![[sticky entry]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/entry/sticky_entry.png){kind=small}
( RULES )
( LINKS )
In hope to jump-start the community
May. 7th, 2017 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sitonmyinterfaceParanormal doesn't have to mean "dead" 😂
What aspect of the paranormal are you particularly attracted to, and why?
Mine are mediumship, near-death experiences, "shadow people", hauntings. I have not experienced anything regarding the above personally, but am fascinated by the topics especially first-hand accounts rather than things you read that are randomly floating around online. Perhaps, for me, it boils down to existence of other planes of existence or continuation of existence after bodily death.
What aspect of the paranormal are you particularly attracted to, and why?
Mine are mediumship, near-death experiences, "shadow people", hauntings. I have not experienced anything regarding the above personally, but am fascinated by the topics especially first-hand accounts rather than things you read that are randomly floating around online. Perhaps, for me, it boils down to existence of other planes of existence or continuation of existence after bodily death.
Spring Heel Jack Sighting?
Nov. 8th, 2012 01:32 pmzombie
Paranormal experts and monster hunters have been queuing up to give their interpretation of a mysterious "dark figure with no features" spotted in Ewell last month.
Scott Martin and his family were travelling home by taxi on Tuesday, February 14, at about 10.30pm when they saw the terrifying figure they have likened to the legendary Spring Heeled Jack dart across the road before leaping 15ft over a bank as they approached Nescot College on the Ewell bypass.
( Rest of the article under the cut. )
So, what do you think, guys. Real sighting? Imagination? Aliens?
For those unfamiliar, here's the Wikipedia article on Spring Heel Jack.
zombieI figured that since we're starting afresh here in the comm, and we have some new members, we could do a little get-to-know-you session. Nothing serious, just an idea of what everyone's into.
For starters, I'm Amanda. I've had a multitude of paranormal experiences over the course of my life, some of which you can read about here, if you're just dying to know about them. I'm mostly interested in the occult, ghosts, demonic entities, shadow people, ghost ships (seriously, they freak me out), cryptids, and things like ghost lights. I don't know everything, but I'm always eager to learn more.
On the side, I knit, crochet, ghost hunt, bake, and play servant to my rabbit, Guinness, and my dog, Butch.
"Retroactive Causation"
Nov. 29th, 2010 01:25 pmmelannenI just stumbled over a discussion about a scientific paper that claims to prove precognition. It's making news because the methodology was impeccable enough that it's getting published in a major mainstream journal.
The work was by Daryl Bem, and what it specifically tested was retrocausality as applied to standard psych experiments - that is, he took an experiment where being exposed to a stimulus (seeing a word) changes a person's later response (seeing a picture related to the word) and reversed the order of events - giving the stimulus *after* the reponse had already been recorded.
And using these very standard, unimpeachable experimental set-ups, he seems to have gotten a results to show that the response is affected by future stimuli at something approaching half the rate of past stimuli. With these particular studies, the numbers are pretty small either way - something like .4 (for the standard experiment) vs. .25 (for the reversed one). But it's one of those fascinating cases where science is screwed either way - because if he was studying anything other than psi, Bem's results would have been accepted with no controversy (those kind of numbers come up in medication trials, for example, all the time.)
So either the experimental methods that *everybody* uses are flawed, or causality can flow backward. Mainstream science loses either way!
The work was by Daryl Bem, and what it specifically tested was retrocausality as applied to standard psych experiments - that is, he took an experiment where being exposed to a stimulus (seeing a word) changes a person's later response (seeing a picture related to the word) and reversed the order of events - giving the stimulus *after* the reponse had already been recorded.
And using these very standard, unimpeachable experimental set-ups, he seems to have gotten a results to show that the response is affected by future stimuli at something approaching half the rate of past stimuli. With these particular studies, the numbers are pretty small either way - something like .4 (for the standard experiment) vs. .25 (for the reversed one). But it's one of those fascinating cases where science is screwed either way - because if he was studying anything other than psi, Bem's results would have been accepted with no controversy (those kind of numbers come up in medication trials, for example, all the time.)
So either the experimental methods that *everybody* uses are flawed, or causality can flow backward. Mainstream science loses either way!
UFOs over Manhattan
Oct. 14th, 2010 08:40 pmmelannenAnybody else following the story about the UFO sightings over Manhattan yesterday? (And if so, how are you following the story? Any good blogs or news sites to suggest?)
