Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-07
HALLUCINATION OF FLYING
IS STUDIED BY SCIENTISTS
Child Research Center Seeks to Learn How
Common This Feeling Is and
What It Means.

sister about it and how glorious it was.
II was a wonderful sensation to float
this way. 1t usually occurred in the
when I was child in the country"
another woman said, whenever l
climbed a ladder or tree it seems as If
I would float down, rather than climb
down. The sensation was so marked
sometimes that when I think back
upon it, 1 could not actually swear to
this day that I did not float down
sometimes. 1 can't recall the actual
experience of climbing down. 1t seems
as If got down by floating"
FLEW" While in SnOwstOrm.
when was a little girl in Northern
New York" said another, II sometimes
had the sensation of flying when I was
out in a snowstorm I would seem to
be floating along with the wind-blown
snow, my feet not touching the sur
face. 1t was like being a part of the
snow"
A similar experience was recounted
by a man: aside from flying dreams,
which are so vivid as to constitute a
casionally had the sensation of flying
when I was awake. When I was little
boy l was sent through a snowstorm
about two miles to get doctor for my
little brother. It was hard going and
l thought: If could only fly.'. Almost
Immediately, it seemed, was at the
doctors house. still have vague
memory of seeming to float through the
snow. certainly of moving without con-
SciouS effort.
Sometimes, when am tired, sit in
my chair and close my eyes. My body
seems to rise and float, so much so
that I hover above familiar scenes.
may be DOING cut I can't detect the
transition point between doing and
wakefulnesS. fear to open my eyes
lest 1 fall. am conscious of being
awake"
Invisible Flyer" Is Found.
Another experience was recounted as
follows: IT used often both to dream
and imagine that I was a sort of spirit
I could see others perfectly. Very often
I would take flying trips over the city
and then was able to see and know all
that was going on. Yet 1 was aware
those people I saw could not see me.
1T remember once, when I was s
years old, I tried to convince myself
that I really could fly. Standing on
tiptoes on the top of the steps took
a hopeful plunge. The rest you can
lLlldR1LiC. l WCHt AL arg WAtAA AAJ AASoS
and knees bleeding"
Another similar experience was told
as follows: When I was little girl,
2 or 9 years old, I was taken to see
Maude Adams in Peter Pan For q long
time afterward / used to think could
fly. I and another little girl used to
stand on a graveyard wall, five or six
feet high, close our eyes and fall for
ward. I had q real floating sensation.
It seems as If / actually would float
three or four feet without effort. We
would fall on our faces. The sensation
still seems real. It was so real at the
time that kept it up until I broke my
ankle"
A large number Of accounts of this
kind. it is believed at the Child Re-
search Center, may shed light on some
If the obscure mental processes Of child
hood, besides showing the frequence OF
the hallucination. Each would be ex-
pected to vary in details but contain
the common factor OF the realistic SEN
sation of flying or floating.