Saturday, January 03, 2009





10 Flimsy Paranormal Hoaxes Everyone Bought Into

Everyone enjoys a good hoax regardless of their personal beliefs about the paranormal. The following are examples of famous hoaxes that captivated the personal interest and imagination in their time, only to let everyone down once the truth emerged. Some still believe that these are true.

(Via Reality Carnival.)


The section on crop glyphs isn't entirely accurate: the increasingly complex designs that grace British fields aren't drunken pranks, but products of a far more interesting network of "underground" landscape artists with surprisingly sophisticated intellectual resources and an equally robust aesthetic acumen. By dismissing crop circles as so much silliness, we miss an important opportunity to observe a true sociological phenomenon in the midst of unfolding.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember reading about how a lot of haunted house "experiences" were triggered by gas lamps causing carbon monoxide poisoning.

quick google:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_house#Carbon_monoxide
"Some of the phenomena generally associated with haunted houses, including strange visions and sounds, feelings of dread, illness, and the sudden, apparently inexplicable death of all the occupants, can be attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning.[5] Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include listlessness, depression, dementia, emotional disturbances, and hallucinations.

Mac said...

Interesting! Have you read anything by Albert Budden? He suggests that some "hauntings" may be due to EM anomalies interfering with temporal lobe function.

Anonymous said...

Let me disapoint you: I know absolutely nothing about Albert Budden. My very first reaction to his theory you mentioned would be: let me be Scully to your Mulder. ;)
Buy hey, the mind is like a parachute right? (cryptic!)

Unknown said...

Deluded as I may be, I believe not all Crop Circles are explainable.

The nodes! Wont someone think of the nodes!

Anonymous said...

Or the flaming globes.

Mac said...

Deluded as I may be, I believe not all Crop Circles are explainable.

There are some examples that seem to have an energetic (as opposed to a merely mechanical) origin. While I doubt aliens have anything to do with them, that doesn't keep me from speculating . . .

Unknown said...

I agree. I like the idea of an undiscovered energy, or consciousness, creating some of these circles.

But aliens? Nah.

Mac said...

I like the idea of an undiscovered energy, or consciousness, creating some of these circles.

I like that idea for several reasons, not the least of which is the prospect of learning how to consciously interact/harness said "energy."