10 Creepiest Real Life Paranormal Studies You Won't Believe Exist

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were delving into the world of creepy paranormal experiments that are so mind bending, you wouldn't believe they actually happened!

Ganzfeld Experiments

During the 1970s, psychologist Charles Honorton and his colleagues were pushing beyond the conventional boundary of science for evidence confirming the existence of telepathy. Their ganzfeld experiments placed ping pong ball halves over a persons eyes, then placed them in a sensory deprivation environment, filled with a dim red light and white noise. This would put the alleged telepth into a meditative state where they attempt to tune into whatever they can receive mentally from another participant in a separate room. Researchers conducted hundreds of these experiments, and Honorton claimed results show that the self proclaimed telepaths scored higher than average. However, many dispute the interpretation of data that led to this claim.

The P.E.A.R Anomalies Research

Started in the late 1970s and fully operational until 2007, the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research lab explored the limits of human consciousness. They theorized that human thoughts or intentions alone could have physical outcomes in reality, suggesting that intention creates resonance affecting the physical world. If the resonance from human thoughts could interact with physical objects like a random number generator, it could theoretically introduce order and reduce the randomness of the generator, increasing the chance of a successful prediction. The lab actually did this exact experiment along with many others, only to find a very slight change in outcome. It may not sound creepy at face value, but imagine this used in gambling, an election, or even worse..war

The Rhine Research Center

The Rhine Research Center is sometimes described as a blend of scientific method and pursuit of the unknown. For decades, the Rhine Research Center has been a pillar in the field of parapsychology. Questioning preconceived notions of human consciousness, how it interacts with the world and if it survives death, the Center conducts experiments to test candidates for special abilities like psychokinesis, telepathy, and clairvoyance. Yes, its almost like a real life Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters from the X-Men. It's cool thinking there might be some real life superheroes out there, but then again, that would imply there are supervillains as well, and that just creeps us out.

Society for Psychical Research, Census of Hallucinations

In 1894, the Society for Psychical Research conducted a Census of Hallucinations, a survey of 17,000 people. The study found that 1,684 or about 10 percent have had hallucinations or experiences of paranormal apparitions. 350 cases out of the 1,684 reported with sightings: they claimed to see and hear ghostly apparitions of their loved ones at their exact time of death while being in a completely separate location from the deceased. Either 10 percent of a census is hallucinating or ghosts are real. Honestly, either one is pretty scary.

The University of Virginias Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS)

In 2005, Dr. Jim Tucker of the University of Virginias Division of Perceptual Studies, was examining the case of James Leininger, a young Louisiana boy who began recalling horrifying memories of being a pilot in WW2. Around the age of 2, James started having vivid nightmares, reliving the death of aviator James Huston, a Corsair pilot shot down near Iwo Jima. At first, the parents were skeptical, until James started giving oddly specific details like the ship he took off from, the name of his best friend aboard it, and even the name of his squadron. Further investigation would show that the child's imagination may have been actual memories, as documents were found that actually verify all historical authenticity of these claims.

Project Stargate: SRI Remote Viewing Program

The movie The Men Who Stare At Goats was drawn from Project Stargate, formed by the Stanford Research Institute and the Defense Intelligence Agency. In short, this was a real life saga of Third Eye Spies. Operating from 1977 to 1995, the covert psychic program was utilized by the CIA, DIA, and the US Army to spy on adversary nations. For 20 years remote viewers like Ingo Swann, Joe McMoneagle, and Pat Price were using alleged psychic abilities to collect intelligence. Despite its woo-woo connotations, the remote viewing method was proving to be quite useful, successfully discovering things like the location of a Russian sub. What's stopping anyone, even evil people from using these methods for insidious purposes?

The Phillip Experiment

Ever had an imaginary friend? Well what if that imaginary character wasn't just a figment of the imagination? In 1972, a group from the Toronto Society for Psychical Research, attempted to manifest a being through pure mind power. The study group created a character named Philip Aylesford, a knight from the 17th Century who took his life after his wife had his mistress killed for alleged witchcraft. After a year of meditation yielded no results, the team switched to a traditional seance. Eventually they allegedly contacted the made up character and got it on film. Many believe the group contacted a demon posing as their made up friend.

Skywatcher: Summoning the Unknown

The Skywatcher teams initiative is to explore the enigma that is Unidentified Aerial Phenomena with both conventional and unconventional methods. Using Machine Calling and Psionic Calling methods, the UAP hunters claim to be able to call in UAPs on demand. Discovering nine different classes of UAP, most of the UAP seem to be non hostile and go about their own business. But some like the Jellyfish class have been reported to encroach upon the team with other UAP seeming to put themselves between them. Perhaps some are good and some are badmaybe summoning them could be dangerous.

The Perron Family Haunting (The Conjuring)

Often referred to as The Conjuring House, this farmhouse is home to one of the most high profile hauntings in America. The Perron family moved into their new home in Harrisville, Rhode Island in the 1970s when strange occurrences began to take place. This included unexplained noises, cold spots, moving objects, and even physical harm, particularly on wife and mother, Carolyn Perron. Eventually the family contacted the acclaimed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens conducted a seance with the family when Carolyn allegedly became possessed and was levitated while speaking in tongues before being violently tossed to the ground. The aggressive hauntings continued until the family left.

Skinwalker Ranch: A Strange Place

One of the strangest places on earth, Skinwalker Ranch has been home to UAP sightings, poltergeist-like activity, cryptid sightings in the form of impossibly large wolves, and even cattle mutilations. The site has been investigated by private scientific teams studying the paranormal phenomenon at the location. It has also been part of the AAWSAP, the Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program, studying real UAPs on behalf of the Department of Defense. Some of those defense officials even claim that something followed them from the site, causing hauntings to their families. Oh yeah, we can't forget to mention the claims from the Navajo Tribe of shape-shifting witches on the land, giving the site its cryptic name Skinwalker Ranch. I don't think Ill be visiting anytime soon.

What unexplained phenomena do you think deserve to be studied? Tell us in the comments!