Medical Conditions That Contribute to UFO/UAP/Paranormal Sightings?

[Gary C]

While reading up on symptoms/treatments related to my own visual health, I was wondering if some percentage of 'sightings' could be attributable to known biomedical conditions such as "floaters" or macular degeneration?

"Eye floaters are spots in your vision. They may look to you like black or gray specks, strings, or cobwebs. They may drift about when you move your eyes. Floaters appear to dart away when you try to look at them directly."

Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eye-floaters/symptoms-causes/syc-20372346

It occurs to me that interpreting historical reports by single witnesses would be especially prone to this as a source of error as a witness in premodern times may not have possessed any understanding of the structure or optical behavior of the human eye.

Obviously it would require a physical examination to rule this in or out as an explanation for any given sighting.

Does this sound like a worthwhile avenue of debunking investigation?

 

[FatPhil]

As someone who's suffered from floaters since middle school, I think anyone that's reached the age of about 8 or 9 should be smart enough to work out what's going on and not get fooled by such things.

 

[Ann K]

I've seen things "move" in my house when I'm alone. Not floaters (I think), but something like a wayward wisp of hair that catches the light. That's not a biomedical condition, but it serves the same purpose in this respect.

...although occasionally it's just a mouse.

 

[Gary C]

As someone who's suffered from floaters since middle school, I think anyone that's reached the age of about 8 or 9 should be smart enough to work out what's going on and not get fooled by such things.

That assumes a minimal level of situational awareness on the part of the witness. Something we often see as lacking in UFO/UAP reports.

I was diagnosed with an early onset form of macular degeneration in my 40s, much sooner than it would manifest in most Americans. It first manifested as slight distortions of my peripheral vision. I saw a doctor almost immediately' but there was almost no treatment at the time. Floaters were a secondary symptom of my condition.

I suspect such a condition could be interpreted by someone in a pre-modern society as 'something was there and then I turned my head and it was gone.'

 

[Mauro]

I suspect such a condition could be interpreted by someone in a pre-modern society as 'something was there and then I turned my head and it was gone.'

When I was a child
I had a fleeting glimpse
Just round the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my fingers on it now
The child is grown, the dream is gone
And I have become comfortably numb

 

[Ann K]

When I was a child
I had a fleeting glimpse
Just round the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my fingers on it now
The child is grown, the dream is gone
And I have become comfortably numb

"Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there..."

 

[MonkeeSage]

"Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there..."

Huh! I just learned that is from a poem called "Antigonish" by Hughes Mearns. I only knew of it from the 2003 psychological thriller "Identity" which, without giving spoilers, deals with some psychological issues and the perception of reality.

 

[John J.]

Though unlikely to be a cause of UFO reports, people here might be interested in Charles Bonnet syndrome.

Some people, usually with failing or severely impaired vision, report visual hallucinations, sometimes "simple" (flashes of light, geometric shapes or grids), sometimes "complex" (structured and detailed images of objects, animals, people).

People with significant vision loss may have vivid recurrent visual hallucinations (fictive visual percepts). One characteristic of these hallucinations is that they usually are "Lilliputian" (hallucinations in which the characters or objects are smaller than normal)

Wikipedia, Visual release hallucinations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_release_hallucinations

My impression- before reading the links below- was that the perception of small, often cartoon-like and essentially friendly, or at least benign, figures was a common type of complex Charles Bonnet hallucination, but other sources don't really support that interpretation.
Years ago, I met an elderly lady with recurrent Bonnet hallucinations; she was mildly amused by them- small brightly dressed people and animals- so I expect that shaped my understanding of the subject.
Like most people with Charles Bonnet syndrome, she was fully aware that the hallucinations were just that.

The source is neurological- spontaneous neuronal activity in the visual cortex in the absence of normal input from the visual pathway- but it isn't a mental health condition, and it's not associated with non-vision-related health problems.

