Oudemans, Antoon Cornelis
Dutch zoologist Antoon Cornelis Oudemans (1858–1943) originally specialized in insects and worms as the director of the Royal Zoological and Botanical Gardens at the Hague,…
Month: January 2022
Crystals
At the height of the New Age movement, crystals became popular as tools of physical or emotional healing and as devices to influence various aspects…
Mack, John E.
Mack, John E. (1929–2004) Dr. John E. Mack was one of the leading experts on alien abduction experiences, in which people claim to have been…
National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena
The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) was once one of the most prominent organizations of UFO researchers and enthusiasts in America. The group…
Ideomotor Effect
First identified in 1852 by William B. Carpenter, who was both a psychologist and a physiologist, the ideomotor effect occurs when the human brain sends…
True-believer Syndrome
Identified by psychologists in the 1970s, true-believer syndrome is a condition whereby someone who believes that an event has a paranormal cause refuses to alter…
Strieber, Whitley
Strieber, Whitley (1945– ) In 1985 novelist Whitley Strieber claimed to have been abducted by aliens in a supposedly nonfiction book titled Communion, which quickly…
PSI assumption
The phrase psi assumption has been coined by skeptics to refer to the belief, held by parapsychologists and others, that the laws of chance can…
Springheel Jack
Also called Spring Heeled Jack or Springald, Springheel Jack was the nickname for a mysterious sexual predator who terrorized London, England, from 1837 through 1838…
Time and Dimension Travel
Some people who believe that it is possible to move either mentally or physically time and back and forth through time, and perhaps through other…