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ANOMALISTS ARE NO LONGER AN ANOMALY
Part One
By Bernie O'Connor, CFGD
Director of Research and Founder*
www.armchairresearch.com
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The
staff of the Anomalist would like to thank everyone who took part in
the ANOMALIST SURVEY OF 2007, which was conducted in the
beginning of March 2007. Your responses have helped us to better
understand you and what type of content you are looking for when you
visit our website. Best of all we gained some fascinating insights
about what you believe in and don't believe in. Now we would like to
share the results of our survey with you.
THE RESULTS
In
total, 449 people took our survey within a span of just over two weeks.
The average time spent completing the survey was 15 to 30 minutes.
These averages of course, depended on the number of questions answered
and how in-depth the respondent was in answering the essay or
open-ended, voluntary information requested in some questions. As the
results show, answer them you did! Obviously you are all very
passionate about being Anomalists.
Our total single
overall response count was 24,437; that's an average respondent rate of
407 people per question, out of 60 questions. As our base line, I am
going to use the average figure of 407 in quoting percentages.
Normally, I always allow for a plus or minus factor of 5% when
reviewing the outcomes.
I was surprised at the level of
involvement and the amount of information you shared with us via the
survey. Usually any kind of consumer survey is much shorter and doesn't
have the complexity of response options we requested. We used this
approach because of the wide variety of content the Anomalist site
features and the multi-layered, mixed-interest audience the site
serves. In fact, out of 446 responses, 50.9% visit the site at least
once a day, and 14.6% more visit it several times a day. As all good
Anomalists will tell you, they may be very interested in only one type
of anomalous phenomenon, but an exciting UFO report, a Bigfoot
sighting, or a good old fashion Ghost story will make their day. Then
throw in a good sized frog fall for good measure and we're in heaven.
HOW DID YOU FIRST BECOME AN ANOMALIST AND WHY?
The
first question on our survey was designed to find out how Anomalists
became Anomalists. 51.9% point to books as their first source of
interest in the subject. An additional 35.7% claim a first-hand
experience with something unusual for sparking their interest in the
unknown.
Today, however, the internet and blogs (84.6%) have
replaced books (only 8.5%) as your main source for anomalous
information. Magazines weigh in at 2.9% and newsletters at a mere 0.4%.
Back in the '50s, '60s and '70s, newsletters proliferated for this type
of niche publishing: these fanzines have now pretty much all
disappeared due to the ease, simplicity, connectivity, and immediacy of
internet publishing.
BOOK PUBLISHERS, FEAR NOT!
Anomalists
are avid readers and are still buying books. 52.3% claim libraries of
less than 50 items, 27.7% of 50-100 items, and 15.8% have 100-1000
items. The heavyweights and undefeated champions, 4.3% have over 1000
items plus. (Not to elbow my way in here, but I fall into that
category.) Now out of that sampling, 46.1% buy their books and
magazines online, 32.3 % buy them at independent brick and mortar
stores, followed by 21.6% who visit major chain stores to stock up
their Fortean libraries.
Consequently if you are a book
publisher, bookseller, or magazine publisher, the net is your
storefront, especially for this specialized readership. One reason
there has been a fall off in titles of this unique genre from the major
publishing houses is that they do not know how to profitability reach
this market segment.
MAGAZINES IN GENERAL
Besides the getting information from the web, Anomalists are voracious magazine readers. Newsweek, Time, The New Yorker, Harpers, Atlantic Monthly, The Guardian, The Economist, Fate, Fortean Times, and Business Week
were specifically mentioned. As for categories, science, computer /
technology, and political magazines are also enjoyed by our audience.
One thing they don't do however is subscribe to magazines. 32% stated
they do not subscribe to any magazines at all.
WHY ARE YOU AN ANOMALIST?
53.7%
are fascinated by anomalous reports and enjoy reading about them. 19.5%
feel these events are very important to us in some way. 18.3% consider
themselves serious researchers seeking the truth behind these
experiences. Bringing up the rear are the pure hobbyists at 8.5%.
WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA?
An
outsider would guess that all those interested in such things as the
Mothman and Nessie would be nothing but wide-eyed true believers.
