While Halloween is all about spooks and scares, there are plenty of people who have had spooky experiences that don’t involve the holiday at all. In fact, a new survey set out to discover just how many people believe they’ve experienced paranormal encounters, and you may be surprised by the results.
A new YouGov poll finds:
- 67% of Americans believe they’ve had some sort of paranormal experiences.
- The most common paranormal experiences people have had include:
- Feeling a presence or unknown energy (37%)
- Hearing an unexplained sound or music (33%)
- Smelling an unexplained odor (30%)
- Hearing the voice of someone who wasn’t there (29%)
- Feeling an unexplained change in temperature (28%)
- Seeing lights or other devices turn on or off without explanation (25%)
- Seeing an object move without explanation (22%)
- Seeing unexplained orbs of light (22%)
- Seeing a spirit or ghost (19%)
- Seeing an angel (13%)
- So, what do people really think about these paranormal encounters?
- Well, people who believe they’ve experienced one have differing opinions as to the cause.
- 35% are likely to say they are otherworldly or supernatural.
- 29% think there is a scientific explanation that they don’t know about.
- 36% aren’t sure about the cause.
For those who believe they’ve seen a spirit or ghost…
- 29% say the identity of the spirit or ghost is someone they knew, like a family member.
- 28% say it wasn’t someone they knew.
- 28% believe they’ve seen both types.
- 75% who have encountered a spirit or ghost say it’s happened at least twice.
- 32% believe it’s happened five times or more.
- 40% believe the spirits or ghosts they’ve encountered were only good ones.
- 7% insist they were evil, and 17% say they were neutral.
- 25% say they’ve encountered a mixture of both.
Source: YouGov