Such accounts may describe an alligator or alligator snapping turtle that made its way northward from the Gulf Coast, incidents with the latter being recorded as far north as Maine. White’s description of what he saw was less detailed than those of others, but included a glimpse of a “serpentine tail” that quickly led readers of his account to draw the connection with earlier ones that depicted a large, turtle-like beast with two heads, a long tail, and a penchant for dragging its victims to an underwater lair. Although such sightings are recorded as early as the eighteenth century, the most well-known is the encounter of Fairmont coal miner John Edward White while night-fishing at this location in the summer of 1983. The confluence of the Monongahela River and Paw Paw Creek in Rivesville, West Virginia is the site of one of the most famous alleged sightings of what has become known as the “Ogua,” a word supposedly borrowed from the Delawares or Shawnees. The town placed a sign at the site in 2018 to commemorate Cockrell’s 1964 sighting, but a theft of the sign shortly thereafter motivated its relocation to the downtown area upon its recovery.ĥ. Today the Grafton Monster is one of the most well-known West Virginia cryptids and cryptozoologists and enthusiasts frequent the town every year in their search for evidence of the beast’s existence. Though Cockrell’s editors at the Sentinel immediately dismissed reports of a “monster” in Grafton, the town’s residents quickly began a massive search of the area over the following weeks and the legend of a local “beast” soon spread across the state. By validating their beliefs, experiences, and social significance, paranormal research teams deflect social rejection and reach a sense of belonging in both the spiritual realm and modern society.At this location Grafton Sentinel reporter Robert Cockrell made one of the first – and by far the best known – sightings of the alleged West Virginia cryptid known as the “Grafton Monster” or “Beast of Grafton.” Cockrell made the sighting on Jwhile driving home from work after 11 PM on Riverside Drive along the Tygart River, describing what he encountered as seven to nine feet tall, four feet wide, and white with seal-like skin. To conclude, this study demonstrates that the underlying relation between the paranormal groups’ motivations and practices is the pursuit of self and social validation.
It assesses the cultural domain of the paranormal, the epistemological struggles of defining belief and defending sanity, and the ways in which paranormal teams negotiate their place in society. This ethnographic research examines these groups’ simultaneous success and subversion in a larger social context through methods of cultural anthropology including participant observation, surveys, and interviews with ghost hunting groups in Florida. At haunted sites, paranormal investigators seek extraordinary experiences that shape their worldviews and their relationships with others. Paranormal investigators represent a widespread shift in Western religious and scientific ideologies as they explore questions of spirituality, debate theories of the afterlife, and attempt to document the existence of supernatural phenomena.
Also known as ghost hunting groups, these teams use both scientific and metaphysical tools to investigate various types of reportedly haunted locations. This dissertation explores the formation, interaction, and identity of paranormal research teams in Western society. We argue that the inherent liminality of spirits as cultural constructs accounts for their persistence, power, and continual recurrence. Results from a national survey demonstrate that these beliefs and practices are common and concentrated strongly among younger generations of Americans, especially moderately religious ‘dabblers.’ Fieldwork with multiple groups centered on ‘hunting’ ghosts reveals several notable themes, including rhetorical appeals to both science and religion, magical rites, the extensive use of technology to mediate evidence and experiences of ghosts, and the narrative construction of hauntings.
Using mixed methods, we examine ghost belief, experience, and media consumption, as well as the practice of ‘ghost hunting’ in the United States. Although belief in ghosts or analogous concepts is prevalent cross-culturally, including in contemporary Western cultures, social scientific treatments of spirit belief and experience often dismiss such views as superstitious, or overlook this dimension of culture completely.
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