Perhaps it was the dream that made me sensitive to the concept (notice I donÕt say ÒfactÓ; to quote from The Talking Heads: Òfacts are simple, facts are straight, facts wonÕt do what you want them to...Ó) of Electronic Voice Phenomena...whatever the hell kind of ÒfactÓ it is. Some years later, browsing through a used-book store I found an old paperback copy of RaudiveÕs Breakthrough, probably the seminal English language introduction to this whole area. I went on to track down RogoÕs Phone Calls from the Dead, BanderÕs Voices From the Tapes, and most recently WebsterÕs The Vertical Plane. I should also mention RonellÕs The Telephone Book: Technology, Schizophrenia, Electric Speech here which I read around the same time and which certainly had a galvanizing effect on me theoretically. Basically a Heideggerean meditation on technology and being, here is one of my favorite quotes which seems appropriate to this particular occasion:
The so-called occult is calling. It has never stopped ringing on the exchanges between science and technology, urging a lineage of verification, empiricity, invention, and proofs. Perhaps the so-called occult should not be left hanging in the air, imperturbably ringing as if we were not sufficiently at home to pick up the receiver. But picking up this particular line, admittedly, implies a danger; we donÕt really know or even want to know who is at the other end, a decidedly deep end.
I'm sure that there are folks out there who would rather unplug the (occult) thing than have it keep ringing continuously in our "ears", a bad case of tinnitus perhaps. For better or worse, as I believe Ronell is saying, there is no way to unplug such an unspeakable (literally), uncanny 'thing' as that which sometimes parades so luridly as "the occult" without also unplugging our technological life support system as a whole. The entitlement which the Enlightenment thought it was passing on to us, the rational, the transparent, the scientific, etc., turns out to have had a snapper clause in it: in order to be so thoroughly and fully "scientific" and ÒrationalÓ (I put them in scare quotes to make them a little more visible), it now appears that the most occult qualities of all, identity, subjectivity, has to go. At the very heart of rationality is a very sharp, double-edged we might add, knife, as Ockham well knew; but as RonellÑand HeideggerÑ alludes to, we have no idea what is wielding that knife.
Some readers may not be able to get past the first few paragraphs of the following essay without an inordinate amount of snorting but I have elected not to do any editing of the "spiritist" component. I have no idea, even after having read a good deal of the literature on the phenomena, whatÕs going on with "instrumental contact with the dead", but it behooves those who would dismise it in all its forms to go back and read a little history on such matters (for example, Science and Parascience by Brian Inglis). The record of official scienceÕs attempt to deal with such 'outlaw' phenomena has often been shameful and fraudulent, the very accusations it attempts to make against its 'enemies'. And I have no idea whether there is 'really' contact with the dead (my training screams against that scenario, but without that making it in the least bit true or false), contact with some other sort of entity (my screaming is somewhat more muted here for some reason), or some bizarre psycho-techno-material interaction of a heretofore unknown sort (I feel a good deal calmer now...still doesn't make it true or false).
And it is perhaps symptomatic that this is the only introduction I have felt compelled to make for any of the articles in this issue. So in one sense this is a prophylactic: it protects both me and you, the reader, by a subtle disclaimer of the material that is about to follow, by the very fact that there is an introduction at all. But of course prophylactics are not only, always about protection. They are also propaedeutic. Caveat Lector.
Robert Cheatham
When Dimensions Cross Mark Macy
This is said to be a typical scenario of our fleeting lives on planet Earth: we live a lifetime, and at the end of it we tell the loved ones gathered around our deathbed, "Why, IÕve lived to be 90. Do you know how much I did during my long life?!" Then we die. Suddenly we wake up and ask, "How long was I gone?" The Being of Light who is with us replies, "We hardly noticed you were gone at all. You just sat down and dozed off for a moment, and here you are again. LetÕs see what sort of dreams you had this time."
We are beings of flesh and spirit, of body and soul. The physical sensations of the material world make this seem like the larger reality, but we die and shed the physical body we reportedly realize (or "recall" may be a more appropriate term here) that the opposite is true.
