Yay a blog. It's not like the internet needs another one of these, but I started it none the less. Well, I guess I will be reviewing things here mostly, and bringing what I believe to be interesting topics, pictures, videos and other crap to your attention. Hmm. I better start my first post off with some actual content. Here it goes.
.......Okay, here's something interesting. Let me preface this by saying that as you can tell by my name I am a bit of a science nerd. In particular, chemistry is my favorite. But all areas of science I find interesting. Maybe it is the beauty of the scientific process.
I also very much enjoyed the paranormal in my younger days, mostly ufos, ghosts, bigfoot. I had lost interest theses areas around the time I started high school. But a year ago I read this book that managed to approach the paranormal from a completely objective viewpoint. The name the book is "Hunt for the Skinwalker" by George Knapp.
Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Hunt-Skinwalker-Science-Confronts-Unexplained/dp/1416505210
The book tells the firsthand accounts of a family that lived on an out of the way ranch in Utah. The family is plagued with a plethora of paranormal activity that ranges from UFO's to large, bullet proof animals to cattle mutilations, poltergeist activity, and yes, even Bigfoot makes an appearance. I know that all of this sounds like a season box set of "Unexplained Mysteries" (Robert Stack f-yeah), but this is billed as nonfiction. About halfway through the book the family can't take it anymore and moves out. This is when things get even more interesting.
At this point, a scientific team, NIDS, hears stories of the ranch, and decides to buy it from the owners at a steal. The father from the family even agrees to help them, and give them accounts of all the events he and his family had witnessed. At the end of the book they provide several explanations for what is happening.
I found this book to be a great read and I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in either the paranormal or the scientific process. It totally changed how I see many supernatural phenomena.
You're probably wondering what a skinwalker is. Well, this may be the books one flaw; the title poorly represents the content. It is the reason I almost put it back on the shelf at the library (I am SO happy that I didn't). The title "Hunt for the Skinwalker" is somewhat off-putting to me. While there is a part of a chapter that explains that a skinwalker is a Native-American witch that wears animal skin, the events on the ranch rarely involve this. I don't know if an editor at the time thought that this would be a good selling point, but regardless of the title this book is worth the read.
And yes after I returned it to the library, I scoured the internet and found no PDF. Looks like you will have to buy or borrow it. Sorry! Apparently it is available for purchase in PDF format somewhere though.
