Defining the Paranormal
Welcome to Field Notes from the Beyond!
General Paranormal Studies
Flap - A sudden influx of anomalous activity within a window area, such as the 1973 PA UFO/Bigfoot flap. Take a look:
Ghosts & Hauntings
Baseline EMF Reading - The natural infrasound in an environment; in paranormal investigations, investigators often check what the baseline EMF is in a location to determine if infrasound could be responsible for what people are experiencing. It also allows an investigator to determine if there are fluctuations in EMF that might signal some type of paranormal activity.
Cryptids
Classical Chimera - Also known as the Grecian chimera, this cryptid has the head and claws of a lion, the body and horns of a goat, the wings of bats or dragons, and the tail of serpents.
Aliens & UFOs
Triangles - A commonly reported shape of a UFO suspected to be an alien craft. They are typically reported as large and dark in color. Sometimes they are described more as an arrowhead shape than strictly a triangle.
Non-Human Entities
Dybbuk Box - An antique wine cabinet that was claimed to have a dybbuk trapped inside. There is no history of dybbuk boxes as cursed objects or as housing trapped demons in Jewish tradition. Kevin Mannis created this fictional object in the 2003, selling it on eBay with a fabricated backstory. Mannis confessed that he created the story in 2021.
Psychic Abilities
Clairgustance - The ability to perceive a taste without any physical substance in your mouth.
Magic
Distillation - The process of separating components of a liquid mixture through boiling and condensation, used in alchemy and, in modern times, chemistry.
Coming Up Next
Next in Field Notes from the Beyond:
11/3: This Day in Paranormal History
11/5: What’s coming up on Beyond the Human?
11/7: Defining the Paranormal
This Month on Beyond the Human: The Culture of Ghost Hunting
Next Month on Beyond the Human: Death & the Afterlife
Who are we?
We are a group of scholars interested in understanding paranormal, supernatural, and anomalous phenomena from an academic perspective. We want to document and validate experiences people have and study them in a rigorous way to bring credibility to these phenomena. Join us for our monthly podcast Beyond the Human and follow us on Spotify, Instagram, and Patreon to learn more about who we are, our methods, and what we want to learn!