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The Third Man Factor: The Secret To Survival In Extreme Environments
Trader Ron DiFrancesco in the World Trade Center, diver Stephanie Schwabe, Sir Ernest All shared an experience that an unseen being helped them to survive against staggering odds. If it were just a handful of people, it might be dismissed, but in fact, this phenomenon has occurred again and again. In a riveting scientific and historical analysis, The Third Man Factor explores the human capacity to transcend extreme conditions.
312 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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June 14, 2017
I have experienced “the third man factor” myself, so it was comforting and somewhat exciting to discover what I had felt was a recognised phenomena, with an entire book dedicated to the subject!
John Geiger balances a good mix of science and professional insight with a vast array of “third man” experiences. I often found myself researching stories and people mentioned, wanting more information.
Geiger traces the origins of this phenomena from indigenous peoples, to Shackleton’s iconic story, right through to present day. All the elements behind the “third man factor” (isolation, stress, fatigue, loss) were well covered and interesting to read about, especially as I could identify with numerous ones. This book helped me better understand my own experiences (which was my motivation for reading it). That the “third man” is sometimes experienced as the presence of a deceased loved one (like Linenger’s Mir experience) was very relatable for me.
The chapter on guardian angels, God and religion being the “third man factor” was a little preachy, complete with biblical passages, and tales that seemed to distract from the scientific, rational stories or explanations around it – it was monotonous to read. Climbing stories made up a disproportionate section of the book, gripping as each of them may be, they somehow began to drag from about half-way.
The intriguing links between childhood imaginary friends (often created during stressful periods) and “the third man” was fascinating, so too the “widow effect” and awareness of the deceased by their loved ones.
Complex neuroscience theories behind the idea, involving wacky scientists was heavy reading – at times I felt like I was sitting in a University lecture of a subject I had never studied. It dragged and was weighed down in complex wording and poor connections to stories. It was the stories themselves which explained enough – even though they began growing tiresome too. It was a hard slog to get through some of these stories, much like the hard slog undertaken by its characters.
Every story seemed to be: an explorer, making a poor decision or taking risks on an expedition, suddenly in a critical situation, hears a voice or presence, often over their right shoulder: presence leaves once they’re safe. Some of the standouts were Kenneth Cooke’s WWII lifeboat experience, Sandy Wollaston’s New Guinea adventures and of course, Shackleton’s. If anything, this book has confirmed that I was certainly not alone with my own “third man” experiences.
The link between the phenomena possibly being a whole body version of the phantom limb phenomena by amputees was an intriguing theory. As the book went on, somewhat unexpectedly, many of the theories behind it would go a long way into also being potential explanations of ghost sightings and the supernatural. It seems complex neuroscience is the most likely candidate for debunking all ghost stories!
I came away agreeing with Geiger, in that the “third man factor” is most likely a symptom of man’s evolutionary adaptation to survival. “The Third Man Factor” is a good effort to explain a mysterious phenomena only some of us have experienced – it’s just a shame it gets bogged down in repetitive stories and complex scientific jargon.
Sailor William ‘Bill’ King described it best; reflecting my very own experience too:
“In this most lonely hour of my life there was no sensation of being alone.”
John Geiger balances a good mix of science and professional insight with a vast array of “third man” experiences. I often found myself researching stories and people mentioned, wanting more information.
Geiger traces the origins of this phenomena from indigenous peoples, to Shackleton’s iconic story, right through to present day. All the elements behind the “third man factor” (isolation, stress, fatigue, loss) were well covered and interesting to read about, especially as I could identify with numerous ones. This book helped me better understand my own experiences (which was my motivation for reading it). That the “third man” is sometimes experienced as the presence of a deceased loved one (like Linenger’s Mir experience) was very relatable for me.
The chapter on guardian angels, God and religion being the “third man factor” was a little preachy, complete with biblical passages, and tales that seemed to distract from the scientific, rational stories or explanations around it – it was monotonous to read. Climbing stories made up a disproportionate section of the book, gripping as each of them may be, they somehow began to drag from about half-way.
The intriguing links between childhood imaginary friends (often created during stressful periods) and “the third man” was fascinating, so too the “widow effect” and awareness of the deceased by their loved ones.
Complex neuroscience theories behind the idea, involving wacky scientists was heavy reading – at times I felt like I was sitting in a University lecture of a subject I had never studied. It dragged and was weighed down in complex wording and poor connections to stories. It was the stories themselves which explained enough – even though they began growing tiresome too. It was a hard slog to get through some of these stories, much like the hard slog undertaken by its characters.
Every story seemed to be: an explorer, making a poor decision or taking risks on an expedition, suddenly in a critical situation, hears a voice or presence, often over their right shoulder: presence leaves once they’re safe. Some of the standouts were Kenneth Cooke’s WWII lifeboat experience, Sandy Wollaston’s New Guinea adventures and of course, Shackleton’s. If anything, this book has confirmed that I was certainly not alone with my own “third man” experiences.
