Chilling true story of scientist who claimed he lived in 'the Matrix' then suddenly disappeared

A scientist who theorised about a holographic simulation of reality went missing nearly 30 years ago - and has still not been found or heard from since.

Jacobo Grinberg Zylberbaum was born in Mexico City in 1946, and at 12 years old, he reportedly decided that he would study the human mind - a decision which came after the death of his mother, who passed away from a brain tumour.

After gaining his PhD in New York, Zylberbaum then returned to Mexico and founded his own laboratory at the Universidad Anáhuac.

Dr Jacobo Grinberg Zylberbaum has been missing since 1994. (Family Handout)

This specialised in psychophysiology, a branch of psychology, which studies the physiological bases of psychological processes.

In 1987, he would go on to found the Instituto Nacional para el Estudio de la Conciencia (National Institute for the Study of Consciousness).

While there, he would take the scientific method into some strange directions, including investigating things such as meditation, shamanism, telepathy, and witchcraft and their connection to brain activity.

Things got even stranger, however, when the scientist started to combine his scientific discipline with shamanism.

This was in an attempt to understand the 'magic world', and trying to understand a relationship between science and consciousness.

In the end, he wrote in excess of 50 books on a huge range of different topics - though much of his work was rejected by the scientific community.

But on December 8 1994, just a few days short of his 48th birthday, Grinberg vanished mysteriously and has not been seen since.

He theorised about about a holographic simulation (Yana Iskayeva / Getty)

The disappearance of someone like Grinberg predictably sparked all manner of theories as to what could have happened.

They included the more commonplace such as that he had been kidnapped by the CIA, or being abducted by aliens.

But there were also the more outlandish ones, like that the scientist had gone so far into his explorations of shamanism and consciousness that he had simply slipped into another dimension.

One theory is connected to Grinberg's belief in a holographic simulation of reality. Yes, like the Matrix.

His idea was that if we turn our minds to it then we can interact with 'perceptual reality' not just in that we can watch it, but in a more active sense.

It's certainly a compelling theory, though definitely seeming to border on the realms of science fiction.

Aside from a supposed sighting by a gas station worker in New Mexico, the scientist has not be seen since.