other para-celebrities who have engaged in acts of deception, distortion, and out and out lies. Now it’s time that you hear it and read it from the mouths of those who have been on the receiving end of those acts.

Kelli states: “[Name removed] referred me to you. My husband and I are not under any legal restraint from telling the truth about what Ryan Buell and Chip Coffey did and what was edited and aired on our episode of A&E's Paranormal State.

Chip Coffey play acted at being psychic. He was given every bit of information regarding our case and the identity of the ghost of the past-previous owner of our home who died 28 years before we bought our Gold Beach, Oregon home.

I am a medical hypnotherapist and respected medium and psychic with many satisfied clients. We contacted PRS after our ghost, Bill Wells, began asking us for help.

The PRS team represented themselves as being part of Penn State University, which was only the beginning of their deceptions. We initially asked for help because there was some sort of entity in our downstairs hall and adjacent rooms which my own spirit guide warned me from dealing with on my own.”

Kelli and Riley Ryan are a very loving couple who purchased their dream home in Gold Beach, Oregon. Kelli who is a gifted psychic/medium, had established the Hypnotist Center in Merced, California in 1989. She is very accurate within her readings, very comfortable with spiritual communication, and has always embraced her gifts to be of help to others.

After moving in, the couple, along with Kelli’s personal spirit guide, encountered a very pleasant ghost by the name of Bill. Bill was the former owner of the home whose death was tragic, to say the least, that caused much pain for his family, friends, and the entire community of Gold Beach.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only entity that had taken up residence in her home. In addition, a very dark and sinister spirit had staked claim to their kitchen and hallway, moving objects at will, turning appliances off and on, frightening their ghost, Bill. The dark entity physically attacked both Kelli and her husband. Her personal spirit guide wisely informed her not to attempt to deal with the dark entity on her own but to get professional help which they did when they contacted PRS seeking such help.

Kelli states: “We made first contact with PRS by email Saturday June 21, 2008. We described all phenomenon and asked if they could help us or refer us to someone who could. We put our trust in PRS because they mention Penn State University so prominently at the beginning of their program. We felt an esteemed university would not want to expose themselves to liability so we thought PRS must be acting responsibly.

We received a phone call from Eric Leven of A&E 10:30AM Pacific Time on Monday, June 23, 2008. He told us that he was making our case a top priority because it was such a compelling story (seeing a headless ghost, all kitchen appliances turning on by themselves, kitchen canister sliding across kitchen counter and falling on the floor, an evil entity in the hallway, being locked in the bathroom, being touched, scratched, bruised, squeezed until I couldn’t breath and a kindly ghost asking for help). Eric Leven asked if we could send documentation that Bill Wells lived in our home and died in an accident. We sent the news article detailing Bill’s accident and funeral along with deeds to show the list of former owners. At Eric Leven’s request we sent photographs of all the areas of our home where the phenomenon occurred regularly with detailed descriptions.”

So the wheels of deception begin to turn.

Kelli states: “On Tuesday, July 1, 2008 Sumit David, Paranormal State Producer, arrived at our home to scout the location, interview us on camera and film all the haunted areas of our home. He toured our haunted house, property, and surrounding forest. He was actually quite frightened by the trees surrounding our home. He indicated they could start filming as early as July 10, 2008.

A&E was very pushy about urging us to contact Jim Gardner, the driver in Bill Wells’ fatal accident. We told them we would try again, but we didn’t want to harass the man. We contacted him shortly after discovering Bill’s identity. The point of us contacting PRS was to get Bill the help he was pleading for. Bill wanted people in the town to know there was no wrongdoing on anyone’s part and, indeed, it was only an accident. He also wanted Jim to know he was happy in heaven and he wanted his friend to be happy and live his life without guilt or sadness. A&E said Ryan Buell was very good at convincing people to take part in their investigations and how his participation would help the healing process.

Sumit David promised us nothing on the show would be done which would be injurious to Bill Wells’ loved ones. Nothing would prove to be farther from the truth than this most heinous lie.”

At this point we will use the episode, The Messenger, which was originally entitled The Headless Haunting. Each scene will be broken down exposing the deception that was occurring. Prior to the beginning of the opening credits, the lies and deception already start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwPNDDRnBv4 [VIDEO NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
The Messenger, Part 1

The shot of Kelli observing a figure dashing past the window was staged. The person doing the dashing is a crewmember.