The link between the phenomena possibly being a whole body version of the phantom limb phenomena by amputees was an intriguing theory. As the book went on, somewhat unexpectedly, many of the theories behind it would go a long way into also being potential explanations of ghost sightings and the supernatural. It seems complex neuroscience is the most likely candidate for debunking all ghost stories!
I came away agreeing with Geiger, in that the “third man factor” is most likely a symptom of man’s evolutionary adaptation to survival. “The Third Man Factor” is a good effort to explain a mysterious phenomena only some of us have experienced – it’s just a shame it gets bogged down in repetitive stories and complex scientific jargon.
Sailor William ‘Bill’ King described it best; reflecting my very own experience too:
“In this most lonely hour of my life there was no sensation of being alone.”
June 16, 2018
Who is the third who walks always beside you?~ TS Eliot, The Waste Land
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 woman
But who is that on the other side of you?
There is, it seems, a common experience that happens to people who confront life at its extremes, and strange as it may sound, given the cruel hardship they endure to reach that place, it is something wonderful. This radical notion that an unseen presence has played a role in the success or survival of people who have reached the limits of human endurance is based on the extraordinary testimony of scores of people who have emerged alive from extreme environments. To a man or woman, they report that at a critical point they were joined by an additional, unexplained friend who lent them the power to overcome the most dire circumstances. There is a name for the phenomenon: it's called the Third Man Factor.
When asked about “the third who walks always beside you” in The Waste Land, T S Eliot apparently referenced something he had read in Ernest Shackleton's journals, wherein the polar explorer admitted to a “felt presence”; a shadowy guide who led his doomed group to safety ("I know that during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers, it seemed to me often that we were four, not three.") Using poetic license, and perhaps a faulty memory, Eliot changed Shackleton's fourth man to a “third”, giving a name to a phenomenon that is evidently not as uncommon as one might suspect. Having had a similar experience himself as a child, when author John Geiger decided to look for a compilation of such stories, he realised that none existed and therefore assembled them here in The Third Man Factor. This book contains dozens of stories of people at the very limits of survival who found themselves helped to safety by such a “third man”, and in addition to these fascinating tales, Geiger looks for scientific explanations for the phenomenon:
Drawn from all these examples are vital clues of the five basic rules that govern the Third Man's appearance and invest the experience with meaning. These rules are the pathology of boredom, the principle of multiple triggers, the widow effect, the muse factor, and the power of the savior. Together, they help to explain the onset of the Third Man Factor. But they are causal in nature; they do not explain his origins or where the power comes from. Over the years, various theories have been proposed to explain the Third Man, and running concurrently with these, interspersed among the chapters of the book, are accounts of the search for an explanation. These attempts at understanding are themselves a record of man's changing conception of himself. They begin with the guardian angel, followed by the sensed presence and the shadow person. As clerics and then psychologists, and finally neurologists, theorized about the phenomenon, the trend has been a gradual reduction from the outside in, from God, to the mind, to the brain.
From Charles Lindbergh reporting that a shadowy figure helped him during his solo trans-Atlantic airplane flight in 1927 to Ron DiFrancesco – the last person to escape the Twin Towers alive on 9/11, who believes a guardian angel led him through the flame-filled staircase to safety – Geiger quotes the famous and the unknown, making a compelling case that there is a survival benefit to being able to project an imaginary helper outside of oneself in Extreme and Unusual Environments (EUE). There are many stories from polar explorers, mountain climbers, solo sailors and other adventurers – which begs the notion that this experience is more likely to happen to those people who are most open to novel experiences – but there are also stories from those (escaped prisoners of war, shipwreck or terrorist attack survivors) who unwittingly find themselves in extreme survival situations and who nonetheless credit outside forces for leading them to safety. Tracing the explanations for the phenomenon, Geiger references William James (brother of Henry) who, in The Varieties of Religious Experience, placed such encounters "squarely in the realm of religious, if not specifically angelic, experience” and Julian Jaynes, whose controversial theory of the bicameral mind seems to say that it was only a few thousand years ago (at around the same time we became literate) that humans began to recognise that our own thoughts spring from our own minds (and aren't gods or spirits outside ourselves telling us what to do) and that extreme stress can cause people to revert to this pre-sentient state. Geiger ties in phantom limb theory, children's imaginary friends, sleep paralysis, schizophrenia, and Michael Persinger's “god machine”; there seems to be no end to the ways in which we humans project presences outside ourselves. What makes the Third Man Factor so unique, however, is how benevolent and helpful these presences are; how integral a role they play in extreme survival situations, and that makes for some great stories.
The Third Man represents a real and potent force for survival, and the ability to access this power is a factor, perhaps the most important factor, in determining who will succeed against seemingly insurmountable odds, and who will not.
