Supernatural Science

Haitian legends about zombies – the living dead – have inspired countless horror movies. But scientists are still trying to determine whether there is any factual basis to these tales of black magic.

Scores of aircraft, ships and small boats have gone missing in the area of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle. Theories of all kinds have been proposed to explain the mysterious happenings in these waters.

Plato once theorized that a great civilization flourished thousands of years before ancient Greece, only to vanish beneath the sea after a series of cataclysmic earthquakes. Ever since, people have been trying to pinpoint the site of this lost continent: Atlantis.

Thousands of people claim to have had near-death experiences. Do these experiences offer proof for the existence of an afterlife? Or do they tell us something about the human brain’s response to extreme stress?

For decades, parapsychologists and skeptics have waged a furious debate over the existence of extra-sensory perception. In this program, leading researchers from both camps put ESP claims to the test.

The power of suggestion can be used to assist medical treatment, or to indoctrinate cult victims. This program examines the consequences of using – and abusing – this little-understood power.

Madonnas that weep blood. Statues of Ganesh that drink milk. To believers, these are miracles. But researchers have often found more mundane explanations. This program investigates some of the world’s most famous miraculous phenomena – including the legendary Shroud of Turin.

Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster has eluded searchers for decades. Other reports of “sea serpents” have come from lakes in Norway and the U.S. Do Jurassic beasts haunt these waters? Or have witnesses been fooled by optical illusions and hoaxes?

Can the human body just burst into flame? Bizarre deaths caused by spontaneous human combustion have been reported for more than a century. Recently, forensic scientists have begun to develop a compelling explanation for this phenomenon.

Dowsing is one of the oldest sciences, used to locate everything from freshwater springs to missing persons. It is also part of the panoply of alternative therapies. Medical dowsers move their hands over patients to diagnose and even heal illnesses. Many doctors ridicule the practice. But there are those who believe “therapeutic touch” has real benefits.

Over the centuries, Indian gurus, Christian saints, psychics and others have been reputed to possess the ability to levitate. Science has now shown that levitation is possible through technological means. Could an ancient myth become reality?

Channelers and mediums claim the ability to communicate with the dead. Scientists remain skeptical. But some researchers have come across a baffling phenomenon: young children with extraordinary knowledge of people who died before they were even born.

The body is capable of incredible feats, some of which defy explanation. How, for example, can Tibetan monks sleep outdoors in freezing temperatures? This program reveals what these feats tell us about the real limits of human anatomy and psychology.