Bigfoot. Alien abduction. Backwards masking. Haunted houses. If you have access to the Internet, social media, television, or any other pop culture outlet, odds are you’ve been exposed to ideas about the paranormal, and these ideas may or may not have been accompanied by a set of tropes about people who believe in the paranormal. Conspiracy beliefs, wacky behavior, and tinfoil hats are frequent clichés. Despite these stereotypes, both paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences are surprisingly common in various Western countries (Hoogeveen et al. 2024; Halligan and Pechey 2011; Loxton and Prothero 2013, 310-311). For instance, when given a list of ten paranormal topics and asked whether they believed, 73% of American adults responded “yes” to at least one topic (Loxton and Prothero 2013, 311).
“Paranormal” is roughly defined as any topic that cannot be explained by or is not supported by science, and some researchers add the additional criterion that the subject must also not be promoted by any mainstream religion (Loxton and Prothero 2013, 310). This definition begs an interesting question: if neither science nor religion are a source of such ideas, why do people believe in the paranormal and report paranormal experiences? (At least, it begs the question if we assume that reports of being probed by aliens, hearing Satanic propaganda in Led Zeppelin songs, or sighting 600-foot long sea serpents are not based in reality.)
There are a few immediate explanations for paranormal events. Overactive imaginations and pop culture’s frequent reinforcement of the idea that the known laws of physics need not apply to every situation could easily be factors in many reports of strange phenomena. A significant percentage of paranormal reports can be proven to be intentional frauds or hoaxes. Additionally, some people who report anomalous events have severe neurological or psychiatric disorders that cause them to experience and believe in events or ideas that do not exist.
The above explanations account for situations in which the “paranormal” event can easily be proven to be false. What about the remaining cases, then? One tempting idea is that people who claim to have experienced the paranormal are simply stupid, ignorant, or uneducated. Those people might believe in ghosts, but you know better. You always look at the evidence before forming an opinion; you apply your knowledge and common sense to every situation! However, this hypothesis isn’t clearly supported by scientific evidence. A review of 71 studies by Charlotte Dean et al. examined the effects of six different cognitive variables (perception and cognitive biases; reasoning; intelligence, critical thinking, and academic performance; thinking style; executive function; and other cognitive functions) on paranormal belief and found weak and inconsistent evidence for all variables (Dean et al. 2022). The analysis seemed to find some evidence of a direct relationship between paranormal belief and an intuitive thinking style (which is faster and guided by emotion). However, it failed to find a consistent inverse relationship between paranormal belief and an analytical thinking style (slower and more logic-based). The authors ultimately came to the conclusion that a number of factors were likely at play and that no one influence determined whether or not an individual would claim belief in one or more paranormal topics (Dean et al. 2022). Furthermore, a quick look at a number of famous scientists provides additional evidence against the “true believers are dumb” explanation. Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, and Alan Turing, for example, were all believers in some aspect of the paranormal, despite clearly being intelligent and educated and despite the fact that they all made valuable contributions to science (Hoogeveen et al. 2024). (Fun fact: Turing apparently cited ESP as evidence in service of his opinion that computers were incapable of human thought [Hoogeveen et al. 2024].) In light of these evaluations, it seems that the idea that paranormal belief is the result of subpar thinking is overly simplistic at best and pejorative at worst.
So what prompts an otherwise reasonable, intelligent, and mentally functional individual to believe in something that is strange, illogical, and contrary to what we know about how the world works? One obvious factor stands out: having a paranormal experience could easily influence paranormal belief. Some studies have found moderate correlations between anomalous experiences and anomalous beliefs, though it has been noted that many people who believe in some aspect of the paranormal do not claim any anomalous experience (Halligan and Pechey 2011). Given this information, it seems that there is some relationship between experiencing and believing in the paranormal, though researchers don’t yet know much about it. It could be that having a strange paranormal experience leads directly to paranormal belief. On the other hand, paranormal belief may cause paranormal experiences by influencing a person’s interpretation of strange events. In addition, some other variable or variables, such as time spent consuming media that promotes pseudoscience, affects both experiences and beliefs. With this limitation in mind, this article will explore unusual sensory experiences as a potential cause of belief in the paranormal.
One might think that human sensations and perceptions are very accurate most of the time, but our brains can make surprisingly large errors, and our senses can fail us even under the best circumstances. The following sensory phenomena can happen to anyone, regardless of their intelligence, education, or mental health. They range from ordinary mistakes made by our brains to cases where a scary malfunction occurs.
Pareidolia
What do you see in these pictures?
Photos from Science.org, Behance.net, and Skepdic.org
If your answer for any of them was “a face,” then you’ve experienced a phenomenon known as pareidolia, in which a person sees a clear, meaningful visual pattern in random or vague stimuli (French 2001). This happens when our brains take our ability to remember and recognize objects a step too far.
