Searching for Gillespie

Around a week ago I was watching an old re-run of Unsolved Mysteries, one story which caught my attention was that of a supposed case of past life regression. It involved a woman who went under the pseudonym of ‘Sharon Johnson’. In around 1979 she began having hypnotherapy sessions with Frank Baranowski partly to gain more of an understanding as to why she had this same recurring dream since childhood where would be surrounded by fires burning around her and planes attacking.

Baranowski had befriended the woman and moving on six months she joined him for a vacation on the island of Oahu, Hawaii – Sharon seemed to be distressed and not in a clear state of mind once she had reached there, she had displayed irrational behaviour and made bizarre remarks such as how the hotels surrounding them weren’t supposed to be there. When the group went to pearl harbour for a tour her state of sensibility degenerated even further and she began sobbing and saying ‘I don’t want to die, oh Sam, oh Sam’, When they reached the USS Arizona memorial she had completely lost it and began running up to people and screaming ‘They’re drowning, Oh Sam!’

Baranowski took her into a private corner and hypnotized her, when he asked what her name was she stated ‘Seaman 1st Class John Gillespie of Omaha, Nebraska of the USS Nevada’ – He subsequently spent eight years tape recording the woman under hypnosis but despite the many sessions he conducted with her the overall information given seems to be nothing short of vague.

Nonetheless under the persona of John Gillespie, Sharon had provided enough information that could be subsequently researched and possibly verified. She stated that her name was John Gillespie Jr who was born in 1921 and was the son of John Gillespie Sr as well as the grandson of Harry Gillespie – She had also stated that John Gillespie Jr had grown up on a farm in Omaha, Nebraska and that he was best friends with Sherman Maurice Watts whom was nicknamed ‘Sam’.

Sharon gave a vivid account of experiencing the casualties on the day of pearl harbour. She remembered that one man in particular named Ensign Taussig  was severely injured and the visions didn’t extend any further than that which Sharon took to mean that at that particular moment John Gillespie Jr’s life came to an end which was on the date of pearl harbour, December 7 1941.

Baranowski spent seven years going through the information provided by Sharon in her dissociative state during the hypnosis sessions and to obtain the relevant documents researching her claims cost him around $51,000. Sherman Maurice Watts whom the persona of John Gillespie Jr had nicknamed ‘Sam’ and considered to be his best friend was indeed a real individual whom is listed as a hospital corpsman who had worked aboard the USS Arizona and had perished on the day of pearl harbour. He is among many on the USS Arizona Casualty list but other than that it is difficult to find any more information about him other than that his home town was in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas.

It would seem unlikely that Sharon Johnson had read up on the name in obvious sources such as history books or newspaper articles pertaining to the subject as this man was not a historically relevant individual whom only would have been mentioned in naval documents, a more obvious source is that Sharon became enamoured with these memories and provided this information after they reached the USS Arizona memorial where Sherman Maurice Watts is mentioned in commemoration among many other names:

 