Today there is high-tech communication reported between researchers in this physical world and other entities, often called "spirits" or "spiritual beings," residing in delicate, more finely spun dimensions of reality. Modern research laboratories in Europe are reporting extended, two-way communication with spiritual beings almost daily, receiving esoteric and advanced technical technical information through telephone answering machines, radios and computer printouts. They are reporting actual video images from the astral planes on their television sets. This is all part of a new and burgeoning field called instrumental transcommunication (ITC). If the reports are true, then ITC is quickly building a bridge between the dimensions of physical and spiritual being that even the most skeptical among us will soon have to take a close, objective look at. While the evidence at present is genuinely astonishing, it is not yet wholly conclusive, so each of us will have to judge the validity of ITC for ourselves.
In a moment we will look at the amazing successes these interdimensional communicators are reporting with their electronic systems, but first it is important that we are all familiar with what these researchers generally regard as some basic realities of spirit.
Our Multidimensional Body
If the nuclei of the atoms in our body were enlarged to the size of baseballs, they would be about 2,ooo miles apart. If you extended a solid steel rod from San Francisco to New York and removed all the space between its atoms, therod would now be about an eighth of an inchlong. Matter as we know it is 99.99999 percent empty space. It seems solid because thevibrations of the atoms fill in the spaces, but really there is ample room inside us for several additional bodies.
And, according to modern researchers (as well as to ancient mystics), such is the case: We contain several spiritual bodies within ourphysical body, each vibrating at a different rate, in a similar way that information of different frequencies can exist as radio waves jumbled together yet still distinct in the same room, or as telephone messages streaming together along a single optical fiber. As long as they keep their separate frequenices they can coexist as unique entities in the same space.
As depicted in Figure 1, the physical body contains an etheric body, or what Russian researchers call a bioplasmic body. This etheric body contains our astral body, which in turn contains our mental-causal body, which houses several mental subtler mental bodies. Beings in these mental bodies are often called Beings of Light. Inside all these bodies is our soul. The soul is said to be our real, eternal self, a small ray of pure, undying love and cosmic Light located in the area of the heart but existing in a subtler dimension or plane of reality and, as such, it remains invisible to us.
Death. When we die, we shed the physical body, and usually our etheric body cecomes our new Òouter shellÓ for a few days. Just as a radio broadcast is "inaudible" to a radio that is not tuned to that station, after we die we consist of matter that is so subtle and vibrates at such a fast rate that our new body is invisible to most non-clairvoyant people.
A few days after leaving behind our physical body, we are said to shed the etheric body as well and reside in the astral body for a period of time (from a few weeks to a few centuries, depending on a variety of factors Ñ whether we reincarnate, how spiritually elevated we are, etc.) The astral body is said to have the same basic shape that our physical body had, and it is subtler still than the etheric body. Eventually we will shed the astral body as we advance spiritually into finer dimensions.
The Multi-dimensional Universe
European researchers, whose work we will observe shortly, are receiving detailed reports from the spiritual dimensions describing a vast world in the astral planes much like our own in many ways. These dimensions are reportedly inhabited by many billions of astral spirits who live in thriving communities among others of like interest.
The spirit realms are generally described as dimensions or planes distinguishable by the different densities and vibratory rates (or frequencies) of the substance they contain, and the various dimensions are said to interpenetrate, just as do the the spiritual bodies inside us. For most of us living in the physical world and preoccupied by its material comforts, those are heady concepts. So it may be easier to visualize (and it is certianly easier to illustrate!) the spiritual planes stacked one on top of the other like floors in a building. Figure 2 shows this simplified view of the spirit worlds.
The physical plane (the world around us, our conscious reality) is composed of comparatively dense, slowly vibrating matter.
The astral planes are generally divided into the lower, middle, and higher, although eachdivision is actually said to contain many, many dimensions of varying vibration. When we shed our physical body, most of us reportedly Òwake upÓ in our astral body living in the specific astral plane in which substance is vibrating at the same rate as the substance of our astral body. During our lives on earth and beyond, we apparently determine our vibratory rate by our thoughts, attitudes and spiritual understanding. Fear and resentment produce low vibrations, while love produces very high vibrations. Awareness of interdimensional realities produces high vibrations, while orthodox closed-mindedness (whether religious, scientific, or political) produces low vibrations. Attachment to worldly things creates low vibrations, while calm detachment in the Eastern tradition produces high vibrations.
The lower astral planes are described as a dark, dismal world reminiscent of theChristian purgatory or hell. Some people of low-vibration thoughts and attitudes, after dying, are apparently pulled toward and trapped near the physical plane in a state of confusion. There being no gravity nor any sense of time nor space intheworlds of spirit, they might reside in this bewildering reality for years or for centuries ofearth time, not even aware that they have dies, creating problems on earth in ways we lack the time and space to explore in this article.
