Journal of Scientific Exploration - The Consciousness Library

Semantic Correspondence Between Trance-Channeled ET Messages and Ufological Records

Journal of Scientific Exploration July 7, 2026 Helané Wahbeh, Beth Glick, Erik Brinsmead et al.

This study examined thematic correspondence between two independently sourced corpora: trance-channeled communications attributed to extraterrestrial intelligences (ETIs) and a large-scale archival ufological dataset (UFODex). A curated sample of 52 channeled submissions was collected and processed into a structured dataset, while UFODex, an evolving corpus of books, periodicals, and archival...

DOI: 10.31275/20263817 Similarity geometry Modalities Perception Semantic similarity +11

An Information-Theoretical Perspective on Consciousness: Implications for the Treatment of Death Anxiety

Journal of Scientific Exploration July 7, 2026 Yakov Shapiro, Carlos Eduardo Maldonado

In this paper, we propose a trans-materialist information-theoretical approach to a full spectrum of conscious experience, from its normative embodied mode as part of an integrated brain/mind system to altered modes of consciousness, including nonlocal and near-death experiences (NDE). It allows for bridging the Cartesian gap and resolving the “hard problem” of non-material mind arising from...

DOI: 10.31275/20263747 Consciousness Perspective graphical Normative Embodied cognition +11

Psychic Hacking: Using Remote Viewing to Steal Computer Data

Journal of Scientific Exploration July 7, 2026 Scotch Wichmann

This article presents exploratory experimental results suggesting that some individuals with remote viewing abilities may be able to describe details of data present in computers located miles away. Building on past U.S. Government psi research, an Internet-hosted experiment allowed participants to try using their psychic powers to describe picture, video, ATM PIN, and passphrase targets stored...

DOI: 10.31275/20263651 Laptop Psychic Order exchange Password +4

Can Consciousness Nudge Randomness?

Journal of Scientific Exploration March 26, 2026 Ulf Holmberg

This paper presents the Cognitive Entropy Shift Model (CESM), a structured framework for exploring how distinct cognitive states, specifically passive emotional attention and goal-directed intention may influence probabilistic systems by reducing entropy. Drawing on principles from information theory and Bayesian-inspired probability updating, CESM conceptualizes consciousness as an...

DOI: 10.31275/20263735 Consciousness Cognition Randomness Reinterpretation +8

Trickster-Like Experiences While Documenting the Paranormal: Rasch Analysis of an Initial Survey

Journal of Scientific Exploration March 26, 2026 James Houran, Rense Lange, Brandon Massullo et al.

This online study explored anomalous, trickster-like events reported by researchers while writing about ghostly episodes. A convenience sample of 167 participants (seven credentialed frontier scientists and 160 amateur paranormal investigators) retrospectively endorsed 15 items spanning both subjective experiences (e.g., unusual dreams, emotional shifts) and objective events (e.g., missing...

DOI: 10.31275/20263837 Paranormal Narrative Helpfulness Rasch model +16

Towards a Natural History of Psi: An Evolutionary Proposal Based on Consilience of Inductions

Journal of Scientific Exploration March 26, 2026 Alex A. Álvarez

For almost a century since its establishment as a scientific discipline, the field of Parapsychology has been very fruitful in terms of positive experimental outcomes that suggest the existence of psi. However, it has not been possible to integrate this body of results into an appropriate biological framework rooted in evolutionary biology. Some interesting attempts have been proposed...

DOI: 10.31275/20263647 Consilience Parapsychology Natural archaeology Biological evolution +19

Can Trance Channeling Be Learned? A Case Study of a Scientist’s Experience

Journal of Scientific Exploration December 18, 2025 Helané Wahbeh, Sitara Taddeo, Beth Glick 1 citation

Trance channeling, a practice steeped in ancient history involving communication with deities, remains prevalent across diverse cultures. This case study examines the adaptation of a structured hypnotic protocol to explore trance channeling, focusing on shifting consciousness to allow “non-physical beings” to communicate through the participant. Utilizing a protocol developed by Pederzoli and...

DOI: 10.31275/20253573 Trance Hypnosis Consciousness Relaxation psychology +4

Consciousness and the Environment: Maharishi Technologies of Consciousness and the Incidence of U.S. Landfalling Hurricanes, 1851–2021

Journal of Scientific Exploration December 18, 2025 Kenneth L. Cavanaugh, Lee Fergusson

The purpose of this preliminary study is to explore whether application of consciousness-based procedures whose stated purpose is to influence the natural and social environment, referred to as Maharishi Technologies of Consciousness (MTC), can positively affect weather phenomena. The theoretical framework underlying these procedures is based on a field-theoretic view of consciousness derived...

