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Articles
Portions of the following article was initially published in the Summer 2002 issue of
the AA-EVP Newsletter. Our thanks to Paolo Presi for permission to
publish this article.
The article was initially published in the March 2000
ITC Journal published by
Anabela Cardoso.
Italian Research in ITC
The Interdisciplinary Laboratory
For Biopsychocybernetics Research (Il Laboratorio)
by Paolo Presi
©Paolo Prsi 2000 - All Rights Reserved
I am honored to be here
and take part in this important international meeting on the study of
Instrumental TransCommunication. I
hope that my contribution will be useful to improve our knowledge of this
fascinating phenomenon. More
specifically, I wish to highlight those points that will be useful for our
future researches. In line with my fundamentally technical background, my
research will focus on analyzing the scientific aspects of the phenomenon.
I would like to argue that
since the final results belong to the realm of physics, as in the case of a
recorded tape, it is most important to be able to point out and then analyze all
those events that escape known physical laws. In other words, in order to
investigate the unknown, it is necessary to direct our attention towards those
factors that are anomalies in relation to known physical laws.
In
Italy, as in the rest of the world, there are two main schools of thought in
regard of Transcommunication. The
first focuses on the content of the messages and the analysis of the
interrelations amongst physical reality and transcendent existence. Differently, the second school researches “how” the
phenomenon actually occurs and therefore concentrates upon the process.
I identify with the second school and therefore my research will
investigate the issue from this particular perspective.
At
the beginning of the 70s, the phenomenon seemed to fit the so-called
“radiophonic model.” This model
is based on the assumptions that something like broadcasting stations from the
“other” dimension existed and that they could be heard on specific radio
frequencies. Consequently, my first
duty was to locate the frequency bands involved in the phenomenon.
I was able to obtain some interesting results.
Firstly,
the experiments showed that each operator received the “voices” on a
different frequency, normally found on its own, with positive results.
Secondly,
the type of device used was not determinant for the quality and quantity of the
received “voices.” In other
words, to use sophisticated and technically advanced devices does not result in
a superior sound quality of the received “voices.”
In
addition, the phenomenon should occur either by recording the signals coming
from a radio set as well as using a simple microphone connected to a tape
recorder. However, evidence
suggests a different conclusion. The
two methods give different, in terms of quality, kind of “voices.”
While the “voices” received by the radio were mainly sound-voices
quite slow, those received through a microphone were whispered and fast.
In
conclusion, the wide range of frequencies involved and the variety of methods
used proved the “radiophonic model” unreliable. For this reason the research was turned to a different
approach. In particular, it was
focused on the variables involved in the process of formation.
Engineer
Carlo Trajna's work on the “Stimulated Psychophony” represented a turning
point in 1977. He argued that the
“voices” are formed because of the energy variation that occurs in
pre-existent acoustic or electromagnetic events.
His experiments showed that, for microphonic recordings, the quantity and
quality of the “voices” depended on the acoustic conditions of the
environment where the recording took place, or on the kind of sonority
artificially generated (Stimulation). This
important discovery revealed how the radio itself could no longer be considered
as a “receiver” of the “voices,” but that it was simply a sonority
generator at acoustic or electromagnetic low frequency level that then was
transformed into “voices” through an unknown process.
This conclusion follows directly from the events observed and is
consistent with the various frequency bands used by previous researchers.
There
have been many attempts to find a technical device able to improve the
“production” of “voices,” but they were largely unsuccessful.
New devices were proved valid only for those who designed them or for
those believing in them, but not for others.
This
fact clearly showed the inability to record the phenomenon when the same
technical devices are used by different operators.
This
suggested that the process involved may not be merely physical.
At
the beginning of the '80s, the research came to a halt due to the argumentation
backed up by Professor Ferdinando Bersani, a physicist of C.S.P. (Centre for Parapsychological Studies) in Bologna. He exploited the weak aspect of the phenomenon, namely the acoustic
ambiguity of the “voices.”
He
claimed that if any ordinary acoustic event is artificially fragmented and
cadenced it could be interpreted in a linguistic manner if the perceiver is
expected to receive a message.
At
the time, I was able to defend the authenticity of the phenomenon with a simple
counter-demonstration. Based on the
mechanism that regulates human perception, I showed how all acoustic perception
is influenced by the attentive condition of the listener to hear.
In particular, I pointed out that with a specific degree of attention
(selective attention), even loud acoustic stimuli could go unperceived at
consciousness level.
I
therefore concluded that what Professor F. Bersani claimed did not undermine the
objective reality of the “voices,” but that he only exploited the weakest
aspect of the phenomenon. The fact
that the “voices” are not easily understandable may, de facto, lead
to interpretative mistakes.
The
psychoacoustic decoding is a perfectly normal process and it does not only
involve the “voices” perception, but the whole perceptive system of human
communication.
