I just hafta bring up Robert Burton's book, On Being Certain, wherein he describes "neurological events" that are experienced as "thoughts" by those who have them. Yet they are not thoughts. One of them is the experience of certainty; of "knowing" something, which may be triggered by almost anything, including such phenomena as seizures. It is a fascinating read, and has helped me to understand fixed beliefs better than almost anything else I have read. A belief does not have to be "true" to be experienced as true. And to some extent, we resist evidence that contradicts our most deeply held beliefs. Think religion, politics, or any ideology that people cling to, afraid to examine their own beliefs with any kind of rigor.
Dr Burton goes even further: he declares that there is no such thing as an "objective" opinion; all opinions are subjective, by definition. The "rational mind" itself is a contrived thing; a useful fiction, perhaps, but it doesn't really exist. The implications for, say, artificial intelligence are enormous.

I see a small round chicken face with feet and he's giving us the middle fingers. There's also a smiling spider on his head.

I have had experiences, too, that were achieved while in different states consciousness. But I understand that those experiences are anecdotal, and can't be proven, scientifically, to be real.

The human brain and mind is an incredible and mysterious thing.