R2-45 is the name given by L. Ron Hubbard to what he described as "an enormously effective process for exteriorization but its use is frowned upon by this society at this time". In Scientology doctrine, exteriorization refers to the separation of the thetan (soul) from the body, a phenomenon which Hubbard asserts can be achieved through Scientology auditing. R2-45 is said to be a process by which exteriorization could be produced by shooting a person in the head with a .45 pistol. This literal meaning is acknowledged by the Church of Scientology, although they deny that it is meant seriously. Origins of R2-45 In the book The Creation of Human Ability, Hubbard describes two training "Routes", with the exercises in Route 1 numbered R1-4 to R1-15, and the exercises in Route 2 numbered R2-16 to R2-75. R2-45 is simply described as "an enormously effective process for exteriorization but its use is frowned upon by this society at this time". Several conflicting accounts exist of where and when R2-45 originated and how it was presented by Hubbard. According to Stewart Lamont, in one of a series of lectures called the Philadelphia Doctorate Course, held from December 1 to 19, 1952, Hubbard demonstrated R2-45 by firing a Colt 45 into the floor of the podium. George Malko gives a slightly different account in his 1970 book Scientology: The Now Religion, writing that "Hubbard is said to have marched out onto center stage at one of the Scientology congresses in Washington, D.C., in the late fifties, pulled out a .45 loaded with blanks, fired it into the audience, and announced to the stunned assemblage, 'I just thought you'd like to see what R2-.45 looks like!'" A 2007 promotional film produced by the Church of Scientology features a claimed eyewitness account of Hubbard's introduction of R2-45. According to an unnamed veteran Scientologist who appeared in the film, R2-45 first appeared in a 1954 lecture given by Hubbard in Phoenix, Arizona, in which he described a series of auditing processes in numerical order: Decades later, Hubbard's estranged son Ronald DeWolf said that he had been present at a meeting where his father fired a pistol into the floor to illustrate R2-45. DeWolf commented, "I thought he was kidding and that it was a blank, but it wasn't; there was a hole in the floor. It was for real; he meant it." R2-45 in Hubbard's lectures