I'm fascinated by this story, because for a long time people have been saying that the real UFOlogy holy grail at the moment is a sighting over a large city where everybody has cameraphones and security cameras and news helicopters, and we can get a lot of footage and photos to go with eyewitness accounts.
It looks like that's finally happened! Regardless of what the thing that was in the sky yesterday actually was, there was *something* in the sky over Manhattan which many people saw and few could identify. I'm interested in seeing how many different videos & photos turn up over the next few days. It seems like it'll make a neat baseline for other paranormal sightings, to know just how likely people actually *are* to pull out the cameras when something strange shows up, and just how hard it is to get useful images in those conditions.`
I'm fascinated by this story, because for a long time people have been saying that the real UFOlogy holy grail at the moment is a sighting over a large city where everybody has cameraphones and security cameras and news helicopters, and we can get a lot of footage and photos to go with eyewitness accounts.
It looks like that's finally happened! Regardless of what the thing that was in the sky yesterday actually was, there was *something* in the sky over Manhattan which many people saw and few could identify. I'm interested in seeing how many different videos & photos turn up over the next few days. It seems like it'll make a neat baseline for other paranormal sightings, to know just how likely people actually *are* to pull out the cameras when something strange shows up, and just how hard it is to get useful images in those conditions.`
O-oh, hai.
Sep. 19th, 2010 06:04 pmzombieI've left this place to rot for a while, because I haven't been over to DW in ages, but since I plan on moving here permanently, I figure it's time I stopped being a jackass and pay attention to things here.
So I have a question: What would you guys like to see here? Would you like theme posts like ontd_creepy? Weekly things along those lines? I'd appreciate any and all input on how to get this place kicking, and I'm possibly looking for a co-mod or two, since I'm notoriously bad with keeping up with my own name, much less anything else. If you're interested, pm me.
New Community: The Crypto Zoo
Sep. 8th, 2010 04:41 amsmirnoffmule
Cryptozoology: The study of hidden creatures.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
cryptozoo is a community for discussion of all things cryptozoological - sea and lake monsters, surviving thylacines, out-of-place big cats, Texan pterodactyls, rogue goatsuckers, hairy manbeasts, weird nature, new discoveries, paranormal creatures, and the animals of folklore, mythology and urban myth. Skeptics, believers, and fence-sitters are welcome alike. Feel free to stop on by, and introduce yourself!(no subject)
Oct. 18th, 2009 05:29 pmchatoyantHello dead community, nice to meet you.
I've been infatuated with the paranormal for years, but haven't had a whole lot of experiences with it before. I've never seen anything with my own eyes and because of that I remain skeptical, though I would love love love to be swayed over to the other side. I have a few minor experiences:
- A few months ago, my friends and I found a dilapidated, spooky cemetery in the middle of the woods near their house. In the middle of the graveyard, the foundations of a church that had burned down years before are still intact. In my infinite wisdom, I decided that we should do a tarot session on the foundations, because if there was ever an appropriate place for a divination it was there. By the time we had set everything up, the sun had gone down. During the divination, my friend's sister claimed she saw black figures circling near the trees around us. The rest of the group ignored her because she'd been known to hallucinate and she is basically a huge chicken. Her fear escalated and finally the rest of us decided that it was best to leave. As we walked back to the car, my friend who was walking ahead of us screamed and ran back to join the rest of the group. She claimed she saw a figure next to her car. This was extremely out of character for her, so we got the hell out of there as fast as we could. I didn't see anything myself, so I can't back it up, but something definitely felt... different that night.
- Once I was laying on the couch in my grandma's house, alone, lightly napping. I was aware of what was going on around me and I am POSITIVE I was not dreaming. I heard a child call my name. Expecting my 2-year-old nephew to come through the back door, I sat up and waited. He never came through the door. I got up and checked outside and no one was there. Once again, I am totally sure I wasn't dreaming. For hours after that, the house felt different. I can't explain it.
- I went camping a few months ago, and while sitting around the fire with one of my friends I felt something pull my shirt from the back. I jumped as soon as it happened and looked behind me, but there was nothing that my shirt could have caught on, and besides, I had been completely still when it had happened.
Nothing else has happened to me besides a series of surreal, too-true-to-be-coincidental tarot spreads.
