SSE’s June Babies are in Good Company

While Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting marked the beginning of the modern UFO era, the mystery deepened dramatically in the decades that followed. Reports evolved from distant aerial objects to claims of close encounters, missing time, and alleged abductions. In the Spring 2021 issue of the Journal of Scientific Exploration, Thomas E. Bullard explores one of the most influential cases of that period—the Betty and Barney Hill encounter—and reflects on how it helped shape both UFO research and popular culture for generations. Read the full article here. 

Every so often, a line makes the rounds in our community that perfectly captures both the excitement and the hazards of frontier science. Recently, I heard someone invoke a familiar quip attributed to theoretical physicist and 1918 Nobel laureate Max Planck: that consciousness is fundamental and causal, and that spacetime arises from consciousness. It’s a striking idea—one that resonates with many who sense that mind and world are more deeply entangled than conventional models presumably allow. But as with many provocative ideas, the details matter.

Planck did indeed say something close to the first part in a 1931 Observer interview, but he was speaking philosophically, not scientifically. And the second part—“spacetime arises from consciousness”—is a much stronger claim than anything Planck ever endorsed. It leaps from legitimate quantum mysteries to metaphysical conclusions that the cumulative data simply don’t compel. The experimental results of the last century rule out certain classical pictures of the world, but they neither tell us which interpretation of quantum mechanics is correct, nor do they confirm that consciousness sits at the base of physical reality.

Why bring this up? Because this tension—between bold possibility and careful interpretation—is exactly where the Society for Scientific Exploration (SSE) lives. Our mission has never been to shrink from big questions. Consciousness, anomalous experience, limits of biological diversity, the nature of mind—these are not side projects for SSE members. Instead, they’re central to understanding the full scope of reality. But our mission has also never been to overreach.

Frontier science demands two virtues in equal measure: imagination and intellectual humility. The imagination to ask questions that others avoid. And, the humility to avoid claiming more than the evidence can bear. These are not opposing forces. They are the two sides of the same coin—the coin we carry as explorers.

As consciousness studies accelerate, with new models, new data streams, and new interdisciplinary collaborations, the temptation to declare premature victories grows. But the real strength of the SSE has always been our willingness to hold space for the unknown without rushing to fill it. To treat every hypothesis—idealism, panpsychism, physicalism, dual‑aspect monism—not as a banner to wave, but as a framework to test.

The SSE’s Journal of Scientific Exploration likewise reflects that ethos. In the 2026 summer issue and beyond, you’ll find work that pushes boundaries, but also work that sharpens them. You’ll see researchers willing to follow evidence wherever it leads, but also willing to say, “We don’t know yet.” That balance is not a weakness…it’s our compass.

As we continue to explore consciousness—its nature, its limits, its possible role in the fabric of reality—let’s keep that compass steady. Let’s remain bold enough to entertain the extraordinary while disciplined enough to distinguish what’s intriguing from what’s established. The frontier is vast. Our responsibility is to navigate it with both wonder and care.

Warmly,

James Houran, Ph.D.

Interim-President, SSE
Editor-in-Chief, JSE

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Remembering Gordon White 

The worlds of contemporary magic, animism, and esoteric inquiry lost one of their most influential voices with the passing of Gordon White, founder of Rune Soup, author, podcaster, and teacher. White died while traveling in Peru, pursuing the same passion that defined much of his life's work: learning from traditional spiritual and magical practices and sharing those insights with others.

Through Rune Soup, White helped shape a generation of practitioners interested in the intersection of magic, ecology, consciousness, mythology, and lived experience. What began as a blog evolved into a widely respected platform featuring essays, courses, books, and hundreds of podcast interviews that brought together scholars, occultists, indigenous practitioners, scientists, and seekers from around the world. His work encouraged readers to approach the unseen world not merely as a subject of belief, but as a relationship requiring curiosity, responsibility, and participation.

White was perhaps best known for helping reintroduce animism into modern magical discourse. His writings challenged materialist assumptions while avoiding simplistic explanations, urging audiences to engage with mystery in practical and transformative ways. Through books such as The Chaos Protocols, Star.Ships, Ani.Mystic, and Pieces of Eight, he explored subjects ranging from chaos magic and folklore to ecology and spiritual practice.

For many, Gordon White's greatest achievement was not a single book or idea, but the community he cultivated. Rune Soup became a gathering place for thoughtful exploration, where skepticism and wonder could coexist. His influence extended far beyond the occult community, reaching readers and listeners interested in consciousness, culture, and humanity's relationship with the living world.

