'Persinger has also come to
public attention due to his
1975 Tectonic Strain Theory
(TST) of how geophysical
variables may correlate with
sightings of unidentified
flying objects (UFOs).
Persinger argued that strain
within the earth's crust near
seismic faults produces
intense electromagnetic (EM)
fields, creating bodies ofmore

'Persinger has also come to
public attention due to his
1975 Tectonic Strain Theory
(TST) of how geophysical
variables may correlate with
sightings of unidentified
flying objects (UFOs).
Persinger argued that strain
within the earth's crust near
seismic faults produces
intense electromagnetic (EM)
fields, creating bodies of
light that some interpret as
glowing UFOs. Alternatively,
the EM fields generate
hallucinations in the temporal
lobe, based on images from
popular culture, of alien
craft, beings, communications,
or creatures.Canadian
researcher Chris Rutkowski of
the University of Manitoba has
become a prominent harsh
critic of Persinger's Tectonic
Strain Theory. For one thing,
Rutowski argues, in order to
try to accommodate UFO
sightings in regions far
removed from faults, Persinger
has claimed that UFO-like
lights or hallucinations can
manifest hundreds of miles
away from an area of seismic
activity. Not only does this
place an absurdly great
distance between the actual
area of tectonic stress and
the surmised significant EM
field, it also makes the
theory unscientific by
destroying any possible
predictive power. Nearly every
place on the planet lies
within a few hundred miles of
a seismically active area.
Rutkowski pointed out severe
flaws in Persinger's
statistical methodology, since
he confused possible
correlation (however weak)
with causality. For example,
one could more easily explain
occasional clusters of UFO
sightings along earthquake
fault-lines by the fact that
populations often occur there
in higher densities and by the
fact that transportation
routes often follow major
fault lines, such as the San
Andreas fault in California.As
with criticisms of Persinger's
claims that minute laboratory
magnetic fields can invoke
hallucinations, Rutowski also
points out that Persinger's
inferred seismic EM fields
would have much less influence
than what people commonly
experience near electrical
appliances like television
sets or hair driers. This
again raises the question as
to why people don't experience
UFOs or aliens far more often
than they do, or why these
hypothetical hallucinations
from electrical devices
wouldn't drown out any
possible contribution from
much weaker geophysical
fields. Once again, Persinger
notes that the magnitude of
the EM fields may have less
significance than the
particular temporal patterns.
Furthermore, commentators such
as British researcher Albert
Budden, has proposed that
man-made electromagnetic
emissions can (in certain
circumstances) generate close
encounter experiences and has
cited possible examples of
this effect in his work
Electric UFOs (Blandford,
1998).In the UK, Paul Devereux
advocates a variant
geophysical theory similar to
TST, the Earthlights theory.
However, unlike Persinger,
Devereaux generally restricts
such effects to the immediate
vicinity of a fault line.
Devereux's approach also
differs from Persinger's in
holding triboluminescence
rather than piezoelectricity
as the 'more likely candidate'
for the production of
naturally occurring UFOs.
Devereux doesn't advocate, as
in Persinger's TST, that the
phenomenon might create
hallucinations of UFO
encounters in people, instead
proposing an even more radical
hypothesis: that earthlights
may possess intelligence and
even have the ability to read
witness' thoughts. [2]UFO
researchers critical of the
sesmic stress theory admit
that, while, observations of
diffuse lights during (and
sometimes before and after)
very severe earthquakes may
give some weak support to some
parts of TST and Earthlights
theory (see Earthquake
lights), they question the
ability of fault lines to
generate luminous effects and
hallucinatory experiences
under much less severe
conditions(as cited above).
Nonetheless, even TST critics
such as Rutowski think such
theories may hold some promise
for explaining a small
percentage of UFO phenomena,
although they doubt that they
can ever offer a comprehensive
explanation for the vast
majority of unexplained UFO
cases. Other UFO researchers
(mainly in the U.K) believe
this very limited
interpretation of the TST is
brought into question by the
clustering of UFO reports
within areas prone to faulting
- such as the Pennine region
of northern Britain. While
acknowledging the drawback's
of Persinger's theory, they
feel that amended versions of
it may account for a
significant proportion of
'True UFO' reports.' --
WikipediaSources:www.en.wikipe
dia.org/wiki/Michael_Persin
gerwww.oldwebsite.laurentian.c
a/neurosci/_p
eople/Persinger.htmFilm source
footage:www.TVO.orgwww.video.g
oogle.com/videoplay?docid=429
2093832329014323

Category Howto & DIY

Tags Michael, Persinger, Psychotropic, drugs, nature, consciousness, reality, entheogen, psychedelic, alternated, states, neuron, mystical, science