User:Untoten123/sandbox

The event that unfolded in Joplin, Mo. -- known as the Butterfly People of Joplin -- occurred during and after the Joplin tornado in 2011. There are many stories from the people of Joplin that tell of butterfly-like people that came and helped as the tornado wrecked many parts of the city. However, this event also leads to some scientific controversy. Although the event that unfolded in Joplin was catastrophic, seeing butterfly people is a true anomaly. The purpose of my discussion below is to explore and expose the known information regarding the Butterfly People of Joplin. The stories of butterfly people started in hospitals and food donation lines and quickly spread throughout Joplin and many parts of the United States. There are many claims from parents and children that they were saved by the butterfly people, and some of these revelations are very chilling. Many of the stories involved parents and children who were trapped and the children claim that they saw butterfly people above them giving them protection. So, what could be the cause of this anomaly? There is not any proof that these butterfly people in fact existed, and science also cannot prove their existence. There is no factual evidence, so people cannot claim that they exist. Once we have evidence that can be used to run an experiment, then we can start making claims that this event occurred. We cannot rely on the words of people alone. As a plausible scientific cause, here is what we do know: under extreme stress, it has been shown that people can hallucinate. If a child (or even an adult) were to see the tornado ripping up buildings and flipping cars, it could cause the child to feel extreme anxiety. The types of hallucinations that could occur are auditory, olfactory, and visual. One of the children could have had a halogenic experience and started telling other children, which caused them to believe that they also saw the butterfly people, leading to a domino effect. It could also be caused by psychological effects on the children. The children may have needed a way to cope with this extreme condition, leading them to believe they saw butterfly people. Mass hysteria is also a probable cause. This occurs when there is a collective illusion within a large group of people. This could have been the result of nothing more than rumors of butterfly people. As an example, one case of mass hysteria was the "phantom gasser" when people believed that someone was spraying people with a gas that caused them nausea, vomiting, and burning in the back of the throat. It is important to keep in mind that a person’s psyche can be affected during a traumatic event, and how this may lead to group hysteria. When we have an anomaly, such as the stories of the butterfly people in Joplin, people want an explanation. However, there doesn’t appear to be any logical or rational evidence to confirm these stories about butterfly people. If some people from Joplin experienced catastrophic events during the tornado, this could have resulted in the psychological phenomenon of seeing “butterfly people.” With no scientific evidence or other forms of proof (such as objects that can be tested by science) to validate the stories about butterfly people, we must conclude that these stories may fall into the category of false confirmation, rather than any indication that butterfly people truly existed.