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

6 Paranormal People

129 6 Paranormal People As we have discussed throughout this book, there are several popular and academic ideas regarding people who believe in the paranormal . Sociologists and social commentators such as Karl Marx have argued that religious and paranormal beliefs will be the province of the downtrodden, searching for supernatural solutions to earthly troubles. Other religion scholars have theorized that paranormal beliefs represent comparatively new and fringe elements of the American religious marketplace . New ideas tend to be adopted first by elites, and therefore, some argue, the paranormal will be the province of those with higher educations and incomes. Outside the halls of the academy a broader stereotype is often applied to paranormal believers—people who believe in or have experienced the paranormal are “different.” People who do not believe in the paranormal are perceived to be normal; those who believe in paranormal topics are considered weird, unconventional, strange, or deviant. There is a big problem with this simplistic assessment—believing in something paranormal has become the norm in our society. When asked if they believe in the reality of nine different paranormal subjects including telekinesis, fortune-telling, astrology, communication with the dead, haunted houses, ghosts, Atlantis, UFOs and monsters, over two-thirds of Americans (68%) believe in at least one (see fig. 6.1).1 In a strictly numerical sense, people who do not believe in anything paranormal are now the “odd men out” in American society. Less than a third of Americans (32%) are dismissive of all of nine subjects. What this means is that distinguishing between people who do and do not believe or experience the paranormal is becoming increasingly less useful. Rather, people may be more readily distinguishing by how much of the paranormal they find credible. Very few Americans (2%) believe in all nine of these paranormal subjects . Only about 11% believe in six or more paranormal topics. What this 130 Paranormal People means is that most Americans are not entirely dismissive of the paranormal but display a form of particularistic skepticism. Some people believe strongly in UFOs and Bigfoot, but find the claims of astrologers and psychics incredible. Some believe wholeheartedly in ghosts and the ability to communicate with the dead, yet have little patience for claims that ancient , advanced civilizations (such as Atlantis) once existed. To put it quite simply, people who believe in the paranormal could be placed along a continuum ranging from paranormal particularists, who believe strongly in one aspect of the paranormal or have had a single type of paranormal experience, to paranormal generalists, who hold multiple different types of paranormal beliefs and may claim multiple different types of paranormal experiences. Fig. 6.1. The paranormal pyramid: percentage of Americans holding simultaneous paranormal beliefs (Baylor Religion Survey, 2005) Note: We examined the responses of each respondent to determine how many of nine paranormal beliefs items they believed. A respondent who believed in any of the nine items (Atlantis, ghosts, psychic powers, fortune-telling, astrology, talking to the dead, haunted houses, UFOS, and/or monsters) received a 1. A respondent who reported belief in any two of the items received a 2, and so on. Relatively few respondents (about 2%) indicated belief in all nine. Percentages are rounded. No beliefs (32%) At least one belief (68%) 1 item (19%) 2 items (16%) 3 items (10%) 4 items (8%) 5 items (6%) 6 items (4%) 8 items (2%) 7 items (3%) 9 items (2%) Paranormal People 131 Throughout this book we hope to have dispelled many stereotypes about the paranormal, but in this chapter we will see that popular notions about the paranormal do indeed fit. In our fieldwork and in our data we have noticed that there are strong demographic differences between paranormal particularists and paranormal generalists. Sometimes paranormal generalists are quite unconventional and do indeed inhabit the fringes of society—you just have to know where and how to look. To understand the important differences between these paranormal generalists and paranormal particularists we will first revisit two people we met earlier in the book. Laura: Paranormal Generalist In chapter 4 we introduced Laura. In 1984 she claims to have been taken to a large UFO hovering above Earth. Once aboard the ship she met a group of friendly, humanlike extraterrestrials and their commanding officer. Laura was connected to an advanced computer system to receive lessons about holistic health and medicine. This was information she would need someday to...