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Category: Culture
The many degrees of freedom of the griffin
The popular origin of the griffin as inspired by Protoceratops dinosaur fossils is questioned. Can we ever really know for sure if there is a connection?
Zoological melodrama – Hutton on dragons
Professor Ronald Hutton gives a fantastic and entertaining lecture on why we have dragons worldwide.
Location and imagination equals ‘cryptid’
Cryptids have increasingly become associated with location and entertainment and less connected to the failed scientific endeavor of cryptozoology. Long live the cryptids!
Vatican releases Supernatural Standard Operating Procedures
The Vatican issued revised standard operating procedures regarding claims of religious supernatural phenomena. It includes an out for them to declare an event as supernatural.
Uh oh, earthquakes add to these Strange Times
The earthquakes in New Jersey were unexpected and frightening. The events added to the general nervousness from the population prone to catastrophe thinking.
Eclipse Anxiety 2024
Amidst misinformation surrounding the April 8 solar eclipse, many in the US succumb to unfounded fears. While eclipses are natural, predictable phenomena, rumors of catastrophes, like earthquakes and power outages, persist. Authorities prepare for human, not celestial, issues as crowds gather to view the event. Though there isn’t a connection between such natural events and disasters, superstitions and doomsday predictions thrive, exploiting public misunderstanding and religious sentiments.
News blips: Prattle and hum
New research on “the hum”. Facebook fakes take a very weird turn. Scammers are everywhere online.
Mysterious Schuylkill notes saga continues
Called “Schuylkill Notes”, the mystery of weird notes appearing in random places and packaging in Pennsylvania continues to garner attention. Who is doing this and how?
What’s with these latest opinion polls on ghosts and cryptids?
Two sets of survey results asking about the reality of questionable entities show high rates of belief in ghosts, Bigfoot, and other cryptids.
Mysterious notes hidden in food boxes continue to be found in Pennsylvania
For nearly four years now, someone has been inserting nearly indecipherable, strange messages inside food or medicine boxes around Pennsylvania warning of evil conspiracies.
TikTok generates multiple scare lore stories about flagged cars
Always keen to hear about the latest “weird news”, I noticed a trend in 2020 where young women (typically) were reporting that their cars were moderately vandalized in busy parking […]
The Mysterious Monster Mash of the Mid 1970s: Bigfoot hits prime time TV
Bigfoots and their other monstrous cohorts were presented to U.S. audience in a serious television documentary for the first time in 1974. The outing was so successful that it still […]
Flat-earthers as scientifical Americans: One message from ‘Behind the Curve’
Most people react to flat-earthers by labeling them as stupid or scientifically illiterate. A moderate effort to examine what they say will reveal that is not so. On the contrary, […]
Believers are the majority: Paranormal acceptance in America is rising
The results of the 2018 Chapman University survey of American Fears have been released and they suggest that America (that is, even well-educated America) is even more accepting of the […]
Legitimizing ghost research: Scientism, sensitives, and cultural authority
As I wrote yesterday, sociologists and ethnographers are paying greater attention to paranormal communities. I commented on Bader’s analysis of Bigfoot seeking groups and their mix of naturalistic and paranormalist […]
Supernatural in Society conference: Bader on Bigfooters
There is a lot of new research happening in academia about paranormal culture and belief. I kid you not. Scholars in sociology, psychology, religious studies, and media studies are noticing […]
Can you make a good paranormal-themed TV show?
A recent discussion with a person who pitches ideas for TV shows got me thinking about what a solid, informative, program about the paranormal would look like. The bottom line… […]
UFO reports declining: Several social factors involved
An article in Gizmodo today focused on the question of why UFO sightings (reported to NUFORC and MUFON – the major U.S. organizations who record these claims) are in decline […]
Reading list for paranormal investigation and research
Check out my recommended lists of books for the serious and credible ghost researcher.