How many times have you heard someone tell you a story of what they claimed to believe is truth ? Well the paranormal field is no different. Unfortunately, social media has enabled many to freelance their stories to the world at the click of a key. The problem with many of those stories is that social media makes it easy for anyone to address their thoughts on the paranormal with their own perceptions of being facts when there is undoubtedly a plethora of explanations as to what or why people are experiencing certain things.
There are three words initially that come to mind when it comes to reasoning within the paranormal :
Apophenia : Originally coined by Klaus Conrad , a renowned Psychiatrist , stated in his 1958 publication on the stages of schizophrenia. His meaning was that apophenia is the tendency of mistakenly making the connection of certain objects between unrelated objects IE: cloud formations misconstrued as faces.
Pareidolia : Which is closely in definition except that is goes more in depth with perceptions , such as a sound, music, objects and the like.
Matrixing : A word more closely and commonly used with those of the paranormal field and or ghost hunters. The word is also finely connected in definition with the others.
In addition to the three words above, there are also other identifiable explanations for certain reasons why things may be seen. Not that paranormal occurrences do not happen, but that thorough deductions should be made before making sudden judgements. Chemical influences play a part in this as they have certain side effects that create delusional thought or perceptions.
Aside from all these circumstances, we should keep in mind that working in the field of paranormal investigation or ghost hunting does not authorize one to falsify information for self gain, though unfortunately, it does happen.