The Midwest is a region of the United States that is commonly known for its vast landscape and low population. It’s essentially a place where an alien could exist, and no one would know. This leaves the people who dwell in the Midwest feeling quite paranoid. 

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The paranoia that the people of the Midwest experience is quite eerie. The fact that the feeling is spread across the whole region is notable, and the idea that the paranoia has stayed relevant for many years speaks volumes.  

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Paranoia is defined as “unjustified suspicion and mistrust of other people or their actions,” according to Oxford Languages.  

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Suggesting that the people of the Midwest are paranoid would be alluding to the fact that they fear something that is not proven true. Although ghosts and aliens are not completely shown to be real, there isn’t enough research to prove that they are indefinitely nonexistent. So, my question is, are the people of the Midwest even paranoid? Paranoia is unjust suspicion, but how can one say the fear of ghosts and aliens is unjust if they are not proven to be nonexistent? 

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Alien sightings and paranormal activity are topics that seem fictional: they’re both phenomena that seem supernatural. Individuals will group them with concepts like zombies and vampires, refusing to acknowledge that there may be some truth to aliens and ghosts. The hard, proven fact of the matter is that no one knows. There is no proof of anything, nothing proving their existence, nothing proving their nonexistence. 

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So, if there is no proof, why are people paranoid? The only answer I have to this question is that paranoia is a part of the culture. From old folklore to horror movies, paranoia is one of the most culturally significant feelings in the Midwest. “Whether it's folklore that wound up being true or the seemingly innocent small town in Illinois, the Midwest plays host to some of the scariest films to ever grace the big screen,” according to the Rockford Register Star. 

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It is possible that the people of the Midwest are exposed to so much content about alien sightings and paranormal activity that they are extremely paranoid about it. The Midwest has been rich with a paranoid culture for hundreds of years for an array of reasons. 

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The culture of the Midwest was born by the people who were here first. The Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Dakota are just a few Native American tribes who historically dwelled in the Midwest. Native American tribes are known for their spiritual beliefs and stories. These tribes are flowing with fascinating tales of spirits and rituals. These stories are crammed with countless ideas and concepts that people nowadays have never seen or experienced. However, these stories could have curated a deep-rooted culture of paranoia within the region. With the most recent phenomenon of alien sightings and speculation, paranoia has come to life within the Midwest. 

 

The folklore surrounding extraterrestrial life has been around for thousands of years. Old Greek philosophers and theologists have suspected other-worldly life since ancient times.  

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Why is the Midwest so intrigued by the concept of aliens? There is no straightforward answer to this question.  

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It is my belief that people often romanticize ideas like aliens and things of similar nature. There’s this intense fascination with the unknown. Although there are countless unidentified flying object sightings and thousands of people attesting to witnessing an alien sighting, there is no hard proof or evidence that the public is aware of. 

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People get bored with things that are backed by factual evidence; it is much more entertaining to fantasize about concepts that are not proven to be true. It allows the mind to be much more creative. 

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In recent years, more and more citizens have come forward with stories of alien sightings. Whether these sightings are legitimate, or just people seeing a random light in the sky, it seems as if more people are beginning to consider aliens a serious problem.  

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One of the most memorable alien sightings in the Midwest happened all over West Michigan in 1994, “Strange lights were reported in the sky near Holland and several other locations, mostly across portions of Ottawa, Muskegon and Allegan counties. In the days and weeks that followed, at least 300 witnesses came forward with varying accounts,” according to News Channel 3. 

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To my understanding, as we progress through time, people are shown daily how anything is possible. The world has developed into an intricately built ecosystem that is quite fascinating and impressive.  

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With our world developing at such a rapid pace, it seems people are beginning to wonder if we are the only ones. The universe is infinite. Why wouldn’t there be aliens? 

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Ghosts are quite a taboo topic. For some people, they view ghosts as a religious idea, often relating them to their God or the Church. Others have this predetermined idea that ghosts contain the absence of God and are simply just a mysterious concept involving those who have died. 

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Similar to the trends of aliens and UFOs, there are a couple of different kinds of attitudes people have toward the subject of ghosts. There are those who completely reject the idea, those who believe it to be a sign from God and those who are completely fascinated with the subject regardless of its origin.  

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“All around me, people have been hunting for Bigfoot or Mothman, watching for UFOs, giving haunted history tours and sleuthing through old buildings to detect ghosts,” Christina Leimer said in an article from Next Avenue. 
 

Leimer was exploring the paranormal culture in the Midwest. She expressed how surprising the outcome was when she brought up the idea. People seemed to be captivated by the idea of paranormal activity in the most unsuspecting places, like a hair salon.  

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The love of paranormal activity in the Midwest is absolutely represented in the sheer abundance of haunted houses and abandoned asylums. There are hundreds of ghost stories and tall tales revolving around the paranormal activity that has festered in the Midwest since humans have dwelled there.  

 

There is a feeling of uneasiness when learning about paranormal activities. Relating it back to aliens, ghosts have originated from the unknown. There is no hard evidence proving ghosts or spirits to be real unless, of course, it is a part of one’s religion. But for those who don’t identify, it is impossible to know for sure what happens to a human being after death. The concept of ghosts may have originated from truth; however, they also may have originated from legends and folklore.  

The truth will never be known.