How could hovering your hands over someone's body possibly heal them, or tell you where they're sick? It sounds like science fiction, but in the early 1980s, top physicists at one of the Soviet Union's most prestigious scientific institutes were secretly ordered by the government to answer exactly that question. What they found points to a surprisingly grounded materialistic explanation. One rooted in ordinary human biology and electromagnetic energy.
I call it the "heat touch" theory. It goes like this: hands emit infrared (IR) radiation: real, measurable electromagnetic energy that's been shown to increase blood circulation and support healing. At the same time, the skin's thermoreceptors can detect faint differences in temperature across a patient's body, and since illnesses have been shown to have different thermal signatures, it might explain the diagnosing of illnesses with just hands.
But that’s not all. This may also explain the feelings commonly reported by hand healers: from the warmth flowing from their hands, to the hot and cold spots they sense over a patient’s body.
In the sections ahead, we'll cover everything about this. The step-by-step mechanisms, the supporting scientific experiments, and the hidden history behind these discoveries. Starting with the moment the Soviet government secretly ordered their top physicists to crack this mystery once and for all.
Table of Contents:
1. The Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics (IRE) Secret Government Mission: Uncover The Energy Behind Mysterious “Healing Touch”
In autumn of 1981, a group of government ministers and top Soviet scientists gathered in an office at the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics (IRE), the head institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the leading scientific organization in the USSR (FIAN-inform, 2012) (Godik, 2010). This was no ordinary meeting. A secret order had come down from the Central Committee of the Communist Party to find out what lay behind the mysterious healing abilities of Dzhuna, the Kremlin’s “folk healer” (click here to read her full story).
Among the scientists present was Yuri Gulayev, Deputy Director of IRE, physicist and inventor. He specialized in the fields of solid state physics, radiophysics, electronics, and computer sciences (CIA Archives [Harary and Targ], 2000, p. 82) (May, Rubel, McMoneagle, 2014, p. 159) (Shevtsova, 2021). He was also one of the founders of several entirely new fields of science: acousto-electronics, acousto-optics, and spin-wave electronics (IRE RAS). Gulayev held over 100 patents and had authored more than 700 scientific papers (IRE, 1996-2025). His discoveries and patents are actually used in every TV and mobile phone in the world today. The man was a scientist of global stature, having been nominated for the Nobel Prize over 10 times, and holding many international and Soviet awards (May, Rubel, McMoneagle, 2014, p. 159).
Alongside him was his friend, Eduard Godik—an experimental physicist and associate at IRE (Shevtsova, 2021). Although not as renowned as Gulayev—Godik was also quite the scientist. He held a Ph.D. in physics and mathematical sciences, and was currently working with registration of weak infrared emissions (May, Rubel, McMoneagle, 2014, p. 159) (Godik, 2010).
While they sat in the office, the government ministers gave them their secret assignment, straight from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). They told the scientists to:
Determine the mechanism behind Dzhuna’s ability to both heal and gain information about a patient’s internal condition at a short distance (FIAN-inform, 2012) (May, Rubel, McMoneagle, 2014, p. 159) (Shevtsova, 2021) (Godik, 2010).
In other words, to explain how, by simply hovering her hands above the patient’s body, she’s seemingly able to diagnose their illness, and heal it, or at the very least, alleviate it. Effectively answering the question: how could healing and diagnosing through laying of the hands possibly work?
“They suggested starting a serious Program for investigation of ‘the biological field’ in collaboration with Dzhuna. It was to uncover the mechanism via which psychics (and ordinary people) got information about a patient touch-free, and how they heal.” — Eduard Godik (Godik, 2010)
The government backed the institute with a considerable amount of money to conduct a research program into this: 1 million dollars and 10 million rubles (Shevtsova, 2021). A new parapsychology laboratory was formed at IRE, with Godik as its director (May, Rubel, McMoneagle, 2014, p. 160).
Gulayev was appointed the head of this entire research program, but he told his friend Godik to organize and conduct it (May, Rubel, McMoneagle, 2014, p. 159). Godik, given the freedom to design the research program, got to work immediately—the weekend after the meeting (Godik, 2010).
