Psychic phenomena, paranormal activity spark interest in Denton

By: Heather Jackson

Posted: 10/30/08

Michael Weaver began his venture into parapsychology as a child, seeing and hearing spirits in his childhood home.

Weaver describes parapsychology as the experimental study of any kind of unusual experience that has no immediate or obvious explanation. The branch of study includes investigation of psychic phenomena, extrasensory perception and telepathy.

He brings his quest for answers to Denton and is inviting people with similar experiences to the second meeting of the Texas Parapsychology Society at 2 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Emily Fowler Library. The meeting will feature a presentation about the history of parapsychology and highlight the experiments Weaver plans to conduct with the group.

"I started this group because I was tired of just reading about other people's experiments. I wanted to conduct some of my own and let other people get hands-on participation with parapsychology," Weaver said.

Weaver, who received his master's degree in psychology from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, began looking for explanations to his unusual experiences in science and philosophy classes. In philosophy, he stumbled across the first parapsychology experiment, which was performed in 550 B.C.

One of the low-tech experiments Weaver plans to perform at the meeting is a drawing experiment first conducted in the 1930s that tests mind-to-mind contact. For the experiment, two people are placed in separate rooms and try to create the same line drawing.

With his parapsychology group in San Antonio, Weaver conducted an experiment that simulated near death experiences and allowed people to see people who have died. Out of the five people who participated, two of them reported seeing their loved ones on the first attempt. Weaver said even though these participants were initially skeptical, they were convinced of what they saw.

Society member Amy Pawley said she has had the ability to sense spirits since she was a child and hopes people with similar experiences will attend the upcoming meeting.

"We want to help people experiencing things that they don't understand," Pawley said. "At our meeting, they will be able to discuss these things in an open, accepting environment."

Pawley said when a clairvoyant told her there was friendly female spirit in her children's bedroom, a meeting explained why she felt eyes watching her from the room and why she would hear the wind-up mobile above her son's crib playing music in the middle of the night. The person also told Pawley the spirit liked light and suggested she open the blinds once in a while, so she did.

While the Society is not solely focused on ghost hunting, Weaver said he would definitely like to investigate areas in Denton where people have reported ghost sightings.

"This particular field is full of frauds and parlor tricks," Weaver said.

The field of parapsychology and paranormal activity is full of frauds and parlor tricks, but Weaver said the group relies on science and experimentation to explain the unexplainable.