For example, one young Italian psychologist looked in the mirror one morning to find a grizzled old man staring back at him. Out-of-body experiences, meanwhile, are now accepted neurological phenomena, while certain visual illusions could confound the healthy brain and create mythical beings.

Reports of poltergeists invisibly moving objects seem to be consistent with damage to certain regions of the right hemisphere that are responsible for visual processing certain forms of epilepsy, meanwhile, can cause the spooky feeling that a presence is stalking you close by вЂ“ perhaps underlying accounts of faceless вЂњ shadow peopleвЂќ lurking in the surroundings. Some paranormal experiences are easily explainable, based on faulty activity in the brain. At the very least, it should cause you to question whether you hold more insidious beliefs about the world. Their findings may suggest some hidden virtues to believing in the paranormal. Intrigued by these persistent beliefs, psychologists have started to look at why some of us canвЂ™t shake off old superstitions and folk-lore. According to recent surveys, as many as three quarters of Americans believe in the paranormal, in some form, while nearly one in five claim to have actually seen a ghost. Three men who were all known for their razor-sharp thinking, yet couldnвЂ™t stop themselves from believing in the impossible. Arthur Conan Doyle spoke to ghosts through mediums, while Alan Turing believed in telepathy. His supposed contact with the supernatural puts Churchill in illustrious company.

You seem to have me at a disadvantage.вЂќ The spirit smiled and vanished.

Unflappable, even while completely naked, Churchill apparently announced: вЂњGood evening, Mr President. Having had a long bath with a Scotch and cigar, he reportedly walked into the adjoining bedroom вЂ“ only to be met by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Soon after World War II, Winston Churchill was visiting the White House when he is said to have had an uncanny experience.

Paranormal phenomena