Journal of Scientific Exploration
December 28, 2023
Christine Simmonds-Moore
15 citations
A collaborative team called the Ghost Gang uses adversarial collaboration to study ghost experiences, bracketing personal beliefs to explore the phenomenon systematically. They present the theory of Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S), which understands ghost phenomena from psychological, social, and environmental perspectives. The approach advocates ruling out normal explanations before considering parapsychological ones, keeping an open but critical stance. The text describes a participatory research method aligned with transpersonal and community-based approaches, aiming to equalize academic hierarchies and generate new insights into a common human experience.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
January 15, 2022
Bryan Williams
12 citations
A review of eight decades of experiments testing psychokinesis (PK), or 'mind over matter,' using electronic random number generators (RNGs) finds that proof-oriented research has accumulated considerable statistical evidence for microscopic PK effects, but process-oriented research—which explores physical, biological, and psychological factors that might moderate these effects—remains sparse. This leaves many open questions about underlying mechanisms and offers opportunities for novice and cross-disciplinary researchers to contribute.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
March 8, 2021
Marilyn Schlitz, Daryl Bem, † Davíd et al.
11 citations
Two international experiments attempted to replicate a controversial precognition study by Daryl Bem. The experiments reversed the usual cause-effect sequence: participants responded to stimuli before a prime appeared, testing whether response times would be longer for incongruent stimuli. The preregistered confirmatory hypothesis was not supported in either experiment. Exploratory analyses in Experiment 1 found a significant effect only among English-language participants, not those using translations.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
December 28, 2023
Bruce Greyson
5 citations
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are usually profoundly positive, but distressing NDEs—involving fear, hellish imagery, or evil beings—occur in an estimated 11% to 22% of all NDEs. Their prevalence is hard to measure because experiencers often hide them due to shame or fear of judgment. Distressing NDEs take several distinct forms, and researchers attribute them to personal traits, biological factors during the crisis, or surrounding circumstances. Compared with pleasant NDEs, distressing NDEs produce fewer lasting aftereffects overall, possibly because experiencers avoid dwelling on them, though some do cause long-term emotional trauma. Experiencers use various strategies to cope and find meaning. More research is needed on causes, aftereffects, and links to other dark spiritual experiences.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
September 15, 2020
Petter Grahl Johnstad
4 citations
An interview study of 40 psychedelic users found that 16 reported telepathic experiences. Three types emerged: information-exchange telepathy (communicating in images and words), telempathy (direct exchange of feeling-states), and a state of self-dissolution where one could not distinguish one's own thoughts from a partner's. Some participants disliked the loss of privacy in intense telepathic states and were hesitant to repeat them, while others became accustomed and experienced them regularly. The authors conclude that further studies are warranted and suggest an experimental research design.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
October 19, 2023
Dan Graboi
2 citations
A philosophical model of consciousness is proposed, drawing on Nisargadatta Maharaj's interpretation of Advaita Vedanta and integrating concepts from physics, neuroscience, and information science. Information generated by the brain's unique wiring is hypothesized to become dissociated from neurophysiology and transformed into a universal format within a nonphysical domain where consciousness occurs. This domain, sharing features with Bohm's Implicate Order, has nonlocal properties supporting instant correlation of information without requiring energy for transport, potentially explaining telepathic psi phenomena. An experiment to test for such a nonphysical dimension enabling instant telepathic information transfer is discussed. The model argues that three aspects are minimally necessary to frame consciousness.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
February 11, 2023
Jeffery Heilman
2 citations
Psilocybin, a chemical compound found in certain mushrooms, is gaining attention for its potential therapeutic benefits when combined with psychotherapy. This review addresses three questions: what psilocybin is, what psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy involves, and its potential advantages and disadvantages. Although the treatment is controversial and not yet well-studied, recent clinical trials have shown significant benefits for conditions such as end-of-life anxiety, depression, and existential distress in terminally ill cancer patients, tobacco addiction, and treatment-resistant major depressive disorder. The review explores psilocybin's shamanic origins, history, legal issues, and current neuroscience research, noting its growing impact on American culture and psychology.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
