May 3rd is Paranormal Day

Today is observed worldwide as Paranormal Day. It is a day for everyone who believes in the paranormal or pursues something paranormal to pause and celebrate. It is even a day for those die-hard skeptics that don’t believe in anything paranormal--for as other sites put it even these skeptics can use today "as an excuse to settle in and enjoy watching a scary movie".

So what does the world “paranormal” mean? One standard definition states it’s “when a phenomena or manifestation occurs that is outside the norm. This occurrence can neither be scientifically explained nor proved.” I like this definition since it goes along with my own philosophy that I write about in my post entitled, “Ghosts vs. Science”.

The word paranormal of course refers to a wide variety of occurrences. Including but not limited to ghosts, UFO’s, mysterious levitations, spontaneous fires, and crop circles. So when did the word "paranormal" originate? It was coined in the 1920’s to refer to experiences that were outside the realm of normal scientific explanation. The word’s root “para” means above the normal standard. In other words it is something extraordinary.

Many point to the American researcher, writer Charles Fort * who in the 1920’s and 30’s published a large body of work related to unexplained phenomena. His vast collection of paranormal anecdotes is considered “the father of modern paranormalism”. Today, with the success of paranormal films, the wide variety of information on the internet and a variety of paranormal shows on television the general public are much more interested “in things outside the realm of conventional science”.

As I mentioned in one of my original posts on this blog, today the paranormal is no longer considered taboo. People who have experienced something they consider to be paranormal share this with others. Just a hundred years ago these experiences would have been kept closely guarded secrets.

So Happy Paranormal Day everyone…

*  Charles Fort who was the creator of the Fortean Times, which inspired many people to become “Forteans”-- I will share more information about this in future. He coined the terms “teleportation” and “Bermuda Triangle”. He also popularized UFO’s.