The photo of the tragic accident that killed Bill was never meant for public viewing. More on that later.

Chip and Ryan seeing something in the hallway and bedroom staged and fake—more on that later.

The case briefing takes place at the Gold Beach Rare Book Room what is interesting here is how secretive PRS is.

Kelli states: “The townspeople called me to tell me they were filming at the bookstore. The filming took place in the Gold Beach Books Rare Book Room. When I chatted with them casually about it they seemed uncomfortable, like they had been caught. They explained these things are secret to keep us from inventing things about our haunting and trying to embellish the story.”

Notice during the briefing that a bored looking Katrina is not taking notes and is simply playing with her small notebook. Why? It’s because she had spent two hours on the phone with Kelli discussing their case. Secondly, notice her at the point that Ryan himself was beginning to merge Bill the ghost and the dark entity into one. They never had any interest in helping the family; they simply sought to develop another sensational storyline. Kelli and her husband had never used the phrase shadow man. That’s of Ryan’s doing.

Kelli states: “Ryan took great pride in coming up with “This shadow man that you see in your home...” He practiced saying “shadow man” in a deeper register than he usually uses and was quite pleased with himself. He requires everyone on his team to worship him and show and express their admiration of him to everyone. Behind his back they express their disdain, but they all want to keep their job. Ben Wolf and Sumit David (director and producer at A&E) kind of laugh about Ryan’s attitude. These A&E and PRS crews were all very chilled here in Gold Beach’s 60-degree weather in July. I offered everyone coffee and hot tea which they loved and kept a sort of comfort canteen which they enjoyed immensely. We keep delicious coffee and 40 varieties of tea and chai, herbal and black. The crews were so grateful and comfortable they confided a great deal about their work experiences with Ryan. They are very young and Riley and I are grandparents who are “cool.” They were too comfy and confided too many secrets about Chip, Ryan and Michelle.”

The walk through is uneventful outside of one very telling scene. Watch Ryan pausing longer than normal to observe himself in the bathroom mirror.

We go to the client interviews with Kelli in the house, and Riley outside the house. Are they factual? And do they show a true photograph of what they were saying? No, not at all.

Kelli states: “They chop-edited everything. KOBI (NBC Station in Medford, OR) is doing a story about Bill writing a book. Bill Kelly, KOBI News Director, and Bob Wise, KOBI Station Manager, saw the episode and showed us all the voice-overs and chop-editing. They could see more editing than the average person and could hear the pieced together dialogue and that it didn’t match the action depicted.

That interview is in our upstairs master suite where we are storing many pieces of extra furniture as we work on our house. I am talking about 2 distinctly different spirits. Bill our kindly ghost asking for help to get a message to his friend, Jim, and the townspeople who misunderstood the reporting of his fatal accident. Bill wanted to set the record straight. The scary, fearful references are regarding an unidentified entity which was causing harm. This is the reason we needed help. We love Bill. Bill protects me from the other entity. Bill saved my life in an identical car crash I survived two weeks after moving in this house. We will email you a copy or you can purchase the tabloid article in the National Examiner 092908 issue in your grocery store tabloid check out display. Ironically, L.A. Justice wrote an accurate account without exaggerating or altering Bill’s story!”

You see in the first cut between Kelli and Riley, Kelli is talking about Bill the ghost, Riley about the dark entity.

Second cut between the two, she’s talking about Bill again, and Riley is talking about Kelli’s psychic abilities. Notice that Ryan is trying to downplay her talents.

Third cut, Kelli is talking about the dark entity, and so is her husband, neither is talking about Bill the kindly ghost.

Last cut, Kelli is talking about the dark entity, and not Bill. But if you just watch it on the surface the producers and Ryan want you to think of only one thing a dark and evil headless entity which is not really happening at all.

We next see that Michelle Belanger is brought into the case. Two years prior to the investigation, Kelli’s spirit guide had her begin to crochet a sweater that was for Michelle. Michelle also received readings from Kelli that were so accurate to Michelle it proved Kelli’s talents beyond any doubt. And she even refers to Kelli “as the best psychic I ever encountered.”

Michelle explains that she is there to “manifest” energy with the help of PRS occult specialist Eilfie to encourage the spirit to appear.

