What All Those Viral TikToks About Declassified CIA Documents Get Right And Wrong
The information is there, but is the proof?
getty images TikTok is undoubtedly a great source of information when it comes to things like recipes, home hacks, and other life tips. It’s even a good place to go when you want to open your mind to points of views you may not have considered before.
However, as with most social media platforms and other websites across the internet, it’s also a breeding ground for misinformation and disinformation.
For example, numerous videos regarding a declassified CIA document have recently gone viral.
The TikToks discuss a 29-page CIA document on 'the Gateway Experience' that includes formerly classified information on manifestation, consciousness, and other quantum ‘cheat codes.’
The 29-page document was written in 1983 and declassified in 2003 along with a similar 21-page document written in 1977.
The documents are remnants of an experiment known as the “Gateway Experience,” a technique developed by the CIA believed to alter human consciousness in order to transcend time and space.
Yes, you read that correctly. The U.S. government actually funded some sort of project aimed at “achieving altered states of consciousness.”
TikToker @abby_careyy dives into the Gateway Experience, explaining that the project seems to “confirm transcendental meditation, hypnosis, and even the Law of Attraction and manifestation, which this document refers to as biofeedback.”
According to the TikTok, use of these techniques would allow one “to access ‘The Gateway.’”
The 1977 document, titled ‘Analysis and Assessment of the Gateway Process,’ introduces a process for expanding human consciousness.
According to the document, the process is based on a technique for “brain hemisphere synchronization,” or “hemi-sync,” developed by the Monroe Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to exploring human consciousness.
If you believe all of the hype these TikToks dedicated to uncovering the “truth” about these documents perpetuate, you’d be convinced that these documents are solid proof that humans are able to create their own reality using only their thoughts.
The report is highly convoluted, and if you’re able to get through it all without falling asleep, I highly commend you. However, wading through all the scientific, dense language, you won’t find the “proof” that you’re looking for.
Instead, the document lists a process that could theoretically lead to a moment where the left and right brain synchronize on the same frequency “to alter consciousness, moving it outside the physical sphere so as to ultimately escape even the restrictions of time and space.”
The 1983 document also provides “daily tools” for people to access this process during their “physical waking life."
Called the Gateway Intermediate Workbook, it includes the various exercises, or “cheat code,” employed by the experiment’s participants to reach this altered state of consciousness.
The workbook opens with affirmations and a reminder for participants to engage in a “resonant breathing exercise” while performing the exercises for things such as:
1. Getting “normal, natural, restful sleep.”
According to the document, the CIA secret to getting better sleep is deep breathing. It instructs you to “breathe deeply 5 times and count from 1 to 20,” promising that you’ll reach a “normal, restful sleep” before getting to the number 20.
2. Improving memory recall.
If you’re ever having trouble remembering something specific, you should try closing your eyes and touching the middle of your forehead lightly with the fingers on your right hand. According to the CIA, this will allow you to “recall and remember that which you consciously desire.”
3. Pain management.
The document suggests that you’re able to “reduce pain signals” to a specific area by closing your eyes and focusing on the area that’s in pain and repeating the number “55515” in your head.
4. Balancing emotions.
You can “reduce emotional charge” by closing your eyes, taking a deep breath, and holding the breath in while visualizing the color green. When you exhale, the document explains that the green energy pushes “harmful emotional charges down through your physical system and out through the soles of your feet.”
While these findings are interesting, they reportedly have not been scientifically proven.
The documents do give some credence to methods like the Law of Attraction that put an emphasis on using your vibrational energy to manifest your reality.
However, as far as we know, not even the CIA has found a testable way to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these methods actually work.
Micki Spollen is an editor, writer, and traveler. Follow her on Instagram and keep up with her travels on her website.