Journal of Scientific Exploration

Journey to Credibility: 13 Rules for Maverick Scientists

William Beaty — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 06:46:32 -0700

Who Sees UFOs? The Relationship Between Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Sightings and Personality Factors

Daniel Stubbings, Alexander Wong — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) have become a serious topic in the US Congress, and new legislation has been released outlining a plan for declassification for the public. There are numerous factors that could lead an individual to mistakenly think they saw a UAP, and one of those factors might be the proclivities of the personalities that observe what they think to be a UAP. This study examined the big five personality traits: extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as schizotypy traits, to see if UAP experiencers could be distinguished from people who had not seen a UAP. The study included 206 participants, with 103 people who self-reported to have seen a UAP. Latent profile analysis was conducted on the personality variables to explore the grouping of participants. Group one was average on the traits, a second cluster was labeled as the Neurotic/Schizotypy group, which was high in neuroticism and schizotypy traits, and a third group was labeled as O-ACE, which were high on openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion but low on neuroticism and schizotypy traits. The findings indicated that the O-ACE group was more likely to see UAP, but this effect was not strong. A presumptuous stereotype exists in the general public that people who see UAP are probably people who are emotionally reactive (neurotic) and vulnerable to perceptual and cognitive abnormalities, but this was not evident in our data. We also found that the descriptive UAP accounts by the general public were similar to the descriptions provided by military witnesses. It was also of note that only 28% of participants reported their sightings anywhere, and 14% used a UFO reporting organization, which suggests that events are vastly underreported. Stigma and a lack of places to legitimately report sightings appeared to be primary barriers. The conclusion of this study is that personality factors are an insufficient explanation for most UAP sightings.

Impact of Meditation Versus Exercise on Psychological Characteristics, Paranormal Experiences, and Beliefs: Randomized Trial

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 06:48:33 -0700

Background: Research indicates that meditation increases mindfulness and paranormal experiences of precognition, telepathy, clairvoyance, and synchronicities. There is limited knowledge about the prevalence or impact of these experiences on meditators and the general population. Aims: To compare self-reported well-being, mindfulness, connectedness, personality, paranormal experiences, beliefs, and performance on psi tasks in a meditation group versus an exercise control group. Method: This is a randomized trial that explored changes, including well-being, mindfulness, connectedness, psi, extraordinary experiences, beliefs, and ability to impact a random number generator in the participants, comparing a meditation vs. exercise control group. We collected data at baseline, “Mid” or halfway through the intervention (week 4), post 1, which is at the end of intervention (week 9), and post 2, which is two months post-intervention. Data was collected securely online with IRB approval. Results: Data from 72 participants (N=45 meditation/N=27 exercise) demonstrated improvement in some well-being measures (anxiety and general health). The study examined the effects of meditation versus exercise on various psychosocial measures and paranormal experiences. The meditation group displayed higher scores in openness and extroversion compared to the exercise group, which was unexpected and required further investigation. The meditation cohort also reported more paranormal experiences, with about half of them considering these experiences important or meaningful. However, the experiment exploring psychic abilities did not yield significant results. While the study had limitations, such as a predominantly non-diverse sample, it adds to the existing body of evidence linking meditation and exercise to positive psychosocial outcomes. Conclusions: The randomly selected meditation naïve cohort trained in brief structured meditation demonstrated increases over time in mindfulness, connectedness, extraversion, and paranormal experiences and beliefs compared to an exercise cohort. Performance on the psi tasks did not improve in either group over time, and these tasks may not be sensitive enough to detect significant changes.

The Pharaoh’s Curse: New Evidence of Unusual Deaths Associated With Ancient Egyptian Tombs

Ross Fellowes — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 06:49:55 -0700

A survey of modern-era field Egyptologists reveals a very high incidence of unusual deaths consistent with symptoms of haematopoietic cancer, a scenario that parallels radiation sickness caused by exposure to abnormally high radiation previously reported in ancient tombs. However, the high radiation in tombs is not explained by the ‘natural’ background, which is rare in limestone bedrock. Here, re-examination of Egyptian funerary literature reveals reference to saffron cake in portions of 2-3-5 (yellowcake U-235), giving power by means of an invisible ‘efflux’, and leaving a legacy of hazardous ‘excrements’ (wastes) which were buried in an underground ‘tomb’ called the per D’jet (house of millions of years). The ancient curse warned that those who break this tomb shall meet death by a disease that no doctor can diagnose.

