GNC
King-Sized Canary
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2001
- Messages
- 33,633
Do you realize there are thousands of groups made up of individuals that take this very seriously? They spend quite a pretty sum buying equipment, traveling, and gaining access to "prime" sites. It's now part of their identity, how they define themselves - as "paranormal investigators" (which are different than "ghost hunters". There is some research on this including my own. Here are just the books that have documented the trend that begins in earnest around 2000:
Hill, S. (2017). Scientifical Americans: The Culture of Amateur Paranormal Investigation.
Hanks, M. (2016). Haunted heritage: the cultural politics of ghost tourism, populism, and the past.
Hill, A. (2010). Paranormal Media: Audiences, Spirits and Magic in Popular Culture.
What's the difference between that and the spiritualism craze of over a hundred years ago, with all the photos with cotton wool on them as "proof"? It's a result of some social malaise, a seeking after something science or organised religion cannot satisfy, but then you could say that about any fad or cult. It may lead to something, there's still a Spiritualist Church after all, or it may peter out like many other aspects of interest in the paranormal. These things go in waves. As Frank Zappa said about going to church, "It's just an excuse to hang out with your friends".