EXAMINING THE UFO/UAP TOPIC

The graphic shows in very basic terms the state of the modern field of UFO/UAP studies. 

The topic is dissected from a starting point of hard evidence based scientific inquiry OR from a starting point of experience based spiritual inquiry. 

Science can be further divided into those for or against the basic theories of Quantum mechanics or a host of similar new expressions of viewing the workings of reality and existence. The strong emphasis on evidence may take some time for accepted recognition of new ideas but it the evidence will determine the acceptance of a view in the end. All groups in this strand of thinking, however, will adhere to strict rules of scientific inquiry and peer review of findings.

Spirit can be further divided into those for an adherence to "orthodox" traditional religious views based sacred canons, doctrines, practices, and accepted teachings. It can also be divided into the group who have adopted what is commonly called "New Age" philosophical/religious views and influenced by spiritualism, theophany, Eastern religious and philosophical teachings, the occult, the paranormal, and the use of drugs to achieve heightened states of awareness, illumination, and connection with the spiritual.  

Both sides of this spiritual strand may adopt and use the same tools: prayer/meditation, sacred texts, adherence to an accepted doctrine/teaching, and behaviors.
 

As a result of these two strands there is also a fluid and ever-changing region that serves as a syncretic blending of elements of all the strands.  They may combine elements of traditional religious faith with hard evidence-based facts.  They may fashion a view that takes bits of New Age, bits of science, and bits of traditional religions or philosophies to craft a unique (and sometimes individualized) view. 

Some reject this mashup of ideas and views. Some welcome it.  Like an urban legend the landscape of these believes change almost daily.

To deal with this it is going to be necessary to chart a course...but it may not be easy. As recent events have revealed, when the facts are shallow, the answers flood in to fill the void but they are without criteria, evaluation, testing, or source.

Stock up on headache remedies - we may need a lot of them.

Islands in the Stream: The Alien Question and God

 Marilyn A. Hudson

The Alien Question and God

EVERY ADVENTURE REQUIRES A FIRST STEP

This brief work deals with the topic of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) , what was previously termed, Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), and the spiritual/metaphysical aspects in a world that demands hard and rational facts.

 I’M A STRANGER. YOU’RE A STRANGER. TOGETHER, WE ARE…STRANGERS.

 

THE CONTACTEE MOVEMENT

The brief definition of a “Contactee” is someone who claims to have had some form of communication with an alien to this planet life form. This might include speech but also telepathy, astral projections, or physical contact.  Generally, this group is marked by a belief that the aliens are benign and even benevolent.  They want to help humanity solve its problems, they encourage the cessation of nuclear use and weapons development and generally seek to lead the planet away from total destruction.

Aliens, for most of this group, are educators or teachers with a message to live a better life, seeking peace, and cooperation in place of mutual destruction. In this view, the Aliens are very much a “Savior” role. They often also promote spiritual growth, enlightenment, and evolution beyond anger and war.

Many early encounters of this type included direct or suggested references to the “God” of the individuals being contacted.  A growing number of people now accept the concept that many odd references in ancient sacred texts refer to encounters with alien beings (this includes myths from many cultures, Sumerian texts, ancient Indian writings, and texts from the Old Testament).

Early encounters with strange beings often included being taken away, but it was often in the context of the fairies who took people to a place where time moved at a different pace, and they were returned to peers and family strangely aged. Many early “contactees” were given rides on spaceships but were always asked and the contactee happily hopped aboard for a short spin among the stars.

While some Biblical references of being “taken up into heaven” have been interpreted to refer to abductions, the actual abduction scenario of forced containment and tests is of a recent date. This’ grab and go’ scenario appears only a few times in the late 1950’s (mostly in South America) and then later in North America in the late 1960’s through the 1990’s.

Some of these followers of the contactee movement formed themselves around charismatic leaders and formed NRM’s or New Religious Movements. These include the Aetherius Society, Heaven’s Gate, Scientology, and others.  There are surprising of groups based on “UFOs” who have established themselves as religious institutions. 

This group in recent decades has also been labeled as the “UFO Religions Group” by law enforcement and social researchers. The field is very diverse and may be far more complex than many are willing to consider.  Many writers on the subject note that there have always been “contactees” in human history; it is only the names given to them that changes. In past centuries people reported encounters with “fairies”, “little people”, “demons”, “ancestors”, “angels”, “saints”, “ghosts”, and “spirits.” Some researchers lean toward viewing most modern “Flying Saucer Contactees” as merely the same phenomenon in a new suit of clothes.

Others feel that some events reported are the result of clandestine secret government tests related to mind control and behavior modification and there is some evidence to suggest some reports may indeed be related to something just that bizarre. Others tend to blame it on mental instability, drug or alcohol abuse, a fantasy prone personality, or something similar.

THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

The New Age Movement emerged in the late 1960’s and 1970s to become part of modern cultures mainstream. Personalities moved from the Drug Culture to Eastern Mysticism and the result was an infusion of often jumbled eastern philosophies and religious views.  The “Age of Aquarius” had arrived promising a shiny new future. In essence the New Age Movement combines ideas from many different spiritual and cultural traditions for the purpose of creating a unique worldview. Oddly, this mix and match approach often ignores crucial aspects of the cultures and traditions being utilized.

The focus within this movement is the personal experiences of individuals derived from drug “trips”, meditation, or other activities.  These, in essence, serve as the authoritative “texts” and definitions of all spiritual/metaphysical topics.

Other important ideas are –

• ·         A focus on the concept of Oneness, or the interconnectedness of all life.
• ·         A focus on the concept of ‘spiritual transformation’
• ·         A belief in reincarnation

·         A rejection of the monotheism of numerous traditional religious traditions.  Some suggest this can be traced back to the early 1900’s and Madame Blavatsky or more recently with the writings of Davod Spanger.