Gordon White leaves behind a body of work that will continue to inspire inquiry, imagination, and engagement with the mysteries of existence. His voice was distinctive, provocative, and often transformative. While his passing marks the end of an extraordinary life, the conversations he started—and the communities he helped create—will continue for years to come.

May he travel well on whatever path lies beyond.

New Editor-in-Chief 

The Society for Scientific Exploration is pleased to welcome Everton de Oliveira Maraldi, PhD, as the new Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Scientific Exploration.

Dr. Maraldi is Professor of Religious Studies at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo and a researcher at the D'Or Institute for Research and Education in Rio de Janeiro. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees in Social Psychology from the University of São Paulo and has held postdoctoral research appointments at both Coventry University and the University of Oxford. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Parapsychological Association.

An internationally recognized scholar, Dr. Maraldi's research explores the psychology of religious and spiritual experiences, altered states of consciousness, dissociation, spirituality and health, and paranormal beliefs. His interdisciplinary work reflects the same spirit of open-minded yet rigorous inquiry that has long defined the Journal of Scientific Exploration.

As JSE continues its mission of advancing high-quality research into frontier areas of science and scholarship, we are excited for the vision, expertise, and leadership Dr. Maraldi will bring to the Journal. 

2026 Tim Dinsdale Memorial Award Recipient: Dean Radin, PhD

The Tim Dinsdale Memorial Award is presented by the Society for Scientific Exploration to honor senior scholars who have made outstanding contributions to the scientific study of unexplained and frontier phenomena. We are pleased to announce that the 2026 recipient is Dean Radin, PhD.

For more than three decades, Dean Radin has been one of the world's leading researchers investigating consciousness, intuition, psi phenomena, and the nature of reality itself. As Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and Associated Distinguished Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, he has helped bring rigorous scientific inquiry to questions often dismissed as beyond the reach of conventional research.

Before joining IONS in 2001, Dr. Radin held appointments at AT&T Bell Labs, Princeton University, the University of Edinburgh, and SRI International. His scholarly output includes hundreds of technical publications, more than 180 peer-reviewed journal articles, dozens of book chapters, and five bestselling books that have introduced millions of readers to the scientific exploration of consciousness.

Beyond the laboratory, Radin has become one of the most influential public voices in frontier science. Through more than 850 invited lectures, interviews, and presentations worldwide, he has helped bring serious discussion of consciousness research into the public conversation. Most recently, he appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, introducing one of the world's largest podcast audiences to the evidence, controversies, and possibilities surrounding psi research and human potential.

We congratulate Dean Radin on this well-deserved recognition for a career spent expanding the boundaries of scientific inquiry.

Watch Dean's appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience here.

Upcoming MAVERICK Talks: Interactive Virtual Chats about Bold Ideas

MAVERICK = Monthly Adventures Via Exploration, Revealing Inquiry, Curiosity, and Knowledge. Help us shape the future of scientific exploration - one bold idea at a time!

SSE's monthly virtual forum, where members can share works-in-progress, spark fresh inquiry, and receive thoughtful feedback from fellow explorers. Whether you're refining a method, testing a hypothesis, or navigating a controversial topic, this is your space to engage, reflect, and grow. 

When & Where: Second Sunday of each month (unless a quarterly webinar is scheduled) 1-hour Zoom sessions at 5 PM ET | 4 PM CT | 3 PM MT| 2 PM PT

Have You Seen Disclosure Day?

Steven Spielberg's new sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day has already sparked lively discussion among UFO enthusiasts, researchers, skeptics, and moviegoers alike. Centered on themes of extraterrestrial contact, government secrecy, and the public's right to know, the film arrives at a time when conversations about UAPs and disclosure continue to capture public attention.

Have you seen it? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Did the film resonate with you? How does it compare to real-world discussions about UAP disclosure? What did Spielberg get right—or wrong?

Join the conversation in the SSE Substack chat and share your review, reactions, and favorite moments with fellow members.

SSE’s Summer Webinar July 14

The Patterson–Gimlin Film: The Bigfoot Evidence That Refuses to Go Away

SSE’s “Anomalies 101” Webinar presented by noted expert William “Bill” Munns. The Patterson-Gimlin Film of a bigfoot creature has been analyzed by many people, but what is often missed is that the evidence to analyze is a 16mm film, and the central question is whether the subject figure seen in the film is a human in a fur creature costume or is it real. Thus, the ideal person to analyze it should be an experienced 16mm filmmaker and an experienced special makeup effects artist who has actually made creature fur costumes. Bill Munns is both.

