Physical Evidence
Physical evidence is that which has demonstrable physical characteristics such as objects, remains, or traces. Physical evidence is more substantial than testimonial, statistical, or analogical evidence because anyone can examine it for themselves. It can be objectively evaluated by experts or submitted for testing. ARIG cases don’t often produce substantial physical evidence. The most famous evidence for paranormal explanations are photos and video, recorded sounds, footprints, hair, or effects on the natural surroundings (marks, burns, breakage, etc.). Physical evidence for paranormal claims is exceedingly rare or questionable but when such evidence is put forward, it is newsworthy. Pieces of extraterrestrial craft, alien implants, cryptid bodies or body parts, or ghostly ectoplasm that confirmed a paranormal identity would be extraordinary finds. However, none have turned out to be convincing.
Animal Traces and DNA
Field reports for cryptozoological investigations may contain mention of animal traces or remains, footprints, handprints, broken or manipulated plant material, trampled areas, smells, sounds, and observations of movement. Cryptozoologists strive to collect any potential physical traces including hair, feces, saliva, and partially eaten food as evidence. Plaster casts will be taken of any footprints or other suspected body part imprints. There have been hundreds of reports of Bigfoot footprints, hand and knuckle prints, and even a buttock print.
Hair strands caught on branches and fences as an animal passed are retrieved and preserved for attempted identification. Food bait may be used and, if partially eaten, the very serious cryptid hunters may preserve the food item for DNA testing of the saliva or to analyze bite marks. Livestock carcasses may be taken to an expert to determine if the prey was nabbed by a typical predator or something atypical.
In the case of supposed chupacabras (a vampire-like “goat sucker” that is said to kill livestock) in the southern U.S., several of the supposed creatures were trapped or shot and preserved to be examined. When biologists and veterinarians examined the creatures, and sometimes analyzed the DNA, the very strange-looking animals turned out to be nothing monstrous, but were canids or native animals with a skin disease called mange or some other hairless condition that caused fur loss. Even these solid conclusions based on the best physical evidence that can be obtained in cryptozoology, a specimen, do not deter some amateurs from belief that a mystery animal is still to be verified. These hairless canids have become known as “blue dogs” by researchers who think they are something new in nature.
Though hair and remains containing DNA are sought for evidence, they are not a slam dunk. The analysis of biological data like hair or DNA typically returns a verdict of “inconclusive” because not enough information is available to make the determination of a match to a known animal. The DNA may be degraded, improperly collected, or badly preserved. Hairs are difficult to match conclusively. If the result is inconclusive, or “unknown,” ARIGs sometimes frame this as proof of an “unknown” creature. Within the past few years, DNA evidence collection has become more prominent as the cost of genetic sequencing has lowered. Blood, feces, hair, nail and bone samples have been collected for DNA testing.
UFO Traces and Remains
It is very rare for UFO reports to have any physical evidence associated with them. The exceptions include burn marks, manipulated vegetation, or mystery substances composed of threads or gel/slime. Some abductees claim to retain physical scars and marks, even implants. The belief that aliens are implanting tracking devices into humans is a fringe belief to which a few UFO researchers subscribe. Suspected implants have been revealed to be man-made materials either accidentally or purposely embedded. Claims that they are made from strange materials that are not of this earth have never been substantiated. Most chemical laboratories would be able to ascertain if a sample didn’t match that of earth materials, but none have reported such a finding.
Ectoplasm
During the era of spiritualist mediums, a form of ideal physical evidence was regularly produced: ectoplasm, a wispy or gooey substance that came out of the mediums’ mouths, noses or other places (use your imagination). Sometimes the ectoplasm formed phantom limbs or resolved into the faces of the departed. Ectoplasm was said to be the means the spirit used to manifest itself. Davies (2007: 130) describes it: “Ectoplasm was thought to be the solid essence of mesmeric fluidic forces, moulded by the sympathetic energy generated between the medium and the spirit world, allowing the dead to manifest themselves physically. Proof, at last, that ghosts had substance!” Observers were instructed not to touch ectoplasm or the apparitions in the dark séance room lest the medium be spiritually injured. Production of ectoplasm was eventually concluded to be a parlor trick mastered by mostly female mediums. Ectoplasm back then looked like (and later turned out to be) thin fabric, gauze, paper, or cheesecloth. It could also be string, bits of rubber, egg whites, or animal parts (some mediums got creative) sometimes glowing from luminous paint. The mediums would hide the substance or would swallow and regurgitate it in a dramatic appearance during the performance.
With the advent of Ghostbusters, ectoplasm changed to green slime. Regardless of what sort of residue a revenant leaves behind, it would behoove the researcher to collect a sample. Alas, in today’s world, finding paranormal ectoplasm is a rarity. Any collected material would require testing by a qualified laboratory, preferably more than one. Only then can a researcher make conclusions about its origin. Ghosts leave a slime trail in fictional tales but it makes no sense for non-material entities to leave physical traces. We are left with essentially no physical evidence of ghosts and whatever other physical effects have been suggested (such as injuries or marks on the environment) are of questionable origin and authenticity.