The New Age Movement emerged in an idealistic and energetic time and its ideals and methods reflect that. In broad strokes it can be described as holistic, spiritual, and mystical. These appear, to many people, to be rather safe and tame concepts. Others, will point out the number one avenue of introducing these concepts into society were the illegal drug culture, through occult writing and activities and via the lingering metaphysical groups of society. Many of these latter societies and groups would slip out of the ghosts and spiritualist clothing they had worn to done shiny new space age suits and claims of alien contact.

As a result of the mélange of ideas and influences the world of “New Age” involved and involves today the practices of yoga, astrology, crystal healing, Tarot card reading, reincarnation, and according to many sources, a “belief in UFOs” and “Earth mysteries” are added to the mix.

Some of the problems this broad field of study involves that a lot is in response to fear, a sense of lack of control over the present and future, some narcissism, and an openness that leaves one open to charges of a lack of critical thinking skills.

 

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD APPROACH

The scientific method is defined since about the 17^th century as utilizing an empirical method to acquire knowledge. At its essence it has been called “trial and error”.  The steps defined in a variety of ways, but most utilize 4-5 steps. One is to start with observation, develop a question, generate a hypothesis, conduct an experiment to test the hypothesis, analyze the results, generate a conclusion and repeat as needed. A shorter step list (better for some types of subjects) is to ask a question, collect data, test a hypothesis, and from that draw a conclusion.  Whatever specific process is utilized the goal is to objectively establish the facts through testing and experimentation.

Some have noted that science is basically a desire to understand, predict, and control. The major problems science often faces include a guiding ethic (because we can, should we?) and the issue of being so focused on the steps of the main hypothesis that lateral thinking (outside the box creative thought) is sometimes lost.

 

THE TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS VIEWS

The question may rank up there with the famous "how many angels can dance on the head of pin" level of theological debate, but it is a valuable question for those of Christian faith to contemplate. The Christian faith has many streams, some overlap and others diverge wildly as if escaping being on the same continent; the issue is thus complex.

The range of Christian thought should be viewed as a continuum. At one end are those labeled "Fundamentalist", "literal" and "hyper conservative."  At the other end are those who open themselves to the "suggestions of holy writ, believe morality and ethics are largely situational and that it is up to humanity itself to pull on the bootstraps and improve themselves and their world.  In the middle is a wide range of people with a great many similarities but important differences of governance, interpretation and application of faith teaching and church doctrines.

Judaism

“The uniqueness of humankind is not our consciousness, but the way that consciousness is able to enter the realms of good and evil, make decisions and distinguish between them.”  (Is There Life on Other Planets? The Jewish view on UFOs, aliens and extraterrestrial intelligence. Tzvi Freeman, at https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3012/jewish/Is-There-Life-on-Other-Planets.htm

 Islam

“According to the Ahadith of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) life — intelligent life — exists on other planets. A Hadith of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) narrated by Hadhrat Ibn Abbaas (radhiyallahu anhu) describes the type and form of the different kinds of intelligent species of creation to be found on other planets….If humans claim with fidelity to have found life on other planets then it will not go against Islam and if they do not then it still does not go against Islam. New things and creatures will always be discovered it is the wonder of Allah’s limitless power.  And Allah the creator of all things the All-Significant knows best .– Mufti Abubakr Karolia (ttps://islamqa.org/hanafi/muftisays/10601/what-is-islam-s-stance-on-life-on-other-planets)

Buddhism

“The Dalai Lama spoke on the topic of encountering alien beings in an address at the University of Portland in 2013. There, he spoke of the short-sightedness of even the more optimistic visions of an alien encounter. He said, “If I come here to talk, with a strong feeling that I’m a Buddhist, and perhaps, furthermore, that I’m the Dalai Lama or ‘His Holiness,’ then that kind of mental attitude automatically creates a kind of distance. As soon as you look at others as something different from you, and you consider yourself as something different, then this sort of uneasiness comes.”

 When “we” set ourselves apart from “them” in a fundamental way, uneasiness arises. This fundamental teaching can be traced back to the Buddha’s realization of anatta, or not-self. This teaching points at our all-too-human proclivity to identify rigidly as this or that, in opposition to some “other.”

The Dalai Lama continued, “So therefore, I practice this, of course firstly there are the teachings: we always say, ‘other sentient beings,’ even though we make distinctions between human beings, insects, and others.” We can begin overcoming self-conceit by simply recognizing the sentience, and thus equality, of other beings. We don’t need extraterrestrials to do this: we can reach out to insects and animals right here already. For many of us, even respecting the dignity of other humans would be a powerful step in moral growth.   --- https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/buddhistdoor-view-extending-buddhist-practice-to-beings-beyond-earth/

WHAT ARE DEMONS?

Most often the Fundamentalist end of the spectrum will be most likely to view the subject of "extraterrestrials" as demons, fallen angels, or evil spirits. The source of knowledge and the call to authority is the written scriptures contained in the Bible. It is also in writings the various church councils deemed unorthodox or inferior to the accepted canon.  Leaving the heavily Gnostic influenced "Book of Enoch" and others aside, to remain in the "canon." The argument often pivots on two points.  Those holding the view may argue based on two points:

1. E.T. is not mentioned in the Bible.

2. E.T. is not mentioned as being in heaven.

Since there are many specific things not mentioned in the Bible. The list of those would fill volumes so that is a shaky argument. Also, the knowledge of the content, or nature, of heaven is found only in the Bible, so it is clear that the argument is not very strong. Arguments based on silence or absence are usually weak..

