A Leap of Faith Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Men Who Stare at Goats

"The Men Who Stare at Goats" is a 2009 film starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor. It is a comedy about the attempts of the U.S. Army to train psychic spies. Part of this involved psychic experiments on a herd of goats. The film is based on a book of the same name by Jon Ronson. The film had a mixed critical reaction. Some critics felt that the satire and dark humour was not 'edgy' enough. George Clooney however received good reviews for his acting.

It is a documented fact that during World War II, Hitler, a strong believer in the paranormal, was experimenting with psychic warfare, and the Russians also carried out experiments on far seeing and telepathy to see if there was any military application for it.

Answer: Anne of Cleves

Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were the two wives of King Henry VIII who were executed at the Tower of London. Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, was also executed there, again on the orders of Henry VIII. All of their ghosts are said to haunt various parts of the Tower of London. Anne of Cleves was his fourth wife, who he divorced. She lived out her natural life in England, referred to as Henry's "Beloved Sister", her reward for agreeing to a quick divorce.

The Tower of London is said to have many ghosts. As well as Henry's executed Queens Guy Fawkes is said to haunt it. Walter Raleigh, King Henry VI and a grizzly bear are among other sightings reported.

Answer: Cryptids

A cryptid is defined as "a creature or plant whose existence has been suggested but is not recognised by scientific consensus". Despite various photographs, most of which have been proved to be fakes, and reports of sightings over the years, none of the mythical monsters of the world have been proved to be real. There have been instances of a creature thought to be mythical turning out to actually exist. One example of this is the Okapi, which was once thought to be complete fiction.

Despite the complete lack of proof, and the fact that all photographs so far submitted have been either hoaxes or something else entirely, the legend of the Loch Ness Monster continues to lure tourists to the area in the hope of spotting it.

Answer: Brave New World

Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" features a future earth society which is genetically engineered and made drug dependent by the government. It was first published in 1932.

All of the other books feature an alien encounter of one sort of another. Indeed alien life forms, whether benign or hostile, have proved a rich source of material for books, films and television. There are also people who believe they have been abducted and experimented on by aliens, and then returned to earth. These stories seem to come mainly from America and other English speaking countries. There are people who claim to have been abducted multiple times.

Answer: Astrology

At some time or another almost everyone will read their horoscope. For many it is the first thing they look at in the daily paper, others glance from time to time. The belief in predicting the future, both short and long term, from the position of the planets on the day you were born, or on any particular day, goes back to pre-Christian times, and was used to determine when to plant crops, if a hunt would be a success, even when to go to war.

There are many people today who regularly consult Astrologers, and will not make a major decision unless they feel the stars are favourable.

Answer: Bobby Helms

"My Special Angel" was a crossover hit for Bobby Helms. It spent four weeks at number one on the Country Music chart, and also made number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. Cover versions were recorded by Bobby Vinton and Frankie Avalon. Malcolm Vaughan had a hit in the UK with his cover version, peaking at number three on the UK single chart.

There is no absolute scientific proof that angels exist. People do however say that if you see a white feather where one has no business to be it is a sign that an angel is watching over you.

Answer: Intuition

Intuition is the feeling you get that something is wrong, or that something is about to happen just before it does. Some say they know someone is going to ring them just before they do. It is an instinctive understanding of something without any conscious reasoning to back up that understanding.

It's what gives us the ability to make a snap judgement about a situation or a person. I find it always best, when you get that feeling, to just go with it. Again, there is no proof that intuition actually exists.

Many scientists believe it is just the brain processing information already known at such a speed you don't even realise you have been thinking.

Answer: Karma

Karma, which is part of Buddhism as well as Taoism and Hinduism, is the belief that good deeds in this life will lead to good in this and future lives, whilst bad deeds will lead to bad. The fact that deeds can influence this life as well as future lives makes it more complex than just the belief in reincarnation.
Fate is the belief that everything in life is predetermined and nothing you can do will change it.

Answer: Irish

Bram Stoker was born in Dublin. "Dracula", the novel for which he is remembered, was published in 1897. During his lifetime though he was not known as a writer. He was best known as personal assistant to the famous actor, Sir Henry Irving and the manager of Irving's Lyceum Theatre in London. This aspect of his career is now largely overlooked.

The belief in supernatural creatures of various sorts can be found all over the world. Even today that belief persists in many areas, especially Eastern Europe.

Answer: Aircraft

The Bermuda Triangle, or Devils Triangle, does not appear on any maps or navigational aids. It is a nickname given to an area of the Atlantic where many ships and aircraft have disappeared. This has given rise to the belief that there is some sort of paranormal or extra terrestrial activity in the area.

In 1945 five aircraft, Flight 19, were on a training flight that took them directly over the triangle. They disappeared without trace. One of the search and rescue aircraft sent out to look for them also disappeared. The official explanation was that there had been some sort of navigational error causing the planes to run out of fuel and crash into the ocean. The search and rescue aircraft that went missing had a history of explosions when fully loaded with fuel for a long mission, and it was decided this was what had happened to it. No trace of the aircraft has ever been found.

There were several incidents in the 1940s in the Bermuda Triangle area, including the loss of the USS Proteus and the USS Nereus. These ships were lost with all hands within a month of each other in 1941.