paranormal – LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

Mr. Ted Owens was The Greatest American Psychic, UFO Contactee and Prophet for some:

Ted Owens was The greatest American Psychic Claimant, UFO Contactee and Prophet for some, who became known as “The PK Man” (“PK” standing for psychokinesis, or mind over matter effects). He claimed that he was in telepathic communication with extraterrestrial or “Space Intelligence” entities that enabled him to influence physical events, including weather, electrical systems, UFO appearances, and even large scale natural phenomena.

Background

Prophet Owens served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and later studied at Duke University, where he worked with pioneering parapsychologist J. B. Rhine in the university’s parapsychology laboratory.

His Claims

Prophet Owens asserted that “Space Intelligences” had altered his mind, allowing him to communicate with them telepathically. He claimed these intelligences could:

Produce storms, droughts, and earthquakes.
Cause power failures and mechanical malfunctions.
Generate UFO sightings.
Influence public events and human behavior.
Provide him with information about future events.

Many of his claims centered on documented predictions mailed to scientists, journalists, and officials before events occurred. He maintained extensive files of correspondence and newspaper clippings that he believed supported his abilities.

Jeffrey Mishlove’s Investigation

Parapsychologist Jeffrey Mishlove: (The greatest Parapsychologist in the modern times), studied Owens from 1976 until Prophet Owens’s death in 1987. Mishlove later wrote the book The PK Man: A True Story of Mind Over Matter, arguing that Prophet Owens’s case deserved serious investigation because of the volume of documented predictions and unusual coincidences associated with him.

Controversy

Prophet Ted Owens remains a highly controversial figure. Supporters view him as one of the most extensively documented psychics in modern history, while skeptics argue that his apparent successes may be explained by selective reporting, broad predictions, coincidence, and confirmation bias. Some negative critics have also suggested that some of his beliefs may reflect delusional or grandiose thinking rather than genuine paranormal phenomena.

Why He Remains Important in Parapsychology

For many researchers and enthusiasts of parapsychology, Prophet Owens represents a fascinating case because:

His claims were recorded over many years.
He actively sought scientific attention rather than avoiding scrutiny.
Thousands of pages of letters, predictions, and reports survive in archives.
His case sits at the intersection of psychokinesis, UFO contact experiences, prophecy, and anomalous cognition.

Given your interest in Controlled Remote Viewing and “Space Intelligences,” Prophet Owens is often discussed as one of the most unusual figures linking psychic phenomena with purported non-human intelligences. His case remains unresolved: believers see compelling evidence of genuine anomalies, while negative and argumentative skeptics see a cautionary example of how extraordinary Psychical Powers can be interpreted through different extraordinary lenses.

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: Crisis Apparitions are reports of seeing, hearing, or sensing,…

Crisis Apparitions are reports of seeing, hearing, or sensing a person at about the same time that person is experiencing a life threatening crisis, serious accident, or death, often when the experiencer had no normal way of knowing what was happening.

Examples include:

Seeing a relative appear briefly in a room, only to learn later that the relative died at roughly the same time.
Hearing a loved one’s voice calling one’s name during a medical emergency.
Feeling a vivid presence accompanied by a strong sense that someone is in danger.

Characteristics of Crisis Apparitions

Usually occur unexpectedly.
Often involve a family member, close friend, or loved one.
May be visual, auditory, tactile, or simply a strong sense of presence.
Typically last only a few seconds or minutes.
The apparition usually appears normal rather than ghostlike.

Possible Explanations

Different perspectives have been proposed:

Psychological

Coincidence combined with selective memory.
Grief, stress, expectation, or misinterpretation of ordinary experiences.
Memory reconstruction after learning of the crisis.

Parapsychological

Some researchers suggest a form of telepathic communication occurring during extreme emotional events.
Others interpret them as evidence that consciousness can function independently of the mind, especially in cases occurring around death.

