The neuroscience research, and recent MRI imaging studies, show that DMT binds to the serotonin 2A receptors in the brain, like psilocybin and the other classical psychedelics. The Default Mode Network in the brain is disrupted, there's more communication between different brain regions that are normally not in direct communication, and there’s generally a more fluid and complex cortical state. But how that translates into people seeing clowns, jesters, insectoid and alien beings, well, that’s anyone’s guess really.