51-503: Haunted Highway (originally called Paranormal Highway ) is an American paranormal investigation reality television series produced by BASE Productions. It began airing on the Syfy network on July 3, 2012. The series features two teams of investigators; Jack Osbourne , investigator Dana Workman, and Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files investigators Jael de Pardo and Devin Marble. On
102-463: A pseudoscience . Parapsychology has been criticized for continuing investigation despite being unable to provide convincing evidence for the existence of any psychic phenomena after more than a century of research. By the 2000s, the status of paranormal research in the United States had greatly declined from its height in the 1970s, with the majority of work being privately funded and only
153-526: A causal role in the formation of paranormal belief. Research has shown that people reporting contact with aliens have higher levels of absorption, dissociativity, fantasy proneness and tendency to hallucinate . Findings have shown in specific cases that paranormal belief acts as a psychodynamic coping function and serves as a mechanism for coping with stress . Survivors from childhood sexual abuse , violent and unsettled home environments have reported to have higher levels of paranormal belief. A study of
204-488: A ghost is a manifestation of the spirit or soul of a person. Alternative theories expand on that idea and include belief in the ghosts of deceased animals. Sometimes the term "ghost" is used synonymously with any spirit or demon ; however, in popular usage the term typically refers to the spirit of a deceased person. The belief in ghosts as souls of the departed is closely tied to the concept of animism , an ancient belief that attributed souls to everything in nature. As
255-469: A ghost, he reports that only 1% report seeing a full-fledged ghost while the rest report strange sensory stimuli, such as seeing fleeting shadows or wisps of smoke, or the sensation of hearing footsteps or feeling a presence. Wiseman makes the claim that, rather than experiencing paranormal activity, it is activity within our own brains that creates these strange sensations. Michael Persinger proposed that ghostly experiences could be explained by stimulating
306-501: A lot of people believe in it because they "want it to be so". A 2013 study that utilized a biological motion perception task discovered a "relation between illusory pattern perception and supernatural and paranormal beliefs and suggest that paranormal beliefs are strongly related to agency detection biases". A 2014 study discovered that schizophrenic patients have more belief in psi than healthy adults. Some scientists have investigated possible neurocognitive processes underlying
357-700: A random sample of 502 adults revealed paranormal experiences were common in the population which were linked to a history of childhood trauma and dissociative symptoms. Research has also suggested that people who perceive themselves as having little control over their lives may develop paranormal beliefs to help provide an enhanced sense of control. The similarities between paranormal events and descriptions of trauma have also been noted. Gender differences in surveys on paranormal belief have reported women scoring higher than men overall and men having greater belief in UFOs and extraterrestrials. Surveys have also investigated
408-454: A small amount of research being carried out in university laboratories. In 2007, Britain had a number of privately funded laboratories in university psychology departments. Publication remained limited to a small number of niche journals, and to date there have been no experimental results that have gained wide acceptance in the scientific community as valid evidence of the paranormal. While parapsychologists look for quantitative evidence of
459-501: A subset of pseudoscience . What sets the paranormal apart from other pseudosciences is a reliance on explanations for alleged phenomena that are well outside the bounds of established science. Thus, paranormal phenomena include extrasensory perception (ESP), telekinesis, ghosts, poltergeists, life after death, reincarnation, faith healing, human auras, and so forth. The explanations for these allied phenomena are phrased in vague terms of "psychic forces", "human energy fields", and so on. This
510-439: A term coined by the subculture. Approaching the paranormal from a research perspective is often difficult because of the lack of acceptable physical evidence from most of the purported phenomena. By definition, the paranormal (or supernatural) does not conform to conventional expectations of nature . Therefore, a phenomenon cannot be confirmed as paranormal using the scientific method because, if it could be, it would no longer fit
561-514: A way to cope in the face of psychological uncertainties and physical stressors. The deficiency hypothesis asserts that such beliefs arise because people are mentally defective in some way, ranging from low intelligence or poor critical thinking ability to a full-blown psychosis' (Radin). The deficiency hypothesis gets some support from the fact that the belief in the paranormal is an aspect of a schizotypical personality (Pizzagalli, Lehman and Brugger, 2001). A psychological study involving 174 members of
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#1732801379809612-531: Is a factor underlying paranormal belief. Many studies have found a link between personality and psychopathology variables correlating with paranormal belief. Some studies have also shown that fantasy proneness correlates positively with paranormal belief. Bainbridge (1978) and Wuthnow (1976) found that the most susceptible people to paranormal belief are those who are poorly educated, unemployed or have roles that rank low among social values. The alienation of these people due to their status in society
663-412: Is considered by many as the father of modern paranormalism, which is the study of the paranormal. The magazine Fortean Times continues Charles Fort's approach, regularly reporting anecdotal accounts of the paranormal. Such anecdotal collections, lacking the reproducibility of empirical evidence , are not amenable to scientific investigation . The anecdotal approach is not a scientific approach to