However only his initials are mentioned, not his first and middle name

By the initials alone it would be more than coincidental that Sharon was able to provide these both accurately out of hundreds of possibilities, on the other hand we have no way of knowing if Frank Baranowski was inadvertently supplying this information to Sharon Johnson – Over the eight years he spent attempting to obtain information out of her he gathered more than 700 pages of documents, what if in a desperate attempt for confirmation he connected the mention of ‘Sam’ to the initials of ‘S.M Watts’ in order to establish the individual in question’s identity? Or perhaps he gave her a list of names under hypnosis of those who could have been Sam and when Sherman Maurice Watts was mentioned to her she associated this individual with Sam. If she had indeed mentioned the full name of Sherman Maurice Watts spontaneously without any unintentional coaxing involved this would truly seem inexplicable, but unfortunately unless we gained access to the tape recordings and they were held under heavy scrutiny suggestibility and confirmation bias cannot be ruled out.Ensign Taussig was also a real individual but a lot less of an obscure figure than Sherman Maurice Watts. His name was Joseph Taussig Jr and he was severely wounded which correlated with Sharon’s recollection, he was the son of Joseph Taussig a highly decorated Vice Admiral in the United States Navy – He is mentioned in history books pertaining to Pearl Harbour as well in various newspapers and magazines. On this basis it could be considered highly probable that Sharon could have obtained information about Ensign Taussig through normal means. Unsolved Mysteries had noted that eight of the nine men that Sharon had named were listed in the archives but it doesn’t tell us the names of most of these men presumably three of those are Sherman Maurice Watts, Joseph Taussig Jr and Captain Scanlan. On a crew roster for the USS Nevada from 1941 among a list of many names are two individuals whom shared the same home town as John Gillespie Jr supposedly did which is Omaha, Nebraska. One of these individuals is named as Elmer Troxcil and the other as Richard Safarik, I doubt they are still alive but if they happened to be they may be able to provide us with the confirmation that we are looking for. Of course it should be taken into account that researching something like this before the internet came into existence would have been tremendously difficult, documents that were once incredibly obscure are now on the contrary readily available on online archives so Baranowski could not have been able to to find the relevant documentation or come into contact with the still living veterans who were serving aboard that day and could have shedded light on the investigation.

So I guess the question would be did John Gillespie Jr actually exist? It would seem very unlikely. First of all no such individual is mentioned on any of the pearl harbour casualty lists, in fact the only man with the surname Gillespie who is listed to have been killed that day was a man called Joseph Gillespie Smartt who was from Texas and was an Ensign for the Kaneohe NAS – If we were to take into account that Sharon Johnson may have been mistaken that where the vision ended meant the end of John Gillespie Jr’s life and that perhaps he survived the attack on pearl harbour but had died by other means months later and thus wouldn’t be listed on the casualty list at pearl harbour would mean that he may have been a real individual who may still be listed in genealogical records or relevant obscure documentation such as Navy Muster Rolls from World War II.

In one hypnosis session Sharon had even provided John’s serial number, it was unclear if this meant his social security number or his naval service number either way these are both very specific and ideal sources of possible confirmation. However, once again this particular information may only be available on the recorded tapes of the sessions Baranowski had conducted with Sharon and we have no way of obtaining them. Frank Baranowski had taken into account that John Gillespie Jr was not mentioned in any of the ship’s rosters but had reasoned that relevant naval documentation of him would have most likely been destroyed in a fire at the National Personnel Records Centre Fire of 1973 in St Louis that had destroyed records of Navy Seamen during World War II, this in reality isn’t a very good explanation as even though the fire had destroyed around 18 million official military personnel records the naval records had remained untouched.

Even though there seems to be no record of a Seaman by the name of John Gillespie who served in the Second World War I still remain fairly open minded. Some records of individuals who had served in the First and Second World War’s are so obscure that there seems to barely any record of them, one example could be Freddy Jackson from the widely known anomalous photo from Sir Victor Goddard’s squadron whom was an air mechanic for the Royal Air Force who passed away in 1918 after walking into an aircraft’s propeller – Many others including myself conducted our own research in order to establish whether such an individual had ever existed to no avail, however it was recently discovered by someone that he did exist although his real name was George Frederick Jackson which would mean that ‘Freddy’ would have been a nickname given by his peers. Even when George Frederick Jackson’s full name is researched very little results show up, which sheds light on how obscure some military records are – similarly if we weren’t to rule out the possibility that John Gillespie Jr might have existed as was the case with Freddy Jackson it may be that John might have been a nickname and may even appear as an initial instead of in it’s entirety on naval and genealogical records and may appear as something along the lines of for example,  ‘Mark .J. Gillespie’ to establish whether such an individual ever existed the following correspondences should be made enough up to the extent that a plausible connection could be made:

• Born in 1921 
• Named John Gillespie Jr or at least has the
  initial J
• From Omaha, Nebraska
• Was a First Class Seaman in 1941 on the USS Nevada 

