Supernatural In American Fiction And Soceity

13 Pages 3126 Words

Lakes Ghost Hunters Society and the Ghost Hunters
of Southern Michigan are just two of the organizations that supposedly embrace the unknown,
even claiming to have documentation of “floating orbs [and] ethereal specters.”10 “Armed with
video cameras, sophisticated recording equipment, and an undying belief in the inexplicable,”11
the ranks of the ‘ghost hunters’ are growing. This is most likely due to the fact that American
society is “[inching] ever closer to embracing phenomena that science [cannot] answer.”12 Even
highly esteemed academic publications such as the Journal of Scientific Exploration “now treat
the paranormal with as much respect and analysis as physics or the chaos theory.”13 The
possibility of life existing on other worlds has been the subject of speculation for years.14 In
May, 1988, NASA began using a “super computer” that is intended to pick up signals from any
distant civilizations.15 Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI, has launched many
projects over the years, but has yielded nothing so far.16 Despite the lack of evidence, many
Americans have no doubt that aliens exist. This is the result of their belief system. “Whether
something’s really there or not may be irrelevant,”17 because many Americans tend to fall back
on faith. “[Jill Cook Richards] is twenty-eight years into a career as a self-described psychic,”18
which depends exclusively on her faith. Richards relates the story of how, when she was young,
she always said she wanted to talk to God. Because of this, she claims that “when things started
coming to me, they came to me as voices. It's the voice of God talking.”19 At the age of
fifty-two, Richards can still support herself and her husband with the money she earns as a
professional psychic.20
Ghost hunting clubs, alien-searching satellites, and psychics are only a few of the many
outlets available to Americans in mode...