The middle astral planes are described as a pleasant realm where most of us wake up to be rehabilitated after our earthly education in the Òschool of hard knocks.Ó
The higher astral planes are apparently awonderful realm called Heaven by Christians, the Summerland by spiritualists.
The mental-causal planes are described as a realm of divine inspiration free of earthly desires and conflict. The beings in these dimensions apparently cause many of the artistic and technical breakthroughs on earth by sending silent messages to its inhabitants.
The celestial planes are beyond the comprehension of most people wrapped up in physical realities and are far beyond the scope of this article.
All ITC contacts at the present time seem to be made with beings in the astral planes, which are said to act as a buffer zone between the dense earth plane rife with deception, fear and violence, and the higher, subtler realms of pure love, Light and wisdom. The astral planes are reported to be much like Earth, perhaps even patterned after our world for the primary purpose of making "new arrivals" feel at home. Researchers in many countries report messages from the astral planes describing concert halls, museums, hospitals, schools and homes much like those on earth - but often much more magnificent - all set in landscapes of trees, flowers, mountains, meadows and rivers that, again, are like landscapes here but much more breathtaking. Newcomers can eat, though they no longer need to. They can have sex, though of course no one gets pregnant. Gradually such "earthly" pleasures are said to become less important. In any case, the astral planes are said to provide very pleasant surroundings for recuperation and spiritual growth after we die and before we Òmove oneÓ to higher dimensions.
The Electronic Voice Phenomena
In the late 1950s a Swedish psychology professor named Konstantin Raudive (Figure 3) began to hear words recorded on what should have been blank audiotape. He assembled a small team of researchers to study this electronic voice phenomena (EVP) and eventually made over 100,000 audiotapes.
Around the same time Swedish filmmaker Fredrich Juergenson (Figure 4) captured voices while taping bird songs outdoors. He continued his EVP research for 25 years.
By the 1980s there were thousands of EVP experimenters throughout Europe, North America, South America and Asia receiving messages from entities claiming to be spiritual beings who hadonce existed in human form on Earth.
The Emergence of ITC Research
In the 1970s American ITC pioneer George W. Meek began researching EVP phenomena witha new aim Ñ to achieve prolonged, two-way communication rather than the short phases indicative of the work at that time. There were no laboratories suitable for the sort of research he envisioned, so he set one up. Employing the electronic abilities of psychically gifted William OÕNeil, Meek soon got the results he was looking for. With the Spiricom device designed largely by O'Neil, extended dialog took place between O'Neil and three beings apparently residing on the lower and middle astral planes. Most notable among these reported contacts was Dr. George Jeffries Mueller (Figure 5), a university professor and electronics specialist who had dies 14 years earlier.
O'Neil taped hours of sometimes humorous, sometimes enlightening conversations with Dr. Mueller, who was able to help him design the Spiricom equipment. At one point MuellerÕs voice came through the machine: "The problem is an impedance mismatch into the third resistor," and he suggested "a 150-ohm half-watt resistor in parallel with a .0047 micro-farad ceramic capacitor." Technical assistance of this type from the spirit world was unheard-of at that time!
But unfamiliar new ideas, no matter how important or astonishing, seem to remain distasteful until the next generation comes along and is able to digest them. Despite a well-planned, international media event in March 1982 (including MeekÕs own press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC with 50 reporters in attendance, and a trip around the world to discuss his breakthrough with researchers and reporters in many countries), his tremendous breakthrough received only lukewarm interest by the media and general public. But at least the seed was planted, and it wasnÕt long before roots began to spread.
As months passed, MeekÕs publicity campaign inspired a host of researchers who began to haveastonishing success. News began to spread about research projects being started in the USA, Brazil, Russia, and throughout Europe, in which spirits were being contacted by tape recorder, phone, computer, radio and television.
In 1985, German psychic Klaus Schreiber (Figure 6) started getting pictures of deceased family members, actors and others on his television set. Occasionally just voices would come across, telling him how to tune his TV for better reception. A typical session would begin with a TV screen full of dots. Then small ovals would appear one after another, each growing quickly until they disappeared offthe screen. Within minutes faces would start to appear along with voices, to the astonishment of Schreiber himself and his visitors. It wasnÕt long after Shreiber died that he himself started appearing on the TV screens of EuropeÕs ITC researchers.