December 24, 2020
D. Vernon, Thomas C. Sandford, Eric Moyo
2 citations
Telepathy, the idea that one person can acquire another's thoughts or feelings from a distance via a non-usual route, was tested by immersing a Sender in a virtual reality environment depicting positive arousing experiences while a Receiver was in partial sensory isolation. Eleven pairs of participants each completed five trials. The Receiver's task was to identify the correct target image from five options. Initial analysis showed hit rates not differing significantly from chance. A post-hoc analysis of participants' top two choices showed a 52% hit rate, significantly above the 40% chance level. Hit rate correlated with belief in psi. The authors argue the results are more suggestive than conclusive of a telepathic effect.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
December 18, 2025
Helané Wahbeh, Sitara Taddeo, Beth Glick
1 citation
A structured hypnotic protocol successfully guided a 45-year-old female scientist, familiar with psi phenomena but new to trance channeling, to shift consciousness and allow communication from non-physical beings. Over six sessions in an electromagnetically shielded environment, the participant progressed from deep relaxation to out-of-body experience induction and trance channeling. The participant channeled different non-physical beings, indicating that trance channeling skills may involve both inherent capacity and learned ability. Hypnosis proved effective for guiding out-of-body experiences, which helped loosen ego control and enhance awareness. The findings suggest potential for structured training in trance channeling and highlight the need for further research linking out-of-body experiences to psi abilities, demographic factors, and brain-imaging studies.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
March 31, 2025
Ciarán O’keeffe, Brandon Massullo, Brian Laythe et al.
1 citation
A reanalysis of a case study by Auerbach et al. (2023) on a poltergeist-like disturbance investigated with virtual technology during the COVID-19 pandemic finds that the case strongly aligns with the Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S) model. HP-S conceptualizes ghostly episodes as an interactionist phenomenon arising from individuals with heightened somatic-sensory sensitivities, stirred by dis-ease states, contextualized with paranormal belief, and reinforced via perceptual contagion and threat-agency detection. Content analysis by an independent researcher showed the case had below-average 'haunt intensity' and a pattern resembling embellished or false testimony, yet it displayed most HP-S recognition patterns. The findings imply that ghostly episodes are best understood through a biopsychosocial lens, regardless of potential psi contributions.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
March 31, 2025
Marie Ryd, Andrew C Ahn, Göte Andersson
1 citation
A 14-year-old boy reports seeing transparent colored light fields around human and animal bodies: blue on the left side and red on the right, extending 0.5–2 cm beyond the skin. In 127 out of 130 randomized blind trials, the blue field was attracted to a bar magnet's north pole and repelled from the south pole; the red field showed opposite results in pilot tests. An outer rainbow field extending 20–50 cm responded similarly in 50 out of 50 trials. The boy also describes cognitive-dependent spirals and "thought-forms" extending from the fields. In one instance, a right-leg amputee secretly visualized a healthy leg, and the boy reported seeing a red light projection of a healthy limb.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
December 27, 2024
Dan Graboi
1 citation
Evidence from experiments and firsthand accounts indicates that visual and other information from distant minds and environments can enter both conscious and unconscious awareness and measurably affect brain and body function. This information passes through any physical obstacle and does not degrade with increasing distance, yet no current physical instrument can detect it. To explain these observations, the paper draws on the Advaitic philosophical tradition, proposing a non-physical domain that interacts with the physical world of matter, energy, and spacetime. In this domain, psi-encoded information is a primary currency. The analysis suggests that such information does not propagate through space, and other characteristics of the non-physical domain are inferred from the examples.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
July 9, 2024
James Mcclenon
1 citation
A series of weekly online group psychokinesis experiments conducted over three and a half years found that pinwheel turning, measured by motion-activated camera activations, occurred significantly more during group meetings than during equivalent non-group periods. Certain discussion topics—occult traditions, psychic readings, and psychical research—were associated with rapid turning, while direct observation, relaxation exercises, and miscellaneous topics reduced turning. Participants perceived the pinwheels as exhibiting intelligence in response to group discussion. Trickster effects, including changing turning patterns, equipment failures, and hiding behavior, suggest limited replicability, though methodological guidelines are proposed to increase success. A new model grounded in the data accounts for the phenomena.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