In the end, I was fascinated by both the survival stories and the evolving science that attempts to explain the phenomenon – this is certainly a quick and entertaining read. I see other reviewers saying that the stories felt too repetitive – another polar explorer, yet another mountain climber – but it all worked for me; if Geiger was attempting to collect as many stories of the third man factor into one book as he could, that's exactly what he achieved.
Want to read
February 9, 2013There is no publisher's description up for this book, and it's out just today. I heard an interview this a.m. on cbc with the author. It sounds fascinating. Check out these comments from the author's website:
"John Geiger's book, his fifth ... offers an original theory for the evolutionary importance of 'Shackleton's angel.' Geiger is well positioned to tackle the historical and scientific background of these close encounters of the wild kind...Packed with edge-of-your-seat stories of survival and offer[ing:] compelling looks into the transformative psychology of extreme experiences." - Canadian Geographic
"With an irresistible blend of harrowing anecdotes and hard science, John Geiger unravels the mystery of how the mind copes under extreme duress and in the process sheds fresh light on what it is to be human. A compelling, moving read." - Carl Honoré (Author of In Pursuit of Slow and Under Pressure)
Currency trader Ron DiFrancesco in the World Trade Center, climber James Sevigny in the Canadian Rockies, and diver Stephanie Schwabe in the Mermaid's Lair of Grand Bahama, all shared an experience that an unseen being -- known as the Third Man -- helped them to survive against apparently insurmountable odds. So did Sir Ernest Shackleton and Charles Lindbergh. The Third Man Factor is an extraordinary account of how people at the very edge of death, often adventurers or explorers, experience a sense of an incorporeal being beside them who encourages them to make one final effort to survive. Although some extreme adventurers know about the experience - John Geiger's The Third Man Factor is the first book devoted to this virtually unexplored phenomenon.
If only a handful of people had ever experienced the Third Man, it might be dismissed as an unusual delusion shared by a few overstressed minds. But the amazing thing is this: over the years, the experience has occurred again and again, to 9/11 survivors, mountaineers, divers, polar explorers, prisoners of war, solo sailors, aviators and astronauts. All have escaped traumatic events only to tell strikingly similar stories of having experienced the close presence of a helper or guardian. The mysterious force has been explained as everything from hallucination to divine intervention. Recent neurological research suggests something else. The Third Man Factor combines history, scientific analysis and great adventure stories to explain this secret to survival, a Third Man who — in the words of legendary Italian climber Reinhold Messner — "leads you out of the impossible."
from: JohnGeiger.com
"John Geiger's book, his fifth ... offers an original theory for the evolutionary importance of 'Shackleton's angel.' Geiger is well positioned to tackle the historical and scientific background of these close encounters of the wild kind...Packed with edge-of-your-seat stories of survival and offer[ing:] compelling looks into the transformative psychology of extreme experiences." - Canadian Geographic
"With an irresistible blend of harrowing anecdotes and hard science, John Geiger unravels the mystery of how the mind copes under extreme duress and in the process sheds fresh light on what it is to be human. A compelling, moving read." - Carl Honoré (Author of In Pursuit of Slow and Under Pressure)
Currency trader Ron DiFrancesco in the World Trade Center, climber James Sevigny in the Canadian Rockies, and diver Stephanie Schwabe in the Mermaid's Lair of Grand Bahama, all shared an experience that an unseen being -- known as the Third Man -- helped them to survive against apparently insurmountable odds. So did Sir Ernest Shackleton and Charles Lindbergh. The Third Man Factor is an extraordinary account of how people at the very edge of death, often adventurers or explorers, experience a sense of an incorporeal being beside them who encourages them to make one final effort to survive. Although some extreme adventurers know about the experience - John Geiger's The Third Man Factor is the first book devoted to this virtually unexplored phenomenon.
If only a handful of people had ever experienced the Third Man, it might be dismissed as an unusual delusion shared by a few overstressed minds. But the amazing thing is this: over the years, the experience has occurred again and again, to 9/11 survivors, mountaineers, divers, polar explorers, prisoners of war, solo sailors, aviators and astronauts. All have escaped traumatic events only to tell strikingly similar stories of having experienced the close presence of a helper or guardian. The mysterious force has been explained as everything from hallucination to divine intervention. Recent neurological research suggests something else. The Third Man Factor combines history, scientific analysis and great adventure stories to explain this secret to survival, a Third Man who — in the words of legendary Italian climber Reinhold Messner — "leads you out of the impossible."
from: JohnGeiger.com
November 23, 2011
Book Review: The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible by John Geiger
Ron DiFrancesco was the last person to escape the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. He somehow made it from his desk on the eighty-fourth floor of the South Tower, through flames, down the stairwell and outdoors to safety before the tower collapsed. He says someone, an angel grabbed his hand and guided him at that critical time.
