Ken Springer
The phenomenon of the Third Man Factor explained
“It is entirely possible that behind the perception of our senses, worlds are hidden of which we are unaware.” Albert Einstein
Several weeks ago, this column offered up a fictional story about a mountain climber who was swept into a deep crevasse by an avalanche. The climber’s dire predicament was ameliorated by what he believed was an unseen presence who urged and helped him to escape an almost certain death.
Although the story was merely a product of the author’s imagination, the strange experience of the stranded mountain climber is, in one sense or another, a real phenomenon known as the Third Man Factor, also referred to as Third Man Syndrome.
The concept of intervening angels in an extremely perilous situation is not new. Soldiers participating in the retreat from Mons in 1914 by the French and British armies in the First World War allegedly reported the appearance of angels offering comfort and guidance at the soldiers’ most perilous moments.
At about the same time in 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and crew set sail in the Endurance for Antarctica from Plymouth, England, intent on crossing the frigid continent via the South Pole. Shortly after leaving South Georgia Island, the Endurance encountered pack ice.
A month later, after sighting Antarctica, the Endurance is trapped in the ice and sinks in November 1915. With no alternatives, the starving crew hauls lifeboats across the ice and finally reaches Elephant Island in April of 1916.
Shackleton assembles a five-man crew to reach South Georgia. Once there, he chooses a team consisting of himself, Tom Cream and Frank Worsley to trek to the manned Stromness Whaling Station to summon a rescue of the rest of his crew. The three men set out on foot through the rugged, unmapped, mountainous terrain, arriving at Stromness some 36 hours later.
The venture was a success, and the entire crew was rescued. It is what happened during the challenging trek that is relevant to the concept of the Third Man Factor. All three men, including Shackleton, shared the sense that another presence accompanied them and provided comfort in their ordeal—a fourth man, if you will. Shackleton would later refer to the unseen presence as their “Divine Companion.”
The British poet, T.S. Eliot was so taken by Shackleton and his men’s experience that he wrote and published the following poem in his book “The Waste Land.”
Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
—But who is that on the other side of you?
Writer John Geiger coined the phrase “The Third Man Factor” in his fascinating book, published in 2008. Once I started this book, I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. Geiger was aware of the phenomenon from climbing friends who had experienced it firsthand.
For five years, Geiger collected stories from adventurers and even victims of catastrophes, such as Ron DiFrancesco, who had a profound, unseen guide experience in helping others escape the South Tower of the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attack. I highly recommend this book.
That so many people have had a brush with the Third Man Factor beckons the question, what are we to believe about such experiences? There are two main camps of thought: one posits supernatural explanations, and the other attributes the phenomenon to an artifact of the human brain.
Several years ago, I began researching and interviewing people who have experienced another distinct phenomenon called Near Death Experience, or NDEs, as they are generally called. After hearing many of these accounts firsthand, I believe that the experiencers honestly thought it was not a hallucination but were adamant that it was the most real thing that had ever happened to them.
According to most sources a near-death experience (NDE) is a profound, personal experience associated with death or impending death. These experiences often include sensations of detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, and intense emotions like joy or serenity. Many individuals also report a life review, encountering a bright light, or seeing deceased loved ones.
Although the NDE differs from the Third Man Factor, the notion of divine intervention remains tantalizing. On the other hand, most scientists, particularly neuroscientists, believe the NDE and the Third Man Factor are the result of altered states of consciousness brought on by extreme physiological stress.
Let’s step back and look at a few of the many people, notable and otherwise, who have experienced the Third Man Factor.
None other than Charles Lindbergh experienced what he called “ghostly presences” about 23 hours into his grueling transatlantic flight to Paris. He would later say in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Spirit of St. Louis, that these figures gave him comfort and guidance for the remainder of the flight.
British mountain climber Frank Smythe had a similar experience during his 1933 solo attempt on Mt. Everest. He noted in his diary that at one point in the climb, he offered to share his Kendal mint cake with his benevolent but unseen companion.
In 1997, cave diver and geologist Stephanie Schwabe was diving in a blue hole in the Bahamas collecting soil samples when she lost sight of her guideline, a crucial tool for navigating her way out of the underwater cave. A sensed presence suddenly appeared beside her, helping her find the guideline. Her husband, Bob, had died in a diving accident just three weeks before – Stephanie feels that it was her husband who saved her life.
Such stories about benevolent spirits appearing at crucial times abound. They come from trapped miners, pilots and even astronauts. Like Near-Death Experiencers, those who have encountered the Third Man Factor are firmly convinced that their experience was real.
In many ways these experiences are real, but how do we explain them? You will likely agree that these things do happen, and that they occur in a prescribed way. Are NDEs and the Third Man Factor something we may never be able to explain in a materialist sense; or are they strictly a “last ditch” effort of the brain to maintain life? And how do you research something so seemingly ephemeral and seductively supernatural?
From the scientific perspective, the Third Man Factor may result from extreme stress and, therefore, is a natural response under such duress. Or it could be a hallucination triggered by a lack of sensory input. We are equipped with a fight-or-flight response, which is somewhat similar in that it is a protective mechanism. The bottom line here for a scientific explanation is that the Third Man Factor lies entirely within the brain.
In a recent conversation with one of my Amish neighbors, I mentioned that I was writing about the Third Man Factor. He thought for a moment and wrote down the word “paraclete” from John 14:16 in the New Testament, referring to the Holy Spirit as an advocate or counselor.
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever in the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
I leave it up to you, readers, to determine where you come down on the Third Man Factor. However, one belief does not necessarily rule out another. Life in all its myriad forms and expressions is complex to say the least.
And, lastly, many of the “presences,” often seen in peripheral vision, take a feminine form. So maybe we should refer to the phenomenon as the Third Person factor.
Until next time,
Ken Springer
ken1949bongo@gmail.com