 

Charge 1: Aliens are Demons

A demon is a malevolent spirit/entity. The Ancient Greek word δαίμων (daimōn) denotes a spirit or divine power, much like the Latin genius or numen. Daimōn most likely came from the Greek verb daiesthai ("to divide" or "distribute"). Biblically, demons are said to be fallen angels, among the many who left heaven in a revolt led by Lucifer.

 These demons are, again based on textual evidence, are divided into groups in a hierarchy. Under "Satan" (Lucifer, Devil)  they are organized in levels known as rulers, authorities, powers, and spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:10-12).

Demons are able to "possess" to “demonize” people.  The phrase of “demonic possession,” is never actually used in Scripture.  (Luke 8:30).

According to Rev. 12:4  says a "vast number" of the angels joined in a rebellion with Satan against God Almighty. These fallen angels are what the Bible refers to as demons. Some suggest as many as 1/3 followed Lucifer. The Bible never says that the number was actually one-third. However, that number has been speculated by many for a variety of reasons (Isaiah 14:12-15; and 2 Peter 2:4-10).

Demons are able to appear human: take shape, form and be visible to humans (Job 4:15).

Demons may be exercised, or driven out, from a possessed person. However, this may be dangerous if not conducted by a strong faith and if not followed by stringent cleaning and spiritual discipleship for the recently de-possessed. Without proper spiritual care, the person might then be open for a seven-fold infestation (Matthew 12:45); in other words, demon may return and bring friends.

Demons confuse the truth by utilizing demonic lies and half-truths (1 John 4:4).

Those who worship idols and pagan gods are really worshipping and sacrificing to demons. Demons live to deceive people into worshipping themselves (1 Corinthians 10:20-21).

The Bible teaches that demons can inhabit animals (Matthew 8:31).

"Demons are created beings, personal, immortal and incapable of reconciliation with God." Encyclopedia of the Bible (vol. 2, Elwell, ed.).

Some use the "principalities of the air" argument. Based on a belief that Satan controls the powers of the air...things that flew in the air were often suspect. Thus, if a creature was " of the air", such as a UFO or alien occupant, they too were suspect and assumed evil. The "powers and principalities of the air" is a biblical phrase that refers to the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. The power of the air probably refers to Satan’s host of demons who exist in the heavenly sphere. The phrase is mentioned in Colossians 1:16, which states that Jesus created things "seen and things unseen, visible and invisible". The world of evil spirits is organized, and Satan is the prince of the demons or fallen angels. Or Ephesians 6:12: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." 

 The "high places" was not the issue but the spiritual wickedness that used the space; in other verses high places are equated with worship and God's presence.

 

HOW BIG IS GOD?

 Oddly, one of the "fears" expressed in the Brookings Institute Report of implications created by the UFOs of the 1950's was that word views would be enlarged. This involved views of "space husbands" valuing the risks of space travel as opposed to the traditional value of family and home; how to convince the public that these military risk takers were still family men? Religions would be challenged if there was an encounter with an intelligent being but not disastrously so. The smaller the world view, the theology, the concept of God and the narrower the social construct of a society or person, the greater impact and struggle they would have. 

 Since, it is also clear that the same source (Bible) does affirm that God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1) and that "God made all things" (Colossians 1:16). Accepting that as a starting point, it seems plausible to accept that if such alien beings are proven to exist it supports the principle that they were created by the same God who "created all things."

 Additionally, Psalms 19:1 says the "Heavens declare the glory of God."  Psalms 8:3-4 : "3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" Finally, Hebrews 11:3 " 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

 How wide is the tent of humanity? How great is the God worshipped by people of Hebrew and Christian faith? If that God is as powerful and overarching as claimed then the "Alien" or "ET" may represent yet another "stranger" to be welcomed at the gates. Remember, as such angels have been entertained...

 This is by no means complete or detailed. It does begin a dialogue about the potential interaction for people of Christian faith to contemplate the issue. For a deeper look at the subject read this: "Theology and Extraterrestrials" 60.1.1.pdf (theologicalstudies.net)

“The Lord is not serious. In fact, it is a little hard to know just what else He is except loving. And love has to do with humor, doesn't it? For you cannot love someone unless you put up with him, can you? And you cannot put up with someone constantly unless you can laugh at him. Isn't that true? And certainly we are ridiculous little animals wallowing in the fudge bowl, and God must love us all the more because we appeal to his humor.”  ― Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles

Alice and Through the Looking Glass by Carroll offers some intriguing views as well...

• If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there
• Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
• I am not crazy; my reality is just different from yours.
• Imagination is the only weapon in the war with reality.
• Little Alice fell down the hole, bumped her head and bruised her soul.
• Somehow you strayed and lost your way, and now there’ll be no time to play, no time for joy, no time for friends – not even time to make amends.

 

 So, if drawing a chart, the blue might be the topic of the UFO/UAP, the green blocks one Science and one Spirituality.  As the chart descends there are increasing areas of overlap, places where the two opposing views begin a dance to merge or influences one another. This synergistic process is what we as a species are seeing at this time. Will they blend or will they be like oil and water, eternally at odds?

Time will tell.

Related Readings:

•  Could Extraterrestrial Intelligence Sway Religious Beliefs? | Space
•  Exotheology: Theological Explorations of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life: Parkyn, Joel L.: 9781725291485: Amazon.com: Books
•  Belief in Aliens May Be a Religious Impulse - Scientific American
•  Vatican scientist says belief in God and aliens is OK (christiantoday.com)
•  What C.S. Lewis thought about space exploration and aliens (religionnews.com)
•  Believing in aliens not opposed to Christianity, Vatican’s top astronomer says | Catholic News Agency
•  With all this talk of UFOs, what's a Christian to think? – Baptist News Global
•  If we made contact with aliens, how would religions react? - BBC Future
•  Aliens, UFOs, and the Bible: Should Christians Study the Unseen Realm? (logos.com)
•  UFOs and the Bible - Are Aliens Demons? (christianworldviewpress.com)
•  Brookings Report, brookings.pdf (nicap.org)

More Games

A Unified Theory of UFOs or A Game of Three-Dimensional Chess?