Injuries and Bad Feelings
Ghost investigators find very little in terms of physical evidence to use in their research. In rare cases, but becoming more commonplace, investigators and those who live in a reportedly haunted location will cite scratches or marks on skin, walls, or objects that appear during the investigation or overnight as examples of physical encounters with an entity. Smells, feelings, or physical changes to the environment are also reported but rarely confirmed and investigated. Such effects are transitory and difficult to record objectively. Or they could have always been there and just noticed upon this new survey. Injuries discovered during an investigation cannot logically be attributed to entities when there are many alternative, non-paranormal explanations including self-infliction.
A frequent claim cited in a supposedly haunted location is an unusual “feeling” experienced by the researcher. Perceptions commonly reported in association with paranormal activity include coldness, chills, nausea, hair standing on end or a static electricity effect, sadness, dread or fear, difficulty breathing or chest heaviness, and a sense of being watched. In some cases, investigators will report being touched, slapped, poked, or pushed by something unseen. All these perceived feelings can be produced by the effects of expectation, fear, anxiety, and excitement. Or, they may be made up in the moment to gain attention or to add drama. The observations can neither be confirmed nor are they helpful to those of us who were not experiencing the same stimulus. Their claims are subjective and basically worthless without additional supporting, objective evidence. Ironically, they are the most persuasive evidence to the individual who felt them. They trust their own interpretation which tends to become stronger and more elaborate as time passes and the story is related in the framework of paranormal belief.
Apparitions
People have reported apparitions for over 1,000 years—featuring dead warriors, white sheets (burial shrouds), moaning, and chains. In a sense, not much changed, but we note that chains are not very common anymore. For a complete history of ghosts and their evolution from ancient to modern, see Finucane (1996) and Davies (2007). To generalize the history of ghostly apparitions, we can fairly say that they reflect their times.
An apparition is the appear
ance of a person, animal, or thing in a manifestation considered to be supernatural or at least paranormal. They can represent a person or thing from the past or from the present but in a distant location. Pop culture has given us frighteningly realistic, horrible, and highly creative apparitions. In society, reported apparitions are described as glowing figures, shadows, clouds, or mists. They may be transparent, or completely solid like a regular person. ARIGs report encountering apparitions and will attempt to photograph or record them. Unfortunately, cameras capture light anomalies, glitches, cigarette smoke, condensation clouds, or actual objects that are then called apparitions.
Some historic places are said to be haunted by a famous past resident whose apparition is regularly and consistently reported. It would make sense to document reports of apparitions to see if there is a pattern associated with a place or time. For example, an apparition that appears on an anniversary date is a testable claim, but that requires an assumption that the tales are accurate and truthful. Many are exaggerations. Tales of apparitions are popular stories and many people visit a location intent on describing any anomaly as a ghost to become part of their legend-tripping. Testing the regular appearance of apparitions would require controls—all witnesses would have to be blinded to the past information about the location and reports. We would need to assure that there was no leakage of information, and that each witness reported the experience independently, objectively, and accurately.
Though apparition encounters are greatly desired by ARIGs (and skeptics) as they are powerful, convincing personal experiences, apparitions leave no physical traces (except in movies). We can consider them as curious but they do not tell us much of anything.
Rock Throwing
Rock-throwing incidents have been described throughout history. Reports of rock-throwing (from tiny gravel to heavy blocks) are associated with hauntings, poltergeists (interpreted variously as ghosts, demons, or psychokinetic powers) (Houran & Lange 2001) and even Bigfoot encounters.5 Long ago, incidents of rock showers inside and outside a building were seen as a sign of demons or witchcraft. Centuries ago, rock showers tormented families in their village houses. Today, rock-throwing is reported rarely but currently in the context of Bigfoot encounters as a means of intimidation. ARIGs report the rocks almost never hit people. In spite of it being seemingly easy to trace the trajectory of the object thrown, rock-throwing incidents are still reported as inexplicable events with an indeterminate, and assumed mysterious, cause.
Atmospheric Conditions
Ghost/ARIGs often provided a graphic on their websites that linked to a data feed reporting “space weather.” This included the moon phase and the state of geomagnetic activity in the atmosphere. About 40% of groups consider the moon phase or solar activity in their investigations (Duffy 2012). This belief is related to the idea that paranormal activity is more prevalent during times of active solar storms or during the full or new moon. However, the reasoning behind the information is almost never explained or referenced, nor has it been sufficiently demonstrated to be correlated. It appears to relate back to the concept of electricity or similar “energy” as a conveyor or enabler of paranormal activity.
