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I just wanted to make this thread in the hopes that others may join together to put aside personal bias and belief and form somewhat of an objective repository for alternatives to common assumptions when it comes to the paranormal.
For instance, providing the alternative to "orbs" as being "dust particles" being the most obvious example.
However, I would like to utilize the resources of our collective minds, believers and skeptics alike, to catalog any number of possible explanations to common perspectives of events and phenomena so that they may serve as a resource to others seeking to explain events prior to making a judgment about them.
I don't mean this to be solely a skeptic's comeback repository. I do encourage debate for both sides, however I'm hoping we can use this as a place to offer up alternative theories in regard to events that people may be witnessing, not in the intent to disprove, but to offer up various other possibilities that others may not have considered.
To start this off:
I have a cat that stares at the corner of the wall from time to time, often tracing a pattern, as though he's seeing some invisible movement that I cannot see. I have heard of many other people experiencing this same phenomenon. However, I have not seen many other people address the fact that cats (and dogs) have far better hearing than humans do. In fact, cats (and dogs) hear well outside the frequency range that humans can hear. It's also a fact that their ears are more sensitive to the slightest of sound.
Now, imagine if there are insects crawling in the walls, or a rat, or simply an imperceptible creak made by slight pressure of wind. While you may not hear or see the source of interest, would it not be wise to consider that an animal with greater sensory perception than your own can?
Out of general observation of my own cat, and the many I've known throughout my life, I know that they track sound that is ahead of them by moving their heads, because they cannot move their ears to a more forward position than they already are. They will follow a sound as though they are looking at it, when it is in front of them. Using this observation, I can compare it to the behavior of my cat and make a more likely assumption that my cat is hearing something moving around in the walls before I can make the assumption that he is watching an unseen spirit floating around in the corner, whether I believe in spirits or not.
I think this is a healthy exercise, and I think I would be doing myself a disservice to not consider such things before moving on to the more esoteric aspects of analysis.
It is in this way that I think we can help each other work through the known before we step off into the unknown, not only because it is the natural flow, but because it may save ourselves any undue stress or worry that can be avoided, where applicable.
So, please help me in adding some alternate explanations to common phenomena that others may not have had the chance to explore.
Well to use your example, cats and dogs have much better eyesight than we do. I believe they can also see further into the spectrum than we do. So perhaps they are seeing something that we can't see. or maybe they are are just following an insect's path across the wall.
Are you asking us to give an alternate reason for some of the paranormal events some of us have witnessed?
If that is what you are asking, I don't think there can be any other explanation to some of the things I have experienced, other than they are most definitely of the paranormal.
In another thread, I told of a recent experience where I was working on repairing a small tv stand that had glass doors.
One of the set of hinges for the door disappeared, after having been placed in a container that had nothing in it but the hinges.
A few months later when I went to retrieve the hinges, one pair, and the screws that went with them were not there.
Later as I tried to fabricate a system whereby the door would operate without that missing hinge, I heard the voice of my deceased partner clearly state, "Over here Bobby".
I turned to the direction of the voice, and the missing hinge and screws were lying on top of my bed comforter.
Now, if you or anyone can offer up an alternate reason for this event, I would love to hear it.
Bob.
Well to use your example, cats and dogs have much better eyesight than we do. I believe they can also see further into the spectrum than we do. So perhaps they are seeing something that we can't see. or maybe they are are just following an insect's path across the wall.
Actually, cats and dogs don't see "further into the spectrum" than we do. The visible light spectrum is a fairly limited part of the energy spectrum, and is separate from the frequencies of mechanical compression waves, which is what sound is.
Beyond human visible light spectrum, we're looking at infrared and ultraviolet, that sort of thing, which we have devices that can detect these spectrums. There is no evidence to suggest that dogs and cats can see into these spectrums that I know of. If I'm remembering correctly, nocturnal animals do see better in the dark than we do, but that has nothing to do with the range of light spectrum that they can see. It has more to do with the way their eyes collect and focus ambient light in order to amplify it, much in the way night vision goggles do.
Science has dissected many a dog and many a cat. Their rods and cones, while different from our own, show no evidence that they can see into higher frequency light spectrum such as X-Ray (which we also use on a daily basis). And if dogs and cats have X-Ray vision, then I guess that could explain why my cat is looking at the walls!!!!
Also, as an aside, if I'm not mistaken, dogs and cats actually don't have great vision at all. In fact, they see far less color than we do. While the positioning of their eyes might better be adjusted to judging distance, I'm not sure they are "significantly" better able to detect objects than we are, however I do think they would be better able at processing movement.
Are you asking us to give an alternate reason for some of the paranormal events some of us have witnessed?
If that is what you are asking, I don't think there can be any other explanation to some of the things I have experienced, other than they are most definitely of the paranormal.
In another thread, I told of a recent experience where I was working on repairing a small tv stand that had glass doors.
