Paranormal Activity

A mother in Scotland around 1960 once reported to her daughter’s teachers at school that odd things were happening at home. Objects were moving; some were flying through the air. It all seemed too strange to be true, but initial skepticism on the part of the teachers soon disappeared when similar things began to happen around the girl at school. Her desk rose inches from the floor. Other children in her class noticed objects moving from place to place on their own. Once, a door refused to shut behind her. Heavy furniture could be seen to move. Although the activities were less violent in nature than had been witnessed in the girl’s home, they still continue to occur. This is just one of many examples of paranormal activity and is one of the less severe cases of such activity. No one truly knows whether or not it is real, that is until they experience it for themselves. When experiencing, investigating, and/or reading/watching paranormal activity occur it is not only easy to confuse facts with fiction, but it can also become extremely dangerous.

Paranormal activity has always been a popular topic. Whether its actual beliefs or simply a good ghost story to tell around a fire, it is one of the few mysteries that have evolved the way. Over the years paranormal activities popularity has grown quite vastly. With television shows, movies, and books it can be difficult to differentiate between what contains the truth and what is from pure imagination. The movie ‘Annabelle,’ for example, was based on a true story about a raggedy Anne doll that now resides in a museum created by the crew of ‘Ghost Adventures’, along with other haunted artifacts. In its ninth season, ‘Ghost Adventures’ popularity has grown to around 1.3 million viewers and prides in their hard work of gaining their credibility. Each experience and/or investigation can prove to have many risks to a person’s health, this is where things can become deadly. With each investigation whether the investigators are ‘Ghost Adventures,’ ‘The Dead Files,’ or a small hometown investigation team it is important to also include facts of what is known about the building, structure, and or house before proceeding onto the investigation. If a building is being investigated or theirs the slight chance that someone might be having an experience with a spirit, they must find out how old the building is and in what condition it might be in, otherwise if there are any conflicts with the building it will tamper with evidence and/or put those within the structure in serious danger.

Paranormal activity is a wide range of mystery from ghosts to aliens, and sometimes they even get mixed together depending on the situation. In several of the ‘Ghost Adventures’ episodes, the crew finds themselves not only investigating ghosts, but also banshees, aliens, demons, and a few other mysterious phenomena. Of course, this is depending on the legends, folklore, and sightings that come with the area that is being investigated and what their beliefs are. While it may seem as if there are only one or two types of ghosts/spirits, there are actually several different types, again depending on the area that is under investigation. In the book ‘Scottish Ghosts,’ they describe, in 185 pages, some of the different legends of ghosts in Scotland, paired along with different stories of strange occurrences and where they originate. Many of these ghosts are described to appear only when death is close, some simply lost, and others out for revenge. One of the most dangerous and/or most powerful types of ghosts though are Poltergeists. Poltergeists are not always bad or good, but they are the ones who have the ability to move large objects around at times. Often times they are seen as vengeful spirits coming back to hunt those wrong them, other times they use their abilities in order to let us know that they are there, but not all the time. A lot of, experiences that are traditionally counted as valid evidence of a haunting is due to either Poltergeist and/or demonic activity. It is because of these experiences that the question is raised, “Is this something that is real, or is this something that can be debunked?” This is where opinions/theories begin to form.

Everyone has their own opinion on whether or not paranormal activity exists, some with really good reasons and others not so much. When 13 people were asked if they believe in paranormal activity, only one out of the 13 answered with a definite no saying, “Honestly I do not believe in that type of stuff. Mainly there is no proof behind paranormal activity being real. But then again you can’t prove that it doesn’t exist. So, unless something happens, I believe ghosts and other paranormal activities does not exist.” There were a very wide range of answers as to why they did or did not believe. There was even one who went as far to share their experience saying, “Yes, because I lived in a haunted house… growing up I’ve lived in an old farmhouse. I know of at least two deaths (from old age) but there have always been noises. I had a room by the stairs and at night you could hear something/someone climb up the stairs one time it walked down the hall and turned on the bathtub. My friend saw a Victorian older lady try and touch her hair. My mom woke up last summer thinking my grandma was leaning over her because she saw a lady with the typical old lady hair a short perm lean over her bed… it wasn’t grandma…” One person among the 13 goes on to admit that “[She doesn’t] but also [does]. [She doesn’t] believe in them due to the possibility that any ‘video evidence’ could possibly not be real and [she hasn’t] encountered one [herself]. [She does] believe that it is possible to communicate with them on an energetic level but then again, how can we be sure if it is legit.” There is no right or wrong answer, as long as a valid point is given

It can be exciting and terrifying when someone discovers that they are not the only residence living in their house, let alone that their “house mates” haven’t been alive for quite some time. The older the house is, the more exciting and the more dangerous it can become if the victim confuses something like a gas leak for a haunting. That’s what Carrie Poppy, speaker on TED talk, explains as she describes the time when she moved into her new apartment. Surprisingly, a lot of the symptoms associated with paranormal activity can also be found as symptoms a gas leak has on a human body. While a ghost, especially a vengeful one, or demon can sometimes cause harm or, in severe cases, death, it may not always be the case if there isn’t any proof supporting or if there was proof of another cause found. Finding these facts is what those like James Randi like to call “debunking.” James Randi, another speaker for TED talk, discusses ‘Homeopathy, quackery and fraud” and how important it is to be careful and educate ourselves in order to protect ourselves from those who will have us believe that they can talk with these spirits. Randi goes as far as presenting a beard trimmer and saying, “This is a microphone.” He uses this and other examples to show and prove how easy people who claim to be mediums can trick their customers. Randi insists that everyone must be careful before believing someone blindly before buying what the are selling otherwise it becomes a complete waste of money.

In the world of business people can easily be deceived if the seller plays their cards right. In the world in general we can never be too careful and/or too skeptical with our surroundings. It is always important to go through all the options there are before someone decides to spend money on someone who claims to be able to remove ghosts. When they could spend that money either to fix the building or go to the doctor to get checked out before its too late.

Works Cited:

DRINKWATER, KENNETH, et al. “Understanding the Unknown: A Thematic Analysis of Subjective Paranormal Experiences.” Australian Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 17, no. 1, June 2017, pp. 23–46. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=123620481&site=ehost-live.

IRWIN, HARVEY J. “Stress Sensitivity and Minimal-Self Dysfunction as Predictors of Anomalous Experiences and Paranormal Attributions.” Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. 82, no. 1, Jan. 2018, pp. 1–14. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=128508520&site=ehost-live.

LeShan, Lawrence. “The Medium, the Mystic, and the Physicist: Toward a General Theory of the Paranormal.” Helios Press New York.

Goss, Michael and Behe, George. “Lost at Sea: Ghost Ships and Other Mysteries.” Galahad Books. 1994.

PARRA, ALEJANDRO, and PAOLA GIMÉNEZ AMARILLA. “Anomalous/Paranormal Experiences Reported by Nurses in Relation to Their Patients in Hospitals.” Journal of Scientific Exploration, vol. 31, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 11–28. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=121986013&site=ehost-live.

Poppy, Carrie. “A Scientific Approach to the Paranormal.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, Oct. 2016, www.ted.com/talks/carrie_poppy_a_scientific_approach_to_the_paranormal.

Randi, James. “Homeopathy, Quackery and Fraud.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, Feb. 2007, www.ted.com/talks/james_randi.

Smith, Susy. “Haunted Houses for the Millions” Bell Publishing Company. 1972.