I've always been fascinated with the paranormal world, In fact many of my relative claim to have witnessed encounters. I understand there are skeptic out there but as for me I'm A believer. After a long day of family oriented activities, at nightfall my family would gather and exchange stories. Each one sharing unique other worldly experience, which taught them a life lesson, frightened them, or just gave them another good story to share. I’ve done extensive research on the paranormal and I have to say it gives a sense of hope and security. I’ve personally have not ever experienced anything that can be defined as paranormal. Conversely, I have observed and studied documented evidence both visual and auditory.
Paranormal designates anything outside of normal or consistent with reality. Throughout years the world has been more and more intrigued by the unexplained .Main stream media has become infiltrated by the paranormal concepts .Shows like Ghost adventures, Ghost hunters, the dead files, and many more have introduce evident eerie occurrences. There have been Many movies and documentaries produced to further explain the phenomenon.. One of the biggest box seller based on a true story although dramatized was the Exorcism of Emily Rose. I recently visited Long Island, NY, which drew me to the Amityville horror story line and history. To many individuals it’s a touchy subject even skeptic have claimed to have an idea of the unexplained events.
Paranormal phenomena is inconsistent with scientific explanation. However, empirical observation has made it somewhat concrete to both now ex skeptics and original believers. The true story behind the film the Exorcism of Emily Ross is both fascinating and terrifying. The first documen...
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Laurancy returned home as herself and never displayed any of the unnerving symptoms again. Despite Laurancy Vennum’s unsettling concurrence, she was able to live a healthy life. This was just the surface of the disturbing events that occurred both between Mary's and Laurancy possession. Thousands of stories containing these exact paranormal incidents are have become a part of popular culture, and folklore. The scientific community supports some of these referenced paranormal activity. We should combined academic materials such as Psychology, and Scientology, to either debunk or corroborate these happenings The accounts that took place with Mary Roff and Laurancy Vennum were told from several academically achieved first hand witnesses. Up until today the question of what really happened in Wateska? remains unanswered.
St. Albans Sanatorium is a destination known by serious paranormal investigators as a place where they can seek answers to the mysteries of what lies beyond death. Some of these investigators were able to find resolutions for themselves to a number of these age old riddles through their experiences at the sanatorium. The frightening and true stories found within the pages of this book are about these inquisitive investigators’ encounters with The Ghosts of St. Albans Sanatorium.
The University of Maryland has a rich history dating back to its founding in 1856 as the Maryland Agricultural College. Built between 1804 and 1812, The Rossborough Inn is the oldest building on campus today (Ghost Tour, 2). With its history, it is no surprise that the Inn has been a hotspot for ghost activity. Knowing that there have been numerous reports of ghosts at Rossborough, I visited the Inn to ask current employees at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, located in Rossborough Inn, if they themselves had experienced anything bizarre or if they had known others who had. I entered the small office where three women were talking and with their permission asked about their experiences with ghosts at Rossborough. Upon asking my question, all three smiled, although shaking their head, they indicated they had not. However, they all had heard of the stories, and one of the women replied and told me to speak with the University Archivist. She told me that she has spoken with the archivist, and upon learning the stories, she said that she “got freaked out and really wanted to go home.”
One night, around 1:00 a.m., my roommates and I were sitting in the common room, and I asked the group if they knew of a compelling ghost story. My one roommate, a 20 year old from Pennsylvania, said she had heard a ghost story at the summer sleep-away camp she had attended when she was younger. She heard the story around a campfire in the woods of Camp Tonikanee, which is in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. She described her story as one that the counselors would tell the campers to convince them the camp was haunted.
As I interviewed Annie Filban about her personal experience with spirits, I found to my judgment that it seemed she based a lot of her belief in her story upon faith. Even though she believed something was in fact out of the norm, and was making peculiar movements and noise in her home, she was still skeptical with some of her statements. Filban responded on different occasions to “I don’t know” and “I guess,” which lead me to believe her belief is not based upon evidence as much as it relies on her faith.
In today’s rational and scientifically explainable world, it would be hard for us to believe in supernatural intervention in our every day lives unlike during the times of the Shakespearean plays. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, there are three examples of this kind of thing: one with the witches, one with a ghost of a best friend, and one with the a few apparitions.