We now move to Dead Time. They state Dead Time is taking place at 3 AM. Well, let’s look at the facts. 1) Just going off of the meter we see the times 1:33, 1:35, 1:37, and 1:38 AM. 2) Now let’s get it from someone who was part of the filming.

Kelli states: “It didn't [begin at 3 AM] on either night. The first night is was from around 11:30PM to 1:30AM.”

We run through Dead Time, and the next scene to pay attention to is when Ryan interviews Heather about what happened during the supposed Dead Time. Notice that while Heather is sharing her experience, Ryan doesn’t look at her but at himself in the mirror throughout the entire scene.

Next up is Chip Coffey’s arrival on the scene. He does his normal walk through shtick and informs Ryan that a person with M letters then later changes it to W W.

This is one of those things that what you think you saw you really didn’t. Let’s focus on all the deception that took place here.

~1 Chip Coffey’s arrival. Remember, we are on Day 2 of filming. Is this when Chip gets into town? Not at all. He had been in town for over 48 hours prior to his “first arrival” on the scene.

~2 When Chip is asked by Ryan “Have I told you anything about the case?” Chip says: “You tell me nothing.” That’s actually the first truthful statement that they have made on camera at this point in the episode. Ryan didn’t have to tell anything. Chip knew the whole story of Bill’s death and the haunting prior to stepping foot on the property.

Kelli states: “Eric Leven asked if we could send documentation that Bill Wells lived in our home and died in an accident. We sent the news article detailing Bill’s accident and funeral along with deeds to show the list of former owners. At Eric Leven’s request we sent photographs of all the areas of our home where the phenomenon occurred regularly with detailed descriptions.

Eric Leven interviewed me by phone twice. He consulted Chip Coffey with all the details about our case before they decided to do the show.

We had to leave so we would not affect ‘so sensitive’ Chip’s psychic abilities. Chip had been given all those captioned photographs we sent Eric Leven explaining all locations in and around our home where the phenomenon occurred. As a result, Chip very accurately picked up on all the phenomenon including Bill Well’s initials, WW (William Wells).

Eric Leven from A&E told me on the phone, ‘I consulted Chip Coffey about your case and he was really excited. I forwarded all your info to him...’

On July 1st Sumit David, A&E Producer of Paranormal State came to our home, interviewed us on video and did the walk through on video so Chip Coffey could see everything in our home prior to his coming here. We showed him every place in and around our home where we have phenomenon and those are the exact places he picked up his psychic perceptions. They asked us to leave to do their walk through filming with Chip Coffey on the first day. We were told it was so he would not pick up anything from us regarding the dangerous entity in our hallway. We already knew he had all the information about Bill Wells, our ghost. We had to go away so we wouldn't see that they were doing nothing about the entity we were asking help getting rid of. All the ‘proof’ about Bill Wells was sent to them to prove we had a haunting to add credence to our claim about the entity in our hall.”

So we now see that everything concerning Chip Coffey’s readings and alleged accurate psychic abilities are nothing but a sham and a fraud. But it really starts to pile up from this point on. And I would advise wading boots if you decide to keep on reading, because the stuff is going to get very deep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyHjjDR9JBQ&feature=related [VIDEO NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
The Messenger, part 2

We now witness an outright scripted staged deception by Heather, Eilfie, and Michelle. They do a deed search and surprise, surprise they come up with the name William Wells. A voiceover then tells the viewer that Bill died a tragic death. They visit the local newspaper office The Curry County Reporter, and uncovered the tragic story of the death of William Wells. What is the deception, you ask? They knew the name of William Wells was already on the deed of property. They knew that William Wells died a tragic death. They already had the newspaper article concerning the accident.

Kelli states: “Eric Leven asked if we could send documentation that Bill Wells lived in our home and died in an accident. We sent the news article detailing Bill’s accident and funeral along with deeds to show the list of former owners. At Eric Leven’s request we sent photographs of all the areas of our home where the phenomenon occurred regularly with detailed descriptions.”

Kelli states: “Sumit David promised us nothing on the show would be done which would be injurious to Bill Wells’ loved ones. Nothing would prove to be farther from the truth than this most heinous lie.