Several scientific paranormal studies have investigated effects of magnetic fields. Michael Persinger’s work is often cited as evidence that low-intensity, complex magnetic fields may induce a sense of a presence. However, Persinger’s tests were done in a laboratory with controlled fields. Monitoring such fields requires refined equipment that amateurs do not have access too. In addition, our normal environments are flooded with electromagnetic fields from any electric-powered device. Contrary to the frequent mention by paranormal researchers, published research has not shown a clear correlation between magnetic fields and paranormal experiences. People react differently, often not at all. Perceiving a sense of presence is not the same as experiencing a ghost. Priming effects may be more influential than any electromagnetic fields. A few studies suggest that a rapidly changing field around a metallic object such as a bed frame may affect perception,6 or they claim EMFs from bedside devices such as clock radios may produce an influence.7 Richard Wiseman conducted a study in Hampton Court Palace in Britain8 to see if paranormal experiences or uneasiness were correlated to magnetic fields. The research results were not definitive (Maher 2015).
Per parapsychological research, correlations between psychic activity, psychokinesis effects and ghost reports with geomagnetic and electromagnetic fields are not straightforward, have not been reliably reproduced, do not have a mechanism by which we can explain how they work, and are generally contentious. Yet, ghost/ARIGs erroneously repeat these statements as fact. (See Chapter 14 in Cardeña 2015.) Unfortunately, not only are foundations of these ideas unfounded and unreliable but there is internal misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the results between controlled experiments and the complicated real-world environment.
Occult and Religious Practices
The search for ghosts as evidence of an afterlife is steeped in metaphysical, spiritual, and religious contexts. Even Bigfoot is thought by some to be a spirit of the forest who can be worshipped or brought close through native rituals. We’ve made collective attempts to contact extraterrestrials by sending positive mental messages en masse. Use of occult means to obtain evidence is predicated on the belief in that these entities exist and can be detected.
Many ARIGs, especially ghost/ARIGs, employ several non-scientific practices alongside what they consider to be scientific methods creating a noticeably stark juxtaposition between science and anti-science ideas for those groups who claimed to be scientific. Their methods include a mix of equipment to detect environmental metrics along with dowsing rods, pendulums, Ouija boards, religious paraphernalia, charms, occult and religious rituals, numerology methods, and other New Age concepts. Groups that explicitly promote their scientificity justify their wide range of procedures by suggesting that there is no harm in utilizing these alternate ways of knowing. But they downplay their significance or state that they only use them as guidance to point out locations in which to use the scientific equipment. Unfortunately, this gives the appearance of throwing everything at the wall and “seeing what sticks.” Some groups, though, will outright reject these “other” methods as a way of enhancing their credibility and emphasizing their sciencey-sounding methods.
Psychics
Use of psychic mediums has become increasingly more common, likely due to the many psychic-themed reality television shows and celebrity psychics who claim to communicate with dead relatives. Ghost-hunting groups typically have one or more members that claim they are “psychic,” “clairvoyant,” “sensitive,” “intuitive,” or even serve as “universal catalysts” to “assist investigators towards a scientific conclusion” (S. Hill 2010). Psychic aspects are also mentioned in reference to Bigfoot and the more supernaturally inclined cryptids as well as aliens who are said by some witnesses to communicate telepathically. The ability of one ARIG member to claim to gather information from psychic sensitivity sets up a potential conflict with the more skeptical member(s). She is the “feeling” while he is the “thinking” person. The “feeling” person is assumed to be less of a threat to another psychical being and thus have a greater chance to effect meaningful communication. The non-psychic, unable to verify these feelings, is useless.
As with psychic “readings,” detailed information of psychic communication with spirits, like names and specific dates, are is rarely provided. If such verifiable facts are given, they are not typically checked. In no instance did I find psychic information provided that was independently correlated with verified information on the site. The “intuitive” information is vague, often dramatic, or open to interpretation. ARIGs do not conduct a test for validity of psychics by asking multiple psychics, blinded to a situation and to each other, to provide a reading at a location. This reasonable test should produce the same type of information from the same location if indeed they were utilizing paranormal senses. I
have not found that such a test was done. Instead, psychic contributions are wrapped into the narrative of the investigation as they are dramatic and useful, but are discarded and ignored if they impede the paranormal explanation.
Ouija
The Ouija board is a controversial tool in paranormal circles with paranormal proponents highly polarized over its use. Some consider the Ouija board (sold toy as a children’s toy) a dangerous device that increases troublesome paranormal activity and opens “the portal to demonic entities” or “doorways” for (presumably evil) spirits to enter. Those who are invested in the spiritual aspect will warn against its use for these reasons. Or some ARIGs reject its use because of the irrational, subjective nature of it.9 During my website review, several ARIGs hosted a “No Ouija” badge on their web site expressing their opinion. However, their reasoning for the objection was not obvious in all cases. As with the use of psychics, a few ghost/ARIGs who state they are scientific will still use the Ouija board as a form of provoking spirit communication, encouraging them to appear by talking or calling to the entities. The anti–Ouija camp will consider this to be provocation and discourages the practice. Less provocative objects are also used. About a third of ghost/ARIGs employ a trigger object such as a toy to entice the local spirit to engage with the object. Some will yell or use music or noise that they think might be relatable to the spirit. If the investigators have some idea about the spirit they are trying to reach, they will say names and ask questions to invoke a response. While such methods of enticing responses could readily be made into a testable experiment, ARIGs have not taken on that task of showing the Ouija or any other provoking method does or doesn’t do something.
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