Billionaire Offers $1 Million for Proof of Afterlife
This past January, wealthy entrepreneur Robert Bigelow announced a contest: provide the best evidence of “[T]he survival of consciousness after permanent bodily death” for almost $1 million in prize money. Over 1,000 entrants entered the contest, seeking to prove life after physical death.
Dr. Jeffrey Long has studied near-death experience (NDE) for 20 years and was a runner-up in the contest. In his essay, Dr. Long broke down 12 lines of evidence for life after physical death common among near-death experiencers around the world. Of the three most important, the first is cardiac arrest and brain death.
“Immediately, when your heart stops beating, of course, blood instantly stops flowing to the brain,” Dr. Long said, “10-15 seconds after blood stops flowing to the brain, maybe up to 20 seconds, the electroencephalogram (EEG), which is a measure of brain electrical activity goes absolutely flat — there’s no measurable electrical activity going on in the brain — it should be, in those circumstances, impossible to have any kind of a lucid memory at that time. Yet, by the hundreds, we have people reporting NDEs exactly at that time, highly lucid and organized experiences consistent with NDEs occurring at all other times, and that should be medically, absolutely impossible.”
Next, comes the sensation of floating above the body.
“The initial event is what we call an out-of-body experience. Consciousness rises above the physical body and from that vantage point they can see ongoing earthly events, or hear them, and they are often visualizing people frantically trying to bring them back to life. What they see in that out-of-body experience is overwhelmingly accurate, down to the finest details. Even if their consciousness leaves the area of their body and goes someplace far from their physical body, far from any possible physical sensory awareness, what they can see and hear is almost invariably — and I’m talking about my study, I’m talking about 98 percent — accurate down to the finest details.”
His third line of evidence is NDEs in the blind.
“I’ve studied and interviewed an individual who was born totally blind. When she had her NDE it was stunningly visual. I have a series now of people who are severely visually impaired or legally blind, and in all of those cases in my series, their vision during an NDE is either normal or even supernormal awareness; dramatic, supernormal vision, supernormal sensory awareness that we see over and over again in NDEs that would be absolutely beyond what anybody could normally imagine. All lines of evidence and others that I have all converge on that conclusion that NDEs are, in a word, real.”
What can we learn from the phenomena of shared NDEs?
“We now have a series of about 16 NDEs where two or more people had a simultaneous life-threatening event — they had NDEs and remarkably they were aware of each other, during the time that their consciousness was apart from their bodies, able to communicate with each other typically and able to talk, aware that their physical bodies were down there. In general, in this series of shared NDEs, one person dies irreversibly, they’re not resuscitated, the other person comes back to life and is able to share a remarkable shared NDE. Now, that’s important because that’s some of the strongest evidence we have so far, from any source, that what’s described in an NDE may well be that initial step toward permanent irreversible death for all of us.”
The biggest unanswered question: why do some people have an out-of-body experience while others do not?
“There was a NDE that was like the Rosetta Stone of understanding why some do and don’t, but this very dramatic NDE was in an unearthly, heavenly realm, and they were communicating with what they very firmly believed to be God. They asked God directly — it was an overwhelmingly blissful, peaceful, loving experience, with emotions beyond anything they could have experienced beyond Earth, which is very common in NDEs — and because this was such a positive experience, she asked God directly ‘Why me? Why was I so special that this should happen to me?’ And God answered to her in the NDE ‘Love falls on everyone equally, this is what you needed to live your Earthly life,’ so that’s a possible reason why some have NDEs and some don’t.”
Dr. Long hopes the field of NDEs will move from reactive study to proactive study; being able to speak to people after being resuscitated about anything they may have seen or felt, while technically dead, as standard operating procedure. Perhaps then, humans can definitively prove there is an afterlife.
How To Tell if Your House Is Haunted? 16 Signs To Look For
Are you encountering strange sounds, items disappearing, or lights turning on randomly in your home? These may be telltale signs that your house is haunted. All hauntings are different and can vary from hearing a door slamming occasionally to seeing full apparitions. Commonly believed to occur only in old homes in the middle of the night, as seen in many horror movies, hauntings have also been investigated in new homes and can occur in broad daylight.
Not every mysterious noise or vision has a logical explanation. It’s important to understand if your house is haunted to determine the appropriate steps to take.
