Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 6–17
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.6
Editorial
Miracles, Anomalies, Anxiety and Paradigms / Wunder, Anomalien, Angst und Paradigmen
Main Articles
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 18–35
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.18
“UFOs exist and everyone needs to adjust to that fact.”
(Dis)Information Campaigns on the UFO Phenomenon
Andreas Anton, Fabian Vugrin
Abstract
“UFOs exist and everyone needs to adjust to that fact” was the headline of the renowned U. S. daily newspaper Washington Poston May 28, 2019. The basic message of the article is that in the wake of recent releases of various U. S. military information on the UFO issue, there could no longer be any doubts about the reality of the UFO phenomenon (in the sense of unidentified flying objects with anomalous characteristics). This positioning differs in a significant way from the usual reporting of important leading media in the USA on the UFO topic for decades. However, the Washington Post article does not stand alone, but is part of a whole wave of media events related to the UFO phenomenon that have attracted much attention in the U. S. and worldwide since late 2017. Among other things, it became known that the U. S. military intelligence agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), maintained a secret UFO research program called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) from 2007 to 2012. This article sheds light on the background of the events and, with a view to historical PR campaigns and intelligence activities in connection with the UFO topic in the USA, endeavors to critically assess and contextualize the current situation. The focus is on the question of whether a targeted disinformation campaign could be behind the current reporting.
Keywords
UFOs – UAPs – disinformation – Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program – To The Stars Academy
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 36–71
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.36
Phänomenologie und Auswirkungen von spontanen Nachtod-Kontakten (NTK) –
Forschungsergebnisse und Fallstudien
Evelyn Elsaesser, Chris A. Roe, Callum E. Cooper, David Lorimer
Abstract
An After-Death Communication (ADC) occurs when a person unexpectedly and unintentionally perceives a known or unknown deceased person. These contacts are direct, without intervention of spirit mediums, use of devices (e.g. Instrumental TransCommunication, ITC), or an otherwise mediated contact, and they are spontaneous, allegedly initiated by the deceased, without intention or solicitation on the part of the person having the experience (the experient). ADCs are a common phenomenon. The literature indicates that 50-60% of people, in particular mourners, have experienced one or more spontaneous ADCs during their lifetime.
The aim of the investigation was to describe the phenomenology of ADCs and analyze their impact on experients. We conducted an online mixed-methods survey using a 194-item questionnaire on all aspects of ADCs, which was completed by 1,004 participants in the three project languages (English, French, and Spanish).
Through a series of questions, we were able to determine the types of ADC, the circumstances of its occurrence, its course and characteristics, the partial paralysis during ADC, the messages perceived by the recipients, and the profile of the perceived deceased. We examined the effects of ADC on spirituality, belief systems, and attitudes toward death and survival of consciousness, as well as on the grieving process. The data analyzed show that an ADC is viewed as a positive life experience that has a comforting and healing effect on the grieving process.
Keywords
after-death communication (ADC) – phenomenology – belief system – grieving process
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 72–75
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.72
Hans Bender and the Poltergeist. Introductory Comments to “Wanted: The Poltergeist”
Eberhard Bauer
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 76–135
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.76
Wanted: The Poltergeist
Description and discussion of a collection of 54 RSPK reports of the years 1947–1986, kept at the Freiburg Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health
Monika Huesmann, Friederike Schriever
Abstract
54 RSPK reports of the Freiburg Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health (IGPP) from 1947 to 1986 were analyzed quantitatively-statistically. A specially developed questionnaire was used to collect the most detailed information possible on the reported phenomena, the poltergeist victims, the focal person, the witnesses, and the investigation and documentation. While Part 1 of this evaluation is devoted to the phenomenology of RSPK phenomena in general, Part 2 focuses on poltergeist victims and focus persons (FPs). The comparison to the phenomenology of RSPK in existing case collections revealed clear similarities, but also striking differences, e. g., regarding the average duration of poltergeist phenomena. Two factors were found via a factor analysis, which were confirmed by a subsequent cluster analysis. The first factor was called the “novelty factor” or “structure factor,” since it only includes items that point to something that is novel, adds to an earlier situation, or introduces structural changes (e. g., “apports,” “penetration,” “graffiti”). The second factor is called “modification factor” or “behavioral factor,” because it is defined by items that describe modifications in the state of objects present (e. g., “objects suddenly disappear,” “cabinets, doors, windows open by themselves”). The analysis of the data on poltergeist victims and FPs showed that they come from all parts of the population. Subjectively, they feel very much burdened by the poltergeist occurrences. Frequently, they are socially isolated after the outbreak. Once the phenomena have faded away, they strongly tend to repress related recollections. 56% of FPs were male. At the time the phenomena begin, a large number of the FPs are in puberty. One third of the FPs report bodily and psychological peculiarities during or immediately prior to RSPK phenomena. With unusual frequency, they complain about conversion-neurotic symptoms (such as psychologically caused paralysis, narrowing of consciousness, etc.) as well as about “absentes” of psychogenic or neurological origin). There is insufficient documentation to allow decision on the question as to whether these peculiarities are reactions to the RSPK occurrences that might be found in other poltergeist victims as well. FPs are exposed to many social and psychological stress factors. Relatively many of them live with only one parent or with grandparents. Some of the FPs confess to having used fraudulent manipulation. This does not normally imply that presumed paranormal phenomena did not occur. Our data about FPs largely correspond to the ones Roll (e. g., 1977) found in his investigations.
