Index

Aaen-Stockdale, Craig, 104

Absorption, 26, 84–85, 105, 122, 156, 158, 160, 164

Abu-Dyab, Rabih, 185–187

Acorah, Derek, 112, 123, 264

Adams, Douglas, 134

Adamski, George, 147

ADE-651, 285–286

Adler, Shelley R., 36, 60, 61

Affirmation of the consequent, 238

Alcock, James (“Jim”), xiv, xvi, xix, 222

Alien abduction, 16, 58, 147, 149–156, 175, 178, 238–239, 284–285

Alien implants, 154

Aliens, xxi, 9, 22, 135–170

Alpdrück, 58

Al Younis, Jad, 181

American Society for Psychical Research, 112, 316

Amityville Horror, 76–77

Amygdala, 52

Angels, 9–10

Anomalistic psychology, xiv, xx, xxi, xxiii, xxv, 2, 15–19, 26, 247, 283–284, 285, 301

Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit (APRU), xxv, xxvi, 106, 247, 249, 259, 298

Anoxia, 210

Anson, Jay, 76–77

Apophenia, 244

Area 51, 135

Arnold, Kenneth, 135, 142

Ascher, Rodney, 43, 63

Asimov, Isaac, xix

Astrology, 12–13, 15, 19, 21

Atkinson, Gilbert, 160

Aubrey, Nell, 40

Augustine, Keith, 204

Australian Sheep-Goat Scale (ASGS), 23, 107, 108

Autobiographical memory, 88, 195

Autoscopy, 54, 199

AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation) project, 205

Ayahuasca, 211

Azande, 31

Barber, Jacques, 49

Barber, Theodore X., 161–162

Barbieri, Suzanne, 263

Bar-Hillel, Maya, 231

Barnum effect, 115–118

Barrett, Justin, 244

Bartholomew, Robert, 162

Base rate fallacy (a.k.a. base rate neglect), 231

Bastos Jr., Marco Aurélio Vinhosa, 114

Beattie, Elaine, 256

Beaumont, J. Graham, xiv, xx

Beischel, Julie, 114

Belief bias, 237–238

Belle, 306–314, 316

Bem, Daryl, 288–291

Bergier, Jacques, 218

Bernstein, Morey, 175–176

Besterman, Theodore, 94

Bigfoot, 8

Biklen, Douglas, 287

Birthday problem, 221–222

Bishop, Bridget, 56

Black-and-white thinking, xxii

Blackmore, Susan, xvii, xxi, 104, 117, 154, 196, 197, 199, 200, 203–204, 210

Blanke, Olaf, 211–212

Bloxham, Arnall, 176

Boas, Antonio Villas, 149

Bokhari, Akhawayni, 55

Borjigin, Jimo, 209

Bottom-up processing, 88, 240

Bowie, David, 218, 221

Boyer, Christina, 76

Braithwaite, Jason, 102–103, 105, 106, 209

Brazel, William “Mac,” 135–136

Britain’s Psychic Challenge, 247–251

British False Memory Society, 158

Brown, Derren, xxvii

Browne, Sylvia, 111

Brugger, Peter, 82

Bruno, Nicolas, 62

Buchanan, Lyn, 304

Bullard, Thomas E., 164

Bunton-Stasyshyn, Rosie, 256, 257

Bush, Nancy Evans, 193

Buxton, Laura, 219

Cabs problem, 231

Cannabis, 211

Carpenter, William Benjamin, 125

Carroll, Robert Todd, 81

Categorical syllogism, 237

Chabris, Christopher, 83, 165

Chawla, Lakhmir, 208

Chesterton, G. K., 315

Cheyne, J. Allen, 38, 51, 53–54

Child prodigies, 173

Childhood sexual abuse, 157, 158, 284–285

Childhood trauma, 160–161, 162, 163

Chiswick Coincidence, The, 315

Churchill, Winston, 299

Clairvoyance, 6, 13

Clancy, Susan, 164, 168

Clark, Kimberley, 201

Clarke, Arthur C., 170

Clinical psychology, 27

Close encounters of the fifth kind, 147

Close encounters of the first kind, 142