Pareidolia’s effects are not limited to faces (have you ever seen a cloud that looks like an animal?), but seeing a face where there isn’t one is a famous illusion for a reason. A great deal of the supposed evidence of alien visitation to Earth involves photos of the surface of Mars that proponents claim are sculptures created by a Martian civilization (above right) (The Skeptic’s Dictionary 2013). Such claims would be amazing if true, but unfortunately, these “faces on Mars” are simply unusual rock formations. We only see meaning in them because our brains have applied our ability to recognize human faces to nonhuman objects. Although there is some evidence that religious people and believers in the paranormal are more likely than nonbelievers to see faces in random stimuli, anyone can be fooled by this illusion (Riekki et al. 2012, French 2001). Despite the fact that the faces on Mars and similar phenomena have been revealed as pareidolia, the images still fool many people and create or confirm their belief in intelligent extraterrestrial life.
(Since the initial commotion about Martian monuments in 1976, the features have been further investigated by NASA and confirmed to be a natural ridge [NASA 2001]. See a higher-resolution image below.)
Photo from Nasa
Top-Down Processing
Photo from Pinterest
Top-down processing is a phenomenon in which a person has knowledge or expectations about an event or sensation prior to the actual experience which influence what they sense. As with pareidolia, it’s a normal function of the human nervous system. Top-down processing can organize visual information and help someone figure out what to focus on (Gilbert and Li, 2013). This feature can lead us to sense inaccurately, however, if we are misled about what to expect, and it is particularly influential when bottom-up processing (using one’s senses without relying on previous ideas) is impeded (French 2001).
One intersection between top-down processing and paranormal belief is experiencing the presence of a ghost or spirit. In many cases, a person will see a ghost in dim lighting or darkness, while they are unable to rely much on bottom-up processing. Spirit encounters also frequently occur during visits to a “haunted” house or a historical site where someone has died or experienced great suffering. Advance knowledge of ghost lore has an obvious top-down influence on any unusual visual stimuli.
Other ghost-related sensory experiences can be found in electronic voice phenomena, or EVP. According to many believers in ghosts, tape recorders can capture messages from spirits, and their voices can be heard by listening to static-filled recordings. Interestingly, the same idea is applied to the belief that certain rock songs contain backwards Satanic messages. Supposedly, if one plays a song backward, one can hear the singers’ voices reciting statements praising the devil. (Note that this phenomenon is distinct from cases in which rock groups are known to have intentionally added backwards dialogue into their songs.) Both of these phenomena can be confirmed as the result of top-down processing with a very simple experiment: when an EVP or backwards recording is played for a person who doesn’t know what they are “supposed” to hear, they rarely report hearing a message, and sometimes not even a voice (French 2001). Since these recordings are almost always presented with a transcript, however, the listener is provided with cues suggesting what they should hear. The recordings reinforce themselves with the power of top-down processing, providing “conclusive proof” of ghosts or Satanism.
Misidentification Errors
Photos from Shutterstock
In addition to the sensory quirks described above, the human brain is capable of a large number of garden-variety errors when trying to identify a person or object. As stated above, we often assume that any person, when presented with an image, can immediately understand what they are looking at and identify it with almost 100% accuracy. However, our perception is much more fallible than we would like to think, especially when an event happens quickly or viewing conditions are imperfect. A number of situational factors, including but not limited to sleepiness, poor eyesight, distractions, emotions, and stress can also interfere with a person’s perception, causing them to confidently misidentify objects that they have seen or completely miss objects that they should have noticed (Loxton and Prothero 2013, 14 and 59).
In many anomalous encounters, especially those involving paranormal animals (aka “cryptids”) such as Bigfoot, sightings are frequently the result of the misidentification of normal animals and objects. In the book Abominable Science! Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids, one of the authors recalls an amusing anecdote about a personal experience with misidentification errors (Loxton and Prothero 2013, 56-57). Two coworkers had told him about spotting a Sasquatch while they were out on the job in a rural area. They claimed that they had seen something that looked very similar to the legendary animal and that it had turned its head to watch them. When the group had the chance to go back to the scene of the sighting, they discovered that their Bigfoot was in fact an unusually shaped tree stump!
Inanimate objects are unlikely to be the sole source of Bigfoot sightings, but there are plenty of other Bigfoot-like objects that people can misidentify. For example, bears are similar in description to the pop-culture image of Bigfoot, being large, bulky mammals with brown or black fur and having thick, short necks. Additionally, bears are able to stand and walk on their hind legs for short periods of time, furthering the similarity (Loxton and Prothero 2013, 57-58). Add that to the fact that in many Bigfoot sightings, the mystery animal is seen from far away, in dim lighting or darkness, with other objects such as rocks, trees, and leaves obscuring the view of the observer, and the probability of Bigfoot actually being a series of bear sightings seems very high. With this is mind, it may not be surprising that one study has found that the supposed range of Bigfoot habitat (based on sighting reports) corresponds almost exactly to black bear habitat (Loxton and Prothero 2013, 57).
