High Strangeness - Seeing through someone else's eyes

During the 90s I was involved with a local group that investigated the unexplained. We had a wave of UFO sightings at the time, so there was plenty of unusual activity to keep us busy. Occasionally though, we would run into accounts of such high strangeness, it was hard to classify them. One such event has been nagging me for years, so I thought I would see if anyone here has heard of such an experience as the following.

We had, at that time, an ongoing case with a family in a rural area nearby. Most of the neighbors in the surrounding area had also been experiencing unusual activity over a period of months to several years. They (this family & the neighbors) had all the usual type of mysterious occurrences: ufos of a variety of shapes and sizes, cattle mutilations, abductions, and sightings of beings both at night and during waking daylight hours. Some of these events were the type you commonly hear of, while others were extremely unusual and unique. But this thread is about just one particular phenomenon experienced by one individual.

I don't have a name for this phenomenon, so I will just describe it, and hopefully someone here can put a label on it. The woman who described this experience was of middle age. She lived with her family on a Missouri farm where they raised horses.

One day, she is at home, washing dishes. Not really thinking about anything in particular, just focused on the task. She's physically worn out, but wide awake. Suddenly, she finds herself looking through the eyes of someone else. It's as if she's inside another person's body, literally seeing through their eyes.

She has no control over the thoughts or movements of this host person. She is just there, watching from inside. She can see that she is in the body of a younger woman. She can see her host's shoulder length, dark hair when she leans forward. This person looks nothing like her. She can see that the person has beautifully manicured nails. She lives in a very expensive home. She can see that the TV is on a news channel, but it's too far away to see well and the host is not paying attention to it. The witness can only see where the host looks. The host walks out a door to a balcony that overlooks the ocean, and just stares off at the view.

The witness WISHES the host would look in a mirror, at a calendar, walk closer to the TV...something that would give her a clue who this person is, and where and when this is taking place. The witness sees a stack of mail, and thinks, "Pick it up and look!!" But it had no affect on the woman. The witness is just along for the ride, with no idea how it happened. This lasted a few minutes. Then suddenly, she is back in her own body, still standing at the kitchen sink. No one else is around at the time who saw her while this was going on. This happened again once or twice, very much the same. Same host, different day. She was never able to gather any clues that would explain who this woman was or why she was seeing through her eyes.


She also had another similar experience, and again it happened while she was doing some everyday mindless task. She found herself in a yard somewhere, looking up at the front of a nice home. She has no idea what form she is in, what she looks like. But she is very low to the ground. She sees a man walk out the front door and toward her general location. He bends down to pick up the paper, looks towards her, and focuses like he's trying to see clearly. He comes closer, bends way down and makes eye contact. He appears taken aback. Then he smiles and waves! This totally freaks her out, that he can see her, and suddenly she finds herself back at home. She has no idea why she was so small or low to the ground that he had to bend over so far to look eye-to-eye with her. She has no clue who the man was. She did feel that his home reminded her of the type she had seen in California.

I have so many questions. What is the connection if any, between her and the woman she inhabited at least twice? Was this woman aware of a presence? Did she feel anything at all? What was the man seeing when he looked at her that resulted in shock, followed by a friendly wave?

What exactly do you call a phenomenon such as this?
It's not exactly remote viewing, a very controlled process. This was spontaneous and undirected.
It's not quite clairvoyance, because it was more than the transfer of info. She was there mentally, riding shotgun.
Bilocation? Not really. She is still physically standing at the kitchen sink, while her mind is elsewhere.
Out of Body experience? Not like any I have heard of.
Did she cross momentarily into a different or parallel reality?

I am completely at a loss, so I turn to you, the great minds of ATS.

yep sun glasses will stop this. it is her in another realm.we exist as humans and animals throughout different realms.

A very interesting story op the mind boggles one thing though you mentioned that no one was around the lady while she was at the sink right? also you have said that when she had this experience she was still physically standing at the kitchen sink my question then is without anyone around to confirm her physical self was still at the kitchen sink then how are you sure that she still was? i know you say when the experience ended she found herself back there but without anyone around then we cant really confirm that she was physically there throughout the ordeal never the less a very thought provoking story indeed!

reply to post by 321equinox


Did she say what era the house seemed to be from? What style clothes the man wore? See any cars in the neighborhood? Anything at all that could give a clue as to what year it was?

Very interesting.

When people are doing certain chores their mind sort of goes into a meditative state, if there are no distractions, which is why these experiences were happening at this time. But I can't be sure if it's a past life memory, time travel to visit a soul mate, parallel life, or what is going on here!

