It is no secret that the human mind is capable of doing so much. It is the human mind that took Man to the moon, or built the atomic bomb, among several other great scientific achievements.?
But researchers have also been working on expanding its reach from the realms of the physical universe and pushing it beyond, transcending space and time. Recently one of these techniques used by the CIA surfaced online (after a TikToker discovered it) and has been quite a revelation for many.?
The CIA technique dubbed the?Gateway Experience was essentially described as a training system to bring enhanced strength, focus and coherence to the amplitude and frequency of brainwave output between left and right hemispheres that would alter the consciousness, pushing it outside the physical space, escaping restrictions of time and space.?
Basically, it was seen as a way to put minds in a different state of consciousness, controlling our brain with the motive of interacting with non-physical aspects of reality. Its uses, according to the CIA report, ranged from converting energy to heal one¡¯s body to travelling across space and time to learn and access new information.?
Yes, it sounds quite mumbo-jumbo, but CIA approved testing for this under the eyes of US Army Lieutenant Colonel Wayne M McDonnell. The project was classified by the CIA until 2003, which allowed it to be accessed by anyone.?
McDonnell was commissioned to work on the Gateway Experience in the 1980s at a time in US history when the nation was taking a deep interest in different varieties of psychic research -- primarily since the Soviet Union too was taking a keen interest in psychokinesis and extrasensory perception (ESP) for espionage missions during the Cold War.?
The basis of the Gateway Experience actually comes from research conducted by one Robert Monroe --? a radio broadcasting executive who was studying to understand the effects of sound on human consciousness during the 1950s.?
Monroe¡¯s company -- Monroe Industries -- registered patents for an audio technique dubbed Hemi-Sync that according to him could create an altered state of consciousness with the help of sound waves (played via a series of tapes) to sync the output of the left and right hemispheres of the brain (hence the name Hemi-Sync).
McDonnell with popular bioengineer Itzhal Bentov and a team of researchers used these tapes as well as other mind-relaxation techniques while testing out the Gateway experience.?
If you¡¯ve caught on till now, your mind too might be thinking that all of this doesn¡¯t seem scientific -- as it will be difficult to establish scientific evidence for the outcomes. However, McDonnell listed out how his analysis laid out the following scientific components to make this a valid research.?
It included biomedical models to understand the physical aspects of the Gateway Process. It also included Quantum mechanics to explain the nature and functioning of human consciousness. It also involves theoretical physics to explain the nature of the time-space dimension and the means by which it could be extended by expanding consciousness using the process. It also involved classic physics to explain the ¡®out of body experience¡¯ into the language of physical science.?
McDonnell speaks about three crucial consciousness-altering techniques and I¡¯m sure you might have heard about them too -- hypnosis, transcendental meditation and biofeedback. He compares these to the Gateway Experience and explains how the former three essentially create the base for achieving the Gateway Experience. And the key difference between the three and Gateway Experience is the aforementioned Hemi-Sync.
To better understand Hemi-sync, McDonnell presents an example that was coined by Monroe researcher Melissa Jager who used it to simplify the concept of Hemi-Sync. Jager stated that a human brain¡¯s normal state is like a lamp that¡¯s shining but limited to a certain area.?
However, with Hemi-Sync when both hemispheres are in synchronization, this light turns into a rather concentrated beam of light like a laser, that can not only be more effective but reach farther than it ever could before.?
McDonnel explains that Hemi-Sync is achieved when the subject hears a sound produced at a particular frequency that is actually associated with the operation of the human brain. When the brain would listen to this, it would try to replicate this by adjusting its output. He called this phenomenon Frequency Following Response.?
McDonnell explained that the brain functions at a Beta frequency when a human is wide awake and a Theta frequency when he/she is sleeping. With FFR, researchers can sort of fool the brain into switching from Beta to Theta by making it listen to an external theta frequency. In Hemi-Sync, it introduces a frequency in the left ear that¡¯s 10Hz higher than the one being introduced in the right ear. Listening to both different frequencies it tries to stabilise this to a single level. This phenomenon is called beat frequency.?
As soon as beat frequency is achieved along with Hemi-Sync, the left hemisphere relaxes and the boy goes into a virtual sleep state, while also aligning brain patterns in both hemispheres, allowing the human to change their own consciousness.?
