Studies of the Paranormal

As its name indicates, the main focus of this website is paranormal phenomena. The coverage includes subjects such as apparitions, ghosts, ESP, mediums, demon possession, shadow people, telekinesis, levitation, forebodings, and night terrors. There is also a paranormal dictionary and a list of recommended literature.

When I visited the site, the feature article was about a common occurrence known as a night terror. This is described as a sleeping interruption in which a person suddenly wakes up filled with shock and terror, often screaming and moving violently, but not knowing or remembering what caused their fear. This is usually considered to be a sleep or psychological disorder. But the article discusses the possibility that it can be caused by an outside force or influence such as a ghost or other spiritual entity, and is further evidence for the reality of such entities.

An article on demonic possession says that this is one of the most widespread and best documented of all paranormal phenomena. According to the article, a possessed person can be recognized by characteristics such as superhuman strength, talking in unknown languages, strange body movements, a tendency to sudden anger and violence, and an unusually good knowledge of past events. (Apparently this knowledge of the past comes from the demon’s previous possessions of people who are now dead.) The article also discusses the possibility that demons can possess inanimate objects such as dolls.

To visit this site, go to Studies of the Paranormal. In addition to the articles, there is a collection of unusual photographs and a list of links to other paranormal sites.

Demonic Possession

In my wanderings around the web, I recently stumbled on a page about the possibility of people being possessed by demons. In many primitive societies this idea is used to explain various psychological disorders which cause abnormal behavior. But the concept is also a part of modern Christian belief, at least in some denominations.

According to the article, the Christian idea of possession stems from the biblical accounts of the ministry of Jesus. In fact the gospels describe a number of exorcisms which he performed, in each case by simply commanding an evil spirit to to leave the possessed person’s body. His ability to expel demons in this way is depicted as just another aspect of his miraculous healing powers.

Of course many of today’s Christians don’t believe in the existence of demons, so they must look for other ways to explain the gospel accounts of encounters between Jesus and possessed individuals.

Other articles on this website cover such subjects as lost gospels, speaking in tongues, stigmata, the Devil, and the location of hell. You can find the site at Unsolved Mysteries of the Bible. Some of the articles also include reproductions of well-known works of art.

Unexplained Mysteries Website

The topics covered on this website are mostly on the fringes of legitimate science, in areas such as UFOs, paranormal phenomena, strange creatures, and the possibility of life on other planets. It seems that many people are more interested in these types of subjects than in the more orthodox types of research conducted by mainstream scientists.

The heart of the site is a large encyclopedia. I estimated that it has at least a thousand entries altogether. For example, under the letter P I found items such as phantom, Philadelphia experiment, Phobos, Pluto, Phantom Drummer of Tedworth, pyromancy, and Plain of Jars.

Note: For people like me, who didn’t know these things, The Phantom Drummer of Tedworth was heard in the year 1666 by two English girls in Wiltshire. And the Plain of Jars is a plateau in Laos where more than a thousand mysterious stone jars lie on the ground. Nobody knows their real purpose, but it has been speculated that the jars were originally used to hold the bones of dead bodies.

The site also includes a very impressive Image Gallery. It is divided into a number of sections, including Ancient Mysteries, Cryptozoology, Bigfoot and Other Ape-like Beasts, Extra-terrestrial Artifacts, Optical Illusions, Human Enigmas, and World of the Bizarre. In the Ancient Mysteries section, I saw several medallions from the lost world of Atlantis, a Baghdad battery, an Aztec carving of an ancient alien astronaut, crystal skulls, and numerous other unusual ancient artifacts. It would take several hours to go through the entire Gallery.

To visit this site, go to Unexplained Mysteries. It also includes a News Report, Forums, Member Blogs, and a Chat Room.

The Miracles Page

This site contains descriptions of numerous purported modern miracles. For the convenience of visitors, the miracles are classified into various types such as healing waters, weeping statues, personal encounters with Jesus, crosses of light, crop circles, Hindu milk miracles, signs of Allah, visions of the Virgin Mary, and phantom hitchhikers. The Introduction page says that most of the reports and descriptions were collected from stories in mainstream media, including such well-known news services as Reuters, CNN, Time Magazine, and the BBC.

The section on weeping statues and paintings contains reports from all over the world. In most cases the weeping was witnessed by numerous people and quickly drew the attention of local news media. At the time of my visit to the site, the most recent story concerned a painting of Jesus at the Bethlehem Church of the Nativity in Israel. One witness said that the image of Jesus opened its eye and red tears of blood dripped down the cheek. But I’ve read elsewhere that most, if not all, of these weeping statues and paintings are actually frauds that contain hidden mechanisms which produce fake tears.

According to the section on Hindu milk miracles, numerous statues of Hindu gods and goddesses have been observed to drink milk. In one recent case, thousands of people carrying jugs of milk lined up outside the temple of the God Ganesh in Delhi, India to await their opportunity to offer the milk to a marble statue of the god.

To visit this site, go to The Miracles Page