EVP pioneers Raudive and Juergenson, mentioned earlier, also dies recently and are among a growing number of experimenters who are apparently electing to continue their after they die.
In April 1990 George MeekÕs wife Jeanette (Figure 7) died after a long illness. Before she crossed over, however, Meek had asked her to get firmly in mind the names TimeStream (a spiritside sending station linked to a young, leading-edge research laboratory in Luxembourg) and Swejen Salter (the system's operator and research director on the spirit side), Hopefully these memories would act as a homing device once she crossed over, pulling Jeannette to the research station.
It apparently worked; three months after JeannetteÕs funeral she reportedly had located the TimeStream station and sent the following letter to George via the Luxembourg computer.
DEAR G.W.
WELL, IT SEEMS THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE CONTACTS YOUR
FRIENDS HERE IN LUXEMBOURG ARE HAVING. HENCE I WILL GIVE YOU SOME PERSONAL
DETAILS KNOWN ONLY TO YOU AND MOLLY.
FIRST STORY. IN 1987, END OF APRIL, OUR TENANT DEBBIE CALLED TOSAY HER
REFRIGERATOR WAS OFF. IT MUST HAVE BEEN ON A THURSDAY MORNING...
SECOND STORY. ON APRIL 29, 1987, ANN VALENTIN WROTE A LETTER FORM CALIFORNIA
SAYING SHE HAD NOT RECEIVED THE MAGIC OF LIVING FOREVER BOOKLETS SHE HAD ORDERED,
BUT INSTEAD HAD RECEIVED A BOX OF HARLEQUIN NOVELS.
THIRD STORY. JOHN LATHROP SHUTOFF THE ELECTRICITY AT OUR RENTAL HOUSE TO PUT
IN THE NEW YARD LIGHT, HE WASNÕT DOWN THERE VERY LONG BUT CHARGED $20 SERVICE IN
ADDITION TO $40 FOR THE BULBS, PLUS TAX. THE CHARGE SEEMED HIGH.
DONÕT TRY TO EXPLAIN THIS, HONEY, MY NEVER-ENDING LOVE TO YOU. I MISS YOU SO
MUCH, BUT I KNOW WE WILL BE TOGETHER...
LOVE FOREVER....JEANNETTE DUNCAN MEEK.
To suport the validity of the ITC contact, Jeannette had selected three very private items known only to the Meeks and their secretary Molly Philo. The second item about romance novels, in fact, was a complete puzzle even to George.
Upon receiving JeannetteÕs letter from the Luxembourg team and getting his excitement under control, Meek called Ann Valentinin California to verify item 2. Sure enough, a carton of novels had arrived mysteriously in 1987, and to this day no one knows who sent them.
ITC Today
There are many factors involved in successful ITC work. Some are human (the attitudes, beliefs and thoughts of the earthside researchers), others are technical (the actual equipment and computer programs used by the earthside experimenters), and still others are spiritual (the willingness of capable, higher-level spiritual beings toparticipate). Of these, the human factors seem to be by far the most important.
the most successful labs in the world today are using off-the-shelf electronic equipment. Any custom specifications are provided by the spiritside collaborators.
Human Factors in ITC
The collective thoughts of a team of researchers are said to play a much bigger role in Itc than the equipment used. The Luxembourg team says they were once told by their spiritside colleagues, "The equipment (you are assembling) will only function properly when spiritual progress is guaranteed among (participants)."
The sense of unity and cooperation among researchers is like a mesh or net; there is strength and integrity only when everyone is well linked with the others.
The most successful ITC researchers seem to be those who have become more like their spiritside colleagues; their vibratory rates increase and their telepathic skills improve. As that happens, they become more subject to spiritual laws. Their thoughts become more pure and honest, since deception is said to be incompatible with life in the higher realms.
During paranormal audio and video transmissions, a field of vibrations, or contact field, is generated on every participant on both sides. It is said to be formed by the telepathic abilities, thoughts, desires, and attitudes (especially the attitudes towards ITC) of all participants. If participants in public contacts doubt the authenticity of the spirit voices, their skepticism will suppress the powers which can make these group contacts possible.
