Reinerio Hernandez

Reinerio (Rey) Hernandez is an American attorney and researcher who has become one of the leading scientific investigators of extended contact experiences with non-human intelligence. Initially trained as an estate tax attorney employed by the U.S. Department of Treasury, Hernandez previously served as an adjunct professor for six years at the New School for Social Research and the City University of New York. His transition from skeptic to serious researcher occurred following direct experiences with non-human intelligence beginning in March 2012, when his entire family witnessed and engaged in conscious contact phenomena at their family home.

From Rationalist to Researcher

Before his contact experiences, Hernandez identified as a materialist rationalist and atheist, dismissing claims of UFOs, extraterrestrial contact, and paranormal phenomena entirely. This perspective shifted dramatically in 2012 when his family began experiencing unexplained phenomena at their residence. These were not passive observations but active, conscious contact experiences involving multiple witnesses including his own children and adult family members. In one documented instance, a football stadium-sized craft hovered silently approximately 30 feet from Hernandez, his daughter, and three adult witnesses for more than 45 minutes—an encounter that left permanent impressions on those present and fundamentally altered his understanding of reality.

Hernandez's willingness to document and investigate his family's experiences with scientific rigor rather than dismiss them led to his involvement in organized research efforts. His background in law and previous academic teaching experience positioned him well to bridge the gap between subjective experiential accounts and empirical investigation, combining personal testimony with methodological research protocols.

FREE Foundation and Consciousness Research

In 2015, Hernandez co-founded the Dr. Edgar Mitchell Foundation for Research into Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Encounters (FREE) alongside Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Harvard astrophysicist Dr. Rudy Schild, and Australian contact phenomenon researcher Mary Rodwell. FREE functions as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit academic research institute comprised of nine retired academic and lay researchers investigating the relationship between consciousness, contact experiences, and non-human intelligence.

The foundation's core mission emerged from the realization that contact with non-human intelligence appears inextricably linked to consciousness itself. Unlike conventional UFO research focused primarily on craft sightings and physical evidence, FREE takes a multidisciplinary approach examining how consciousness, perception, and paranormal phenomena intersect with extraterrestrial encounters. This framework acknowledges that genuine understanding of contact phenomena requires integration of consciousness studies, psychology, physics, and phenomenological analysis alongside testimony analysis and pattern recognition.

Hernandez has been instrumental in developing comprehensive surveys and research protocols designed to extract consistent patterns from experiencers describing contact with non-human intelligence. This scientific approach has produced the FREE Foundation's groundbreaking published research documenting correlations between consciousness experiences and contact phenomena, contributing to the broader understanding that consciousness itself may be central to human-NHI interaction.

Consciousness and Contact Research Institute

Beyond his work with FREE, Hernandez is also involved with the Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI), an academic research institute dedicated to an integrative approach to the entire spectrum of psychophysical anomalies. The CCRI seeks to articulate a new paradigm integrating consciousness research findings with the phenomenology of extraordinary experiences—effectively bridging the artificial divide between "conventional" consciousness studies and contact phenomenon research.

Hernandez's approach emphasizes that understanding contact requires examining the experiencer's consciousness state, cognitive processes, and perceptual shifts during encounters. His published work and media appearances, including interviews on Skeptiko, numerous podcasts, and consciousness conferences, have made him a recognizable voice advocating for systematic scientific investigation of contact experiences without requiring the artificial skepticism that historically dismissed such reports.

Current Work and Legacy

Hernandez continues his estate tax law practice while maintaining active roles in consciousness and contact research. His significance lies not in claiming special authority but in demonstrating that serious scholars with legal and academic training can investigate contact phenomena using rigorous methodology. By documenting his own family's experiences and collaborating with established researchers like Mitchell and Schild, he has helped establish legitimacy for consciousness-focused approaches to understanding non-human intelligence.