Close encounters of the fourth kind, 147

Close encounters of the second kind, 142, 144–145

Close encounters of the third kind, 139, 147

Cognition, 27

Cognitive biases, xx, 20, 28, 215–216, 235–245, 283

Cognitive psychology, 26, 27

Coincidence, 216–234, 236, 268, 313

Cold reading, 28, 114–122, 251, 259

Columbus poltergeist, 74–76

Coman, Richard, 56

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), xix, xxvi

Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), xix, xxvi

Communication with the dead, 18, 111–131

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), 13–14, 21, 284

Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur, 11

Conditional syllogism, 238–239

Confirmation bias, 132

Conjunction fallacy, 232–233

Conrad, Klaus, 244

Consciousness, 6, 69–70, 88, 131, 191, 192, 195, 200–209, 210, 240–242

Conspiracies, 14

Contactees, 147

Context, 79–80

Cooper, Alice, xvi

Cornell, Tony, 86–87, 91

Cortical disinhibition, 199

Costain, Thomas B., 177

Cottingley fairies, 10–11

Cox, Brian, xxvii

Cox, Sarah Elizabeth, 33–35, 38

Crashing memories technique, 159, 161

Crawley, Susan, 241

Critical thinking, 20, 283

Crombag, Hans, 159

Crookes, William, 113

Crossley, Rosemary, 287

Crowley, Aleister, 218–219

Cryptids, 8, 22

Cryptomnesia, 178

Cryptozoology, 8–9

Crystal balls, 12

Crystals, 13

Dab tsog, 60–61

Dagnall, Neil, 161, 233

Dark matter, 6

Darwin, Charles, 112–113

Davey, S. John, 93

Davies, Neil, xxvii

Davies, Owen, 56

da Vinci, Leonardo, 81

Dawkins, Richard, xxvii, 104, 252, 256, 257

Deductive reasoning, 239

Deese, James, 159

DeFeo Jr., Ronald, 76, 77

DeGeneres, Ellen, 170

Déjà vu, 173–174, 179

Delin, Peter, 240

de Maupassant, Guy, 63–64

Demons, 9, 16, 22, 52–53, 67, 77, 193

Denis, Dan, 35, 54

Depersonalization, 160, 196

Derealization, 160

De Ridder, Dirk, 212

Descartes, René, 69

Developmental Psychology, 26, 28

Dissociativity, 26, 156, 158, 160–161, 163–164, 168

Distance healing, 13

Divination, 12, 15–16

Dobson, Barrie, 177

Doghramji, Karl, 36, 56, 58, 66

Donnelly, Steve, xxvi

Dossey, Larry, 203–204

Double-blind, xxiv, 104, 250, 252, 256, 287

Downer, Robert, 56

Dowsing, 252–258, 285–286

Drake equation, 134

Drake, Frank, 134

DRM method, 158–159, 164, 179, 298

Druse (also spelled “Druze”), 171, 179–189

Dualism, 69, 195

Dying brain hypothesis, 196–214

Easter Bunny, 10, 29

Ectoplasm, 91

Edward, John, 111

Ehrsson, Henrik, 213–214

Electromagnetic fields, 101–105, 106–109

Electronic voice phenomenon (EVP), 7, 127–131

Endorphins, 197, 198

Environmental factors, 100–109

Escoffey, Philip, 248

Evans, Jane, 176–177

Evans, Joan, 177

Evolutionary psychology, 28

Exorcism, 9

Exploding head syndrome (EHS), 47

Extraordinary life forms, 23

Extrasensory perception (ESP), xviii, xxi, 6, 13, 23, 227, 229, 236, 241–242

Extraterrestrial hypothesis, 9

Eyewitness testimony, 87, 93–100

Facilitated communication (a.k.a. progressive kinesthetic feedback or supported typing), 286–287

