Sensory isolation in floatation tanks as a method of promoting ESP phenomena

Research into psi‑conducive conditions often employs methods that reduce external sensory input, including meditation, dream ESP, and the Ganzfeld procedure (Baptista, Derakhshani, & Tressoldi, 2015). Floatation tanks offer a closely related yet underexplored technique in which participants lie in a dense Epsom‑salt solution at skin temperature in darkness and quiet, minimising auditory, visual, vestibular and somatosensory stimulation. This promotes profound relaxation and heightened internal awareness (what Lilly termed “in‑perience”) and aligns conceptually with Honorton’s Noise Reduction Model for psi research (Lilly, 1969, 1977). Historically, floatation has been proposed as a means of inducing psi‑conducive states, but the empirical literature is sparse, with only a handful of exploratory studies testing ESP under floatation conditions (e.g., Rogo, 1980; Schwartz, 1983). A pilot by Cooper, Saunders, and Hitchman (2020) used 12 telepathy trials with a single participant and produced mixed but encouraging outcomes. Building on that work, we adopted a precognition protocol to enhance methodological control and to examine practice effects and individual differences across a larger sample. Beyond detection of above‑chance scoring, we were interested to explore whether altered states of consciousness can be functionally relevant to psi performance. We therefore integrated post‑float measures (abbreviated PCI) and trait batteries (e.g., Sensory Processing Sensitivity/HSP, transliminality, Big Five) to test whether depth of state and person‑level variables predict performance.