"People afflicted with certain eye diseases give similar reports
of beings from parallel universes."
"People afflicted with Charles Bonnet Syndrome see beings from
another world. Many scientists would call these beings
hallucinations. Others call this syndrome a portal to a parallel
reality.
People with Charles Bonnet Syndrome (or "Bonnet-people") are
otherwise mentally sound. The beings appear when the
Bonnet-people's vision deteriorates as a result of eye diseases
such as age-related macular degeneration -- or when patients have
had both eyes removed. Charles Bonnet Syndrome is more common in
older people with a high level of education.
Bonnet-people report that they see apparitions resembling distorted
faces, costumed figures, ghosts, and little people.
Most Bonnet-people see beings wearing hats. For example, one very
sane woman was sitting quietly at home when she suddenly saw
several two-inch-high, stovepipe-hat-wearing chimney sweeps
parading in front of her. (ref 2.) She tried to catch one, but
could not. Her only medical problem was that she had poor sight due
to macular degeneration.
Magnification of head region of previous image.
One patient described how a friend working in front of a tall
privet hedge suddenly disappeared, as if he had suddenly put on a
cloak of invisibility. "There was an orange peaked cap bobbing
around in front of the hedge and floating in space by its own
devices." (ref. 1)
Fifty percent of Bonnet-people see a disembodied or distorted face
of a stranger with staring eyes and prominent teeth. Sometimes the
strangers are seen only in an outline or cartoon-type form, which
reminds me of the images seen by people taking the psychedelic drug
DMT. The faces "are often described as being grotesque, or like
gargoyles".
Some of the beings have blank eye sockets. (This image is also
reported by people using the hallucinogen Special K. One person
e-mailed me and told me that while under the influence, everything
was normal except that people in the room had no eye sockets, just
a black void, and he saw light being sucked into the void from
around the periphery of the eyeballs.)"
"Bonnet-people also see serene landscapes and vortices. Many
Bonnet-people will see entire new worlds, such as landscapes or
groups of people, which are either life size or tiny "
"Perhaps when vision deteriorates, the brain's visual cortex is
starved for information, and the brain is free to access parallel
realities.
Sometimes the imagery can be complex, almost comical, like two
miniature policemen guiding a midget villain to a tiny prison van,
ghostly (translucent figures floating in the hallway), people
wearing one big flower on their heads), as well as beautiful (a
shining angel, wonderful group of flowers). "
"A Swiss philosopher named Charles Bonnet first described this
condition in the 1760 when he noticed his grandfather, who was
blinded by cataracts, describing birds and buildings that Bonnet
could not see"