Causes of visual impairment that might cause Charles Bonnet Syndrome include macular degeneration and cataracts.
Cataracts are readily treatable in most people; improved vision ends Bonnet hallucinations.
(UK) National Health Service, Charles Bonnet syndrome https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/charles-bonnet-syndrome/,
"Effect of cataract surgery on cognition, mood, and visual hallucinations in older adults", Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery 41 (6), J.M. Jefferis, M.P. Clarke, J.P. Taylor https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26096519/;
"Effect of cataract surgery on visual hallucinations in older adults" [letter], C.S. Tan, Kai, Cheong et al., Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery 41 (10), https://journals.lww.com/jcrs/Fulltext/2015/10000/Effect_of_cataract_surgery_on_visual.48.aspx

One thing that is certain is that hallucinations do not mean the person is mentally ill. However bizarre, frightening or funny their content, Charles Bonnet hallucinations are no more than a normal brain's response to reduced visual input.
While they may be an inconvenience, they are not a cause for concern. If you find your hallucinations upsetting, talk to your doctor or ophthalmologist about the problem.

Macular Society, Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS), https://www.macularsociety.org/macular-disease/macular-conditions/charles-bonnet-syndrome/

Again, CBS is unlikely to be a cause of UFO/ Nessie/ Sasquatch etc. sightings, as the experiencers usually have very poor vision which is known both to themselves and others, and (importantly) the experiencer is almost always aware of the illusory nature of the hallucinations.
Can't help but wonder if sometimes very elderly residents with poor vision in e.g. care homes, maybe with undiagnosed CBS, might report the odd strange sighting to carers, perhaps starting a ghost story. Pure speculation though.

There is a transitory, possibly related phenomena known as "The Prisoner's Cinema" where some people, in conditions of darkness for protracted periods, have reported visual hallucinations,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_cinema

I've attached a PDF, "Understanding Charles Bonnet syndrome", 2024, Royal National Institute of Blind People.
It states that (some) children with visual loss also experience CBS.

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"Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there..."

Huh! I just learned that is from a poem called "Antigonish" by Hughes Mearns. I only knew of it from the 2003 psychological thriller "Identity" which, without giving spoilers, deals with some psychological issues and the perception of reality.

I first heard it in an episode of Sapphire and Steel, 1979-1982. Joanna Lumley and David McCallum played the eponymous temporal agents, trying to fix "leaks" in time, where (unpleasant) events from some previous era intruded into the present.
Like several other British SF series aimed at children around that time- along with public information films, and some dramas broadcast for family viewing (Survivors; The Nightmare Man)- there seemed to be a concerted effort to scare the nation's children sh*tless.

 

[NorCal Dave]

As someone who's suffered from floaters since middle school, I think anyone that's reached the age of about 8 or 9 should be smart enough to work out what's going on and not get fooled by such things.

Yeah, but as someone that just recently experienced some bigger and more persistent floaters, the cobweb type, for the first time at 60, I could see where some would not be aware of it. Even as a regular here who tries to be logical, I found it a bit disconcerting. I get an annual eye examine, which results in the Dr. not being able to sell me anything because my eyes are good. I need cheaters, but that's typical for my age. So, I thought, what's wrong with my eyes? Then I remembered @JMartJr mentioning floaters in a post and I relaxed a bit. Now, as I assume for you, they're just annoying.

But imagine someone in their late '50s or so that is into all kinds of woo and spiritualism experiencing floaters for the first time. Lord knows what they might think.

 

[Eburacum]

hough unlikely to be a cause of UFO reports, people here might be interested in Charles Bonnet syndrome.

Some people, usually with failing or severely impaired vision, report visual hallucinations, sometimes "simple" (flashes of light, geometric shapes or grids), sometimes "complex" (structured and detailed images of objects, animals, people).

Curiously enough, I think my mum had Charles Bonnet syndrome.

She saw a horse in the garden that wasn't there, and she once misidentified the full moon as a 'UFO'.

Her vision was very bad towards the end of her life, but she didn't seem to fully appreciate the vagueness of her perceptions. Charles Bonnet syndrome fills in the missing data from your optic nerve with loose re-interpretations, but some of the interpretations are less plausible than others.