Also on 9/11, Will Jimeno, a NY Port Authority officer rushed to the World Trade Center to join in a rescue attempt at the North Tower. Jimeno and his team were buried in the debris from the collapse of the South Tower. Jimeno was pinned in a sitting position with a slab of concrete on his lap. After hours of accute pain he says he saw Jesus and became filled with hope. And he knew that his fellow officer, John McLoughlin and he would make it out alive. The collapse of the World Trade Center buried about 2,800 people and only 20 of them emerged alive from "the pile", including Jimeno and McLoughlin.
In another time and place, scuba diver Stephanie Schwabe became lost while exploring an intricate underwater cave in the waters off Grand Bahama Island. At one point she was unable to see her guideline, her lifeline back out of the cave. She only had twenty minutes of oxygen left. Her emotions changed from panic to anger. Then she strongly sensed the presence of someone telling her to calm down and helping her think through the way back out of the cave. She made it back to the water's surface before running out of oxygen.
These are all examples of the Third Man Factor (sometimes called the Fourth Man Factor), the presence of a being who appears in life and death situations to comfort, encourage and, in some cases, lead the way out of danger. The book's author, John Geiger spend five years researching and writing the book.
Over many years a mysterious "third man" has shown up to help explorers of the arctic and antarctic, mountain climbers, sailors adrift at sea, astronauts and many other adventurers. In World War I, angels appeared to safeguard the British Army army during their retreat from Mons in August, 1914.
Some famous and semi-famous people have experienced the Third Man Factor. During his solo trans-Atlantic airplane flight in 1927, Charles Lindbergh dealt with extreme sleep deprivation and, at times, severe weather. He suddenly experienced a "ghostly presence" that helped him. Lindbergh was known as "Lucky Lindy". Was Lindy really lucky or was something else at work?
Also experiencing the Third Man Factor were John Muir, the explorer who traveled much of the American Southwest including the Grand Canyon and Reinhold Messner, considered the world's greatest mountain climber.
Geiger's book recounts many other such experiences. It does discuss God and/or angels being involved in some of the incidents but offers other possible explanations such as altitude sickness or peoples' mind playing tricks on them under severe, life threatening circumstances.
Perhaps that is the case in some of these instances but certainly not all of them. Could Ron DiFrancesco have found his way from the eighty-fourth floor of the World Trade Center, an area where one of the planes hit, made it through debris- ridden, smoking hallways and even pass through flames, then make it to safety on his own?
The book points to an example in the Bible that has a striking similarlity to some of the case histories the author recounts. Daniel 3 tells of how Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were bound and thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to the image of King Nebuchadnezzar. When the king saw that the flames did not burn up the three men, he approached the furnace and said to his counselors (Dan. 3:24): "Did we not throw three men bound into the fire? I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire and the fourth man looks like a Son of God."
When I read that passage after already reading several of the incidents recounted in the book, it sent shivers up my spine. The Third Man Factor is a fascinating read, especially in light of its spiritual ramifications. It leads me to ponder how much God loves and cares for people, especially in their times of greatest need.
-- Frank Lewandowski
Ron DiFrancesco was the last person to escape the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. He somehow made it from his desk on the eighty-fourth floor of the South Tower, through flames, down the stairwell and outdoors to safety before the tower collapsed. He says someone, an angel grabbed his hand and guided him at that critical time.
Also on 9/11, Will Jimeno, a NY Port Authority officer rushed to the World Trade Center to join in a rescue attempt at the North Tower. Jimeno and his team were buried in the debris from the collapse of the South Tower. Jimeno was pinned in a sitting position with a slab of concrete on his lap. After hours of accute pain he says he saw Jesus and became filled with hope. And he knew that his fellow officer, John McLoughlin and he would make it out alive. The collapse of the World Trade Center buried about 2,800 people and only 20 of them emerged alive from "the pile", including Jimeno and McLoughlin.
In another time and place, scuba diver Stephanie Schwabe became lost while exploring an intricate underwater cave in the waters off Grand Bahama Island. At one point she was unable to see her guideline, her lifeline back out of the cave. She only had twenty minutes of oxygen left. Her emotions changed from panic to anger. Then she strongly sensed the presence of someone telling her to calm down and helping her think through the way back out of the cave. She made it back to the water's surface before running out of oxygen.
These are all examples of the Third Man Factor (sometimes called the Fourth Man Factor), the presence of a being who appears in life and death situations to comfort, encourage and, in some cases, lead the way out of danger. The book's author, John Geiger spend five years researching and writing the book.
Over many years a mysterious "third man" has shown up to help explorers of the arctic and antarctic, mountain climbers, sailors adrift at sea, astronauts and many other adventurers. In World War I, angels appeared to safeguard the British Army army during their retreat from Mons in August, 1914.
Some famous and semi-famous people have experienced the Third Man Factor. During his solo trans-Atlantic airplane flight in 1927, Charles Lindbergh dealt with extreme sleep deprivation and, at times, severe weather. He suddenly experienced a "ghostly presence" that helped him. Lindbergh was known as "Lucky Lindy". Was Lindy really lucky or was something else at work?
