Paranormal, we have seen this word many times during the years, but has there ever been a paranormal event that was proved to be genuine? Some will swear that they have had paranormal experiences. It is easy for someone to say that someone else didn't when they weren't there with them, but unfortunately most paranormal events can be dismissed instantly, as just plain mistakes or the acting out of an over active mind of a person that might be scared for example, because of the situation that they are in at that moment. Fear can make people see and hear things that would seem ordinary if the circumstances were different, but seem paranormal because of the situation. To clarify what I am talking about, let's take a situation where someone is walking through a dark room in a home that is reported to be haunted. They hear footsteps behind them and run out of the house in a state of panic. While there may not have been anyone behind them, the footsteps might have had a very rational explanation. The house might have been old and the timbers were expanding or contracting, a window might have been open and they could have heard someone walking outside, or there might have even been something rattling in the wind that sounded like footsteps. There are just so many other explanations available here.

Ghost IN Back Seat

So what exactly is a paranormal even?. Webster's online dictionary describes it simply as not scientifically explainable. That in itself covers quite an area, doesn't it and it doesn't necessarily mean that the event would have to be related to anything that had to do with spirits or ghosts either. If suddenly I was able to float off into space without any apparatus, that would be considered a paranormal event. Throughout the last couple of hundred years, different organizations and individuals have offered rewards to people who could perform a paranormal act that they couldn't duplicate using available current methods, both by scientific means and illusion. It is said that not one person was ever able to collect any money. The Amazing Randi, a world famous magician and skeptic has offered a million dollar prize for many years now and not one person has ever been able to collect it. Knowing this, it is hard to believe in any person that claims to be able to perform a paranormal event, but there is more than one kind of paranormal event, there are those events that are said to happen on their own, such as haunting and objects moving on their own for example. There are people that have been genuinely so scared that they had to move out of their homes, because they had bad paranormal experiences in them and no one seemed to be able to explain what happened, or was able to stop the activity.

One of the cases that seemed to fall into the above category was that of the Heartland Ghost. For those of you that are not familiar with the case, I will give you a very short synopsis of it. A family was living in a home in Atchison, Kansas that dated back about 100 years. Originally a doctor and his family had owned the home and the first floor was where he had his offices. A little girl had died who he treated and some say he was trying to take her appendix out when she woke up, others say he misdiagnosed her and she died of severe respiratory problems. This all happened in the early 1900s. On to 1993. That was the year that it was said that the ghost of the little girl, named Sally, came back to the house or at least made herself known. She seemed to hang around the nursery. She made her presence known by turning appliances on in the beginning. It is said that she hated men, possible because of what happened to her and that is why she attacked the husband of the family living there. He would feel very cold and then long bloody scratches would appear on his back. As the attacks progressed, the scratches and then welts would appear, just about all over him. His wife and baby were never attacked. A tv show crew got permission to stay in the home with the man and actually video taped scratches as they began to appear. No one has ever been able to explain what happened. Skeptics have stated that the husband somehow caused the scratches on his own body, while others state that the video evidence and witnesses that were present at the time, prove that he didn't.

The paranormal has become very popular with television viewers. One show, Ghost Hunters, has tied in what is known as Reality Television with paranormal investigations. It seems by the way they advertise the fact that the lead investigators and founders of this paranormal organization are basically plumbers, that this makes them better investigators. Well I don't want to insult plumbers, we certainly need them, but I don't see how plumbing abilities tie into paranormal investigative abilities? I was watching the show the other day, yes I watch it from time to time and I couldn't help but notice some things that are so obvious. First of all, there are claims that when entities come into the room they sometimes drain batteries from electrical devices and this energy helps them manifest themselves. Well I would like to know why the flashlight batteries never get drained, it is always the cameras and tape recorders? Could it be that they don't have a taste for D Cells? Another point that really bothers me is when they state that they went into a room alone, or up a staircase alone. It is all too obvious that someone is taking a video of them and in many cases is in front of them. I remember one episode where they were invited to bring the team into an armory and had to go up on a sort of cat walk, where a dark figure jumped up and ran the other way. They stated that there was not enough evidence to prove it was a ghost but carried on like it was. Well sure they were right, it was not a ghost and I know because I enlarged the frame that the so called dark figure appeared in and it clearly showed a human arm with a watch on it's wrist under a black blanket. Apparently someone had laid down on the catwalk in front of them and then jumped up and ran the other way while being covered with the black blanket. This episode sort of destroyed any credibility that the team could ever have in the future, at least with me. So why do I still look at it from time to time, I guess I just find it entertaining.

Oh there are no lack of paranormal shows on tv. If one desires, he or she can look at shows that search for Bigfoot, or shows that look for the Lochness monster. Some people do not consider this the paranormal however and call the study of these so called animals by the name cryptozoology. This is defined as, the study of and search for animals and especially legendary animals (as Sasquatch) usually in order to evaluate the possibility of their existence. So you see there is a little disagreement on what to call these types of searches. When it comes to Bigfoot, there just might be a chance that some sort of ape creature exists. There seems to be just too many instances of sightings all over the world, but this begs the question, why hasn't there been more people that have actually seen these things and why haven't we been able to trap one or trace it back to where it came from? There was one case where a man who claims that a bigfoot got a hold of him in the northern woods and played roughly with him until he was able to get away and there is an older case where a hunter claimed that a Bigfoot brought him back to it's family, but they didn't harm him, they were more curious than anything else and he was able to get away. Except for these couple of stories, who's validity can not be assured 100%, there are no other instances that I know of, where people have come into close contact with a bigfoot. They seem to have always been seen from a distance, sometimes very far away and sometimes close enough to make out their facial features.

Sometimes an event is classified as paranormal because it is seemingly impossible. An instance of this is when a mule in Morocco gave birth. Why is that so strange? Well a mule is the product of a horse and a donkey and is sterile. This seemingly impossible event as occurred 3 time in the last 100 years and science has no explanation for it, thus causing it to fit the definition of paranormal. Of course many people will say that it is ridiculous to call this a paranormal event and maybe they are right, but the fact that science can't explain it does make it fit the definition. Another event that fits the definition of paranormal is the creation of SOME crop circles. Notice that I said some, that is because there are many crop circles that are frauds, but there are some that contain some sort of radiation and the stalks of wheat are folded without being broken. These are the ones that I am talking about. There is no doubt that they fit the definition of paranormal, but if an explanation is found for their creation, such as aliens, then they will no longer be paranormal, because we will know what created them. The only way they would remain paranormal under those circumstances is if a ghost created them, since a ghost, if one existed, would be a paranormal being.

While many of us do not believe in the paranormal, we may still find the subject fascinating. I guess that is because we all have a secret hope that someday we will see something that validates life after death. The problem with this is that it leaves us open to the tricks of charlatans and hoaxers and the truth of the matter is that we probably would have had this evidence already, when you consider how long man has been on the earth. Now don't get me wrong, what I am saying is not that life after death is a myth, I am saying that evidence of it probably doesn't exist. Right now things like ufos fall into the paranormal realm, but in the future they may be explained and no longer be considered paranormal. Who knows, maybe mankind will reach a point some day in the future where the paranormal will no longer exists?