Discovery Series | Spooky Science: Introduction to Forensic Occultism

Do you believe in ghost? According to the Pew Research Center, 1 in 5 Americans have seen or been in the presence of a ghost (Lipka, 2015) and two-thirds (68%) believe angels and demons are active in our world (Heimlich, 2014). Despite non-religious ideals increasing in the United States (Pew Research Center, 2019), majority of Americans believe in some kind of supernatural world or element. About 70.6% of US citizens are Christian, 5.9% are a non-Christian faith (Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Other), about 22.8% are unaffiliated, and about 15.8% are “nothing in particular” (Pew Research Center, 2020). Corresponding to these statistics, a whopping 76.5% of people believe in a religion that has a spiritual world and/or belief in the supernatural such as Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Nirvana, God, gods/goddess, jinn, the Devil, demons, ghosts, and evil spirits.

Consequently, the paranormal has a greater impact on science, and even our lives, than one might realize, but what does that really mean? In the Spooky Science series, we will explore exactly what forensic occultism is and how the paranormal impacts our lives, whether you believe in it or not.