NEWS OF THE WEIRD HITS CLOSE TO HOME IN IU COURSE ON SCIENCE AND THE OCCULT

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- It reads like a subplot from an X-Files episode: a Taiwanese UFO cowboy cult from Texas makes a pilgrimage to Lake Street Beach in Gary, Ind., in early January. Its members wade into Lake Michigan's icy waters and anoint the shores, calling them the main loading dock from which God's flying saucer will rescue survivors of a nuclear holocaust in 1999. Some members of the cult wear white cowboy hats through which they believe God's spirit enters their bodies, and two 9-year-old boys in the group are said to be the reincarnations of Jesus and Buddha.

"This is not that uncommon," said Distinguished Professor Emeritus Edward Grant, whose own course -- X207: "The Occult in Western Civilization" -- could pass as "X-Files 101."

"There are more and more cult-like groups, and what happened to the Heaven's Gate people won't discourage it at all. If you surf the Web, you will find many, many things. And if you are of that sort of bent, you can find soul mates out there quickly enough."

Grant first introduced the course in the early '70s and has returned to the classroom this semester. The course is popular for IU's Department of History and Philosophy of Science, one of the country's leading departments in the field. Grant himself has had a distinguished career, researching and teaching subjects like medieval science and natural philosophy, Aristotelianism from 1200 to 1700, and medieval universities. Naturally, he brings a historian's perspective to bear on supernatural phenomena ranging from witchcraft and spiritualism to UFOs and out-of-body experiences.

"There is a historical context to all this. I try to treat it as a product of the times in which it came into being," Grant explained. "In the middle ages, witchcraft was a belief that was widely held. In fact, if you didn't believe it, you would have been thought to be maladjusted and a very suspicious character.

"The difference in the kinds of superstitions we have today is that they have taken on a scientific character, using scientific jargon and apparatus. They're dressed in scientific garb, but still trade on the credulity of lots of people."

Grant was reluctant to speculate on how many of his students were believers, guessing that perhaps about half believed in at least some aspects of the paranormal. A survey administered to his class at the beginning of the semester revealed that most students, while skeptical, were open to the possibility that many such phenomena may be real.

When asked to respond "agree," "disagree," "perhaps" or "no opinion" to various statements on UFOs, astrology, magic, spiritualism, ESP and psychics, the majority of students responded "perhaps" to statements including: "It is possible to communicate with the dead," "Objects can be levitated by non-physical means," "Space ships from other planets have landed on earth," and "Some people possess inherent powers for predicting the future with great accuracy."

"I've had students tell me stories of seeing something, usually at night, some sort of strange lights," Grant said. "As a matter of fact, I thought I saw something once. I was looking out of my window and heard this strange noise, then I saw lights. I didn't see anything else, just lights moving. And finally, I saw it clearly and it said 'Vote for Wendell Stogsdill.' So some guy had rented some kind of helicopter or plane, but you couldn't see it."

While some events have simple explanations, like the lights of a campaign advertisement, other phenomena are harder to either prove or disprove. In the case of something like reincarnation, it comes down to a matter of personal belief in an individual's claim. Science may weigh heavily against such claims, but it is difficult -- if not impossible -- to offer scientific evidence for or against them.

"Out-of-body experiences are like that, also," Grant said. "If someone says they had an out-of-body experience last night and visited another galaxy, what can you say?"

The professor's response? "I hope you had a good time."

(Jeff Austin, Office of Communications and Marketing, 812-855-0084 or 812-855-3911, jeaustin@indiana.edu)

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