Remembering the Future

© Brian Allan 2003

Word count: 3,876

Introduction

One of the many factors comprising the bizarre world of the paranormal is the fact that at least one of the contributory elements in the equation is rooted in the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. This based on the fairly obvious assertion that since we as human beings are fundamentally both electromagnetic and electrochemical in nature, then it should come as no surprise that we interact with external EM fields. This is particularly true of the human brain, creator of the breathtaking wonders of both mind and consciousness. While recognising the reality of mind, traditional mediums and psychics singularly fail to make the connection between our electromagnetic environment and their talent, preferring to attribute any phenomena to the even less tangible reason of 'spirit'. How mediumistic, or indeed any psi faculty operate, appears to tie in with what has variously been referred to as 'The Akashic Records' championed by Helena Blavatski and the Theosophists. 'The Collective Unconscious' envisaged by pioneering psychiatrist and pupil of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and the 'Morphogenetic Fields' theorised by biologist Rupert Sheldrake. There is also an additional definition that fits this particular description and it is one that is increasingly finding acceptance within current scientific thinking, the Zero Point Field (ZPF). As we shall see, this may at last provide the final answer to enigmas that have bedevilled humanity since the beginning of time.

Whatever name is given to this all pervasive and invisible information fields that surround us; there is one unmistakable feature that unifies them all. It is the simple fact that rather than being the sole repository of all knowledge since the beginning of time, they also contain the blueprints for everything that is still to come. The argument that we may only contact the past, or indeed the dead, simply because the past and those that have gone before have left their faint fingerprints upon the present may not necessarily be valid. Since the same mediums, mystics and visionaries can on occasion also determine what is still to come it is fair to suggest that this information field spreads seamlessly from the present into both the past and future and what we must try to determine is by what mechanism it is attainable. What exquisitely subtle 'psychic antennae' is deployed to access this field? Is it possible that through the use of their gifts, psychics are, in effect, 'remembering the future'?

Whatever the nature of the interface used, at its most fundamental level it appears that mediums can interact with their surroundings to a greater or lesser degree and I can state from personal experience that I have witnessed a medium locating minute variations in the ambient magnetic field. In this particular instance it appeared that the woman concerned either interpreted slight increases in the magnetic field as the presence of spirits, or, that due to their nature, the 'spirits' caused the local EM field to vary. It is worth emphasising that not only did she sense these variations, but in addition she varied their strength, and this was witnessed by a journalist, a radio interviewer and a photographer, the changes were verified using a TriField meter.

The Electromagnetic Explanation

Before we examine this and other possibilities, we should also consider more fundamental causes. Since we live in a seething broth of electromagnetic (EM) fields, it is hardly surprising that more and more people are succumbing to an allergic condition known as 'electrical hypersensitivity' (EH). While this condition is frequently assumed to be (and indeed can be) the sole cause for a range of allegedly paranormal activities, as we shall see, it may also facilitate genuine psi manifestations. Although natural causes of sensitisation to this condition still occur, because of abundant artificial sources of EM radiation, people increasingly can and do become prone to this recognised medical condition. In common with other allergy sufferers, they display a range of symptoms, i.e.: headaches, nausea, rashes, weakness, the inability to tolerate fluorescent lights, and of course allergies and other conditions that at first sight appear to have no obvious cause. The most bizarre symptom, and one that the sufferer rarely relates to the condition, is the involuntary ability to interact with and actually create electrical fields. We should bear in mind that the human body is an electro-chemical device of infinite subtlety and complexity and external EM fields can and do upset it. Most people have heard of individuals who cannot wear a watch because it either stops or fails to keep time, or in whose presence electrical equipment regularly malfunctions. For example, television sets mysteriously change channel; light bulbs don't last for any length of time, the loading drawer on CD players open and close by themselves and anomalous knocks and bangs are frequently heard. However, as we shall see, while still recognising the reality of psi, there may be a more rational explanation for this particular phenomenon.

In fact, the condition may create a whole range of physical phenomena, including some that have traditionally been attributed to 'poltergeists' and other supposedly supernatural manifestations. While I do not claim this relatively new, or should I say recently recognised, medical condition is the sole cause of strange and bizarre sightings and events, there can be little doubt that it is a powerful contributing factor. Poltergeist activity, where household items are seen to spontaneously move around and doors open and close, all with no sign of human agency, are a case in point. The effects of this unusual condition were finally recognised when a Canadian researcher, John Hutchison, witnessed just such anomalous occurrences in his laboratory. These strange events were due to intermodulated EM energy fields generated by electrical equipment within his laboratory. The catalyst in all this was Hutchison himself; through continual exposure to these fields he had become electrically hypersensitive and his presence in the laboratory caused the anomalous movements to occur. As far as treatment for this condition is concerned, the majority of conventional medical practitioners tend to view sufferers as candidates for neuropsychiatric evaluation. Although this perception is slowly changing, many other environmentally created conditions, e.g. asthma, 'sick building syndrome', multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and chronic fatigue syndrome etc. are often incorrectly attributed to psychological states rather than physical causes. As of the time of writing, there is only one facility in the UK actively specialising in and treating the condition, the 'Breakspear Clinic' run by Dr Jean Munro in Hemel Hempstead on the outskirts of London.

