285 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
285 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
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A SURVEY OF UFOLOGISTS AND THEIR BELIEFS IN UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA
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by Donald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
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P.O. Box 161, Kirkland, WA 98083-0161
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MUFON Consultant in Research Psychology
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In order to learn what beliefs UFOlogists hold about
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paranormal phenomena--particularly parapsychological phenomena--and
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to determine whether a relationship exists between witnessing UFO
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events and belief in psychic abilities, I conducted a small survey
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of attendees of the 1983 MUFON Symposium, held in Pasadena,
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California. This report presents the results from that survey.
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There were three things I hoped to accomplish by conducting
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this survey. The first goal was mainly descriptive: to determine
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what pattern of beliefs exists among UFOlogists in the various
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paranomal phenomena listed in the questionnaire. I thought it
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would be interesting to find out to what degree these beliefs
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differ from those held by the general public. The comparison data
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was supplied by a survey of 1553 adults conducted by the Gallup
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Poll in February 1978. The results were reported by Jeff Sobal and
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Charles Emmons in the Zetetic Scholar (1).
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The second purpose of the survey was to discover if UFO
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witnesses differ significantly from non-witnesses in their beliefs
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in unexplained phenomena, and especially to determine whether UFO
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witnesses have higher rates of belief in unexplained phenomena.
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Such a finding, if replicated, might lead to the conclusion that
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UFO witnesses, as a group, have a lower threshold of acceptance for
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phenomena not recognized or explained by current scientific
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paradigms. It could suggest that they are less skeptical and more
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credulous than non-witnesses. Evidence of this kind would tend to
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cast doubt on the validity of at least some UFO eyewitness
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testimony, because the ability of these observers to distinguish
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inexplicable phenomena from everyday events would be called into
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question.
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The third objective was to test the hypothesis that a
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relationship exists between belief in ones own psychic abilities
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and the witnessing of UFO phenomena. A correspondence between
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belief in psychic ability and witnessing UFO events has been
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hypothesized by a number of authors, and some tentative evidence to
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support such a relationship was presented by Benton Jamison (2) at
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the 1976 C.U.F.O.S. Conference. This relationship, should it
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exist, could have a variety of causes. It could be that greater
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open-mindedness and perceptiveness on the part of psychic UFO
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witnesses allows them to witness possibly paranormal aspects of the
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UFO phenomena, it might be that psychic individuals are selected to
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witness UFO events, or it could be that so-called "psychics" are
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simply more gullible and more easily fooled by misperceived stimuli.
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The survey was designed to elicit beliefs about UFOs and other
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unexplained phenonena. Two hundred questionnaires were distributed
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at the conference, and 70 completed questionnaires were returned,
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representing a 35% response rate. However, some of the
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participants were allowed to take and keep an extra copy of the
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questionnaire, so the actual participation rate may be higher.
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Since this is a "convenience" sample and not a true probability
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sample of UFO researchers, inferences about the generalizability of
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the results are generally not warranted. However, it is my opinion
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that the answers provided by the sample probably reflect the views
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of a sub-population of those individuals indentified as
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"UFOlogists". This group consists of those people with enough
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interest in the UFO phenomenon to attend a conference, and with
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sufficient interest in the general purposes of this survey to
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participate.
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The questionnaire consisted of two brief paragraphs describing
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the study, three questions on respondent's beliefs regarding the
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UFO phenomenon, twelve questions on other unexplained phenomena
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drawn from the Gallup Poll survey, four questions on belief in
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one's own psychic abilities, and two questions on how often the
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respondent had witnessed a UFO. All questionnaires were completed
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anonymously. In addition to completing the above mentioned items,
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participants were asked to supply information about their age, sex,
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race, education, and marital status.
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A few survey participants objected to using the term "belief"
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to define their opinions about the existence of paranormal
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phenomena. While I readily concede that the word is not the best
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choice of terms because of the religious connotation associated
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with its use, it was necessary to retain the terminology used by
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the Gallup Poll to insure comparability with their results. I
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don't believe that it interfered with anyone's interpretation of
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the meaning of the questions.
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Results. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents were male, and
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the sample was nearly equally split between married (49%) and
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unmarried (51%) individuals. Ninety-one percent listed their
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racial or ethnic group as White, while 3% were Hispanic, 3% Black,
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and 3% Asian. Two of the Black respondents also indicated they
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were part American Indian. Only two of the respondents were
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younger than thirty. In general, survey participants tended to be
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middle-aged and very well educated, as Table 1 shows. Almost half
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(46%) of the respondents had witnessed at least one UFO, and
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one-third reported having seen UFOs on more than one occasion.
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Table 1
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Age and Education of MUFON Respondents
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Age Category Percent
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18-29 years 3
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30-49 years 24
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40-49 years 30
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50-64 years 28
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65 years and over 15
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---
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100%
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Educational level
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11 years or less 0
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12 years 8
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13-15 years 25
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16 years 28
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17 years or more 39
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---
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100%
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If we assume that the sample of UFOlogists is truely
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representative of a larger population, than we can disregard for
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the moment the inappropriateness of applying statistical tests to
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the results of a "convenience" sample. Concerning the first goal
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of the survey, it turns out that UFOlogists can be categorized as
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similar to the general public in their beliefs in paranormal
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activity, except that they are significantly less likely to believe
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in angels, devils, and astrology, and significantly more likely to
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believe in evidence for psychic phenomena and the existence of
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valid cryptozoologic claims. Table 2 presents the results of the
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beliefs questions.
