Think Anomalous

Think Anomalous videos offer reviews of notable cases of unexplained events, and surveys some  major developments in the study of anomalous phenomena. Videos feature illustration by Colin Campbell or V.R. Laurence, music by Josh Chamberland, Animation by Brendan Barr, and Sound design by Will Mountain.

Pages:

3     2     ​1

Tehran UFO Incident, 1976: Iranian Fighter Jets Chase a UFO

Although there are many UFO sightings among pilots and air traffic controllers, one case in particular serves to shatter the myth that trained observers don't see UFOs. In September of 1976, the Iranian Air Force scrambled two Phantom jets to intercept a luminous, shape-shifting object drifting over the capital city of Tehran. But every time the jets approached it, their equipment failed, and the object darted away. The case is exemplary for involving a mix of radar data, physical effects, and multiple independent witnesses, and a classified report proves that it drew attention from the highest levels of the US government - despite official insistence to the contrary. (continue reading)

Debunking the Bower & Chorley Story: why Crop Circles aren't all Hoaxes

There are many people hoaxing crop circles today, but two artists from Hampshire, England are the only ones who claim to have been making them in the late 70s and 80s. In the early 1990s, Doug Bower and David Chorley told a British paper that they started the phenomenon in 1978, and made every formation found in the next nine years. But though the media bought the story, the men's claims do not stand up to scrutiny: here's why Bower and Chorley could not possibly have made all the circles they took credit for, and why hundreds of formations around the world are still left unexplained. (continue reading)

An Introduction to Crop Circles

 Since at least the early 1950s, circles of flattened crop have been found in fields around the world, and rings have appeared in snow and ice. In the early 1990s, circles and rings became simple pictograms, and later, intricate symbols and complex geometric patterns. Though many now dismiss the formations as man-made hoaxes inspired by a pair of artists in Hampshire, England, analysis of the affected plants and soil shows that the genuine circles could not have been laid by hand. Whatever hoaxes occur today, science can distinguish them from a much older phenomenon that is not so easily explained. (continue reading)

Hieronyma and the Incubus - Sleep Paralysis, Sexuality, and Anomalous Entity Encounters

In the late seventeenth century, an Italian theologian wrote of a woman in Pavia, Italy, who for years was awakened in the night by a soft, seductive voice that later appeared as a small, golden-haired man. Hieronyma felt kisses on her skin, while the voice and man tempted her into sex. Later, an unseen force moved people and objects around the house, or caused them to disappear entirely. Though it sounds like a far-fetched story, it's largely consistent with thousands of other documented cases of what's now called sleep paralysis - and even with cases of alleged alien abduction - and it illustrates the important role of sexuality in all of these experiences. (continue reading)

Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter, The Goblin "Invasion" of 1955

In the mid-1950s, two families in rural Kentucky made headlines across the country when they told police that their home had been approached by small, metallic creatures that could not be killed or scared away. The media coverage of the incident helped draw attention to neglected reports of UFO landings and entity encounters, and the strange, goblin-like creatures excited the public imagination. At the same time, however, hostile and sensationalized reporting on the incident served to discredit stories of contact with anomalous entities, and helped erect the veil of ridicule that now surrounds them. (continue reading)

The Science of Reincarnation

 Many eastern religions and new age traditions believe in some form of physical rebirth, or Reincarnation, but you don't need faith to think it happens. Over the last 60 years, researchers have documented several thousand cases in which young children recalled the events of a previous life in such detail that those experiences could be confidently matched to recently deceased individuals. Though this evidence has been largely rejected by mainstream science, it compels us to explore new theories of the human mind, and to consider the possibility that consciousness might survive bodily death. (continue reading)

Donnie Decker, the Man who made it Rain

 After attending his grandfather's funeral in the early 1980s, a man in Pennsylvania experienced a barrage of hostile anomalous phenomena that haunted him for days. Donnie Decker entered an altered state of conscio­usness, developed spontaneous scratches, and was twice lifted from the ground and thrown across a room. For the three days that he stayed at a friend's house on a furlough from prison, it rained continuously indoors, and afterwards, he could produce the rain at will. Decker's case is unique for involving such a singular power over nature, but it also demonstrates a mysterious, but important link between emotional trauma and the occurrence of the unexplained. (continue reading)

UFOs, not Aliens: the Difference and Why it Matters

 UFOs and aliens are so strongly linked in Western culture that many people consider the terms interchangeable. It's why people ask you if you "believe in aliens" when they want to know your opinion on UFOs. But referring to UFOs as "aliens" prejudices one of many explanations for the UFO data, and invites commentary from astronomers and exobiologists where it's not necessarily relevant. By engaging in debate on the chances of extraterrestrial visitation, ufologists fall for a straw-man argument, and are diverted from discussion of UFO sightings. Here's why it's important that we talk about UFOs, not aliens, and approach them independently of the search for extraterrestrial life. (continue reading)

