After TikToker Tyler Henry (@tylerhenrymedium) read about the third man syndrome, a phenomenon where spiritual presences are said to provide much-needed help at important times, he wanted to share a little bit about the subject.
According to a book by John Geiger, a building collapsed in Korea in 1995, trapping someone underneath the rubble for 16 days.
After they were rescued, the survivor said that a mysterious monk gave them an apple for sustenance, which helped them hold onto the hope that they would be rescued alive.
Similar accounts stretch back decades. During World War II, a British neurologist named MacDonald Critchley studied 279 sailors and airmen who ran into dire circumstances in 1943.
He described something called “bioscopic fantasies” in his study, which are instances when people’s lives flash before their eyes, leading to further descriptions about guardian angels.
In 1967, a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry discussed a mining disaster in Pennsylvania. Two miners were trapped, and both of them saw religious images of a pope. It gave them a sense of comfort and hope that they would be rescued.
“For thousands of years, people have gone into the wilderness alone for spiritual pilgrimages to have visions and epiphanies, journey quests, visions induced often by hunger, thirst, illness, or physical strain, and when these conditions are met outside of ritual, religious experiences are often reported,” said Tyler.
Overall, these shared spiritual experiences occurred under extreme stress, fear, and danger. When basic needs are not met or purposely denied, a person’s perception can be altered in powerful ways.
Modern individuals continue to report comparable encounters. Many TikTok users took to the comments section to share their own experiences.
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“I was in isolation in a COVID unit in 2022. My guardian angel took me away to London, Africa, and Dublin. I remember returning to my body the next day. It was otherworldly,” commented one user.
“Happened to me after a car accident. [A] man came to my window and said my engine was smoking, and I needed to get out of the car. The paramedics said he did not exist when I asked about him,” wrote another.
“When I was four, I was thrown into a well. There was a person in the well, telling me how to put my feet on stone to get out,” added someone else.
“I was in labor, alone at the hospital for hours. My mother (who died in 1999) whispered in my ear, ‘He’s the wrong way; tell them.’ He was. C-section, cord around neck…she saved us,” shared a fourth.
These “third man” experiences can be attributed to survival mechanisms, the brain’s way of dealing with fear and providing guidance during extreme stress.
Or, they can be interpreted as spiritual intervention. Whether they’re psychological or supernatural, such experiences have given people the strength they needed to survive catastrophic events.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
