# Two people described a room they couldn't see

> A test of out-of-body experiences failed at its own task, then produced something the researchers weren't looking for.
- Title: Two people described a room they couldn't see · Dailymail
- Summary: A test of out-of-body experiences failed at its own task, then produced something the researchers weren't looking for. The headline result was a miss, but…
- Keywords: consciousness, out-of-body, parapsychology, research, neuroscience, news, entertainment, Two, people, described, room, couldn't
- Source: Dailymail — https://dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-16130123/Can-consciousness-leave-body-Bizarre-study.html?ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490&ns_mchannel=rss
- Published: 2026-09-14T14:13:55+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: consciousness, out-of-body, parapsychology, research, neuroscience, news, entertainment
## A test of leaving the body
Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System ran a study on whether consciousness can gather information from outside the body. The result was not the one they set up to find.
## Twenty-one people, one laptop
The team recruited 21 participants and asked each to name a random object displayed on a laptop screen in a separate room, behind closed doors.
## Nobody got the object
Ten participants reported having an out-of-body experience. Thirteen named an object. Not a single one named the right object.
## Then the twist
Two participants did not identify the object, but described the researchers in the other room in exact detail, including where they sat and what they were doing.
## The first description
One participant said a researcher was seated on the left looking at a laptop screen, while a second researcher sat farther back, reading a book.
## The second description
Another participant placed one researcher on the right taking notes, and a second on the left at the computer.
## The records checked out
Trial records confirmed both descriptions matched what was happening in the room at the time of those participants' sessions.
## No line of sight
The participants had no ordinary way to see any of it. The researchers were behind closed doors in another room the whole time.
## A name for it
The team floated the idea of "out-of-body remote viewing": picking up scene details rather than the target the experiment was actually testing for.
## What it would mean
Lead author Dr Marina Weiler says accurate information gathered outside the ordinary senses would force a rethink of how consciousness, perception and the physical world connect.

> We would have to reconsider some of our assumptions about the relationship between consciousness, perception and the physical world.
## Weiler's own caveat
She is explicit that two cases prove nothing yet. The finding has to be tested prospectively, under rigorous conditions, before anyone can say what it means.

> The unexpected findings give us a potentially useful new direction, but they also need to be tested prospectively.
## Better questions, not answers
Weiler frames the value as methodological. A surprise result handed the team a specific, testable idea they did not have before.

> Unexpected findings can sometimes help us ask better questions.
## The wider backdrop
A 2017 NYU Langone study of cardiac arrest survivors found some could recall conversations and events around them after their hearts stopped, though brainwaves vanish within 20 seconds.
## Key takeaway

The headline result was a miss, but two accurate descriptions of a sealed-off room gave scientists a sharper question to test next.