ARPAST.org

By Louise Roitz, ARPAST Member

Do you scare easily? Fear begins when we are very young. Some of our earliest memories are also our first fears. I remember my first big fear- the television show Dark Shadows and its paranormal characters. I remember being afraid but at the same time very drawn to the show. My mom remembers the nightmares, the fear of the dark.

3 in 4 Americans believe in some form of the paranormal according to a Gallup poll conducted in 2005. In that same poll 32% of the people said they believe in ghosts/spirits of the dead. America has a history of being drawn to the paranormal, early scientists studied many areas of the paranormal. In the 1800’s seances were held, grainy pictures were taken of apparitions. Are there main factors that solidify our obsession with the paranormal?

Besides our common fears, religion often plays a part in whether people choose to believe. The talk of ghosts & spirits goes back farther than most people realize. Just think of Casper the Friendly Ghost and you realize how as children we all had our fears and how tv shows were created to fill our need to be scared. I was captivated by it and didn’t miss an episode of The Munsters. While not scary, I still watched. Alfred Hitchcock did much to fill my need to be scared with his iconic films to push our buttons on anything from birds to heights.

Besides our religious backgrounds & our own fears, the media has been a huge factor in our obsession with the paranormal. Just counting all the new shows created for reality television drives home the point that 75% of Americans believe in some form of the paranormal. We watch everything from Ghost Hunters to Ghost Adventures to Celebrity Ghost Stories and even Paranormal State. It seems like every cable channel has the paranormal covered in some fashion. We not only have a Dog Whisperer but a Ghost Whisperer as well. There are numerous radio shows dedicated to the obsession.

Probably the most compelling factor to feed this need is new technology. Gone are the days of grainy pictures and bad audio recordings. Many clubs have sprung up to now debate and then debunk the age-old argument, science or fiction? The new technical equipment to help document paranormal activities has made it easy but not cheap, to catch evidence as it happens. I joined such a club but am I obsessed? Nah, just ask my husband who gave me an EMF meter for Valentine’s Day.

ParaExplorers – The word itself is a juxtaposition of the concept of a “Pair of Explorers.” This play on words perfectly describes our mission and overall goal. We are two explorers who have embarked on a lifelong journey of knowledge, information and facts. Two souls united with the common objective and purpose of discovering universal truths regarding the world we live in.

Mystery, intrigue, and the unknown have been inextricably linked to the human experience since time immemorial. Within the context of rational science, there has been little serious interest shown from mainstream disciplines.

We are reminded of the legendary Star Trek preamble used in the title sequence of the original Star Trek:

“Space - the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Our ambitious goals are singularly focused, and closely mirror those of Captain Kirk’s intrepid starship explorers. Rather than exploring extraterrestrial, alien landscapes, we will instead focus on exploring strange new worlds right here on earth. Worlds which hereto forth remain wholly unexplored and uncharted. We will investigate both new and ancient civilizations and cultures. We will study all manner of unexplained phenomena in a scientifically objective manner.

We will boldly go where no man, or woman, has gone before.