Keywords
RSPK – poltergeist phenomena – focus person – factor analysis – effects of RSPK on poltergeist victims
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 136–155
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.136
Vom „Bauernschreck“ der Lavanttaler Alpen bis zu den französischen „Bestien“:
Wie Angriffe geflohener Großkatzen zu Wolfsangriffen umgedeutet werden
Karl-Hans Taake
Abstract
In 1913, in the Lavanttal Alps of Austria hundreds of domesticated and wild ungulates were killed by carnivores. Among the victims were bulls several years of age. The attackers were called “Bauernschreck”. Injuries on cattle proved, due to claw marks and reconstructions of the distance of canine teeth, that some of the animals had been attacked by a big cat. But it is possible that several big cats were involved in the attacks. Bovines weighing hundreds of kilograms had been carried off from the places of attack. Some claw imprints in the soil were allocated to big cats, others to wolves (Canis lupus). Lions (Panthera leo) as well as wolves were observed in the area. Wolf attacks on ungulates have also been proven. According to journalistic research, a travelling menagerie with defective cages had stayed not far from the affected area. Its animal stock included two wolves and a female lion with two cubs. After the attacks of big cats had stopped in the late autumn of 1913, a male wolf was shot in that area in early March of 1914. Since then, this wolf is generally regarded as the only attacker. The findings on attacks by big cats are dismissed as fantasy – a viewpoint which shows parallels to the perception of attacks by big cats on humans in the early modern period of France.
Keywords
Bauernschreck – big cats – lions – wolves – carnivore attacks – menageries – Beast of Gévaudan
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 156–174
Comments to Karl-Hans Taake: Vom „Bauernschreck“ der Lavanttaler Alpen bis zu den französischen „Bestien“: Wie Angriffe geflohener Großkatzen zu Wolfsangriffen umgedeutet werden
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Meret Fehlmann: „Der Bauernschreck“ – als Ausdruck der Ängste und Sorge der Bevölkerung und von der Rolle der Presse
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.156 –
PDF full text -
André Kramer: Der Bauernschreck im Spannungsfeld zwischen Natur- und Kulturwissenschaften
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.160 – PDF full text -
Michel Meurger: Der Löwenanteil: illusorische Erscheinungen und wiederholte Wegzauberungen
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.164 – PDF full text
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 175–182
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.175
The Author Replies
- Karl-Hans Taake: Bauernschreck und Bête: zweimal sachliche Diskussion, einmal substanzlose Theatralik
Obituaries
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, p. 183
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.183
Alexander Schestag (1973–2022)
Book Reviews
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 184–189
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.184
Pieter F. Craffert, John R. Baker, Michael J. Winkelman (Eds.) (2021). The Supernatural after the Neuro-Turn
Reviewer: Gerhard Mayer
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 190–195
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.190
Evelyn Elsaesser (2021). Spontane Kontakte mit Verstorbenen. Eine wissenschaftliche Untersuchung bestätigt die Realität von Nachtod-Kontakten
Reviewer: Adrian Weibel
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 196–198
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.196
Jana Rogge, Theo Fischer (2021). PSI.vision Schriftenreihe zu Remote Viewing Vol. 1. Von Star Gate bis heute – CRV nach 3 Jahrzehnten
Reviewer: David Garcia
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 199–204
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.199
Sarah Bartels (2021). The Devil and the Victorians
Reviewer: Meret Fehlmann
Journal of Anomalistics 22 (2022), No. 1, pp. 205–209
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.205
Thomas Fischermann, Dzuliferi Huhuteni (2020). Der Sohn des Schamanen. Die letzten Zauberer am Amazonas kämpfen um das magische Erbe ihrer Welt
Reviewer: Gerhard Mayer
Corrigendum
Journal of Anomalistics 21 (2022), No. 1, pp. 211–218
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2022.211
Abstracts-Dienst / Literaturspiegel
Frauke Schmitz-Gropengießer, Gerhard Mayer
