When I was about 17, I cautiously started talking to my mom one night, telling her that I thought I needed to see a psychiatrist. With concern, she asked why, and I hesitantly said that at night, in that time between wakefulness and sleep, I heard.....

"Voices," she filled in. "You hear voices in your head at night before you fall asleep, right? I hear them, too."

I was both stunned and relieved to know that she knew what I was talking about--and that she experienced the same thing. For the next hour or so, we discussed what we heard, and wondered what caused it.

For starters, we both said that this was something that had happened for as long as we could remember--it wasn't anything new--and we agreed that the voices that we heard were not talking to us.

Rather than being talked to, it was more like picking up on phone conversations, and hearing music and foreign languages--very much like listening to various radio stations. And as we compared notes, we both said that as soon as we became consciously aware of what we were hearing, and roused out of the near-sleep state, it stopped.

I'd heard of people picking up radio stations through their dental work or through metal plates in their heads or whatever, but when I first mentioned this to my mom, I was cavity-free with no fillings or other metal in my body....

But just knowing that I wasn't the only one who was experiencing this took away my fear, and I accepted it as some sort of natural and "normal" (albeit "unusual") phenomenon that I started referring to as "cosmic interference." It has continued over the years and it's now something that I really don't pay much attention to.

One night in the early 1990s, however, something happened that was very different from the "regular" voices and music I'd heard all my life. As I was drifting off to sleep, I started hearing Morse code--persistent, distinct, and undeniable. I didn't (and don't) know Morse code, but as I lay there, the dots, dashes and pauses tripped merrily through my head. And it didn't stop, once I became aware of it!

I sat up in bed, fully awake, and the persistent sounds continued. I covered my ears (knowing that I wasn't hearing it with my ears), and it was just as clear as before. I got up, turned the light on, and went to another room to get a pencil and some paper. I tried to record what I was hearing, but it was coming so fast that I gave up. Finally, I went back to bed, tried to ignore it, and eventually fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning, it wasn't there.

It happened again a few weeks later--same scenario--and I again fell asleep with the monotonous-toned dots and dashes clicking in my head....

A few months after this, I was sitting on the floor of my oldest son's bedroom as he went to sleep. (When he was young, he was quite a procrastinator when it came to bedtime. Often I'd just sit in his room and read until he fell asleep.)

I had just finished a chapter in my book when my son suddenly sat straight up in bed and yelled, "Do you HEAR that?!"

I didn't hear anything--everything was quiet--and I asked what he heard.

"Morse Code--I hear Morse Code! Don't you hear it?"

My first reaction was one of surprise, realizing that this HAD to be a legitimate and "real" phenomenon, for him to hear it, too....

I tried to reassure him and tell him that it was nothing to be afraid of, but he was very distressed that he could hear something that I couldn't--even though I told him that I'd heard it before. He covered his ears, and then put the pillow over his head, but the sounds continued. He even asked me to put my ear against his head to try to hear it that way! He was just determined that I'd be able to hear it, since it was so clear to him.

I started laughing at that point (which, under the circumstances, wasn't a very comforting or motherly thing to do!), but finally he started to relax. We talked a little about "frequencies," and eventually he was able to go to sleep. His last words before drifting off, though, were: "I still hear it...."

Both of us continued to hear this, every now and then, and I'm convinced that there's nothing "metaphysical" or "paranormal" about it. At this very moment you are surrounded by literally thousands and thousands of "voices." Do you hear them? Do you want to hear them? Then simply turn on your television or radio. The frequencies are always there, and with the proper receiver, you suddenly become aware of them.

As I wrote this article, my curiosity again grew regarding the mechanics behind the phenomenon of sporadically receiving frequencies in this way, and so I did an internet search with "Morse code in my head" as the unlikely search term! To my delight, I discovered others who have experienced this, and being the bold sort (when caught up in the adventure of exploring) I emailed someone who appeared to be totally reliable and credible.

Professor Peter Cochrane--OBE, BSc, MSc, PhD, DSc, CGIA, FEng, FIEE, FIEEE, FRSA--is a Graduate of Trent Polytechnic and Essex University, Fellow of the IEE, IEEE and the Royal Academy of Engineering, Member of the New York Academy of Sciences, Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, The Collier Chair for The Public Understanding of Science & Technology at The University of Bristol, and a visiting professor to University College London, Essex and Kent Universities. He is also the co-founder of ConceptLabs, a company devoted to the development of new technologies.

In my email, I briefly described my experiences and asked if he could offer an explanation. Dr. Cochrane graciously wrote back and said that everyone, from time to time, could experience hearing Morse code or other radio transmissions because "We are wet, we consist of semi-conducting materials, and electrolytes are fundamental to human life." He continued by saying that a high energy Morse code signal gets "rectified" inside the human head, and that the ability to hear such things depends upon one's chemical state.

Dr. Cochrane said that the sensation of the (radio) sounds stopping was due to acoustic noises drowning them out, but he added that it was possible for one to still hear Morse code when wide awake because of its much narrower band width.

His final comment was to assure me that I was "far from crazy," and he went on to say that in addition to Morse code, he used to hear broadcasts of rugby games!

I am most appreciative of Dr. Cochrane's responses to my emails, and for his taking the time to offer scientific explanations about this phenomenon. (In 2008--maybe in response to inquiries generated by this article!--Dr. Cochrane addressed this topic on his blog.)

Perhaps as we come to better understand human physiology--and learn more about the mechanisms that occasionally allow us to become "human radios"--it will lead to an understanding of the mechanics involved in what we consider to be "psychic" communication. And when that happens, we will be able to more clearly see--and demystify--another part of the "elephant."