Maury Island UFO Incident and the first Men In Black, 1947

Several weeks after Kenneth Arnold had his historic UFO encounter in June of 1947, he investigated a sighting in Washington state that would prove to be just as influential in UFO lore. The principal witness claimed to see a group of circular UFOs from his patrol boat in Puget Sound, and the next day, he was visited by what ufologists would now refer to as a "man in black." Many researchers have concluded that the sighting was a hoax, but the media coverage - especially after a fatal plane crash carrying two army investigators - convinced the world that the US government was hiding the truth on UFOs, and would kill to keep it secret. (continue reading)

J. Allen Hynek: the Man behind UFO "Project Blue Book"

For nearly forty years after “flying saucers” began making the news, one man dominated the search for an explanation: J. Allen Hynek, astronomer and scientific consultant to the US Air Force UFO Research group. Hynek began his career as a debunker, but gradually changed his mind on UFOs, becoming the foremost advocate for their scientific study. More than anyone else, he helped convince both scientists and laymen that there was a genuine mystery in the UFO data, and he showed the world how to solve it with the tools of modern science. (continue reading)

Lucid Dreaming: Waking Up in the Dream World

In the last 50 years, science has come to prove what many have known for thousands of years: that dreamers can become conscious - or “lucid” - in their dreams, and direct these dreams with intention. As well as being a powerful tool for personal growth, lucid dreaming connects the dreamer to a world beyond the self, not limited by the normal constraints of time and space. What’s more, it allows scientists and psychonauts to conduct repeatable experiments testing the nature of the dream world, and the structure of reality itself. (continue reading)

"Mystery Airship" Sightings, 1896 - 1897

In 1896 and 7, hundreds of western American newspapers reported mass sightings of fantastic, winged airships performing maneuvers years ahead of the technology of the time. In some cases, the airships landed, and their pilots talked to witnesses. Most Americans assumed a secret inventor would soon take credit for the sightings, but no one who did so could prove ownership of a functional flying machine. The “mystery airships” remain unidentified, constituting an early wave of UFOs before flying saucers, and almost before flight itself. (continue reading)

UFOs and the "Mystery Airships" of 1896 - 1897: Conference Presentation

Presentation by Jason Charbonneau of Think Anomalous at Trent University in Peterborough, Canada, on May 27, 2017. Jason was the second speaker at UFOs, Aliens, and the Academy: An Interdisciplinary Conference, organized by Matthew Hayes and Laura Thursby of Trent University. (continue reading)

Flatwoods "Monster", 1952

By the early 1950s, claims of contact with alien-like entities began to appear alongside stories of UFOs and “flying saucers.” In the fall of 1952, a group of local boys saw a fiery, red object fly across the sky near the small town of Flatwoods, West Virginia and appear to touch down on a nearby farm. There, the group found a large, glowing object, and a monstrous, mechanical entity that sent them running for their lives. The group’s remarkable story captured the public imagination, and preceded a rise in UFO entity encounters around the world. (continue reading)

Zanfretta Abductions, 1978 - 1981

Beginning in December 1978, an Italian private security guard named Piero Fortunato Zanfretta had a series of bizarre experiences with tall, green giants that rank amongst the most fantastic stories of all UFO contactees. Important elements of Zanfretta’s account were confirmed by physical evidence and corroborating witnesses, and the unfolding drama was thoroughly documented in Italian media. Zanfretta’s dramatic story exemplifies many common features of UFO contact narratives, and serves as a vivid testament to their wholly “alien” nature. (continue reading)

Washington D.C. UFO Sighitngs

The summer of 1952 had the greatest wave of UFO sightings since the first flying saucers of the late 1940s, and the Air Force was under mounting pressure to produce an explanation. Then, for two nights in July, a group of UFOs entered restriced airspace over Washington D.C. and triggered a media frenzy. The public reaction to the Washington sightings proved that the global fascination with UFOs would not go away, and prompted the Air Force to retreat from its responsibility to answer to the public on this enduring mystery. (continue reading)

The Ark of the Covenant

One of the greatest mysteries of the Hebrew Bible involves the Ark of the Covenant: the vessel of the stone tablets on which God inscribed the ten commandments, imbued with incredible destructive powers. The bible makes frequent and detailed reference to the extraordinary power of the ark, but the object inexplicably vanishes from historical record sometime in the sixth or seventh century BCE. Many questions remain, but insights from new scholarship, and a few ancient traditions, expose the remarkable story of this mysterious ancient object. (continue reading)

Pages:

3     2     ​1