A survey by Cinch Home Services has found that most Americans believe they have seen paranormal activity in their houses (83%). The researchers gathered 1000 Americans to ask their thoughts on the supernatural.
Even though the participants believed their homes had ghosts, researchers found that 75% had not vacated. Only 10% sold their houses after finding paranormal activity. Moreover, 64% believed in the supernatural before they witnessed it, while 30% said they only believed it after their experiences.
The researchers asked respondents to describe their experiences with the supernatural. These included hearing voices (35%), the lights turning on and off (42%), and strange sounds (46%).
The paranormal activities seemed to occur in all kinds of houses. For instance, 55% of the participants said they had happened in a free-standing home. Another 22% claimed they had occurred in a townhouse, while 23% claimed it was an apartment building.
Although 50% of the hauntings occurred in houses with at least two stories, 46% were in smaller places.
About 60% of respondents living in haunted houses heard warnings about the occurrences before living there. Another 43% were explicitly told their homes had ghosts, with 23% finding out that someone had died there.
Some respondents believed they had caused the haunting as 27% had occasionally used an Ouija board. Another three in ten were fans of ghost stores, while one in three had haunted items in their homes.
Studies have shown that paranormal events mainly occur during the summer, with 39% in May, June, and August. Moreover, 16% of supernatural occurrences would happen from 1 am-3 am.
Most of these events (51%) happened when an individual was alone. Some would happen in the kitchen (7%), bedroom(31%), and living room (33%).
Americans have different ways of dealing with the supernatural in their homes. About 20% would hire a ghost hunter, 29% would find a medium, and 36% would see a religious leader. Despite their efforts, 1 in 3 claimed that the ghosts refused to leave. Another 1 in 4 was successful, while 43% gave up.
However, many homeowners were willing to buy a haunted house and use it as a Halloween attraction to make money.