We shared with PRS and A&E a sad history of Bill’s death. Bill’s death hurt the entire city of Gold Beach. He was the beloved pharmacist in this small coastal fishing village and touched virtually everyone in the county. His death at the age of 32 shocked and saddened an entire county and the strange circumstances surrounding the accident (one person dying, the other walking away without a scratch) caused a controversy, which divided the town, making lifetime enemies of formerly dear friends. People could sense there was some kind of cover-up. The feud was so detrimental to people’s business and personal lives, the townspeople agreed never to mention it again, never to speak Bill’s name again and never to speculate about what happened that first day of October 1978. The town never wavered from their agreement not to speak of Bill Wells or his accident ever again.”

Ryan interviews the first EMT man on the scene of the accident, which is spliced with photos from the police report and a voiceover of Heather and Michelle talking about Bill’s injuries.

This is just another example of acts of deception on Paranormal State’s part. They knew all of the horrendous details about Bill’s physical injuries and the photos were from the police report. But what they don’t bother to inform the viewer is that out of respect for Bill and his family, friends and entire community, they had kept that part a secret. Until Paranormal State decided to expose it to the world with no thought of the pain and suffering that such an act would do.

Kelli states: “A&E promised us they would not show these accident photos. No one in Gold Beach, including Bill’s wife, knew the extent of his injuries, other than head trauma. That his head was crushed and severed was kept secret. This was devastating to those who loved Bill. Bill isn’t a 200-year-old ghost. He would only be 63 this December 8th. His friends, widow, children, and friend who drove the vehicle and survived the accident are all still alive and most still live in Gold Beach. These photos have been a secret for 30 years. The ‘cover-up’ the town argued about, the secret they sensed, was the heart-breaking truth of the bloody death of a beloved citizen. The responding officers, doctors and survivor of the crash kept this secret to protect all of Bill Well’s loved ones from an ugly image so that they could remember the smiling man as he was in life, not the broken body who was buried.”

We then see the second interview with Kelli. Again, there’s more dishonesty.

Kelli states: “I was asked to pretend I didn’t know any of the information for effect so that viewers could have the sense of the story unfolding, the way it had to us. ‘There would be no harm in presenting it again as though they made the discoveries on their own as they were the ones who ordered the accident report.’ It was genuine when I asked about the head injury. They didn’t tell me about Bill’s decapitation and they never let us see the report, so I don’t know it is actually true.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn2U7MaR8_g&feature=related [VIDEO NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
The Messenger, Part 3

We now come to the second Dead Time and the chaos and deception that raged throughout that entire event.

Point 1 - According to Kelli, Dead Time didn’t take place at 3 AM, but began at 11:30 and ended around 1:30.
Point 2 – When Michelle asked Kelli ‘did she hear that?’ Kelli goes ‘Uh Huh.’ But the scene is spliced to make it look as though she uttered that.
Point 3 – Notice how hyper Chip is getting about the movement in the kitchen. Yet neither he nor Ryan check it out. WHY? Observe their physical mannerisms – these men are both frightened.
Point 4 – The table moving is made into a big deal. According to Kelli, this is not uncommon at all. It really doesn’t move, it just vibrates.
Point 5 – The lesson that Paranormal State learned in the Hell’s Gate episode, is that if you fake things long enough you will eventually run into the real deal.
Point 6 – Chip and Ryan go down the hall and go into the guest bedroom. Ryan picks up a cold spot 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the area. They flip on the light and an outline of a person is seen by only Chip and Ryan.

Concerning point 6, this would be amazing if true but it’s not. The cold spot, which is alleged to be a ghost? Or a demon? Or maybe a vortex to the other side? No, none of those things. It’s a cold can of beer placed there by PRS.

Kelli states: “This entity frightened the PRS team and terrified Chip Coffey who refused to deal with it. Chip had me deal with it and hid in a chair in my living room. You can see me in the hallway in the show, but they pieced together dialogue to make it appear I was evicting our ghost, Bill Wells. The PRS crew ‘faked’ cold spots in our home. They explained to us that they were using a six-pack of beer to attract Bill and draw him out so they could photograph him. I thought it seemed ridiculous and said as much to the producer, Sumit David, who explained to us, ‘I really just think it's about young college kids getting a hold of a six pack...’

