Are there other realities out there aside from our own? Are there parallel dimensions lying just a thin veil beyond our own, which we could only take rare glimpses of through interdimensional portals?
The idea of parallel realities – or other dimensions that closely resemble the reality that we know of – is not entirely new to mankind. Parallel universes were once dwelled on by the likes of Greek philosophers such as Plato, and was even mathematically proposed by a Princeton University graduate student named Hugh Everett back in 1954. Not long after that, Bryce Seligman DeWitt introduced Everett’s theory to the masses, referring to it as the “Many-worlds Interpretation.”
There are many theories that attempt to answer the question of whether or not there are other planes of existence aside from the one we are in now, but at present, the thought of traveling and interacting with these parallel worlds are still relegated to nothing more than science fiction, becoming the subject of many far-fetched stories as far back as Edwin A. Abbott’s 1884 novel, “Flatland: A romance of Many Dimensions” and in modern materials like Philip K. Dick’s novel “The Man in the High Castle” and in the television program “Sliders.” In these fictional stories, we are only given a hypothetical glance to worlds like – but also not quite like – our own, but so far, it’s just not possible at the moment to physically travel to these many worlds even if they are real.
However, in pursuit of finding out whether there are other dimensions and if there are real-life portals which can be used to reach them, experts in the fields of science and the paranormal and supernatural have pointed out potential “clues” that support the theory that we are living in one of many parallel dimensions.
1. Ghosts & Paranormal Activity
Many people believe that ghosts or spirits could be from some other dimension of existence, and many paranormal researchers are of the opinion that there are special locations in different parts of the world that actually serve as “doorways” from our world to another. These doorways are believed by some people to serve the not-so-obvious purpose of providing access to unusual entities that enter or want to enter our world. These entities could be the spirits or souls of the people who once lived before, or they could also be creatures of a different kind altogether. Some even believe that these “ghosts” are nothing magical, but are actually just otherworldly beings that came from and lived in another dimension.
While this sounds a little far-fetched, the idea is not as ludicrous as it sounds. Different unidentified have been seen, reported and even captured in photographs and videos in places a lot of people believe to be “portals” to the world of the spirits of the dead. These locations could have easily been labeled as “haunted” in the past because people saw inexplicable things near these places that they were not able to rationally explain. And so, these doorways, and the odd entities that pass through them may just be the explanation that many experts have been looking for in explaining hundreds of cases of “ghost” sightings that have dumbfounded paranormal research for many, many years.
2. The Déjà vu Phenomenon
Some of us have had, at least once in our lifetime personally experienced déjà vu – that feeling or impression that you have previously witnessed, encountered or experienced a situation that you know should be happening for the first time. For a long time, this strange sensation has been associated to a variety of things from wilder theories such as paranormal disturbances to more medical explanations like neurological disorders. But an intriguing possibility that explains this phenomenon is the possibility that there is a hidden and still-unknown connection between déjà vu and parallel universes.
According to Dr. Michio Kaku, an American futurist, and theoretical physicist, parallel universes could be a plausible explanation of the mysterious déjà vu phenomenon. And according to him, quantum physics has provided sufficient data that should allow us to consider and entertain the suggestion that déjà vu might occur due to a person’s special ability to “flip between universes.”
Nobel laureate Steve Weinberg likens the multiple universe theory to the radio. In our universe, we are “tuned” into a specific frequency that keeps us in sync with the physical reality that we are aware of. However, in this theory, there are, as it turns out, an infinite number of parallel realities that are currently coexisting with us in the same room or place. However, we ordinarily do not possess the ability and the means to “tune into” them. These worlds are very similar with one another but each of them has a distinctive energy signature that sets all of them apart from the rest. Because the frequency of these waves are said to be proportional to their energy, this means that the waves of each world that exists at the same time are vibrating at various frequencies, which prevents them from interacting with or influencing each other.
However, when you experience déjà vu, some believe it is not completely impossible that at that exact moment, you are actually “vibrating in unison” with the frequency of another universe that is parallel with our own.
Third Clue – Dreams. For millennia, people have been curious to figure out the true meaning behind every person’s dreams. Ancient Greeks and Romans, for example, believed that dreams were actually the means used by gods to send their messages to mankind. In ancient China, dreams were thought of as a way for people to visit the realm of the dead. Many Native American tribes as well as certain Mexican civilizations, hold the belief that dreams were different worlds people visit when they sleep.
It is not uncommon for people to have recurring dreams about places they had never visited and had even heard of. Similar to the déjà vu phenomenon, perhaps it is also possible that such dreams are just momentary glimpses of what a person has experienced while in a different plane of existence or a parallel world. Sometimes, people also dream of events that have yet to transpire at the time they were dreamed but turned out to have happened in a later day or time. Such dreams may be images that were for some reason received from an alternate world, and in that reality, people are leading different lives from the people in our world.
While this is of course based on pure speculation for now, scientists have been hard at work in studying and learning more about dreams, and many of these experts have become more and more open in entertaining the theory that multiple parallel universes exist simultaneously with our own plane of existence. It may also very well be proven later on in the not-so-distant future that some of the mysterious and special dreams that we have dreamed and will continue to dream about could be crude glimpses of parallel worlds that possibly exist just right next to or simultaneously with our own reality.
4. Gravity & Black Holes
As far as what modern science tells us, we all live in four dimensions, three of which are of space and one is of time. Physicists also taught us about the four forces that control the way that particles interact with each other – electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear forces, and gravity. Out of all of them, gravity is by far the weakest, and it is a mystery to modern science why that is so.
According to some physicists, one possibility that answers this question is that we are just only experiencing a fraction of gravity, with the rest of its force existing partly in a separate dimension or in many extra dimensions that we still cannot perceive. Though entertaining the idea of extra dimensions may seem to qualify in the realm of science fiction, proving its existence could explain why the universe is expanding faster than expected, and why gravity is weaker than the other forces of nature.
One theory of particle physics suggests that there are several extra dimensions, and black holes might be the key to reaching them, and this means that black holes could be portals to other universes. The speculation over the existence of these extra dimensions has gone beyond theory, with researchers using the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva to look for signs of extra dimensions by creating tiny black holes. However, exactly when the LHC might find the evidence it needs to prove the existence of extra dimensions and the portals that lead to them remains uncertain.
Are we really just one of many alternate realities stacked upon one another? And if multiple dimensions do exist, are there portals that make shifting and traveling to planes of existence other than our own possible? The answers are elusive, and experts, believers and skeptics alike may continue to pour over and debate them forever.
Nevertheless, there will always be those who will continue to look out into our universe and perhaps even within ourselves for such answers, for as long as there is the probability and possibility that worlds beyond our own exist somewhere out there or even in our midst.