There are many theories as to how someone or something becomes a ghost. This is called Paranormal which means beyond normal and scientific name is parapsychology, which means study of interactions between living organisms and their external environment that seem to transcend the known physical laws of nature (Britannica, 147). In 1920, Dr. William McDougall was the first scientific psychical who research about Paranormal Activity (Stefanik, 2000). According to Stefanik, Paranormal experiences often seem weird, uncanny, or unnatural. Typically they are quite rare but there are a few exceptional "stars" such as who have regular paranormal experiences and may show seemingly consistent paranormal ability (Daniel, 2004). Different types of scientists who researched about paranormal activity was spiritualists. The scientists accepted paranormal to be real. There are believers and nonbelievers about the paranormal phenomenon. Discussion about parapsychological phenomena has assumed emotional overtones, unsuitable to scientific discipline, and outspoken but contradictory opinions are still voiced (Cauz, 2010, p.147)
Paranormal activity is manifestation that lies outside of the normal experience which can’t be proven to be real. Most people have become interested in the haunted houses and stones due to the lack of support that they are getting from the community of science. The lack of support from the community will be hard to get because most people do not believe in this. According to the unknown, “paranormal activities and sightings usually fall into categories: spirituals entities, crytids, which are organisms whose existence is told by legends and myths.” Most people think that paranormal deal with just ghost and their hauntings but it is much more than that. Paranormal phenomena are not accepted by the scientists because they feel the evidence should be required. According to Psychic Readings, "ESP stands for extra sensory perception. While clairvoyance, or seeing clearly is primarily an optional phenomenon." A clairvoyant psychic is someone who shares a vision of unseen in telling about their health or future. "Clairvoyants are people who specialize in supernatural skills," states Psychics Reading. People like this have a magical ability to see into the past, present, and future. ESP is normally addresses as the sixth sense. "The term 'ESP' was used often in 1870 by Sir Richard Burton." Psychical research does not support that everyone is born with this capability. It is said there are people who have experienced at least one ESP in their lifetime. However to Schmeidler, another theory claims that ESP is a super sense which evolves in the nervous system. From David’s perspective, “hundreds of years ago to possess the gift of clairvoyance, one was considered a witch - as unknown knowledge was 'feared' (the emotion which keeps us trappe...
between living organisms and their external environment that seem that seemed to transcend the known physical laws of nature (The Rhine, 2013). According to (Nichols, 2011) parapsychology was studied over 100 years and in that time amassed thousands of cases studies and formal experiments in order to better understand these non-ordinary realms. In the study of paranormal activity, they have been studying them in lavatories. When studying parapsychology, people try to get an understanding and hope to get their questions answered about the phenomena aspects of these subjects. Scientist who study paranormal activities are trying to discover why these events occur. Parapsychology came about in the 1930s. When in a paranormal situation it is weird and scary and sometimes unbelievable.
Everyone has a slightly different interpretation of the supernatural but the interpretation which we can start with is Shakespeare’s. Everyone of Shakespeare’s time found the supernatural fascinating. Shakespeare interpreted the supernatural as witches, magic, unnatural and evil and he expressed his beliefs in the play, “Macbeth” very clearly, as he portrayed the three deformed women with control over the weather and the ability to predict the future. These three evil witches with magical powers were the creation of Shakespeare’s interpretation of the supernatural. Shakespeare’s contemporaries believed in the supernatural very strongly and a majority of them were frightened of it, including the king of that time, King James I of England.
As long as one can remember, paranormal beliefs have always existed in human society. They are living in every man’s childhood and in every corner of human’s life. From the burning belief about Santa Claus’s gifts under a Christmas’s tree in the morning to a scary game about Bloody Mary and her coming back from the dead, it seems that people cannot help but draw themselves to these stories. Even when these beliefs fade, there would be a new one that eventually shows up. No matter how much science has progressed, the belief in paranormal phenomena still remains in society. Eventually, the question about paranormal phenomena seems pale in comparison to the human’s undying belief about such things. It is really hard to pinpoint an exact cause for human’s belief in the paranormal for only one cause is not enough; however, it is sure that psychological, sociological, and biological factors play an enormous role that contributes to this belief.
Ghosts, as with any other misunderstood group or people, have been preyed upon by others without understanding. The lack of knowledge about ghosts and haunting activity has led people astray as to what they really are. What Hollywood and television portrays is very inaccurate and cannot be relied upon as truthful. They show these spirits of the dead as being evil in nature, filled with malice and harmful intent. But that this is not the case. The field of paranormal activity is amazing. It has caught the imagination of people from every walk of life. It has always interested me and has influenced me to pick this as the topic for my research. Through this research I wish to uncover the truth about the existence of ghosts. I also wish to correct the wrong notions that people have about ghosts and enlighten non-believers.
Throughout the ages, mankind’s fascination with the unknown has resulted in the beliefs of different theories of magic, sorcery and other supernatural activities. While it is a natural trait for humans to be curious of what they do not know, there is something to be said for the mass conviction in these paranormal topics. It’s a mystery in itself how groups of people of all ethnicities and nationalities can have the same beliefs and interest in these topics. From witchcraft to UFO’s, it can be seen all throughout history that humans have been attracted to the unexplained.
For many years, people have debated whether or not spirits are real. Some people get scared at the fact that there might be something unknown lurking in their house in the middle of the night making their footsteps known to everyone in it. Maybe that person feels watched upon or feel some kind of presence in their home, or even sees shadows moving their way through rooms. Different people around the world have their own opinions based on religion and experiences when talking about angels, demons, and the spirits that have life after death. New technology is getting closer to detecting these energies happening in the world today. The history of haunting dates back many years, and more people want to get involved because of the new technology.
'What the heck was that?!?' is a very familiar phrase to many. Was it just the house settling? Maybe it was a friend playing a prank. Or could it possibly have been a ghost? The latter choice is normally ruled out fairly quickly. But for some, it is very plausible. To prove or disprove the possibility of an apparition, a surprisingly scientific and frequently detailed investigation is carried out.
Haunting Experiences: Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore. Ed. Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2007.