It is a classic scene from vintage television science-fiction, the command crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are playing a game of chess - on three levels and multiple-dimensions.  Chess is a game of strategy, logic, and great patience. To describe an individual as "playing three-dimensional chess" implies a higher-order understanding and mastery of the system beyond the comprehension of their peers or ordinary observers (source:Wikipedia).

In many ways, there is a link between that multi-level playing board and the entire study of the subject of unidentified flying, anomalous, or aerial objects. "Three-dimensional chess" is often used colloquially to describe complex, dynamic systems with many competing entities and interests, including politics, diplomacy, and warfare.  This is also a good term to describe the field of Ufology.

One classic dream of physics is a “unified field theory”, defined as a theory that attempts to describe all fundamental forces and elementary particles in terms of a single theoretical framework. It is also referred to as “Theory of Everything.”  Sometimes, in the field known caustically, or fondly, as “Ufology”, a similar file heading is desired.  UFT presupposes a single answer to everything and often a single causative aspect. Some ask if such a simplistic answer is probable or even possible.  

In reviewing the field of ufology there are some cases and events that do not quite "fit." They seem to be statistical anomalies or outliers that require special explanations. The response of the 1940's and 1950's was one largely of total acceptance of any tale of sightings, encounters, and experiences. As a result, extremely diverse and hard to reconcile examples of craft, beings, and messages emerged. This situation would continue well into the 1970's. The initial UFO community's response to this vast disparity was to adopt it all and then generate theories that explained the apparent disparity. 

Many times, the search for a simple and singular aspect to anything has been met with increasing levels of complexity.  If this is so in the “hard science” field – is it also true in the multi-faceted field of the study of the UFO or UAP?

The image of the “other”, the “alien”, in the context of the UFO/UAP timeline is a possible example.  Early accounts of beings were very diverse. Gnomes, hairy dwarves, and elfen creatures were reported das were tall blond beings with ‘godlike” personas. Uniforms and “space suits” were reported. These were from the reports that made it into newspapers or books. Behind the scenes another variety was being noted but most did not have access to that image. 

In the late 1960's, but especially in the 1970's, the field was still in flux; there was so much going on and it was difficult to see the forest for the trees.  The only publicly acknowledged government study, along with the early fieldwork of groups such as A.P.R.O. or NICAP, had suggested that there were several things being seen at one time.

In the early 1980's, however, a standard image emerged of the large headed, large eyed, smaller statured creature. This coincided with the publication of the Whitney Strieber’s novel, Communion and its now iconic cover illustration.  Going forward a debate resembling the “chicken and the egg” question was debated. Did the image merely portray things seen or did it solidify one specific image to become the accepted portrayal? 

Unidentified aerial objects of undetermined origin.

This was a catchall classification into which everything was tossed. Natural phenomena unrecognized by the observer (such as Astronomical events (meteors, comets, sundogs, planets, and stars); weather conditions (thunderstorms, lightening, temperature inversions).

Misidentified aircraft were often reported as the number one source of sightings. Pranks or hoaxes. This was always the lowest segment of any group

In the late 1960's and 1970's a new way of thinking emerged, fostered by the "New Age" movement and its mix of drugs, eastern mysticism, and new concepts in psychology and social dynamics. Continuing with the concept that the vast array of types and shapes and messages had to all fit in the same box labeled "UFO EXPERIENCE," a search for a common answer continued. One into which all the varieties, versions, and shapes would neatly fit.  People such as Jacques Vallee, and others as diverse as the battalion of "Contactees" and " New Age Drop-In Experiencers" conceptualized the UFO experience as a new emerging religious cult, a mystical-spiritual experience, better studied by sociologists, anthropologists, and psychologists than nuts and bolts scientists. 

LEVELS OF PLAY

If we conceptualize the topic of UFO's along the lines of that multi-level game of chess it becomes a bit clear that just as there are differing layers of protentional explanations, there are also layers of players at work as well. 

There was, from the beginning, the Military level (trained in standard and nearly unchanged mindsets and patterns of movement they were often too formal and rigid to respond to lightening swift changes in technology or society. Weary from years of a global battlefield they also were hypervigilant and , some, apparently uncomfortable in peace).

There was, from the beginning, the Scientific level (in the era of the first UFO's two generations were shifting positions, an older generation trained in science of the past, in many ways, and less able to abstractly conceive the possibility all those laws learned might have some flaws and the reluctance to accept new ideas or paradigms as their ancestors had when Galileo posited the position of the sun in the galaxy. Replacing them were younger scientists with a tendency to be more open, willing to test new ideas, and stretch the boundaries. As youth, they also carried a liability in ignoring issues of both ethics and morality in a pursuit of science just for the sake of science).

There was, from the beginning, the Government level (governments are always distant from the day-to-day realities they create and as a result they tend to develop false perceptions of their own value, their own power, and their role in their assigned tasks).  When protected levels are created, as they were with the Manhattan Project, the process of compartmentalization of secrets, of actions, of decisions, and a hording of power begins.  This would be the process - the nexus - where a secret intelligence arm began as a natural outgrowth of national security but fed by fear, paranoias, and hunger for power or prestige it grew, often unchecked and lacking any accountability).

THE CAST OF PLAYERS

The Unknown.  The mystery element, the mysterious dark helmeted knight whose origins are murky and whose loyalty may be open to question. A covert government, an alien entity, a super-secret cabal with goals shrouded in questions. 