DOI: 10.31275/20253535 Group cohesiveness Level of consciousness Incidence geometry Persistent vegetative state +2

Psychosis or Spiritual Experience? Rethinking Mental States Through Cultural and Mystical Lenses

Journal of Scientific Exploration October 15, 2025 Stephanie El Chakieh

Psychotic processes remain poorly understood mental states. This review aims to examine the spiritual challenges and discrepancies surrounding psychosis, and the role cultural backgrounds and beliefs play in determining whether a psychotic episode is considered a pathological condition. The article explores mediumship, shamanism, and mystical experiences, examining their similarities and...

DOI: 10.31275/20253827 Full text

Some Chemical Mechanisms Involved in the Formation of Anomalous Pigmented Birthmarks in Cases of the Reincarnation Type

Journal of Scientific Exploration October 15, 2025 Benjamin T. Hendel

In Ian Stevenson’s time, little was known about the formation of pigmented birthmarks. Today, this is no longer true due in part to advances made to understand better and combat melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer that forms from melanocyte cells (which give the skin pigment and form pigmented birthmarks). Here, we summarize what is now known about the circumstances surrounding the...

DOI: 10.31275/20253455

A Life Between Rockets; A Tribute to Charles T. Tart, 1936-2025

Journal of Scientific Exploration June 30, 2025 Stanley Krippner

When I was asked to write an obituary for Charles "Charley" Tart, I knew it would be an emotionally wrenching experience because we had been close friends and colleagues for more than half a century.Although we did most of our current work in California, neither of us were born there.I was born in Wisconsin, and Charley was born on April 29, 1937, in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and grew up in...

DOI: 10.31275/20253749

Veridical Flashbacks and Dreams of a Pre-Christian Life in Norway, Following a Near-Death Experience in Adulthood

Journal of Scientific Exploration June 30, 2025 James G. Matlock

Following a near-death experience (NDE) at 28, a woman began to have visions of an apparent past life in the region of southern Norway where she lives presently but set toward the end of the pre-Christian era, in the 900s CE. Altogether, she had five flashbacks triggered by places or views, six memory dreams that may also have been triggered, and two related experiences, all pertaining to the...

DOI: 10.31275/20253381 Full text

Colored Fields of Light Surrounding Living Organisms: Responses to Magnetic Fields and Mental Attention-A Unique Case Study

Journal of Scientific Exploration March 31, 2025 Marie Ryd, Andrew C Ahn, Göte Andersson 1 citation

A 14-year-old boy reported perceiving transparent colored light fields surrounding human and animal bodies. With drawings and verbal descriptions, he explained the phenomenon in detail. The left side of the body was covered with a transparent blue, and the right side was covered with transparent red, reaching 0.5–2 cm outside the skin. The blue field was attracted towards the north pole of a...

DOI: 10.31275/20253363 Colored Cognitive psychology Communication

Haunted People Syndrome Redux: Concurrent Validity From an Independent Case Study

Journal of Scientific Exploration March 31, 2025 Ciarán O’keeffe, Brandon Massullo, Brian Laythe et al. 1 citation

Auerbach et al. (2023) proposed an AECKO model to describe the features and dynamics of a poltergeist-like disturbance they investigated with virtual technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. A two-part exercise nonetheless shows that their findings fundamentally support Laythe, Houran, Dagnall et al.’s (2021) grounded theory of Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S), which was independently developed...

DOI: 10.31275/20253479 Redux Concurrent validity Clinical psychology Psychometrics

Arguments for Recognizing the Future as Non-Probabilistic: Considerations in the Framework of a Hypothesized Precognition Theory

Journal of Scientific Exploration March 31, 2025 Thorsten Dahmen

The debate on whether the future is predetermined (fixed) or probabilistic (uncertain) dates back to ancient times but is still ongoing. An essential basis in this paper is the view that a conclusive answer can neither be drawn exclusively from physics nor additionally from philosophical modes of argumentation. It is considered necessary to take a transtemporal process of cognition, which is in...

DOI: 10.31275/20253437 Probabilistic logic Cognitive science Epistemology Cognitive psychology

Decolonizing Possession: A Blueprint to Invisible Worlds

Journal of Scientific Exploration March 31, 2025 Jacob W. Glazier, T. Robinson

The experience of being possessed by an invisible and outside spirit seems archaic and outdated to many people today. However, the scientific and medical field of psychiatry contains diagnoses that classify this experience as a form of psychopathology, most notably Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Moreover, indigenous peoples and researchers have detailed many accounts of how the...

DOI: 10.31275/20253275 Full text

Where is "Out There"?

