Jason Conrad Hawes (born December 27, 1971) is an American plumber and the co-founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), which is based in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, southwest of Boston, Massach ...

. He is also one of the stars and co-producers of

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...

's '' Ghost Hunters'', which ended its initial run after its eleventh season on October 26, 2016. Several years later, the show was renewed and revived for a 12th season at A&E, with new episodes premiering in August 2019 without Hawes's participation. TAPS co-founder and former lead investigator Grant Wilson returned to lead a brand new team, while Hawes moved on to lead his own show with ''Ghost Hunters'' alumni Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves in '' Ghost Nation'', which has been airing on the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

since October 2019.

Personal life

Background

Hawes was born in

Canandaigua, New York Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora) is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county complex ...

and moved to

in 1979. According to his own account, Hawes began to see

apparitions Apparition may refer to: Supernatural *Apparitional experience, an anomalous, quasi-perceptual experience * A vision, something seen in a dream, trance, or religious ecstasy *Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear ...

at the age of twenty after a girlfriend who practiced

Reiki is a Japanese form of energy healing, a type of alternative medicine. Reiki practitioners use a technique called ''palm healing'' or ''hands-on healing'' through which a " universal energy" is said to be transferred through the palms of the ...

manipulated his life force energy.

Paranormal research Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

John Zaffis John Zaffis (born December 18, 1955) is a paranormal researcher born and based in Connecticut, United States. He starred in the SyFy paranormal reality TV show, '' Haunted Collector'', and runs the Paranormal and Demonology Research Society of New ...

told Hawes that he was becoming sensitive to paranormal phenomena. Hawes founded the Rhode Island Paranormal Society (RIPS) in 1990 as a support group for people who had paranormal experiences. When Hawes was twenty-two, he went on to found TAPS/The Atlantic Paranormal Society and co-create the major television hit ''Ghost Hunters'', which became the flagship show of the Syfy Channel and made it one of the top watched channels on cable. The show's initial run ended in 2016, although it was eventually revived for a 12th season in 2019. By that time, Hawes had opted to create his own show, '' Ghost Nation'', with ''Ghost Hunters'' alumni Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango, which has been airing on the

since October 2019.

Interests and hobbies

Hawes has written two books on the paranormal and four

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

screenplays. Hawes bio on DragonCon.org He and fellow TAPS founder Grant Wilson are longtime co-workers at their day job as plumbers for

Roto-Rooter Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup (formerly called Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Service) is a Cincinnati-based company providing plumbing repair, sewer & drain services, and water damage cleanup services to residential and commercial custome ...

. It was Hawes who brought Wilson into the plumbing business.''Ghost Hunting'' (Hawes, Wilson and Friedman), p. 12. The two are former co-owners of the Spalding Inn, based in Whitefield,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. They finally sold the Inn in the summer of 2014. In the colder months, Jason likes to wear a beanie hat with a brim on it. He has stated that its "the perfect mix of style, warmth, and comfort."

Charity work

Hawes has used public ghost hunting events and personal appearances to raise money for various charities, such as the

Shriners Hospitals for Children Shriners Children's is a network of non-profit medical facilities across North America. Children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-center ...

and Cure Kids Cancer.

Threatening e-mail

In March 2005, Barry Clinton Eckstrom, 51, of

Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania Upper St. Clair is a township with home rule status in southern Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, situated about 8 miles (13 km) south of Downtown Pittsburgh. It is known for being an affluent suburb with a nationally recognized school distr ...

, began to send threatening e-mails to Jason Hawes, founder of TAPS. Hawes alerted the FBI in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

. When the e-mails began to include threats against then President George W. Bush, the

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. Fo ...

became involved. Eckstrom also used Hawes's name to send e-mails to some female members of TAPS, in which he threatened to rape and murder them. While under surveillance by federal agents, Eckstrom used a

Bethel Park, Pennsylvania Bethel Park, officially the Municipality of Bethel Park, is a borough with home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, located approximately southwest of Pittsburgh. The pop ...

library computer to send an e-mail in Hawes' name to Roto Rooter's

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

headquarters, threatening to shoot employees there. Next, Eckstrom typed a message threatening to kill President Bush, again in Hawes' name, using the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

's website. Before he could send the message, he was arrested. Because of these activities, Eckstrom was sentenced to two years in federal prison in January 2006.

Bibliography

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawes, Jason Conrad 1971 births Living people American plumbers Paranormal investigators Participants in American reality television series People from Canandaigua, New York People from Warwick, Rhode Island Ghost Hunters (TV series) 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state)