Mental disorders are still a mystery not only for ordinary people, but also for scientists. After all, the reasons that cause our mind to âfailâ are still not known. Heredity, childhood abuse, birth trauma and stress can lead to the development of the disease, but sometimes the reasons why a person begins to see the invisible remain a mystery. But what if hallucinations, which are one of the main symptoms of mental disorders, are not games of a sick mind, but a physical phenomenon that can be fixed using special devices? Suddenly, people who have been given a terrible diagnosis are able to see what healthy people donât see?
This article is dedicated to the person who tried to fix hallucinatory images - the psychiatrist Gennady Krokhalev. Was he a genius who opened the door to other realities, or a charlatan who wished to gain fame in a not entirely honest way? In this article we will try to answer this question.
Beginning of research by Gennady Krokhalev
Gennady Krokhalev, whose biography is no less mysterious, why his research, was born on August 12, 1941 in the Perm region. In 1965, the guy graduated from a medical institute, and in 1967 began to work in one of the Omsk psychiatric hospitals. Most of Krokhalevâs patients were people with alcoholism: in a state of delirium, patients saw bright, frightening hallucinations.
Once, Gennady Krokhalev read an article in the journal Technique of Youth on attempts to film images of visual hallucinations. It was reported that the images that appear in the human brain are transmitted to the retina of the eye, and from there to the surrounding space. Of course, only people suffering from mental disorders can see hallucinations. However, you can fix hallucinatory images using a conventional camera.
One of the main hobbies of Gennady Krokhalev began with this article: he decided that he should try to repeat the experiments described in the journal on his own, since there was no shortage of subjects.
Background
The idea that hallucinations can be projected by patients into space is far from new. This idea periodically tormented researchers. Indeed, some facts confirm this surprising hypothesis. For example, it has long been noticed that visual hallucinations obey the physical laws of refraction: if you press on the patientâs eyeball, the images are bifurcated, and if a person looks through binoculars, the image can approach or, on the contrary, move away. Such phenomena were recorded quite often, but the Soviet psychiatrist Gennady Krokhalev was the first to start their experimental investigation, whose works are currently either lost or classified. It was he who tried empirically to prove that any thought is really material.
First experiments
In January 1974, Gennady Krokhalev, together with his brother, decided to conduct the first experiment on fixing hallucinatory images onto a film. Researchers decided to start with themselves. But how can a person who is not mentally ill see a hallucination? The brothers decided to use one of the properties of human perception, long known to Gestalt psychologists. Gennady for a long time examined the woman's portrait in bright light. When the light was turned off, the image remained before his eyes: anyone can repeat this experience. In the dark, Krokhalev Gennady Pavlovich tried with an effort of thought to project the image that stood before his mental gaze onto a film. Surprisingly, after developing in one of the frames, a fuzzy female portrait was noticeable.
Patient Experience: Advanced Technology
In order to explore the hallucinatory images of his patients, Krokhalev came up with a special device: he attached the camera to their eyes with a special mask. This made it possible not to darken the room while trying to fix the visions.
For 22 years, Krokhalev was able to examine a total of 250 patients. In 117 of them, images of visual hallucinations were obtained. At the same time, the patients themselves easily identified the images obtained on the film with those images that appeared before them in hallucinations. The coincidences could not fail to amaze: the photographs clearly show cats, devils, people and other creatures that so frightened the unfortunate patients of the psychiatric clinic. Thus, the scientist Gennady Krokhalev proved his hypothesis. Photos of patient visions were sent to leading scientific institutions in Russia.
Criticism of the works of Krokhalev
Of course, the scientific community could not help but become interested in the discovery of the Omsk doctor. Krokhalevâs ideas were tested by Moscow researchers and scientists from the Russian Ministry of Health. However, during the experiments in which Krokhalev did not participate, no images were obtained on the film.
It is known that one of the main criteria for the scientific nature of an idea is the ability to experimentally confirm it anywhere in the world. If the phenomenon is fixed in Omsk, but scientists in Moscow do not get a similar result, the idea is recognized as having nothing to do with science. Such a fate befell Krokhalev. And real hostilities unfolded against him: his articles did not go to print, and at conferences held abroad, he simply wasnât released. It got to the point that Gennady was recognized as crazy and even tried to be put in a psychiatric hospital ...
Explanation of experimental results
How is the possibility of fixing hallucinatory images on the film explained? Krokhalev Gennady Pavlovich himself believed that visual hallucinations are of external origin. In a sick person, the energy potential decreases, and he begins to see what is impossible to see in a normal state of consciousness. By the way, this idea was experimentally confirmed: if patients were placed in a shielded dark room, then hallucinations disappeared.
Krokhalev was sure: he was able to prove the existence of a subtle astral world with negative energy, which only a select few can see. And this world is so scary that at the sight of its inhabitants it is simply impossible not to go crazy.