Designing the Research Program: A Physicist's Approach to the Paranormal
Eduard Godik was skeptical initially. After all, he was a physicist. So, talk of “psychics,” “healing,” or “biological energy fields” gave off a stench of “pseudoscience” to him.
“I was in doubt in the beginning . . These pseudo-scientific definitions: biological fields, psychics, etc—looked ugly to me.” — Eduard Godik (Godik, 2010)
At first, he didn’t even think a proper scientific research program could be conducted. But then, he got to thinking, like—really thinking…..
The Hypothesis: Physical Fields & Radiation That Could Explain It
Godik’s scientific instincts took over. He thought: If any of the reported “healing,” or “diagnosing” effects were real, then they had a physical basis (Shevtsova, 2021). They had to be explained by known fields of physics—electromagnetic, magnetic, and electric. This was a modest, materialistic assumption, which could actually be scientifically tested.
“I did think about the fact that physical fields and radiation from biological objects could be carriers of physiological information” — Eduard Godik (FIAN-inform, 2012)
Using his background in physics, Godik came up with 4 potential channels of physical fields and electromagnetic (EM) radiation already present in biological organisms—which might account for the healing and diagnosing effects (Godik, 2010) (FIAN-inform, 2012).
Channel | Source in the Body | What It Reveals About Physiology (per Godik) |
1. Electric and magnetic fields. | Bioelectric sources in the brain, heart, nerves, muscles. | Electrical activity of these organs (e.g., nerve signaling, heart rhythm, muscle function). |
2. Infrared (IR) radiation. | Heat (infrared radiation) emitted by the skin via blood flow. | Functional dynamics of blood circulation in the skin, thermoregulation (body temperature control). |
3. Radio-thermal and acoustic-thermal radiation. | Internal metabolic processes, temperature dynamics. | Temperature and metabolic activity of internal organs and muscles, blood flow patterns. |
4. Chemiluminescence. | Light emitted by chemical reactions in tissues. | Tissue oxygenation levels, antioxidant activity, markers of oxidative stress. |
These, he reasoned, might carry the “signals” transmitting information (diagnosis) and healing effects at a distance. Now, all he had to do was find out how they could be detected. After all, he had to test this hypothesis with experiments, and in order to do that you have to be able to observe the phenomena in question!
The Method: Mapping the Body’s Hidden Energies and Processes
To observe these channels, Godik turned to technologies his institute had long used — but for far bigger scales.
The Soviet IRE, under Academician V.A. Kotelnikov had pioneered something called “passive remote sensing,” to study the Earth’s oceans, land, and atmosphere (FIAN-inform, 2012) (Godik, 2010). These methods relied on sensors mounted on aircraft in the sky or satellites in space, that passively detected natural electromagnetic radiation emitted or reflected by the Earth — such as infrared (heat), visible light, microwave radiation, and other bands of the EM spectrum. This allowed Soviet scientists to map ocean temperatures, track storms, or monitor land conditions.
“Before this, they looked everywhere with these methods - into space from Earth and from space to Earth - but they never got to the main object in this world, Man." — Edward Godik (FIAN-inform, 2012).
Godik basically realized something profound: If we can map the natural e-radiation of oceans and land from space, why not apply the same principle to map the e-radiation of the human body?
This approach was twofold:
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Use various detectors to measure the types of electromagnetic radiation (heat or infrared, visible light, radio-thermal), electric and magnetic fields, and other signals (like acoustic-termal) – emitted by the human body (Sreda, N/A).
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Use computers to integrate these signals into a dynamic digital model—an animated map showing the body’s functional and energetic processes in real time (Godik, 2010) (FIAN-inform, 2012).
In short, his plan was to build an array of detectors that could capture the body’s natural fields and emissions — and combine these into a digital, dynamic real-time map. It would be, in effect, like creating a satellite image of the body’s inner workings — revealing its hidden energetic landscape.