I have a paranormal thread over 167 pages, and still going. I thought I'd heard everything!
I was wrong!

reply to post by 321equinox


You are describing astral projection without question. Yes, there are forms of astral projection in which people have reported being able to see through the eyes of others or even being in a conversation someone was having and seeing (hearing) the other person in the chat. AP is usually invoked through a procession of meditative levels requiring controlled breathing and low heart rate, until the brain reaches a low state of activity. Some have reported experiencing AP during stages of sleep. This happened to me. I learned deep meditation and had several unusual experiences, including the discovery that I could imagine a simple dream and send it to someone. I duplicated this at least five times with different people, including my wife and other people in different parts of the world. Some of them were religious, thus I sent them dreams with spiritual significance, one was christian and the other a Muslim. I received feedback from all of the subjects who described exactly what was sent to them and they never knew what I was doing. Also had the experience of finding myself sitting cross legged in a hooded robe on a mountain of pines in a heavy snowfall. I have been there many times.

I think that some people have a natural talent for it while others spend years on it and never have the experience. I knew one Buddhist monk who claimed he had projected to an inhabited world and saw people there.

Perhaps the female subject you mentioned is unconsciously doing something to trigger her experiences or there could be something about her physiology and activities that make it possible for her mind to reach a relaxed state, enabling her to just naturally project. If it is AP, then its induced by an internal force (energy) we all have as intelligent entities.

Knowing that astral projection is a real phenomenon, I have come to believe that my existence is the result of a balance between opposing states of quantum matter and energy. I would say that intelligence is definable as quantum matter and energy. In the meditation process, we are trying to find that zero resistance factor between mind and body.

I would also mention that AP is not always controllable. Although there was Mr. Ingo Swann (died in February) who was hired by the government to develop the CIA program called Remote Viewing. Unlike his colleagues, he had a natural talent for AP. He also wrote a book a few years ago claiming that he was hired by an obscure government agency to do AP to specific coordinates of the moon, and that he saw people working in a basalt mine. In the book, these people apparently saw him, pointed and shouted in a foreign language. He was so disturbed by this that he refused to do it again.

There are still classified sections of RV, which will never be released. I would bet that one of these has to do with RV spying - through the eyes of Russian soldiers or scientists working on a highly classified base.

reply to post by coldlikecustard

Yes, this is true. I guess we cant know absolutely that she was at the sink the whole time. But only a few minutes passed, & no time was missing. So it appears likely she was there throughout the experience.


reply to post by sled735

In both experiences, with the woman and the man, the homes and furnishings looked present-day (90s). Of course you could go back or forward several decades without seeing much change in a home. She didn't get the impression this was a different era though. In the man's yard, she was facing one direction, towards the house. She didn't see any vehicles in her view.
I agree that the mindless task of dishwashing must have had something to do with putting her into the right state for this to occur.

reply to post by g2v12

Thank you for the info g2. I assumed that since she had no sense of leaving or reentering her body, astral projection didn't fit. But apparently there are more forms of AP than I was aware of.

I imagine this woman must have something in the make up of her brain that gives her a natural ability to project. Dish washing is one of those tasks you dont have to think much - just run on auto pilot. Maybe the combo of physical exhaustion and the empty mind was the perfect setting to allow her consciousness to break free.


She was very frustrated that she had no idea who the woman was. She felt there must be some connection since she went there more than once. She felt there must be some reason that happened, but without knowing more about her than her hair, nails and her lovely beach front home, what was the point?
And she had a strange feeling of vulnerability when the man she was watching saw her back. She was obviously hard to see, because he had to get really close and focus. But whatever she appeared to be from his viewpoint, once he got over the shock he gave her a friendly wave. It drives me crazy wondering, what would a man see in his yard that he would smile and wave at, after being initially surprised to see there. Whether she appeared as a tiny version of herself, a dog, an insect or a lawn gnome, I can't imagine what prompted the wave.

Thank you all for the feedback. After decades of pondering, it's nice to get some other viewpoints.

reply to post by 321equinox


Its true that AP is supposed to happen through a simple method and be controllable. But obviously things can happen under the right conditions.