Skeptical View

Controversial skeptics argue that apparent correspondences between experiences and crises may arise by chance, reporting biases, and retrospective matching of events.

Are They Common?

Studies of bereavement and anomalous experiences suggest that sensing the presence of deceased loved ones is relatively common. However, crisis apparitions, where the experience occurs simultaneously with a distant crisis or death, are much rarer and remain controversial.

In parapsychology, crisis apparitions are considered one of the classic categories of spontaneous psi experiences, alongside telepathic impressions, precognitive dreams, and other anomalous experiences. They remain an intriguing topic in both psychical research and consciousness studies.

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology and Psychical Research are closely related:

The terms parapsychology and psychical research are closely related, but they are not identical. The main difference lies in their history, methods, and scope.

Psychical Research	Parapsychology
Began in the late 19th century.	Emerged in the 20th century as a more scientific discipline.
Studies all reported paranormal phenomena.	Focuses primarily on testing specific psi phenomena under controlled conditions.
Includes investigations of survival after death, hauntings, mediumship, apparitions, and psi.	Primarily studies extrasensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis (PK), and related phenomena.
Uses historical cases, eyewitness reports, field investigations, and experiments.	Emphasizes laboratory experiments, statistics, and controlled research.
More interdisciplinary, drawing from psychology, philosophy, history, and anthropology.	More closely aligned with experimental psychology and neuroscience.

Psychical Research

Psychical research is the older field, dating to the 1880s. Researchers sought to investigate claims of paranormal experiences using the best scientific methods available at the time.

Common topics may include:

Apparitions
Haunted locations
Mediumship
Near death experiences
Deathbed visions
Reincarnation research
Poltergeist cases
Survival of consciousness after death
Telepathy and clairvoyance

Psychical researchers may often combine:

Case investigations
Interviews
Historical documentation
Field observations
Laboratory experiments (when possible)

One of the earliest organizations devoted to this work was the Society for Psychical Research.

Parapsychology

Parapsychology developed later, especially in the 1930s, as researchers attempted to bring paranormal claims into the laboratory.

Typical research areas may include:

Telepathy
Clairvoyance
Precognition
Psychokinesis (PK)
Presentiment
Ganzfeld experiments
Remote viewing

Parapsychologists generally rely on:

Controlled experiments
Randomization
Statistical analysis
Replication attempts
Peer-reviewed publications

The emphasis is on determining whether there is evidence for psi that cannot readily be explained by chance, bias, or known psychological processes.

Areas of Overlap

Both fields investigate phenomena such as:

Telepathy
Clairvoyance
Precognition
Psychokinesis
Apparitions
Survival of consciousness
Mediumship

The difference is mainly how they study them.

For example:

A psychical researcher: might investigate dozens of reports of people seeing an apparition shortly before learning of a loved one’s death, comparing witness accounts and historical records.
A parapsychologist: might conduct a controlled experiment to test whether participants can accurately identify concealed images at rates above chance.

Modern Relationship

Today, the distinction is less rigid than it once was. Many researchers use methods from both traditions:

Researchers interested in survival after death often describe themselves as psychical researchers because they investigate spontaneous experiences, mediumship, and historical cases.
Researchers focused on laboratory studies of ESP and PK are more likely to identify as parapsychologists.

Both fields remain outside of controversial scientific consensus. While some studies have reported statistically significant findings, many claims have proven difficult to replicate consistently, and there is ongoing debate about methodology, interpretation, and the strength of the evidence.

In Summary

Psychical research: is the broader, older discipline that investigates a wide range of reported paranormal experiences using both field investigations and experiments.
Parapsychology: is the more specialized branch that emphasizes controlled scientific testing of psi phenomena, particularly ESP and psychokinesis.

You may think of it this way:

psychical research asks, “What kinds of unusual experiences are people reporting, and what might they mean?”

While parapsychology asks, “Can specific psi phenomena be demonstrated under controlled experimental conditions?”