Fairies, 10

False memories, 16, 59, 100, 156, 157–169, 175–179, 194–195, 211, 284

False pregnancy (pseudocyesis), 155, 161

Fantasy proneness, 26, 156, 158, 160, 161–164, 168, 178

Faraday, Michael, 125, 127

Farley, Tim, 20

Feifer, George, 217–218

Fenwick, Peter, 208

Fermi, Enrico, 134

Fermi’s paradox, 134

Finucane, R. C., 70

Fish, Marjorie, 150

Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 63

Fleming, Alexander, 234

Folklore, 10

Forer, Bertram R., 115

Fox sisters, 111

Fox, Kate, 91

Fox, Margaretta, 91, 93

Fraud, xxii, 114–123, 302

Frazier, Kendrick, xix

French’s First Law, 77

French’s Second Law, 122

Frost, David, 228

Fry, Colin, 112, 264

Fry, Stephen, xxvii

Fukuda, Kazuhiko, 49

Fuller, John G., 151–152

Fuseli, Henry, 61–62

Gabbert, Fiona, 99

Galak, Jeff, 294

Gallup, George, 141

Gambler’s fallacy, 232

Gardiner, Ian, 36–37

Gardner, Martin, xix, 315

Geller, Uri, xiv, xvii, 6, 95–96, 97, 228–229

Ghost oppression, 58

Ghosts, xxi, 7, 16, 22, 26, 29, 67, 69–109, 308

G-LOC, 198

Glossolalia, 9

Gluck, Gerald, 261

God, 9–10

Goddard, Trisha, 247

Golden Dawn Society, 218, 221

Golzari, Samad, 55

Good Thinking Society, xxviii

Granqvist, Pehr, 105

Grant, Richard E., 218

Green, Dave, 303–305

Greening, Emma, 96, 99–100

Gregory, Alice, 35, 44, 54

Greyson, Bruce, 193–194, 207, 208

Griffith, Frances, 10–11

Grof, Stanislav, 195

Grom, Jessica, 65

Grossman, Wendy, xxvi

Guided imagery, 157

Haidar, Ramiz, 184

Halawi, Saad, 186, 187

Halifax, Joan, 195

Hallucinations, 39, 40, 42, 46, 47, 52, 56, 57, 64, 80–81, 102–103, 105, 106, 122, 156, 197, 198, 200, 204–205, 211

Halt, Charles, 138=139

Hampton Court Palace, 80, 100, 101

Hand, David, 217, 222

Haque, Usman, 106

Haraldsson, Erlendur, 172

Harden, Mike, 75

Hardy, Thomas, 63

Harr, Amanda, 251

Harris, Melvin, 177

Hasted, John, xiv

Hatzimasouras, Jane, 216

Hearne, Keith, 280–282

Hemingway, Ernest, 63

Hendry, Allan, 141

Heuristics, 243

Hexendrücken, 58

Heydrich, Lukas, 212

Hibous, Mehdi, 185

Hidden causes, 222, 225

Highway hypnosis, 168

Hill, Betty and Barney, 149–152, 166–167, 168

Hmong refugees, 60–61

Hoaxes, 71–77

Hoggart, Simon, 218

Holden, Kate, xxv, xxvi

Holmes, Sherlock, 11, 120

Hopkins, Anthony, 217–218

Hopkins, Budd, 153–154, 165, 168–169

Hot reading, 123

Hough, Peter, 162

Houran, James, 79

Howard, Toby, xxvi

Hufford, David J., 36, 57

Hume, David, 70, 87

Hutchinson, Mike, xvi, 218

Hyde, Deborah, xxvii

Hyman, Ray, xviii–xix, 93, 115, 121, 252

Hynek, J. Allen, 139–140, 142, 147

Hyperactive agency detection device (HADD), 244–245

Hypercarbia, 199

Hypnotic regression, 16, 59, 150–152, 153, 155, 157, 164–167, 174–179, 187, 261, 284

