When pigeons aren’t pigeons

Something I’ve learned in recent years, documented in this blog, is that many apparently paranormal incidents could be explained if only the witness noticed more at the time. The xenonormal causes of an unusual incident are often visible at the time but quickly disappear. That vital information is no longer there when a paranormal investigator examines the scene often weeks or months later. Indeed, clues can vanish in minutes as apparent paranormal events are frequently caused by coincidences. So, an incident can remain unexplained simply because the witness fails to notice vital clues. It would be useful, then, to assess how good an observer a witness is.  

So who might make a good witness, unlikely to miss clues to a possible natural explanation? There are, for instance, trained observers, like the police who should notice things most people wouldnt. Then there are people with special interests who may notice more than others, at least where their field is concerned. For instance, I am a keen birder. I recently saw some street pigeons but noticed they looked too small. I then saw they were actually starlings behaving just like street pigeons eating dropped food at people’s feet. Most people wouldn’t have noticed and many would not even know the difference between a starling and a pigeon. Some people will notice if something looks wrong somehow which will often lead them to look around carefully.  Then there are the naturally curious who, when faced with something novel or unexpected, will look for details. There are many other examples of people who may naturally notice more than most people.

Sadly most people don’t fall into the groups, and similar ones, mentioned above. They notice little when going about their everyday activities.  When faced with the unexpected most people see only that and notice nothing else that’s going on.  In my experience it is the stuff going on around the ‘unexpected’ which often explains it.