Why does this happen? Because, said Persinger, our “sense of self” is maintained by the left hemisphere temporal lobe. Under normal brain functioning this is matched by the corresponding systems in the right hemisphere’s temporal lobe. When these two systems are out of sync, the left hemisphere interprets the uncoordinated activity as “another self” or a “sensed presence,” because there can only be one self. Two “selves” are reconfigured as one self and one something else, which may be labeled as an angel, demon, alien, ghost, or even God.