Genius or crazy?
Of course, a discovery of this magnitude cannot but shock the scientific community. However, in Russia, the work of the scientist was never published, while abroad, whole laboratories were created working according to the method created by Gennady Krokhalev. Science and Life has published several articles on his experiments, but that was not all. Meanwhile, many believe that this person is worthy of receiving the Nobel Prize.
True, there is one thing: skeptics are sure that the images obtained by Krokhalev are nothing more than defects in the film, and the patients interpreted the drawings as the inflamed mind told them to. In addition, no one succeeded in confirming the conclusions of the psychiatrist or repeating his experiments.
âCallâ: Krokhalevâs ideas and cinema
Not all people know that one of the most terrible horror films - âThe Bellâ - was shot by a director who was inspired by the ideas of Gennady Krokhalev. According to the plot, the ghost was captured on film, and every person who watched the recording was doomed to die in terrible agony. By the way, an article by Krokhalev entitled "Photographing mental images" was first published in Japan in 1977.
The film "Call" was released on screens in 1998. According to a fateful coincidence, this year Gennady Krokhalev, whose photos of patients so impressed the imagination of the Japanese director, passed away. The scientist committed suicide by hanging.
Murder or suicide?
The death of Gennady Krokhalev, like his research, leaves more questions than answers. Did the scientist die voluntarily or was he "helped" by secret service agents? The second point of view is held by supporters of conspiracy theory, who are convinced that the paranormal world has long been studied in the laboratories of the FSB, and Krokhalev has crossed the line beyond which mere mortals are strictly forbidden. In addition, the daughter of Gennady Pavlovich claims that on the eve of death, her father often said that he was on the verge of a discovery that would revolutionize the world.
Gennady Krokhalevâs brother believes that the researchers were ruined by attempts to penetrate the âforbidden dimensionâ: maybe the creatures that the scientist managed to capture on tape decided to take revenge on a too curious doctor?
At the time of his death, Gennady Krokhalev was only 57 years old.
Mystery gone to the grave
The family of Gennady Krokhalev still leaves no attempts to investigate the death of the scientist. After all, Krokhalevâs brother spoke with him on the phone just two hours before his death: Gennady was vigorous and full of energy, shared plans for further research ... And the daughter of the deceased claims that the time of death, which Gennady Krokhalev recorded for something, was not recorded with his hand ...
Unfortunately, it is not possible to conduct an independent study: unknown people threatened the scientistâs family, they say, you will dig - go after the deceased.
The legacy of Gennady Krokhalev
Gennady Krokhalev, whose photographs prove the reality of the unreal, left behind a lot of works. True, after his death, the materials mysteriously disappeared: shortly before the suicide, the scientist sent them to one of the laboratories of the Russian special services. A call from Moscow prompted him to do this: the researcher was promised enormous funds to continue experiments on fixing mental images. Therefore, at the moment, the data obtained by Krokhalev are inaccessible to the scientific community: who knows, maybe, based on the research of the Omsk psychiatrist, a new generation of psychotropic weapons is being developed? Or is everything much simpler, and scientists found his work to be nonsense, unworthy of close examination?
Anyway, the brother of Gennady Krokhalev refused to continue the research. He believes that you should not touch on a topic that could be dangerous for all of humanity.
Ghost Catcher: Should the existence of the other world be considered a proven fact?
Of course, the question of whether Gennady Krokhalev managed to open a window into the paranormal fourth dimension cannot help but torment people who at least have heard from their ears about the works of an Omsk researcher. So who are we dealing with? With a charlatan who wanted to make a name for himself, insane or with genius?
The first hypothesis should be dismissed immediately: Krokhalevâs relatives claim that the scientist was passionate about his research and sincerely believed in what he was doing. Maybe working with crazy patients for a long time, the psychiatrist went crazy himself? This idea has a right to exist: unfortunately, professional deformation in the âman is a sick personâ system, according to psychologists, is the most pronounced, and doctors often take on some of the symptoms of patients. In addition, on the films that remained after Gennady Krokhalev, it is really difficult to see something other than spots and illegible chiaroscuros. True, Krokhalev was not officially diagnosed.
Maybe Gennady Krokhalev, a psychiatrist from Omsk, was indeed able to find something very important, for which mankind was simply not ready yet. Shortly before his tragic death, the scientist told his relatives that he was able to make an important discovery that could even bring him the Nobel Prize. Perhaps, having realized what consequences his work might have, the scientist decided to die, realizing that it was too early to open the doors to other worlds? Unfortunately, to find out the answer to this question is no longer possible. Although it is possible that in the future, scientists will be able to establish contact with the world of the dead and ask Krokhalev himself about what made him commit suicide ...
Who was Gennady Krokhalev? Books about its discovery are practically inaccessible, and all materials disappeared in Moscow laboratories. Therefore, the answer to this question will not be received soon ...