Where is all the EVIDENCE?

It took me several years just to write this post. Between then and now, several intriguing stories came and went. Some were genuinely creepy, others were downright laughable but they all beg the question: is there a truth to all of this?

In our day and age, smartphones are everywhere and even people in far flung rural areas have them. You'd think it would be a lot easier to obtain irrefutable proof of the existence of Kapres, Aswangs or the like. In fact, the opposite is true. Yes, the web is swimming in a sea of strange, 'unexplained'  videos (that weird part of Youtube) but if you remove the chaff of Adobe edited vids, blurry resolution, Pareidolia and misrepresented, out of context vids  from the grain, you'll end up with precious few material that will stand to informed scrutiny.

People like magician James Randi have made it their life's work to research, debunk and expose charlatans, frauds and illusionists who make a living making people believe they have paranormal capabilities. He has even put up a 1 million dollar prize from 1964 to 2015 for anyone who can prove to him that paranormal phenomenon can happen under strict test conditions that all parties agreed upon. No one came close to claiming that prize.

How about those who claim to have a personal experience with the 'unknown' or with 'paranormal entities'? Are they all frauds? Of course not. Their truth is based on their own 'empirical' evidence that cannot be re-created in a lab setting but can be scrutinized only on a limited but informed basis through research.

Unlike magicians and charlatans or self proclaimed psychics,  witnmost paranormale witnesses of aswang, ghost or even demon encounters would rather stay quiet than be subjected to scrutiny and eventual ridicule.

What's more, if I put myself in the shoes of a paranormal being like say, an Aswang, wouldn't it be better if everyone believes I do NOT exist? What good would it do me to convince anyone of my existence? Of course I'd rather stay in the shadows than be caught in the glare of the ubiquitous phone cameras and cctvs out there. The greatest favor I can get from anyone is their complete disbelief in my existence. Pretty much the devil's argument for its own non-existence.

So if you have any weird paranormal story to tell, send them over to me. We'll investigate and rate its plausibility on a scale of 1-10. 10 being perfect, irrefutable proof of a thing's existence. Just like in the case of the Giant Squid or the Okapi.

1 of course is plausibility in the level of Pikachu or Barney. Personally, I'd prefer a pink, boring cephalopod over a creepy purple dinosaur that likes to be around kids anytime.

If we arrive at a viable conclusion, we've done humanity a favor. If not, at least we've added to our compendium of fascinating folktales and campfire stories our children's children will enjoy for generations to come. Truth be damned.