714-519: Is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Notable paranormal beliefs include those that pertain to extrasensory perception (for example, telepathy ), spiritualism and the pseudosciences of ghost hunting , cryptozoology , and ufology . Proposals regarding the paranormal are different from scientific hypotheses or speculations extrapolated from scientific evidence because scientific ideas are grounded in empirical observations and experimental data gained through
765-438: Is in contrast to many pseudoscientific explanations for other nonparanormal phenomena, which, although very bad science, are still couched in acceptable scientific terms. Ghost hunting is the investigation of locations that are reportedly haunted by ghosts . Typically, a ghost-hunting team will attempt to collect evidence supporting the existence of paranormal activity. In traditional ghostlore , and fiction featuring ghosts,
816-448: Is independent of extraversion and psychoticism ". A correlation has been found between paranormal belief and irrational thinking . In an experiment Wierzbicki (1985) reported a significant correlation between paranormal belief and the number of errors made on a syllogistic reasoning task, suggesting that believers in the paranormal have lower cognitive ability . A relationship between narcissistic personality and paranormal belief
867-436: Is natural for our brains to work too hard at it, thereby detecting human or ghost-like behavior in everyday meaningless stimuli. James Randi , an investigator with a background in illusion , felt that the simplest explanation for those claiming paranormal abilities is often trickery, illustrated by demonstrating that the spoon bending abilities of psychic Uri Geller can easily be duplicated by trained stage magicians. He
918-423: Is said to encourage them to appeal to paranormal or magical beliefs. Research has associated paranormal belief with low cognitive ability , low IQ and a lack of science education . Intelligent and highly educated participants involved in surveys have proven to have less paranormal belief. Tobacyk (1984) and Messer and Griggs (1989) discovered that college students with better grades have less belief in
969-669: Is what we discovered and it completely blew my mind. Premiere episode intro: Two teams of paranormal investigators out on the road...alone. No camera crew. No backup. Searching for things...that don't want to be found. Main episode intro: The following footage was shot entirely by investigators. Two teams of paranormal investigators hunting for the truth behind two terrifying cases...alone. No camera crew. No backup. Searching for things...that don't want to be found. Paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture , folk , and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts
1020-548: The English language since at least 1920. The word consists of two parts: para and normal . The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is normal and anything that is above, beyond, or contrary to that is para . On the classification of paranormal subjects, psychologist Terence Hines said in his book Pseudoscience and the Paranormal (2003): The paranormal can best be thought of as
1071-548: The Society for Psychical Research completed a delusional ideation questionnaire and a deductive reasoning task. As predicted, the study showed that "individuals who reported a strong belief in the paranormal made more errors and displayed more delusional ideation than skeptical individuals". There was also a reasoning bias which was limited to people who reported a belief in, rather than experience of, paranormal phenomena. The results suggested that reasoning abnormalities may have
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#17328013798091122-436: The scientific method . In contrast, those who argue for the existence of the paranormal explicitly do not base their arguments on empirical evidence but rather on anecdote, testimony and suspicion. The standard scientific models give the explanation that what appears to be paranormal phenomena is usually a misinterpretation, misunderstanding or anomalous variation of natural phenomena . The term paranormal has existed in
1173-419: The 19th-century anthropologist George Frazer explained in his classic work, The Golden Bough (1890), souls were seen as the 'creature within' which animated the body. Although the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it was widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to the clothing worn by
1224-456: The 5th episode of the series, Osbourne announced that he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and temporarily stepped down as host of the series. On April 22, 2013, Syfy renewed the show for a six-episode second season which premiered on November 27, 2013. The two teams drive across America's highways and back roads, investigating cases of various alleged cryptid sightings. During the intro, Osbourne states that he has had an interest in
1275-476: The Chinese students showing greater skepticism. According to American surveys analysed by Bader et al . (2011) African Americans have the highest belief in the paranormal and while the findings are not uniform the "general trend is for whites to show lesser belief in most paranormal subjects". Polls show that about fifty percent of the United States population believe in the paranormal. Robert L. Park says
1326-675: The Damned (1919), New Lands (1923), Lo! (1931) and Wild Talents (1932); one book was written between New Lands and Lo! , but it was abandoned and absorbed into Lo! Reported events that he collected include teleportation (a term Fort is generally credited with coining); poltergeist events; falls of frogs, fishes, and inorganic materials of an amazing range; crop circles ; unaccountable noises and explosions; spontaneous fires ; levitation ; ball lightning (a term explicitly used by Fort); unidentified flying objects ; mysterious appearances and disappearances; giant wheels of light in
