Staying sane 4

More from my 40 years ...

4. Don't separate research into UFOs from research into the paranormal

In my opinion, you shouldn't study the UFO phenomenon in isolation from other areas of knowledge. To me, UFOs are part of the topic of the paranormal. I believe that much is to be learnt by studying UFOs, together with the paranormal.

Why do I say this? For example, the after-effects of some UFO close encounters include a range of effects, otherwise labelled 'paranormal' if they took place without a UFO sightings. These effects include an increase in a witness' extra sensory perception (ESP); or the reporting of a "poltergeist.'

In addition, recent scientific studies on the topic of out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are relevant to potential non-extra-terrestrial explanations for some UFo abduction accounts. Science has been able to create OBEs on demand, by electrically stimulating the human brain. There are UFO abduction accounts where experiencers relate that they found themselves floating above their physical bodies, just like in an OBE.

There have also been laboratory experiments in which it has been possible to demonstrate that one's sense of self can be transferred to a point outside the physical body.

"The Sensed Presence Effect."

Hi readers

Oc occasions, people report feeling that there is "someone" or "something" present, even when they know they are alone. It happens to mountain climbers, solo sailors and others. In a recent article titled "The Sensed Presence Effect" in Volume 301 number 4 April 2010 of "Scientific American," author Michael Shermer suggest four possible explanations.

"1) The hallucination may be an extension of the normal sensed presence of real people and is, perhaps triggered by isolation. 2) During oxygen deprivation, sleep deprivation or exhaustion, the rational cortical control over emotion shuts down, as in the fight-or-flight response, enabling inner voices and imaginary companions to arise. 3) The body schema, or our physical sense of self-believed to be located primarily in the temporal lobe of the left-hemisphere-is the image of the body that the brain has constructed. If for any reason your brain is tricked into thinking that there is another you, it constructs a plausible explanation that the other you is actually another person-a sensed presence-nearby. 4) The mind schema, or our psychological sense of self, coordinating the many independent neural networks that simultaneously work away at problems in daily living so that we feel like a single mind."

Comment:

I have previously written about the "sense of presence" and "sense of self" and its possible application to abduction reports, in posts dated 22 Oct 2009 and 27 Oct 2009.