Uncertain Eternity Ticket's Pricy Promise of Fortune
Stepping into a Sci-Fi Sanctuary: The Quest for Immortality
Amidst a futuristic setting in Scottsdale, Arizona, stands a row of chrome caskets, each housing the cryogenically preserved remains of individuals who believed in the promise of rebirth. This is the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a non-profit organization founded 53 years ago, where Montreal billionaire Robert Miller seeks his ticket to eternal life, amidst a myriad of criminal charges and civil lawsuits.
Our Online PublicationPhotos: Sarah Mongeau-Birkett, our website
These chrome structures are the embodiment of Robert Miller's hope to conquer the grim reaper. The octogenarian's declining health may postpone his trail, but it doesn't deter him from believing in the unproven technology of cryogenics.
The Alcor vault, visited by La Presse, is an odd mixture of peculiar devices, complex equations, and brain scans. James Arrowood, CEO of the foundation, oversees these labs, employing an ambitious team committed to the slim chance of resurrecting the frozen.
"We're not offering anything that's been tested. All we're promising is a very, very cold coffin," says Michael Hendricks, Professor Emeritus in the McGill University Department of Biology. Yet, Robert Miller is eager to bet on this uncertain gamble.
Robert Miller's attorneys are set to petition for a judicial halt, sparing him from potential prison time. If successful, his lack of interest in natural death is evident, opting instead for the experimental process of cryogenics to preserve his body at Alcor. Like many others, he's invested a fortune in the hope of being restored to life in a distant future, when his accusers may well be Anubis themselves.
Within the vault, an employee activates a command, triggering a thick fog atop the caskets. They are releasing the accumulated nitrogen vapors, a crucial part of the cryogenic preservation process that keeps the remains in a subzero state of -196°C.
The majority of clients opt for a head-only cryogenic freezing, betting on the possibility of attaching that detached head to another body in the future. Others prefer the whole body freeze, for a heftier price tag.
Before being submerged in the vat, the "cryonauts," as they are called at Alcor, are embalmed with a precious liquid said to promote cell preservation at ultra-low temperatures, preventing ice crystal formation. James Arrowood calls this substance akin to liquid gold.
Pricing for cryogenic freezing at Alcor includes an annual subscription based on a patient's age, a cryogenic head-only freeze for $80,000, and a whole-body Cryonics freeze for $220,000.
A Bloom in Funding
For the past 25 years, Alcor's internal magazine noted Miller's significant donations multiple times. His generosity even led to financial concerns for the foundation, with American regulations stipulating that a single individual should not contribute too much to its funding.
In 2022, Miller founded his own registered US foundation, the Future Cryonics Foundation, to support Alcor's activities. In its inaugural year, the foundation received an initial donation of 4.5 million Canadian dollars from Future Electronics, as stated in its financial reports examined by La Presse.
Following allegations against Miller by several women in 2023, his investments in cryonics development skyrocketed. In the ensuing months, he poured 24 million Canadian dollars into the Future Cryonics Foundation, which immediately transferred 1.4 million to Alcor. They kept a 33 million dollar reserve for future use, according to consulted financial reports.
As a result, Alcor has expanded its presence in Canada, confirming that it now boasts 84 members. It established a Canadian branch, registered as a non-profit organization, and directed by an Ontario inhalotherapist. This branch has set up a rapid response team in the Ottawa region, tasked with recovering the remains of members at their death and preserving them using dry ice until sending them to Arizona. The team is likely to be dispatched to Montreal following Miller's demise.
The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) declines to comment on Miller's wish to be revived following a judicial stay. Miller's lawyers, however, assert that his arrangements do not impact either criminal proceedings or civil lawsuits.
James Arrowood refuses to discuss specific cases for confidentiality reasons. However, he stresses that Alcor does not discriminate among its members, "We treat everyone the same way," he explains, "judging their worthiness for cryonization based on moral grounds could lead to exploitation and abuse."
He argues that future societies might have found a solution to handle the moral dilemma of reviving cryogenically preserved individuals, including those with questionable pasts.
Yet, Michael Hendricks, a neurobiology researcher at McGill University, finds this prospect incredulous. "The idea that a future technology would be compatible with the behaviors of these individuals now is already preposterous," he quips, highly critical of organizations selling the dream of eternity.
Even if Hendricks doubts Alcor's project's success, he believes individuals like Robert Miller should consider the likelihood of a warm welcome from future generations.
"What do you think they will think of these people preserved artificially? Do you think they will be very motivated to resurrect them? Their priorities might lie elsewhere, given the state of the planet they'll inherit," Hendricks surmises, raising a relevant concern, especially in the case of someone targeted by severe allegations of sexual crimes.
- Montreal billionaire Robert Miller, despite facing criminal charges and civil lawsuits, seeks eternal life through cryonics at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a non-profit organization in Scottsdale, Arizona.
- The Alcor vault, visited by La Presse, is a facility filled with peculiar devices, complex equations, brain scans, and chrome caskets housing cryogenically preserved remains.
- Michael Hendricks, Professor Emeritus in the McGill University Department of Biology, expressed skepticism about cryonics, stating, "We're not offering anything that's been tested. All we're promising is a very, very cold coffin."
- In 2022, Miller founded the Future Cryonics Foundation to support Alcor's activities, which received an initial donation of 4.5 million Canadian dollars from Future Electronics.
- Robert Miller's investments in cryonics development significantly increased following allegations against him in 2023, with him pouring 24 million Canadian dollars into the Future Cryonics Foundation.
- Alcor has expanded its presence in Canada, setting up a rapid response team in the Ottawa region to recover and preserve the remains of members upon their death, a task likely to be dispatched to Montreal following Miller's demise.