Why attend:

●    Understand why the film has sparked decades of intense debate and what that reveals about belief, skepticism, and human nature.

●    Learn how professional creature-effects design and vintage filmmaking analysis can be applied to the film itself- the strongest and most effective piece of evidence.

●    Confront evidence in the new documentary “Capturing Bigfoot” that claims the film is a definitive hoax.

Join us as we unpack Bigfoot’s most iconic evidence—and consider what contemporary methods can tell us today.

2026 Psi Games International

What happens when questions about consciousness, intuition, and anomalous human abilities move from theory into direct experience? The 2026 Psi Games International brings together researchers, scientists, philosophers, healers, remote viewers, and curious explorers to investigate phenomena such as remote viewing, precognition, psychokinesis, and intuitive perception through structured challenges and practical exercises.

Designed for believers, sceptics, and open-minded investigators alike, the event offers a unique opportunity to engage with some of the most intriguing questions in consciousness research. Dr. Simon Duan, a member of the Society for Scientific Exploration, will be a keynote speaker, exploring consciousness, psi research, and postmaterialist perspectives on mind and reality. SSE members can receive a 15% discount using the code SIMDPG26.

July 31- August 2, 2026 • Online and In Person

Find out more at the Psi Games International website. 

Help Choose Our Next Explorer Book Club Selection

The Explorer Book Club is off to a great start with The Mothman Prophecies, and we're already looking ahead to future reads. We'd love your recommendations!

What book has most expanded your thinking about consciousness, psi, UFOs, cryptids, survival, frontier science, or the mysteries of reality? Whether it's a classic in the field or a hidden gem, we want to hear about it.

Visit the SSE Substack Chat to share your recommendation and tell us why it deserves a spot on a future reading list. Your suggestion could become our next community read!

Join the conversation on Substack and help shape the future of the Explorer Book Club.

Please Renew Your SSE Membership

Ensure that you stay connected, informed, and supported by renewing your SSE membership today. Your continued participation keeps our community thriving and unlocks a host of benefits:

• Receive discounted registration fees for the annual SSE conference and quarterly webinars
• Help to subsidize JSE, a premier open-access journal that covers all categories of anomalistics and frontier science
• Get opportunities to serve on SSE’s leadership committees

While you’re renewing, please also take a moment to update your SSE profile. Add your newest publications, refine your research interests, and upload a fresh photo so colleagues can find and connect with you more easily.

Please don’t let your membership lapse—renew now to keep advancing both your career and our shared mission: https://scientificexploration.org/join-us

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Paul F. Cunningham 

What inspired you to write an article on the interdimensionality hypothesis as an explanation for the origin of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP; aka UFOs), out-of-body travel as a method for contacting extraterrestrial nonhuman intelligences, and geographical coordinate points as quasi-physical entry and exit portals for interdimensional travel?

My inspiration came from two sources. Tom Lomas’s article on “The Ultraterrestrial Hypothesis” published in the 2023 issue of The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology (Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 43-98) inspired my initial interest and curiosity to explore the topic further. The channeled writings of Jane Roberts gave me the novel concepts and theories I needed to put the Ultraterrestrial (or Interdimensionality) Hypothesis to the test of further development. I wanted to see how well Seth/Jane’s theory aligned with established theory and facts of what was already known about UAPs and whether Seth/Jane’s novel theory could advance understanding of a phenomenon that has eluded explanation. In addition, Helene Wahbeh and colleagues did an exploratory study in 2023 published in the JSE that evaluated the content validity of channelers’ answers to questions from scientists. I sought to do the same thing with Roberts’ channeled version of the interdimensional hypothesis with the publication of a peer-reviewed article in a journal that was open-minded enough to take seriously the possibility that UAP are real and consider their scientific exploration. Behind it all was another big motivating question for me: Why would the channeled entity called “Seth” spend so much time speaking about UFOs and the nature of matter in the first two volumes of the early sessions of the Jane Roberts possession trance mediumship when there was so much else that he could have talked about? If the theory did represent an accurate representation of the facts, then the evidence for the theory would have a bearing on the evidence of its source.

In your view, what are the most important issues or areas of inquiry regarding the nature and origin of UAP and establishing contact with extraterrestrial nonhuman intelligences?