Sleep Paralysis
Photo from SoundCloud
Sleep paralysis is a strange, confusing, and often terrifying experience. Normally, a person’s muscles are paralyzed while they are in REM sleep, which is a normal function of the brain. However, in some cases, a person becomes paralyzed when falling asleep or waking up, and they realize that they cannot move (French 2001). Sleep paralysis episodes are frequently accompanied by hallucinations, including but not limited to sensations of levitating, pressure on one’s chest, sensing evil intruders, being attacked, and auditory hallucinations (French 2001, Sharpless and Barber 2011). Although no actual harm is done, many people who have suffered through this phenomenon feel extremely afraid and confused about their experience.
The symptoms of sleep paralysis are remarkable in their own right, but it has also been noted that they match closely with accounts of alien abductions. People who claim to have been kidnapped by extraterrestrial visitors generally describe being paralyzed, sensing nonhuman figures in their room, and flying. All of these features are associated with sleep paralysis, and abductions are also frequently said to happen at night (Holden and French 2010). The similarities are prominent enough that a large percentage of alien abduction cases could actually be instances of sleep paralysis. Self-described alien abductees may simply not be sufficiently informed about sleep problems to correctly identify their experience.
Sleep paralysis is relatively common in the general population. Though it usually occurs as a symptom of narcolepsy, anyone can experience it (Sharpless and Barber 2011, Holden and French 2010). It is difficult to determine how many people experience sleep paralysis due to the inconsistent findings of studies on the subject, but some research has found that as many as 40% of all people have had a sleep paralysis experience (Holden and French 2010). In other cases, researchers have settled on more modest estimates, such as a review that concluded that less than 8% of the general population had experienced it (Sharpless and Barber 2011). Still, sleep paralysis seems common, especially given that the human population is over 8 billion. Even if the lower 8% finding is accurate, almost 27 million people in the US alone will have an episode at least once in their lifetime!
In short, there are many aspects of the paranormal that have perfectly mundane explanations. Sensory quirks and altered states of consciousness have greater influences on us than we know, and they can produce convincing and powerful anomalous experiences. The general public is not well informed about phenomena such as pareidolia, top-down processing, misidentification errors, and sleep paralysis. At the same time, everyone is susceptible to them, because everyone occasionally faces situations that are confusing and ambiguous. Everyone can misinterpret a strange situation that feeds a belief in a paranormal topic. When taking these facts into account, it is not so surprising that so many people believe, even without evidence that any of it is real.
References:
Dean, Charlotte E., et al. “Paranormal Beliefs and Cognitive Function: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Study Quality across Four Decades of Research.” PLOS ONE, vol. 17, no. 5, 4 May 2022, p. e0267360, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267360.
“Face on Mars – the Skeptic’s Dictionary – Skepdic.com.” Skepdic.com, 2016, skepdic.com/faceonmars.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
French, Christopher. “Paranormal Perception? A Critical Evaluation.” Monograph Series No. 42, The Institute for Cultural Research, 2001.
Gilbert, Charles D., and Wu Li. “Top-down Influences on Visual Processing.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 14, no. 5, 18 Apr. 2013, pp. 350–363, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3864796/, https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3476.
“Highest-Resolution View of “Face on Mars.”” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 24 May 2001, www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia03225-highest-resolution-view-of-face-on-mars/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
Holden, Katharine J., and Christopher C. French. “Alien Abduction Experiences: Some Clues from Neuropsychology and Neuropsychiatry.” Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, vol. 7, no. 3, Aug. 2010, pp. 163–178, https://doi.org/10.1080/13546800244000058.
Hoogeveen, S, et al. “Prevalence, Patterns and Predictors of Paranormal Beliefs in the Netherlands: A Several-Analysts Approach.” Royal Society Open Science, vol. 11, no. 9, 1 Sept. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240049. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.
Loxton, Daniel, and Donald R Prothero. Abominable Science! : Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids. New York, Columbia University Press, 2015.
Pechey, Rachel, and Peter Halligan. “Prevalence and Correlates of Anomalous Experiences in a Large Non-Clinical Sample.” Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, vol. 85, no. 2, 16 June 2011, pp. 150–162, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044- 8341.2011.02024.x.
Riekki, Tapani, et al. “Paranormal and Religious Believers Are More Prone to Illusory Face Perception than Skeptics and Non-Believers.” Applied Cognitive Psychology, vol. 27, no. 2, 2 Oct. 2012, pp. 150–155, https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2874.
Sharpless, Brian A., and Jacques P. Barber. “Lifetime Prevalence Rates of Sleep Paralysis: A Systematic Review.” Sleep Medicine Reviews, vol. 15, no. 5, Oct. 2011, pp. 311–315, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3156892/, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2011.01.007.