Just a quick question about the woman subject. Did you interview her to determine if she was on medication or had any genetic disposition for mental illness, hallucination, etc.?

reply to post by 321equinox


I have heard about this, and have experienced it a couple times. Based on who I've talked to about the phenomenon, these are the theories that I feel are the best fit (NOTE: Obviously some seem a little far-fetched, but because there isn't a lot of research into them that provides concrete proof, I think that at least makes them plausible ):

1. "Parallel Dimensions/You": Basically, what happens is that at certain points, the "you" in one dimension, and "you" in another dimension are "on the same wavelength" at a certain time (bear with me, I'm trying to give the short version of a friend's theory). When two minds are on the same frequency, this allows for a more advanced version of telepathy to occur, to the point where you receive physical sensations, thoughts, emotions, and essentially anything else the other "you" is experiencing.

2. Past life memories: In essence, the person would theoretically be "watching" an event that they have already participated in (hence the not being able to influence the "possessed" person). Think of it as a movie where you see the world through the main actor's/actress's eyes as it unfolds.

3. Astral projection: There are a couple theories (at least, partially believable ones).

A. False Awakening: In some cases, if you have a successful astral projection attempt, you can sometimes "forget" or not remember that you have projected. In this case, the person might experience a period of time where they aren't themselves, or they might be themselves but the environment around them is different.

B. Possession: Although disputed as to whether or not it is possible, this is still a possibility. Basically, the theory is that when you astral project (assuming that you are from the camp that says you "spiritually" leave your body), it might be possible to enter another body - the projector would then theoretically would experience everything as the "possessed". My experiences with astral projection in the past point to this not being a valid theory, as even projecting close enough to the physical requires immense amounts of concentration, so at the very least, I'd assume it would take someone who has completely mastered A.P. to even get to this level.

NOTE: As the person was watching "shotgun", this theory doesn't seem to fit the bill.

Global Consciousness: The theory behind this is that when in a meditative state, your mind is connected up to some kind of "grid", which allows you to become susceptible to/intercept another's thoughts and feelings. For a physical example, think of your computer as a single machine - when you press the button to connect to the internet, you are able to interact with other machines that are also connected to the internet. When you power off the computer (aka snap-out of your trance), this interaction stops.

My personal bet would be on the A astral projection theory, as false awakenings can feel very real (the ones I experienced almost made me think I was dreaming when I woke up for real - thought my real-life was a dream ).
-fossilera

Originally posted by fossilera
reply to post by 321equinox

 

How far (and where) have you been able to go from your body?

Had a lucid dream once, but seemed so real. Was in the body of a retarded hillbilly. When I spoke intelligently, it took the Dad aback. I looked at myself in the mirror, and was shocked at where I was. Not long later, I came "back" to me. I was on my bed asleep, so it was a dream. Seemed so real. Never had another since.

reply to post by g2v12


Yes, we discussed this incident with her many times and got to know her well. She had no history of mental illness or hallucinations, and was not on any meds at the time. We didn't ask about her family history. In all the time we spent with them over the years, I think I would have heard if there was any mental illness in the family. They were pretty open with us. Can't say for sure though.

reply to post by fossilera

Interesting theories! The "parallel dimension you" is abstract, but thought provoking. Twenty years ago, I never would have thought of this. But these days, the concept of alternate/parallel dimensions/timelines is more mainstream than it was then. Perhaps this is another version of her that made different choices & followed a different path.

The past life idea doesn't fit because the setting looked like the current time. And I agree that "demonic possession" doesn't fit either.
The "false awakening" is new to me, but some form of astral projection is starting to make more sense, now that I realize there are more varieties than the standard version we hear most about.
The "Global Consciousness" concept is an intriguing one. I definitely had not considered this idea.
Thanks for the input, fossilera. You gave me a lot to think about.

reply to post by Jim Scott

That's one wild lucid dream Jim! I have never experienced a lucid dream, so it's hard to wrap my head around this one. It sounds like you retained your sense of self when you spoke and when you looked in the mirror and saw someone else looking back. It makes me wonder if the woman in my case could have experienced something like this. She was worn out, but awake. Perhaps she dozed off briefly while standing there, and was jolted back awake, (for example) as maybe her legs started to buckle. Or in the event where she saw the man, being startled by him spotting her. I don't know about her, but I do know her daughter experiences lucid dreaming. I have discussed this with the daughter when she mistakenly believed that everyone dreamed in this way. I wonder if the ability is hereditary.

reply to post by 321equinox


Bob Monroe had this experience in one of his books. Journeys out of Body was his first book. Can't remember which one. He explained that when you go out of body, you are non physical but sometimes end up in a physical realm. Sometimes ours, sometimes a parallel reality other than ours. He was in one other than ours. He stated though, that he basically attached to a man's consciousness who went about his daily activities. Can't remember if he had any influence on the man's thoughts. I think he said he did, but the man didn't realize it. The man thought they were his own thoughts and brushed them off. He saw through the man's eyes that their reality was modern like ours, except all the vehicles ran on steam powered engines. Their technology had simply evolved differently than ours. Interesting. I might have to read those books again.

