Recently, I watched a couple of films with my children: Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse, A Minecraft Movie and The Adam Project. Movies which got me thinking — how long would it take to build my own city in Minecraft? (Completely off-track, and likely like me forever.) I decided to return to what I know, mainly the paranormal. However, with the films reminding me of multiverse theory, I thought perhaps there was an opportunity here to delve into a good old para-theory. While the word in itself makes no real link to the paranormal, it just means “beyond theory.” Instead, let’s treat it as an ideas session — a virtual adventure into the hyperverse.

Thanks to those films, a few documentaries, and one or two books, I know that in physics, the multiverse theory suggests that our universe is not the only one. Which also makes Highlander more difficult to resolve — he would seem to have a final battle with himself from all the universes. There can only be one.

Anyway, I digress. Not only could there be multiple universes, the possibilities could be infinite. Imagine that for a second — an infinite number of universes each built on those moments when a single choice is made. How many choices have you made in the last twenty-four hours? Perhaps even the last hour? It’s truly mind-boggling to think about.

Science provides us with several variations of the multiverse theory, and some of the more popular ones are:

• Quantum Multiverse, where every quantum decision branches into a new universe.
• Bubble Universe, where different universes float in a kind of cosmic foam.
• Brane Theory, where parallel universes exist on membranes that sometimes touch ours.

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Firstly, this small point! Some of you out there reading this may simply think this is a way of providing a nice, simple explanation for paranormal activity, rather than accepting that we can return and communicate after our death. And you may be right — a multiverse theory may work in theory and may not be the only explanation. However, it is the explanation that doesn’t rely on the dead returning to haunt or simply to satisfied a conventional explanation. Do we still not really have an explanation? We still do not really know, so why not look beyond the normal answers?

Many years ago, I stumbled on the concept of timelines whilst I investigated the Royal Oak pub in Swanage (more on that haunted pub later perhaps). Looking into timelines started me thinking more deeply about how such a concept could work. This soon had me reading more about multiverse theory and thinking about time and paranormal events in a very different way. It added a whole new dimension to the paranormal and about a million more questions. However, it also provided two possible explanations which did not rely on ghosts and spirits — suggesting a return from beyond the grave. Some very different ideas started to come to mind.

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Actually, the multiverse theory provides us with some good explanations of paranormal events. So, when we see an apparition, for example, this could be “imaginary seepage” through to our dimension from another dimension. The same could be said of audible phenomena, and in general many phenomena. Even physical phenomena often associated with poltergeist activity could be where the two dimensions are pretty much crossing the same space and time. Although it could also be a spirit in different kinds of ways, it could present simultaneously similar to what we encounter time slips.

Whilst multiverse theory is quite appealing, as it appears to bridge a gap between science and the supernatural, and it may seem to account for both intelligent and residual type hauntings, we should not yet put all our energy on multiverse theory. Even though the theory seems to open the door to other strange phenomena like déjà vu, the Mandela Effect, sleep paralysis, cryptid sightings, and more, still mainstream science has yet to consider the multiverse testable, which means there is certainly more theory than proven fact currently. Still, quantum physics is really strange, so you never know.

It’s always easy to get caught up in the many possibilities of the paranormal. Falling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. Although sometimes Occam’s Razor doesn’t seem to help either, as the simplest answer is not always obvious, what’s needed is to explain the oddities that the paranormal gives us. Just because something appears strange doesn’t mean it’s paranormal with ghosts behind it. We have to really ensure that we evaluate situations correctly and not jump to conclusions.

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However, if we return to our multiverse theory, then there could be some interesting possible environmental changesthat may be a link at something going on. So, when people experience paranormal activity, there can be changes in light, temperature, and other environmental elements that could be representative of the two universes coming so close that a reaction begins to occur. Is it possible we are already seeing evidence of this multiverse theory?

Whatever we tend to lean towards, the paranormal certainly continues to keep us all guessing, doesn’t it? When you speak to believers or spiritualists, their conviction in the supernatural having an other-deathly explanation is often fascinating. It often feels a little like putting Carl Sagan up against Kreskin.

The concept of the multiverse theory as an explanation for ghosts is an interesting one in my mind, but what are your thoughts?