has had a life-long interest in the paranormal and began studying the phenomenon of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) in 1980, soon after becoming a member of the International Association of Near Death Studies (IANDs). In 1995 she hosted IANDS co-founder, Dr Ken Ring while he was on tour in Australia presenting research for his future book Mindsight: Near Death and Out Of Body Experiences In The Blind. Little did she know she would experience an NDE for herself the following year during a serious decade long illness.
Sheryl’s interest in NDEs paralleled her interest in UFOs, so in 1988 she joined the Brisbane based organisation, UFO Research Queensland (Australia). At that time the organization was soon overrun with ever growing reports of alien abduction experiences so in 1992 Sheryl, with her late husband Dr Martin Gottschall, established the first close encounter support group in Brisbane which they facilitated over the years, on and off, as needs arose.
Sheryl’s interest in the afterlife grew deeper and in 2012 she established the monthly Afterlife Discussions group where people come together to this day to explore all facets of death, dying and the afterlife.
Expanding her interest in the UFO subject and the move towards disclosure, Sheryl was invited to fill the role of the Australian representative for the International Association of Extraterrestrial Research (ICER) which launched in May 2021, and is the first truly international group of UFO researchers from 30 countries working together.
As a UFO and paranormal researcher of over three decades, Sheryl has been privy to receiving thousands of reports from the public, some of who have had a wide range of experiences including seeing extraterrestrials during their NDEs.
Sheryl loves media and has been a weekly guest on the Spooky Action radio show (2018), co-hosted the Strange Encounters radio show (2019), the Insomnia radio show 2022 (current) and now co-hosts the fortnightly show – Strange Encounters Downunder. These shows have served as a further catalyst for members of the public to report their experiences to her, many of who have never shared them before.
Sheryl’s research bridges the Afterlife and the UFO subject, and looking more deeply at the possible connections has led her to train in shamanism which she now teaches. She continues to find links between close encounters with ETs and the afterlife in the stories reported to her, and she is convinced that the two greatest mysteries of the 21st century - Are We Alone In The Universe and What Happens When We Die? intersect in a deeply mysterious way..