After the episode was aired, I realized the ‘Cold Spot’ Ryan and Chip were ‘discovering’ in our guest room was one of the Budweiser cans! If you are forewarned you can actually see that it is a can of beer on the monitor which appears to be a glowing red orb. I did save these beer cans with their fingerprints in the event they wish to deny their actions.

I confronted Sumit David on the phone asking why they aired such a deception. He responded by explaining that ‘Ryan thought he was really onto something and he appeared so sincere that they left it in because Ryan's fans really enjoy his innocent on-air persona of sincerity and devotion to his quest...’ I didn't understand why my spirit guide directed me to save the beer cans as evidence. She is never wrong and when she told me I would need them I didn't question it.”

Kelli states: “I told Sumit how angry Bill was becoming and that he was capable of doing harm. And what were they discovering about the angry entity in the hallway? What were they going to do about it? Every time I asked, I was told only that, ‘They have a few ideas about what to do. They’re still deciding what approach to take with it.’ Again I asked Sumit why they needed beer to draw Bill out when he was happy to show himself if they would just let him give his message. Sumit said he simply thought the beer was more about a bunch of college kids getting their hands on a six-pack. I was so tired of getting non-answers I quit asking questions. That night at dead time Riley was asked to stay outside with the support crew. I was asked to help set up the sitting room and was told Riley would be coming in after we were through setting up. You need to know these details because what is on film is so pieced together and voiced over and edited so deceptively, it was difficult for us to recognize which parts were which. We could recognize the video, but the audio didn’t match.”

Kelli states: “I don't know about any of their noises in the kitchen or elsewhere during Dead Time or any other time. I did not experience any of the noise phenomena they were picking up in the two years we have lived here. Our noises are different and nothing has changed. The table moving is real. That phenomenon is a common one in our home. The table does not actually move, it undulates like waves making a boat rock. Our house is in a place where the other side and our world have very little separation. That veil, like an ozone is not very defined on our property. We live in a type of portal between us and the other side. Our house sits on top of an underground stream which connects to Hunter Creek. Where Taylor Creek and Hunter Creek meet forms a kind of meridian and that is where our house sits. Put in a channeling medium and you have paranormal Disneyland when you are inside the house. This scared Chip Coffey so much he would not deal with the entity in the hallway after Bill, our ghost, was so angry over what Chip did. He rushed out and lunged at Chip scaring him badly. You can see this on the second Dead Time when Chip has his hand in front of his mouth and is hiding in a leather chair looking at me in the hallway. Michelle Belanger had an argument with Chip during that Dead Time explaining I was the real deal unlike him. Michelle knows this as I spent only a small time with her and discussed with her a secret she says no psychic she has ever been with has ever picked up. I called Chip a fraud. Michelle stood up and told Chip I was the read deal, a real medium, not like him who was faking it. The camera rolled the entire time. Look at Michelle’s face. At one point she simply looks disgusted and quit participating.”

Kelli states: “The second night Dead Time was about 11:30 to 1:30 AM with the break for the huge fiasco that did not appear on tape. Chip Coffey was so afraid after Bill rushed out to defend me against Chip's terrible attack directed at me and my family. In our interview with Katrina before they arrived Katrina asked me to list the names, relationships and birth and death dates of all my deceased family members who have died in the last 10 years. Chip was claiming the evil entity in the hallway was my dead grandfather and that he had sexually abused me as a child. This is utterly ridiculous and untrue. That was when I called Chip Coffey a fraud and Chip responded with such abusive, intimidating and belittling language and demeanor in his attempt show me he was right about the abuse that I probably sublimated and that was why I couldn't remember. I told him I don't intimidate that easily and his incompetent bullying tactics would not work on me. I am a medical hypnotherapist of some repute and my biography is in the Marquis Who's Who. You can go to any public library or newspaper and log onto the Marquis Who's Who on the Web. I am listed Kelli Lorraine Ryan, DOB 062657. This is the most authoritative biographical data in the world and each fact is verified. He still wouldn't back down and Michelle Belanger came to my defense and started having a yelling match with him. Ryan stepped in and finally pulled everyone to a neutral corner and took me outside to calm everybody down. Ryan and I were the only ones who did not lose their cool. Ryan never raised his voice, but he was so filled with anxiety he was almost shaking. He had a very hard time keeping Chip under control. They have a very enmeshed and unhealthy relationship. They need each other and cover for each other and conspire together and yet just under the surface you can see how much they are threatened by each other and how much jealousy and contempt they have for each other. It would take very little pushing to get them to turn on each other. They would easily blame the other for all the deception.”

