Paranormal Behavior
Is there any truth associated with it?
By Kelly Corkran
Skiff Staff

Terry Smith has devoted the past 18 years to investigating haunted locations around the world.

Smith, a senior radio-television-film major, said his fascination with the paranormal started as a fun hobby when he was a magician in both middle school and high school. Smith said that because he was a magician, he is now more able to see through hoaxes.

Smith no longer performs magic tricks. He now goes on journeys investigating claims of the paranormal.

He said he finds the journeys fascinating.

“I would love to come up with an answer to the unrebuked evidence of the paranormal,” he said.

Currently Smith is working on a book, “The Ghost Stalkers,” which will be in book stores March 2003.

Smith’s book is about haunted hotels. It includes more than 200 locations all over the country where anyone can visit. The book also contains the history of the locations, a travel directory and more than 200 interviews of real accounts.

But how believeable are those accounts? Paranormal experiences are often studied scientifically to prove or disprove such accounts.

Tim Barth, chairman of the psychology department, teaches a class about parapsychology, a substudy of psychology that deals with paranormal phenomena.

He said he challenges his students to make up their own minds on the validity of supernatural accounts such as ghost sightings.

“There is no doubt in my mind that people are having these experiences, and we need to try to understand what these people are experiencing,” Barth said.

But there are many differing beliefs when studying the paranormal. On one end, there’s the devout believer who won’t consider any arguments against the phenomena. For instance Thomas Buyer, a junior business major, said he believes that ghosts are spirits coming back to take care of unfinished business.

Then there’s the skeptic who views the evidence favoring the paranormal as somewhat ridiculous.

“People who believe in spirits and ghosts are the same people who had imaginary friends when they were kids,” said junior marketing major Kara Gauthier.

Somewhere in between these two extremes lies parapsychology research which considers all evidence.

Kelly Corkran