The Role of Empathy in UAP & Psi Experiences

By Lisa Puzo Strickland, PhD

April 2026 (Original edit in www.TheWowSignal.news)

The UAP experience evokes complex emotions that are easily misunderstood.

Some people find the experience terrifying, either because humans naturally process the unknown through a filter of fear or because the moment itself is simply frightening.

For others, however, witnessing the phenomena can be awe-inspiring such as when orbs dance to the collective rhythms of group consciousness.

Either way, a UAP experience can be convoluted and allusive, containing elements that are not ordinary to typical human comprehension. 

The same is true for all para or beyond-normal events or encounters. I am referring to psi, or anomalous interactions that cannot be readily explained like a psychic download or an out of body experience. Or seeing a UAP.

While we normally cannot control our initial reactions to these kinds of events, we have learned that the level of one’s empathy appears to play a significant role in how we respond to and remember any type of psi experience.

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Empathy relates to one’s level of sensitivity toward another’s physical, mental, or emotional state whether that state is positive or negative.

There are several degrees of empathy, but for the purposes of this article, I will refer generally to lower and higher levels of empathy and how each relates to the UAP and psi experience.

It is important to keep in mind that every human is born with a particular degree of empathy, but, with life experience, that degree can change throughout one’s lifetime.

For example, learning to actively listen or consider various viewpoints can boost empathy levels, while joining the armed forces and being continually subjected to the systematic reduction of allowable emotional responses can result in the steady and severe lessening of one’s empathy.

There is no good or bad level of empathy because, as I will explain, both lower and higher degrees are beneficial depending on what is needed to be derived from a particular circumstance.

The Lower Empath

A person with a lower degree of empathy either possesses a small amount or none at all.

A low empath can effectively comprehend another’s state of being yet still find it difficult to share or mirror those feelings. In other words, they understand what is happening but cannot emotionally relate to it due to the impaired function of their mirror neuron system.

Moreso, those with no empathy are called non-empaths.

According to author and UCLA professor, Dr. Judith Orloff, who specializes in empathy, a non-empath is “compared to a narcissist or a sociopath who have empathy deficiency disorder, meaning they don’t really have empathy as we know it. Their mirror neurons are thought to be hypoactive,” or dysfunctional.

Overall, a lower empath is more likely to interpret a UAP or psi event as being a threat so their responses may be fearful and defensive as they immediately strive to understand the phenomena by filtering its components through what is currently known or theorized.

A lower empathetic response may be How is this dangerous? or How do I stop it?

This kind of dialogue can create a framework that is both limiting and diminutive because it leaves little to no room for expanded possibilities. It also sets a presiding tone that is later difficult to shift.

We see these alarming narratives throughout the media as the fear agenda toward UAP and NHI continues to dampen enthusiastic curiosity and scientific inquiry.

This grayed portrayal bleeds into parapsychological studies as well, dimming both attention to and resources toward important psi research.

That being said, we need lower empathetic personalities for their discernment and critical thinking. We rely on them to keep us grounded in reality and safe from harm as they lean more toward pragmatism and less toward idealism.

But a balance is necessary, especially when it comes to UAP and psi. As with all discovery, sound judgement can only be furthered by the trumpet of potentiality. This brings us to the higher empath.

The Higher Empath

A higher empath tends to feel what another is going through, sometimes even ingesting those feelings into their own body.

They are energetically sensitive and, therefore, exhausted by crowded places and dislike loud noises as they yearn for nature and quiet.

Orloff offers a scientific explanation to this type of empath: “The mirror neurons, the compassion neurons of the brain are hyperactive, where they’re just working overtime … we feel compassion for everything and everybody and the world.”

Because a higher empath is more open and emotionally absorbent than a lower empath, they have a higher tolerance for the mystery of a UAP or psi encounter. To better explain, they are not as in a hurry to resolve the uncertainty and are more willing to entertain various explanations.

They may also be more inclined to notice subtle nuances like telepathic impressions or internal modulations than the lower empath who tends to put up a cognitive threat block.

Therefore, the higher empath - who might ask How am I connected to this entity? or What are they trying to teach us? - may attach a stronger degree of curiosity and a greater relational meaning to the UAP and psi experience. This allows them to perceive a relevance to rather than separateness from the phenomenon at hand.

All in All

While higher empathy can soften the fear response and heighten the sense of interconnectedness between all of life and its many facets (both psi and non-psi), lower empathy serves to define and compartmentalize the resulting ontological effects.

It is the yin and yang of parapsychological research: the demand for both compassionate attachment and detached analysis.

This is why it benefits humanity for both lower and higher empathetic people to have these unique experiences. One asks How? while the other exclaims Wow!.

So, as UAP and psi abilities and activities increase in occurrence, may we also raise our awareness to our own psyches and responses.

Because to understand any phenomenon, we must start with a deeper understanding of ourselves. 

-LPS

Source: Orloff MD, Judith, The Empath’s Survival Guide, Talks at Google, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Nn0VlS0CU&t=2064s