In past times, victims of EH were sensitised by naturally occurring EM fields created by either geo-magnetic 'hotspots' caused by different types of rock and/or magnetic fields created by tectonic movement. Another rather more dramatic, and probably traumatic, cause was by close proximity to lightening strikes. This last method is due to the 'splash' effect created, as the massive electrical charge of the lightning bolt earth's itself into the ground. One of the mechanisms by which the EH condition manifests is through the presence of magnetite within the human body. Magnetite is a ferrous substance that occurs naturally in tiny amounts within the body and is a factor of the iron normally present as a part of our physiology. The magnetite particles tend to cluster in body cavities including the sinuses and it has also been detected in the human brain. Its location in the sinuses sometimes causes a physical reaction when exposure to external EM fields make it tend to rotate rather like the stator in an electric motor, causing damage including bleeding in the surrounding tissue. It is possible and perhaps likely that the phenomenon of alleged 'alien implants' particularly those inserted in the nasal cavities is directly attributable to this unusual but more earthly cause. The location of radiant magnetic particles in the sinuses may also affect the temporal lobes and other brain centres causing a range of hallucinatory effects, or alternatively may produce altered states of consciousness permitting those affected a glimpse of other realities. However, on a physical level, because of elevated levels of magnetite, the EH individuals' body becomes polarised in its own right and generates a discrete magnetic field which, as we have already seen, interacts, like the effects in Hutchison's lab, with the EM fields created by, for example, TV sets. It actually reflects the field, intermodulating with and redirecting it at the device that created it, causing static sensitive components (integrated circuits and microprocessors are a good example) to malfunction, hence the bizarre behaviour exhibited by TV sets (and of course other items of domestic electrical equipment).

There is a vast range of recorded symptoms and phenomena associated with EH, particularly hallucinations containing all the necessary factors to qualify as subjective reality. Sight, sound, smell, touch and even taste, all the physical senses are brought into the equation. Anyone experiencing such a powerful illusion is naturally likely to accept that it is real, so real in fact that even when confronted with the truth they often refuse to accept it. Likewise, as we have seen, the presence of magnetite lodged in the brain itself may be the cause of many of the effects associated with alien and other paranormal encounters. The presence of this naturally magnetic substance on the neurophysiology of the brain acts in the following manner. When exposed to an external EM field, the microscopic fragments of magnetite tend to polarise relative to the field and vibrate at various frequencies causing ionisation in the neurones. This in turn causes the affected cells to involuntarily release neurotransmitters, which can result in a variety of bizarre sensory effects. In fact, the presence of natural hallucinogens produced in the brain raises a whole spectrum of possibilities. Neurotransmitters, like serotonin for example, tend to be produced in greater quantities when the brain is denied sleep and this may be responsible for the greater prevalence of encounters with extraterrestrials and 'ghosts' at night. The opinions of traditionalist thinkers and debunkers insist that these neurotransmitters produce images that exist entirely in the imagination of the experiencer and consequently have no basis in reality. However, as already suggested, it may also be true that these chemicals act to facilitate a 'reality shift' transporting the consciousness of the witness into an altered state of awareness and perception enabling them to actually see into another dimension.

The Debunkers

Predictably, sceptics, debunkers and deniers seize upon evidence like this to totally dismiss and explain away any and all paranormal encounters. The reason for this is not particularly clear, unless this particular group of people have another hidden agenda, which is of course quite possible. In fact, the use of a term like 'sceptic' is, strictly speaking, incorrect, because sceptics will at least listen objectively to the evidence provided and if it's good enough will change their opinions. Deniers on the other hand often wilfully speak out against what they know perfectly well is true, especially when dealing with the subject of psi and as such cannot be expected to give a balanced evaluation. The driving factor behind this stance may be attributable to a host of factors, cultural, social or even political.