The Research Goal: Map The Biological Energy Field
The goal of the program was therefore to measure and visualize the 4 potential channels of physical fields and electromagnetic radiation emissions emitted by the human organism—all of which could carry the patient’s information (diagnosis) and the healing effects at a short distance (Godik, 2010). This mapping would allow them to observe these biological fields and electromagnetic radiation under normal conditions, and under those of healing—to see if they might play a role.
Godik called this entire research program: “Physical Fields and E-Radiation of the Human Organism” (Godik, 2010).
Team and Experiments Begin
To help carry out this program, they selected young physicists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT)—the Soviet counterpart of the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States (May, Rubel, McMoneagle, 2014, p. 160) (Shevtsova, 2021). They were divided into 4 groups, each measuring one of the proposed channels (FIAN-inform, 2012).
The experimental work began in September 1983 and continued into 1985. During this time, Dzhuna was hired as senior research fellow at IRE, coming into the lab once a week as the main research subject. Although, other “psychics” took part in these experiments too. Heck, even the scientists and MPIT graduates measured their own biological energy fields and radiation emissions! (Sreda, N/A)
Now, the question is—what did they discover?
2. Infrared (IR) Radiation as Hand’s Healing Energy
Although discoveries about the electric and magnetic fields were interesting, infrared (IR) radiation of the electromagnetic spectrum stood out as the most promising mechanisms for healing by “hand-hovering.”
So, rather than diving into all the discoveries, let’s focus on infrared (IR) radiation. They may explain the most important effects reported by Dzhuna and other healers—from the subjective sensations of warmth flowing from their hands, to feeling hot and cold spots in a patient’s body, to the way their hands seem drawn toward areas in need of healing. And most importantly: it offers a real, physical mechanism behind the mysterious healing effects.
Does Infrared Radiation Have Healing Power?
The first natural question if this energy to actually explain healing is: Does infrared radiation itself have any healing effects?
Well, if you search, “Does infrared radiation have positive therapeutic effects?” on Consensus Search, an AI academic search engine for peer-reviewed scientific literature, the answer is “Yes” — and confirmed by 10 scientific studies!
According to the results from 10 scientific, peer-reviewed papers:
“Infrared radiation (IR), including both near-infrared (NIR) and far-infrared (FIR), has been shown to have positive therapeutic effects in a variety of medical and health contexts. These benefits include pain reduction, anti-inflammatory actions, improved tissue healing, and potential roles in managing chronic diseases.”
Here’s some key healing effects of IR:
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Supports wound healing (through improved tissue repair) (Hamblin and Tsai, 2017) (Trochanowska-Pauk et al., 2019).
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So it’s clear: this type of electromagnetic energy can promote healing.
The next logical question is: Does the body emit this energy?
The IRE scientists showed that it does—and that healers may even enhance it through simple internal suggestions like: “my hands are getting warm.”
Does Body Emit Infrared (IR) Radiation?
If infrared radiation has been scientifically confirmed to have healing effects, then the next logical question is to confirm if the body actually emits it. Let’s find out with some experiments (Godik, 2010).
Hands Infrared Radiation Observed Under Normal Conditions
The infrared radiation experimental group, led by Alexander Petrov, focused on observing spontaneous infrared radiation emissions in the human body, under normal conditions. This allowed them to see how this energy is usually active in the body.
To do this, they used the highly sensitive thermal imaging technologies capable of observing real-time changes in the body’s infrared radiation patterns. What did they find?
Most notably, they observed rhythmic, wave-like infrared emissions from the hands and fingertips, which fluctuated in synchrony between both hands, with cycles occurring every few minutes (Fig. 1). This reveals that the hands emit coordinated and predictable IR radiation patterns, rather than random thermal noise. These patterns were also tied to changes in blood flow in the skin.
Godik also said that these patterns are part of the skin’s thermoregulation system—the bodily process through which the body maintains a stable internal body temperature.
The hand temperature was also reportedly measured. In an early mid-report addressed to Academician Gury Marchuk, it indicated temperature changes up to several degrees in Dzhuna’s hands! (Shevtsova, 2021). In Eduard Godik’s book, “The Mystery of the Psychics,” he also said that Dzhuna’s hands warmed, but about 1 degree.
