By Russell White
P.I.T.T. / Paranormal Investigation Team of Tulsa

This article originally appeared in the May, 2004 online issue of Ghost Magazine in the Spirited Science: Mainstream Science Meets Paranormal Studies column. Posted with permission of Russell White.

PHYSICS ... come on say it with me ... PHYSICS ... see it’s not so bad. Granted the equations and formulas that go along with physics are somewhat daunting unless of course your name is Poindexter. Most of us, however, don’t wear plaid shirts and striped pants. Most of us can’t walk through a foot deep puddle of water without getting the bottom of said pants wet. Most of us don’t have an endless supply of pens, pencils, laser pointers and erasers in our breast pocket either. But neither can we decipher this (Equation for electromagnetic waves):

Physics has a place in the research of the paranormal. In fact, I have said before that I feel it is through this discipline of science that the paranormal will finally be proven to exist. Physics is the study of matter, energy and their interactions. And, when you get down to it, isn't that what we do as ghost researchers? Study matter, energy and their interactions?

Physics is also known as the study of nature’s FUNDAMENTAL forces. This discipline of science is unique in that it uses these big hairy formulas and equations, which are aspects of mathematical law, to prove that which is intangible, those things that can’t be physically seen, touched or heard at times. Mention physics to most people on the streets and the majority of them will immediately freeze up and shut down at the very least or run away screaming into the distance at the very worst.

Aside from all these horrible looking numbers and letters seemingly scattered at random on a piece of paper, physics give us many plausible possibilities and in some cases actually supports the theories of paranormal researchers.

Quantum Holography

Quantum Holography is a theoretical model of the universe that advances the notion that EVERYTHING in the universe is made of the same exact particles. It is equivalent to DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in that DNA is the primary genetic material in all living organisms. DNA is present in every cell in our body. The DNA in my right toe is the same exact DNA that can be found in the cerebral cortex of my brain. Likewise researchers feel that the matter and antimatter found within EVERYTHING in the universe is identical. The matter and antimatter is the same in a rock, a tree, a distant star and within us carbon based life forms.

Arising from this model is something called morphic fields, or universal memory pools. Einstein and others have proven that energy never dies, it merely changes. Some believe that thoughts, dreams, emotions and other higher order processes are energy in its purest form, and that this energy is not stored within the confines of our brains, but instead floats in a giant pool made up of EVERY thought, dream, and emotion that has ever happened. These people believe that many types of paranormal phenomenon can be explained by this. They feel that psychics are people that are merely able to tap into this field and receive information from this large stock of energy. Likewise they think that haunting phenomenon is nothing more than a memory playing itself over and over, kind of like when records used to get stuck and skip, playing the same words or fragments of song over and over again.

Many research projects have looked into this possibility, and a lot of them seem to validate this school of thought. Amputees lose their limbs and yet can still feel sensations, even though the nerves are severed and in effect no longer there to give these sensations. One study has shown that blind people can actually “see” shapes and colors even though they are lacking the ability to see. Other studies have shown that successive generations of rats can maneuver mazes with faster and faster times than their parents, even though they have never seen these mazes before. This seems to insinuate that memory is either hereditary or somehow it is possible to tap into other’s memories.

Morphic fields definitely go a long way towards explaining EVP, apparitions, precognition etc. Until one takes into account seemingly “intelligent and interactive” alleged haunting phenomenon. I personally have collected EVP and heard EVP collected by others that is both interactive and responsive. My question then becomes “How can a memory interact and respond?” To take into account this aspect of the paranormal I feel something else should be considered.

Multiple Dimensions or String Theory

I feel that the string theory has great value to the paranormal community for a couple of reasons. The string theory is a mathematical model of the universe that bridges the gap between the two main schools of physics. Quantum Mechanics is the school of physics that deals with the very small, microscopic part of our world. The other school of thought, General Relativity, deals with the very large, seemingly infinite aspects of our world. String Theory “ties’ these two together, something researchers and mathematicians have been struggling to do for years. One of the byproducts of this theory is that it paves the way for multiple dimensions. At first glance, multiple dimensions seems like something from a science fiction movie. But think of this, we already know of the first three dimensions. We occupy the third dimension and see the first and second dimensions hundreds if not thousands of times a day.

Probably the best visual analogy I've read went something like this. Picture in your mind a guitar string, looking at it at rest you see one string which represents a single dimension, now reach out and pluck the string, suddenly the one string has turned into what appears to be many, this is similar to the train of thought that the dimensions we occupy are surrounded by many others. Researchers have even developed a model for this.

The Calabi-Yau Shape is a model of 11 different dimensions intertwined and coiled around each other, and to me makes the possibility of inter-dimensional contact possible.

For a minute let’s assume that at the death of our biological shells our energy merely changes somehow and then moves on to occupy a different dimension. Now let’s assume that this dimension is one of these pictured here, and that one of the other dimensions is our third dimension that we occupy now. It seems VERY plausible to me that some type of contact between dimensions would be statistically probable. Think of an apartment; living in an apartment with others living around, on top and underneath you it seems that you are constantly hearing neighbors footsteps, voices, doors slamming, their stereos etc. It seems to me to be the same principle.

Current research also shows that at least one of these dimensions is equal to ours in size, meaning it is infinite like our universe. This research also shows that matter is able to move among the various dimensions (Kaluza-Klein particles), and even offers mechanisms for possible inter-dimensional contact.
http://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/facpages/randall.html

For those interested in researching this further, I would recommend reading up on the following subjects: 4th dimensional gravitons, Kaluza-Klein particles and, my personal favorite, localized gravity leaks.

Whew! Hopefully that was informative and helpful without frying anyone’s brain. I think it’s easy to see that science and the paranormal aren't as far removed from one another as one tends to think. Perhaps a unification theory merging the two is indeed possible, proving that if one can ‘say’ Physics, one might be able to understand it as well.