Back in 2003, the CIA de-classified the documents relating to its 1983 astral projection project, also known as the Gateway Experience. IFL Science sums it up pretty well:
The technique, called the Gateway Process, is based on ideas developed by the Monroe Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on the exploration of human consciousness. The theory is that certain exercises can allow the brain to "hemi-sync", whereby brain waves in the right and left hemispheres synchronize at the same frequency and amplitude. Hemi-sync, the report argues, can be achieved through a series of meditation-like exercises while listening to a set bunch of soundwaves, known as the Gateway Tapes.
As per the report, the universe is a complex system of "interacting energy fields" in which states are simply variations in energy. Human consciousness is no different, it's just a vibrational pattern of energy. Once hemi-sync is achieved, the report says, it can trigger an altered state of consciousness in which the vibration of a person's consciousness is free from physical reality and tunes into this pure energy field.
Drawing on ideas of quantum entanglement, the report claims it may be possible for human consciousness to profoundly alter the universe since reality is holographic projection; the part encodes the whole. In this understanding of reality, everything is deeply connected in a matrix of interconnected energy vibrations, from your consciousness to the depths of the universe.
Like a lot of the CIA's weird Stranger Things-esque sci-fi telepathic pseudo-science experiments from back in the day (see also: MK Ultra), their attempt to crack the secrets of transcending space and time while under hypnosis yielded fairly disappointing results.
But that didn't stop someone on TikTok from unearthing the documents that have been public for two decades now, and suddenly turning peoples' attention back to them again.
If this is the kind of thing you're interested in, Vice has put together a pretty substantial breakdown of the entire timeline of the Gateway Experience project, including instructions on how you could (theoretically) make it work for yourself. Someone's also selling the 6-CD set of the Monroe Institutes' meditation technique on Amazon for like $500, if you prefer to waste your time and money through aural learning.
How to Escape the Confines of Time and Space According to the CIA [Thobey Campion / Vice]
In 1983, The CIA Wrote A Bizarre Report About Transcending Spacetime With Your Mind [Tom Hale / IFL Science]
Image via NeedPix