That's a phrase the mass media uses from time to time to describe these
people and it's never in a good light. But the Anomalists who answered
this survey are proving the media wrong; in reality, they are
remarkably open-minded in their judgment of unusual events and their
acceptance of a skeptical viewpoint.
61.4% try to keep an open
mind when reviewing reports of unusual phenomena and 16.7% feel
something unusual did happen but they are still skeptical of it.
Additionally, 13.8% believe a good number of stories to be outright
hoaxes. A mere 0.5% believes the claims outright.
When asked
about the reliability of information about anomalous phenomena they
find on the internet, 40.8% felt that only 10-30% is reliable and
accurate. Another group, 29.7% felt that less than 10% is reliable and
accurate. These figures reflect guarded enthusiasm at best. Considering
that the internet is now this audience's prime source of information
about such phenomenon, the reported events and eyewitness testimonies
are being viewed carefully through judicious eyes.
So in
essence, 92.2% of the respondents to this question have a skeptical
nature. In other words, these events may have mundane explanations to
them, and that would not surprise this audience.
More evidence
of this open-minded nature comes in the responses to the statement: “I
think skeptics should be given a fair chance to refute anomalous
reports.” Again 97.3% agreed with this statement. So we really may
really be skeptics at heart.
ANOMALISTS ARE AN ADVENTURERIOUS LOT
When asked if they would actively participate in a particular investigation, the following percentages said YES:
UFO Investigation - 71.1%
Ghost Hunt - 54.2%
A Bigfoot Stakeout - 50.5%
Sea Monster Expedition - 41.9%
Crop Circle investigation - 37.7%
A Séance - 35.3%
This
was a multiple answer question; so many respondents choose several
options. Either way, an army of field investigators seem to be stand
by, ready to go at a moment's notice.
Other X-treme sports, with this X being from the X-files,
Anomalists would like to partake in;
- 63.3% said they would go aboard a UFO
- 74.8% would stay overnight in a haunted house
- 57.2% would visit a Fairy realm
THINGS ANOMALISTS WOULDN'T DO:
- 98.6% would not give up everything and join a group of people who claim contact with non-human intelligences.
- 91.2% would not actively take part in a hoax.
- 90.7% wouldn't summon a demon
- 56.2% wouldn't try to contact the dearly departed.
OTHER OPINIONS ANOMALISTS HOLD:
- 97.1% believe we have been experiencing anomalous phenomenon throughout all of Earth's history
- 85.6% believe ESP exits
- 78.9% believe they have experienced precognition
- 68.1% believe other dimensions exist and those intelligent beings exist there and can crossover and visit us
- 67.6% believe some people can foretell the future
- 62% feel animals are psychic
- 56.8% have experienced ESP
- 54.5% think the Ancient Astronaut theory is valid
- 49.8% have had out-of-the-body experiences
- 26.8% have experienced astral projection
- 20.5% can do remote viewing
- 12.5% have psychokinetic ability
ROSWELL?
One
interesting result was the outcome of this question: Did aliens really
crash in Roswell? 53% answered yes, 47% said no. I feel that this is
essentially a 50/50 split decision and accurately mirror the prevailing
social attitude towards the mystery of Roswell, both among the general
public and Anomalists. My guess is that, in this particular case,
slightly more Ufologists leaning towards the alien explanation of
Roswell took the survey during this period.
ARE THE VISITORS HERE?
The
question, “Have people really been in contact with space people?”
garnered a 52.2% no vote. This would appear to be at odds with the
answer to the Roswell question. But admittedly this too is a
close call, with the yeas following right behind with a slight 47.8%
minority.
END OF PART ONE
In
Part Two of this report, we examine how many of our readers have seen
UFOs, spotted Bigfoot, or had a Ghostly encounter. Also, for the first
time anywhere, we reveal what Anomalists really believe exists and what
doesn't in the realm of the unknown. Go to Part 2
*Bernie
O'Connor has a career that spans over 30 years working in Advertising,
Marketing and Promotion Agencies in both New York and Pennsylvania as a
Creative/Marketing Director. He is also a Certified Focus Group
Director and brings his research, analytical, and marketing skills to
his new company, www.armchairresearch.com, an online survey company
that specializes in creating targeted marketing programs via online
surveys, polls, and quizzes. |
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