Nearly 20 Percent of Americans Claim to Have Seen Ghosts, Says New Report
Halloween may have come and gone this year, but a re-publicized 2009 Pew Research Center study suggests that it may remain to be seen whether any supernatural beings got the message.
According to researchers, nearly 20 percent of American adults claim that they've seen a ghost. What's more, 29 percent of the country claims that they have communed or felt in touch with someone that's already dead.
"Most American adults in the 21st Century say that they believe in life after death and in the devil," Claude Fischer, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, wrote recently on his blog. "Over one-third say that they believe in the spirits of the dead coming back; about that many also say they believe in haunted houses."
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Fischer also said that research suggested that attempts to get in touch with the supernatural may be on the uptick.
"Lest you think this is all just a vestige of an older, passing, superstitious age: Belief in ghosts has soared in recent decades, from one in ten Americans to one in three. Moreover, young Americans are about twice as likely as old Americans to say they have consulted psychics, believe in ghosts, and believe in haunted houses," he continued.
Not only does age seemingly correspond to interacting with the supernatural, religion also seems to play a part.
Only 11 percent of those who attend religious services at least weekly claim to have seen a ghost; on the other hand, more than one-fifth of those who attend services less frequently report seeing a spector.
