The investigation of the range of phenomena held to be paranormal, established as a held of enquiry in the late 19th century. In the mid-19th century, an epidemic of paranormal phenomena that is, happenings that defy explanation by any established and understood mechanism, lying outside what is accepted as normal science was generated by a growing middle class with time on its hands to whom this was a fascinating occupation. In the 19th century, mortality was still fairly high, and there were very few families who had not lost one or more loved ones. There was a strong belief in life after death and therefore the possibility, however remote, of communication between the living and the dead. Seances became the rage, in which the spirits contacted by physical mediums were producing spirit writing and materializing. Those contacted by mental mediums gave messages to members of the seance, often with information that no living person but the spirit’s loved one could have known.
In that age of scientific enthusiasm, it seemed that it might be possible to establish an empirical scientific basis for phenomena that appeared to be closely linked to religion. In Britain the society for psychical research was founded; in the United States it was the psychical research foundation. Cases were sought for which only a paranormal explanation seemed possible.