  Unsolved Mysteries had mentioned that Frank Baranowski had discovered the relevant documentation in Omaha, Nebraska which listed three generations of the Gillespie males including the grandfather Harry Gillespie, John Gillespie Sr and John Gillespie Jr whom matched the corresponding years – However inspecting the census record provided by Unsolved Mysteries doesn’t appear to show that at all:
  

  A John is mentioned and the name Gillespie does appear to be prevalent in the upper lines. But there isn’t a succession of relevant names within the correct context that displays corresponding years – Nonetheless perhaps the documentary failed to give us a full glimpse of the documents. I believe this could do with another thorough checking out – Those who have a fair amount of knowledge in regards to researching navy muster rolls from World War II and other naval documentation as well as those from Omaha, Nebraska whom could do some extra research in regards to obituaries from around 1941 to see if such an individual is listed or those who have an in depth knowledge about researching genealogical records could all be of great help. I believe that as long as the possibility is there, it warrants as much of a thorough investigation as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

Jimo Borjigin's study has been blown out of proportion

                                      

Lately more than a few major media outlets such as the BBC have been publishing articles surrounding the discussion of scientists who have apparently come to the newly arrived conclusion that ‘Vivid experiences in near death survivors may happen due to a surge of electrical activity in the brain.’

This was on the basis of a study they conducted in dying rats at the university of Michigan. As quoted from the lead author of the study Dr Jimo Borjigin ”A lot of people thought the brain after clinical death was inactive or hypoactive, with less activity than the waking state, and we show that is definitely not the case.”

The reason as to why the media has blown this out of proportion is inconceivable to me, as anyone who has a specific interest in this area and has done a little research will know that studies of a similar nature have been carried out since the early 1980’s by those such as Michael Persinger the developer of the ‘Koren Helmet’ who claims that all major functions of Near Death Experiences can be simulated by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Temporal Lobes. Persinger’s work is based on the premise that abnormal activity in the temporal lobe may trigger a Near Death Experience. 

As quoted from an article from nature world news: ‘What this says Borjigin concludes, is that a lack of oxygen or oxygen as well as glucose can stimulate brain activity similar to that experienced in a conscious brain and, going forward, could offer a framework for those near death experiences reported by so many.’

Other sceptics on the nature of Near Death Experiences or proponents that state these experiences are all as a result of brain activity have arrived at very similar conclusions in the past.  Dr Susan Blackmore, whom is a psychologist and physiologist propounded the ”dying brain” hypothesis: that a lack of oxygen (or anoxia) during the dying process might induce abnormal firing of neurons in brain areas responsible for vision, and that such an abnormal firing would lead to the illusion of seeing a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel. 

This study was surrounding the Near Death Experiences of those who have had Cardiac Arrest and have been declared ‘clinically dead’ focusing on the main aspects of a Near Death Experience such as seeing a tunnel with a bright light at the end.  The experiment is described here in this excerpt from i09:

To investigate the possible neurophysiological basis for near death experiences, Borjigin, Wang and their colleagues decided to take EEG (electroencephalogram) readings of nine rats while they were awake, under anesthesia and undergoing cardiac arrest. They looked particularly at gamma oscillations, or gamma waves. Neurons in the brain oscillate or fire at different frequencies, with these frequency bands correlating to different types of brain waves (delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma).

The team found several signs of conscious activity in all nine of the dying rats’ brains. First off, within the first 30 seconds after cardiac arrest, there was a sharp increase in gamma frequency power. But it wasn’t just random firing — neurons across the brain fired synchronously. Previous research has suggested that this “gamma coherence” underlies conscious perception, such as when you focus all your attention on understanding something.

The researchers found that dying rats showed an eight-fold increase in top-down processes and five-fold increase in bottom-up processes following cardiac arrest. Borjigin suggests that anything the rats experienced during this time would likely have seemed “hyper-real.” Interestingly, patients have described near death experiences as being “realer than real.”

