Are DMT Aliens Real? A Leading Scientist Says Yes

DMT appears to transport its consumers into otherworldly realms, with its rapid onset precipitating an intense and often blissful experience, marked by visions of alien and godly entities, Aztec imagery, and a wide range of other unusual phenomena. 

The discourse over whether these convincing, compelling entities could in fact be real is one of the hottest debates in psychedelics. Neurobiologist Andrew Gallimore, one of the world’s foremost experts on DMT and often a critic of the more esoteric claims of psychonauts, just detonated a bomb underneath that most peculiar of academic discussions, ultimately siding with the alien believers. 

In his new book, Death by Astonishment: Confronting the Mystery of the World’s Strangest Drug, Gallimore makes a compelling case that it is unlikely that the human brain could fabricate “entirely nonhuman worlds in such exquisite and dynamic detail and complexity.” And thus, DMT could allow us to interface with otherwise unseen intelligent agents by commandeering the brain’s world-building apparatus. More materialist-oriented experts maintain that such visions can only be explained by the brain’s automatic attempts to make meaning of a neurochemical experience. “Areas of the brain [may] create bizarre alien-esque creatures that we empathize and communicate with,” neuroscientist Zeus Tipado wrote for DoubleBlind. “However, the more likely answer is it’s a neurological process that the scientific field is not sophisticated enough yet to understand.”

Despite being at pains to define aliens as invisible intelligence agents, Gallimore writes that the DMT state, at its deepest levels, “is the apotheosis of the alien.” That is to say, its highest point of development, and that smoking DMT—a psychedelic found in many natural plants and within the human body, which endogenously produces it in low levels—is a portal to healing in a mysterious and sometimes terrifying alternate reality. “It is a world that should not exist and yet there it is, irresistible in its construction and undeniable in its presence,” he writes in the new book. “To smoke DMT means to confront not merely a different world, but one that is, frankly, impossible.”

DoubleBlind caught up with Gallimore—who has a PhD in biological chemistry from the University of Cambridge and has held postdoctoral research fellowships in computational neuroscience at the universities of York, Oxford, and Okinawa—to find out how such a well-credentialed scientist could arrive at such a far-fetched idea. 

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity

DoubleBlind: Was there a single moment where you came to realize that the DMT experience is a window into a purported realm influenced by aliens?

Gallimore: If I’m honest, about 30 seconds into my first DMT trip more than two decades ago, it was undeniably apparent to me that I was interfacing with some kind of supremely advanced intelligence. “Aliens” is a loaded word—some kind of discarnate intelligence for sure. And, yeah, it was most decidedly alien. But its origin and nature remain a mystery. I certainly wouldn’t make any definitive claims about who or what this intelligence is or where it might originate, although I do speculate in the book. 

I’m not even sure it’s possible for the human mind to understand the true nature of these intelligences—perhaps not yet anyway. Of course, my personal conviction remains a matter of private revelation—I certainly wouldn’t claim that the case is settled scientifically. The main purpose of the book, however, is to explain why I think the case is strong and needs to be taken seriously.

To what extent do psychedelics like DMT possess the capacity to reshape our understanding of consciousness and materialism?

Humans are very self-assured, and we take ourselves very seriously. We’re deeply impressed by ourselves and our ability to understand the nature of reality and of our place within it. The DMT experience is profoundly humbling since it forces us to confront the fact that, in truth, we don’t know shit. 

It only takes a few seconds for DMT to obliterate our most cherished assumptions about who we are, where we are, and how advanced we really are, even if we lack the cognitive apparatus to make sense of it. My hunch is that, not only do we not sit anywhere close to the higher ends of the intelligence scale in broader reality, but that we barely register a reading. That’s not easy to accept, but it’s essential that we do so.

How could this change our view of everyday reality?

I’m not sure it can. The implications of realizing that not only are we not alone in the universe, but that we can directly interact with thoroughly alien intelligent beings by inhaling one of the simplest and most common plant alkaloids on the planet is hard to fathom. Accepting such a thing would mean uprooting some of our most basic assumptions about, and of our relationship to, reality. This is far from an everyday thing.

How would you characterize your experiences under the influence of DMT?

Always different and yet always, in some hard to define way, the same. Despite the multitude of different possible experiences and the diverse range of entities encountered, the DMT space has a particular ambience: Within just a few seconds of inhaling the vapor, there’s a powerful feeling of recognition–I’m back. And no matter how many times I go back, it’s always just as astonishing as the first time. 

Is the experience too subjective to ever be adopted by mainstream medicine? Is 5-MeO-DMT better suited?

I’m no clinician, but I do wonder how these intensely bizarre and thoroughly alien domains might be therapeutically useful. But, then again, recent studies with vaped DMT show impressive and sustained benefits in alleviating depression, so there’s clearly a positive effect, and it’s most certainly worth pursuing.

Who are your key influences?

Restricting myself to DMT, Terence McKenna is the obvious answer here – McKenna was an ideas man. Listening to any of his lectures is like watching a piece of flint tumble down a mountainside – the ideas issue from him like sparks. Not all go anywhere, and he certainly wasn’t correct in everything he speculated about, but there’s been nobody since who’s been able to evoke the true strangeness of the DMT state with such effortless eloquence. 

Terence’s brother, Dennis, has also been a huge influence. More grounded than Terence—a proper working scientist—but never afraid to reach into more unorthodox and speculative territory. The same can be said for Rick Strassman. And, although he’s not usually associated with DMT, John Mack was a true pioneer—willing to put his considerable academic and clinical reputation on the line in his unwavering quest for the truth, no matter how strange and unsettling it might be.

How has your thinking evolved over the course of your three books?

My first book, Alien Information Theory, was really just some fun metaphysical speculation, but [it was] never intended to represent any kind of beliefs about reality. The second, Reality Switch Technologies, was a more technical guide to how psychedelics work and can be used to explore alternate subjective worlds. This book made no ontological claims beyond the fact that the brain can construct these alternate worlds. 

Death by Astonishment is a different beast entirely and is the first time in print that I've reached stronger conclusions about the DMT world and its occupants. There's no thread that runs through these 3 books — they stand alone, and the evolution of my thinking really follows the narrative in Death by Astonishment: Attempting to explain DMT using what's offered by neuroscience; failing; and then reaching towards more speculative explanations.

Finally, what do you hope to achieve with the publication of your new book?

My purpose in writing Death by Astonishment was partly to introduce those who know little, if anything, of this remarkable molecule to both its history and to science’s continuing struggle to make sense of its astonishing world-switching effects, but also as an attempt to convince those more familiar with DMT that making sense of it is indeed a struggle; that there is something extremely challenging to explain about DMT; that science doesn’t have it all worked out; and that it represents a true enigma. 

I don’t think we’re anywhere close to understanding the true nature of the DMT space and the intelligent beings resident within it—accepting this fact is the first, essential, step in remedying that.

Ever wondered if your parents might be ready for a psychedelic journey—or at least a conversation about it? Join us psychotherapist and psychedelic guide Lauren Taus for a lively, insightful workshop on navigating the delicate art of tripping with your folks. Sign up here to attend this Sunday, July 20, 2025 at 1pm PT!

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