Science and The Paranormal

© Brian Allan 2004

Word Count: 4,063

Introduction

At first it may seem that the two subjects mentioned above, i.e. science and the paranormal, are poles apart, and as far as corporate science is concerned they are. However, a growing band of respected physicists are inexorably coming to the conclusion that from their branch of cutting edge science a new method of evaluating reality is slowly emerging. Unfortunately their work is largely uphill, because understandably, the mindset of conventional science does not want to see its dearly and long held concepts tumbling down around its ears. This is one reason, but there are others; it is well known that private corporations farm out some of their research work to universities, and the funding for this is often the sole reason that these units are able to function. This is in addition to the fact that corporate bodies have no real interest in the subject of the paranormal anyway…for the time being at least.

Science and the Paranormal

This state of affairs exists for several reasons but mainly because there is there is no profit in it for them, for if there were, or it could be turned to military advantage, there is little doubt that it would exploited to its maximum. For any enterprising researcher to strike out on their own against the agenda or wishes of their paymasters is an almost guaranteed way to lose precious funding and ultimately, perhaps their job, so in the end it comes down to pragmatism and not wanting to bite the hand that feeds you. In addition, there is of course the thinly veiled threat of ridicule and rejection from their peers who continually vie for backing to further their own agendas. While all this is true, I am aware of only one instance of the paranormal per se being used for military purposes and that was under the auspices of the American Central Intelligence Agency, (CIA), when it first instigated, 'Project Grill Flame', then 'Project Sunstreak' at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). The project, which was originally overseen by two psychologists, Dr Hal Puthoff and Dr Edwin May assisted by SRI researcher Russell Targ, was in direct response to a Russian military initiative to harness the phenomenon of Extra Sensory Perception (ESP), sometimes called telepathy, to communicate with service personnel and agents engaged in clandestine operations at locations far from their bases. The project was transferred from SRI and continued in secret at Ft George G Meade in Maryland under the name of 'The Stargate Project', it is probably no accident that Ft Meade is also home to the US Army Intelligence Dept and the ultra-clandestine National Security Agency (NSA). The technique used in the project became known as 'remote viewing' and was refined to allow the participants to use map co-ordinates to locate and describe specific places; some of them were rumoured to be on other planets and astonishingly, in other times.

Although this may seem unlikely, logically there is no reason why it should not be possible given the intangible, untapped, and largely unknown nature of human consciousness. Despite being fraught with internal rivalries and changes in policy, the project continued for several years. However, with the end of the Cold War, the project was eventually wound down and officially discontinued, although there are indications that at least some elements of the project are still active. This is itself not surprising if the accounts of David Morehouse, one of the men who were integral to the project, are to be believed. Morehouse was one of the 'sensitives' used in the project and according to him, both during his training and on active service he was routinely 'sent' via map co-ordinates to locations both on land and underwater. There is even a suggestion that he and his fellow sensitives were, for whatever reason, sent to chambers hidden deep inside the pyramids. One of the participants, an ex police officer named Pat Price, on being 'sent' to a specific area drew two water tanks that were not there. It later transpired that there had been two water tanks on the site, but sixty years previously. There is no ready explanation for this particular facet of the phenomenon except if somehow Mr Price saw into the past. Apparently there is almost no limit to the possibilities opened up by this most subtle and astonishing adjunct to intelligence and information gathering. There is also some speculation that the talents of these people have been employed by big business to track the effect of trends in the stockmarket.

Although the world of business obviously plays an enormous part in deciding which project is viable and which is not, it always plays second fiddle to the military and there is of course another influential although less obvious player; the established church. Should the paranormal ever be proved conclusively viable with all its attendant implications, the use of organised religion would become marginal at best and totally discredited at worst. The lies, distortions and superstition trotted out as fact for millennia would wither and die, leaving millions of people without a lifeline or refuge and for purely pragmatic reasons this is far from desirable. Of course, there are untold numbers who would reject the obvious and continue to worship anyway and to some extent their entreaties and prayers might even be answered, but not for the reasons that they believe. Perhaps we should look at some of the evidence for this.

Manipulating Reality

While the Stargate Project although secret was at least quasi-scientific and as such carried some respectability, there have been other, unofficial attempts to harness the unknown and largely untapped potential of the human mind. First attempted in the 1972, 'The Philip Experiment', was conducted in Toronto, Canada by a team of researchers (called the Owen group) who were all drawn from the Toronto Society for Psychical Research. The rationale behind the experiment was the hypothesis that a group of people could affect the environment and/or generate psychokinetic phenomena by using their minds alone. At the beginning of the experiment the group decided to create an imaginary entity, and to this end they jointly wrote a short, fictional, biography of an English nobleman who they named 'Philip Aylesford'. Curiously, when they first attempted contact with Philip, the sessions were held in full light and went on for a year with no tangible results and it was not until they adopted the standard séance practice of low light conditions that the first successes were obtained.

