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different. 318 »* WHAT COULD AND MIGHT BE that had no relationship at all to what was occurring at the Research Center. People, scenes, and interactions that to all intents and purposes appeared to be going on parallel to this here-and-now existence. Consider, for example, Sean's landing in the middle of an remarkably ordinary family scene in what seemed to be rural Mexico, and Heather's meeting with the Spanish-speaking woman who repeatedly threw a white blanket in front of her. Many volunteers also found themselves in empty rooms, halls, or apartments that seemed similar to this world, but also On the other hand, I wonder if parallel universes that formed, like ours, billions of years ago would appear especially familiar to us. For while the same laws of physics, and therefore biology, would hold sway in our world and theirs, the organisms and the technologies they developed might have taken fantastically different turns. Reptilian, insectlike, and unrecognizable shapes possessing intelligence should not be unexpected, nor should be highly advanced technology of space travel, supercom- putation, and a blending of biology and technology, such as those reported by many of our volunteers. The strangest realms to which DMT might lead are those that exist within the mysterious realms of dark matter. There, which may indeed be here, no one knows what we will find. Dark matter comprises at least 95 percent of this universe's mass. In other words, nearly all of the matter in the universe is invisible. We can- not see it. It neither generates nor reflects radiation of any type, visible or otherwise. The only way we know it is there is by its gravitational effects. It must exist by virtue of the fact that the visible universe maintains its particular shape. Without this mass, there would not be enough gravity to hold the universe together—it would fly apart. Scientists have nominated several candidates for the "stuff that com- prises dark matter. "Normal" matter that radiates little or no light—planets, dead or unborn stars, and black holes—may account for about 20 percent of dark matter. However, it's likely that most, if not all, dark matter consists of par-