After-Death Communications (ADCs) from Non-Human Animals: Parallels with Human ADCs

James G. Matlock, Beth Hilton, Rupert Sheldrake, Pam Smart, Michael Nahm — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 06:50:57 -0700

In an earlier study, Rupert Sheldrake, Pam Smart, and Michael Nahm reviewed accounts of end-of-life experiences (ELEs) involving non-human animals. They showed animal ELEs to be similar to human ELEs, suggesting common underlying processes. Here, we consider apparent after-death communications (ADCs) from non-human animals and compare them to accounts of ADCs from humans. We collected 442 accounts of animal ADCs from our own appeals and from reports in the literature. We found a close resemblance between ADCs from animals and from humans in the types of experience—dream visitations, a sense of presence, visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory apparitions, and psychokinetic effects. As with human ADCs, the great majority of animal ADCs were reported to have occurred in the first hours or days after death, with a dramatic falling off over time. Moreover, our data show that people grieve their pets in much the same fashion as they grieve their human loved ones, suggesting that human bereavement studies would do well to take into account the animal data to which we draw attention. Doing so may help clarify issues regarding the fundamental nature of the experiences—determining whether they are best regarded as internal hallucinations, as living-agent-psi-mediated subjective or objective phenomena, or as actual contacts with the deceased—which in turn carries implications not only for academic studies of bereavement but for clinical practice with the bereaved.

Binaural Beats and Music: A Preliminary Case Report

Elizabeth Krasnoff — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 06:51:43 -0700

We recruited subjects who reported feeling stressed and needing a break and were seeking an opportunity to experience relaxation. Inaudible binaural beats (BB) were used to measure the ability of BB to induce relaxation. Measurements included EEG, Menlascan (cardiovascular and ANS) (Menla Technologies, Independence, Missouri), and GDV (Gas Discharge Visualization/Kirlian Photography) (Korotkov et al., 2020). Further, a Big Five Character Assessment was administered, and individual Brief Mood Introspection Scales (BMIS) were collected for each condition. Subjects experienced an improvement in brain function, microcirculation or cardiovascular score, bioenergy, and a calmer brain after adding binaural beats to brown noise or to music plus brown noise, although the Menlascan scores and Big Five character assessment results were less conclusive. BB seems to have profound effects on the physiology of subjects, and since the beats were not audible, these effects could not be attributed to the placebo effect. These results are encouraging in terms of developing musical products incorporating BB to affect human neural rhythms and corollary states of consciousness and warrant further research with more subjects and different frequencies of BB and different music tracks.

A History of Scientific Approaches to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Time to Rethink their Relegation to the Paranormal and Engage Seriously?

Tim Lomas — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 06:52:29 -0700

The topic of “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena” (UAP) has historically been regarded with skepticism by the scientific community. After a period of relative openness and ambivalence in the 1950s and 60s, it eventually became generally categorized as a “paranormal” concern and dismissed as a legitimate focus of inquiry. However, the issue has risen to public prominence over recent years. As such, this paper argues UAP should be redeemed as a scientific topic and given the scrutiny that such a potentially important phenomenon merits. The focus here is not assessing the nature of UAP per se but simply to argue this is a valid topic that the scientific community has shied away from which deserves real consideration.

Coming to Terms With the Psi-Trickster

James E Kennedy — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 06:53:20 -0700

The trickster concept has been proposed as a useful description of paranormal phenomena in response to nine decades of inconsistent experimental results and the inability to develop sustained practical applications of psi. However, the trickster of mythology is too diverse and ambiguous for scientific research. The term ‘psi-trickster’ is used here to refer to an active factor that makes psi effects inconsistent and unsustainable but can be investigated scientifically. My transition from optimism about psi experiments to reluctantly accepting the psi-trickster is described. The primary purpose of this essay is to describe strategies and options for research given the apparent psi-trickster. Strategies for dealing with the psi-trickster include: (a) hope that continued experimental research will overcome it; (b) accept the far-reaching implications of the usual assumptions for psi experiments and develop models of unconscious conflicting psi influences by many different people; (c) investigate the possibility that reliable psi effects occur in rare conditions, such as after many years of intense meditation practice; (d) propose physics-based models; and (e) consider that factors other than the motivations of living persons may be involved. Experimental psi research has the ultimate goal of converting psi to technology. Like other technologies, the most advanced development will be for military uses and for corporate profits. Spontaneous psi experiences tend to inspire a sense of meaning in life and a belief that the person’s life is watched over, similar to mystical and near-death experiences. The psi-trickster characteristics prevent psi from being converted to technology and preserve its mysterious, mystical aspects. An in-depth investigation is needed to understand how paranormal beliefs and experiences affect a person’s life and society as a whole. This is the first step in investigating the psi-trickster characteristics and should include the distribution of beliefs in the population for the full spectrum from skeptics to proponents.