Even more relevant, is that these infrared radiation emissions responded to internal suggestions. When a subject mentally repeated the phrase “my hands are getting warm,” there was a measurable increase in IR radiation—from the fingertips to the palms of the hands (Fig. 2). In other words, focused mental intention alone is enough to increase IR radiation in the hands.
Although these experiments did not directly test the effects of this infrared radiation on others, they clearly demonstrate that the hands emit IR radiation, which can be voluntarily activated by a technique many healers already used: simple internal suggestions like, “my hands are getting warm.”
Taken together, these findings point to a possible physical mechanism for the energy healing practice of “laying on of the hands,” from the point of the “healer.”
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Psychological correlate: the self-suggestion “my hands are getting warm”
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Physiological correlates: increased blood flow..
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Physical correlation: infrared radiation emitted from the hands, detectable with thermal imaging.
What Happens in the Patient? How Infrared Touch Might Trigger Patient’s Healing Responses
The next question, of course, is: What happens in the patient’s body during this infrared energy transfer? To answer this, the researchers conducted live physiological monitoring during healing sessions with one of the most famous Soviet healers—Dzhuna (Godik, 2010).
Using the same real-time thermal imaging, they tracked how the patient’s body responded (without touch and without words), noticing blood-flow in correlation with infrared radiation patterns. What they observed strongly mirrored the earlier infrared experiments—but this time, on the receiving end. It was quite remarkable, as similar effects of increased blood-flow and infrared radiation were observed!!!
Just 1-2 minutes after Dzhuna began her “laying on of the hands” (without touching or speaking), patients began showing signs of increased blood flow—especially in areas affected by illness.
In one dramatic example, a man with obliterating endarteritis (a circulatory disease often caused by heavy smoking) experienced nearly complete restoration of blood circulation in his foot within 10–20 minutes of Dzhuna’s healing (Fig. 3). Thermal images showed warmth (IR radiation) returning to the affected limb, tracking the reactivation of blood flow in real time.
The same was also true for patients with internal organ problems. Warming (IR radiation) occurred in skin zones that corresponded to the affected organs, suggesting localized physiological responses to Dzhuna’s healing (Fig. 4).
These findings echoed what Petrov’s infrared experiments had already shown, that increased infrared radiation is tightly linked to blood flow. But now it showed that IR radiation from Dzhuna’s hands increased the blood flow in patient’s affected areas, which may have supported healing.
Based on these experiments, Godik concludes that:
“The physiological response of the organism to the contactless and wordless influence of healer was objectively confirmed.”
Block the Infrared, Block the Healing: The Glass Barrier Experiment
One potential clue that infrared radiation may play a key role in the healing aspect of “hand-hovering” came from another simple but telling experiment. Researchers introduced a glass barrier between Dzhuna’s hands and the patient’s body. This glass was chosen specifically because it blocks infrared radiation.
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With the glass in place, “the patient did not feel anything”—no warmth, no sensations, no effect.
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As soon as the glass was removed, supposedly, “the effect began.” Although in the report for this experiment, it isn’t clear whether this means the patient just subjectively felt warmth again, or whether there were any measurable physiological changes (like IR observed and increased blood flow).
Summary: A Step-by-Step Scientific Healing Mechanism
These two lines of experimentation—one focusing on the healer’s body and the other on the patient’s response—offer a compelling, layered explanation for the healing aspect of “laying on of the hands.” Here is the proposed potential mechanism:
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Psychological Suggestion: The healer mentally repeats “my hands are getting warm” (figure 2). Although they may not need to, as the body emits synchronous waves of IR radiation correlating with blood-flow (figure 1).
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Physiological Trigger: This triggers increased blood flow and heat (infrared radiation) in the healer’s hands.
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Physical Link At A Distance: The hands emit this infrared radiation, a form of electromagnetic energy, to the patient (at a distance, without touching).