During the séances, they asked their creation to produce noises and these were heard in the form of taps and raps on the table at which they sat. In addition, other sessions (that were videotaped) also produced flickering lights and table levitation. It is important to make clear that the answers received from 'Philip' were all in keeping with the details created by the participants in the experiment and as we shall see, this may have a direct impact on the nature of the phenomenon. Following the success of the Owen group, other Canadian groups in Toronto and Quebec attempted similar experiments. These groups invented fictitious entities ranging from 'Lillith', a French Canadian spy from the Second World War, to 'Axel', a man from the future. The work was also replicated in Australia under the name of The Skippy Experiment'. Significantly, all these experiments produced results similar to those of the original Philip experiment. The most recent attempt to emulate these procedures is 'The Humphrey Experiment' currently underway as the dissertation for Ms Fiona Campbell's psychology degree, the work is being undertaken with the full backing of the John Moors Psychology Department at Liverpool University.

The reason that these experiments work is open to much heated debate, ranging from the predictable cries of humbug and fraud from the halls of conventional academia to cautious acceptance by scientists involved is quantum physics. If experiments like these do genuinely plumb an unsuspected level of reality, perhaps this may exist in another dimension. The existence of alternate continuums is one of the corner stones of certain branches of quantum science where 'M (or membrane) theory' and 'Superstring Theory' rely on the presence of an eleventh dimension containing an infinite number of realities to function. The concept is difficult to understand or accept because it is totally alien to all accepted logic, what is being proposed is an infinity of infinites, a concept that almost beggars belief, but nevertheless the theories and equations indicate that they are there. The only common factor throughout this bizarre idea is energy simultaneously existing in individual realities but at different frequencies, for this reason we cannot see, feel touch or taste it, except under highly unusual circumstances…perhaps the circumstances created at seances.

Leaving aside the possibility of interference by a mischievous spirit and if we can accept that the phenomena regularly produced by mediums is genuine, then how can we rationalise the results achieved by groups deliberately creating an imaginary entity with no previous existence and therefore consciousness? If as previously mentioned, 'Philip' did not deviate from his defined role and identity, there is a theory that the group inadvertently succeeded in creating an 'egrigor', or supernatural 'artificial intelligence' brought into being by willpower. This is strangely similar to a 'tulpa', an alleged product of Tibetan mystical practise that can create an entity or being formed purely by concentrated thought and meditation. As with their creation, all of these entities can be dispelled by force of will, much as 'Philip' vanished after the group broke up and the energy focus dissipated. 'New Age' philosophy also employs a similar technique called 'visualisation' in order to alter or create an environment or conditions amenable to the practitioner. It is alleged abilities like these, strange as they may seem, that actually help prove the theories of quantum science.

One of the truly bizarre concepts having its roots in particle physics is the 'probability wave'. This avenue of research suggests that every single thing we see, do, or think exists as multiple probabilities with separate outcomes until we actually do it, at which time the wave function of one probability collapses into reality. Is it then possible that meditation and willpower can actually affect the nature of probability and cause a wave existing as one of millions of others to collapse into reality in our continuum? An even more extreme variation on this theme suggests that instead of the multiple probabilities already existing, every action we take causes the universe to split into two, one containing the action we have just taken, be it physical or mental, and another containing a different outcome as if we had not chosen to make the original decision.

The extent to which energy influences everything around us is fundamental to understanding the entire, convoluted subject of the paranormal and everything it entails from psycho-kinesis to ESP, and poltergeists to faith healing. Surprisingly, the very people who should promote these ideas seem dedicated to denying and disproving it. The self-proclaimed 'experts' on this subject outwith the discipline of physics are the many psychologists and psychiatrists who deny even the possibility of the existence of psi. To be sure, there are a few who are prepared to accept the possibility and even fewer who actively and objectively research the subject. Of those who claim to be parapsychologists researching the subject, it is very seldom that any of them will admit to finding anything conclusive suggesting the phenomenon is genuine, preferring instead to describe themselves as 'sceptical'. This is a gross distortion of the English language, what they really mean is they are debunkers, and irrespective of how good or compelling the evidence is, they would never admit the reality of psi function or ability.

What appears to be missing from the protocols used by professional parapsychologists is, in spite of claims to the contrary, a lack of real understanding of the nature of consciousness and the functioning of mind as opposed to brain. The standard response of academics and physicians is that the mind and therefore consciousness is a direct product of how the human brain functions. A fusion of electromagnetic and electrochemical processes created by the actions of a range of neurotransmitters and hormones within a lump of grey matter weighing between 1400 and 1600 grams inside the human skull and nothing more. However, this is not necessarily the case as has been ably and repeatedly demonstrated over millennia by successive generations of shamans and 'wise men', but because the evidence is intangible and incredibly subtle, readily accessible proof is not easy to find.

