America’s history is integrally linked with the paranormal on several levels. From the visions Washington had of a free America at Valley Forge to the “Fortune Teller” tricky Richard Nixon employed, the supernatural has permeated the flow of history in a very public way. Unfortunately, these aspects of our past are often omitted from most contemporary interpretations.
The earliest written record linking America with paranormal activity was actually jotted down during Columbus’ famous voyage in 1492 that would end in the discovery of the new world. During the voyage, several ship hands called below deck to rouse Columbus from a restless sleep. There had been spotted something off the starboard bow. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, and grabbing a spyglass, Columbus spotted the mysterious objects. Several white orbs were floating soundlessly across the ocean’s surface casting an eerie glow about them. These orbs, known as “Will O’ the Wisps” in Irish folk tales were recorded in Columbus’ diary, but ultimately chalked up to another weird seaborne happening that could not be explained.
Of course prior to Columbus’ discovery of the new world, the native population of America had been seeing a creature known to them as the Thunderbird, which would appear from nowhere, often portending doom for those who witnessed it. The bird received its title largely due to its monstrous size and the thunderclap sound its wings made as it beat them. Modern reports of the Thunderbird go on even today. Just recently in the past three years reports of Thunderbird activity has gone up significantly, though it is not accepted by modern science and has yet to be photographed. Though this was almost exactly the case with the legendary Giant Panda seen all over the world today in zoos up until the 1920’s. Even mundane creatures, it seems, can elude mainstream acceptance for hundreds of years.
The highest office in the land is not above a brush with the paranormal either. It appears every president at some point or another has made a statement either publicly or in private to friends about an unexplainable occurrence affecting some aspect of their lives in some way. Hillary Clinton, now claiming publicly that UFOs do not exist, herself hired a medium to channel the spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt. Kennedy’s assassination was publicly predicted by psychic Jean Dixon, and was laughed at. Again when she predicted Bobby Kennedy’s death she was ignored. Both turned out to be a grim vindication for psychic phenomena.
Speaking of psychic phenomena, during the Cold War spies reported that the Soviet Union was working with psychics who would render all of the US’ secrets public. No secrets would remain, according to some informants, thanks to the expansive Russian psychic program. Of course the United States would have to keep up, and therefore created their own psychic program MK Ultra. Results were staggering, and the program went on for several years before being disbanded. Some say the program was merely hidden rather than disbanded, and that as technology progressed, the program became only more powerful.
Looking back on just a sliver of the paranormal activity our country experienced, it is clear something is going on. Whatever it is, it has had a drastic effect on the formation of a country that would have a major impact on the world.