The Experiencer or Observer. The people, normal everyday human beings, who observed or experienced something they cannot explain, can only poorly describe, but know with absolute certainty they saw or experienced what they have said they saw or experienced.

WINNING THE GAME

So, instead of trying to mix hairy aliens, tall Nordics "space brothers", and short grays together into one unified theory of the UFO Conundrum, maybe we should visualize it as a game of chess. Ask some basic questions, such as do we have access to the games being played by those other levels? 

Multiple layers of opposing factions all playing hard to win, all in opposition to the others, all willing for brief collaborative efforts to help improve the odds for their side and their master goal.

Maybe visualizing the issue in such a multi-layer and dimensional way the cases - those good and solid cases - might begin to make more sense.

Remember..."Three-dimensional chess" is used colloquially to describe complex, dynamic systems with many competing entities and interests, including politics, diplomacy and warfare..."

 --Marilyn A.Hudson

Know Your Drones

Hobby Level Drones

Small, usually under 20 lbs., short battery length.

Photography drones with attached cameras -

Military Drones

Includes the ----

 The Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout (known as the Fire-X during development) is an unmanned helicopter developed by Northrop Grumman for use by the United States Navy. It can land on deck of a ship. It can remain airborne for 12 hr. runs and is the size of a van.

Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk, Surveillance aircraft

DRONES. Updated.

Someone asked - What's with the drones? Great question! 

I think that there are several things happening at one time and this overlap is creating the general chaos.  Here is the possibles as I see them.

NOTE: As a reminder people are seeing more than one type and size of object. The tendency is to bundle those together to form a single object group and thus explain away all of the sightings. People are seeing drone-like objects behaving in drone like manners, people are seeing glowing spherical orb like lights of a single color or a combination of shifting other colors, and people are seeing, and misidentifying, normal manned and unmanned aircraft.

 A. This is a Top-Secret military effort to search out infiltrated materials or craft for the purposes of surveillance, covert ops, or similar actions. This explains the objects/crafts that are unrecognized, silent, and the like. This explains the black out by FAA over crucial areas in NJ and NY and over W-P AFB in Ohio. It explains the clusters of reports along border areas of New England, the Pacific NW, Florida and TX. 

 B. There are regular drones being flown, perhaps part of the task of "A" or a diversionary process to allow officials to say, "see nothing here!"  

C.  There are objects seen, videoed, and reported that do not fit the descriptions of known craft, drones, or other objects. They do not have standard required FAA flight anti-collision lights or operate according to FAA standards as a drone or plane. These are being seen over military and restricted air space.  It is very easy to gather together an arm load of "reports" or "videos" and find one that can be identified and then use it to explain everything else. That was a tried-and-true method of the old Project Blue Book days. The time has come to be more transparent: if other countries are making incursions into the airspace and skies of this country without permission we need to know. 

The drone is everyone's headache. Most security measures are built on the standard plane sized and plane acting aerial objects. Radar and other security have not been designed to identify or respond to something the size of a bird - or smaller. This Smithsonian article details spy drones the size of hamsters or ones that can fit in the palm of a hand. 

Small drones have begun to be used in coordinated sky shows - like mechanical fireworks - they form huge colorful forms and move to music in choregraphed and graceful movements. If something is invented human history tells us that it will not be long before that innovation is used for entertainment or tactical warfare/covert operations applications.  These introduce gaps and holes in security and the potential for groups to infiltrate and subvert the safeguards keeping citizens and infrastructure secure.

The most common comments heard include "they are ours", "they all have FAA lights", and "they are mis-identifications."  If this was the case - why shut down air space? Why invoke the threat of force to shoot them down? Why are they all not properly displaying the lights, flags, colors required by the FAA? Why have people been videoing strange darting lights - usually all white and spherical - in vastly removed and often low populated areas for most of this year?

People are beginning to glance up from their phones into the sky and yes they are misinterpreting planets, meteors, stars, planes, Starlink, the ISS, and yes, even balloons.   They are also downloading apps to phones to identify what the Steller object is, what the plane is, etc. 

They are capturing grainy, poor, auto-focus images but they are also capturing crystal clear videos of lights moving in non-traditional ways and returning night after night. 

If unknown objects are flying around from who knows where - we need to know. 

If something is going on which could potentially impact the freedom and life of American citizens - we need to know.

If there is a need for widespread practice maneuvers over crucial installations, infrastructure sites, and other potential targets - we need to know.  Maybe not the details but just a statement to make people aware that there will be "things" flying around.

We need to be prepared, allowed to process, and to accept any new reality that awaits. We are not children, and our parents do not need to protect us - that is how we grow and how we can find who we are as people, as cultures, and as a species.

 #drones #UAPs

FAA Drone regulations page

MUFON Recaps Drone Events (Dec 12).

MUFON TV DRONE DOC

A thought provoking video - 

Spheres and Orbs

 Screen shot of video footage cleared for public release and shared by Dr. Kirkpatrick during Wednesday’s Senate hearing on UAP, filmed with electro-optical sensors on board an MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Middle East (Credit: DOD/AARO). In this film clip a silver spherical object moves across the frame. Given the source - the military and the government - this is a hard to debunk clip. 

From the same Senate debrief came this chart revealing "spheres" were pretty common.  In the last 2.5 years, numerous videos taken by witnesses across the globe have captured anomalous darting, spherical "orbs" but not the ghostly kind. They are objects seen and photographed darting around, making strange no-typical stops, directional changes, etc. 

