article and some of the photos by Mary Ellen Graybill

From ET vitamins, toys, games, puzzles, cereal boxes, lunch kits, Ghostbuster’s toothpaste, to “Slimers,” popular culture has had a fascination with the mysterious and the unexplained. Now, pioneer paranormal lecturer and Columbia resident Rick Fisher has set up exhibits to show how these mysteries have influenced popular culture.

He opened the National Museum of Mysteries and Research Center located at Third and Locust Streets in Columbia on October 15, 2011. And, news is traveling faster than a laser beam – there’s something new in town!

Fisher’s museum is open for business on Saturday and Sunday. He has compiled books and artifacts from a range of paranormal topics: Bigfoot, ghosts, aliens and UFO’s. There is a library of rare magazines, and you are welcome to spend the day reading the library’s collection, or attend monthly events including featured speakers such as a talk in November by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, author of scores of books on paranormal experiences.

Rosemary Ellen Guiley. (Photo by Valerie A. Smith)

“It will sell out!” says Rick about the event.

During open hours, the museum is a chance to see old and new Ouija boards (one dates to 1898),  magazines and newspaper articles as well as donated items about the history of spirit communication, ghost hunting and other unique mysteries. Rick feels that someday some of the discoveries will be widely appreciated by the public.

“I had Ouija board collection. And I saw them at different antique stores for $10 and $12. Until EBay came and everybody found they could make more money on ’em, some of them I bought for $12 you will find on Ebay for $300 now,” Rick said.

“I had an experience at the age of seven believing I saw a ghost. We stayed at my grandfather’s house, in a little village, called Eden. Sometimes we stayed there all summer,” he said.

He is referring to his sister and him who stayed at the grandfather’s house.

One night, when he woke up, he thought he saw his grandfather in the hallway. And the next morning he told his grandmother he saw his grandfather in the hallway and she said he couldn’t have because his grandfather was on the night shift at work.

The incident happened again. Blankets went over his head.

It was scary to Rick, but he didn’t say anything about it to anyone until about 40 years later when his sister, said she had the same experience. Another relative had a similar experience, and it was concluded to be Rick’s great grandfather.

“I never knew my great grandfather, so I don’t tell people it was my great grandfather.

“I was always fascinated with ghosts, ’cause I wanted to know if I saw a ghost, and can we prove ghosts are real? A lot of this equipment was used by me first. I’m considered a pioneer in modern ghost hunting techniques. Before to prove a haunting, you had to take a psychic with you, and the psychic could say ‘little Billy’s in the corner,’ and people would say “this place is haunted because the psychic said so.”

Practical Rick Fisher decided early on to use technology to prove there were mysteries beyond the usual senses. He doesn’t label it “science” but technology.

“It’s not using Science when you’re using that equipment.”

There’s a display of the various pieces of equipment at the museum.

An EMF reader finds electromagnetic fields. “Is it a ghost? I don’t know,” he says.

“I’ve been doing this for 50 years and I’m no further (close) to prove ghosts are real than I was when I started, even with the modern technology.”

However, Rick reports that he just found devices to measure phenomena, rather than rely on psychic impressions. He found devices, did tests, and was a featured lecturer at many conferences, at his own expense.

“It’s your own time, your own expenses and your own equipment.”

One book “Ghosts of the Rivertowns” can be purchased at the museum location or from his website, for $5.

“I was always fascinated with UFO’s and strange creatures, you know, monsters and things like that,” he said. “It’s pop culture. ET is on stamps, cereal boxes, vitamins for kids … for example.”

It’s a research museum, with magazines that are not carried at libraries. It’s also an education to learn new words, new ideas, if you are not inclined to believe the supernatural. Bigfoot footprints – so called fake and “real” – are displayed with “crypto zoology” items. There’s a kid’s corner, and movie memorabilia, brochures and items for sale, free snacks and a pleasant library, reading area, called the Rosemary Ellen Guiley Library after the popular Queen of the Paranormal who will lecture about legends and lore on Saturday, November 19, 7-8PM for $20 a person, which includes admission to the museum and light refreshments.

“We are trying to preserve the mysteries beyond the strange phenomena,” says Rick Fisher.

The museum will host monthly events and details and events are listed here or visit the National Museum of Mysteries and Research Center group on Facebook. Hours at the museum are Saturday, 9AM – 5PM, and Sunday noon – 5PM. Fees: $5 per person; seniors/ and children under 12, $3.