Paranormal America (Second Edition): Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture PDF
Preview Paranormal America (Second Edition): Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture
Paranormal America Paranormal America Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture Second Edition Christopher D. Bader, Joseph O. Baker, and F. Carson Mencken NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York www.nyupress.org © 2017 by New York University All rights reserved References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared. ISBN: 978-1-4798-1965-2 (hardback) ISBN: 978-1-4798-1528-9 (paperback) For Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data, please contact the Library of Congress. 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 suppli- ers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books. Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Also available as an ebook Contents Acknowledgments vii 1. The Interrupted Lecture 1 2. The Truth Is Within 23 3. The Truth Is Out There 49 4. The Thrill of the Haunt 81 5. Round Trip to Hell in a Flying Saucer? 107 6. Paranormal Subcultures 129 7. Paranormal People 163 8. Darkness and Light 193 9. Out on a Limb 227 Appendix: Methods and Findings 241 Notes 259 References 281 Index 301 About the Authors 311 v Acknowledgments We have so many people to thank for their help in this endeavor that we fear the attempt. Someone will certainly be forgotten. The quantitative data presented in this book are partially based upon three waves of the Baylor Religion Survey fielded in 2005, 2010, and 2014. The Baylor Religion Survey project was originally supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The development of survey content was the result of a collaborative effort in the Department of So- ciology at Baylor University. Finally, the Gallup Organization provided valuable feedback on the final questionnaire and ultimately collected these data. Other data presented in this volume originate from two waves of the Chapman University Survey of American Fears (2014 and 2015). The development of the survey instruments involved the efforts of many Chapman students and, in particular, Dr. Ed Day of Chapman’s Depart- ment of Sociology and Dr. Ann Gordon of Chapman’s Department of Political Science. We also must thank the staff at Knowledge Networks, who provided valuable feedback on the survey and gathered these data. Throughout the book we frequently use pseudonyms for those we spent time with, and these names are in quotation marks for the first 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 identified. The late Datus Perry of Carson, Washington, spent many hours ush- ering the first author through the woods looking for Bigfoot. We greatly appreciate Laura Cyr’s willingness to tell us of her many supernatural and paranormal experiences. We are equally grateful that the UFO Con- tact 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. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Ernie Alonzo of Haunted Orange County in arranging a ghost hunt at Chapman University and vii viii | Acknowledgments allowing one of us to follow it. The North American Wood Ape Con- servancy (NAWAC) was extremely patient dragging three sociologists through the woods on one of its field operations, and we greatly enjoyed getting to know the group’s members. Numbers can only get you so far—w e 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. Finally, engaging in such a project requires support at home. The au- thors would like to thank their spouses—S ara 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 ab- ductions and psychic phenomena. 1 The Interrupted Lecture Professors love to talk. It takes something dramatic to interrupt one during an impassioned lecture. But such an event happened to Bill at Chapman University in Or- ange, California.1 It was mid- semester and Bill was about halfway through a lecture in Smith Hall 211, standing before his class in front of the chalk- board. Thirty students sat in rows of tables, studiously taking notes. “All of the sudden there was a large creaking sound right to my left like a large footstep.” The loud noise caused an astonished Bill to jump to the right and look down at the spot on the floor from where the sound originated. Some students near the front of the class heard this noise and noticed Bill’s surprise. They also looked toward the floor. Bill composed himself and continued the lecture. But several seconds later a second footstep, not quite as loud as the first, echoed further to his left. The students could now tell that something strange was occur- ring and many stood up at their desks. About a second later, three more footsteps sounded at an accelerated pace, seemingly moving between Bill and the wall. According to Bill, the sounds were “so pronounced that I expected to see something, perhaps depressions in the carpet.” The students became very excited, chattering with one another about what just happened. “It was very clear to all of us that the sounds were in the room with us.” By this point class was entirely disrupted, and Bill and his students spent the rest of the period trying to reproduce the sounds. Bill went into the classroom next door (which shared a common wall) and stomped back and forth, yelling to students who remained in Smith 211 to see if the sounds were repeated. They were not. Students walked back and forth in the hallways and up and down the stairs. After several such experiments, Bill related, “we convinced ourselves that we could not reproduce it.” Bill and his students remain flummoxed by the incident.2 The story has since been shared around campus and the local community. Before 1
The list of books you might like