One of the set of hinges for the door disappeared, after having been placed in a container that had nothing in it but the hinges.
A few months later when I went to retrieve the hinges, one pair, and the screws that went with them were not there.
Later as I tried to fabricate a system whereby the door would operate without that missing hinge, I heard the voice of my deceased partner clearly state, "Over here Bobby".
I turned to the direction of the voice, and the missing hinge and screws were lying on top of my bed comforter.
Now, if you or anyone can offer up an alternate reason for this event, I would love to hear it.
Bob.
I've read your story, and I was truly fascinated by it. (Yes, I'm a lurker)
However, I mean this thread to be a resource for those who are able to provide a reasonable alternate explanation to common phenomenon that may be attributed to the paranormal. Obviously, if a person cannot provide such an explanation, he or she cannot effectively contribute to the point of this thread.
To my recollection, when this section of the board was set up, it was with the intention that this area would be a "refuge" of sorts - where people would be able to post on actual "unexplained mysteries," free from the harassment of skeptics. If this forum devolves into a place where the people who post here are expected to "prove" their points of view, it will be just like the Religion or Politics sections, where alternative views are not well tolerated.
To the OP: If you don't "believe" in some of the things that have been discussed, that is your prerogative, but ask yourself why you feel compelled to get others to agree with your mainstream viewpoints?
To my recollection, when this section of the board was set up, it was with the intention that this area would be a "refuge" of sorts - where people would be able to post on actual "unexplained mysteries," free from the harassment of skeptics. If this forum devolves into a place where the people who post here are expected to "prove" their points of view, it will be just like the Religion or Politics sections, where alternative views are not well tolerated.
To the OP: If you don't "believe" in some of the things that have been discussed, that is your prerogative, but ask yourself why you feel compelled to get others to agree with your mainstream viewpoints?
You are misunderstanding the point of this thread. (And also assumed to know what my beliefs are!)
The purpose of this thread is to allow people the opportunity to choose for themselves, but with more information than they may have had otherwise. I'm not trying to force a scientific perspective down anyone's throat, nor am I advocating a skeptical stance. What I am advocating, however, is that everyone should be able to voice their own personal explanations of common occurrences so that they may be available to others who may have not considered them.
If this subforum is explicitly meant for only those who are unwilling to question whether their experience was paranormal or not, then we may have to delete a great many threads asking that very question, and a great many replies doing what I am doing here. The only difference here is I'm trying to consolidate the common things that people have plausible explanations for, regardless of whether they're for or against the paranormal.
If I did not make this clear in the original posting, please let me know so I can clarify.
I've read your story, and I was truly fascinated by it. (Yes, I'm a lurker)
However, I mean this thread to be a resource for those who are able to provide a reasonable alternate explanation to common phenomenon that may be attributed to the paranormal. Obviously, if a person cannot provide such an explanation, he or she cannot effectively contribute to the point of this thread.
Oh, you are similar to an atheist posting on a Christianity thread, asking folks to give proof that, say, Jesus never existed, or that he did not divide the loaves or walk on water or raise the dead ?
I'm not sure that you belong here, frankly.
This is a forum, by it's nature, for the unexplained.
People post what they've experienced and others are free to propose opinions as long as they are not insulting or belittling.
Oh, you are similar to an atheist posting on a Christianity thread, asking folks to give proof that, say, Jesus never existed, or that he did not divide the loaves or walk on water or raise the dead ?
I'm not sure that you belong here, frankly.
This is a forum, by it's nature, for the unexplained.
People post what they've experienced and others are free to propose opinions as long as they are not insulting or belittling.
If you can point out where I'm asking people to prove their unexplained experiences, go ahead and try. You will not be able to, because I'm not, and nothing I've said or implied in this thread alludes to such an intent. Where you are getting this from, I have no clue.
If someone comes up to you and asks you, "Hey, is this paranormal? My pencil rolled off the desk all by itself."
Would you consider that by asking them if the surface was uneven, or if there was a fan blowing at it, you're asking them to prove that the occurrence was paranormal? I wouldn't. I would consider that ruling out the common causes first, so they can then be sure that what they are dealing with isn't a simple effect of physics.
There is no need for someone to become afraid of their own home if they can do a little critical thinking to rule out other causes before exploring the unknown. It's not denying the unknown exists, nor is it seeking to demand proof of it. It is simply utilizing common sense to rule out any other cause before making a premature assumption.
Why you don't see this as a good thing, and somehow feel threatened by something that is objectively a positive thing for anyone, regardless of their beliefs, is disturbing, but not altogether surprising.
While I had wished this to be a simple place to rule out common misconceptions so actual discussion about real UNEXPLAINABLE events can take place, I guess it's asking too much to simply have it in one thread, versus every single thread.
I didn't expect this place to be so full of closed-minded people, especially for the kind of forum it is...
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