Ghost Studies and Lightforms: A review of two paranormal research books

By | April 28, 2020
7 Comments

Long ago, my interest in paranormal topics became jaded because popular books were repetitive, full of the same information and stories as the last one. For decades, books written on cryptozoology and ufology advanced no closer to definitively documenting or explaining these phenomena. Some advocates are persuaded that the many similar stories and imaginative speculation,… Read More: Ghost Studies and Lightforms: A review of two paranormal research… »

Paranormal tourism paper shows themed tourism is popular and profitable

By | March 19, 2020
3 Comments

I collaborated on a new paper now online for Cornell Hospitality Quarterly about paranormal tourism called “Paranormal Tourism: Market Study of a Novel and Interactive Approach to Space Activation and Monetization”. Abstract We review the premise, popularity, and profitability of paranormal tourism, which involves visits to any setting or locale for the explicit purpose of encountering… Read More: Paranormal tourism paper shows themed tourism is popular and profitable »

Copy-paste cryptozoology

By | February 17, 2020
0 Comment

A review of Chasing American Monsters: Over 250 Creatures, Cryptids, and Hairy Beasts by Jason Offutt (2019). I’ve been thinking a lot about cryptozoology lately. While consuming content about many other subjects, I see excellent examples in cryptozoology to illustrate public attitudes towards and understanding of science, paranormal thinking, colonialist themes, misperceptions about evidence, media… Read More: Copy-paste cryptozoology »

Gravity Roads, Magnetic Hills, and Mystery Spots

By | February 2, 2020
3 Comments
gravity hill, spooky geology

Mystery spots, magnetic hills, or gravity hills are local places named for their unusual characteristic of making the observer confused or unbalanced. Exploited as tourist spots, they have been explained as mysteries of nature. But they have a more complex and interesting cause.

Pole Holes and the Hollow Earth

By | January 10, 2020
0 Comment
hollow earth

A sci-fi trope, some people actually believed that there is substantial space inside the earth’s sphere where curious things occur. The history of the hollow earth idea is complex and far more serious than you might guess. It definitely qualifies as some spooky alternative to geology.

Devil’s Corkscrews

By | December 14, 2019
1 Comment
Devil's corkscrew

In the late 19th century, settlers came across bizarre, giant “stone screws” vertically embedded in the ground. Flummoxed as to what could cause such structures, the locals named them the “devil’s corkscrews”. Paleontologists would argue for over nearly a century about what they really were.

The Mysterious Monster Mash of the Mid 1970s: Bigfoot hits prime time TV

By | July 5, 2019
6 Comments

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 is notable today. This documentary, its remixes, and a few other pieces of media gold from that decade paved the way for ideas of Bigfoot/Sasquatch… Read More: The Mysterious Monster Mash of the Mid 1970s: Bigfoot hits… »

Flat-earthers as scientifical Americans: One message from ‘Behind the Curve’

By | March 21, 2019
5 Comments

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, those who embrace conspiratorial beliefs seem to be bored with the conventional. Their active, creative brains spin more intriguing, complicated, and colorful trappings around mundane… Read More: Flat-earthers as scientifical Americans: One message from ‘Behind the Curve’ »

Supernatural Creep: When explanations slide off to the fringes

By | December 20, 2018
3 Comments

Originally published as Supernatural Creep: The Slippery Slope to Unfalsifiability for my column Sounds Sciencey on csicop.org May 29, 2013. I’m taking a step beyond sciencey with the following topic. What happens when science doesn’t cooperate with your subject area? Researchers of unexplained events may get frustrated and disenchanted with the scientific process when the eyewitness accounts they collect are too weird to explain via… Read More: Supernatural Creep: When explanations slide off to the fringes »

Paranormal education classes showing up at major universities

By | December 13, 2018
11 Comments

Paranormal subjects typically lie outside the circle of academic respectability. One can argue that they have been deliberately marginalized to keep them diminished in credibility. But, with the majority of the population of the U.S. subscribing to at least one paranormal belief, I’d argue we should be discussing these phenomena in an intellectual context. Things… Read More: Paranormal education classes showing up at major universities »

Science and cryptozoology: The taboo subject of Bigfoot doesn’t add up

By | November 24, 2018
2 Comments

Episode 7 of Laura Krantz’ Wild Thing podcast on Bigfoot, science and society explores the contentious relationship between the orthodox scientific community and those scientists who choose to seriously explore fringe topics like this one. Several science-minded Bigfoot advocates are profiled who lament the way society and the “Ivory Tower” of science (a monolithic metaphorical… Read More: Science and cryptozoology: The taboo subject of Bigfoot doesn’t add… »

Perhaps you can never organize paranormal research

By | October 30, 2018
9 Comments

I am enjoying my latest read. It’s George Hansen’s The Trickster and the Paranormal (2001). George and I met years ago at a parapsychology conference in Gettysburg. Even though he is a critic of organized skepticism, he’s just as much a critic of shoddy paranormal research. And, his criticism of CSICOP is not unjustified, for… Read More: Perhaps you can never organize paranormal research »

Believers are the majority: Paranormal acceptance in America is rising

By | October 25, 2018
4 Comments

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 paranormal than in the past three years. You can view the entire survey here but let me highlight the major points as well as some… Read More: Believers are the majority: Paranormal acceptance in America is rising »

Legitimizing ghost research: Scientism, sensitives, and cultural authority

By | October 5, 2018
1 Comment

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 views among participants. Perhaps separation rather than mix may be more apt. The observation of different camps within a paranormal field is not new but… Read More: Legitimizing ghost research: Scientism, sensitives, and cultural authority »

Supernatural in Society conference: Bader on Bigfooters

By | October 4, 2018
2 Comments

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 that millions of people are deeply affected by paranormal beliefs and personal experiences. There is so much happening, especially regarding ghostly episodes, that it’s difficult… Read More: Supernatural in Society conference: Bader on Bigfooters »