December 28, 2023
Álex Escolà-Gascón, María Francisca Ovalle, Luke J. Matthews
1 citation
An official review of 52 documented possession cases from 1890 to 2023, drawing on psychology, medicine, anthropology, and theology, finds that most such episodes can be explained by existing behavioral science, with only a small fraction remaining unexplained. Quantitative models estimate a 0.01923 probability that a given possession case is scientifically unexplained, a 0.0031 likelihood of discovering new truly unexplained cases in the future, and a 0.0023 probability of encountering five such cases in a single year. The review evaluates medical and psychological interventions and proposes guidelines for safe exorcisms and pharmacological treatments, advocating integrative approaches that include anthropologists and Catholic Church priests for spiritual guidance. It concludes that possession episodes challenge scientific understanding of consciousness.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
February 11, 2023
Heather Lutz
1 citation
Psychedelic research is gaining public and private attention, but most studies focus on clinical settings while ignoring the ritual context in which indigenous peoples have used entheogens for millennia. This manuscript conceptualizes entheogenic spiritual rituals as ancient libraries of healing knowledge. It contrasts the biomedical diagnosis-and-treatment model with the ritual context, identifying explicit and implicit ritual attributes that may contribute to healing. The paper argues that cultural assumptions favoring mechanistic causation lead to a dismissal of ritual context in psychedelic studies. It proposes alternative research design philosophies and suggests that viewing spiritual rituals as ancient libraries could generate hypotheses currently blocked by scientific bias.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
May 22, 2022
Carlos S. Alvarado, Massimo Biondi
1 citation
A historical review examines Ernesto Bozzano's 1934 book on the concept of a 'subtle body' separable from the physical body, which has been invoked to explain apparitions of the living, distance photography, near-death experiences, and out-of-body experiences (OBEs). The author traces this idea through Bozzano's analysis of pre-1930s OBE cases, noting that while the issues Bozzano discussed have limited contemporary value, they can stimulate further discussion. The approach is mainly historical, aiming to acquaint modern readers with Bozzano's work and highlight passages that deepen understanding of specific aspects of the topic.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
March 8, 2021
Adrian Parker
1 citation
The author argues that critics Reber and Alcock have shifted the debate from whether psi phenomena exist to understanding their nature, requiring evidence that statistical findings reflect real causal relationships and a common theoretical framework. The author claims the causal demand is already met by methodology using real-time recordings of changing target imagery alongside receiver mentation. In response to the theoretical demand, the author proposes that diverse "rogue phenomena" in psychology and parapsychology—including automatic writing, lucid dream characters, spirit possessions, and entity experiences in psychedelic states—are dissociated thought-forms with varying degrees of co-consciousness, sometimes developing genuine autonomy and identity.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
July 7, 2026
Yakov Shapiro, Carlos Eduardo Maldonado
A trans-materialist information-theoretical framework is proposed to account for conscious experience, from ordinary embodied modes to altered states such as near-death experiences (NDEs). The approach extends the Bohmian model to treat brain and mind as a unified quantum/classical system governed by implicate informational dynamics, resolving the Cartesian gap. Consciousness, personal identity, and free will are characterized as informational processes spanning classical matter/energy and quantum fields. Reports of veridical information obtained during NDEs are reviewed, suggesting that consciousness and self-identity may persist as coherent informational patterns (CIPs) without a functioning brain. The framework is also proposed as a clinical tool for alleviating existential death anxiety.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
July 7, 2026
Scotch Wichmann
Some individuals with remote viewing abilities may be able to describe details of data stored on computers miles away, according to exploratory experimental results. An Internet-hosted experiment let participants use psychic powers to describe picture, video, ATM PIN, and passphrase targets on standalone laptops in Los Angeles with networking disabled, nightly new targets, and sleeves to prevent peeking. 146 remote participants generated 584 free-response rounds, scored by three independent judges from a pool of six using rank-order scoring and counting target details matched. Many participants described targets well enough to reject the null hypothesis.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
July 7, 2026
Helané Wahbeh, Beth Glick, Erik Brinsmead et al.
