ARPAST.org

ARPAST is a science-based research group dedicated to furthering our measured understanding of anomalous and unexplained phenomena. Our goal is not to "prove" or "disprove" the existence of "ghosts" or "spirits." To carry such an agenda would be to presume an understanding of that which is not currently completely understood. 

We are NOT "ghost busters," nor do we do "interventions", "cleansings", or "exorcisms." BEWARE - those who claim to provide such "services" are irresponsibly propagating fraudulent claims. Since paranormal phenomena remains mostly unexplained, how could anyone effectively provide those services with any certainty of success?

To that end, our mission is to document, collect, and analyze environmental and corroborated data surrounding paranormal events, using scientific methodologies, state-of-the-art equipment, software applications, and custom relational databases, while ruling out or uncovering any possible explanatory causes for such phenomena.

Utilizing this unique methodology, we hope to reveal and examine correlations while uncovering statistical trends which may lead us to better understand the mechanics of such phenomena. We believe that this, in turn, may lead to a better, objective understanding of the nature of the phenomena as well.

By ARPAST President / Founder Larry Flaxman (larry@arpast.org)

Why Skeptics Are Wrong About Paranormal Phenomena

I actually had written an entirely different article on Critical Thinking and the Paranormal, and was ready to publish it when I, ran across this from our Winston Wu and our friends at The Scientific Committee to Evaluate Pseudo-Skeptical Criticism of the Paranormal and thought it would make for an interesting and engaging article. Let us know what you think - info@arpast.org

Media Skeptics (or pseudoskeptics as we call them) are fond of saying, "There's no evidence for any paranormal or psychic phenomena" no matter how much evidence is shown to them, even if it's a mountainful. They always find excuses to deny or dismiss the evidence, even in the most unreasonable and irrational manner, then go back to repeating this claim as though it were a religious Gospel Law that could never be overturned. This is extremely aggravating because it's like trying to reason with someone who chooses to be blind and ignorant, and in total denial of facts and reality.

But the reality is that for some popular paranormal phenomena such as ESP or ghosts, there is plenty of long standing evidence of several types - anecdotal, experiential and scientific. Controlled scientific experiments have yielded positive results for ESP for many years. From the 1940's with JB Rhine, to the current day with Dr. Charles Tart, Dr. Gary Schwartz, Rupert Sheldrake, and many other scientists, positive and consistent results for psi have been found to exist far above chance under controlled conditions. And series of psi experiments that have been repeated for years known as The Ganzfeld Experiments, Autoganzfeld Experiments and PEAR (Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research) have yielded statistically significant and consistent results above chance as well.

In addition, the anecdotal and experiential evidence is overwhelming. Studies show that at least half the population of the world has had paranormal experiences, and according to the National Science Foundation, "60% of American either AGREE or STRONGLY AGREE that some people either possess psychic abilities or extrasensory perception". That's A LOT, no doubt. Common sense would tell you that if half the people in the world have experienced something, then it's pretty much certain that there's something to it other than fraud, misperception and fantasy, especially since a good number of these experiencers include credible down-to-earth people as well. Likewise, large percentage of people of all types from all walks of life have experienced ghosts too.

So you see, the evidence for such common paranormal phenomena is huge. As Parapsychologist Author Dean Radin has said, the evidence for psi is so solid and robust that if the same quality of evidence existed for something non-paranormal, it would definitely have been accepted as proven. But because the paranormal is considered taboo in the scientific establishment, there is a sort of censorship and knowledge filtration toward it. There is an automatic negative stigma and bias toward it that assumes that only crackpots believe in such things. So any scientist who openly supports the legitimacy of paranormal phenomena seriously jeopardizes their career and image among their colleagues. Thus, most scientists who believe in some paranormal phenomena will not declare it publicly, but become close enthusiasts. Mr. Radin discovered this, as many scientists confided in him their secret unofficial interest and belief that some of the paranormal is real.

