wicro
Skilled Investigator
First of all hello, my first post! hopefully not my last.
As in the title of this post, I'm currently researching a dissertation on the topic of UFO's and people that encounter 'anomalous phenomena'. During my literature review of this topic, (Which I personally have been interested in for over 25 years.. yup I am a 'mature student') I was surprised to find very little academic research on the actual experience of those encountering UFO's from the perspective of the 'experiencer' despite the obvious cultural impact of this topic.
There is a large body of work especially in psychology that seems hell bent on proving that people that witness strange phenomena are some how of a mental abnormal state. Within my field of sociology again the the main line of inquiry (with a few notable exception) is on the 'cult' aspect of UFOolgy or the 'beliefs' of the people involved. I personally feel this line of inquiry and labeling of people within this field as some how 'deviant' not conducive to healthy debate.
So this small preamble leads me to my question/s. What academic works would people recommend within this field, and what areas do some of this community feel are of particular interest (ok ok I'm fishing for ideas).
My own rather draft version of what I'm proposing to do for a dissertation concentrates on that much more common experience the IFO, which seems criminally under investigate within the UFO field. When we have a greater understanding of the why people miss identify objects surely it would give the field more legitimacy(and not just from the human psychological / biological perspective). I find purely psychological explanations lacking, and therefore would like to broaden out the area of inquire to more general social trends as well a more 'phenomenological' understanding of what is being experienced.
I personally have experienced a number of 'strange phenomena' within my lifespan, but I maintain a healthy doses of skepticism (in the traditional use of the word) to the whole field of the 'paranormal' but wish to a make a contribution in even a small way. Considering the very erudite comments within a number of the threads here, and the general level of critical thinking that is expressed within the podcast shows, I thought this was as good as place to start to try and make some connection and hopefully debate.
Any comments and/or suggestions would be most appreciated.
whoops shows my attention to detail, if this is in the wrong section please feel free to move!
As in the title of this post, I'm currently researching a dissertation on the topic of UFO's and people that encounter 'anomalous phenomena'. During my literature review of this topic, (Which I personally have been interested in for over 25 years.. yup I am a 'mature student') I was surprised to find very little academic research on the actual experience of those encountering UFO's from the perspective of the 'experiencer' despite the obvious cultural impact of this topic.
There is a large body of work especially in psychology that seems hell bent on proving that people that witness strange phenomena are some how of a mental abnormal state. Within my field of sociology again the the main line of inquiry (with a few notable exception) is on the 'cult' aspect of UFOolgy or the 'beliefs' of the people involved. I personally feel this line of inquiry and labeling of people within this field as some how 'deviant' not conducive to healthy debate.
So this small preamble leads me to my question/s. What academic works would people recommend within this field, and what areas do some of this community feel are of particular interest (ok ok I'm fishing for ideas).
My own rather draft version of what I'm proposing to do for a dissertation concentrates on that much more common experience the IFO, which seems criminally under investigate within the UFO field. When we have a greater understanding of the why people miss identify objects surely it would give the field more legitimacy(and not just from the human psychological / biological perspective). I find purely psychological explanations lacking, and therefore would like to broaden out the area of inquire to more general social trends as well a more 'phenomenological' understanding of what is being experienced.
I personally have experienced a number of 'strange phenomena' within my lifespan, but I maintain a healthy doses of skepticism (in the traditional use of the word) to the whole field of the 'paranormal' but wish to a make a contribution in even a small way. Considering the very erudite comments within a number of the threads here, and the general level of critical thinking that is expressed within the podcast shows, I thought this was as good as place to start to try and make some connection and hopefully debate.
Any comments and/or suggestions would be most appreciated.
whoops shows my attention to detail, if this is in the wrong section please feel free to move!
. Oh, and don't worry about posting to the right section. You posted to the "Question Bank" ... which I think is pretty reasonable for someone wanting answers to something. 