1377-714: The Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is an organization that aims to publicize the scientific, skeptical approach. It carries out investigations aimed at understanding paranormal reports in terms of scientific understanding, and publishes its results in the Skeptical Inquirer magazine. CSI's Richard Wiseman draws attention to possible alternative explanations for perceived paranormal activity in his article, The Haunted Brain . While he recognizes that approximately 15% of people believe they have experienced an encounter with
1428-442: The belief in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and the phenomena said to be associated with them. Early in the history of UFO culture, believers divided themselves into two camps. The first held a rather conservative view of the phenomena, interpreting them as unexplained occurrences that merited serious study. They began calling themselves " ufologists " in the 1950s and felt that logical analysis of sighting reports would validate
1479-549: The brain with weak magnetic fields. Swedish psychologist Pehr Granqvist and his team, attempting to replicate Persinger's research, determined that the paranormal sensations experienced by Persinger's subjects were merely the result of suggestion, and that brain stimulation with magnetic fields did not result in ghostly experiences. Oxford University Justin Barrett has theorized that "agency"—being able to figure out why people do what they do—is so important in everyday life, that it
1530-814: The creation (in 1976) of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (now called the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry) and its periodical, the Skeptical Inquirer . Eventually, more mainstream scientists became critical of parapsychology as an endeavor, and statements by the National Academies of Science and the National Science Foundation cast a pall on the claims of evidence for parapsychology. Today, many cite parapsychology as an example of
1581-407: The definition. (However, confirmation would result in the phenomenon being reclassified as part of science.) Despite this problem, studies on the paranormal are periodically conducted by researchers from various disciplines. Some researchers simply study the beliefs in the paranormal regardless of whether the phenomena are considered to objectively exist. This section deals with various approaches to
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1632-490: The formation of independent ghost hunting groups that advocate immersive research at alleged paranormal locations. One popular website for ghost hunting enthusiasts lists over 300 of these organizations throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. Scientific skeptics advocate critical investigation of claims of paranormal phenomena: applying the scientific method to reach a rational, scientific explanation of
1683-606: The formation of paranormal beliefs. In a study (Pizzagalli et al . 2000) data demonstrated that "subjects differing in their declared belief in and experience with paranormal phenomena as well as in their schizotypal ideation, as determined by a standardized instrument, displayed differential brain electric activity during resting periods." Another study (Schulter and Papousek, 2008) wrote that paranormal belief can be explained by patterns of functional hemispheric asymmetry that may be related to perturbations during fetal development . List of reportedly haunted locations This
1734-625: The hopes of finding evidence of extrasensory perception . However, it was revealed that Rhine's experiments contained methodological flaws and procedural errors. In 1957, the Parapsychological Association was formed as the preeminent society for parapsychologists. In 1969, they became affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science . Criticisms of the field were focused in
1785-525: The impression of paranormal activity to some people, in fact, where there have been none. The psychologist David Marks wrote that paranormal phenomena can be explained by magical thinking , mental imagery , subjective validation , coincidence , hidden causes, and fraud. According to studies some people tend to hold paranormal beliefs because they possess psychological traits that make them more likely to misattribute paranormal causation to normal experiences. Research has also discovered that cognitive bias
1836-731: The notion of extraterrestrial visitation. The second camp held a view that coupled ideas of extraterrestrial visitation with beliefs from existing quasi-religious movements. Typically, these individuals were enthusiasts of occultism and the paranormal. Many had backgrounds as active Theosophists or spiritualists , or were followers of other esoteric doctrines. In contemporary times, many of these beliefs have coalesced into New Age spiritual movements. Both secular and spiritual believers describe UFOs as having abilities beyond what are considered possible according to known aerodynamic constraints and physical laws . The transitory events surrounding many UFO sightings preclude any opportunity for
1887-406: The observed behavior). Specific data-gathering methods, such as recording EMF ( electromagnetic field ) readings at haunted locations, have their own criticisms beyond those attributed to the participant-observer approach itself. Participant observation, as an approach to the paranormal, has gained increased visibility and popularity through reality television programs like Ghost Hunters , and
1938-404: The oceans; and animals found outside their normal ranges (see phantom cat ). He offered many reports of OOPArts , the abbreviation for "out of place" artifacts: strange items found in unlikely locations. He is perhaps the first person to explain strange human appearances and disappearances by the hypothesis of alien abduction and was an early proponent of the extraterrestrial hypothesis . Fort