Let’s go back to the cold spot for a second. Did PRS or PS or even Ryan come out and admit it publicly, that they faked a cold spot, which would be the honorable thing for them to do. No. Ryan Buell, Director/Founder of Penn State PRS, who cites the motto: "To Trust, Honor, and Always Seek the Truth." On his forum can’t even tell the truth about the cold spot on the bed. First he claims that he hasn’t viewed the episode. Then he claims that the cold spot is an object that has been refrigerated. He later says he’ll get back to the questioner about the subject—but never does. Did Chip say anything? No. Did anyone from PRS or A&E say anything? No.

Clearly notice that both Chip and Ryan have frightened looks on their faces and everyone has fled from the living room. As much out of fear of the entity in the hallway and the anger and disrespect that Chip was showing towards Kelli.

The viewer is given the impression that Kelli is asking Bill to leave – which is not true. She’s trying to get the dark entity to leave and no one comes to her aid. Not Chip, Ryan, or the occult specialist, Eilfie. Nor do they offer to call in a expert in this field, not even a local priest or minister. Because it’s all about them looking good and everybody else be damned.

Kelli states: “PRS say they are PARANORMAL RESEARCHERS and expressed no interest in many of the real phenomenon they recorded [on our property]. Ryan picked up the spirits in the forest on his IFR and didn't bother to put that in. Does that indicate interest in the paranormal?”

I wish I could say that the deception ended there. But there are even more lies yet to be revealed. The first is the EVP from the last Dead Time. What it is from is a ham radio operator that is located nearby. So there was no “paranormal event” recorded at all. The second lie is that Bill did have a message to deliver to not only Jim, his beloved friend who survived the accident, but to the entire community of Gold Beach. That was one of the purposes, supposedly, of Ryan and Paranormal State showing up, was to assist Kelli in getting The Message out. But did it? No, it ended up on the cutting room floor.

The next deception is the supposed final interview between Kelli, Riley, and Ryan. Is that the way it really happened? And is she really thanking Ryan for all his efforts of the past few days?

Kelli states: “You see me thanking Ryan gratefully and tearfully for his help right after I was able to deliver Bill's message to his friend and town about what really happened in his accident. My relief moved me to tears because Riley finally felt relief after three nights of AM bedtimes and three hours of sleep per night not one meal sitting down mostly orange juice and bananas I was sleep deprived and exhausted and so grateful for the experience to be over it showed on camera. Bill's message wound up on the cutting room floor.

More deceptions occurred even after they left surrounding the letter writing. During filming they made me recreate many things they said they would put in the beginning montage. During these recreations they were always trying to get me to scream or do something dramatic to show how terrifying the experiences were. They were disappointed when I told them I usually just froze when these things happened. They wanted me to do dramatic things to help the audience understand how horrifying the experiences were for their benefit. I told them it wouldn't be accurate and I didn't want to deceive viewers because it wasn't right. Each time Ben Wolf, the director, would respond by saying, ‘That's really good. You're right. A lot of our subjects aren't as talented as you are and we can't ask them to do this so we felt comfortable asking you...’ Ben Wolf was working from a list of every phenomenon we gave A&E and PRS.”

After the team left, what happened? Did Kelli’s dark entity leave? No. And actually, in some ways, things got worse. That very day that PRS packed up their equipment and left Kelli and Riley’s home, the stirred up dark entity returned to its terrorizing ways. Even with the team still in town, they would not return to their home to offer assistance. Weeks later, when Kelli contacted PRS and PS for follow-up help, what did she get? Sumit David the producer is quoted: "But you did get some help didn't you? So then everything's ok. I'm sure everything will work out." Again, we see the client has value only when the cameras are rolling, but when it’s over, the help is gone.

It wasn’t until Kelli and Riley, with assistance of those outside of the PRS team, discovered who and what the entity was. It was a displaced spirit that when the mountainside had been carved out spirits that were native to the area had been disrupted. This particular spirit had ended up in what is now Kelli and Riley’s home, terrorizing all the people who had owned it, including Bill Wells himself, when he was alive. Eventually, help was obtained and the spirit was effectively dealt with and finally, weeks later, Kelli and Riley had their house back.