The persevering research
carried out in those years resulted in two major achievements towards the
objectivity of the messages. It was
demonstrated that:
In
order to point out the willingness of the sender to “send” the messages,
Engineer C. Trajna resorted to
mathematical linguistics. He
examined a thousand economic advertisements that were published on Italian
newspapers. Such advertisements, by
definition, have a clear intention to communicate to the readers a definite
message. We can then plot a diagram
by placing on the “x” axis the number of words forming the advertisement,
while on the, “y” axis the incidence, expressed in percentage, of those
advertisements with a given number of words.
This diagram clearly shows a displacement of an asymmetrical Gaussian
curve, which is typical of those messages that contain evident willingness to
transmit information.
Engineer
Trajna, in the following experiment, took into consideration a statistical
sample of a thousand supposed paranormal messages. He located the periods (i.e. a series of words ending with a
full stop) contained in the advertisements and counted the number of words
forming each one. The (voice)
messages were selected from the literature available at the time, such as books
by Jürgenson, Raudive, Alvisi, Barsotti, Bacci and Trajna himself. The second diagram showed the same displacement as the first
one (Asymmetric Gaussian curve) and therefore it proved that the messages
retained a certain intention to communicate.
Avoiding
a lengthy and complicated reasoning about the theoretical foundations of the
curve representing the displacement for the messages containing a willingness to
“receive,” it can be summarized that this curve progresses with an
exponentially decreasing pattern which is very different from the previous one
(Asymmetric Gaussian curve). The
latest case takes into consideration the number of syllables in the same period;
while the first one has considered the number of words.
A
second statistical sample of a thousand messages was then examined and, based on
the number of syllables, it was possible to plot both curves and compare them.
From this comparison it followed that paranormal messages involve a
perceptible intention to communicate and do not present appreciable signs that
indicate some kind of illusory distortion.
In other words, they proved to be real and objective, whatever their
origin.
The
work of Dr. Renato Orso from Turin achieved important results in the study of
this matter. More specifically, he
contributed to prove the acoustic objectivity of such messages.
In this paper I will refer to a series of instrumental analysis of some
“voices,” supposed to be paranormal, received by Dr. Orso himself.
This
analysis was carried out by the qualified technicians of the Acoustic Department
at the Electrotechnical Institute “Galileo Ferraris” in Turin.
A
sonograph mode16061B, manufactured by Kay Electrometrics Co was used. Both the equipment and relative standard operating procedure are commonly
utilized in speech identification expertises and are recognized in juridical
proceedings.
Out
of all the “voices” Dr. Orso
presented to the Institute, five were chosen. They were considered as the clearest of all and the ones that could be
more easily analyzed. Successively,
Dr. Orso recorded a second tape in which he repeated exactly what the five
paranormal “voices” said. This
was done in order to be able to compare Orso's “normal” voices with the
relevant supposed paranormal “voices.” At the same time, it (this test) would have been able to verify the
correct content (of the “voices”) decoded by Dr. Orso.
Before
the execution of the spectrograms, the voice specimens were processed with a
parametric equalizer and a dynamic expansion processor.
These operations have been carried out by the technicians of the
Institute by using equipment and methods currently applied to obtain proper,
analyzable specimens.
From
this sonographic analysis the following conclusions have been drawn:
-
Paranormal
“voices” have an acoustical structure similar to human voices.
Specifically, it is possible to record the presence of formants that
correspond, as frequencies, to the ones of the vowel sounds typical of the
Italian language. I would like to
point out that the presence of formants identifies and classifies a vowel with
its information content. In the case of human voices, the formants derive from the
action of the so-called “resonant cavities” of vocal tract, while in the
case of the paranormal “voices,” they seem to originate from another
process. Such process could
(hypothetically) point out a paranormal change (thickening or rarefaction) of
the background noise.
-
The
temporal sequence of the vowels, their duration, the duration of the pauses and
the accent on certain vowels of the “voices” determine a speech rhythm
similar to ours.
-
The fact
that the paranormal “voices” are objective reality and not psychoacoustic
illusions is evident in the corresponding positions of paranormal formants and
the formants of the voice spoken by Orso. This
confirms that Orso decoded correctly what was said by the “voices.”
-
The transfer
of information or “message” is based exclusively on the sequence of the
vowel formants and the integration, made by the listener, of the missing
consonants or the pauses of the same length of the Italian stop consonants.
It is necessary to highlight that the consonants are produced by a sudden
interruption of the air flow coming from the lungs or by obstruction, by more or
less important obstacles, of the vocal tract.
-
The
spectrograms reveal the almost total absence of the fundamental frequency that
for human voices is determined by the vibration of the vocal cords.
The lack of the fundamental frequency coupled with the lack of consonants
that, in humans is given by the vocal tract, suggest that the paranormal
producer of these linguistic events does not have a production speech apparatus.
From all these interesting
conclusions a temporary but plausible hypothesis follows about the process of
formation of the “voices.” The
evidence presented showed us that the final physical effects involve anomalies
compared to the predictable effects. For
this reason, it is logical to assume that an entity, able to interact with our
physical dimension, is involved in the process and that, by doing so, this
entity is also able to overthrow known physical laws.
