Dr. Scott Taylor is the President of the Expanded Awareness Institute, which helps people interested in NDEs explore what that experience means to them and to our culture as a whole. He joined guest host Richard Syrett (Twitter) during the first half of the program to delve into the phenomena of shared-death and near-death experiences. Shared-death experiences (SDE) are not as common as NDEs, Taylor reported, noting it has taken NDE researchers quite some time to devote research to SDEs. "The research shows that 60 percent of the people who had shared-death experiences were nowhere close to the person making their transition," he explained, noting time and space are not factors for those experiencing an SDE with the person leaving their physical body for the final time.
Taylor recalled his own SDE from 1981 when the love of his life, Mary Francis, and her son Nolan were in a horrific car accident. They were taken to the Mayo Clinic where Mary Francis died soon after. It took Nolan six days to make his transition, he disclosed. Taylor was at his bedside as Nolan passed. "When that heart monitor flat-lined, what I experienced was Mary Francis coming across the veil, and she scooped Nolan up out of his physical body, and they had this exquisite reunion," he explained, adding he got to participate in their reunion and feel what they were both feeling, and was overwhelmed with the love and connection the two of them had. According to Taylor, they embraced him, and the three of them left together to go into the light. "What I experienced was something just beyond anything I have words for... it was as if I entered into the love of the universe," he said.
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Author and photographer Tim Scullion has researched the world's first study of ghosts through over 22,000 photographs captured in one of the most haunted states in America: Virginia. His third book of over 200 images takes a close look at ghosts photographed from all over the state and includes homes of U.S. presidents. In the second half of the show, he talked about his ghost photography and provided analysis of a number of eerie images he shared with coasttocoastam.com, including strange apparitions he captured at his former residence. "I was a nonbeliever, and it was quite by accident, by somebody else taking a photo and getting a ghost in it, that I became a believer," Scullion revealed, noting ever since, he has worked to find the best practices for capturing images of spirits.
When the moon is nearly-full to full is apparently the best time to capture ghost photos. "My theory is ghosts are able to make a better appearance because they're using energy from the full moon," he suggested. Scullion uses a full spectrum camera that not only utilizes visible light but infrared and ultraviolet light as well. Recent mobile phone cameras are also able to capture ghost images, but the flash must be turned off, he explained. "I don't know where to point the camera... but there are ghosts just about everywhere," Scullion admitted, adding windows and mirrors seem to be conduits that allow them to better appear in photographs.
He talked about several ghost images, including photos taken at his former home. His house is part of a community built on the site of a former slave plantation about ten miles outside of Williamsburg, Virginia. According to Scullion, the owner of the plantation experienced numerous paranormal occurrences, including being thrown across the library by an invisible entity, which is why he no longer resides there. Scullion claimed to have heard the sound of heavy footsteps walking through his bedroom late at night as he was trying to sleep. On one occasion, he snapped a photo outside of his bedroom window, which shows what appears to be a family surrounded by floating skulls staring back at him.