The Paranormal: Facts, Evidence & Proof

There's a new article from me at Mysterious Universe that begins as follows:

"On the weekend of April 29-30 I spoke at the annual Kent Paranormal Weekend in Ohio. My subject: the history of the Men in Black. When all the lectures were over, there was a lively question-and-answer session. It was overseen by Jim Harold, of the Paranormal Podcast. During the course of the Q&A, the issues of what amount to facts, evidence and proof in the field of “the unknown” – such as Cryptozoology, Ufology, and ghost-hunting – surfaced. What facts and proof do we have? Is there any real, hard evidence? They were interesting questions which provoked equally interesting answers. I thought I would expand on my own observations (addressed at the gig) on this issue here at Mysterious Universe.

"If there is one thing that can be said with certainty – on matters relative to the paranormal – it’s that definitive facts and undeniable evidence are most assuredly lacking. We’ll start with those aforementioned MIB. Since my first book on the issue (On the Trail of the Saucer Spies) was published back in 2006, I have received hundreds of reports of encounters with MIB – mainly spanning the last few decades, but some significantly older. I’m as sure as I can be that the vast majority of those who have contacted me are honest, truthful people who just want to share their stories, or who are hoping to get answers regarding their encounters."