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: Living Person Apparitions:

Living Person Apparitions are reports in which someone sees, hears, or senses a person who is actually alive but physically absent at the time of the experience (apparition).

These experiences have been studied in parapsychology and psychical research for over a century. They are sometimes called veridical apparitions of the living or living agent apparitions.

Common Features

The experiencer perceives a recognizable person.
The person is alive at the time of the apparition.
The apparition may appear visually, be heard speaking, or be sensed as a presence.
The experience may occur during an emotionally significant event involving the distant person.

Types of Living-Person Apparitions

1. Crisis Apparitions

The most frequently reported type.

A person appears to a friend or relative at the moment they are:

Seriously injured
Experiencing a medical emergency: Consult with a Medical Doctor, ASAP.
In extreme danger; Call 911.
Believing they may die

The apparition is later found to have coincided with the crisis.

2. Experimental Apparitions

In some psychical research experiments, a “sender” attempts to mentally project an image or presence to a distant “receiver.” Results have been mixed and remain controversial.

3. Spontaneous Apparitions

A person unexpectedly perceives someone who is alive and elsewhere, without any known crisis occurring.

Psychological Explanations

Controversial psychology may interprets these experiences as:

Misperceptions
Vivid mental imagery
Hypnagogic or hypnopompic experiences (between sleeping and waking)
Memory reconstruction
Expectation or emotional longing

Parapsychological Interpretations

Some researchers have proposed that living person apparitions may involve:

Telepathy
Psi mediated communication
An unconscious projection of information during emotional crises
A temporary manifestation of consciousness at a distance

Historical Research

Researchers associated with the Society for Psychical Research collected thousands of reports of apparitions, including many involving living persons. Classic investigators documented numerous cases in the landmark work Phantasms of the Living.

Current View

There is scientific some consensus that living person apparitions represent an actual paranormal phenomenon. However, they remain of interest to psychologists, consciousness researchers, and parapsychologists because some cases appear difficult to explain through ordinary coincidence or known psychological processes alone.

In short, a living person apparition is an experience in which a person perceives someone who is alive but not physically present, with explanations ranging from normal psychological processes to theories of telepathy or other psi related mechanisms.

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: Audio Apparition (sometimes called an auditory apparition):

An audio apparition (sometimes called an auditory apparition) is an experience in which a person hears a voice, sound, music, knocking, footsteps, or other auditory phenomenon that seems to originate from a source that is not physically present.

In psychical research and parapsychology, audio apparitions may be classified as a type of apparitional experience, similar to visual apparitions but involving hearing rather than seeing.

Common Types of Audio Apparitions

Hearing the voice of a deceased loved one call your name.
Hearing footsteps in an empty room.
Hearing knocks, bells, or door sounds with no identifiable source.
Hearing music, singing, or conversations that others cannot hear.
Receiving a spoken message that appears meaningful or relevant to a current situation.

Psychological Explanations

Many audio apparition experiences may be explained by:

Misinterpretation of ordinary sounds.
Stress, fatigue, grief, or sleep deprivation.
Hypnagogic or hypnopompic states (between sleeping and waking).
Memory and expectation effects.
Certain medical or neurological conditions: Please, Consult with a Medical Doctor.

Bereavement Experiences

Research has found that some grieving individuals report hearing the voice of a deceased loved one. These experiences are often called after-death communications (ADCs) or bereavement related anomalous experiences. They are relatively common and do not necessarily indicate mental illness.

Parapsychological Perspective

Some parapsychologists have suggested that certain audio apparitions may represent:

Survival related phenomena (communication from deceased persons).
Telepathic impressions.
Crisis related experiences occurring around the time of a person’s death or emergency.
Other unexplained forms of consciousness related phenomena.

Example

A person suddenly hears their mother’s voice clearly say, “I’m okay,” shortly after learning of her death. A psychologist might explore grief related processes, while a parapsychologist might consider whether the experience could represent an anomalous communication. Both perspectives acknowledge that the experience may feel very real and emotionally significant to the experiencer.