ITC sessions in the Luxembourg lab were originally open to the public; anyone interested was included in the contact field. Since the contact field is built upon the mental and emotional dispositions Ñ bothpositive and negative Ñ of all involved, the field invited both positive and negative spiritual influence from the other side. Soon the researchersÕ lives were plagued with accidents, illness, conflicts and problems at work. They reported materializations and dematerializations, dead-end situations that wasted time and energy. This incredible streak of bad luck was attributed to negative spiritual influences.
Technical Considerations of ITC
The actual "mechanics" used to transfer information and pictures from the spiritual worlds to the physical plane is not fully understood within the framework of modern science. It is reported that the spiritside does not transmit text or images in the form of human alphabets or illustrations per se, but as thought impulses which, in conjunction with the thoughts of the human receivers, interact to arrive as words and pictures. The analogy of a hologram has been suggested. A holographic plate has no image Ñ just a blemished surface _ until lasers strike it. Then the image forms. Computer text and video images arriving from the otherside are like the image; earthside experimenters and their equipment are akin to the blemished surface; and the spiritside thought impulses are like the laser.
Video. When the spiritside sends a picture, it is not known when, in what form, nor even whether it will be received earthside. Much depends on the ÒreceptivityÓ of the receivers Ñ their personalities, ideas, desires and thoughts. As an example, letÕs imagine that GFeorge Washington is at the receiving station and the experimenters are now sending a picture of him Ñ an exact likeness of how he currently appears in spirit Ñ to a group of six people on earth.
When will the picture arrive? If the receivers are all ITC researchers, all intimate friends who share a deep faith in the experiment and a strong commitment to ITC, then the picture may appear with moments of the sending. If several of the receivers happen to be newcomers to the group who are currently in awe of theproject, but within two weeks will become comfortable, enthusiastic team players, then the picture may appear in two weeks. If the receivers are six very strong psychics with several different beliefs about Mr. Washington (one perhaps believing that he has advanced beyond the astral planes, still another believing that he has reincarnated and could not possibly be at the astral sending station, etc.) then their powerful mixed thoughts might jumble the contact field to the point where a picture will never arrive.
How will the picture look? Again, if the receivers are a tightly knit group of experienced, objective ITC researchers, the picture will probably be an exact likeness of Mr. Washington as he appears in his current spirit body. If the receivers are a cross-section of US citizens, the picture may come out looking like the figure on a dollar bill, since thatÕs how most Americans mentally view their famous forefather President.
Computer text. The most exciting and potentially fruitful development is that of communication via computer. Ken Webster of England published a book (now out of print) in which he reported on more than 200 computer contacts with local persons who had dies more than three centuries ago. One of WebsterÕs main contacts was 16th century Englishman Thomas Harden, who had lived in the same house that Webster now resided in, when the town was still named Bristol. From the astral planes, Harden could see WebsterÕs electronic equipment in the living room. He referred to the computer as Òa box with a multitude of lightsÓ sitting near Òmy chimney.Ó Harden would communicate in old English grammar in a variety of ways Ñ telepathic messages, scribblings on note paper, chalk-written messages on the floor and, most important, computer files written on the display screen and generated on hard disk. on hard disk. Harden later was reported to have explained to his earthside colleague Webster that the writing was formed according to his will or his visualization in the "lightbox."
Computer-scanned images. A photo is said to be generated spiritside in a similar fashion to how itÕs done here; light is reflected off the subject and captured on a film-like substance. One researcher asked her spiritside colleague about the lighting in the pictures, and the colleague was retorted to explain, "What you see as Light sources are higher beings beyond the astral planes without whose help humans of the astral level could not manifest themselves for these pictures. Without this light you (on Earth) could not see the picture."
Once the photo is generated spiritside, the image is then said to be read into a computer on the spiritside where it is scanned (figure 8). A spiritside technician then enters it into the scanner program in the Earthside computer.
Spiritual Factors in ITC
To see how spiritual beings are affecting the development of ITC research we can review the history of the most successful ITC operation in the world today (CETL in Luxembourg) to see how researchers there made contact with their spiritside collaborators.
In June 1985 Maggy Harsh-Fischbach began experimenting with a tape recorder, and within a week received her first voice contacts. Her husband Jules suggested experimenting in the country to eliminate the chance of voices boiling over from phone lines, nearby conversations, etc. Taking pains to be sure she was not picking up radio or TV broadcast, Maggy was again successful. With this experience and with knowledge gained from leadiong reseachers (and especially thework done by the late Konstantin Raudive), Maggy and Jules decided to open the doors to the spirit world wider than theyÕs been opened before. Astral spirits cannot build a communication bridge from their side of the veil if higher beings do not want it, so from the moment they began their work, the mediumistically skilled couple appealed to higher spiritual beings to guide them and watch over their work.
