How and What does a Parapsychologist Research?
Ready to Explore the Unexplained?
Do you believe the world is full of mysteries?
What about ghosts, mind reading, mediumship, life after death, strange coincidences, or experiences that seem to defy explanation?
If you’ve ever wondered about these things, you’re in the right place!
Parapsychology explores some of the most fascinating questions about the human mind and unusual experiences. But there’s an important thing to remember: being curious doesn’t mean believing everything you hear.
Parapsychologists try to keep an open mind while remaining sceptical. They question stories, examine evidence, and look for ordinary explanations before deciding that something might be genuinely unusual. Many researchers also have backgrounds in subjects such as Psychology and Neuroscience, which can help them understand how the brain, mind, memory, and perception work.
So, imagine someone asks:
“Do ghosts really exist?”
A parapsychologist wouldn’t simply answer yes or no. They might start investigating the mystery step by step.
COLLECT
Gather as much information as possible. This could include interviewing witnesses, recording their statements, examining photographs and videos, and finding out exactly what happened, when it happened, and who was there.
TEST
Now it’s time to examine the evidence. Photographs or videos might be checked by experts. Witnesses could be interviewed carefully, and researchers might use questionnaires or, where appropriate, equipment such as an EEG to study brain activity. They may also investigate the location and consider the people involved and whether there could be other reasons for what was reported.
VERIFY
Is the evidence genuine? Can the strange event be explained by something ordinary, such as lighting, reflections, sounds, faulty equipment, memory, suggestion, or even a misunderstanding?
The goal is to check the evidence rather than jump to conclusions.
REPLICATE
And then comes one of the most important steps: do it again!
Researchers shouldn’t simply accept the first result as proof. They repeat tests, check their methods, look for anything they may have missed, and see whether the same results happen again.
Check. Check again. And then check one more time!
That’s the spirit of investigation: stay curious, ask questions, follow the evidence, and please don’t be afraid to say “we don’t know yet.”
Now, have a look through the subjects below and discover just how many fascinating mysteries parapsychology explores...
Extrasensory perception (ESP)
is the idea that people can receive information without using the ordinary senses like sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell. ESP is popular in paranormal stories and has been studied in parapsychology, but there isn’t reliable scientific evidence that ESP actually exists. Many experiences that feel like ESP can potentially be explained by intuition, coincidence, memory biases, or subconscious
perception.
Psychokinesis (PK)
the supposed ability to move or influence physical objects using only the mind, without physically touching them.
For example: supposedly bending a spoon, moving an object across a table, or affecting a machine just by thinking about it.
It’s often associated with telekinesis, which is basically used as a synonym in popular culture. There’s no reliable scientific evidence that humans can actually do this.
Remote viewing
is the claimed ability to describe or perceive a distant place, object, or event without physically being there or using normal senses.
For example, someone might be given a hidden location and asked to mentally describe what’s there.
It’s considered a form of ESP/paranormal perception, and although it has been studied in experiments, there’s no solid scientific evidence that it reliably works.
Out-of-body experiences
are experiences where a person feels as though their consciousness has left their physical body and they are observing themselves or their surroundings from another location.
People may report:
- Seeing their body from above
- Feeling like they are floating
- Moving through different places
- Feeling detached from their physical body
OBEs can occur during sleep, meditation, trauma, or near-death experiences. They’re studied scientifically, and there are neurological explanations for them, so they don’t necessarily indicate that consciousness actually leaves the body.
Near-death experiences
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are unusual experiences people report when they are close to death or in a life-threatening situation.
NDEs are real experiences that people report, but what causes them is still debated. Science has proposed explanations involving brain activity, oxygen changes, memory, and other processes; there’s no conclusive evidence that NDEs prove an afterlife.
Reincarnation/ past-life memories
Reincarnation is the belief that a person’s consciousness or soul is born again in another body after death.
Past-life memories are supposed memories of experiences from a supposed previous life. People may report remembering different names, places, relationships, or events they never experienced in their current life.
These ideas are common in several religions and spiritual traditions,
Apparitions
are ghost-like figures or images that people claim to see, often of a deceased person.
For example, someone might report seeing a transparent or shadowy figure that disappears quickly.
They’re commonly associated with ghosts and hauntings, but there’s no scientific proof that apparitions are actually spirits.
Hauntings
are alleged paranormal events where a person, place, or object seems to be associated with ghostly activity.
Examples include:
- Hearing unexplained footsteps or voices
- Objects seemingly moving on their own
- Seeing apparitions or shadows
- Feeling sudden changes in temperature
- Repeated strange events in the same location
People often interpret these as evidence of ghosts or spirits,
Medium-ship
is the claimed ability to communicate with spirits or people who have died.