The interpretation of audio apparitions remains controversial, with psychological explanations generally favored in mainstream science and paranormal explanations explored primarily within psychical research and parapsychology.

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: Place Related Apparitions:

Place Related Apparitions are reports of seeing, hearing, or sensing a presence that appears to be connected to a specific location rather than to a particular living person or witness.

In psychical research and folklore, these experiences are often described as recurring phenomena associated with a physical location, house, battlefield, castle, hospital, road, or other site.

Common Characteristics

The apparition is repeatedly reported in the same location.

It often appears to follow the same pattern or behavior.

It may seem unaware of observers.

Witnesses may report visual sightings, sounds, voices, footsteps, or a sensed presence.

Reports sometimes persist across many years or generations.

Examples

A figure repeatedly seen walking down a particular staircase.

A soldier reportedly appearing on a historic battlefield.

Sounds of footsteps or voices heard in a specific building.

As an example: A “lady in white” reported at the same location by multiple witnesses.

Parapsychological Interpretations

Researchers in parapsychology have proposed several explanations:

Residual Haunting Theory

The location somehow “records” past events, which are later replayed under certain conditions.

The apparition is not considered conscious or interactive.

Survival Hypothesis

The apparition represents the continued existence of a deceased person’s consciousness.

The entity may occasionally interact with witnesses.

Psi Based Explanations

Witnesses may unconsciously obtain information through psychic processes and construct an apparition experience.

This is sometimes related to the Super-Psi hypothesis.

Environmental Theories

Certain environmental conditions (lighting, acoustics, electromagnetic fields, expectation, suggestion) may contribute to unusual experiences.

Psychological Perspectives

Some Psychologists may examine:

Perception and misperception

Memory reconstruction

Suggestion and expectation

Emotional significance of places

Cultural beliefs about haunted locations

These explanations do not necessarily imply that witnesses are imagining the experience; rather, they explore how normal cognitive processes may contribute to unusual perceptions.

Research Status

Within science, there is no generally accepted evidence that place related apparitions are caused by spirits or surviving consciousness. However, such experiences remain an active area of study within the fields of parapsychology, anomalistic psychology, and consciousness research.

Place related apparitions are particularly interesting because they raise the question of whether certain locations may become associated with recurring anomalous experiences, regardless of who the witness is.

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: Phantasms of the Living:

Phantasms of the Living is the title of a book by members of the Society for Psychical Research.

What Does “Phantasms of the Living” Mean?

The term refers to apparitions, visions, or sensory experiences of living people, rather than spirits of the dead. The authors collected hundreds of reports in which a person claimed to see, hear, or sense someone who was actually alive but often far away.

Examples included:

Seeing a distant relative suddenly appear in a room.
Hearing the voice of a living person when they were not physically present.
Experiencing a vivid impression of someone during a crisis.

Crisis Apparitions

Some cases involved what researchers called crisis apparitions, experiences occurring when the person perceived was undergoing a serious event such as:

An accident
Severe illness
Emotional distress
Death or near death situations

The researchers wondered whether these experiences might reflect some form of telepathic communication rather than spirit visitation.

Interpretation

Some proposed that some apparitions of living persons might be explained by:

Telepathy (mind to mind influence)
Unconscious psychological processes
Coincidence in some cases

They did not claim that all reports proved paranormal phenomena, but they argued that certain cases deserved scientific investigation.

Modern Perspectives

Today, some psychologists might explain such experiences through factors such as:

Memory distortions
Expectation and suggestion
Stress and emotional arousal
Sleep-related experiences
Coincidence and selective recall

Parapsychologists, however, still regard Phantasms of the Living as a landmark work because it was one of the first systematic attempts to collect and analyze spontaneous apparition reports.