Also experiencing the Third Man Factor were John Muir, the explorer who traveled much of the American Southwest including the Grand Canyon and Reinhold Messner, considered the world's greatest mountain climber.
Geiger's book recounts many other such experiences. It does discuss God and/or angels being involved in some of the incidents but offers other possible explanations such as altitude sickness or peoples' mind playing tricks on them under severe, life threatening circumstances.
Perhaps that is the case in some of these instances but certainly not all of them. Could Ron DiFrancesco have found his way from the eighty-fourth floor of the World Trade Center, an area where one of the planes hit, made it through debris- ridden, smoking hallways and even pass through flames, then make it to safety on his own?
The book points to an example in the Bible that has a striking similarlity to some of the case histories the author recounts. Daniel 3 tells of how Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were bound and thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to the image of King Nebuchadnezzar. When the king saw that the flames did not burn up the three men, he approached the furnace and said to his counselors (Dan. 3:24): "Did we not throw three men bound into the fire? I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire and the fourth man looks like a Son of God."
When I read that passage after already reading several of the incidents recounted in the book, it sent shivers up my spine. The Third Man Factor is a fascinating read, especially in light of its spiritual ramifications. It leads me to ponder how much God loves and cares for people, especially in their times of greatest need.
-- Frank Lewandowski
April 7, 2020
Intenta dar explicación a un «fenómeno» escogiendo una serie de casos relacionados con el montañismo, el mar y el aire. Todos se ajustan a su hipótesis como un guante, oiga.
March 12, 2020
Cuarto y mitad de Friker Jiménez.
December 27, 2017
Tohle je vlastně survival duchařská literatura faktu. Když člověk v extrémní situaci ryje hubou v zemi, zjevuje se mu parťák, který má víc rozumu a vyvede ho z průšvihu. Do podobné situace jsem se minimálně jednou dostal (výstup na Ol Doinyo Lengai v Tanzánii), téma je mi blízké. Geiger nabízí vysvětlení jevu náboženskou, ale i neurologickou a psychologickou optikou a je v líčení těch skutečně nejdrsnějších případů strhující (polárníci, horolezci, mořeplavci, lidi v hořících domech atp). Téma je zajímavé a je dobře, že se mu někdo tak poctivě věnoval na popularizační úrovni. Čtivosti by pomohla větší selekce událostí (objevuje se až příliš mnoho „prázdných“ případů, které jen potvrzují předchozí) a důslednější držení se tématu (spánková paralýza je fajn, ale do jiné knihy).
November 25, 2009
I thought the topic of this book was very interesting and enjoyed the stories of survival and endurance. However, some stories were repetitive and I found myself wanting to skip past them to get to the next theme. I appreciated that Geiger remained neutral throughout the book until the last chapter where he explains his thoughts on the phenomenon. I would highly recommend this book to those interested in survival stories and the human psyche.
October 26, 2011
In having a near death experience in June 2008, it made me question what is life ?, what comes after ?. I've also been reading books by Mitch Albom & Dan Millman.
Not being a regular churchgoer but having an inner faith,I wanted to explore my spiritual side for personal reasons , but also to read other peoples spiritual journeys and experiences.
I happened to see on TV a teenage American boy, who'd had a burst to 'superhuman' strength which saved his Uncle from being crushed beneath a car he was fixing. I had heard of this before in other times and places but never gave it much thought until I saw the author John Geiger interviewed about his book,'The Third Man Factor'which explained the phenomona once and for all.
In this remarkable book, Geiger relates real-life examples of people from all walks of life,most often people like Polar explorers, Mountaineers such as Peter Hilary son of Sir Edmund Hilary, who was the first conqueror of Mt Everest. All these people have described being on the edge of extreme mental and physical torment and seemingly encouraged and spurred on by an other worldly experience or vision of a loved one who has passed on.
It made me reflect on my own experience, being connected to machines and IV's and waiting as my kidneys were shutting down. To make a miraculous recovery in a few days, I must have had a guardian angel looking out for me, obviously it wasn't my time.
Not being a regular churchgoer but having an inner faith,I wanted to explore my spiritual side for personal reasons , but also to read other peoples spiritual journeys and experiences.
I happened to see on TV a teenage American boy, who'd had a burst to 'superhuman' strength which saved his Uncle from being crushed beneath a car he was fixing. I had heard of this before in other times and places but never gave it much thought until I saw the author John Geiger interviewed about his book,'The Third Man Factor'which explained the phenomona once and for all.
In this remarkable book, Geiger relates real-life examples of people from all walks of life,most often people like Polar explorers, Mountaineers such as Peter Hilary son of Sir Edmund Hilary, who was the first conqueror of Mt Everest. All these people have described being on the edge of extreme mental and physical torment and seemingly encouraged and spurred on by an other worldly experience or vision of a loved one who has passed on.
