A British Columbia professor has spent the past two years hanging out with Sasquatch seekers, ghost hunters and UFO enthusiasts, trying to figure out what makes them believe. Now, he鈥檚 ready to share some preliminary findings.
Paul Kingsbury, a cultural geographer at Simon Fraser University, tells 麻豆传媒 Channel that he decided to study committed paranormal investigators after reading a newspaper op-ed decrying the rise of reality TV shows on ghosts and aliens, which haven鈥檛 been proven by science.
Kingsbury didn鈥檛 agree with the op-ed writer that people who believe in the paranormal should be dismissed so easily, and he wanted to find out more. So far, his work has involved everything from Sasquatch conferences to UFO investigation websites to nights out hunting for ghosts.
Kingsbury鈥檚 study is only half finished, but he does have some preliminary findings that he presented Wednesday in Vancouver.
鈥淧aranormal investigators are just like anyone else in terms of their socio-economic backgrounds, education levels or psychological well-being,鈥� he told before the lecture.
鈥淢ost of them have had profound paranormal experiences and simply strive to learn more,鈥� he added. 鈥淭hey are driven by passion and do not charge money for their investigative services.鈥�
Kingsbury said ghost hunters, also known as mediums, 鈥渁re not necessarily going to prove the existence of ghosts.鈥� Instead, he said, 鈥渢hey're looking to give solace or closure to their clients.鈥�
Kingsbury won鈥檛 say whether he believes in any paranormal activity, but he did have at least one experience where he 鈥渟ensed鈥� something 鈥渙n the other side.鈥�
He says he was in the basement of the Vancouver Police Museum with ghost hunters late one night, in a room where cadavers had been drained of their blood.
鈥淥ne group was using a spirit box, which is a radio scanner that goes through frequencies at high speed looking for EVPs or electronic voice phenomena,鈥� he explained. 鈥淢y sense was that there was a possibility of an intelligent entity on the other side.鈥�
However, he added that he was asked to 鈥減ose a question鈥� and 鈥減olitely declined.鈥�
鈥淚 think that speaks volumes,鈥� he said.
With files from CTV Vancouver鈥檚 Nafeesa Karim and Kendra Mangione