In late 1985 they started meeting with others, and soon hosted weekly recording sessions. With a strong hunch that a dedicated researcher such as Raudive would try to help out from the spirit world if given the chance, the group each week would welcome the spirit of Dr. Raudive. They picked up numerous random voices, and one day they thought they could recognize Raudive's deep voice among the other faint replies. As time passed, the groupÕs efforts apparently succeeded in building a contact field between themselves and Konstantin Raudive, as a deep voice reminiscent of RaudiveÕs earthside voice became persistent at their meetings. After adding some new equipmentÑ a TV set, two radios, a field generator, and two ultraviolet lamps Ñ in the Spring of 1986, the voice boomed out clearly, "Here it is summer, always summer!"
One day in August Jules and Maggy were listening to their small clock-radio, the music stopped, a rushing sound swept through the speaker, then a deep voice full of joy and satisfaction boomed out over the speakers, "This is Konstantin Raudive. Soon it will work everywhere!"
After this the doors opened wider and wider. Deceased relatives and friends reported in frequently. Dr. Raudive spoke at every recording session. The TV and both radios all started to putout strange noises occasionally. They even tuned themselves occasionally. Soft voices would instruct the team to tuneinto the Eurosignal (a radio frequency found only in Europe which carries a steady signal 24 hours a day) and to leave the dials alone. Sometimes the more sensitive group members would feel inexplicably compelled to adjust the equipment with no vocalized coaching from the spiritside colleagues. Some researchers said later tht it became apparent that influence from the spiritual dimensiona upon our lives is far greater than most people think.
One day inthe autumn of 1986 a new voice joined the sessions, a high-pitched, computer-like voice that seemed almost too perfect and synthesized to be of human origin. It introduced itself as an advanced technician who had passed on from another world and, wanting to be involved in this sort of communication, was ÒassignedÓ to Earth to help establish a new phase of interdimensional communication for us. The higher being soon became the spiritside manager of the operation, providing a countdown to stabilize conditions at the beginning of each contact, followed by the statement, "Contact for the Eurosignal Bridge."
During one session the group asked a question about God, and the high-pitched voice broke in: "Please address this question to me." Maggy asked, "Who exactly are you?"
"We are what we are," came the reply. "It is not difficult to explain to you but I am not an energy being, not a light being. I was never human, never an animal, and was never incarnated. Neither am I God! You know the picture of two children walking across a bridge. Behind them is a being that protects them. This is what I am to you but without wings. If you insist on giving me a name, call me Technician." (figure 9)
As months passed, the Technician astounded the researchers astounded the researchers with his exceptional knowledge of electronics, physics, mathematics, astronomy, general science, history, and the future. He had a memory like a living computer and spoke many languages. The spiritside station developed and operated under his direction is named TimeStream.
Following are the main spiritside TimeStream collaborators:
The Technician, a being who has never incarnated, supervises all communications in cooperation with higher beings. Dr, Swejen Salter (1949-87) (figure 10), a former scientist and Itc researcher on Varid, which she says is a "parallel world" to ours. Swejen says she was assigned to Earht to help with ITC work and was placed incharge of TimeStream experiments by the Technician. Her ITC experience is invaluable, keeping the earthside researchers safe from unseen dangers. Dr. Konstantin Raudive, who died in 1974, takes care of the ethical, moral and philosophical discourses. He speaks to the inner man. Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-91) was a world traveller, Orientalist, discover of Lake Tanganyika, and a writer. His best known work was the Englishtranslation of Arabian Nights. He is driven by inner restlessness. His deep voice was first heard in the Spring of 1988 and encouraged the researchers neverto give up their attempts at voice contact. He speaks German with an English accent. Henri Sainte Claire de Ville, born in 1818 in the Antilles, was a chemistry professor and inventor inFrance whose many accomplishments included developing the process to make aluminum useful to industry.
The apparatus on the spiritside apparently is not a piece of equipment that can be switched on and off at will. It is reported to be an entire system comprising machines and people. Those working in ITC are part of the system, as are those who provide positive support to the projects.