Often those charged with investigating claims of the paranormal are funded by corporate science and correspondingly (for their own continued funding) must reflect the paradigm of their employers. It is regrettable that regular contributors to allegedly serious, investigative TV programmes dealing the paranormal, such as Drs. Christopher French, Richard Wiseman and Susan Blackmore have rarely commented favourably on the phenomenon and given the current climate are unlikely to. This however is not strictly true, because Dr Blackmore was originally inclined to give psi the benefit of the doubt, but eventually, for her own reasons revised her opinions to a determinedly anti-psi stance. Still worse is the inclusion of professional illusionists, tricksters and conjurers like James 'The Amazing' Randi, a.k.a. James Randall Hamilton Zwinge, who attempt imply that simply because a phenomenon can be simulated by trickery it actually is trickery. Yet they all know perfectly well that there is abundant, good, solid, corroborated evidence for the existence of psi gleaned from a series of valid, 'double blind' experiments conducted over the years, but still they continue to deny. Recently, Dr. Richard Wiseman even proposed constructing a purpose built 'haunted house' incorporating full, external control over a series of certain environmental parameters, e.g. magnetic fields, heating, lighting and draughts. Much of the rationale behind his ideas was obtained during evaluations of supposedly 'haunted' vaults below Edinburgh's Royal Mile. He and his assistants noted that feeling of an invisible presence were most prevalent where there was an elevated level in the local magnetic field. This conclusion also appears to corroborate the findings of Dr. Michael Persinger, professor of neurophysiology at the Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada, indicating that the brain and its internal neurological processes are affected by the application of mild, external EM fields. Once again this approach might work, but not for the reasons mooted by Prof Wiseman et all, because when an altered state of consciousness has been achieved by application of external stimuli, can they guarantee that what is experienced is solely the product of stimulated brain cells?

Positive research

While this may be true, it does not mean that impressions of invisible entities is entirely illusory and only the result of neural stimulation. The work of Dr Peter Fenwick a neuro-psychiatrist at London University appears to prove this interpretation. Dr Fenwick recently conducted a survey of heart patients who experienced 'near death experiences' (NDE's) when their hearts stopped beating. According to Dr Fenwick, "There is now convincing evidence to challenge the current theory that consciousness can only exist inside the brain - and if you can have consciousness without associated brain function, that is enormously important for our understanding of the mind". Dr Fenwick went on to say, "The significance of this is that after a cardiac arrest you lose consciousness within eight seconds; within eleven seconds the brains rhythms become flat, and within eighteen seconds there is no possibility of the brain creating a model of the world - so the brain is down. Yet whenever we asked people when their NDE's occurred, they said it was during unconsciousness. If that's true, their experience was occurring when there was no blood flowing through the brain - and consciousness would appear to exist outside the brain. It seems that the mind may operate in part outside the brain as a sort of field which works in the same way as a TV receiver received programmes through the airwaves". Dr Fenwick also hinted that the effects of 'prayer power' could have a real effect when he mentioned that trials conducted in the US showed that women using in-vitro fertilisation to become pregnant were twice as likely to conceive when prayed for by a group of people they had never met and were located hundreds of miles away. This has nothing whatsoever to do with a God or any other so-called 'supernatural' agency it is solely the effect of focussed will on the 'field' mentioned by Dr Fenwick. There is an obvious critical reaction to this hypothesis citing the case where many people in desperate need have prayed for deliverance to no obvious avail; the poor souls in Nazi concentration camps for example. The critics ask why there was no rescue in answer to their impassioned pleas, but perhaps there was in the shape in the allied armies of liberation who eventually freed, fed and cared for them, perhaps the nature of redemption cannot be second-guessed.

The Security Issue

From a security standpoint, because of hints emerging from the then USSR, the US government attempted to use psi abilities in pursuit of an intelligence gathering exercise beginning with projects Grillflame and Sunstreak, finally culminating in 'The Stargate Project', based at Ft Meade in Maryland, which was the last officially sanctioned project of its kind in the West. It is probably no accident that Ft Meade is also home to both the US Army Intelligence Dept. and also the ultra-secret National Security Agency (NSA). Rumours abounded that the project was eventually scrapped because the results of the remote viewing were deemed too unreliable, but other stories emerged alleging that one of the parameters of the project was designed to contact the occupants of UFO's. This, if true, puts an entirely different emphasis on the whole exercise and indeed the nature of the UFO enigma itself.

However, as with CIA funded 'mind control' projects like the now notorious MK Search and MK Ultra, it is possible that it merely disappeared from view into the 'black' world where it may still function in some form. It is exercises like this that demonstrate the willingness of governments of whatever persuasion to use any means necessary to gain a marginal advantage over their neighbours. It also demonstrates their hypocrisy as they continue to deny the reality of psi and seize on any and all alternative explanations to explain away both UFO and paranormal phenomena as figments of human imagination. This stance is infinitely more acceptable then the plain truth that there may be entities visiting this planet at will from whatever point of origin and they can do absolutely nothing about it. Of course, it also serves as a convenient smoke screen to obscure high security defence projects being undertaken in 'the black'. From a social and cultural standpoint, to hint that there is an afterlife accessible to anyone without the need for organised religions is total anathema to both government and church. This view is enshrined in all the main faiths who, while actively encouraging belief in an omnipotent and omniscient, supernatural entity existing outwith space and time, hypocritically condemn any attempts to contact this other realm other than by approved methods.