Also, I'd love for this community to be active. Maybe we could have weekly discussion posts? I'd love to know what everyone thinks ghosts or spirits actually are. I've heard some really interesting theories involving alternate universes and ghosts being the product of where the universes meet.
Discuss!
I've been infatuated with the paranormal for years, but haven't had a whole lot of experiences with it before. I've never seen anything with my own eyes and because of that I remain skeptical, though I would love love love to be swayed over to the other side. I have a few minor experiences:
- A few months ago, my friends and I found a dilapidated, spooky cemetery in the middle of the woods near their house. In the middle of the graveyard, the foundations of a church that had burned down years before are still intact. In my infinite wisdom, I decided that we should do a tarot session on the foundations, because if there was ever an appropriate place for a divination it was there. By the time we had set everything up, the sun had gone down. During the divination, my friend's sister claimed she saw black figures circling near the trees around us. The rest of the group ignored her because she'd been known to hallucinate and she is basically a huge chicken. Her fear escalated and finally the rest of us decided that it was best to leave. As we walked back to the car, my friend who was walking ahead of us screamed and ran back to join the rest of the group. She claimed she saw a figure next to her car. This was extremely out of character for her, so we got the hell out of there as fast as we could. I didn't see anything myself, so I can't back it up, but something definitely felt... different that night.
- Once I was laying on the couch in my grandma's house, alone, lightly napping. I was aware of what was going on around me and I am POSITIVE I was not dreaming. I heard a child call my name. Expecting my 2-year-old nephew to come through the back door, I sat up and waited. He never came through the door. I got up and checked outside and no one was there. Once again, I am totally sure I wasn't dreaming. For hours after that, the house felt different. I can't explain it.
- I went camping a few months ago, and while sitting around the fire with one of my friends I felt something pull my shirt from the back. I jumped as soon as it happened and looked behind me, but there was nothing that my shirt could have caught on, and besides, I had been completely still when it had happened.
Nothing else has happened to me besides a series of surreal, too-true-to-be-coincidental tarot spreads.
Also, I'd love for this community to be active. Maybe we could have weekly discussion posts? I'd love to know what everyone thinks ghosts or spirits actually are. I've heard some really interesting theories involving alternate universes and ghosts being the product of where the universes meet.
Discuss!
Charlie The Poltergeist
May. 6th, 2009 11:48 pmzombieFigured I'd tell you kids a little story about one of my more memorable run-ins with the paranormal. The town I live in has a theatre that dates back...Well, from around the 20s, I think the records state. In the early 30s, the projection booth caught on fire, and the projectionist, who was up there with his lady friend, died in the fire.
Years later the theatre was remodeled and made into a live production theatre. You know, with a stage, dressing rooms in the basement (creepy on its own), and just all around outfitted for that kind of show. The projection booth was turned into a light and sound booth, and all in all, it's very nice in an art deco kind of way. Even if there's a lack of bathrooms on the first floor (one of each...I wonder who thought that was a brilliant plan of action).
Anyway, when I was in high school and my first year of college, the theatre ran a summer stock musical. I was big into performing in those, and did so every year until they stopped. And during rehearsals is when Charlie (that was the projectionist's name) liked to come out and play.
( Cut to spare your flists. )
That wasn't the worst thing ever that I've seen/heard/felt, but it was memorable, because several other people in the production had similar things happen to them. One friend swore up and down that they felt someone was going to push them off the sign that overhung the front of the building when he went out there to smoke. I never got that feeling, but then you had to go out on the sign by way of the ladies' room with the banging doors. So who knows?
Anyway, that's my story. Well, one of them. And I figured if anyone was gonna kick this thing off, it might as well be me. XD
WELCOME / ADMIN POST
May. 5th, 2009 12:38 pmzombieWELCOME TO paranormal.
I'll be your modly one, zombie. This is just going to be a quick welcome/guidelines post so things can run smoothly, not that I expect any trouble. In my experience, we junkies for the paranormal tend to be some of the nicest people around.
&! I want to implement tagging here, to keep discussion organized, so I'm going to leave this post open to suggestions on what you would like to see tagging-wise. I was thinking something along the lines of the following: For example, if it's a discussion on ghosts, it could be tagged as discussion: ghosts. That way everything branches out, yes?
&! You can also view this as the official Q&A post, and I'll set up another one as questions are added and answered, and link it in the info.
&! Um. I think that's it.
Welcome, and enjoy your stay!
