Lehal Library

Robert Monroe is unique among the small number of people who have written about repeated OOBEs, in that he recognizes the extent to which his mind tries to interpret his experiences, to force them into familiar patterns. Thus his accounts are particularly valuable, for he works very hard to try to "tell it like it is." The initial series of laboratory studies we were able to do occurred over a period of several months between September 1965 and August 1966, while I was able to use the facilities of the Electroencephalographic (brain wave) Laboratory of the University of Virginia Medical School. On eight occasions Mr. Monroe was asked to try to produce an OOBE while hooked up to various instruments for measuring physiological functions. He was also asked to try to direct his movements during the OOBE into the adjoining room, both to observe the activity of the technician monitoring the recording equipment and to try to read a five-digit random target number, which was placed on a shelf six feet above the floor. Measurements were made of Mr. Monroe's brain waves (the electroencephalogram), eye movements, and heart rate (the electrocardiogram). The laboratory was, unfortunately, not very comfortable for lying still for prolonged periods; we had to bring an army cot into the recording room, as there was no bed there. One of the connections for recording brain waves, the ear electrode, was of a clip type that caused some irritation to the ear, and this made relaxation somewhat difficult. On the first seven nights during which he attempted to produce an OOBE, Mr. Monroe was not successful. On his eighth night he was able to produce two very brief OOBEs, and these are described in some detail in his own words on pp. 60-72. The first brief OOBE involved witnessing some unrecognized people talking at an unknown location, so there was no way of checking whether it was "fantasy" or a real perception of events happening at a distance. In the second brief OOBE, Mr. Monroe reported he could not control his movements very well, so he did not report on the target number in the adjacent room. He did correctly describe that the laboratory technician was out of the room, and that a man (later identified as her husband) was with her in a corridor. As a parapsychologist, I cannot say that this "proves" that Mr. Monroe really knew what was happening at a distance: it is hard to assess the improbability of such an event occurring after the fact. Nevertheless, I found this result quite encouraging for one of the initial attempts to bring such an unusual phenomenon into the laboratory'. My next opportunity to work with Mr. Monroe in the laboratory came when he visited me in California during the summer of 1968. We were able to have a