But was the deception only limited to things going on in front of the camera? To be honest, a more sinister act of deception was taking off the site of the filming. Throughout the stay within the small town, members of PRS did their best to dig up dirt on both Kelli and Riley. To no avail.

Kelli states: “The A&E producer arrived in town the beginning of the week of filming and all other A&E and PRS crew arrived shortly after with Chip Coffey and Michelle Belanger arriving Tuesday, July 8, 2008. They made their presence conspicuous and certainly raised eyebrows and suspicions amongst the townspeople who began to call me on the phone immediately. They arrived several days before they indicated to us, trying to uncover anything about us they could, hoping to find something unsavory or at least a provocative secret. I can only surmise they were a little disappointed to find out we are pillars of the community and beloved in the town as the newcomers who were so quickly and fondly embraced by the natives of Gold Beach. They discovered people who were also from a small farm town and accustomed to hard work, volunteerism and generously donating time and money.

The director, Ben Wolf, shared in an unguarded moment how no matter how many people in town were asked, ‘and they asked everywhere’ they couldn’t find anyone who said anything other than we were the ‘nicest, kindest people they ever met...’ Why were they trying so hard to look for dirt? I will never really know beyond the persistent feeling that untrustworthy people generally judge others as untrustworthy.”

In addition, the former owners of the property were contacted to be on the show and again, it’s best to read what happens in their own words via email.

Rachelle Schaaf and Mike DeRoest: “Well, as those of you who tuned in to A&E’s Paranormal State last night and watched the “Headless Haunting/The Messenger” YOU DIDN’T SEE US! We were left, I’m afraid, on the cutting room floor – edited out. Bummer! Had to fit those commercial breaks in!

Actually, that’s ok because our experiences were far more tame than what the Ryan’s endured – thank heavens! Paranormal State was looking for the juicy stuff that they could handily craft a story around. I guess stoves, heaters, lights that go on by themselves were not sexy enough for “Reality TV.”

When the producer called us. We did agree to make the trip over to Gold Beach to be interviewed on camera. We spent a few hours hanging around town while the crew tended to some dramatic new development; and then we spent a couple of hours wandering around the house having our conversations recorded with the new home owners and the ghostbusters. And then it didn’t even make it to TV! Mike and I need a better agent.

The story that came out on TV was only a portion of the history of the home and that which lent itself most readily to sensationalism. There were some other wild things that the paranormal experts were tossing around that were way over the top too, I’m glad the public was spared that stuff.

Do I believe in paranormal energies, perhaps ghosts? Yes, I do.
Do I believe in Reality TV? Uh, no.”

And as the final credits roll, listen to the deceptive words that Ryan utters as he strolls along the beach. All those words are empty words, for he knows as well as anyone, that the needs of a client were sacrificed for the personal needs of fame and fortune that both him and Chip Coffey so desperately seek. In closing, Kelli says it best, and I will let her have the final words on this subject.

“On the one hand, people say these shows are just entertainment, it's no big deal. And they are right. But real people's lives are used as the kindling and are used up just as easily. They could simply interview people about their problem and portray it as a dramatized account of the ghosts/demons etc. in these peoples' lives. What they do is offer help to people who are at their most vulnerable and not equipped to handle it. If they had an infestation of rats or bugs they could call a reputable exterminator and hold them accountable for their services rendered. PRS offers themselves up as help with experts and clergy and after they dramatize, fictionalize, and sensationalize some household's problem they walk away and leave these people with whatever haunting, demonic presence or troubling spirit and, in some cases, worsen the problem. After PRS gets what they want the family is left on their own. If a reputable exterminator came to the home, looked at the situation, invited in a few more rats and cockroaches to move in and then walked away that would be illegal. When anyone is on national TV offering themselves as experts the FCC requires truth in advertising. These people are saying they are researchers, helpers, and warriors offering to battle evil paranormal forces. They cannot mix their metaphors. First by saying we're here to help you and follow up, and then, at the end of filming drive off and say you're on your own. After all, this is only entertainment.”


"The Messenger" is no longer available on the Paranormal State DVD of season 2.

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