I think the questions recently posed to me by philosopher Michael Zimmerman (personal communication) represent the most important areas of inquiry at this point: Who are the entities coming through? What do they want from us? What can we learn from them? An important issue pertains to the apparent “physicality” of the abduction experience and why there seems to be so little “physical evidence” to support abductees’ claims. I wonder whether mass meditation upon Steven Spielberg’s movie Disclosure Day will open up the scientific imagination to some of these questions.

How does investigating the mechanics of interdimensional space travel advance understanding of human consciousness?

The mystery of trans-dimensional space travel is the mystery of consciousness. The primary evidence for its possibility, therefore, must come through the correct channel—the experience of one’s own consciousness. Experience is the first and the most practical teacher. It is the “mental enzyme,” so to speak, that transmutes, transduces, and converts belief about interdimensional space travel into personal knowledge of it. Evidence for one (interdimensional travel to contact NHIs) has a bearing on evidence for the other (the nature of human consciousness). The difficulty is that we have not yet been able to “get outside” the box of the relative view of our own particular physical universe and species of consciousness. What might it mean to encounter a consciousness unlike our own? Could we even recognize it? The chances are that we wouldn’t, given that some scientists continue to find it difficult to grant consciousness to animals, never mind recognize the generalized and condensed consciousness of plants, biological cells, or atoms and molecules. The trans-dimensional nature of the physical universe, once discovered, would have implications for recognizing the possible the trans- dimensional nature of consciousness itself (e.g., lucid dreaming and the existence of a separate dream universe; discarnate communication from an afterlife plane of existence, OBE travels to alternate realities). Any psychology, philosophy, biology, or physics that brings such phenomena into focus, however, will tend to be rigorously opposed because it would shatter the prevailing metaphysical foundations of contemporary science or else require their revision or extension.

What challenges have you encountered in advocating for the idea of out-of-body consciousness travel to contact nonhuman intelligences residing in the interdimensional universe, and how have you addressed them?

The difficulties of opening the scientific imagination to the possibility OBE consciousness travel for “space” exploration are not to be underestimated. OBE is a challenging enough phenomenon to scientifically explore in this physical universe, never mind others, not only because of the complex character of the subject matter but also because many scientists tend to rigorously oppose the idea ofthe very existence of OBE. Although some scientists have begun to think seriously in terms of a “transcendent mind” and “mind beyond brain,” the possibility that OBEs might actually occur profoundly disturbs other scientists because it shatters the foundations of their philosophical stance. A self that is conceived of as a physical composition would never be able to project out of the body (much less survive bodily death). Mention Jane Roberts’s name anywhere as a part of the discussion and most journal editors head for the hills. I would say that unless OBEs can demonstrate definite consistencies that bring into focus a pattern of experience and content that can be checked through repeated observation in the experience of others, it is doubtful that modern orthodox scientific thinking will consider OBEs to be anything more than a private and personal daydream or hallucination, a neurotic aberration or an indication of incipient schizophrenia, an imaginative fantasy or outright confabulation. This is why the pursuit of evidential data is so important and the accumulation of reliable, reproducible, and verifiable collective observations through careful analytical experimentation is essential if the proposition of out-of-body space travel is to be seriously entertained by scientific communities. I lay out a proposal of how such a pursuit might begin in the soon-to-be-published Part 2 of my essay.

What advice would you offer to scholars and students interested in introducing unconventional ideas, such as the interdimensionality hypothesis, into conventional areas of science?

My advice is to become thoroughly familiar with the existing literature on the topic and then work in a disciplined way to connect the unconventional idea(s) that you want to introduce into that existing knowledge framework, showing how your novel idea or theory builds upon and advances understanding in that area of science. Think interdisciplinarily (e.g., connect the evidence already existing in anthropology, literature, sociology, philosophy, psychology, natural and physical sciences, religious studies, the arts). What you are trying to do is to bring into existence something that did not exist before. The strategy is to open up channels of awareness previously ignored, avenues of choice previously denied, and areas of expression previously overlooked. The goal to help the individual scientist go beyond previous learning, look outside established frameworks, and perceive reality in a completely new way. When writing, draw upon the natural associative processes of the reader to build your case. It is not only what you say and how you say it, but also when you say it that is most important to consider, especially if you want to efficiently build a case for your unconventional idea in a way that effectively directs the reader’s associative train or thread of thought in the desired direction.

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A Farewell Funny

Why did the remote viewer fail the driving test? Because he kept looking ahead.