Although claims of the abilities of mystics are legion, whether using hallucinogenic substances or techniques of sensory deprivation, none are provable in terms of hard, solid evidence. For this reason we will examine some of the similarities and parallels so far revealed in reports of otherwise inexplicable phenomena. The most obvious series of connections exist between the 'apports' sometimes manifested at spiritualist séances and a series of well-known physical events that have gained wide acceptance, and not a little notoriety, in the world of paranormal research. 'Apports' are small items from the 'other side', pebbles, buttons or items of jewellery that occasionally appear spontaneously in the séance room, sometimes falling from thin air onto a table or floor. They usually have some strong emotional connection to one of the sitters at the séance, and normally belong to a deceased relative or friend.

The other events, unlikely as it they may seem, are 'The Philadelphia Experiment', the events at the combined RAF, USAF air base near Rendlesham Forest and the enigmatic 'Hutchison Effect'. What is common to all these alleged happenings may be proof of the existence of 'hyperspace,' but before examining these events in detail perhaps we should consider the nature of 'hyperspace'. The traditional concept is of some nebulous region existing alongside normal space/time allowing spacecraft to travel at faster-that-light speeds without breaching the laws of accepted physics. Just how we are supposed to access this region is open to question although there are reports of highly classified work being conducted in government laboratories worldwide to attempt it. Perhaps it is better to consider hyperspace as the region that our consciousness eventually arrives at when our bodies die. If hyperspace is the invisible, insubstantial universe visited by shamans and mystics seeking enlightenment, it is not empty. It may also be the source of ghosts, spirits and other entities that, from time to time, choose to make them selves visible to us. In order to do so they must have an instinctive grasp of the nature of physical reality and can traverse the void from one state to the next…is also a demonstration of 'visualisation' as practised by non-human entities? If it is, then it may be how the 'apports' are brought into seances, even through the walls of houses and it may help explain what happened to the USS Eldridge during the Philadelphia Experiment.

Military Intelligence and the Paranormal

'The Philadelphia Experiment', the existence of which is flatly denied by the US Government, has attained a near legendary status and concerns the disappearance of the USS Eldridge during a wartime radar invisibility experiment conducted at the Philadelphia naval yards. In the attempt to render the ship invisible to the microwave emission of radar scanners, the forward main guns were removed and powerful generators installed, then electric cables were looped around the vessel to create a powerful, localised electromagnetic field. According to the available accounts, the first experiment took place at 9am on the 22nd of July 1943 and when the electrical field was activated, the ship became swathed in a green fog and disappeared. When it reappeared fifteen minutes later after the power was switched off, virtually all the crew was found to be feeling nauseous and disoriented which is a common physiological reaction to exposure to powerful EM fields. Although the ship had evidently achieved radar invisibility there are no reports of it being seen elsewhere, and significantly there are no reports of the ship physically disappearing.

Another trial took place on the 28th of October in the same year and evidently when the power was switched on, as well as vanishing from the radar screens as intended, the ship was once again surrounded by the green fog and this time it literally vanished only to reappear instantly in open waters off the naval yards at Norfolk, Virginia. When the power was switched off the ship vanished once more and reappeared exactly where it had been in Philadelphia. The results of this incident proved particularly alarming, especially regarding the disposition of the crew. Some were missing, reportedly having leapt overboard, some suffered a series of chronic psychological ailments, yet others had literally become fused into the fabric of the ship in an amalgam of metal and flesh, and a few were unaffected.

In addition, the accounts claim that Albert Einstein was also involved in the experiments and used the Eldridge in an attempt to demonstrate the reality of his Unified Field Theory. According to Einstein, if the three fundamental forces extant in the universe (electromagnetism, gravity and nuclear) were combined, then anything or anyone enveloped by the field would be pushed into another continuum. This version of what may be possible may a have a link to altering the phase difference between the current generated on board the ship and that of the Earth itself. Whether true or not, little further is known about the Eldridge other than in 1951 the US Navy had no further need of it and it was finally sold off to the Greek navy and renamed the 'Leon'. After a few more years of active service it was finally scrapped. Predictably, both US navy records and the ships log show that the Eldridge was never in either Philadelphia or Norfolk at the stated times which squares with the account of Captain van Allen was in charge of the ship at the time. In fact Captain van Allen states that the ship was never at Norfolk naval base at any point during its service. Since then the legend of the Eldridge has become mired in a half-world of speculation, disinformation and conspiracy theory and might have remained there had it not been for the apparently unrelated work of Canadian electromagnetics (EM) researcher John Hutchison.

