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Can anyone tell me if there have been any studies on seeing things that aren't there?

I am writing a paper on cryptozoology. So far it seems that everyone takes it for granted that thousands of people can see such things as big furry apelike animals that aren't really there. Is there any objective proof of people seeing things of this size and complexity that aren't really there? Has anyone done a study in which subjects were shown a short film of... perhaps a big bear walking in the shadows, difficult to make out for a few seconds, and then ask people what they saw? Or something like this. Is there any rock-hard evidence that any ordinary person can see a "figment of his imagination" or is it all theory?
Posted 1 year ago
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I don't know but, I saw something on TLC a couple years ago that demonstrated the opposite. (Not seeing things that are there). They showed this video clip to a room full of people. In the clip there were some people who were told to watch the video of some people on a basketball court or something and count how many times a basket ball was passed around. In the middle of the scene a man walked into the center of the screen wearing an ape costume, then walked back out. At the end of the clip, the people were asked some questions about the video, one of which was "did a man in an ape costume walk into the center of the screen?" About 98% of those who watched the video did not see the ape. They re-ran the clip for them and they could not believe that they did now see it... The point was to demonstrate how perception is limited and constrained by focus and by the viewers expectations.
Posted 1 year ago

Other 3 Answers to Can anyone tell me if there have been any studies on seeing things that aren't there?


Posted Feb 5th, 2009 at 5:58PM
I don't know of any studies but I've seen them glide across the room or places Ive visit. I consider them beings on the otherside. The space Im going through feels disturbing. They are large sorta furry like human shaped. No sounds, just presense.
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Posted Feb 5th, 2009 at 5:58PM
If you want to dig into medieval history, many scholars have a theory that a lot of the superstitious beliefs and monster stories of the time came from ergot poisoning. Ergot is a fungus that infected their bread, and possibly caused hallucinations. Maybe there's a modern-day hallucinogen we're not yet aware of?
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Posted Feb 5th, 2009 at 5:58PM
"Nexus" magazine has articles on Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Bunyips, etc etc etc. I can't quote the issue numbers, but I've read them. Search the Web; I've seen some accounts and there are societies for people who have seen or are interested in such things. (Of course, they say that such things are there).
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