even claiming to have documentation of "floating orbs [and] ethereal specters."10 "Armed with.
video cameras, sophisticated recording equipment, and an undying belief in the inexplicable,"11.
the ranks of the "ghost hunters" are growing. This is most likely due to the fact that American.
society is "[inching] ever closer to embracing phenomena that science [cannot] answer."12 Even.
highly esteemed academic publications such as the Journal of Scientific Exploration "now treat.
the paranormal with as much respect and analysis as physics or the chaos theory."13 The.
possibility of life existing on other worlds has been the subject of speculation for years.14 In.
May, 1988, NASA began using a "super computer" that is intended to pick up signals from any.
distant civilizations.15 Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI, has launched many.
projects over the years, but has yielded nothing so far.16 Despite the lack of evidence, many.
Americans have no doubt that aliens exist. This is the result of their belief system. "Whether.
something's really there or not may be irrelevant,"17 because many Americans tend to fall back.
on faith. "[Jill Cook Richards] is twenty-eight years into a career as a self-described psychic,"18.
which depends exclusively on her faith. Richards relates the story of how, when she was young,.
she always said she wanted to talk to God. Because of this, she claims that "when things started.
coming to me, they came to me as voices. It's the voice of God talking."19 At the age of.
fifty-two, Richards can still support herself and her husband with the money she earns as a.
professional psychic.20.
Ghost hunting clubs, alien-searching satellites, and psychics are only a few of the many.
outlets available to Americans in modern times. Media plays a large role in arousing the.
public's interest in the fantastic.21 The novels of Anne Rice, a gothic-horror writer, appeal to a.
large audience, and her three book series have quite a cult following.