A medium may claim to receive messages through:
- Visions or images
- Voices or thoughts
- Feelings or sensations
- Messages delivered during a séance
It’s often associated with spiritualism and paranormal research,
Poltergeist phenomena
are alleged paranormal events involving objects moving, noises, or other disturbances in a home or location.
Common examples include:
- Objects being thrown or moved
- Knocking or unexplained noises
- Doors opening or closing by themselves
- Lights or electronics behaving strangely
The word poltergeist comes from German and means “noisy ghost.” Despite many reported cases
Anomalous cognition
Anomalous cognition is the claimed ability to gain information without using the normal senses or known ways of obtaining it.
For example, someone might supposedly know about a distant or hidden object without seeing or being told about it.
It’s a broader term sometimes used in parapsychology to describe things like ESP and remote viewing
Anomalous interaction
Anomalous interaction refers to the claimed ability to influence people, objects, or physical events in unusual ways without normal physical contact.
Examples include:
- Psychokinesis (PK) — supposedly moving or affecting objects with the mind.
- Healing at a distance — supposedly influencing someone’s health without physical contact.
- Mind–matter interaction — supposedly affecting machines or physical systems through thought.
It’s a concept studied in parapsychology,
States of consciousness
Altered states of consciousness are changes in how a person experiences reality, awareness, thoughts, or themselves.
They can happen through:
- Dreaming or sleep
- Meditation
- Hypnosis
- Drugs or alcohol
- Extreme stress or trauma
- Near-death experiences
Basically, it’s when your normal waking state of awareness changes significantly.
Dream-related phenomena
are unusual or interesting experiences that happen during sleep or dreams.
Examples include:
- Lucid dreaming — knowing you’re dreaming while still dreaming.
- Precognitive dreams — dreams that seem to predict future events.
- Telepathic dreams — dreams believed to contain another person’s thoughts or experiences.
- Recurring dreams — the same or similar dream happening repeatedly.
- Sleep paralysis — being temporarily unable to move when falling asleep or waking up.
Some are well-understood scientifically, while claims like precognitive or telepathic dreams remain unproven.
Déjà vu and anomalous
experiences
are unusual experiences that feel strange, unexpected, or difficult to explain.
- Déjà vu — the strong feeling that you’ve experienced a current situation before, even though you know you haven’t.
- Anomalous experiences — experiences that seem outside ordinary everyday explanations, such as sensing a presence, having a strange coincidence, or feeling like you predicted something.
Déjà vu has several possible psychological and neurological explanations, while anomalous experiences can be interpreted as paranormal but aren’t necessarily evidence of anything supernatural.
Animal-related ESP
refers to the claimed ability of animals to perceive or communicate information through paranormal means, beyond their normal senses.
Examples include:
- Animals supposedly knowing when their owners are coming home.
- Pets appearing to sense danger or illness before humans do.
- Animals seemingly responding to their owners’ thoughts or intentions.
It’s sometimes studied as part of parapsychology, but there is no reliable scientific evidence that animals have ESP.
Healing phenomena
are claimed experiences where a person’s physical or mental health improves through unusual or non-conventional methods.
Examples include:
- Faith healing — healing through religious belief or prayer.
- Energy healing — claims that invisible energy can restore health.
- Psychic healing — supposed healing through mental or paranormal abilities.
- Spontaneous healing — unexpected improvement without a clear medical explanation.
Some forms may involve real effects such as placebo, relaxation, or natural recovery,
Consciousness and survival after death
Consciousness and survival after death refers to the idea that a person’s consciousness, mind, or soul may continue to exist after the body dies.
Examples include:
- Near-death experiences (NDEs)
- Apparitions or ghost experiences
- Mediumship — claimed communication with the dead
- Reincarnation or past-life memories
- Beliefs about an afterlife
It’s a major topic in parapsychology and philosophy, but science has not established that consciousness survives physical death.
Exceptional human experiences
are unusual or deeply meaningful experiences that go beyond ordinary everyday experiences.
Examples include:
- Mystical or spiritual experiences
- Near-death experiences
- Out-of-body experiences
- Telepathy or precognition
- Unexplained coincidences
- Feeling a powerful connection with nature or another person
They can feel extremely real and significant to the person experiencing them, but they don’t necessarily have a paranormal explanation.
Methodology and statistics
Methodology and statistics refers to the methods used to conduct research and analyse the results.
- Methodology — how a study is designed and carried out, including experiments, participants, controls, and procedures.
- Statistics — how researchers analyse data to identify patterns, relationships, or whether results could have happened by chance.
In parapsychology, they’re especially important for testing claims like ESP and psychokinesis and determining whether the results are genuinely significant or just due to chance, bias, or flaws in the experiment.