A new Gallup poll sheds light on Americans' perceptions of the paranormal by asking them to share their thoughts on eight extraordinary phenomena. The survey was reportedly conducted over two weeks in May, using a pool of 1,003 adults living throughout the United States. The fairly cut-and-dry poll presented participants with eight paranormal phenomena and the question of whether or not they believe in them. Interestingly, psychic healing came out on top with 48% of respondents expressing their belief that the mind possesses healing powers.

The phenomena that followed were ghosts (39%), telepathy (29%), and communication with the dead (27%). Rounding out the latter half of the list were clairvoyance (26%), astrology (25%), reincarnation (24%), and witches (24%). In what is likely not a surprise to paranormal enthusiasts, a Gallup analysis of data found that "it is more often the same people believing in multiple phenomena that make up the bulk of believers." To that end, they indicated that individuals from that camp (34%) "believe in at least three and an average of five" phenomena. On the other end of the spectrum, they noted, 66% of the participants were "generally skeptical — on average, believing in just one" phenomenon.

One noteworthy data point stressed by Gallup was that among those who expressed skepticism about the paranormal, 33% indicated that they believe in psychic healing, which seemingly explains its surprising place at the top of the list. While their analysis stressed that "no single phenomenon receives endorsement from a majority of Americans," fans of high strangeness should not despair, as the numbers produced by the survey are actually pretty positive when one considers that it was exploring such wondrous ideas as ghosts, clairvoyance, and telepathy. What do you make of the new survey, and where do you fall on the eight phenomena? Weigh in with your thoughts at the C2C Facebook page.