Research literature shows that the great majority of Americans who say they have "no religion" are still quite religious, or at least "spiritually inclined." Surveys support this. In 2011, an Associated Press poll found that 8 in 10 Americans believed in angels—even 4 in 10 people who never went to church. In 2009 the Pew Research Center reported that 1 in 5 Americans experienced ghosts and 1 in 7 had consulted a psychic. In 2005, Gallup found that 3 out of 4 Americans believed in something paranormal, and that 4 in 10 said that houses could be haunted. More than 90 percent of those who do not belong to a church say that the pray, and 39 percent of them pray weekly or more often. Half of those who say they have "no religion" frequent New Age bookstores, and they are especially prone to believe in ghosts, Bigfoot, and Atlantis.

Stats like these led religion scholar Jeffrey J. Kripal to declare, "Americans are obsessed with the supernatural."