1989-403: The paranormal because it leaves verification dependent on the credibility of the party presenting the evidence. Nevertheless, it is a common approach to investigating paranormal phenomena. Experimental investigation of the paranormal has been conducted by parapsychologists . J. B. Rhine popularized the now famous methodology of using card-guessing and dice-rolling experiments in a laboratory in
2040-458: The paranormal in laboratories, a great number of people immerse themselves in qualitative research through participant-observer approaches to the paranormal. Participant-observer methodologies have overlaps with other essentially qualitative approaches, including phenomenological research that seeks largely to describe subjects as they are experienced , rather than to explain them. Participant observation suggests that by immersing oneself in
2091-518: The paranormal since he was a child and that the show takes a unique investigative approach whereby the teams film their own video footage and do not rely on camera crews. Opening Introductions: I'm Jack Osbourne and I've been obsessed with the paranormal since I was a kid. I've wanted to investigate some of America's scariest cases. But I decided it had to be done differently. I've put together two teams--myself and my researcher Dana and my friends Jael and Devin. We shot everything ourselves; just us. This
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2142-475: The paranormal. In a case study (Gow, 2004) involving 167 participants the findings revealed that psychological absorption and dissociation were higher for believers in the paranormal. Another study involving 100 students had revealed a positive correlation between paranormal belief and proneness to dissociation. A study (Williams et al . 2007) discovered that " neuroticism is fundamental to individual differences in paranormal belief, while paranormal belief
2193-795: The paranormal: anecdotal , experimental , and participant-observer approaches and the skeptical investigation approach. An anecdotal approach to the paranormal involves the collection of stories told about the paranormal. Charles Fort (1874–1932) is perhaps the best-known collector of paranormal anecdotes. Fort is said to have compiled as many as 40,000 notes on unexplained paranormal experiences , though there were no doubt many more. These notes came from what he called "the orthodox conventionality of Science", which were odd events originally reported in magazines and newspapers such as The Times and scientific journals such as Scientific American , Nature and Science . From this research Fort wrote seven books, though only four survive: The Book of
2244-458: The person. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead ( c. 1550 BCE ), which shows deceased people in the afterlife appearing much as they did before death, including the style of dress. The possibility of extraterrestrial life is not, in itself, a paranormal subject. Many scientists are actively engaged in
2295-405: The phenomena to account for the paranormal claims, taking into account that alleged paranormal abilities and occurrences are sometimes hoaxes or misinterpretations of natural phenomena. A way of summarizing this method is by the application of Occam's razor , which suggests that the simpler solution is usually the correct one. The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly the Committee for
2346-487: The relationship between ethnicity and paranormal belief. In a sample of American university students (Tobacyk et al . 1988) it was found that people of African descent have a higher level of belief in superstitions and witchcraft while belief in extraterrestrial life forms was stronger among people of European descent . Otis and Kuo (1984) surveyed Singapore university students and found Chinese , Indian and Malay students to differ in their paranormal beliefs, with
2397-432: The repeat testing required by the scientific method . Acceptance of UFO theories by the larger scientific community is further hindered by the many possible hoaxes associated with UFO culture. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that aims to prove the existence of entities from the folklore record, such as Bigfoot , chupacabras , or Mokele-mbembe . Cryptozoologists refer to these entities as cryptids ,
2448-628: The search for unicellular life within the Solar System , carrying out studies on the surface of Mars and examining meteors that have fallen to Earth . Projects such as SETI are conducting an astronomical search for radio activity that would show evidence of intelligent life outside the Solar System. Scientific theories of how life developed on Earth allow for the possibility that life also developed on other planets . The paranormal aspect of extraterrestrial life centers largely around
2499-448: The subject that is being studied, a researcher is presumed to gain understanding of the subject. Criticisms of participant observation as a data-gathering technique are similar to criticisms of other approaches to the paranormal, but also include an increased threat to the scientific objectivity of the researcher, unsystematic gathering of data, reliance on subjective measurement, and possible observer effects (i.e. observation may distort
2550-624: Was also the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation and its million dollar challenge that offered a prize of US$ 1,000,000 to anyone who could demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural or occult power or event, under test conditions agreed to by both parties. Despite many declarations of supernatural ability, the prize was never claimed. In "anomalistic psychology", paranormal phenomena have naturalistic explanations resulting from psychological and physical factors which have sometimes given
2601-567: Was discovered in a study involving the Australian Sheep-Goat Scale . De Boer and Bierman wrote: In his article 'Creative or Defective' Radin (2005) asserts that many academics explain the belief in the paranormal by using one of the three following hypotheses: Ignorance, deprivation or deficiency. 'The ignorance hypothesis asserts that people believe in the paranormal because they're uneducated or stupid. The deprivation hypothesis proposes that these beliefs exist to provide
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