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Patient Physiological Response: The patient’s body begins to warm and increase blood flow in targeted areas. As the initial scientific studies show, this IR radiation and increased blood-flow likely produces healing, aiding in a variety of illnesses and injuries.
Okay so that’s for healing through hands, what about diagnosing the patient through the hands?
3. The Skin’s Secret Sense — How Hands Sense Illness
Dzhuna and other “hand healers,” claim to be able to diagnose a patient through conscious and subconscious hand perception. They claim to (1) consciously perceive hot or cold spots in a patient's body, which they correlated with various illnesses. They also claim to be able to (2) intuitively move their hand to the place in need of healing—almost as if their hand was subconsciously perceiving something.
What physical mechanisms might allow a healer to perceive illness in the patient’s body—consciously or subconsciously—simply by hovering their hands over it?
Based on IRE’s research, I think the key to this is once again in infrared radiation, and the body’s remarkable ability to perceive it—consciously and subconsciously.
The Skin as Thermal Thermoreceptors as Hidden Senses Diagnosing Illness
Our skin is packed with thermoreceptors—sensory receptors capable of perceiving minute changes in temperature—even as small as a few tenths of a degree Celsius (Godik, 2010).
I know what you’re wondering: Why the heck would we have these senses? Well, they actually form part of the body’s thermoregulation system. The system responsible for maintaining stable body temperature. It does things like make you sweat, when you get too hot, in order to cool your body down.
So, the skin’s thermoreceptors perceive subtle temperature changes! This might allow healers to consciously perceive warm or cold spots with their hands, or subconsciously perceive it, and thereby influence their hand movements.
Okay, now the question is: Do ill body parts emit different infrared emissions and thereby different temperatures, thereby allowing healer to diagnose illness based on their skin’s subconscious or conscious thermal perception?
Well, the surprising answer is yes!
Illnesses and Different Thermal Signatures
Areas of illness in the body often emit different heat or infrared radiation:
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Inflamed or overactive tissues may radiate more heat/IR radiation—due to higher blood flow (Ring and Ammer, 2012).
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This isn’t a revolutionary discovery either. In medicine, doctors use “infrared thermography” also called “thermal imaging” to detect conditions like arthritis, vascular problems, muscular pain, headaches, and tumors (Casanova et al., 2018) (Vicnesh et al., 2025) (Bagavathiappan et al., 2009) (Hardin, 2018) (Liu et al., 2025) (Kesztyüs et al., 2023). Therefore, it’s known that the body’s heat patterns reveal underlying health issues!
So, what does this mean for the hand-hovering practice? It means that when the healer’s hands encounter an area emitting abnormal IR (hotter or colder than surrounding tissue), their thermoreceptors may register this subtle difference. The healer may then consciously feel these as cold or warm spots, or it may subconsciously guide their hand to the abnormal area.
Summary: A Step-By Step Diagnosing Mechanism
In summary, here's the potential mechanism of diagnosis by “hand-hovering” through the mechanism of infrared radiation and skin’s thermoreceptors:
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Physical: The infrared (IR) radiation emitted by the human body acts as the signaling channel—indicating more or less heat from the body, often tied to underlying abnormalities or illness.
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Physiological: The skin’s thermoreceptors detect faint changes in temperature from infrared (IR) energy—like a radar.
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Psychological: The mind and body consciously or subconsciously perceive these changes. Consciously one might perceive “cold spots” or “warm spots.” Subconsciously, the hand may still be guided to the correct area—as a kind of subconscious perception, whenever thermal signals are too subtle to cross the threshold into conscious awareness.
This reveals that the human skin is not just a passive barrier—it’s a sensory tool. It can perceive heat or infrared radiation from another person, even at a subconscious level. Some healers may be naturally sensitive, able to detect these changes consciously as “cold” or “warm” spots. Others may be less sensitive, not consciously perceiving temperature changes, but their hand may subconsciously move to the area emitting abnormal IR, as a result of its subconscious thermal perception.
