Australian paranormal investigators on Thursday claimed an out-of-this-world response to a global ghost hunt to expand an eerie but under-explored body of knowledge.
Tapping into an explosion of interest in phenomena that defy scientific explanation, researchers from Australia’s Monash University set up an online survey to assess their impact on individuals and society.
About 2 000 people had made contact via the internet since the survey began six weeks ago, with 96% claiming to have had at least one brush with the paranormal, study supervisor Beverley Jane told Agence France-Presse.
“By paranormal we mean those events that cannot be explained using the current laws of science,” said Rosemary Breen, who will use the results as part of an academic study into supernatural occurrences.
“[The paranormal] is now considered mainstream and part of everyday contemporary life for many people.”
The exercise seeks to gauge the frequency, effect and age of onset of unexplained phenomena such as premonitions, out-of-body and near-death episodes, telepathy and apparitions.
Results to date showed 70% of respondents believed an unexplained event changed their lives, mostly in a positive way.
About 70% also claimed to have seen, heard or been touched by animal or person that wasn’t there, 80% reported having had a premonition, and almost 50% recalled a previous life.
“The respondents are sincere and they want to report what they have experienced,” Jane said.
She said she was amazed by the strong response on such a sensitive subject, and put this down the spectral study’s virtual nature.
“People can do it in the privacy of their homes instead of in front of the researcher, so they can answer honestly,” she said.
While the survey was anonymous, some people later sent e-mails with their contact details, Jane said.
She denied the study sought to assess respondents’ mental health, but said it did offer people the chance to tell somebody about experiences they would normally keep to themselves. — AFP