Beyond the Norm

Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as beyond normal experience or scientific explanation... Notable paranormal beliefs include those that pertain to extrasensory perception (for example, telepathy), spiritualism, and the pseudosciences of ghost hunting, cryptozoology, and ufology.

-- Wikipedia, Paranormal

According to Wikipedia, "The term paranormal has existed in the English language since at least 1920. The word consists of two parts: para and normal. The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is 'normal' and anything that is above, beyond, or contrary to that is 'para'."  So, basically, anything science can't explain is "paranormal."  For you Christians out there who pooh-pooh the paranormal, remember that God is a matter of faith, and faith is a belief in something for which there is little or no proof, scientific proof.  Right now, the Christian members of the League of the Perpetually Offended are probably scrambling to find a response to throw at me.  First of all, good luck with that.  Second of all, they have no right, by their own Holy Scripture, to judge me.  Only God has the right to do that.  But, then, I'm not one to judge my fellow Christians or any peaceful spiritual belief.  It is what it is.

So, where do I stand with the subject of the paranormal?  Experience is everything and, as a military intelligence analyst, I can neither "confirm nor deny" any proof of what I, myself, have experienced.  As a child, I was "high active" and found it hard to focus on anything for very long.  I probably had undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder.  The one thing I could focus on, however, was the paranormal.  It fascinated me.

Around the age of 10, mom and dad were into property investment.  Mom would ultimately get her real estate license.  She would go look at old Victorian houses and, when I wasn't in school, she would take me with her.  It was my first realization that I had an affinity for the paranormal.  I could detect "cold spots" and actually explain what they were, but not why they were.  That realization of some force sucking the energy from a spot would come much later.  What I started doing at this young age, though, is "debunking" what I felt.  I would look for where the cold might be emanating from.

Mom and dad ultimately bought a small, older house in town.  It had an occasional cold spot and, again, no source.  It wasn't until a couple of years later, when dad poured a concrete patio, that I would have some clue to a "haunting."  I started hearing a "tap-tap" on the concrete outside my bedroom window... every night.  It would start at the far end of the patio, come toward my window, and end at the dirt path a few feet farther on.

We knew the name of the old woman who sold the house so, as I began high school, I went on a fact-finding mission.  I tracked her down to a retirement home in town and went to visit.  She was a nice lady and we had an informative talk.  I asked about the nice and she informed me her husband took a nightly constitutional around the house.  But, what about the "tap-tap-tap" I would hear?  He always took his cane.  I didn't hear the metal tip until dad poured the concrete patio.

We sold the house, not long after, and the daughter of the buyer went to high school with me.  She asked me one day about the "tap-tap-tap" noise she would hear each night.  She was excited to find out they had a friendly ghost, "Oh, my God!  We have a ghost!"

Backing up a couple of years, to junior high school, I had become interested in unidentified flying objects, the U.F.O. phenomena.  I had a wall map on the corkboard I mounted in my bedroom, and I had plotted on it every UFO sighting ever reported in the United States.  It was crowded with map tacks.  at 12 years of age, I was in constant contact with every government agency that could send me more information.  I had received from the Air Force a complete set of the Project Blue Book reports, free of charge at that time.  I wouldn't see my first UFO until halfway through my Air Force career, and then I couldn't discuss it.

I think all of the paranormal incidents at a young age is probably what prompted me to major in psychology after almost not graduating from high school.  In college, however, I hit my stride with a 3.2 GPA, a B+ average grade, and I hardly cracked a book.  It would seem that, what I had a serious interest in, I could almost learn through osmosis.  And then... I was drafted for Vietnam and joined the Air Force, instead of going to Stanford University.  My two years of college psychology got me a job with Air Force Intelligence.  My experiences, over the next 22-plus years of my service career, are locked away in a Top Secret fire-file in some dusty corner of my brain, not for public dissemination.  

Over the next 26 years, after my military retirement, I was treated to several sightings of UFO phenomena.  Bright lights in the sky, no typical navigation lights visible, maneuvers not possible with known aircraft, and then there were the "satellites" moving faster than they should that would slow down and gain altitude until the light vanished from sight.

Recently, probably since the death of my dad,  I again became very interested in probing the "ghost" controversy and, once again, I have experienced things that I cannot debunk.  Most recently in my photographic investigation of the Blue Rose Mansion, and an old cemetery, here in town.  The fact I can't explain the anomalies in digital photographs doesn't necessarily make a haunting real, but it does keep the activity unexplained.  With this most recent evidence piquing my interest, I have outfitted myself with the "tools of the trade," so to speak.  I left out the garlic, wooden stakes, silver bullets, and a crucifix, in my attempt to take the subject seriously.  Though, on second thought, a silver crucifix does seem prudent if for nothing more than a focal point with which to aim one's faith at any evil.  But, this thought might simply be the latent Catholic in me.

I watch paranormal shows on the television and have an issue with some of their ideas about debunking.  Also, some of the shows seem to miss obvious "orbs," the very things they would hold out as evidence of paranormal activity, which make an appearance just before or after some physical manifestation of moving objects, and such.  How do you miss orbs captured on film, for goodness sake?

Also, I take exception to investigators who verbally challenge and dare the "spirit" world, and I have issues with ouija boards and other tools that might open portals to other dimensions.  Investigating is one thing, but acting like an ass and mucking around with the unknown is an entirely unprofessional aspect that I refuse to exercise.  Be careful what you ask for and, when in doubt, just be respectful.

This is the beginning of a project for me and, as such, I have named it, appropriately, the Pass Paranormal Project, or P3 for short.  Now, I just need a venue. 

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.

-- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio (First Folio - 1623)

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as a chaplain at the regional medical center.