David Paulides | Strange Disappearances in National Parks | Part 1 of 2

David Paulides' meticulous research into the thousands of mysterious disappearances in U.S. national parks should be an object lesson on how the paranormal should be investigated. Paulides does what most paranormal researchers fail to do: First, he examines a phenomenon that is truly unique, without defaulting to the unofficial canon of New Age explanations for such, and second, his research is so thorough, objective, and vetted that it cannot be debunked. Many paranormal researchers try to explain one unknown with another unknown. Paulides does not do this. Others have speculated that the disappearances were caused by Bigfoot, or "aliens." Paulides refuses to go there. He seems to intuitively understand that when we are confronted by a mystery that has no logical, physical explanation, a phenomenon that seemingly originates outside of our known reality, one that defies physical laws, then any attempt to define or understand it will fail--we simply lack the conceptual vocabulary. Paulides has done a great service by bringing forth his Missing 411 books and showing the reluctance of the National Parks Service to come clean on the records of missing persons, and he shows the feds are more interested in covering their derrieres than doing what's right. There seems to be a pattern here.