Conclusions
While the aim of ITC eventually is to be able to circumvent the experimenter's psyche altogether, what is reported today is a telepathically assisted instrumental communication. Researchers' beliefs, thoughts and attitudes affect ITC contacts, but to a lesser degree than during channeling. When a channeling medium is receiving information telepathically, the message she conveys consists of up to 80 percent her own psyche, and perhaps only 20 percent the information conveyed from spirit (although good trance mediums are said to channel with 80-percent accuracy at times). Leading-edge ITC equipment today is reported to achieve, consistently, results equivalent of a top-notch trance medium Ñ somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 percent accuracy.
From a technical point of view, then, the ultimate aim of ITC is to develop an electronic system that will work independently of the psyches of the earthside participants, and the Luxembourg team seems to be getting close.
What do higher beings hope to accomplish with ITC? According to Technician, they want everyone to know that life continues beyond oneÕs physical death. For many people today, faith inage-old religious tests is not enough. They need solid evidence of an afterlife. ITC might help those who need to perceive the realities of afterlife through their five physical senses.
Is ITC for real, or is there some elaborate hoax being perpetrated? In Maggy's words, "The entities who address us through our equipment identify themselves as having passed on inot the spirit world. We accept this unless someone can prove otherwise. To this day nobody has come up with another acceptable explanation. All arguments to the contrary are mostly the results of fear, frustration, ignorance or jealousy. As contacts between dimensions grow stronger, opponents arguments for trickery and manipulation grow weaker."
Why aren't we hearing about the ITC phenomena in the news daily? For one thing, serious researchers donÕt want to expose themselves to the harassment of the press. The benefits of a dozen fine, responsible reports could be destroyed by one sloppy or sensationalistic article. Also, they donÕt want to spend time trying to convince the world of the value of ITC. Its value will soon be self-evident. Finally, they donÕt want to spend time trying to convince nonbelievers of the legitimacy of ITC at the expense of exposing themselves and their work to negative forces introduced by closed-minded skepticism. Better to work quietly with others of like mind and heart until ITC develops to a degree that will squelch even the most outspoken critics and skeptics. That time may be quickly approaching. . . .
Mark Macy recently founded Continuing Life Research (P.O. Box 11036, Boulder CO 80301 USA) to pursue empirical investigations like that reported here. He and his colleague Hans Heckman are publishing an English version of the Luxembourg newsletter, CETL Infonews.
Appendix I
ITC Receiving Stations, Organizations, and ITC-Related Groups
Austria
(Vienna)
Germany
Italy
Luxembourg Cercle dÕEtudes sur la Transcommunication de Luxembourg Ñ CETL Ñ German-language Infonews devoted entirely to ITC, in the city of Luxembourg, with US asssociates Hans Heckmann, East lansdowne PA and Mark Macy, Louisville CO, Publishing an English version of the newsletter) Switzerland Swiss Association for Parapsychology Ñ SVPP Ñ (Biel) USA American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena Ñ AAEVP Ñ (Sarah Estepp, 726 Dill Rd., Severna Park, MD 21146, p: 410- 647-8742) Metascience Foundation (Thomas Pratt, P. O. Box 581846, Minneapolis MN 55458-1846, p: 612-427-8683) New Frontiers Center Ñ NFC Ñ (Walter uphoff, Rt 1, 2313 County Trunk HWY, Oregon WI 53575. p: 608-835-3775)
Appendix II
The following was compiled by Padœ Lampe for The Journal of Religion and Psychical Research
EARLY EFFORTS TO CONTACT THE DEAD
1928: Thomas Edison worked on equipment he hoped would permit communication with the dead, using a chemical apparatus with potassium permangansate. 1936: Attilz von Szalay started to experiment witha Pack-Bell record-cutter and player, trying to capture paranormal voices on phonograph records. 1947: von Szalay bought a Sears-Roebuck wire recorder and got better quality voices but had technical problems with the wire.