For anyone who has done research on various studies by those who look into Near Death Experiences and has seen their hypothesis, they would know that others have arrived at more or less the same conclusion that cardiac arrest or a flat EEG where a patient has been ‘verified’ as clinically dead doesn’t necessarily mean brain death. As Michael Persinger said on Alex Tsarkiris’s website, Skeptiko when he was asked by Alex as to how can there be a continuation of consciousness when there is no EEG or EKG for a number of patients that have been verified as clinically dead in a hospital. Persinger replied to this with the following:

”The electroencephalogram or brain waves simply measures a very, very small component. It’s in the microvolt range. It’s about a thousandth times smaller than the actual steady state potential of the brain itself which can last for several minutes to half an hour under sort of deprived conditions. The EEG also reflects only the cortex. It doesn’t tell you very much at all what’s going on deep within the cortex. So when you have these near-death experiences and flat EEG’s, that just tells you what the cortex is doing. It doesn’t tell you necessarily the integrity or the activity taking place deep within the brain.”

Persinger also said this: ”Information is being stored deep within the brain. It’s not in the cortex at all and you can’t even see it from an EEG. For example, the areas of the brain we call the hippocampus that store memory, you can’t even see the activity from a EEG. You have to actually put electrodes deep into the brain in order to see that activity.”  The main point Persinger was trying to emphasise is quoted here: ”There’s a common misconception that a flat EEG means no brain activity. In actual fact, it simply tells you a kind of activity is no longer common.” 

Going back Borjigin who said ”People thought that the brain after clinical death was inactive or hypoactive, with less activity than the waking state, and we show that is definitely not the case.”  – This may well be a common misconception but that doesn’t mean that no one has arrived at a similar or more or less the same conclusion in the past. The data was produced by electroencephalograms  of the nine rats which revealed a ”highly organised” brain response in the seconds after cardiac arrest – The whole notion of the brain still being active during cardiac arrest or when an EEG is flat and Near Death Experiences being a result of a lack of oxygen thus causing a firing of neurons at certain areas of the brain apparently causing hallucinations which lead to what individuals perceive as ‘Near Death Experiences’ in reality has been concluded by various Neurotheologists, Neuroscientists and Psychologists with the likes of  those such as Dr Michael Persinger or Dr Susan Blackmore for years and as to why Borjigin’s study has been so blown out of proportion when evidently this has all been said before is nothing shorter than strange in my opinion. 

In regards to relating the ‘consciousness’ of rats to that of human beings, this has naturally attracted some scepticism such as in this excerpt of Neurologist Nicholas Schniff:

‘Schiff find the study “very interesting” and novel, but is very skeptical about any near-death interpretations.

“There’s no intrinsic reason to believe that these rats are in some heightened state of awareness,” he said. He believes the spike in activity is simply a shock to the system response by the brain cells to a major change in physiology.’ Another Physician Dr Sam Parnia said: “I don’t think that this particular study helps in any way to explain near-death experiences in human beings. We have found no evidence at all that the rats had any near-death experiences or whether animals can have any such type of experience, first of all and other studies in dying humans and dogs have found no brain wave activity that was parallel to what the researchers found in the new study.” Parnia said that after oxygen flow to the brain stops, calcium floods brain cells as they die, and that, rather than consciousness, could explain the electrical activity the researchers saw.

So in retrospect this certainly isn’t any new discovery and what Borjigin said here: “A lot of people believed that what they saw was heaven, science hasn’t given them a convincing alternative” is just plain wrong. Her study very much correlated with that of the likes of Dr Michael Persinger and Dr Susan Blackmore’s work which as I stated previously goes back to research which started in the early 1980’s. This is not a newly discovered hypothesis which offers an explanation for the cause of Near Death Experiences, on the contrary it’s merely a correlation of previous studies on the Near Death Experience Phenomenon in the field of neurotheology and neuroscience, and in reality doesn’t shed any more light on the subject than previous studies which have arrived at similar conclusions in the past. For the hardcore rationalist sceptics this will give them a stronger ground to nail their beliefs into the surface even further. For the open minded sceptic such as myself, who believes in the possibility of many Near Death Experiences being attributed to a paranormal explanation, I would be lying if I said I was wholly impressed.