Common Signs of a Haunted House
If you noticed these early warning signs, then someone else or something else could be occupying your home:
1. Unexplained Noises
These strange noises can include footsteps, knocking, banging, scratching, or something being dropped. These noises can be subtle, and at other times, they can be quite loud.
2. Doors, Cabinets, and Cupboards Opening and Closing
Very rarely will the experiencer ever witness this phenomenon take place. Most often, the experiencer will hear creaks as a door opens or closes, and when investigated, the door is typically in the opposite position it was previously.
3. Lights Turning Off and On
Lights will turn on and off when the experiencer knows they previously left it on or off. This occurrence is also rarely witnessed. This can also happen to electrically powered devices like TVs and radios.
4. Items Disappearing and Reappearing
This phenomenon is called the DOPler Effect (DOP = Disappearing Object Phenomenon). Experiencers will place an everyday object in a typical spot in the house. Later, when they retrieve that item, it is gone and nowhere to be found after a thorough search. Hours, days, or weeks later, the object reappears in the exact position it was left in before it went missing.
5. Unexplained Shadowy Figures
Fleeting shadows are normally seen out of the corner of your eyes. These shadows typically take human forms, also known as Shadow People, while at other times, they are less distinguishable or smaller.
6. Strange Animal Behavior
Dogs will sometimes bark at something unseen, cower without reason, or refuse to enter a room they normally do. While cats seem to be watching something move about the room. Animals do have sharper senses than humans, and many researchers feel their psychic abilities are allowing them to notice this behavior quicker and better.
7. Feelings of Being Watched
Many people tend to get the feeling of being watched throughout the day, but if the feeling is consistently occurring in a specific part of the house at a particular time, it may be attributed to supernatural forces.
Stronger Signs of a Haunted Home
These next signs are rarer paranormal activity but could be stronger proof of a haunting:
8. Mild Psychokinetic Phenomena
Actually seeing a door open or close, a flickering light bulb, or a child’s toy turn on by itself. Others state they can hear or feel something sitting on the bed next to them.
9. Feelings of Being Touched
Some feel something brush past them, touch their hair, or a “hand” on their shoulder. Others can feel a gentle poke, push, or nudge.
10. Strange Sounds
Some can hear voices, whispering, crying, or even music from an unknown source.
11. Notable Temperature Changes
Cold spots in your house are one sign that your home could be haunted.
12. Unusual Smells
A fragrance of perfume or cologne that does not exist in your house. This phenomenon may be accompanied by shadows, voices, or psychokinetic phenomena.
Powerful Signs of a Paranormal Presence
Poltergeist activity is rare but is the strongest evidence of a true haunting:
13. Severe Psychokinetic Phenomena
Some instances of this phenomenon include plates sliding off the table, pictures flying off the walls, doors slamming with great force, or furniture sliding across the floor.
14. Physical Assault
This type of phenomenon is very rare but includes scratches, slaps, and hard shoves.
15. Other Physical Evidence
This can include unexplained writing on paper or walls, handprints, and footprints.
16. Apparitions or Ghostly Figures
This very rare phenomenon is a physical manifestation of a spirit or entity. These human-shaped forms can be seen as mist, transparent, or solid.
My House is Haunted, Now What?
If you suspect that your house is haunted, you have several options. Firstly, consider keeping a journal to document any unusual occurrences and their frequency. It may also be helpful to consult with a reputable paranormal investigator or psychic medium to assess the situation and provide support. Furthermore, you can perform cleansing rituals or prayers to create a sense of peace and protection in your home. Finally, if the paranormal activity persists and you feel unsafe, consider relocating to a new residence. Yes, this is particularly challenging for homeowners, but the alternative is having an evil spirit for a roommate.
Communicating with Spirits and Risks
While communicating with spirits can be tempting, it’s essential to approach such interactions with extreme caution due to the real-life dangers involved. Engaging in practices like using Ouija boards or participating in séances can open channels to the spirit world, inviting not only communication with loved ones but with negative energies or malevolent entities. Bad encounters can lead to emotional distress, psychological instability, or spiritual attachment if proper precautions are not taken. So, it’s crucial to be mindful of one’s intentions and boundaries when attempting to communicate with spirits and seek guidance from paranormal experts to ensure your safety.