During his work, Hutchison literally stumbled on a curious series of events that have since become known as 'The Hutchison Effect'. Hutchison discovered that while experimenting with the effects of EM fields generated by items of equipment in his laboratory. He discovered that unrelated items spontaneously levitated, literally twisted themselves apart, and also fused together, in one case this involved a steel bar and a piece of straw. At some point, the molecular bonds of each item had broken down then solidified, permanently fusing the items together in a strange recreation of what occurred on board the Eldridge between men and metal. Hutchinson had his work evaluated by both the Canadian government and the US Army Intelligence Dept (who sent a team from the Los Alamos National Laboratory) to examine his work. The end result of the evaluation by both the Canadian and US authorities was the refusal of both countries to give Hutchison a copy of their separate reports. The US Government said it was classified and the Canadian Government said it was not in the interests of national security, this was in spite of the fact that Hutchison was present at all times.

The connection between Hutchison and the Eldridge makes the possibility of accessing hyperspace of a little clearer, but it does not stop there, we should also look at what occurred in Rendlesham forest in the 1980's. This famous and well-documented incident took place in Rendlesham forest during the early 1980's close to the joint USAF/RAF airbase of Bentwaters and featured the sudden arrival of what appeared to be a UFO. This object was seen twice over two nights by men despatched from the base to search for it, but what is the connection. It is a little known fact that at the time the object was seen, as with the Eldridge, there was a series of radar related experiments being conducted at the US section of the base. The American NSA was attempting to perfect a system of 'over the horizon' (OTH) radar under the aegis of two sets of experiments called 'Cold Witness' and 'Cobra Mist'.

According to the respected British UFO researcher Jenny Randles, Cold Witness was the original radar project and due to a change in priorities Cobra Mist became the upgrade to convert the original hardware into a particle beam weapon as part of the 'Strategic Defence Initiative' (SDI), also known as 'Star Wars'. According to Ms Randles, the object that landed in the forest was a Russian satellite in a decaying orbit brought down by a blast from the beam weapon and perhaps it was, but on two separate nights? There is another possibility here, as with the Eldridge, did the discharge of highly charged electromagnetic waves actually create a tear the fabric of space time and allow an object to 'fall through'. Or did the beam perhaps act as a beacon attracting the 'vehicle' to us rather like a moth to a flame. As with all military projects, especially ones that did not function as expected, it is unlikely that the truth will ever emerge, all that is left for researchers to do is to piece together what evidence is available and try to make sense of a murky and incomplete picture.

Conclusion

As we have seen, the Rendlesham affair and the Philadelphia Experiment are two well known and documented cases that seem to demonstrate the existence of planes of existence alongside our own, however they are not without their shortcomings, particularly in what allegedly occurred aboard the USS Eldridge. It seems incredible that if the Eldridge did indeed slip out of synchronisation with standard space/time, the US navy secret weapons department did not strip it down to its component pieces for microscopic exanimation rather than allow it to continue in service, let alone sell it to the Greek navy. On the other hand, since the armed forces are not noted for their sensitivity, once their investigations were over and it still had a duty to fulfil, the ship was returned to active service. There is one other possibility though, perhaps in order to maintain its position of denial, naval intelligence insisted that the ship be returned to service as soon as practical, demonstrating that nothing remarkable had happened.

However, it is glitches in logic like this that show just what a minefield the entire subject of the paranormal can be for the researcher, but strangely enough it is often the amateur who is able to unearth facts overlooked or ignored by the so-called professionals. The main reason for this is because the amateur is not necessarily bound by the protocols that often restrict the professional, neither is the amateur required to toe the 'party line' of the paymasters. But perhaps the most important and valid reason is the fact that the amateur has nothing to lose in terms of reputation, but unfortunately, amateurs, no matter how careful, carry no political weight, therefore the media pays them little heed. No matter how certain we are that we do survive death in one form or another, the professionals will not accept it and therefore set out to design experiments that will not work, solely because they do not want them to. This is probably due to a loss of credibility when the facts become known and the barrage of awkward questions they would face from the public. It is a well-known quirk of paranormal investigation that the presence of just one person who is doggedly sceptical can negatively influence the outcome of an investigation. This being so, then the removal of charlatans and obscurers from this field of research may help provide the answer. It is to be hoped that the overwhelming weight of evidence will eventually over come the resistance of both church and state and usher in a new age of reason.

Sources:

	'Psychic Warrior' by David Morehouse pub Element.
	'UFO Crash Landing, Friend or Foe', by Jenny Randles, pub Piatkus