ABSTRACT
In Shakespeare’s England, ghosts were common, witches caused misfortune, and comets were portents of impending doom. Today, such beliefs might seem quaint and unsophisticated, but they continue to exert an influence on people throughout the world. A 2005 Harris Poll of 889 U.S. adults found that 40% believed in ghosts, 28% believed in witches, and 34% believed in UFOs (Harris 2005). Some people take these beliefs further than others. On March 26, 1997, 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult living in a San Diego suburb used a mixture of barbituates and vodka to liberate themselves from the “vehicles” of their bodies and join up with an alien spaceship they believed to be traveling behind a comet that was visible in the night sky.