THE UFO THAT WASN'T: Project 1794 aka "Avro Aircraft" aka "Project Silver Bug"

 The images were hits in newsreels, magazines, and all attempts at debunking any and all reports of unidentified flying objects. Long before there was any such project envisioned military and governments claimed they had "flying saucers" and they were really just radical experimental designs. 

In late 1956 and 1957 the USAF entered a contract with the Avro Aircraft Ltd. company to design and construct a working prototype of an aircraft able to transcend some specific or particular issues. The AF was aware of the limitations of existing traditional landing and take-off situations - long runaway, wider runways, needing thicker and thicker substructure construction for the increased weight and loads of aircraft.  They liked the idea of vertical take-offs and landing and explored numerous designs in early helicopter and vertical takeoff craft. 

In February of 1955 "Project Silver Bug" seemed a viable solution. In the report to the USAF of that date they explained that the resulting disc shaped craft was not influenced by science fiction or accounts of objects in the skies but from designers and technical types trying to answer the Air Force's specified need for "dispersed base operations." They needed a craft that could get in and get out without the long runway hindrance.

A result was PROJECT 1794 aka Project Silver Bug.

If you look closely at this one cutaway of the conceptional design, you can see the basic design that oddly will be used later in some crashed UFOs scenarios. 

I do not believe these were the products of copying downed alien craft; they would have worked better if that were the case. Sadly, the end result seen in old films is a less than stellar demonstration of an object struggling to stay level at only three feet of altitude.

37th High Strangeness: 37th Parallel and Bizarre Activities

Does the parallel reveal a more bizarre history than other locations? The map seems to change depending on the amount earth curvature goes into the map. Some show a line at the Kansas-Nebraska border while others show the same line at the Kanas and Oklahoma borders. Bad geography or something else?

Landmarks on the 37th parallel include --

Santa Cruz, California; Gilroy, California; Madera, California; Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley; 

Colorado City, Arizona; the Four Corners at the intersection with the 32nd meridian west from Washington (the only place where four U.S. states meet at a point); 

Cairo, Illinois; 

Bowling Green, Kentucky; and 

Newport News, and Hampton, Virginia. It enters the Chesapeake Bay at the northernmost tunnel entrance / exit of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and the southernmost point of Old Point Comfort on the former Army base, Ft. Monroe.

The question may be: is there a less US-centric way of looking at the issue? Based on all US cases they appear to occur within the 40-30 parallel range.  This seems to reflect cases from Asia and Europe as well. 

Where would the South America, African, and Australian cases fall?  Would a similar grouping be found there?  What might those results indicate? What could be learned from looking at it globally?

In the 1950s and 1960s reports of UFOs they tended to be seen them moving NW to SE or the reverse. SW to the NE was another frequent route. Were they using a circumpolar path?  Are there similar trends in other nations that might add to this information and provided some additional clues?

Fringe Topics: Barbara Bartholic and the Reptilian Overlords

Barbara: The Story of a UFO Investigator  (June 27, 2003) represents one element of ufology that is considered "fringe."  It is a hard to find book and the author has now passed.  

The description of the book is short. "My research began with hosting the Heaven's Gate people before they were Heaven's Gate. I went on to work for seven years with Jacque Vallee. He was portrayed as the French scientist in the movie, 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind.' Vallee and I traveled around the U.S. and around the world researching cattle mutilations, UFO sightings and abductions."

One unnamed reviewer noted more details: "James Bartley: Alien Abduction Research lost a true pioneer with the passing of Barbara Bartholic. Although Barbara’s work has gone largely unheralded (except amongst the many people she helped) her legacy lives on in the form of cutting edge research amongst her protégés and an understanding amongst serious researchers of the primary role played by the Reptilians in alien abductions. Barbara laid the groundwork for a deeper understanding of the Reptilian Overlordship. Indeed Barbara coined the phrase “Reptilian Overlordship.” Barbara delved deeper than most abduction researchers. She didn’t turn away from confronting or unsettling information. I am proud to say that I was a protégé of Barbara Bartholic..."

The book available at Barbara: The Story of a Ufo Investigator : Barbara Bartholic : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

The work emerges from a time in the late 1990's and early 2000's when there was a large group who believed there were "Reptilians" among us and who were taking over and replacing leaders, scientists, etc. To this day various videos and reels can be found with lurid titles about "reptilian eyes" in human faces and many variations on the theme.

Aliens - as a group - were reptilian and bent on world domination through inflicting as much pain on abductees and humans as possible. They entered into evil pacts with the government to secure underground space for living and testing. This led, it was believed, to a vast confrontation of military and aliens underground Dulce, New Mexico.

Finally, the book was the work of Barbara Bartholic (Author), Peggy Fielding (Contributor).  Bartholic was Tulsa, Oklahoma's well recognized UFO investigator and researcher.  She used hypnosis and regression techniques as analytical tools. When troubled people who suspected UFO abduction in their pasts, learned of her work,  they were (says the book blurb) relieved that there is someone whom they can call out to for help. 

Bartholic, who was nationally, even internationally, known for her work in the field, also produced a number of video documentaries and written materials covering the UFO experiences of people from all over the U.S. 

Peggy Fielding is a writer and teacher of writers. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma and taught writing at Tulsa Community College. She has degrees from Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma and the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, R.P. She is the author of several nonfiction books, two novels, hundreds of short stories and articles in local and national magazines.

It is interesting to compare this work with the work of Dr. John E. Mack, an American scientist who studied personality and related fields at Harvard, who traveled globally to study the ufo/abductee phenomena. 

There is Skeptical and then there is Skeptical

 As a researcher who has poured over original documents, digitized copies, and explored many an archive and newspaper morgue, I have a broad understanding of the role of skepticism as it applies to the field of the unexplained.