This suggests that diagnosing with “hand-hovering,” far from being “paranormal,” or due to mysterious “energy fields,” is rooted in the overlooked thermal perception embedded in our own skin! As Godik put it:
"I came to the conclusion that behind it are not physical fields and, of course, not mystical "biofields," but the unique ability of the body to notice and respond to weak, that is, below the threshold of awareness, signals from the external environment through the senses” — Eduard Godik (FIAN-inform, 2012)
This shows we shouldn't be quick to assume the limits of human perception. There are many more senses beyond the traditional kinder-garden level “5 senses” (seeing, hearing, smelling, etc) (FIAN-inform, 2012). The skin’s thermoreceptors which are able to sense faint temperature changes is one of them, but there’s many more.
This also means labels like “extrasensory perception” often attributed to hands-on healing diagnosis, does not do justice to new scientific discoveries on the ever-expanding human senses. Because, as Godik once put it, “it supposes that we are out of the sensory frames.” When, in fact, medical diagnosis through hands, rather than being “extrasensory,” may be partly rooted in the hidden thermal senses within our very skin.
Conclusion — Infrared Radiation and Thermoreceptors Might Explain the Healing and Diagnosis Power of the Hands
The IRE team’s experiments point to a clear, grounded explanation: Infrared radiation of the body and thermoreceptors in the skin could explain both the healing and (some) diagnostic abilities associated with “hand-hovering” (FIAN-inform, 2012).
Healing through IR Radiation
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Mental intention triggers heat: Healers (like Dzhuna) use internal suggestion — for example, repeating “my hands are warm” — to voluntarily increase their hand temperature and infrared (IR) radiation output.
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The hands emit measurable IR radiation: This IR energy is a real form of electromagnetic radiation that can be detected with thermal imaging.
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The IR radiation reaches the patient: When directed at the patient, this energy can:
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Increase local blood flow in targeted areas.
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Warm tissues naturally and gently.
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Support healing processes — such as reducing pain, easing inflammation reduction, and promoting tissue repair.
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A material, not mystical mechanism: The effect depends on real, physical energy transfer (IR radiation), not “metaphysical energy fields.”
Dzhuna herself now advocates this explanation. She said in a later 1995 interview with the Los Angeles times that: the healing techniques she learned from her great grandmother generate “heat” in the form of “electromagnetic waves,” which can raise a patient’s body temperature, and promote healing (Carpenter, 1995).
Diagnosing Through Skin’s Thermoreceptors
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The patient’s body emits infrared (IR) radiation — inflamed or overactive tissues emit more heat; damaged or poorly perfused tissues emit less.
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The healer’s hands detect these thermal differences using the skin’s thermoreceptors — specialized sensors that can perceive tiny temperature changes, even below conscious awareness.
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Conscious perception: The healer may feel areas as “warm spots” or “cold spots” through their hands.
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Subconscious perception: Even if the healer doesn’t consciously notice temperature differences, their hand movements may be guided by these faint thermal cues without realizing it.
The hands thereby act like a radar, scanning for abnormal heat patterns — providing a natural, sensory basis for diagnosis by touch.
Final Takeaway
The practice of healing and diagnosing by hand-hovering may not be paranormal at all. Instead, it might rely on very normal mechanisms:
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Psychological: Internal suggestion, conscious and subconscious perception.
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Physiological: Body’s thermoregulation and blood flow, and the skin’s thermoreceptors.
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Physical: Infrared radiation from the body, as a real, measurable energy.
With these two mechanisms, using infrared radiation and thermoreceptors, what was once considered “paranormal” now shows quite “normal” psychological, physiological, and physical correlates, and a step-by-step mechanism.
This explanation doesn’t yet account for the “colors” seen by the healer, but it offers a solid physical basis for other important aspects of healing and diagnosing by hand-hovering. This shows us that rather than being rooted in ancient spiritual and mystical explanations, it is likely rooted in new scientific and materialistic ones.
If these conclusions are substantiated by further experiments, we may finally uncover the real, tangible mechanisms behind this ancient, mystical art. If so, then I think we should call this substantiated theory something like the “heat touch”! To reflect its basis in infrared (IR) radiation emissions and thermal perception.