Parapsychology

Region: Global

Lead Investigator: Agent 38

Last Updated: 27 April 2024

"Parapsychology is the study of psychic or psi phenomena (pronounced 'sigh'). These are exchanges of information between living things (mainly people, of course), or between living things and the environment, which occur with the use of what we call the 'normal' senses, and do not seem to be explicable the 'known' physical laws of nature".

This page will cover:

• History of Psychical Research,
• Debunking Flimflam,
• The 3 Types of Psi, and
• Testing Psi Abilities.

See this page for information on The Big Three specifically.

History of Psychical Research

• 1853: Studies conducted to test the validity of mediums.
• 1882: Society of Psychical Research founded, becoming the "first systematic effort to organize scientists and scholars to investigate paranormal phenomena".
• 1911: The Rhine era (named after J. B. Rhine) began when Stanford University started studying ESP and PK in the lab, followed by Duke University and many other scholarly institutes.
• 1957: The Parapsychological Association was established "to advance parapsychology as a science, to disseminate knowledge of the field, and to integrate the findings with those of other branches of science".
• 1970s-1980s: Interest in and openness to the paranormal in these decades saw a dramatic increase in the establishment of parapsychological institutions, as well as an expanision of what was being studied.
• 1978: The U.S. government formed the Stargate Project to investigate ESP research. It was declassified less than 20 years later after failing to provide any significant findings.

Debunking Flimflam

A note on the term "ghost": "Ghost" is not used in parapsychology. However, it is often used to indicate a figure or apparition when talking to clients because it is a term they are familiar with. Many mediums use the word "spirit" when they refer to a presence from "the other side" projecting back to our world, and they use "ghost" for those people who have not moved to the otherside.

Ghost hunting shows have created a new pop folklore surrounding the paranormal. This is very detrimental to true research of psi phenomena. Many people assume ghosts are dangerous, something to be feared. However, there is usually no indication of any danger, even in a large-scale parapsychological event.

No known devices are capable of detecting paranormal activity, since we do not know what we're trying to detect.

See this interview with Loyd Auerbach himself for much more excellent information on paraphychological misconceptions.

Types of Psi

"We can break psi down into two main kinds of interactions, and a third group of occurrences that don't quite seem to fit as yet."

1. ESP

• ESP is also called extrasensory perception, receptive psi, or informational psi.
• Telepathy is one type of ESP, "which is an awareness of information or emotions that exist in the mind of another" or "mind-to-mind communication".
• Clairvoyance is another type of ESP, which is "the receiving of information from objects or events at the present time without the use of the 'normal' senses or logical inference".

2. PK

• PK is also called psychokinesis, expressive psi, or "mind over matter".
• Macro-PK can actually be seen. It includes influencing material objects without touching, or making them materialize or dematerialize.
  • Psychic healing is a controversial form of Macro-PK.
  • Poltergeists, while often assumed to be their own entity, are a phenomenon caused by the stress of a living person. Most reports of poltergeists include objects moving of their own will or things breaking.
• Micro-PK occurs at a molecular level, not visible to the naked eye. There have been many studies on the legitimacy of this.

3. Other Types

• Apparitions are consciousness surviving outside of the body that are capable of interaction. This can happen after the death of the body, or during an "out of body experience" or "astral projection".
• Hauntings are replays or recordings of past people's actions.
  • For example: a shadowy figure is seen in the kitchen each evening, seemingly preparing food. This is a replay of someone who once lived here.
  • Another example: if a divorcing couple fought a lot in their apartment, the person who moves in next may pick up on their residual "bad vibes". This is an emotional haunting.
  • Hauntings have nothing to do with dead people sticking around.
• Mediums serve as a "an intermediary between the physical world and that so-called plane of existence where the spirits of the dead reside".
  • "Physical mediums are those whose seances or contact sessions bring about not only verbal messages from the dead, but more commonly, physical disturbances" (floating objects, strange noises, things disappearing, etc.).
  • "Mental mediums are those who claim to speak directly with the dead, and who may have those contacted entities speak through them" and are also known as channels.
  • Not to be confused with psychics, who "predict the future" and do not talk to spirits (Mediums deal with people, psychics deal with information). L.I.C.E. does not work with psychics, the vast majority of whom are scammers. We often have found mediums to be interested in and in touch with the science, and are usually very truthful and helpful.
• Reincarnation is "the ancient idea of a spirit or soul reborn in another body". This is often debunked as another form of clairvoyance or simply the subconscious making up or recalling learned facts.
• Near-death experiences occur when someone is clinically dead for a period of time, but is resuscitated with memories of the "afterlife" (usually a bright tunnel).

Testing Psi Abilities

• Zener Cards were often used in the early days of psychical research. The test subject is asked to use their psychic ability to see the symbol on the card. There are many ways of setting up this experiment, depending on what type of psi ability is being tested.
• Tattva Vision cards, much like Zener Cards, depict symbols. The subject is asked to psychically see what is on the card.
• A Ganzfeld Experiment is the use of visual and auditory deprivation to allow an individual to focus on their psychic senses. Usually, the experiment itself involves a "sender" who sees a photo or video and attempts to psychically send the image to the "reciever", who is a seperate location. The receiver is put in the Ganzfeld state and "continuously speaks aloud all mental processes". At the end of the session, the reciever is shown a series of images, one of which is the actual image seen/sent by the sender, and attempts to guess which is the actual image".

Resources

Forever Family Foundation

Rhine Research Center

What Is Parapsychology

Paranormal Terminology

A Scientific Approach to the Paranormal, Carrie Poppy TED Talk

10 Scientific Theories to Explain Why We See Ghosts

Buzzfeed Unsolved's BEST Ghost Evidence

Interview With Loyd Auerbach

Ghost Hunting with Loyd Auerbach

Psychokinesis (PK) With Loyd Auerbach

Note: Anecdotes and Case Synopses from Loyd Auerbach available on request, contact your advisor.

This information is CONFIDENTIAL and may only be accessed by authorized personnel of LICE.

For corrections, questions, or further information, please contact your advisor.

Return To Database