Paranormal America: Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture by Christopher D. Bader

Author:Christopher D. Bader [Bader, Christopher D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781479815289
Amazon: 0814791352
Barnesnoble: 0814791352
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Th

e TBRC desires to enhance the credibility of bigfoot/sasquatch research and facilitate a greater degree of acceptance by the scientifi c community and other segments of society of the likelihood of a biological basis behind the sasquatch phenomenon.

Th

e TBRC is steadfast in its belief that Bigfoot is simply an undiscovered animal that science will one day recognize. Its members dream of Bigfoot moving out of the tabloids and into the academy. Bigfoot paranormalists threaten these ambitions. With their outlandish theories and colorful personalities, Beckjord, Stan Johnson, and others further convince already wary academics and government agencies that Bigfoot is a fringe topic from which serious people should stay away. “We have lots of scientists that quietly support us, “ David told us, “but they don’t say it publicly because they are worried about their reputations.” To date most have not taken the time to truly examine their evidence, David told us, but merely dismiss it out of hand.

David and other TBRC members make a point of talking about their

level of skepticism to try to counteract the perception that Bigfoot is a silly subject. “Just because I hunt Bigfoot doesn’t mean I believe everything I hear. I’m a skeptic,” one told us. At TBRC meetings we have heard speakers who spent as much time debunking potential cases as they did presenting exciting new pieces of evidence.12 More importantly, David told us, the group is very careful to avoid being caught up in “that UFO

nonsense.”13 Potential members who wonder if Bigfoot might be a visiting extraterrestrial or who attribute psychic powers to the beast are discouraged from joining, lest they further muddy the waters. Th

ose with a more

paranormalist bent on Bigfoot are unlikely to agree with the clear biological stance outlined in the group’s materials, and if they were to join they would fi nd little hearing for their theories. Th

is is not to suggest that the

TBRC is rude or close-minded, they just have a clear perspective on the nature of their enterprise.

Paranormal People 141

Popular and academic discussions oft en treat the paranormal as an either/or proposition. Either you are “normal” and do not believe in topics such as Bigfoot, UFOs, and psychic phenomena, or you are deviant and believe in the paranormal. Th

e reality is much more complicated. Among

paranormal believers we fi nd a strong distinction between people like Laura, who see their involvement with the paranormal as a lifelong exploration of the unknown in many forms, and people like David, who are seeking credibility and focus upon only one subject. David tries very hard to make sure that his topic of interest is not associated with other paranormal topics. Laura sees the paranormal as an interconnected, holistic web of beliefs and experiences, waiting to be explored. She is a paranormal person. David has almost reluctantly found himself involved in the study of Bigfoot and will not cross the line into other topics.

Th

e diff erences between David and Laura may seem idiosyncratic and unique to their biographies. In fact, we can

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.