J. Allen Hynek wrote in the early 1970's that the official stance to odd things reported was "such and such cannot happen" and therefore "it did not happen."  The process of scientific exploration was sidelined.

Reviewing some past rebuttals in the historic record reveals some common behaviors.

1. Reject the Idea of anything out of the normal. This is clear when reports and news accounts are rejected and rebutted without anyone actually investigating. 

2. Offer up A Substitute Explanation. It does not need to fit just throw it against the wall and see if it sticks.

3. Repeat as Needed.

In recent years, this routine has reappeared. This time the hecklers have expanded to social media, pod casts, etc.

Scenario #1- Person X shares a strange object they saw in the skies to an online social platform. Immediate responses showing the people had not read the entry in total (with mentions of directional changes, etc.). The posts - "it's a satellite"; "rolling eyes" graphic; "I knew the conspiracy nuts would show up!"

Scenario #2 - Person on Y shares a strange object and they KNOW what it was. The galactic overlords have arrived!  They post an image that is clearly Starlinks, Falcon 9, etc. Yet, despite the informative posts they refuse to listen and accuse those voices of trying to silence the truth.

In many ways these are similar situations. In ech case is a lack of an open mind, willing to learn, test new ideas, and find facts.

Too much at either end of this spectrum is unhealthy to expanding human knowledge. The extremes are where the concept of "faith" or "science" takes over in oddly similar religious-like devotion. The skeptics worship a never changing science and the other extreme believes anything.

Target somewhere in the middle....

Hudson Talks Oklahoma UFOs on Un-X News

 https://www.youtube.com/live/vi9jWdp-RlI?si=hxPfBA_HtMegw4Ys

Live interview, Friday, June 28, 2024

"Interrogation Forms": A Reflection of the Attitude to Witnesses

From the initial days of the US UFO story, there is ample evidence that the FBI and Military investigative services interviewed people about what they had seen. The FBI was brought in because they were concerned with the security clearances of individuals and because they had helped to investigate the backgrounds of many government workers it was natural they be involved.  From the start they people - military and civilian - were not interviewed they were "interrogated."   There was no "interview form" but there was an "interrogation form" that would be recreated and improved several times during the 1950's.

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary the term "interrogation" is defined as "a process of asking someone a lot of questions for a long time in order to get information, sometimes using threats or violence..."

Modern meanings, include those from the The Handbook of The SAS And Elite Forces: How the Professionals Fight and Win. (Edited by Jon E. Lewis. p.186-Tactics And Techniques, Evasion, Capture and Escape. Robinson Publishing Ltd 1997. ISBN 1-85487-675-9), that defines it as - "Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful information, particularly information related to suspected crime. Interrogation may involve a diverse array of techniques, ranging from developing a rapport with the subject to torture" (Wikipedia).

In essence, the process of interview and interrogation come from opposing ends of a spectrum of soliciting information.

Interrogation presumes hidden facts, motives, and actions. It presumes guilt.

Interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers. The purpose is to collect information, facts, data, and evaluates the skills of the observer and the nature of the observed event.

Was it any wonder the initial UFO history was fraught with problems?  Many assumed witnesses were Soviet operatives or closet communists set to destabilize a government. Many assumed the craft were secret Soviet ships designed to lead an invasion. The authorities ALWAYS drove home the HOAXER, the CRACKPOT, and the DRUNKS as a primary causative for the sightings. 

Ridicule did the rest...

TRACKING THE UFO HUNTERS

In the early years of ufology, as Project Blue Book, struggled to handle the vast issues of its mandated purpose, the emergence of "clubs" about the subject of the "flying saucers" or "UFOs" were perceived by many to be a threat.

The fact that people were questioning and challenging the word of the Government, in the form of its Air Force, in the minds of Cold War citizens placed them in the same potential problem box as "Communists" and "Socialists."  The FBI files are filled with helpful letters from concerned individuals asking about the political views of APRO, NICAP, and several other groups of the 1950's.

Several times in the files of Project Blue Book there will be lists of organizations, membership claimed, and sometimes scathing editorial comments.

A Tale of Two Lights - August 25, 1951

The New Mexico object

The Lubbock Lights Photos

 The famed lights over Lubbock, Texas in August of 1951 are a fascinating case of unknown lights in the skies. Many accept the government claims of light reflections on migrating birds and others do not. One important element in historical research into the unidentified phenomenon involves locative vision.  It is tunnel vision to a specific location. For the Air Force and other researchers, the focus was on reports for a specific time and location.  Seldom were investigators encouraged to make the logical next step of asking "where did the lights go?" or "where did they come from?"  It was very experiential and location oriented. Given that so much background data was keep from the public and other research inclined groups it was easy to keep such events locked in a single location.

Sometimes, however, that was hard to do. 

ON August 25, 1951, around 9:30 p.m. in the community of Lubbock, Texas, three local professors from Texas Technical College observed from a back yard a very strange object fly overhead. 

The "Lubbock Lights" would be seen several times and by many people. A few sightings were labeled birds but others did not fit that explanation at all. 

Various claims in following days of sightings of what was dubbed a "flying wing" seem like scrambled attempts to explain something hard to explain. The professors in Texas and the witnesses in New Mexico had agreed strongly on one point - they object made no sound.

The idea they professors and others had seen migrating Plover birds was denounced by experts as a blanket explanation. Some things seen by people were migrating birds and they recognized them as such. They were reported to act different than the "lights."

A local youth took two good photos of the v- shaped object and was instantly labeled a hoaxer. The photos, however, had stood the test of time and recent tests with modern technology indicate they should be studied more. 

Several hundred miles northwest (320 miles) of Lubbock, just about fifteen minutes after the professors watched the strange lighted object silently pass through the night sky...a couple was driving in the cool of a New Mexico night.

