Debunking ghost/UFO/paranormal encounters

[GPDP]

Is there a site that looks at various encounters with the paranormal with a critical eye? I know about snopes, but that's more general urban myths rather than specifically claims about haunted houses or UFOs or whatever. I'd like to see some in-depth investigation that doesn't take for granted that spirits or gray men are actually a thing.

[PC LOAD LETTER]

here: http://skepticproject.com/forum/
specifically: http://paranormal.skepticproject.com/forum/board/paranormal/

[/URL][URL="http://skepticproject.com/forum/"] (http://skepticproject.com/forum/)

[GPDP]

here: http://skepticproject.com/forum/
specifically: http://paranormal.skepticproject.com/forum/board/paranormal/



Funnily enough, I found that site a little after I posted this, but Revleft seemed to be down for a while. Thanks for sharing anyway. Good to see some people actually seeking to find a rational explanation for so-called paranormal phenomena instead of immediately assuming it's ghosts.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Have you tried RationalWiki (http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page)?

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Have you tried RationalWiki (http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page)?
Oh god, not these people.

The website is good for debunking conspiracy theories, but it's editors' politics leave something to be desired, showing themselves up as hypocrites on the subject of bias via their various political pages.

Masculinist, hangs on every word that comes out of Chomsky's mouth, lumps together political ideas with unsubstantiated emotionalisation right after they've made an entire section on politicization of science. Yeah, I know these folks.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Oh god, not these people.

The website is good for debunking conspiracy theories, but it's editors' politics leave something to be desired, showing themselves up as hypocrites on the subject of bias via their various political pages.

Masculinist, hangs on every word that comes out of Chomsky's mouth, lumps together political ideas with unsubstantiated emotionalisation right after they've made an entire section on politicization of science. Yeah, I know these folks.

I can't say I'm particularly familiar with the overall political zeitgeist over at RationalWiki, beyond them being American liberals in general terms.

Can you give examples of masculinism? I'm interested because there's a certain section of the atheist/skeptical community who are very vocal about their feminism. Equally vocal are those atheists/skeptics opposed to that section, yet my general impression was that RationalWiki was more on the former side.

"lumps together political ideas with unsubstantiated emotionalisation" - what's this about, precisely? I'd like to know about the shortfalls of sites I read.

[Sentinel]

I'm not sure I agree things such as 'paranormal encounters', ghosts and UFOs etc deserve indepth investigation by their denouncers. I mean sure we should, for example, look for extra terrestrial life with scientific means. After all there are legitime scientific theories explaining why it probably exists.

But 'alien sightings' etc, should be considered bogus until proven otherwise. Because the burden of proof (http://www.revleft.com/vb/burden-proof-t41051/index.html) in debate is always on the one making the positive assertion, like for example that they were abducted by aliens, or, saw a 'ghost'. :rolleyes:

Otherwise we would have to take literally anything for granted. Only people's fantasy would be the limit.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I'm not sure I agree things such as 'paranormal encounters', ghosts and UFOs etc deserve indepth investigation by their denouncers. I mean sure we should, for example, look for extra terrestrial life with scientific means. After all there are legitime scientific theories explaining why it probably exists.

But 'alien sightings' etc, should be considered bogus until proven otherwise. Because the burden of proof (http://www.revleft.com/vb/burden-proof-t41051/index.html) in debate is always on the one making the positive assertion, like for example that they were abducted by aliens, or, saw a 'ghost'. :rolleyes:

Otherwise we would have to take literally anything for granted. Only people's fantasy would be the limit.

I disagree. Even if aliens haven't visited Earth and ghosts don't exist, I still think it is useful and informative to look at such things in a skeptical way.

For example, analysis of reports from those claiming to be abducted by aliens bear some striking similarities to reports from earlier in history of encounters with strange beings. So one can draw parallels between people claiming to have been taken into a flying saucer and given a whistle-stop tour of the aliens' home planet or whatever, with earlier reports from people claiming to have been abducted by witches and then taken on a flying broomstick ride. Similarities have also been noted between the phenomenon of sleep paralysis and alien encounters.

Critically analysing paranormal phenomena might not teach us much about astrobiology or the mechanisms of human consciousness, but I do think it can give us valuable insights into culture and psychology. People who are unfamiliar with the concept of aliens don't report being abducted by aliens - instead they perceive such happenings through their own cultural lens.

[Zostrianos]

I'm not sure I agree things such as 'paranormal encounters', ghosts and UFOs etc deserve indepth investigation by their denouncers. I mean sure we should, for example, look for extra terrestrial life with scientific means. After all there are legitime scientific theories explaining why it probably exists.
But 'alien sightings' etc, should be considered bogus until proven otherwise. Because the burden of proof (http://www.revleft.com/vb/burden-proof-t41051/index.html) in debate is always on the one making the positive assertion, like for example that they were abducted by aliens, or, saw a 'ghost'. :rolleyes:
Otherwise we would have to take literally anything for granted. Only people's fantasy would be the limit.

Only by investigating these things will we determine whether they're bogus or not. After all, there are unexplained phenomena that as of yet have not been debunked or explained away, which includes UFO encounters. See this thread:
http://www.revleft.com/vb/unexplained-ufo-incidents-t173762/index.html