Those who promote religion as the only legitimate method of contacting the 'other side' are perhaps even more anxious to deny the mounting evidence of consciousness existing as a separate entity. Once humanity realises that it has been the victim of a gargantuan, two millennia old confidence trick based on little more than fear and hypocrisy, there would almost certainly be a massive reaction. It is here that the forces of both church and state would perforce stand shoulder to shoulder, for the groundswell could bring down both.

Into the Quantum Field

In the introduction to this article I mentioned various names for this invisible energy field; 'The Akashic Records', 'Morphogenetic Fields' 'The Collective Unconscious' and finally the 'Zero Point Field'. These it appears are merely different names for an identical phenomenon; an intangible, all encompassing energy field that may comprise the sum of all knowledge that ever has been or will be. It also appears that this field may be even more fundamental to our existence than acting as a type of gigantic 'encyclopaedia', perhaps this subtle, swirling ocean of energy is the seat of reason and consciousness; perhaps it is even 'God'.

Once we can identify the difference between purely physical phenomena and the genuinely paranormal, it becomes abundantly clear that understanding the nature of consciousness is vital…and this is not at all straightforward. Perhaps the simplest way to explain consciousness is as a function or type of energy, and according to conventional physics, since energy cannot be created or destroyed but only changed in form, then it is arguable that even after death (or temporary loss of brain function) consciousness continues. Indeed it is also logical to argue that since everything in our world, irrespective of what it is, is energy in one form or another, then energy is the only truly abundant resource there is. It is only after looking at the world and indeed the universe in such a manner, that claims alleging we are facing a terminal energy crisis are flawed, for we face a fuel crisis, not an energy crisis. Indeed, it is only when we are eventually made to confront the grim reality of our profligate and wasteful use of resources, that the work of such pioneering researchers as the Dutch physicists Henrik Casimir (the Casimir effect) and Johannes van der Waals (the van der Waals effect) among others will be hailed as the breakthroughs that they were. These men were among the first to prove the existence of a source of limitless, safe and clean energy that surrounds us all, Zero Point Energy, (ZPE).

One of the ways in which ZPE, and perhaps more importantly its implications, impinge upon the paranormal is its all-pervading nature. There is no such thing as 'empty space' between the planets and galaxies, and there is no such thing as empty space between the component particles that comprise the human body. Physicists like the two already mentioned have now shown that even at temperatures of absolute zero where all motion including that exhibited by subatomic particles is assumed to cease, there is still a residual 'jitter' present, and this 'jitter' is energy; in effect a minuscule electrical charge. Admittedly, although it is an exquisitely weak charge, it has been calculated that there is sufficient energy in a square foot of 'empty space' to boil all the oceans of the planet earth.

While facts like these are ultimately encouraging for humanity and its ultimate fate, this does not explain the relationship between ZPE and the paranormal. This relationship exists because of the ultimate 'inter-relatedness' between human beings and the universe they inhabit. Like the universe around us, we human beings are nothing more than a collection of electrically charged particles and at its most basic level this is why we are sometimes able to 'tune in' to, and become part of, what is around us. As part of the 'observer effect', one of an entire raft of astonishing theories, quantum physics suggests that in certain circumstances there exists a condition called the 'many worlds theory'. This remarkable set of equations indicates that in any given situation, every conceivable outcome exists as probability waves until one final decision is made and the wave collapses into a reality. If this is the case, then are mediums able to influence an outcome by subconsciously trawling through an entire library of probabilities and correctly identifying a definite conclusion? Is it even likely that the very act of peering into the invisible realm of the quantum universe actually precipitates an eventual outcome? The Zero Point Field (ZPF) may be the ultimate facilitator of this astonishing feat by allowing molecules of energy to communicate with one another both non-locally and instantaneously. It seems to matter little which way one looks at it, the nature of reality may not be as fixed as it seems and indeed might even be malleable given the right set of circumstances. As we have seen, due to ingrained dogma and vested interests, conventional physics is still a long, long way from accepting that consciousness is separate from the brain and the ZPF may yet save humanity from itself. We have also seen that although this entrenched position is slowly changing, there is still a mountain to climb before the truth is revealed, but it will happen, for if it does not then humanity is ultimately doomed.

References:

	'The Field' by Lynne McTaggart pub, Element.
	'Reading the Mind of God' by Brian Allan
	'Angels of Heaven, Angels of Hell' by Brian Allan
	'Psychic Close Encounters' by Albert Budden pub, Blandford