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Table 2
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Belief in UFOs and Other Unexplained Phenomena by MUFON Sample
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Percent of Respondents
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No ? Yes
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UFOs are real rather than imaginary 1 3 96 100%
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UFOs are intelligently controlled
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devices 6 8 86 100%
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UFOs are extraterrestrial visitors 4 26 70 100%
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Do you believe in:
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Angels 48 24 26 100%
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Devils 59 28 13 100%
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Life After Death 18 19 63 100%
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Loch Ness Monster 13 46 41 100%
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Bigfoot (Sasquatch) 10 52 38 100%
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Witches 62 23 15 100%
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Ghosts 38 31 31 100%
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Astrology 63 21 16 100%
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ESP 9 23 68 100%
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Precognition 11 25 64 100%
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Deja vu 14 41 45 100%
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Clairvoyance 16 25 58 100%
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In general, the Gallup Poll results reveal that the more
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education one has the more likely one is to believe in psychic
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abilities. When compared to only those with college training, the
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differences in belief in psychic phenomena become less noticeable.
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Belief in precognition and clairvoyance are still significantly
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more common among UFOlogists than among the college trained general
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public, but no significant differences remain for "ESP" or "deja
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vu".
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The results on whether UFOlogists who report having seen a UFO
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differ in their beliefs from UFOlogists who have never had a UFO
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sighting are not definitive. On the one hand, there was a trend
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among some who have witnessed the UFO phenomenon to be less
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critical of other unexplained phenomenon. However, the sample size
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is not sufficient to make any conclusions about that trend. The
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data are reported in Table 3. The data are presented in two ways:
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with the percentage who had responded "yes" to each of the "do you
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believe in" statements; and as an average of the numeric values of
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the responses, with "no" coded 1, "?" coded 2, and "yes" coded 3.
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There were 31 who reported having had at least one UFO sighting and
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36 who reported not having had any sightings.
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Table 3
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Comparison of the beliefs of UFO witnesses and non-witnesses
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Witnesses Non-witnesses
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% Yes Ave. % Yes Ave.
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UFOs are real rather than imaginary 100 3.00 92 2.89
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UFOs are intelligently controlled
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devices 94 2.90 78 2.69
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UFOs are extraterrestrial visitors 77 2.77 61 2.52
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Do you believe in:
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Angels 43 2.17 17 1.56
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Devils 21 1.75 8 1.42
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Life After Death 76 2.66 51 2.29
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Loch Ness Monster 48 2.41 36 2.19
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Bigfoot 50 2.43 31 2.19
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Witches 24 1.76 8 1.36
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Ghosts 45 2.17 22 1.81
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Astrology 21 1.66 14 1.47
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ESP 73 2.63 64 2.56
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Precognition 69 2.58 63 2.54
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Deja vu 54 2.39 40 2.29
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Clairvoyance 68 2.54 53 2.39
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The differences between the two groups were greatest for
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beliefs in religious phenomena such as angels and life after death,
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and for the "Halloween" associated phenomena of ghosts and
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witches. While these differences prove nothing, they do suggest
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that the non-witnesses show more skepticism in general, which might
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lead one to infer that they also have a higher threshold for
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rejecting unusual phenomena they personally observe as lacking a
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mundane explanation. Conversely, it may also be seen as evidence
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suggesting that at least some UFO witnesses are less skeptical and
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more credulous that non-witnesses. In one respect, "seeing" does
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seem to equate with "believing": respondents who had witnessed
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UFOs more than once were significantly more likely to say that UFOs
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are extraterrestrial visitors (87%) than those who had never
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witnessed the UFO phenomenon or had witnessed it only once (59%).
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There were no significant differences between a belief in ones
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own psychic abilities and whether or not one has personally
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witnessed the UFO phenomenon. Table 4 displays these results for
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both witnesses and non-witnesses. However, there were significant
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differences for the number of UFO encounters for both belief in
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pre-cognition ability and psychokinesis ability. Those who
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responded yes to the pre-cognition question reported an average of
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2.9 UFO sightings compared to an average of one UFO sighting for
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the remainder of the sample. Those who felt they had an ability
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with psychokinesis reportedly had seen UFOs an average of 3.33
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times, compared to 1.1 times for those who said they did not have
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the ability or weren't sure.
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Table 4
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Comparison of the psychic ability beliefs of
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UFO witnesses and non-witnesses
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Witnesses Non-witnesses
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% Yes Ave. % Yes Ave.
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Believe have some ability to gain
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extra-sensory perceptions (ESP) of
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thoughts and feelings of other
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people (telepathy)? 48 2.32 53 2.25
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Believe have some ability to gain
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impressions of events or objects
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which are outside usual environ-
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ment (clairvoyance)? 45 2.10 36 1.92
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Believe have some ability to gain
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impressions of future events
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(pre-cognition)? 42 2.16 33 1.86
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Believe have some ability to
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influence the physical environment
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around you (psychokinesis or "mind
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over matter")? 27 1.76 19 1.64
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This last finding is interesting, but it is certainly
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preliminary and open to a wide variety of interpretations. As I
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mentioned previously, "psychics" may simply be more gullible and
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more apt to misinterpret ambiguous stimuli, or it might be that
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they are actually more perceptive and that this perceptiveness has
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some relation to the UFO phenomenon. Before we lend further
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credence to this latter interpretation it would behoove us to test
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these individuals under controlled, laboratory conditions; to
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determine whether these abilities can indeed be proven to exist.
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References
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(1) Sobal, Jeff and Charles F. Emmons (1982). Patterns of belief
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in religious, psychic and other paranormal phenomena,
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Zetetic Scholar, no. 9 (March 1982), pp. 7-17.
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(2) Jamison, Benton (1976). Some proposals: Modest, immodest,
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and maybe fundable. In Nancy Dourbos (ed.), Proceedings
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of the 1976 CUFOS Conference. Evanston, IL: Center for
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UFO Studies, pp. 119-132.
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