Jeff Belanger
Jeff Belanger (born August 8, 1974) is an American author, public speaker and paranormal investigator.[1][2] He has served as the host of New England Legends and has appeared on Ghost Adventures.[3][4] Paranormal researcher Ben Radford has called Belanger a "ghost storyteller" not a "ghost investigator".[5]
Jeff Belanger | |
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Born | |
Occupation | Paranormal investigator |
Spouse(s) | Megan |
Children | Sophie |
Website | Jeff Belanger, exploring the unexplained |
Education and career
Jeff Belanger graduated from Hofstra University with a B.A. in English. After college Jeff served as Editor-in-Chief of Main Street - a biweekly arts and entertainment newspaper in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, he worked in marketing and public relations for both private and public companies, and he's currently a full-time writer living in Massachusetts with his wife, Megan, daughter, Sophie, and parakeet, Mambo.
Paranormal investigator
Paranormal researcher Ben Radford discusses issues he has with Belanger's research skills. In Belanger's book Communicating with the Dead he states that he uses Ouija boards, tarot cards, casting runes, mirror gazing, dowsing and EVP's to investigate the paranormal, all of which have never been proven to work. Radford calls attention to Belanger mentioning the Fox sisters '"spirit rapping"' in the introduction of his book, "he seems unaware of the fact that the sisters admitted that they had faked these ghostly communications. This is a curious oversight for such a self-professed expert... ." In Radford's book Investigating Ghosts he details the case of "Sara Ann" who is claimed to haunt the Fort George, Ontario barracks and grounds. Belanger writes of the story of Sara Ann stating conflicting details. The conclusion was that an anonymous "very likely a self-claimed psychic" told the story of seeing Sara Ann to someone, who later recounted that story to Belanger. Radford asked Belanger about the contradictions, his responses was "'I don't offer these accounts up as proof of anything. I'm simply passing on what I've learned and heard along the way and I'm trying to do it in an entertaining way'". In the notes section of Radford's book, he states that he was told by Belanger that he (Radford) is the first to "call his attention to the contradictions and ambiguities in his account of Sarah Ann" calling Radford to write, "scientific investigation requires that information about hauntings and ghost reports be taken literally - not metaphorically, figuratively, or in any other way".[5]
Bibliography
- 2014 Haunted New England Wall Calendar by Jeff Belanger with photography by Frank Grace (Tide-mark, August 2013) ISBN 1-59490-901-6
- Chasing Spirits: The Building of the Ghost Adventures Crew by Nick Groff with Jeff Belanger (Penguin/NAL, October 2012) ISBN 0-45141-344-X
- What It's Like to Climb Mount Everest, Blast Off into Space, Survive a Tornado, and Other Extraordinary Stories (Sterling, March 2011) ISBN 1-4027-6711-0
- Picture Yourself Legend Tripping: Your Complete Guide to Finding UFOs, Monsters, Ghosts, and Urban Legends in Your Own Backyard (Course Technology PTR, June 2010) ISBN 1-4354-5639-4
- The Mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle (Grosset and Dunlap, February 2010) ISBN 0-448-45227-8
- Who's Haunting the White House? The President's Mansion and the Ghosts Who Live There (Sterling, September 2008) ISBN 1-4027-3822-6
- Weird Massachusetts: Your Travel Guide to the Massachusetts' Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets (Sterling, May 2008) ISBN 1-4027-5437-X
- The Ghost Files: Paranormal Encounters, Discussion, and Research from the Vaults of Ghostvillage.com (New Page Books, September 2007) ISBN 1-56414-974-9
- Ghosts of War: Restless Spirits of Soldiers, Spies, and Saboteurs (New Page Books, September 2006) ISBN 1-56414-889-0
- Our Haunted Lives: True Life Ghost Encounters (New Page Books, July 2006) ISBN 1-56414-856-4
- The Nightmare Encyclopedia: Your Darkest Dreams Interpreted (New Page Books, November 2005) ISBN 1-56414-762-2
- Encyclopedia of Haunted Places: Ghostly Locales From Around the World (New Page Books, August 2005) ISBN 1-56414-799-1[6]
- Communicating With the Dead: Reach Beyond the Grave (New Page Books, April 2005)
- The World's Most Haunted Places: From the Secret Files of Ghostvillage.com (New Page Books, August 2004) ISBN 1-56414-793-2
- Foreword to Missouri Hauntings by Lee Prosser. Schiffer Publishing, December 28, 2008) ISBN 978-0-7643-3119-0
References
- "Ghost hunter Jeff Belanger from the Travel Channel show". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
- "Living Legends of the Dead". Valley Advocate. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
- "Five questions with author Jeff Belanger". Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
- "Local ghost stories haunt Cumberland this weekend". The Sun Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
- Radford, Ben (2017). Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits. Corrales, New Mexico: Rhombus Publishing Company. pp. 108, 287, 298–300. ISBN 978-0-936455-16-7.
- "Book Review: Encyclopedia of Haunted Places". Horrornews.net. Retrieved 2016-04-16.