Hypnotic susceptibility, 27, 161, 162, 175, 178

Hypoxemia, 209

Hypoxia, 198–199

I Ching, 12

Icke, David, 14

Ideomotor effect, 125, 258, 285

Imaginary playmates, 29, 30, 161, 188

Imagination inflation, 159, 195

Inattentional blindness, 83–87, 91, 96, 298

Ince, Robin, xxvii

Incubus, 51, 52–53, 57

Infrasound, 105–109

Intelligence quotient (IQ), xxiii

Intruder, 51–52, 53

Intuition, 242–243

Irwin, Harvey, 239, 302

Iverson, Jeffrey, 176–177

Jacobs, David, 169

Jago, Crispian, xxvii

James, William, 316

James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), 261–262, 263

Jansen, Karl, 198

Jesus, 9–10

Johansen, Mark, 234

Jones, Warren H., 1

Judson, I. R., 197

Juhasz, Panka, 263

Jürgenson, Friedrich, 128

Kahneman, Daniel, 233, 242

Kammann, Richard, 236

Kanashibari, 49, 57

Karma, 173, 181

Katon, Lesley, 275–278

Keogh, Angela, 39–40

Ketamine, 198, 211

King, Brian, 219

Klass, Philip J., 137, 152

Kletti, Roy, 196

Koestler Chair of Parapsychology, xviii, xxiii, xxiv

Koestler Parapsychology Unit, 95

Kokma, 58

Koren helmet (a.k.a. God helmet), 104

Korff, Kal K., 137

Kottmeyer, Martin, 166

Krueger, Freddy, 63

Kurtz, Paul, xix

Lange, Rense, 79

Language, 27

La Plante, Lynda, 248

Law of truly large numbers, 220, 267

Lawrence, Tony, 78

Lawson, Alvin, 167

Ledger, Chris, 181

Legare, Christine, 30

Lenggenhager, Bigna, 213–214

Le Page, Sally, 258

Life after death, 7, 23, 131, 192, 195

Life review, 193

Loch Ness monster, 8

Loftus, Elizabeth, xviii, 98

Louder, John, 56

Lucid dreams, 303–305

Lucky charms, 11

Lund, Frederick, 229

Lutz, George and Kathy, 76–77

Lynn, Steven J., 162

Lytton-Cobbold, Antony, 251

Lytton-Cobbold, Henry, 251

Lytton-Cobbold, John, 251

Mack, John E., 154, 165

MacKinnon, Carla, 41, 43, 63

Magical thinking, 29–31

Magnusson, Magnus, 176

Magritte, René, 62

Majdalani, Tima Khalil, 181

Malton, Jackie, 248, 250

Mancuso, Frank, 76

Mandell, David, 268–174

Marcel, Jesse, 136

Marks, David, 236, 301–302, 314–316

Marshall, Michael, xxviii, 264

Martin, Susan, 56

McCormick, James, 286

McDermott, Kathleen B., 159

Mckears, Stephen, 78

McNally, Richard, 155–156

McWhirter brothers, 223

Media, 28

Mediums, 7, 15, 21, 93, 111–114, 117

Melerb, Melhem, 185

Melville, Herbert, 63

Memory, 26, 27

Memory conformity, 97–100

Merseyside Skeptics Society, xxviii, 264

Meyersburg, Cynthia, 179

Minchin, Tim, xxvii, 14

Miracles, 70

Mirren, Helen, 248

Missing time, 151–152, 168, 170

Monism, 70

Monsters, 29

Moody, Raymond, 192

Morgan, Sally, 112, 264

Morris, Robert (‘Bob’), xviii, xxiii–xxiv, 76, 95, 316

Morse, Melvyn, 198

Mossbridge, Julia, 303–305

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 173

Munroe, James, 263

Murphy, Bridey, 175–176

Naloxone, 198

Narcolepsy, 47, 51

Near-death experience (NDE), 9, 27, 191–214, 274

Nees, Michael, 129

Nelson, Leif, 292–294

Neuropsychology, 26, 27

Night terrors (pavor nocturnis), 47

Nightmare, 46, 55

Nonconscious processing, 240–242

Nonverbal communication, 120

Nosek, Brian, 294

Noyes Jr, Russell, 196

Ogilvie, Derek, 258–261

O’Keeffe, Ciarán, 123

Old hag, 38, 57

Opinion polls, 18, 21, 135, 141

Optional stopping, 292, 296

Osman, Magda, 234

Otgaar, Henry, 167

Ouija board, 124–125, 285, 287

Out-of-body experience (OBE), xviii, 27, 53–54, 55, 161, 162, 191, 192, 198, 199–207, 209–214

