I can see no source claiming that Gell-Mann ever experienced this effect first hand. In which case Chrichton's may have nothing to do with the physicist and the

I can see no source claiming that Gell-Mann ever experienced this effect first hand. In which case Chrichton's may have nothing to do with the physicist and the effect is merely a fabrication of the writer's imagination. In any case, we should really ask 'is science journalism really that bad?'- do experts in the field find it to be incorrect.