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WE'RE BACK!

October 2025 lilbrary presentations return for another season of lively multi-media presentatioins on "ghost hunting" with from a skeptical viewpoint, including high-tech pseudoscience, skeptical inquiry, critical and thinking pitfalls like cognitive biases. Free admission and open to the pubic. Note: Portions of this presentation may not be suitable for very young audiences.

When and where?

Oct. 21, 6-8pm

Kensington Branch Library

4121 Adams Ave, San Diego, CA 92116

Oct. 28, 5:30-7:30pm

Paradise Hills Branch Library

5922 Rancho Hills Dr, San Diego, CA 92139

honoring the heroes of

skeptical inquiry

Haunting: In common parlance, when a location exhibits a pattern and a personality of paranormal activity, it is said to be "haunted." As a rule, PPI does use this word, nor do we enter into any investigation assuming that a haunting is occurring; rather, it assumes that paranormal activity is not occurring and, instead, looks for practical reasons or causes. If our findings cannot be explained, we prefer instead to classify a case as "unexplained." Phenomena associated with classic "haunting" are generally identified as Intelligent or Residual. Claims of an "intelligent haunting" are characterized by a sentience who is "attached" to the premises and interacts with it and its living occupants. Characteristics typical of a so-called "residual haunting" are rote and absentminded, as if caught in a repeating loop. A third classification, Poltergeist, remains controversial; although it resembles a haunting, it is thought by many to be a manifestation of a living mind; in consequence, it has more in common with possession, with which it suffers from similar lack of credibility. 

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Spooking Yourself: Confirmation Bias...

In "Spooking Yourself: Confirmation Bias, Consensus Building, and Household Myth-Making," Karl Sherlock explains one of the most frequent pitfalls in claiming to witness paranormal activity, and warns against two of the most common behaviors that result from it, manufacturing consensus and collaborating on household myths.

PPI Podcast #12: Halloween Night (2011)

We join members of Pacific Paranormal Investigations during a fireside chat on Halloween Night. Karl Sherlock, Brian Miller, Debra Page and Larry Page discuss the origin of Jack-O-Lanterns, animal ghosts and the state of paranormal reality television in a casual and spontaneous conversation.

Recorded: October 31, 2011

Length: 00:22:53