So That's What I'm having! Like a couple of nights ago I was typing on this forum and everything went from my sight of the forum *snap* straight to the other persons sight! and I was having intimacy with a lady and she asked me "do you know which species of sea creature could theoretically be smarter then humans" I stroked her back and said "Dolphins , Love" I snapped out of it (It felt exactly like I was actually there being intimate with her) I still felt my lips tingling after kissing her while we were intimate! and I saw what I typed on the forum it read "DOLPINS LOV" I started flipping out! SERIOUSLY this happened like three night's ago! I could not actually see the forum as I was interacting with her! it was after I "Came back" that I saw "Dolpins Lov" I am pretty shook up by the experience. It's because I need to see the keyboard to know what I'm typing!

reply to post by 321equinox


The instance where the man squints and waves at her low perspective gets me, too. Maybe he's an adept or psychic that spotted her essence? And yeah, Monroe mentioned something very like that.

I have a friend who had similar experiences, she also has had varied high strangeness through her life. In fact, knowing her gave me my first cluster of personal weird events.

She says when she was a small child, she would see through the eyes of another little girl in a different part of the world. Nothing of great import would happen (until the end of the experience), though she found looking at the new place interesting at first. She thought this child was in Asia in a more third world, village type of circumstance where my friend lived in upscale U.S. suburbs.

This went on for a long while until her parents told her it wasn't possible and seemed upset, so she just stopped. If I remember correctly, she told them about an earthquake and it was reported on the news that evening (before internet) and her parents went from indulging their kid's cute antics to being weirded out.

She has wondered why just that one girl and she's adamant that it wasn't childhood whimsy or dreams. But other than her personal conviction that it was "real," she hasn't got a clue about the whys of it.

So in the realm of possibilities, she favored some connection to this other person in a different hemisphere of this world. Maybe a congruent life?

reply to post by spacemanjupiter

I may just have to check out Bob Monroe's books too. The case you describe sounds very similar. I wonder if she had been there longer if she would have discovered some differences in the host's world. Everything looked normal, but she never left the house, except to look off the balcony at the ocean. Thanks Spacemanjupiter!

reply to post by fr33kSh0w2012

How mind blowing to have that happen while your mind was occupied with typing. This seems like something that would happen during a relaxed or meditative state. I thought it was weird that my woman was standing up and busy when it happened. I wonder what in the world triggers this? Do you have an unusual interest in dolphins? Or do you feel inclined after that to know more? Just curious. Very interesting, but extremely mind boggling! I'm glad that I decided to post this. Maybe we can both learn something from the discussion. Thanks for sharing, fr33ksh0w!

reply to post by Baddogma

Again, I have got to check out Monroe's books! What a fascinating story about the little girl. It makes me wonder how much we are truly capable of, if society didn't stifle us with all the nay-saying. Like my woman, this girl probably had the same questions - Why me? Why her? What was the purpose of this? We expect some kind of connection to exist, and a reason for the occurrence. I don't expect to find those answers. But it's great to hear that others have experienced this, and have an idea of what to call it. Thanks Baddogma!

A few nights ago I had an incredible lucid dreaming experience.

The experience was truly dreamlike really, because in my mind I knew that I was actually still conked out in my room right as I was gliding across the galaxy at a couple million miles a minute. Even though I realize it required lots of practise to attain this level, I certainly think it was well worth the effort.

When I first heard of lucid dreaming I experimented with several free online "guides" I found while browsing Wikipedia. Nevertheless, after experimenting with these approaches for just under two weeks I continued to have no restraint over my dreams.

I believe the main thing that they were missing was the potent sound cues that I got when I bought a professional lucid dreaming guidebook with markedly strong reviews, the Lucid Dreaming Fast Track - www.reviewspanel.com...

With lucid dreaming, now I can basically go anywhere I like (but mostly I stick travelling across the air).

Originally posted by g2v12
How far (and where) have you been able to go from your body?