It made me reflect on my own experience, being connected to machines and IV's and waiting as my kidneys were shutting down. To make a miraculous recovery in a few days, I must have had a guardian angel looking out for me, obviously it wasn't my time.
June 4, 2020
The third man factor comes from Shackleton’s voyage where he and two others felt the presence of a fourth man (but then T.S. Eliot changed it to “Who is the third who walks always beside you?”)
The book is filled with interesting tales of people in extreme circumstances sensing someone comforting, encouraging, and/or advising them. Guardian angels or a coping mechanism of the brain? The author tells you where he falls in the debate but is very respectful of the other side and provides much food for thought.
The book is filled with interesting tales of people in extreme circumstances sensing someone comforting, encouraging, and/or advising them. Guardian angels or a coping mechanism of the brain? The author tells you where he falls in the debate but is very respectful of the other side and provides much food for thought.
October 2, 2018
The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible by John Geiger explores the topic of individuals in extreme physical situations that may lead to their death. They sense and sometimes see a “presence” with them. This presence guides them out of danger by encouraging them to make the right decisions, and by being a calming force during this time of stress.
This book is full of amazing tales of people in incredible times of survival in their lives. Climbing a mountain, lost at sea, etc…
There is no answer to what this presence is, but the author is respectful and just narrates the stories as told to him or as he has found written in journals. He does spend time exploring the possibilities with experts. Are they angels, the departed, the result of a body and mind breaking down due to starvation and need for water? Is it an evolutionary component of our survival? Not a sign of weakness, but rather the last struggle to stay alive where our minds kick in to create a “friend” to come to the aid of the body?
The author leaves it to the reader to decide for themselves. The phenomenon is interesting enough just to share. Near the end he does touch on the possibility that with long duration space travel to Mars in our future, will we see this play out in that arena? Or what is the possibility if this is something internal that we could initiate during less stressful times that don’t threaten our lives, but nevertheless would be of use to us during hard times? All interesting thoughts.
I’ve never been in a situation as described in this book, but it’s nice to know that if I was, that I might not have to do it alone, for there would be a kindly “other” to stay with me…
This book is full of amazing tales of people in incredible times of survival in their lives. Climbing a mountain, lost at sea, etc…
There is no answer to what this presence is, but the author is respectful and just narrates the stories as told to him or as he has found written in journals. He does spend time exploring the possibilities with experts. Are they angels, the departed, the result of a body and mind breaking down due to starvation and need for water? Is it an evolutionary component of our survival? Not a sign of weakness, but rather the last struggle to stay alive where our minds kick in to create a “friend” to come to the aid of the body?
The author leaves it to the reader to decide for themselves. The phenomenon is interesting enough just to share. Near the end he does touch on the possibility that with long duration space travel to Mars in our future, will we see this play out in that arena? Or what is the possibility if this is something internal that we could initiate during less stressful times that don’t threaten our lives, but nevertheless would be of use to us during hard times? All interesting thoughts.
I’ve never been in a situation as described in this book, but it’s nice to know that if I was, that I might not have to do it alone, for there would be a kindly “other” to stay with me…
August 17, 2017
This is an interesting account of how many people on the verge of death, experience a "comforting" presence of another person. Many of these accounts are from people who have pushed the limits of survival either trekking across Antarctica, climbing extreme heights (ie. K2), or shipwreck. Frequently the experience occurs when there are multiple triggers - some combination of extreme fatigue, isolation, monotony, ambient cold/heat, thirst or starvation, injury, sleep deprivation, fear for ones life. The effect has been replicated in a lab by sending electrical impulses to a specific part of the brain, suggesting that humans are equipped with an untapped resource. The author asks if there wouldn't be a goodly amount of benefit if this "survival mechanism" could be called upon at will. Is it part of the 6th dimension? Our unmapped subconscious? Hmmm
June 27, 2025
I hope, should the need ever arise, that a “third man” would show up for me. And if the universe knows anything about me, that it would send a “third woman” to really get the job done. I know for a fact that if my guardian angel showed up in a do-or-die scenario, I would recount that survival tale in a way that’s not as shockingly dry as the stories discussed in this book. I felt like I didn’t learn much that I hadn’t already learned about in podcasts that presented the same information in much more stimulating ways.
I did find the connection made with childhood imaginary friends to be really interesting, and the correlation between ego-strength and survival was also something worth noting.
At the end of the day, save yourself 8 hours and listen to a podcast.
I did find the connection made with childhood imaginary friends to be really interesting, and the correlation between ego-strength and survival was also something worth noting.
At the end of the day, save yourself 8 hours and listen to a podcast.