Journal of Scientific Exploration December 27, 2024 Dan Graboi 1 citation

Experimental evidence and verified individual accounts show that visual and other types of information from distant minds and environments can enter the conscious as well as the unconscious mind of an individual and can measurably affect brain and body function. The information appears to pass through every physical obstacle and does not degrade in quality with increasing distance in the path...

DOI: 10.31275/20243237

Reissner’s Fiber at the Intersection of Neuroscience and Mysticism: An Evolutionary Perspective

Journal of Scientific Exploration December 27, 2024 Lawrence Wile

During their evolutionary transition from apes, Homo sapiens developed the capacity to create mental worlds. While conferring a selective advantage and leading to wondrous intellectual achievements and transformative technologies, this capacity set humankind on a historical trajectory that is approaching the potential for its extinction. The genetic and anatomical basis of humankind’s unique...

DOI: 10.31275/20243173

A Detailed Phenomenology of Poltergeist Events

Journal of Scientific Exploration October 14, 2024 Eric Dullin 3 citations

The objective of this paper is to propose a reference point in the phenomenology of poltergeists either for people who want to know more about these phenomena or for researchers looking for cases and sources associated with some particular phenomenon. In parallel, an ongoing work is conducted aimed at building a global case repository of poltergeist cases with their phenomenological...

DOI: 10.31275/20243263

Online Group PK Experiments: Hypothesis Testing and Theory Development

Journal of Scientific Exploration July 9, 2024 James Mcclenon 1 citation

The author conducted weekly online group psychokinesis (PK) experiments between Aug. 9, 2019 and Feb. 25, 2023, with the goal of experiencing collective PK. Participant observation experiments were designed to uncover variables associated with group PK experiences rather than prove the existence of PK. Early experiments seemed to increase individual propensity for spontaneous anomalous...

DOI: 10.31275/20243089 Group periodic table Cognitive psychology

Trained Transliminals: Exploring Anomalous Experiences and Psi in Magical Practitioners

Journal of Scientific Exploration July 9, 2024 Brian Laythe, Natalie Roberts, Gordon White et al.

This study examines a body of engaged “ritual magic practitioners” to understand their methods and techniques for facilitating putative parapsychological outcomes in everyday life, as well as outcomes on a computerized test of putative psi. We hypothesized that the combination of meditation, visualization, and related mental exercises at the core of magical practice relates to both invoked...

DOI: 10.31275/20243351

Near-Death Experiences are Caused by the Separation of Consciousness from the Body: An NDE Scale Analysis

Journal of Scientific Exploration July 9, 2024 R. Mays, Suzanne Mays

Near-death experiences (NDEs) cannot be defined merely as a collection of phenomenal features. An accurate definition needs to describe what NDEs essentially are, that is, what lies behind the phenomenal features. The definition would describe what happens in the experience to account for the different features; this can only be fully described in the context of an underlying theoretical...

DOI: 10.31275/20243317 Full text

Ghosted! Exploring the Haunting Reality of Paranormal Encounters

Journal of Scientific Exploration December 28, 2023 Christine Simmonds-Moore 15 citations

It is with a sense of adventure, genuine curiosity, and true skepticism (in the spirit of William James) that the authors of the text ("the Ghost Gang") investigate the deeply human experience of ghosts.Throughout the text, the authors portray a refreshing approach of "adversarial collaboration" toward the study of ghosts.This particular collaboration dates back to 2017 and culminates in this...

DOI: 10.31275/20233259 Paranormal Parapsychology Psychoanalysis Aesthetics +1

The Darker Side of Near-Death Experiences

Journal of Scientific Exploration December 28, 2023 Bruce Greyson 5 citations

Modern research on near-death experiences (NDEs), powerful spiritual experiences triggered by a close brush with death, has focused on experiences characterized by profound positive feelings, ranging from incredible peace and calmness to bliss and ecstasy. However, throughout history there have been accounts of frightening deathbed visions and terrifying journeys to a hellish realm peopled by...

DOI: 10.31275/20232843 Distressing Feeling Psychotherapist

Interdisciplinary Review of Demonic Possession Between 1980 and 2023: A Compendium of Scientific Cases

Journal of Scientific Exploration December 28, 2023 Álex Escolà-Gascón, María Francisca Ovalle, Luke J. Matthews 1 citation

Episodes of demonic or spirit possession, where individuals perceive their bodies and minds as being controlled by supernatural entities, have been the subject of extensive research across various disciplines. Despite this, the extent to which existing scientific explanations can account for these phenomena is still uncertain, especially in terms of the aspects that remain unexplained. This...

DOI: 10.31275/20233235 Possession linguistics Compendium Psychological intervention

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