Påhlsson, Lena, 217

Palm reading, 15, 21

Panic attack, 46

Panic disorder, 54, 65

Paranormal, 2–14

Parapsychology, xiv, xx, xxiv, xxvi, 15–17

Pareidolia, 81, 244

Parnell, June O., 156

Parnia, Sam, 205, 208

Pascal, Blaise, 173–174

Past-life memories, 16, 284

Past-life therapy, 175

Patternicity, 244

Paulos, John Allen, 224

Pauwels, Louis, 218

Peach, Bernard, 56

Pecararo, Ralph J., 76

Penfield, Wilder, 211

Penniston, Jim, 138

Perception, 27, 88, 141–142

Persinger, Michael, 102–105

Personality, 26

Petkova, Valeria, 214

Phillips, Charlotte, 129

Piaget, Jean, 28–30

Plimmer, Martin, 219

Poltergeists, 7, 44, 73–77

Population stereotypes, 226–229, 298

Possession, 9

Post-event misinformation, 98

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 54, 155, 156, 194

Prayer, 9, 29

Precognition, 6, 9, 13, 23, 288–291, 314

Precognitive dreams, 224–225, 267–282, 303–305

Preregistration, 294

Presence, Sense of, 36, 37, 46, 52, 55, 64, 71, 80, 105, 107, 168–169, 238–239

Pressure on the chest, 37, 57

Probabilistic reasoning, 231, 298

Probability, 220

Project Blue Book, 140

Project Mogul, 137

Project Sign, 140

Proprioception, 53, 210, 211

Pseudoscience, xx

Psi, xix, xxi, xiv, xxiv, 19, 241, 288, 301, 314, 316

Psychic healing, 13, 18

Psychobiology, 27

Psychokinesis, 6, 9, 23, 75, 95, 96–97, 314

Psychology, 26–31

Psychopathology, xxiii, 27, 56, 156, 178, 240

Psychosis, 81

Publication bias, 290

Puthoff, Harold, 235–236

Putt, Patricia, 261–266

Questionable research practices (QRPs), 292–297

Radford, Ben, xxvii

Radin, Dean, 301, 314

Ramey, Roger, 136

Randi, James, xvi–xvii, xix, xxvii, 75, 259, 261, 280–281, 286

Randolph, Marcy, 278

Randolph, Phil, 279

Randomness, 231, 232, 233, 244

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, 50

Rationality, 242–243, 299–300

Raudive, Konstantin, 128

Reasoning, 27

Reincarnation, 7, 147, 171–189, 285, 308

Reliability, 23

Religious belief, 23

Remote viewing, 235–237

Rendlesham, 137–139, 144

Repetition avoidance, 232

Replication crisis, 291–298

Representativeness heuristic, 233

Repression, 165, 284

Resch, John and Joan, 76

Resch, Tina, 74–76

Retroactive facilitation of recall, 289–291

Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS), 23, 26

Reynolds, Pam, 202–203

Rhine, Joseph Banks, 241

Rhue, Judith W., 162

Richards, Anne, 84, 89, 90, 130

Ridpath, Ian, 139

Ring, Kenneth, 163, 192

Ritchie, Stuart, 289

Ritualized satanic abuse, 157, 284

Rivers, Andy, 219

Roberts, Maxwell, 239

Robinson, Chris, 274–282

Rodeghier, Mark, 162

Roediger III, Henry L., 159

Rogers, Paul, 162, 233

Roll, William, 75

Rosing, Christopher J., 163

Roswell, 135–137

Rowland, Ian, 115

Rubber hand illusion, 212–213

Sabom, Michael, 202

Sagan, Carl, xix, 195, 297

Salusbury, Matt, 37–38

Santa Claus, 10, 29

Savva, Louie, 270

Schegoleva, Anna, 57–58

Schizophrenia, 244

Schouten, Sybo, 113

Schwartz, Gary, 275

Seager, Paul, 239

Séances, 91, 93–95, 112–113

Shakespeare, William, 111

Shanley, Garrett, 38–39

Shannon, Fred, 75

Sharpless, Brian, 35, 36, 49, 56, 58, 64, 65, 66

Shermer, Michael, 244

Simmons, Joseph, 292–294

Simon, Benjamin, 150, 152

Simons, Daniel, 83, 165