March 7, 2025
Investigación 10/10
Excelente libro
Excelente libro
July 25, 2011
Geiger presents a collection of tales of survival in extreme environments where the adventurer or survivor has documented the experience of a presence that comforts and guides them in their time of need. From Shackleton's famed Antarctic misadventure, through the high altitude travails of summit hungry mountaineers, to survival in the towers of the World Trade centre, we see this phenomenon emerge again and again. Geiger's inquiry into the phenomenon is sober and meticulous but also imbued with the correct amount of awe and mystical reverence. Geiger reviews neuroscientific theories on the matter and parallels it with the appearance of imaginary companions of childhood and hallucinations of the deceased in the grieving. Also included is the intriguing notion that these phenomenon may explain the origins of various forms of religious experience including those of Moses and Jesus (no less). These visitations often taking place in solitary environments and often at altitude. Geiger contrasts the phenomenon with the less helpful deliriums that may also occur in extreme situations, that often lead survivors to their doom. Unlike delirious states the "third man" is almost uniformly a comforting and empowering experience. As a psychiatrist, I found Geiger's review of the phenomenon a fascinating treatise on non pathological hallucinations, something we are generally taught precious little about. I myself find an interesting parallel with the "dissociated" companions of abuse survivors, no doubt another form of extreme environment, that Geiger does not include in his survey of the topic. Easy and enjoyable to read. Makes you want to stay away from mountaineering....
November 8, 2009
Although immensely readable, this is a very strange book. It is part spiritual self-help book (how to access your inner third man) and part adventure story.
What the tales here really inspire are ghost stories. That’s especially true in the section where the writer is talking about the experiences at the Antarctic bases, the sense of a presence that goes back centuries to the first accounts of exploration in that isolated area. It’s especially interesting that there seem to be two different kinds of presences in those environments—the disinterested one that Ginnie Fiennes described and the “angel” that Shackleton described.
The writer offers us a lot of scientific explanations for what the Third Man Factor is and why is exists and how it actually helps and the science is interesting. But given the choice between science and a mystery (or a MYSTERY in the religious sense), many people would prefer the mystery. Because there’s an explanation and then there’s … a good story.
The information in this book is fascinating, as are the glimpses into extreme situations. There are a lot of fascinating asides, as when Geiger goes off on a mini-lecture about angels. The book is a very good read and we’re quickly caught up in it but we’re left with … questions.
What the tales here really inspire are ghost stories. That’s especially true in the section where the writer is talking about the experiences at the Antarctic bases, the sense of a presence that goes back centuries to the first accounts of exploration in that isolated area. It’s especially interesting that there seem to be two different kinds of presences in those environments—the disinterested one that Ginnie Fiennes described and the “angel” that Shackleton described.
The writer offers us a lot of scientific explanations for what the Third Man Factor is and why is exists and how it actually helps and the science is interesting. But given the choice between science and a mystery (or a MYSTERY in the religious sense), many people would prefer the mystery. Because there’s an explanation and then there’s … a good story.
The information in this book is fascinating, as are the glimpses into extreme situations. There are a lot of fascinating asides, as when Geiger goes off on a mini-lecture about angels. The book is a very good read and we’re quickly caught up in it but we’re left with … questions.
January 19, 2019
EL TERCER HOMBRE
por John Geiger
Acabo de leer este extraordinario libro, el primero de este año, en una gasolinera sin gasolina. Pero no importa, porque está buenísimo. John Geiger, experimentado escalador y explorador habla en este libro sobre un fenómeno que yo desconocía pero que resulta muy común entre las personas que han sobrevivido a desastres de montaña y naufragios, entre otros: el fenómeno del Tercer Hombre, una presencia fantasmal pero reconfortante que ayuda a los sobrevivientes en medio de crisis extremas. No es ninguna leyenda sino una experiencia que han vivido muchos y este libro habla de muchas de ellas, entre las que se cuenta la de la expedición Shackleton al antártico donde los límites de lo humano se estiraron como en ningún otro lugar y donde los tres viajeros del hielo, al punto del colapso fueron acompañados por una presencia que los ayudo a superar los obstáculos.
¿Qué es el tercer hombre? ¿Un fantasma, un ángel, un mecanismo de supervivencia de la evolución humana, una entidad supernatural? Este libro explora todo lo que hay que saber sobre él.
Muy bueno.
por John Geiger
Acabo de leer este extraordinario libro, el primero de este año, en una gasolinera sin gasolina. Pero no importa, porque está buenísimo. John Geiger, experimentado escalador y explorador habla en este libro sobre un fenómeno que yo desconocía pero que resulta muy común entre las personas que han sobrevivido a desastres de montaña y naufragios, entre otros: el fenómeno del Tercer Hombre, una presencia fantasmal pero reconfortante que ayuda a los sobrevivientes en medio de crisis extremas. No es ninguna leyenda sino una experiencia que han vivido muchos y este libro habla de muchas de ellas, entre las que se cuenta la de la expedición Shackleton al antártico donde los límites de lo humano se estiraron como en ningún otro lugar y donde los tres viajeros del hielo, al punto del colapso fueron acompañados por una presencia que los ayudo a superar los obstáculos.
