Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LXXI. Differential Contribution of Geomagnetic Activity to Paranormal Experiences concerning Death and Crisis: An Alternative to the Esp Hypothesis

Abstract

A total of 621 reports (experienced over an approximately 70-year period) of putative psi experiences concerning death or crisis were differentiated according to traditional labels: telepathic, precognitive, and postmortem phenomena. The 232 telepathic experiences occurred during 24-hour periods in which the global geomagnetic activity was significantly less (quieter) than during the days before or after the experiences; this relationship was not displayed by the 186 precognitive or 203 postmortem cases. Key day differences in geomagnetic activity for the three classes of experiences were equivalent to a correlation of about 0.35. Although content analysis suggests that nocturnal psi experiences and temporal lobe epilepsy may share a similar mechanism, different classes of subjective psi experiences may not be affected by the same stimuli.