Thematic correspondence between trance-channeled communications attributed to extraterrestrial intelligences and a large archival ufological dataset (UFODex) was examined using semantic similarity analysis. Fifty-two channeled submissions were compared to UFODex across ten matched questions about disclosure, communication, time perception, and technology. Three transformer-based language models (MiniLM, MPNet, QA MPNet) quantified conceptual overlap, yielding average similarity scores from 0.66 to 0.88. Disclosure, psychic abilities, and time perception showed highest alignment. Channeled content emphasized vibrational readiness, ethical co-creation, and consciousness-based contact, while UFODex stressed secrecy, technological engineering, and geopolitical framing. The findings suggest value in semantic analysis for mapping conceptual structures across heterogeneous sources.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
March 26, 2026
Ulf Holmberg
A new framework called the Cognitive Entropy Shift Model (CESM) proposes that specific cognitive states—passive emotional attention and goal-directed intention—can subtly bias probabilistic systems by reducing entropy. A two-year controlled experiment using a physical random number generator found statistically significant deviations from randomness during periods of heightened emotional attention, with effect sizes of 0.5–0.7%. The effect weakened with increasing spatial distance from the presumed source of influence. The paper also applies CESM to reinterpret earlier studies, distinguishing between passive and active cognitive engagement within a quantifiable statistical model that supports testable predictions.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
March 26, 2026
Alex A. Álvarez
Psi, often considered paranormal, may actually be a natural and normal ancestral capability widely distributed across many non-human organisms, not just humans. Evidence from historical records, surveys, animal psi experiments, common vertebrate brain structures, the inhibitory role of recently evolved primate brain layers, and potential survival advantages suggests psi emerged long ago, possibly before vertebrate divergence, and has been preserved by biological evolution, likely through stabilizing selection. Understanding psi's neurobiological bases requires focusing on brain regions common to all vertebrates to identify its genetic foundations and evolutionary history.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
March 26, 2026
James Houran, Rense Lange, Brandon Massullo et al.
Anomalous events resembling trickster behavior—such as missing files, device malfunctions, unusual dreams, and emotional shifts—were reported by researchers writing about ghostly episodes. In a sample of 167 participants (7 credentialed frontier scientists and 160 amateur paranormal investigators), subjective experiences occurred 1.6 times more often than objective events, with endorsement rates from 7% to 30%. Rasch analysis showed a unidimensional hierarchy of 14 coherent items with strong internal consistency (KR-20 = .87) and minimal gender bias. While psychological mechanisms like memory reconstruction or cognitive load may explain many anomalies, their clustering and symbolic framing suggest deeper epistemological vulnerabilities, termed a “trickster chain,” in paranormal-themed writing. The findings may extend to other emotionally charged or liminal writing contexts.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
December 18, 2025
Kenneth L. Cavanaugh, Lee Fergusson
A preliminary study tested whether Maharishi Technologies of Consciousness (MTC), procedures intended to influence the natural and social environment, could reduce landfalling hurricanes in the continental U.S. An interrupted time series analysis of NOAA data from 1851–2021 compared the mean annual count of landfalling hurricanes during a 2006–2014 MTC demonstration period to the historical baseline. Results showed a significant decline during the demonstration period, consistent with the hypothesis, and an increase after MTC was discontinued in 2015–2021. The observed decline coincided with an unexpected 2006–2016 hurricane drought. Alternative explanations are discussed.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
October 15, 2025
Stephanie El Chakieh
Psychotic episodes are often viewed as pathological, but their similarities with mediumship, shamanism, and mystical experiences—all involving altered states and perceived spiritual interactions—complicate diagnosis and treatment. The review examines how cultural backgrounds and beliefs influence whether such experiences are considered illness. While spiritual interpretations can provide meaning, they do not rule out underlying pathology; nutritional deficiencies or biochemical imbalances should be considered before assigning spiritual significance. The article calls for openness to exploring spiritual realms and further research to bridge tangible and intangible aspects of life, potentially leading to alternative approaches to psychosis.