Even in regard to UFO's, there is plenty of evidence for them of several types. UFO photos and videos are controversial and vague of course, but many credible eyewitnesses, including Air Force Pilots and Astronauts, have seen them. They've also been tracked on radar doing aerial maneuvers that man-made aircraft could not do. (And as you know, hallucinations do not appear on radar.) In one famous official incident known as the Washington Merry Go Round Incident of 1952, jet fighters were scrambled to intercept UFO's after they had been tracked on radar. Afterward, to quell public panic, the incident was quickly dismissed though never fully explained. Nevertheless, something significant happened to trigger the alarm and scrambling of fighters, and it wasn't "zero evidence" for sure. But if you think that UFO evidence is strictly confined to obscure sightings, think again. The famous Bentwaters UFO Incident that occurred on an American military base in England in 1980 involving two dozen military witnesses, including Colonel Halt, of an up-close UFO sighting, remains an undebunked and compelling case. And after years of extensive investigations and interviews with Alien Abductees by Budd Hopkins and John Mack, who wrote books on the phenomenon, they concluded that there was more to the abduction experience than mere hallucination or sleep paralysis. In addition, public coalitions such as The Disclosure Project have brought forth a large pool of high ranking government, military and intelligence officials and insiders, over 400 currently, who have confessed to personal knowledge of government involvement with UFO's and ET technology, and the cover ups and secrecy surrounding it. (See a video of their testimonies at a public conference here)

Now, that's certainly NOT "zero evidence"!

Nevertheless, pseudoskeptics who claim to only want evidence continue to declare that "there is no evidence" when they get plenty of it from credible sources. Obviously, they are in a state of perpetual denial and cognitive dissonance. They deny and filter out anything that doesn't fit into their materialistic reductionistic view of reality, especially anything that has to do with paranormal or conspiracies, no matter what evidence is presented, even if its documented and scientific. One thing they are they not open to is possibilities. Any possibility that challenges the views of the establishment is simply not possible to them, even if the claims of the establishment itself are not scientific or contradicted by facts. It doesn't even have to be paranormal, it can be ANYTHING that opposes the official version of events, including conspiracies and lies by corrupt government officials or even the existence of shadow governments (which were acknowledged to exist in the 80's with the Iran Contra Scandal). Thus, their bias and blind faith in authority as dogma is revealed.

Even if a highly credible source with a long history of accuracy suddenly makes a paranormal claim or a claim against an established view, they automatically dismiss it as bunk before even looking into it. If they do look into it, it will not be to learn the truth about it, but to debunk it. They will even deny evidence from scientific experiments as well. All the while, they tout, "Show me the evidence. Where's the evidence?" Yet when they are shown the evidence, they merely dismiss it or ignore it, acting as though they heard nothing, then go back to repeating that there's no evidence. I've seen them do this for years, in the media, on websites, in forum discussions, and on my own mailing list. It's as though they were deaf and totally belief oriented, seeing only what they want to see.

The problem for these skeptics is that their denial and cognitive dissonance does NOT erase the evidence from reality. It may erase it from their own minds, but it does not the erase the evidence itself. Thus, it can be said that they are deluded and do not face up to reality.

ParaExplorers – The word itself is a juxtaposition of the concept of a “Pair of Explorers.” This play on words perfectly describes our mission and overall goal. We are two explorers who have embarked on a lifelong journey of knowledge, information and facts. Two souls united with the common objective and purpose of discovering universal truths regarding the world we live in.

Mystery, intrigue, and the unknown have been inextricably linked to the human experience since time immemorial. Within the context of rational science, there has been little serious interest shown from mainstream disciplines.

We are reminded of the legendary Star Trek preamble used in the title sequence of the original Star Trek:

“Space - the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Our ambitious goals are singularly focused, and closely mirror those of Captain Kirk’s intrepid starship explorers. Rather than exploring extraterrestrial, alien landscapes, we will instead focus on exploring strange new worlds right here on earth. Worlds which hereto forth remain wholly unexplored and uncharted. We will investigate both new and ancient civilizations and cultures. We will study all manner of unexplained phenomena in a scientifically objective manner.

We will boldly go where no man, or woman, has gone before.