In the dark skies over Albuquerque, New Mexico August 25, 1951, (at about 9:45 p.m.), witnesses reported seeing an odd sight. In the region with its high population of experts and scientists of every field it made it almost a given the witnesses would be topflight quality and they were.  They reported driving back from an evening out and seeing an object making no sound, lacking the standard, and required landing lights of normal aircraft, pass eerily just overhead as they slowed their vehicle. 

The object appeared chevron shaped with 6-8 brilliant mercury white lights all along the trailing edge (back half) of the "wings." The witnesses estimated the thing was moving about 300-400 mph at 160 degrees and with an altitude of 1000 ft. One witness noted it was "similar to the Flying Wing but one and a half times larger than a B26..."

The object this couple witnessed was moving south to southeast and some other accounts of the object indicate seeing bluish-green lights.

The underside of the object had what appeared to be black strips. The black stripes reflected light, but no reflection was seen anywhere else. Of note is that if this had been caused by a reflection of birds the reverse would be seen). Also, stripes of white and black were used in wartime to distinguish "friendly craft" from  unfriendly.  

On November 10, 1951, the couple in New Mexico were shown a photograph and a letter regarding the sighting at Lubbock, Texas.  The couple had supplied their own sketch of what they saw and when shown the photograph they felt it appeared similar to what they had seen. 

The obvious conclusion is that both cases reflect people observing a startling similar object. Also flying low, no sound was observed, and the craft bore no standard anti-collision or required lighting.  Its size, silence, and apparent speed  (if indeed the same objects) are unique.

Was it a stealth balloon, a forerunner of the large covert dirigibles used to collect information? The silence seems to preclude traditional and conventional power sources. The dark reflective lines under the "wings" of the delta or chevron shape are also interesting. Radar reflectors to enhance or jam the craft being read by radar?

A truly interesting case that should have been studied in greater depth. 

New Book Available on Amazon: 1965-The Summer of the Saucers by Marilyn A. Hudson

 Following on the heels of "1947: Those Saucy Saucers" comes another important and pivotal year in the study of unidentified flying objects.  Here are seasonal looks into what was being reported in skies - around the globe in 1965.  The high point was the summer, but the spring months saw a buildup and the fall saw a decrease but also some incredible events. 

Oddly, most online searches for events of that year return only one event: The Kecksburg Incident.  It was a grand finale to a truly fascinating year of objects seen by some of the high levels of respected observers and they came from around the world. 

It is impossible to truly understand what is happening today without understanding what really happened in the past. In both "1947" and "1965" there is crucial historical context given to reveal the scope and involvement of the sightings, the level of response by "investigators" and the rest of the facts often ignored at the time and since then. 

Available in paperback and Kindle formats.

The "Mandela Effect": A Twist in Reality?

One of the themes in modern UAP studies is the concept of redefining reality and opening the possibilities that reality is flexible, co-existing with other parallel realities, and may present a vast new understanding of how things work. 

In 2008 the Hadron Collider went online but experienced a major problem requiring it to be down and out of service for most of 2009.

In 2009, a self-proclaimed paranormal researcher coins a term to describe what she observed happening with her memories and others. "The Mandela Effect" - a mass memory glitch where people mis-remember common things.

But - is that correct? Is there an "effect" or just common memory mangling?

Cited events:

- A children's book series: Berenstain Bears vs Berenstein Bears

Note: News articles for the books were found from the early 1990's with the "Berenstain" spelling.

- A logo for underwear: Fruit of the Loom w Cornucopia vs Without

Item: Part of the confusion may be there was a familiar cornucopia image /print that was distributed to students and homes via calendar's etc. and the two might have become conflated, Although, some have said they found shirts with the cornucopia in thrift stores. 

-A movie called Shazaam! vs. Kazaam!

-A hot dog brand: Oscar Mayer vs Oscar Meyer

Note: Ads were found for "Oscar Meyer" - mostly local store ads. So, people could be remembering correctly if not the correct name.

- A brand of peanut butter: Jiff vs Jiffy

Note: Found "Jiffy Peanut Butter Ad" The Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 58, No. 19, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 22, 1971on Page: 20 of 20

Memory - key to witness testimonies and self-actualization - is important. It is also faulty. This why we have the written record, why we take notes, and have photographs. 

Global Day of Disclosure: July 7, 2024

 Disclosure. The truth brought into the open....

It is a special day on the calendar for several years but....

Will 2024 by "Lies No More" or "The same - Just More?"

Dying to Meet Them: One Woman’s Incredible Journey from N.D.E. to U.A.P., Author Mindy Tautfest

Dying to Meet Them: One Woman’s Incredible Journey from N.D.E. to U.A.P.

"Dying to Meet Them" is a book that should be widely read, and widely discussed, among academics, theologians, theorists, and any who dare to wonder what reality actually is and how life is lived and the nature of death.

It is not a comfortable read - but then the best books often are - because they challenge assumptions, demand we dig deeper to find truth, and demand we explore beyond our comfort zones. This book does all that.

It is an accessible read, suitable for a wide range of audiences, and provides useful links for anyone desiring to research further into the topics and questions raised in the text.

It is gripping in the simple, yet often eloquent prose, of the author sharing the emotions and events of an almost unimaginable episode. The fears and responses speak to what it means to be human and draw the reader into introspection about their expectations, their own beliefs, and their own deepest fears.

The unique overlay of results of studies in both the Near Death and the UFO Experiencer communities is very intriguing. Professionals in related fields would do well to explore the indicators revealed in this discussion. The possibilities are worthy of study.

Through it all is laced a glow, a light, a thread of the indominable spirit of the human soul and with that it posits the hope for all who fear the dark at the end of the road.

Highly recommended.