The history of paranormal research is full of strange and unusual events. From a cow being mutilated to a man with a face made of stone, the research world has been rife with mystery. But what are these strange events?
Society for Psychical Research
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organization researching extrasensory perception and altered states of consciousness. They also conduct research into haunted houses and ghostly apparitions. A few famous cases they have studied are the Enfield Poltergeist and the Borley Rectory.
SPR is still in existence today. It is governed by a council of twenty members and a president. The first president of the SPR was Henry Sidgwick. He was a professor of moral philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge. Many notable figures have been involved in its history, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, and William James.
Founded in 1882, SPR initially focused on investigating supernormal events and psychical phenomena. Members of the SPR included leading intellectuals and philosophers. These investigators believed that the supernatural world would eventually be embraced by science. However, their optimism was soon undermined by ridicule from the scientific community along with the general public.
In the twentieth century, the scope of SPR’s investigations grew beyond communication with the dead. Investigators also investigated haunted houses, Ouija boards, and divining rods. Although the SPR didn’t endorse the Spiritualist viewpoints, they tended to promote scientific optimism using the scientific method.
The British Society for Psychical Research was a leading academic group. Its members had a variety of beliefs about the nature of the phenomena they studied might be.
During its early days, the Society for Psychical Research was an open and unbiased organization that conducted scientific investigations on a wide variety of problems. They developed a system for collecting firsthand reports of paranormal phenomena. As a result, they laid the foundations for experimental parapsychology in the twentieth century.
One of the most famous events in the history of the Society for Psychical Research was the investigation of the trance communications of Leonora Piper. After Piper’s death, three SPR members, including Kathleen M. Goldney, examined her findings.
Arthur Conan Doyle was a member of the SPR. He contributed a great deal to the society’s research and publication. But he left the group in 1930. He wrote a letter of resignation expressing his concern for the Society.
During the nineteenth century, the Society for Psychical Research was closely affiliated with the ruling class of late-Victorian Britain. This affiliation gave the SPR a wide network of contacts with the upper echelons of higher education.
Ghost hunting shows
When it comes to entertainment surrounding paranormal activity, there’s a lot to choose from. There are shows that are silly, scary, or simply interesting. But no matter the show, there are common threads to all of them.
One of the most popular and longest-running shows is Ghost Hunters. This series is a spinoff of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), and it features two plumbers by day and paranormal investigators by night. It is a part reality show and part documentary.
The group is made up of teams, where they first interview the owners, then survey and investigate alleged haunted locations in the U.S. and abroad.
Another popular show is Ghost Adventures. Part travel show and part spirit chaser, this is a bit more dramatic than its predecessor. The group explores a variety of famous landmarks and haunted locations.
The show is hosted by Zak Bagans, who uses top-of-the-line equipment to conduct and document investigations with his small group of investigators. He has been in the business for years.
In addition to bringing attention to the supernatural industry, Ghost Adventures has helped many small businesses. Since its inception, the show has traveled the United States and Europe, and visited some of the most haunted locations in history.
While some ghost hunters may be legitimate paranormal researchers, others are simply in it for the money, so not everything on television should be taken seriously.
However, there are a few “ghost-hunting” shows that are actually worth watching. Some of these are actually quite humorous. Others take the paranormal research concept to the next level and focus on the human experience.
For example, Ghost Adventures uses special effects and actors for their dramatic reenactments. They also use state-of-the-art technology to reveal or debunk strange phenomena. Some of their investigations have been conducted with several visits over months.
Ultimately, the true secret to ghost-hunting shows is that they are all pretty similar. Aside from the common elements of a ghost-hunting show, there are some notable differences. Nevertheless, the popularity of these shows has proven that there’s something for every type of paranormal enthusiast.
Mutilation of Cattle
The history of paranormal research and research into UFO sightings includes strange tales about cattle and animal mutilation. This article discusses the history of this subject, and the controversies surrounding it.
Documentation of strange animal mutilation, mostly in cattle, starts in the beginning of modern history. In 1606, there was an outbreak of something that caused a lot of sheep to be killed. People think it might have been because of fireworks, but no one is sure. This event was noted in the official records of the Court of James I of England.
In the early 1970s, panic set in when over 30 cattle mutilations across eleven counties located in Kansas and Nebraska. Investigators reported the animals were found without sexual organs. Lab tests revealed many of them may have died from “blackleg”, a cattle disease.
Other stories involved cattle being dropped back to earth from an aerial platform. There were also reports of black helicopters mutilating animals.
As the cases of cattle mutilation spread throughout the US, it was thought that government officials were behind this strange activity. Others speculate the mutilations were an expression of economic anxiety and protest by small independent ranchers due to government interference with the US cattle industry.
Cattle mutilation is not an easy topic to explain in any terms. Many stories seem to be identical. However, in some instances, there are details that make the case for one theory over another.
A “classic” cattle mutilation is one that has three essential features. First, animals that have been mutilated have clean wounds that look like they were done by a doctor or surgeon. Second, these animals have been drained of all their blood, but there is no blood anywhere around the body. Third, almost 90% of cattle that have been mutilated are 4-5 years old. In some cases, there are strange marks or imprints near where the animal was found. For example, in the “Snippy” case, there were no tracks at all within 100 ft of where the horse’s body was found. But there were several small holes punched in the ground and two bushes were flattened.
After a controversial film, the topic of cattle mutilation resurfaced in TV news. The earliest depictions of cattle mutilation in feature films were in the low-budget horror genre. Later, this spooky phenomenon transitioned to more documentary-type films. While no conclusive evidence has been found, the stories of cattle mutilation have prompted a long shadow of debate and speculation. As with many fright-themed subjects, the media plays a large part in promoting this esoteric subject.
Haunted People Syndrome
Haunted People Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which individuals report supernatural encounters. In his book, “Ghosted”, Professor Chris French, head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at the Goldsmiths University of London, explores the psychological causes of paranormal claims. He also discusses the role of science in such claims and skepticism. In an interview, the research’s lead author, Brian Laythe, said that “haunting phenomena are complex intertwined phenomena involving personality, ideology, culture, and previous experience towards making sense of an event or series of events deemed haunting.”
The syndrome model is based on the notion that ghostly episodes form interconnected “signs.” These signs are composed of idiosyncrasies of the psychological set of the experiments. It is argued that the phenomenology of such episodes is skewed by these idiosyncrasies.
According to the syndrome model, the cause of a ghostly episode is a combination of physical and psychosocial factors. It is thought that these factors contribute to the psychological set’s somatic-sensory sensitivities to dis-ease states.
Many of these experiences have these four key characteristics:
- Personal beliefs and traits can change how someone interprets a haunting.
- The type of event, how close it is, and how sudden it is can cause anxiety and anguish.
- People who are already distressed or uneasy are more likely to have strange experiences. And finally,
- People often share their stories of hauntings with others, which can make the experience more real for them and those they shared with.
One of the most famous anecdotal collectors of paranormal experiences was Charles Fort. He compiled 40,000 notes from odd events reported in magazines and scientific journals. While Fort relied on his credibility to present the evidence, his anecdotal approach was not scientific.
Conclusion
It’s clear that the history of paranormal research is full of strange and unusual events. But what’s also clear is that society’s fascination with the paranormal is as strong as ever. With new ghost-hunting shows popping up all the time and people eager to share their own paranormal experiences, it seems that the mystery of the paranormal will continue to captivate us for years to come.