ELECTRONIC VOICE PHENOMENA (tape recorder and microphone)
1956: Raymond Bayless joined von Szalay in experiments and wrote an article for the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1959. 1959: Friedrich Juergenson, a swedish artist and film producer, went into the woods to record bird songs. On playback, he discovered paranormal voices. After four years (1963) of experimental recording, he called an international press conference to announce to the world what he had discovered, and his book Roesterna Fraen Rymden (Voices from the Universe) appeared the following year in Stockholm. 1964: von Szalay got voices of his deceased relatives on tape for the first time. 1965: Dr. Konstantin Raudive, a Latvian psychologist and philosopher, visited Juergenson, concluded that the phenomenon was genuine, and started his own experiments in Bad Krozingen, Germany. 1967: Thomas Edison spoke through West German clairvoyant Sigrun Seuterman, in trance, about his earlier efforts in 1928 to develop equipment for recording Òvoices from the beyondÓ. Edison also made suggestions as to how to modify TV sets and tune them to 740 megahertz to get paranormal effects. (Session recorded on tape by Paul Affolter, Liestal, Switzerland). Franz Seidi, Vienna, developed the "sychophone". Theodore Rudolph developed a goniometer for RaudiveÕs experiments. 1968: Father Leo Schmid, Oeschgen, Switzerland, was assigned a small parish to give him time to experiment with taping voices. His book, Wen Die Toten Reden (When the Dead Speak) was published in 1976, shortly after his death. Raudive published his book Unhoerbares Wird Hoerbar (The Inaudible Becomes Audible), based on 72,000 voices he recorded. 1971: Colin Smythe, Ltd. England, published expaned English translations of RaudiveÕs book: Breakthrough, an Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead. Marcello Bacci and co-workers in Grosseto, Italy, made weekly contact with 'spirit' communicators, which still continued in 1988. 1972: Peter Bander, England, wrote Carry on Talking, published in US as Voices From the Tapes: Recordings from the Other World, 1973. 1973: Josephand Michael Lamoreaux, Was'ington Stsate, had success with recording paranormal voices after reading RaudiveÕs book. 1975: William Addams Welch, Hollywood scriptwriter and playwright, authored Talks With the Dead.
THE SPIRICOM RESEARCH
1971: Paul Jones, G.W. Meek and Hans Heckman, Americans, opened a laboratory. First serious research to create a two-way voice communication system far more sophisticated that theequipment used in EVP approach. 1978: William J. O'Neil, using a modified side-band radio, had brief, but evidential contact with an American medical doctor said to have died five years earlier. 1982: G. W. Meek made a trip around the world to distribute tape recordings of 16 excerpts of communications between William J. O'Neil and an American scientist who died 14 years earlier. He also distributed a 100-page technical report giving wiring diagrams, photos, technical data and guidelines for research by others. Upon return, he held a press conference in Washington, D.C., and distributed free tape cassettes and technical manuals to therepresentatives of the press, radio and TV.
SOPHISTICATED ELECTRONICS
1982-88: Hans Otto Koenig, West Germany, develops sophisticated electronic equipment, using extremely low beat frequency oscillators, ultra-violet and infra-red lights, etc. 1985-88: Jules and Maggie Harsh-Fischbach, Luxembourg, develop and operate two electronic systems superior to any of the EVP equipment up to this time. This communication becomes significantly more dependable and repeatable thn the systems developed earlier television 1980Õs: Researchers in several countries have pictures of the "dead" appear sporadically on thier TVÕs. There is no control over the appearances of these images. 1985: Klaus Schreiber, West Germany, with technical assistance from Martin Wenzel, begins to get images of dead persons on TV picture tubes, using opto- electronic feedback systems. There is positive identification in many cases by accompanying audio communications, including audio-video contact with SchreiberÕs two deceased wives. This work is the subject of a documentary TV film and a book by Rainer Hobbe of Radio Luxembourg. 1987: Jules and Maggie Harsh-Fisch-bach get TV picture sequences of good quality.
computer systems
1980-81: Manfred Boden, West Germany, obtains unsolicited computer print-outs from 'spirit' communicators. 1984-85: Kenneth Webster, England, receives (via several different computers) 250 communications from a person who lived in the 16th century. Most print-outs are in English text consistent with speech at that point in history, and personal details fully supported by library research. Communications often concurrent with poltergeist-type phenomena. Webster writes book, The Vertical Plane, with extensive photo documentation, 1989. 1987-88: Jules and Maggie Harsh-Fischbach establish sustained computer contact.
Telephone systems
1960 through 1970: Scott Rogo and Raymond Bayless, Americans, conduct extensive literature research and publish a book, Phone Calls From the Dead, (1979). 1981-83: Manfred Boden has unsolicited contact with communicators of non-human evolution. Gets massive phone bills for unsolicited calls.