Out-of-this-world response to online Australian ghost hunt

Australian paranormal investigators have claimed an out-of-this-world
response to a global ghost hunt to expand an eerie but underexplored
body of knowledge.
Tapping into an explosion of interest in phenomena that defy scientific
explanation, researchers from Australia's Monash University set up an
online survey to assess their impact on individuals and society.

Some 2,000 people had made contact via the Internet since the survey
began six weeks ago, with 96 percent claiming to have had at least one
brush with the paranormal, study supervisor Beverley Jane told AFP on
Thursday.

"By paranormal we mean those events that cannot be explained using the
current laws of science," said Rosemary Breen, who will use the results
as part of an academic study into supernatural occurrences.
"(The paranormal) is now considered mainstream and part of everyday
contemporary life for many people."

The exercise seeks to gauge the frequency, effect and age of onset of
unexplained phenomena such as premonitions, out-of-body and near-death
episodes, telepathy and apparitions.

Results to date showed 70 percent of respondents believed an unexplained
event changed their lives, mostly in a positive way.
Some 70 percent also claimed to have seen, heard or been touched by
animal or person that wasn't there, 80 percent reported having had a
premonition, and almost 50 percent recalled a previous life.

"The respondents are sincere and they want to report what they have
experienced," Jane said.
She said she was amazed by the strong response on such a sensitive
subject, and put this down the spectral study's virtual nature.
"People can do it in the privacy of their homes instead of in front of
the researcher, so they can answer honestly," she said.

While the survey was anonymous, some people later sent emails with their
contact details, Jane said.

She denied the study sought to assess respondents' mental health, but
said it did offer people the chance to tell somebody about experiences
they would normally keep to themselves.