If the entity sending the
information was purely physical, the effects it produces should respect known
physic laws. However, experimental
results do not reflect this situation. If
they did, then we would already have identified the physical constants and
variables that regulate this phenomenon. We
would also have already created technical equipment that is able to make the
phenomenon repeatable, that is to be repeatable by any operator.
There
have been numerous and various physical anomalies in the effects, as any of us
certainly have experienced. The
anomaly, that I believe to be the most significant as indicative of an authentic
contact between two dimensions of existence (or of consciousness), belongs to
the temporal dimension. I refer
specifically to those cases, noted by several operators, in which an apparent
“slowing down” of the tape coincides with the recording of the “voices”
or those sounds recognized as “voices” only when they have been played at
different playback speeds.
The
phonetic characteristics of the voices clearly suggest that the temporal
dimension is involved. It is
sufficient to mention their characteristic speech rhythm, that suggests a
specific prosody, is used.
Another
interesting peculiarity is their speech utterance speed that can be higher or
lower than the human one. From
this, it follows that the same kind of temporal variations are involved in the
formation process of the “voices.” In
this regard, it is necessary to point out that a word is made up of a temporal
sequence of vowel sounds and consonants. In
this structural sense, I consider the “voices” recorded by Marcello Bacci
especially valuable. In his
recordings, it is easy to perceive how the succession of phonemes seems to
present various speeds. Only for a
few instants, they proceed at a normal speed, which allows a person to perceive
the original voice timbre of the “speaker.”
The variation in speed might result from a contraction dilatation of the
time flow in which each phoneme is uttered by the “voices.”
Today we still do not know how such process evolves.
Engineer
Trajna offered an encouraging contribution towards resolving this uncertainty. In 1990, he put forward an interpretative model that successfully passes
the empirical test. The
“Psychotemporal model” assumes that “Psychic Time” flows differently
from “Physical Time.”
The
“voices” would be the consequence of a change in the available
electroacoustic events. Such change
would be brought about by an active psyche (incarnated or disincarnated) through
its abilities, known in Parapsychology as Psychoscopy and Psychokinesis.
These
abilities would be activated by a supposed “psychotemporal wave.”
This would be produced every time the psychic time, which is subjective,
shifts from physical time, which is objective.
The “psychotemporal wave” is thought to consist of four phases: three
phases are “imaginary” and one is “real” (both are mathematically
derived). The “voices” should
develop during the “real” phase.
The
mathematical formulation of the theory recognizes that four “psychicoperators,”
having equal psychotemporal waves and in phase coincidence, should be able to
produce a wave (that is) completely “real.” Such a wave should represent a psychotemporal carrier, which can be
modulated as it normally happens in the case of a radio frequency carrier. From this theory it follows that an isolated operator can exploit, in the
best of cases, one and one only of “real”
phases available to him. Consequently,
the received “messages” are usually quite brief.
In the case of four operators (four is the ideal number) and in the best
of cases, psychotemporal waves consist of four “real” phases. This allows one to receive longer messages.
The theory developed by Engineer C.
Trajna is consistent with the experimental observations.
My
experience shows that the best reception of voices is obtained by the operators
that are strongly interested in the phenomenon especially in what concerns the
life after life implications. Attempts
carried out by skeptical and very critical operators are usually unsuccessful.
To obtain good results an open mind is the first requirement to the
operator approaching the phenomenon.
Rationality,
intended as the operative element of the intellect, may become a restraining
factor in the phenomenon when it coincides with a lack of reference models.
It is necessary to point out that each event can be understood then
accepted, only if a comparison process with the applicable reference models has
been successfully passed.
In
my long survey of the phenomenon I noted that the possibility to record
“voices” (or to establish a contact) is proportional to the level of mind
openness of the operator, i.e. to accept this possibility before the event
occurs.
In
1983 I defined this particular mental attitude as an “Inner Attentive
Disposition.” This is a specific
psychological condition that allows rational conditioning to be moderated by a
simple acceptance of the limits of sensorial reality and the ability to conceive
realities that differ from the sensorial one.
The Inner Attentive Disposition can be acquired and, when internalized,
allows the operator to tune in with finer realities.
—I
strongly believe that this intimate condition is necessary to receive
transinformation.—
These
considerations help us to understand the reason why those who have lost a dear
one can obtain good quality “voices.” It
is proven that a person that is grieving is able to reach a compromise with his
own rationality when he accepts that a contact beyond life with the dear one is
possible. In other words, the
person, strongly motivated to establish same kind of contact, is freed from
rigid mental schemes that would dismiss this possibility.
The “Border Parapsychology,” which studies life beyond life, is rich
in these experience.
It
is common knowledge that during mediumistic sessions, skeptics are elements of
disturbance in the phenomena and they can even cause the phenomena to cease.
The opposite is also true: open-minded people towards the phenomena
determine the necessary condition (maybe a suitable psychotemporal wave) for the
phenomena to happen.
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