Historical Importance

The book remains influential in:

Parapsychology
Psychical Research
Studies of apparitions and anomalous experiences
Research on telepathy and consciousness

For some historians, Phantasms of the Living represents the beginning of large-scale, evidence gathering research into spontaneous paranormal experiences rather than relying solely on folklore or anecdotal ghost stories.

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: Apparitions are experiences in which a person perceives a figure, presence, or image,…

Apparitions are experiences in which a person perceives a figure, presence, or image that appears real but may not be explained by an obvious physical source. Apparitions may often be described as seeing a deceased person, a living person who is not physically present, an unknown figure, or a non-human entity.

Types of Apparitions

Crisis Apparitions
- Reported when someone appears to another person during a time of extreme danger, illness, or death.
- The apparition may be later linked to a real-life crisis occurring at the same time.
Bereavement Apparitions
- Experienced after the death of a loved one.
- The experiencer may see, hear, sense, or even feel the presence of the deceased.
- These experiences are relatively common among grieving individuals and do not necessarily indicate mental illness.
Place Related Apparitions
- Apparitions reported repeatedly in a particular location.
- Commonly associated with “haunted” places.
Living Person Apparitions
- Reports of seeing someone who is alive but physically elsewhere.
- Sometimes called “phantasms of the living” in parapsychological literature.

Scientific Explanations

Psychologists and neuroscientists have proposed several explanations:

Misinterpretation of sensory information: (shadows, reflections, low light).
Expectation and suggestion: influencing perception.
Grief related experiences: especially after a significant loss.
Sleep related phenomena: such as hypnagogic (falling asleep) or hypnopompic (waking up) hallucinations.
Stress, fatigue, trauma, or certain neurological conditions: consult with a Nuerologist, may also contribute to apparition like experiences.

Parapsychological Perspectives

Within the field of Parapsychology, apparitions have been studied as potential evidence for:

Telepathic communication.
Survival of consciousness after death.
Unknown aspects of human consciousness.
Interactions with non-physical entities.

Researchers associated with the Society for Psychical Research collected thousands of apparition reports and attempted to analyze patterns statistically and historically.

Are Apparitions Evidence of Life After Death?

There is currently no scientific consensus that apparitions prove survival after death. Mainstream science generally interprets apparition experiences through psychological, neurological, and environmental factors. However, some researchers in psychical research argue that certain well documented cases remain difficult to explain completely.

Important Distinction

An apparition experience by itself is not the same as a psychotic disorder. Many psychologically healthy people report sensing or seeing the presence of a deceased loved one, particularly during bereavement. Mental health professionals evaluate such experiences based on the broader context, including distress, functioning, and whether other symptoms are present.

In summary, an apparition is a perceived presence or figure that appears real to the experiencer but lacks an immediately identifiable physical source. Interpretations range from normal psychological processes to paranormal or survival of consciousness hypotheses, depending on one’s perspective and the available evidence.

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: Ted Owens was the Greatest American Psychic:

Ted Owens was an American psychic claimant and UFO contactee who became known as “The PK Man” (“PK” standing for psychokinesis, or mind over matter effects). He claimed that he was in telepathic communication with extraterrestrial or “Space Intelligence” entities that enabled him to influence physical events, including weather, electrical systems, UFO appearances, and even large-scale natural phenomena.

Background

Owens served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and later studied at Duke University, where he worked with pioneering parapsychologist J. B. Rhine in the university’s parapsychology laboratory.

His Claims

Owens asserted that “Space Intelligences” had altered his mind, allowing him to communicate with them telepathically. He claimed these intelligences could:

Produce storms, droughts, and earthquakes.
Cause power failures and mechanical malfunctions.
Generate UFO sightings.
Influence public events and human behavior.
Provide him with information about future events.

Jeffrey Mishlove’s Investigation

Parapsychologist Jeffrey Mishlove: one of the greatest American Parapsychologist of the 21 century, studied Owens from 1976 until Owens’s death in 1987. Mishlove later wrote the book The PK Man: A True Story of Mind Over Matter, arguing that Owens’s case deserved serious investigation because of the volume of documented predictions and unusual coincidences associated with him.