Truth be told, I haven't recognized most of the places I've been to - The one that I can recall in terms of distance was a friend's house, about 15 miles away (I was never there physically, but was able to describe her room with enough detail that confirmed that was where I was at). The other one I might be able to place is that I went to a "park" of sorts in several of my projections - The main layout of the place was the same, but there were subtle changes each time I went (as you would expect at a real park).

reply to post by 321equinox


I didn't say demonic possession, but was implying that the person would've been in there unconsciously (this comment was made in good humor - not trying to critique). I learned about the false awakenings when I posted basically the exact same type of experience you did on a psychic forum (a while back before ATS). My experience was that a couple times (spread out over the course of a year), I seemed to be doing like the one member of that family was doing: Riding "shotgun" and essentially witnessing everything that was going on around a particular person. Seeing as this wasn't really mentioned anywhere online at the time, I just considered it a form of empathy & left it alone.

I can give a specific example of a possible false awakening, if you'd like (I don't mind posting it public or through private message, but only if you want to hear it).
-fossilera

reply to post by 321equinox


I have experience with something similar. I do call it bi-location. I can 'extend' myself somehow. Most times I just find myself having arrived with a person and playing catch up. To me, it is a form of remote viewing..but an unstained ( with my personal viewpoint or opinion) one. I don't try to 'control' it..it just happens and I am an observer for the most part. Unlike your friend, I can hear the hosts thoughts but its not intimate hearing every word..more like an impression of many thoughts that comes in as one 'view' of the situation and what they are doing or not doing. Sometimes there is a flood of images that goes along with it but rarely and only usually in times of trauma.

The only time I tried actively to control a person I was within, I used my will to make my host tip a cup of coffee on himself - and that was because I was angry at him and he was distracted. Ive since set myself a set of perimeter ethics to 'this whatever it is' and that means respecting ppls right to mental privacy..no fishing about..and no self harm - no willing them to do things. I figure if I am there there is a reason and it usually presents itself in the first few moments of arriving..enough for me to understand and aid where I can or leave quietly with insight or notes for action later.

This 'thing'' comes and goes for me. After childhood when it was happening a lot it disappeared most of my life until It began again in 2003 and became very active during 2005 when Pakistan was hit by an EQ..that was an odd time as when I "arrived" I knew I was "under the rubble"..I was not in a host but beside them holding a child's hand as she passed away. I remember 'slipping home' after that but a piece of me stayed there..and I mentally sang songs for days..as if I were singing to scared children, until I felt no more living forms about me and then I was 'snapped back' into myself fully.

You're friends experience sounds similar on the surface, but different in some important ways...to me it sounds likes she ( he???) is dimension shifting..so she is probably standing within herself not a host, and is jumping to alternate dimensional realities. I get that 'shift' thing happen too occasionally...its very rare though...and can have a nasty kick back.



Rosha[

Originally posted by Rosha
reply to post by 321equinox

 

I have experience with something similar. I do call it bi-location. I can 'extend' myself somehow. Most times I just find myself having arrived with a person and playing catch up. To me, it is a form of remote viewing..but an unstained ( with my personal viewpoint or opinion) one. I don't try to 'control' it..it just happens and I am an observer for the most part. Unlike your friend, I can hear the hosts thoughts but its not intimate hearing every word..more like an impression of many thoughts that comes in as one 'view' of the situation and what they are doing or not doing. Sometimes there is a flood of images that goes along with it but rarely and only usually in times of trauma.

The only time I tried actively to control a person I was within, I used my will to make my host tip a cup of coffee on himself - and that was because I was angry at him and he was distracted. Ive since set myself a set of perimeter ethics to 'this whatever it is' and that means respecting ppls right to mental privacy..no fishing about..and no self harm - no willing them to do things. I figure if I am there there is a reason and it usually presents itself in the first few moments of arriving..enough for me to understand and aid where I can or leave quietly with insight or notes for action later.

This 'thing'' comes and goes for me. After childhood when it was happening a lot it disappeared most of my life until It began again in 2003 and became very active during 2005 when Pakistan was hit by an EQ..that was an odd time as when I "arrived" I knew I was "under the rubble"..I was not in a host but beside them holding a child's hand as she passed away. I remember 'slipping home' after that but a piece of me stayed there..and I mentally sang songs for days..as if I were singing to scared children, until I felt no more living forms about me and then I was 'snapped back' into myself fully.

You're friends experience sounds similar on the surface, but different in some important ways...to me it sounds likes she ( he???) is dimension shifting..so she is probably standing within herself not a host, and is jumping to alternate dimensional realities. I get that 'shift' thing happen too occasionally...its very rare though...and can have a nasty kick back

Have you ever thought about the medium or fabric that allows your mind to travel through it? Like the mind being able to travel as a signal in a way that is similar to how your laptop connects to the internet. It came to me that such a medium is made of the same vitreous matter as our thoughts. Something on a quantum level that permeates the universe. Ad if you don't mind the question, what is your faith?