¿Qué es el tercer hombre? ¿Un fantasma, un ángel, un mecanismo de supervivencia de la evolución humana, una entidad supernatural? Este libro explora todo lo que hay que saber sobre él.
Muy bueno.
August 6, 2014
Geiger describes multiple expeditions in the world's harshest environments by adventurers both well known and not. Most of these "adventures" are incredibly challenging and are described as great feats of perseverance and endurance. The commonality between them, in experiences from environments ranging from the worlds highest peaks to 40 days stranded on a raft -- is the experience of having another presence with them at their times of deepest distress. Geiger explores explanations of this common experience - from reasons of spirituality to psychology to science. He provides no conclusive "scientific" results, but the personal experiences shared by descriptions and journal entries of the survivors leaves the reader with the sense that there often is a "benevolent, guiding presence" at times of deepest need. A very interesting read.
October 26, 2009
I found the subject of this book to be fascinating! People under extreme stress in extreme environments report the feeling of a presence that helps and encourages them to survive; a so called "Third Man". Geiger had many stories to report of this phenomenon, but after awhile the relating of these stories became tedious because they were all very similar. Geiger also introduced scientific studies brought about to explain this phenomenon; everything from hypothermia, to the effects of stress, altitude and isolation on the brain and hallucinations. While possible explanations, this research doesn't seem to honor the fact that those who have reported these incidents are adamant that they were not hallucinating and that what happened was very real.
December 29, 2009
This book was interesting in its fairly brief discussion of what could be the various causes and explanations of the "Third Man Factor" (the feeling of an outside presence during times of physical and/or psychological strain in mostly extreme or unusual environments). Otherwise this is simply a collection of Third Man factor accounts that become quite tedious and repetitive, and which I generally started skipping the further I got into the book. Since the author states that he has created a website to keep track of all of these stories I felt that an almost catalogue listing of them in the book was not needed. I would have preferred more discussion of the aforementioned theories as opposed to these stories.
December 24, 2015
This book begins as an exploration of a spiritual experience, then delves into the neuroscience behind the survival stories. Don't expect to be uplifted and inspired by this book, even though the stories are emotional and moving. It's a clinical look at a phenomenon experienced by many as a life altering event. Yet it's broken down by scientists to a temporo parietal switch. Don't expect angels in this book, but do expect rare stories of survival. Well researched and well written, the author does a thorough job of exploring a subject often considered to be on the fringe.
Read
November 2, 2009Very interesting topic about those under life-threatening conditions who report having a "companion" help them. I had a similar experience so wanted to read this after hearing an NPR interview with the author. However, I thought the book was poorly organized and turned out to be a disjointed set of anecdotes. It's possible that, given the subject, that's all it could be. Interesting reading in any case.
March 30, 2011
This book had so much potential - looking at famous stories of incredible adventures where someone had a "third man" experience (i.e. spiritual encounter/hallucination/however you want to define it). While the stories are interesting, particularly in the beginning before the theme grows monotonous, there is very little in the way of conclusions, insight, or explanation. Hearing the author's take, especially coupled with any research, would have been more interesting.
June 8, 2015
the book is well documented, the stories quite interesting and tries to have a scientific approach of the phenomena.
But this book can really be compressed in half. the author is too redundant and explains the same things time and time again, but in a messy order. when you start a new chapter you don't know what the author wants to illustrate until the last paragraph.
if the structure of the book would be fixed I'd recommend it
But this book can really be compressed in half. the author is too redundant and explains the same things time and time again, but in a messy order. when you start a new chapter you don't know what the author wants to illustrate until the last paragraph.
if the structure of the book would be fixed I'd recommend it
September 4, 2009
Interesting read about how people in extremis often find themselves comforted - or even saved - by a spirit - a ghost - an angel - or themselves. Stories of mountain climbers, sailors, accident victims, even a 9/11 survivor are woven throughout with assessments of the neurological, psychological or spiritual elements associated with "the third man" sightings.
Anne
Anne
May 10, 2010
Chronicles a history of 'survival events' involving people who were assisted by a perceived spiritual entity, and the range of medical and spiritual attempts to explain these events. Verdict is still out.
April 3, 2011
awe, inspiration, adventure, wonder, mystery, amazing - people n extreme and profound situations - the question still remains; is there something more than human endurance and resilience that has kept these people alive through situations that mere mortals are not made to endure.
April 15, 2011
This book is a little on the fringe. It is filled with many wonderful accounts supporting the thesis of the author, and by the end we will all want to push the limits of survival to meet the third man.
peace
peace
September 19, 2009
Simply put, this book was absolutely riveting; I read it in two days. You have to read it yourself to understand why I can't review it further.
wish-list
August 27, 2009"Who is the third who walks always beside you?" -- T. S. Eliot
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