Ma. Persinger, Geophysical variables and behavior: XC. What people consider strange: Change in proportions of reports of Fortean phenomena over time, PSYCHOL REP, 88(1), 2001, pp. 89-90
The proportions of 3,667 reports classified as unusual or odd events within
eight major categories for four contiguous blocks of time between 1770 and
1970 were compared for disconcordance. The major source of the disconcorda
nce (phi = .52) of reports between the major categories and time was due to
the decrease in the numbers of reports of falls of ice, rocks, and animals
but increased numbers of reports of odd luminosities, labelled as unidenti
fied flying objects, after the mid 1930s. One hypothesis to explain this re
sult is that cultural changes in attributions for causes of natural phenome
na may affect their designation as strange rather than mundane.