Perhaps even more difficult to explain than strange phenomena is the reason why we are all fascinated by them. There can be no doubt that at the mention of ghosts, U.F.O.s or the Loch Ness monster we all prick up our ears and become suddenly attentive, some of us eager to discredit, others to accept. What is it about the strange and mysterious that holds us in awe? Is it perhaps a fear of the unknown? Could it be a primitive instinctual urge for us to know and understand, and then more importantly dominate all that surrounds us? We, as humans, like to see ourselves as the most intelligent life form on the planet, so therefore we should know of all the things that occur in our environment and beyond.
Ironically the task of investigating any such phenomena is made almost impossible by the very nature of them, either by the infrequency of their occurrence or the unpredictability of them. Sometimes the knowledge that we gain from our research serves only to confuse us all the more rather than adding to our understanding of them as the details can often become more and more contradictory, or even worse go against the grain of popular belief. It is this popular belief which people often seem unable, or are unwilling, to discount in favour of accepting or even considering an alternative viewpoint.
Could there possibly be a prehistoric creature long thought to be extinct still living in a Scottish Loch, and are there other fantastic creatures alive and well in the world's oceans? How can human beings suddenly burst into flames that reach thousands of degrees in temperature and be reduced to little more than a pile of ashes, yet the bed sheets around them remain relatively untouched? Can people somehow "survive" death and remain on earth in a "ghost" state? Even more oddly can these "souls" be reborn to live on earth again and their new lives mirror that of the previous one, even to the point of dying at the same age, and sometimes from the same cause? Or still more remarkably can these people be made to recall these previous lives while under hypnosis? Are there people who can see into the future and can they do it at will? Are we in fact living on the only life supporting planet in existence, and if not can the other life forms in the universe visit us, examine us and then return to their own world relatively undetected?
These are all fascinating questions, some of which are more likely to contain truth than others, some of them may never be answered, some may have already been answered but people are simply unwilling to go against their instincts and take on board what the newest and latest theory is.
The question that we must ask ourselves though is do we really want these questions answering? If we do answer them what would it do to us as a a civilisation to know that we are not in fact the most intelligent in the universe, and indeed may look positively primitive in comparison to those who can travel across thousands of light years in craft which make our own attempts at space exploration look prehistoric. This could destroy us as a civilisation, as has happened many times over in history when primitive peoples are introduced to a more modern civilisation and their many developments such as television, guns and drugs. We need only look at people such as the Eskimos, American Indians and many other remote tribes who have slowly but surely killed themselves off within a very short space of time without retaining their own individualism. If we were in fact to discover that there was a life after death would we still hold a certain fear of it? or would we welcome it, maybe possibly even crave it?
It isn't just for these reasons though, it is also that the whole mysterious spectrum would lose it's romantic, fascinating aura and we would no longer talk of such things as the Loch Ness monster with a sense of awe or with a twinkle in our eyes, but as though we were discussing something as mundane as an evenings television viewing. It is similar to the feeling we get on Christmas Eve while looking at our presents which we will be able to open the next morning. This feeling of excitement and anticipation is far greater than the feeling we get on Christmas Day when we have opened all our presents and know what is inside them all and so they hold no more mystery or fascination for us. The knowledge then is far outweighed by the wonder and the yearning for that knowledge?
Some of the phenomena we will look at you may already have a certain knowledge of and therefore will have formed an opinion on, what I ask of you is that you put these possibly preconceived ideas to one side and consider the evidence for both sides of the argument and become an impartial jury before either firming up your belief or possibly changing it. When talking about phenomena such as these, the answers are likely to be as amazing and unbelievable as the phenomena themselves, but we must consider all the evidence before "hanging a guilty man." We may be no wiser by the end of the final chapter, and may well have come up with no new answers, but we will have looked more closely at the things that we all yearn to understand. I ask not that you change your opinion, or form the same view as me, I ask only that you carefully consider the options and carefully survey the evidence before you with an open mind.
Ironically the task of investigating any such phenomena is made almost impossible by the very nature of them, either by the infrequency of their occurrence or the unpredictability of them. Sometimes the knowledge that we gain from our research serves only to confuse us all the more rather than adding to our understanding of them as the details can often become more and more contradictory, or even worse go against the grain of popular belief. It is this popular belief which people often seem unable, or are unwilling, to discount in favour of accepting or even considering an alternative viewpoint.
Could there possibly be a prehistoric creature long thought to be extinct still living in a Scottish Loch, and are there other fantastic creatures alive and well in the world's oceans? How can human beings suddenly burst into flames that reach thousands of degrees in temperature and be reduced to little more than a pile of ashes, yet the bed sheets around them remain relatively untouched? Can people somehow "survive" death and remain on earth in a "ghost" state? Even more oddly can these "souls" be reborn to live on earth again and their new lives mirror that of the previous one, even to the point of dying at the same age, and sometimes from the same cause? Or still more remarkably can these people be made to recall these previous lives while under hypnosis? Are there people who can see into the future and can they do it at will? Are we in fact living on the only life supporting planet in existence, and if not can the other life forms in the universe visit us, examine us and then return to their own world relatively undetected?
These are all fascinating questions, some of which are more likely to contain truth than others, some of them may never be answered, some may have already been answered but people are simply unwilling to go against their instincts and take on board what the newest and latest theory is.
The question that we must ask ourselves though is do we really want these questions answering? If we do answer them what would it do to us as a a civilisation to know that we are not in fact the most intelligent in the universe, and indeed may look positively primitive in comparison to those who can travel across thousands of light years in craft which make our own attempts at space exploration look prehistoric. This could destroy us as a civilisation, as has happened many times over in history when primitive peoples are introduced to a more modern civilisation and their many developments such as television, guns and drugs. We need only look at people such as the Eskimos, American Indians and many other remote tribes who have slowly but surely killed themselves off within a very short space of time without retaining their own individualism. If we were in fact to discover that there was a life after death would we still hold a certain fear of it? or would we welcome it, maybe possibly even crave it?
It isn't just for these reasons though, it is also that the whole mysterious spectrum would lose it's romantic, fascinating aura and we would no longer talk of such things as the Loch Ness monster with a sense of awe or with a twinkle in our eyes, but as though we were discussing something as mundane as an evenings television viewing. It is similar to the feeling we get on Christmas Eve while looking at our presents which we will be able to open the next morning. This feeling of excitement and anticipation is far greater than the feeling we get on Christmas Day when we have opened all our presents and know what is inside them all and so they hold no more mystery or fascination for us. The knowledge then is far outweighed by the wonder and the yearning for that knowledge?
Some of the phenomena we will look at you may already have a certain knowledge of and therefore will have formed an opinion on, what I ask of you is that you put these possibly preconceived ideas to one side and consider the evidence for both sides of the argument and become an impartial jury before either firming up your belief or possibly changing it. When talking about phenomena such as these, the answers are likely to be as amazing and unbelievable as the phenomena themselves, but we must consider all the evidence before "hanging a guilty man." We may be no wiser by the end of the final chapter, and may well have come up with no new answers, but we will have looked more closely at the things that we all yearn to understand. I ask not that you change your opinion, or form the same view as me, I ask only that you carefully consider the options and carefully survey the evidence before you with an open mind.
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