The virtual sleep state also lowers the heart rate of a person, while spiking the frequency of brainwave output, which McDonnell says creates a ¡®vibrational system¡¯ throughout the body that syncs with the energy continuum of the Earth.?
According to McDonnell if people reach that energy level at the same time, they could communicate with each other inside of it.?
According to McDonnell, 'Our universe is one large hologram of unbelievable complexity. This hologram consists of interacting energy fields in motion and at rest, as well as all phases of time, past, present and future.?
The holograms developed by the human mind are aware of the universal hologram, with the right hemisphere of the brain receiving energy from the universal hologram and the left hemisphere translating it into consciousness. However, altering this energy matrix in the brain, the Gateway Experience pushes and changes consciousness to absorb more of the universal hologram.
McDonnell spoke about Monroe¡¯s process of reaching the gateway -- a seven-day long process that enabled the widening of consciousness of the human mind.?
On the first day, the subject is taught to isolate ¡®extraneous concerns¡¯ or irrelevant things in mind into a visualisation device called an ¡®energy conversion box.
In the next stage, he is made to hear ¡®resonant humming¡¯ on a tape and is asked to mimic this sound too.?
In the third stage, the subject is asked to repeat a ¡®Gateway affirmation¡¯ such as ¡°I am merely a physical body and deeply desire to expand my consciousness.¡±
Next, the subject is exposed to Hemi-Sync sound frequencies while also asking them to focus on developing perception and appreciation for feelings that accompany the synchronisation of brainwaves.
After this, physical relaxation techniques are introduced while Hemi-Sync frequencies expand and include pink and white noise that put the body in a virtual sleep state and calm the brain¡¯s left hemisphere while raising awareness in the right hemisphere.
After this, the subject is asked to imagine an energy balloon that is extending from the top of the head, around the body and going all the way to the feet where it flows back into the body and to the head and out of the head again, forming a cycle of sorts. This basically resembles the flow of energy in the universe and provides protection against conscious entities that have lower energy levels that the subject could come across in case he/she attains out-of-body-state.?
After mastering these techniques the subject can progress into more exploratory stages of the Gateway Experience where they learn how to interact with and manipulate newly-discovered dimensions of awareness.?
McDonnel also touches upon the time travelling aspect which can be enabled by intensifying sounds on the Hemi-Sync tapes named, ¡®Focus 15¡¯. While listening to this tape, they¡¯re asked to visualise time as a wheel with spokes that point to events in their past.
In his tests, less than five percent of individuals could successfully travel in their past throughout the seven-day training period. But he¡¯s of the belief that with a few weeks of training they could easily travel in their past.?
McDonnell added,? ¡°They also state that not only the individual's past history is available for examination by the one who has achieved Focus 15, but other aspects of the past with which the individual himself has had no connection may also be accessed.¡±
But that wasn¡¯t all. After trying to explore their past, subjects were asked to venture into the future, with the Focus 21 tapes. But not many could reach this level. According to McDonnel, it would take months or even years of practice to reach this level.
But the final stage was learning ¡®out-of-the-body¡¯ movement where the subject could lift themselves out of their body after their brainwave pattern and energy would sync harmoniously with the surrounding electromagnetic environment. According to McDonnell, none of the test subjects were able to achieve this.
McDonnell summarised the Gateway Process stating that there was still far from being perfect but had extreme potential. He concluded stating, ¡°There is a sound and rational basis in terms of physical science parameters for considering Gateway to be plausible in terms of its essential objectives. Intuitional insights of not only personal but of a practical and professional nature would seem to be within the bounds of reasonable expectations.?
¡°However, a phased approach for entering the Gateway Experience in an accelerated mode would seem to be required if the time needed to reach advanced states of altered consciousness is brought within more manageable limits from the standpoint of establishing an organization-wide exploitation of Gateway's potential.¡±
He listed out recommendations for how CIA should design their research in Gateway Studies, but there is no information available if they did work on it in future.?
One page from the report -- Page 25 -- was missing from the report, just when McDonnell was describing potential uses for the Gateway Experience. However, the CIA has mentioned that this page wasn¡¯t present to begin with. This has led to several conspiracy theories stating that McDonnell might have left it on purpose to push subjects to master the Gateway process and experience it themselves.