Medicine, Money, and Media: A Case Study of How the Covid-19 Crisis Corrupts Disclosure and Publishing Ethics

Harald Walach, Rainer Johannes Klement — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 06:54:04 -0700

We present a case study of corrupted discourses in medicine. Medicine is a fallible science. Therefore, it is not surprising that mistakes in the assessment of data and early closure of discourse have led to a highly biased view of the Covid-19 crisis. We present two examples of papers which were retracted following criticisms and republished after a lengthy re-reviewing process. One paper discussed the clinical benefits of COVID-19 vaccinations and the potential risk profile of these vaccinations using the Dutch Adverse Drug Reaction Register. The results of this study were not very favorable. The pressure mounted on the publisher of the journal Vaccines (MDPI, Basel) was huge, and the paper was retracted, although none of the classical reasons for retraction were present. The second paper was about carbon dioxide content in inhaled air under face masks in children, which revealed amounts of CO2 inhaled under masks that violate accepted security norms by a factor of six. This paper was also retracted after criticisms were raised online and after a very dubious re-review process. A closer analysis shows that both retractions were politically motivated. We analyze these case studies and conclude that in the era of COVID-19, politics and financial incentives are increasingly replacing scientific discourse. The profit motive in scientific discourse has opened the floodgates to political influences. This makes obvious what has long been a problem: Financial conflicts of interest continue to distort research and play a major role in evaluations of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Failings of Nessie Debunkers and of Debunkers in General

Henry Bauer, Roland Watson — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 07:48:54 -0700

That Loch Ness Monsters, “Nessies”, might exist has been argued by many people on the basis of films, sonar contacts, photos, and eyewitness accounts. At the same time, some observers have insisted that these are not real creatures, nothing but misperceptions of natural phenomena or known animals. Their arguments typically address the weakest evidence (eyewitness accounts) rather than the strongest objective evidence of sonar and film. Such evasion or avoidance constitutes a strategy of misdirection, as does the insistence that, since Nessies are not recognized by “science,” therefore taking their possible existence seriously amounts to doing pseudo-science. Debunkers arguably irrational and go beyond the evidence in declaring that Nessies are definitely non-existent. Although Nessie fans do believe that they exist, most will admit that final proof requires a specimen or detailed close-up of unequivocally valid photography and insist only that enough evidence exists to warrant further searches: that is not pseudo-science.

Commentary on Sheldrake and Smart (2023): Directional Scopaesthesia

Peter Brugger — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Response to Peter Brugger’s Commentary

Rupert Sheldrake, Pamela Smart — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Response to Peter Brugger’s commentary.

Deep Weird: The Varieties of High Strangeness Experience

Peter McCue — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Quantum Bullshit: How to Ruin Your Life With Advice From Quantum Physics & Farewell to Reality: How Modern Physics Has Betrayed The Search for Scientific Truth

Henry Bauer — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Two reviews of two books. Title to be changed.

Redemption of the Damned, Vol 2: Sea & Space Phenomena

Jerome Clark — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Redemption of the Damned

Paranormal Ruptures: Critical Approaches to Exceptional Experiences

Renaud Evrard — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Towards the Unknown: Memoir of a Psychical Researcher

James G. Matlock — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Towards the Unknown

Commentary on Near Death Experiences: Grayson (2023)

Etzel Cardeña — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Ancientness of New Mexico Human Footprints Confirmed

Stephen C. Jett — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

In Memory of Friederike Schriever

Gerhard A. Mayer — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

No abstract, obituary

Announcements

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700