About

The Worldwide Initiative for Super Experiencer Research (WISER) Project is a multi-year, multi-phase, mixed methods study that centers people who have experiences that defy explanation. These experiences point to a world beyond the five senses, beyond our current understanding—and in some cases, beyond our wildest imaginations. They offer glimpses into the possibility that we live in a multidimensional multiverse: a participatory, relational reality where consciousness and matter are deeply intertwined.

Many of these individuals report multiple noetic and anomalous experiences across their lives. We call them super experiencers—people who’ve had many distinct types of such experiences.

The following 10 categories of extraordinary experiences emerged from a comprehensive literature review, extensive discussions with experiencers, and insights from our pilot survey. Experiences often fit into more than one category. These are not exclusive but overlapping, dynamic lenses that together capture the multifaceted nature of these extraordinary experiences. We will continue to refine and develop these experience categories as the WISER Project continues.

Expanded self: Experiences of identity that transcend the present life, encompassing memories of past, future, or parallel lives; awareness of a Higher Self or Oversoul; or a felt connection to soul purpose, destiny, or a soul group.
Mystical: Episodes where the ordinary self dissolves into a larger field of awareness, marked by unity, boundless love, or the fear and intensity of losing self and form.
Near-death experiences (NDEs): States of consciousness occurring during or near physical death that may involve perceiving one’s body from a distance; luminous or hellish realms; encounters with beings; or panoramic life reviews.
Noetic dreams: Dreams of unusual vividness or lucidity that convey information, warning, or instruction, including precognitive, shared, or teacher-guided dream experiences.
Nonhuman intelligence (NHI) / Nonphysical human (NPH) encounters: Encounters with otherworldly or discarnate beings—such as extraterrestrials, angels, demons, ancestors, or spiritual guides—experienced as benevolent, neutral, or threatening.
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs): Conscious awareness separating from the physical body and perceiving from an external or nonphysical viewpoint, sometimes involving travel to other realms and dimensions, paralysis, or dual perception.
Paranormal: Encounters with unexplained forces or anomalies—ghosts, poltergeist activity, synchronicities, sounds, smells, or vanishing objects—that challenge ordinary understanding.
Permeable self: Experiences of self boundaries opening to other influences through channeling, mediumship, merging, possession, or spiritual attack.
Psychic: Experiences involving the activation of extrasensory abilities such as telepathy, clairvoyance, remote viewing, psychokinesis, or awareness of energy fields, objects, and events beyond ordinary perception.
Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) / Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) encounters: Observation or direct contact with anomalous aerial craft, orbs, or lights, sometimes accompanied by missing time, bodily marks, health effects, or electrical disturbances.

Super experiencers are ordinary individuals who have extraordinary experiences. Their stories are essential to expanding our understanding of consciousness, human potential, and the very structure of reality. We believe these individuals hold a vital key for humanity—one that may help unlock a deeper, wider, and more integrated understanding of the relationship between consciousness and the cosmos. In fact, there are good reasons to assume that we all have the potential to be super experiencers.

RESEARCH APPROACH

WISER is a multi-phase, multi-year, mixed methods study co-led by the California Institute for Human Science and the Exo Studies Institute. The study is organized into three major phases. These phases proceed sequentially but also overlap, allowing insights from one stage to guide the next. The project was initiated by and for super experiencers, and aims to explore these phenomena rigorously, respectfully, and with open curiosity.

Phases of the Study:

Phase 1 – A global survey of 5,000+ super experiencers (launched in 2025)
Phase 2 – Psychometric assessments and in-depth interviews with 100+ participants (launching in 2026)
Phase 3 – Biological, neurological, and energetic/biofield testing of 50+ participants (e.g., brain imaging, genetic markers, subtle energy) (estimated launch in 2028)

This design ensures both breadth and depth, weaving together first-, second-, and third-person perspectives: from richly contextualized personal narratives to population-level patterns to biomarker exploration.

OUR VISION

WISER is more than a research study. It is a collective effort to broaden how we understand human potential. Our vision is to:

Build a living large-scale database that researchers can use to explore their own questions about extraordinary experiences.
Provide a safe, supportive space for experiencers, offering resources and recognition.
Lift the veil of secrecy and social taboo by showing that these experiences are a normal part of being human.
Explore the relationship between anomalous and noetic experiences, which are too often studied in isolation.
Contribute to the emergence of the superhumanities—a humanities, coined by Jeffrey Kripal, that integrates anomalous, transformative, and extraordinary experiences into the study of what it means to be human. As Kripal writes, “Pursue diversity until the end, make it more radical, render it ontological…decolonize reality itself.”

QUESTIONS WE ARE EXPLORING

The WISER Project seeks to illuminate not only individual experiences but also the larger patterns and meanings they reveal. Some of the central questions guiding our work include:

Impact and intensity – Why are some experiences awe-inspiring and transformative, while others are frightening or difficult? Do certain types – like OBEs, NDEs, or encounters with nonhuman intelligences – tend to lean one way or the other?
Subtle energies and bodies – What role might unseen energies, bodies, or expanded states of awareness play in shaping these experiences?
Trauma and transformation – Why do some people find that crisis or trauma opens a door to extraordinary experiences, while for others it closes it?
Patterns and pathways – Do these experiences happen randomly, or do they follow certain patterns, sequences, or clusters over a lifetime?
Encounters with other beings – When people meet nonhuman intelligences or nonphysical humans, what do they report and how do they make sense of those encounters?
UAP/UFOs and consciousness – Do UAP/UFO sightings or encounters with nonhuman intelligences tend to appear alongside other extraordinary experiences, and if so, what do these clusters suggest about the larger patterns or meanings behind such events?

“Synesthesia” by Miguel Sun

INSPIRATION

WISER builds on a legacy of rigorous inquiry into the outer reaches of human potential. Below are some of its inspirations:

Exceptional Human Experiences – Dr. Rhea White’s framework illustrating how anomalous events can catalyze transformation.
Fundamental Wellbeing – Dr. Jeffery Martin’s research into persistent non-symbolic experiences and awakening.
FREE (Foundation for Research into Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Experiences) – Survey-based study exploring contact with nonhuman intelligences.
Noetic Signature Inventory – A psychometric tool developed at IONS to map patterns of noetic and anomalous experiences.
Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama’s Research – Investigations into subtle energies and anomalous/noetic experiences, including the Apparatus for Meridian Identification (AMI) device.
Multidimensional Model of Subtle Bodies – A framework outlining eight differentiated layers of embodied consciousness, articulated by Kurt Leland in relation to subtle experiences, realms, and beings.
Encounters with Star People – Dr. Ardy Sixkiller Clarke’s ethnographic work documenting Indigenous accounts of contact with Star Beings, blending oral history, cultural cosmology, and cross-world encounters.
Research on UAP Encounters – Dr. Garry Nolan’s exploration of correlations between the basal ganglia and anomalous encounter experiences.
Near-Death Experience Research Foundation – Dr. Jeffery Long’s global database of 5,000+ near-death experiences, launched in 1998 and translated into more than 20 languages.
Archives of the Impossible – A multidisciplinary archive and research initiative at Rice University curated by Dr. Jeffrey J. Kripal, housing thousands of materials related to anomalous and extraordinary human experiences.
The Superhumanities – Dr. Jeffrey J. Kripal’s scholarly proposal to integrate anomalous experience into humanistic inquiry.

Our Call

Whether you are a curious observer, a fellow experiencer, or a researcher of consciousness, noetic, and anomalous phenomena—we invite you to be part of this global effort.