Paranormal America: Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture

273 Pages·2010·1.96 MB·English

by  Christopher Bader

Paranormal America
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Paranormal America
Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings,
Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities
in Religion and Culture
Christopher D. Bader,
F. Carson Mencken, and
Joseph O. Baker
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2010 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bader, Christopher David.
Paranormal America : ghost encounters, UFO sightings, Bigfoot
hunts, and other curiosities in religion and culture / Christopher D.
Bader, F. Carson Mencken, and Joseph Baker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-9134-9 (cl : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8147-9135-6
(pb : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8147-8642-0 (e-book)
1. Parapsychology — United States. 2. Curiosities and wonders —
United States. I. Mencken, Frederick Carson, 1964– II. Baker, Joe,
1965– III. Title.
BF1028.5.U6B34 2010
130.973 — dc22 2010016525
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials
to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 Th e House of 150 Ghosts 1
2 Th e Truth Is Within 20
3 Th e Truth Is Out Th ere:
Paranormal Beliefs and Experiences 46
4 Round Trip to Hell in a Flying Saucer? 76
5 Paranormal Subcultures 100
6 Paranormal People 129
7 Darkness and Light 158
8 Out on a Limb 189
Appendix 203
Notes 215
References 237
Index 255
About the Authors 264
v
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Acknowledgments
We have so many people to thank for their help in this en-
deavor that we fear the attempt. Someone will certainly be forgotten.
Th e quantitative data presented in this book are based upon the Baylor
Religion Survey, Waves 1 and 2, collected in 2005 and 2007. Th e develop-
ment and collection of these data involved the eff orts of many people. Th e
Baylor Religion Survey project was fi nancially supported by a generous
grant from the John Templeton Foundation. Th e development of survey
content was the result of a collaborative eff ort with our colleagues in the
Department of Sociology at Baylor University. Finally, the Gallup Orga-
nization provided valuable feedback on the fi nal questionnaire and ulti-
mately collected these data.
Th roughout the book we frequently use pseudonyms for those we spent
time with, and these names are in quotation marks for the fi rst mention.
We do so when the person has not publicly disclosed their paranormal
beliefs and/or experiences, unless they have expressly stated a willingness
to be identifi ed.
Cheryl and Colleen of the Dallas Psychic Fair were quite welcoming
and willing to answer our many questions about psychic readings. Th e
late Datus Perry of Carson, Washington, spent many hours ushering the
fi rst author through the woods looking for Bigfoot. We greatly appreciate
Laura Cyr’s willingness to tell us of her many supernatural and paranor-
mal experiences. We are equally grateful that the UFO Contact Center
International opened its doors to our questions and to Paul Ingram for
telling us his harrowing experience with the Satanic panic of the 1990s.
Duane, owner of the Big Cypress Coff ee House in Jeff erson, Texas, proved
a charming and puckish host. Depending upon your beliefs about ghosts,
the psychics Gloria and Lee and the ghost hunter Victoria may have pre-
vented us from being attacked by angry spirits at the coff ee house. We
enjoyed their company and appreciated their protection in theory. Th e
vii
viii Acknowledgments
Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy (TBRC) was extremely patient drag-
ging three sociologists through the woods on one of their fi eld operations,
and we greatly enjoyed getting to know David, Craig Woolheater, and the
many other members of the TBRC.
Numbers can only get you so far — we did not believe we could tell a
story about American paranormal beliefs without hearing from people
who have experienced the paranormal for themselves. We are greatly in
debt to the many people who gave us their trust and their time.
Several people read draft s of this book. We must thank Jennifer Ham-
mer of NYU Press, author and paranormal researcher Nick Redfern, and
Kim Mencken for providing valuable suggestions, edits, and comments.
Finally, engaging in such a project requires support at home. Th e au-
thors would like to thank their spouses — Sara Bader, Kim Mencken, and
Amy Edmonds — for their love, patience, and understanding as we spent
the night in haunted houses, chased Bigfoot, and delved into UFO abduc-
tions and psychic phenomena.
1
Th e House of 150 Ghosts
Situated on Big Cypress Bayou in the piney woods of northeast
Texas lies the city of Jeff erson, a haven for ghost hunters. Before the rail-
roads moved into the northern part of the state, Texans were dependent
upon boat traffi c to receive goods and supplies. Jeff erson was founded in
1840 at the perfect location for a port. Boats traveled up the Mississippi
River to the Red River, which fed into nearby Caddo Lake. Even large
stern wheelers could paddle through the lake to its eventual meet-up with
Big Cypress Bayou.
By default the town held a monopoly on shipping for hundreds of
miles around. Cotton moved through by the ton. During the Civil War,
the Confederacy depended upon the Jeff erson port to provide Texas
troops with supplies. Stores, hotels, shipping companies, and other signs
of a bustling economy competed for downtown real estate with taverns,
cathouses, pool halls, and other necessary vices of a nineteenth-century
boomtown. Indeed, the good and the bad appeared in equal measure dur-
ing Jeff erson’s heyday. Th e population swelled to nearly eight thousand by
1872. Grand homes appeared on the hills. At the same time, fi ghts at the
local bars were frequent with an especially dangerous area near the river
earning the nickname “Murder Alley.”
As the railroad came and reliance on river traffi c eroded, so did Jef-
ferson’s fragile economy.1 Shipping companies folded; the population
dwindled over the years to about two thousand citizens; houses sat empty
and the taverns closed; a bayou formerly alive with the sounds of steam-
boats and dock workers, became silent. It’s a familiar story of the Ameri-
can frontier: a boomtown gone bust. Jeff erson today is bucking that trend.
Its cobblestone streets are lined with quaint, locally owned shops, hotels,
and bed-and-breakfasts, and on weekends the town center buzzes with
activity. Even midweek a surprising number of people meander around
the antique stores, restaurants, and gift shops.
1