The Basement: Jeffrey Mishlove | Your Brain Doesn't Create Consciousness. It Filters It
In this episode of The Basement from The Why Files, AJ Gentile interviews parapsychologist Jeffrey Mishlove about his career in consciousness research, his UC Berkeley PhD in parapsychology, and his decades of interview work through Thinking Allowed and New Thinking Allowed. Much of the conversation focuses on Mishlove’s accounts of Ted Owens, a controversial figure who claimed psychokinetic abilities, weather influence, UFO-sighting demonstrations, and contact with “space intelligences.” The episode also discusses Mishlove’s reported shared-death experience involving his great-uncle Harry, terminal lucidity, the Bigelow Institute essay contest, archetypal synchronicity, and Mishlove’s view that consciousness may persist beyond the brain.
RELATED ENTITIES
(35)Source Claims
12- Source reportedAsserted
Mishlove says he earned a PhD in parapsychology from UC Berkeley in 1980
Mishlove describes the degree as the only PhD in parapsychology ever awarded by an accredited American university.
- Source reportedAsserted
Mishlove recounts a Christmas Eve 1985 warning from Ted Owens about the next space shuttle launch
According to Mishlove, Owens called him and said he should warn the U.S. government not to launch the next space shuttle because Owens claimed UFOs would bring it down. The source does not establish that Owens caused, predicted, or had foreknowledge of the Challenger disaster.
- Source reportedAsserted
The Challenger disaster has a conventional documented explanation separate from Owens’s alleged warning
The episode notes that Challenger is conventionally attributed to the O-ring failure, while treating Mishlove’s account of Owens’s warning as separate personal testimony.
- Source reportedAsserted
Mishlove discusses Ted Owens’s claim that Owens could produce UFO sightings on demand
Mishlove says he investigated Owens’s claims and describes an informal attempt to compare reported UFO sightings near the San Francisco Bay Area with a control area near San Diego.
- Source reportedAsserted
Mishlove reports that Ted Owens associated his claimed abilities with “space intelligences”
In Mishlove’s account, Owens attributed some claimed weather, UFO, and psychokinetic effects to telepathic contact with nonhuman “space intelligences.”
- Source reportedAsserted
Mishlove recounts a dream involving his great-uncle Harry that he later interpreted as a shared-death experience
Mishlove says he dreamed of Harry around the time Harry died and later viewed the event as a remote shared-death experience or visitation.
- Source reportedAsserted
Mishlove’s early media work at KPFA helped launch his long career as an interviewer
Mishlove says he began volunteering at KPFA and within weeks was producing interviews on psychic and consciousness-related topics.
- Source reportedAsserted
Mishlove won the 2021 Bigelow Institute contest for an essay arguing that consciousness survives bodily death
Mishlove discusses winning the contest and says the judges unanimously selected his essay for first prize.
- Source reportedAsserted
Mishlove’s Bigelow essay used multiple lines of evidence rather than a single proof claim
Mishlove says his essay drew on near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, reincarnation research, mediumship, physical mediumship, instrumental transcommunication, shared-death experiences, and personal testimony.
- InterpretationAsserted
Mishlove argues that terminal lucidity challenges simple brain-production theories of consciousness
Mishlove uses cases of terminal lucidity, including a reported episode involving his mother, to support the view that consciousness may not be generated solely by the brain.
- InterpretationAsserted
Mishlove favors a filter or transmission model of consciousness
Mishlove presents the brain as more like a receiver or filter for consciousness than as the sole producer of consciousness.
- InterpretationAsserted
Mishlove describes archetypal synchronistic resonance as an alternative to simple reincarnation claims
Mishlove and Brendan Engen’s concept suggests that historical figures may influence living people through symbolic or archetypal resonance without requiring literal past-life identity.
Structure Across Time
How the key people and organizations in this source are involved as events unfold. Built from the extracted timeline — co-appearance here reflects the source’s narrative, not verified coordination.
European warm spell Mishlove later associates with Ted Owens contact
Mishlove says that after attempting to contact Owens in a hypnagogic state, Europe experienced an unusual warm spell with many temperature records; the source does not establish causation.
Bigelow Institute contest win
Mishlove won the Bigelow Institute contest for an essay arguing that consciousness survives bodily death.
Death of Ted Owens
Ted Owens died in Fort Ann, New York, after reportedly sending Mishlove letters about UFO activity near the farmhouse where he was staying.
Thinking Allowed television series
Mishlove’s television series Thinking Allowed aired for roughly 16 years and helped bring consciousness, parapsychology, and related subjects to a broader audience.
Mishlove launches Thinking Allowed after Owens training
Mishlove says he took Ted Owens’s three-day training program and later launched Thinking Allowed, though the source does not establish that Owens’s training caused the show’s success.
Alleged Challenger warning from Ted Owens
Mishlove says Owens called him on Christmas Eve and warned him about a claimed UFO threat to the next space shuttle launch.
Mishlove earns UC Berkeley PhD
Mishlove says he earned a PhD in parapsychology from UC Berkeley and describes it as the only such degree awarded by an accredited American university.
Mishlove meets Ted Owens in London
Mishlove says he met Owens during a parapsychology conference in London amid a serious drought, which Owens claimed he could influence.
Mishlove investigates Owens’s UFO-sighting claims
Mishlove describes an informal test of Owens’s claim that he could produce UFO sightings near the San Francisco Bay Area, with San Diego used as a control area.
KPFA radio work begins
After a dream involving a magazine, Mishlove says he began volunteering at KPFA and quickly started producing interviews on psychic and consciousness-related topics.
Shared-death dream involving Uncle Harry
Mishlove says he dreamed of his great-uncle Harry around the time Harry died and later interpreted the event as a remote shared-death experience.
San Quentin criminology work
While studying criminology at Berkeley, Mishlove says he worked with inmates at San Quentin and developed a stronger sense of shared humanity and consciousness.
Birth of Jeffrey Mishlove
Mishlove was born in 1946 and grew up in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
Research Map
Entities are linked when they share a claim or a dated event in this source. Tap any node to see why it’s here.
The Why Files
AJ Gentile
Hal Puthoff
Chris Bledsoe