Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Devices that their inventors claim will overcome gravity in some unspecified way outside our normal understanding of machine design. Rockets, gliders, balloons, and heavier-than-air planes are ways by which we overcome gravity to fly or, in the case of space rockets, escape from the Earth’s gravitational held (or, in general relativity theory terms, escape from…

An old belief that animals have some form of psychic understanding with human beings and that they use some method, other than normal animal to human communication, that involves perhaps a sixth sense. Stories have been told to suggest that this rapport exists not only between domesticated pets and their owners but also between humans…

One of several types of mysterious “falls,” anomalous items that fall from the sky, often associated with UFOs. Angel hair has been described variously as glass-like filaments that dissolve when touched; spiderweb-like fluffy masses that fall on bushes, streets, and trees; cottony, radioactive fibers; silken threads as long as 50 feet; metallic, tinsel-like strands; and…

Title of book and movie about an alleged haunting in the 1970s. On November 13, 1974, a young man named Ronald DeFeo ran from his house in Amityville, New York, screaming that someone had murdered his family. DeFeo himself was later convicted of shooting his parents, two brothers, and two sisters. The next owners of…

An umbrella term used to describe an extraordinary physical or mental state, not usually experienced in daily life. Such states comprise hypnagogic hallucinations (as in daydreaming), fantasizing, hallucinations, hypnosis, trances, deathbed visions, spirit possession, and out-of-body experience. Such states occur among all peoples, and are usually brought about by changes in body chemistry, which can…

A term for a hairy hominid allegedly found in the mountains of Mongolia and Russia and similar in appearance to the Himalayan creature called the Yeti or Abominable Snowman. The word “Almas” comes from the Mongolian language and means “wild-man.” The first recorded sighting was described in the journal of a 15th- century Bavarian nobleman,…

The number of years Earth has existed, resulting in a subject of controversy. Creationists and many fundamental religious sects believe that Earth’s age is only several thousand years, while orthodox science puts the age at about 5 billion years. Establishing the age of Earth has always been marked by tension between the scientific and religious…

An alternative form of bodywork that combines the practice of acupressure with the breathing and postures (asanas) of hatha YOGA. Acu-yoga is generally self-administered after a person has learned the basic yoga postures and the location of the acupressure points. The floor is used to apply pressure to those parts of the body that cannot…

Abductions of humans by extraterrestrials, usually to a spaceship and often for the apparent purpose of physical examination of the humans, after which they are returned to Earth, usually, though not always, to the place they were taken from. One of the earliest and best-known claims of alien abduction was that of Betty and Barney…