Simonsohn, Uri, 292–294

Sinclair, Mrs, 44–45

Singh, Simon, xxvii, xxviii, 264

Skeptic Trumps, xxvii

Skepticism, xvi, xx, xxii

Slade, Henry, 94

Sleep cycle, 50

Sleep hygiene, 65

Sleep onset REM period (SOREMP), 51

Sleep paralysis, 27, 33–67, 69, 81, 168–170, 211, 239

Smith, Gordon, 264

Smith, Martin J., 258

Social marginality hypothesis, 22, 26

Social psychology, 26, 28

Society for Psychical Research, 112, 255

Source attribution error, 178

South Bridge Vaults, Edinburgh, 100–101

Spanos, Nicholas, 162, 178

Spearpoint, Ken, 206–207

Spielberg, Steven, 139, 140

Spiritualism, 23, 91, 93–94, 111, 122

Sprinkle, R. Leo, 156

Stemmen, Roy, 180

Stevenson, Ian, 179, 182, 186

Stokes, Doris, 112

Stone, Anna, 2

Story, Ronald, xiii

Strieber, Whitley, 152–153, 168

Subjective validation, 235–237, 244, 275

Subliminal priming, 242

Succubus, 57

Sudden unexpected nocturnal death syndrome (SUNDS), 60–61, 63

Suggestibility, 105, 108, 166

Suggestion, power of, 94, 96–97, 100

Sullivan, Roy, 219

Supernatural, 9

Superstition, 11–12, 23, 29

Svartalfar, 58

Syllogistic reasoning, 237–240

System 1 thinking, 242–243, 245

System 2 thinking, 242–243, 245

Table tilting (a.k.a. table-turning, table-tapping and table-tipping), 125, 127, 285

Tandy, Vic, 78, 105

Taqamus, 180

Targ, Russell, 235–236

Tarot cards, 12, 15, 21

Tartarini, Fabio, 263

Taylor, John, xiv

Telepathy, 6, 7, 22, 26, 150, 228, 229, 235, 308, 314

Tellegen, Auke, 160

Temporal lobes, 102–103, 105, 199, 211

Temporoparietal areas, 199–200

Temporoparietal junction, 211–212

Tennison, Jane, 248

Terzaghe, Michele, 51

Thalbourne, Michael A., 23, 172, 240–241

Thurkettle, Vince, 139

Tighe, Virginia, 175–176, 177

Time distortion, 160

Tobacyk, Jerome J., 23

Tompkins, Matthew, 63, 86

Tooth fairy, 29

Top-down processing, 88–89, 142, 210–211, 240

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), 102

Transliminality, 240–242

Triple-blind, 114

Tunnel, 191, 198, 199

Tversky, Amos, 233

Type I errors (a.k.a. false positives), 243–244, 297

Type II errors (a.k.a. false negatives), 243, 297

Ufology, 8–9

Unlucky 13, 11

Unrealistic optimism (a.k.a. optimism bias), 300

Unusual bodily experiences, 51, 53–54

Validity, 23

Vampires, 10, 18

van Lommel, Pim, 194, 203, 208

Van Praagh, James, 111–112

Vestibular system, 53–54, 211

Virtual reality, 212, 213–214

Visual cortex, 199

von Däniken, Erich, xiii

Wagenmakers, Eric-Jan, 295–296

Wallace, Alfred Russell, 112–113

Watt, Caroline, xxiv, 239–240, 302

Weaver, Matthew, 258

Webb, Mark, 130

Weber, William, 77

Westover, William, 278

Westrum, Ron, 169

Whinnery, James, 198–199

Whitton, Kim, 264, 265

Wierzbicki, Michael, 239

Wikipedia, 2, 82

Wilcox, Maureen, 219

Wilde, Oscar, xxii

William, 41–42

Williams, Mark, 255

Wilson, Ian, 177

Wilson, Krissy, 99, 119, 161, 216, 259–260

Wilson, Sheryl C., 161–162

Wiltshaw, E., 197

Wiseman, Richard, xviii, xxi, xxiv, 80, 94–95, 96, 99–101, 117, 239–240, 262, 263, 280, 289

Witchcraft, 23, 56

Witches, 29

Woerlee, G. M., 202

Woolley, Jacqueline, 29

Wright, Elsie, 10–11

Yapko, Michael, 166

Youens, Tony, 97

Zener, Karl, 229

Zener cards, 229, 241

Zetetic, 314

Zombies, 10

Zusne, Leonard, 1