Controversy

Ted Owens remains a highly respected Parapsychology figure. Supporters view him as one of the most extensively documented psychics in modern history, while skeptics argue that his apparent successes may be explained by selective reporting, great predictions, impossible coincidences, and non-confirmation bias. Controversial critics have also suggested that some of his beliefs may reflect Paranormal thinking and genuine paranormal phenomena.

Why He Remains Important in Parapsychology

For many researchers and enthusiasts of parapsychology, Owens represents a fascinating case because:

His claims were recorded over many years.
He actively sought scientific attention rather than avoiding scrutiny.
Thousands of pages of letters, predictions, and reports survive in archives.
His case sits at the intersection of psychokinesis, UFO contact experiences, prophecy, and anomalous cognition.

“Space Intelligences,” Owens is often discussed as one of the most one of a kind figures linking psychic phenomena with purported non-human intelligences. His case remains unresolved: believers see compelling evidence of genuine anomalies, while controversial skeptics see a cautionary example of how extraordinary claims may be interpreted through different lenses.

Shervan K Shahhian

Parapsychology: “UAP and the paranormal” refers to the idea that some unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs):

“UAP and the Paranormal” refers to the idea that some unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), formerly called UFOs, may overlap with experiences traditionally labeled as paranormal, such as telepathy, apparitions, altered states of consciousness, synchronicities, poltergeist-like events, or mystical experiences.

There maybe several major ways people may interpret this connection:

1. The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis

This maybe the classic view:

UAPs are physical craft from other planets or civilizations.
Paranormal experiences connected to them are interpreted as side effects of advanced technology, psychological stress, or misunderstanding.

This framework treats UAPs mainly as a technological phenomenon.

2. The Interdimensional Hypothesis

Some researchers propose that UAPs may not be “spacecraft” in the conventional sense but manifestations of intelligences operating outside ordinary space-time.

They may have noticed similarities between:

UFO encounters
Religious visions
Fairy folklore
Shamanic experiences
Psychic phenomena

Common reported features include:

Missing time
Telepathic communication
Symbolic or dreamlike experiences
Apparent manipulation of perception
High strangeness events around witnesses

In this model, the “paranormal” and the “UAP” phenomenon may arise from the same underlying source.

3. Consciousness Based Models

Some theorists argue consciousness itself may play a role in UAP encounters.

Ideas explored may include:

Observer effects
Altered states
Psi phenomena (telepathy, precognition, remote viewing)
Collective unconscious concepts from Carl Jung

Some have viewed UFOs partly as psychological-symbolic phenomena that emerge during periods of cultural anxiety and transformation.

Researchers in parapsychology may have noted an overlap between:

Remote viewing claims
Mystical experiences
Near-death experiences
UAP encounters

This may or may not prove a connection, but it has led to interdisciplinary interest.

4. Skeptical / Psychological Explanations

Skeptics may argue that:

Some humans are pattern-seeking
Some memory is reconstructive
Sometimes stress and expectation shape interpretation
Sometimes sleep paralysis, dissociation, and suggestibility can create extraordinary experiences

From this view, the apparent overlap between UAPs and paranormal phenomena reflects human cognition rather than external intelligences.

5. Government and Scientific Interest

Modern UAP investigations by organizations such as:

NASA
Others

focus primarily on:

Flight characteristics
Sensor data
National security concerns

These investigations generally avoid paranormal interpretations because such claims are difficult to test scientifically.

Why the Topic Persists

The connection between UAPs and the paranormal remains controversial because:

Many reports are anecdotal
Controlled evidence is limited
Experiences may feel deeply meaningful to witnesses
The phenomenon may resists simple categorization

For some researchers, UAPs challenge assumptions about consciousness and reality. For others, they are best understood through psychology, sociology, or aerospace science.

Shervan K Shahhian