A Look into About.Com: Paranormal Phenomena

Do you believe in ghosts? To some, this may seem a silly question, particularly in an age of modern science and technology. Paranormal.about.com, however, aims to challenge non-believers and educate you about this field.

The site's creator, Stephen Wagner, "has been an investigator of many aspects of paranormal phenomena for over 30 years," according to his bio. A member of Central New York Ghost Hunters, Wagner hopes to shed some light on this fascinating subject with his regularly updated web page.

Seeing Is Believing?

Newcomers to the site will definitely want to peruse the "Best Ghost Photos Ever Taken" section. Included there are some of the most famous (and arguably most convincing) ghost photos taken throughout history. Among them is the renowned photo of "The Brown Lady," taken at Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England. To some, in fact, this photo is the quintessential ghost photo.

Another must-see among the photo collection is that of "Freddy Jackson," a mechanic in Britain's Royal Air Force who was killed prior to the photo shoot. The photo in question is a shot of his squadron, which had served in World War I; in the top row of officers, a vaporous face appears behind the fourth one from the left.

They Lived to Tell the Tale

Besides ghost photos, which basically appear all over the Web, Wagner collects "Your True Tales" each month and publishes them on the site. In other words, site visitors submit their personal encounters with the paranormal, and Wagner picks a handful of them (approximately 25) to appear on the page. Not all of these tales involve ghosts; some tell of UFOs, Bigfoot, doppelgangers (derived from the German word for double), out-of-body experiences (OBEs), and even stranger events that defy categorization.

Speaking of which, one of the best true stories submitted by a reader is entitled "Incident on the Road to Sydney." The author, "Michael," tells of traveling from the Australian Capital Territory to Sydney one night, and some very bizarre and terrifying experiences he had there. The main things that separate his story from many of the others are its attention to detail and the disconnection from most of your average ghost stories (in other words, there's no specific ghost to speak of in this one).

Games People Play

While visitors to the site may find much of the material scary, some of it is meant to be pure fun. The "Strange Tales" game, for instance, takes four fright-filled narratives and asks site users like you to determine which one is false. The one false story, each time, is written by Mr. Wagner himself. Most recently, the contest has featured the stories "The Disappearance of Oliver Larch"; "His Own Ghost"; "Entity with a Mission"; and "The Fishing Bigfoot." At present, stories #2 and #3 are tied in popularity as to which is false. Wagner has revealed the answer, but see if you can figure it out for yourself!

Wagner also hosts an annual "Photo Hoax Contest," in which readers submit their admittedly fake photos of UFOs, ghosts, monsters, etc. Each year, a winner is chosen and featured on the front page. All of the submitted photos, however, are put into a slideshow for all to see.

Examining the Evidence

In other sections of the site, Wagner goes into detail explaining what various types of paranormal and supernatural phenomena actually mean. While much "ghostly" evidence is largely unexplained, there are some types of phenomena that paranormal researchers have been able to at least categorize.

ITC (Instrumental Trans-Communication), for example, is what some believe can take place using a photo or video camera and a TV. In the case of the still photo camera, people have occasionally taken a picture of a TV while it was in the "off" position, and an image has appeared in the photo that they didn't see while snapping it.

In the video camera method, connect the camera to a TV so that what you record is displayed onscreen; next, point the video camera at the screen. In effect, this produces a picture in a picture, etc. This infinite loop, some researchers believe, is the frequency on which ghosts operate. After the equipment has been set up, you should then record the feedback loop displayed on the TV. When played back, some believe that "faces" have been seen in the recorded footage.

As with nearly all paranormal phenomena, ITC has been the subject of much criticism and debate. According to Wikipedia's entry "Electronic Voice Phenomenon," in the 1840s-1920s, the Spiritualist movement reached such popularity that Thomas Edison, in an interview with Scientific American, was asked about the possibility of using his inventions to correspond with spirits.

A subcategory of ITC is the previously mentioned Electronic Voice Phenomenon, or EVP, which The Element Encyclopedia of Ghosts & Hauntings defines as "Communication from a voice recorded on a tape recorder from [sic] which there is no known source."

On Wagner's site, there are some very interesting examples of EVP. In particular, you may want to listen to "The Most Horrific EVP Ever Recorded," captured by the Central New York Ghost Hunters in an anonymous hotel in upstate New York. Often, many EVP recordings are very brief, consisting of a few words or a single sentence. In this case, however, the recording is quite long and contains some highly disturbing content. About halfway through the clip, you can clearly hear what sounds like a struggle, and possibly a woman being raped and murdered.

Close Encounters, Alternate Dimensions

A number of the visitor-submitted stories deal with UFOs, aliens, and strange creatures as well. Again, whether they are true or not is highly subject to your opinion, but the readers themselves swear by them.

At the very least, some of the narratives are very well-written, entertaining, and scary. In the June 2009 "True Tales," one reader tells of an experience entitled "Time Slip to a Nightmare," a story so strange you may have to read it several times to comprehend it. Even if you don't personally believe the stories, several make excellent campfire tales or Halloween scare-inducers.

So Is It Worth It?

If you have the spare time, and such things as ghosts, ESP, UFOs, and the Bermuda Triangle interest you, then absolutely. Stephen Wagner has taken the time to make this a thoroughly fascinating and informative site on the paranormal.

Plus, if you have ever personally been through one such experience, you may have the chance to publish it on the site! Wouldn't it be great to share your story with the world?

Just be careful about reading it late at night...you may not sleep.