When we think of UFOs, we generally think of alien spacecraft piloted by green-skinned Graliens from other planets, right? A more appropriate assessment of this perception might instead be that, although this is generally the case in the world today, the idea is more recent than most people realize.

Recently I saw an article by Norio Hayakawa which asked some interesting questions, in addition to pointing out a few things about UFO believers in general. Namely, Hayakawa notices trends among the beliefs and values of most UFO buffs he has met, which include “living right,” “searching for truth,” and a lack of desire for “acquisition of material wealth or power.” Many also describe having “something to look forward to in life.”

I find that this correlates well with some of the lesser known aspects of Ufology’s past; specifically, I’m referring to contact with “space brothers” or “interdimensionals” (among the various names folks used for them prior to 1947). This was a particularly interesting period for Ufology because, in spite of the fact that little actual UFO activity was reported in the same manner it is today, there are certainly still encounters on the record, and many of them involve spiritual elements.

Before I get to those, however, I must assert here that this is usually as far as I get before the average UFO buff stops me to say, “you’re wrong! There WERE reports of UFOs that occurred back then!” So again, just to clarify, I certainly acknowledge that there were nuts-and-bolts anomalous aircraft witnessed in the decades before that pivotal year of 1947… but I’ve digressed long enough.

What happened in the late nineteenth century, inconsequential to many (but certainly not all) modern Ufologists was a the height of a spiritual-awakening in which seances, table-tapping, channeling and a variety of esoteric paths to the inner arts were explored. It had been quite the fad, for a period, to attend late-Saturday-evening “revivals,” and although the late nineteenth-century spiritualist movement, with its strangely macabre sensibilities, had been somewhat “darker,” by the time the spirit-revival had spilled over into the twenty-first century, mediums often began to take on personas that were more similar to pastors or religious leaders. Two primary examples of this sort of cross-over were spirit medium Bertie Lilly Candler and William Dudley Pelley.

Candler (who, point in case, often went by “Reverend Bertie Lilly Candler”), was a popular medium in Southern California up until the 1940s and 50s. Originally, her family had been rooted in the Carolinas (where a small town that bore her last name still exists), and Candler, living on the West Coast, managed to garner certain fame for her exploits as a spirit medium. According to those who attended Candler’s seances, often one of the incorporated elements dealt with the “manifestation” of spirit beings, who often emerged from closets and the like. However, in addition to the more popular “ghostly” manifestations, Candler was also known to summon beings who claimed to be from outer space! In my book Magic, Mysticism and the Molecule, I detailed one such encounter, as recounted by contactee Dana Howard:

Candler is credited with allegedly summoning an entity called “Diane”; a very beautiful, eight-foot tall Venusian woman first encountered by contactee Dana Howard beginning in 1939. Sixteen years later, Howard and several friends had gathered together in the presence of the Reverend Candler where she conducted a séance, performed at the Church of Divine Light, on South Parkview Street in Los Angeles, California. During the climax of the session Howard described seeing “a rising glow of phosphorescence. It was very tall at first, but out of this phosphorescent substance a form began to manifest itself. She was definitely different from the other ‘spirit’ manifestations, a solid, fleshly being, delicate in charm and manner.” Soon the entity would identify herself as Diane, the same entity Howard had met in 1939, in addition to revealing that she had been responsible for imparting telepathic messages to her during their sixteen-year hiatus:

She called for DANA. Overwhelmed with emotion I could not choke back, I went up to her, standing only inches away from the manifestation. While I did not recognize her instantly, I knew there was something quaintly familiar about her. Standing like a sylph-like goddess, and bowing low in greeting to the twenty-seven persons present, the rich tones of her voice vibrated through the little church.
“I AM DIANE. I COME FROM VENUS.”

“My daughter,” Diane had told Howard, “always remember, without inner perfection there can be no outer perfection. There must be perfect balance between the realm of spirit and the realm of materiality.” It is interesting to note how the motherly overtones of love, fellowship, and “inner perfection,” followed by Diane’s promise that Venus would ultimately be the future home for humankind, share some rather interesting religious parallels.

It was this encounter which garnered the attention of famed (though somewhat notorious) spiritualist William Dudley Pelley, an American Nazi party activist who later served prison time under sedition charges. Pelley, having attended many of Candler’s “spirit revivals,” was dumbfounded by what he also perceived to be the manifestation of a young native girl named “Silverleaf,” who discussed yet another science-fiction element that aided in the materializations:

Finally she said that she had to go back into the cabinet and help “build up the ray” for others.

I asked “What ray?”

“The materializing ray,” she answered.

What she alluded to was, that to obtain such results in actuality, this was what took place: As the medium sank into deeper and deeper trance, her body began to release its ectoplasmic content, which poured out through its orifices into a sort of pool in the cabinet before her. This is one of the chief reasons for the cabinet at all, that such exhibition does not frighten or disgust the spectator. Into this flood of released ectoplasm, the more tenuous Light Body of the materializing entity steps and concentrates—with the help of “guides” like Silverleaf who are in the cabinet discarnate—on what his or her physical appearance was in mortality. This concentration acts as a sort of magnetic ray that begins to draw up the ectoplasm around the discarnate Light-Body like mercury filling up the glass stem of a thermometer. When the Light-Body, or pattern-self, is completely substantialized, the materialization is accomplished and the discarnate entity can leave the cabinet, to all intents a normal human being.

As one might notice, Pelley had a way with words, which hadn’t always worked to his benefit. His unique, descriptive writing style would later “manifest” in other places too, which included a rather inflammatory statement condoning the attack on Pearl Harbor, which had been the determining factor in his subsequent imprisonment. Following his jail time after World War II, Pelley was released from Jail, and told not to engage in any kind of political writing whatsoever. Older, wearier and tarnished somewhat, the hardened Pelley returned to his hometown of Noblesville Indiana, and immediately began publishing a magazine in which UFOs and spiritualism became two of the primary areas of focus. In his own strange interpretations of what was then a field of Ufology still in its infancy, Pelley speculated that the craft seen in Earth’s skies weren’t aircraft of any kind, but were instead “spirit-vessels” of the deceased, having returned to this realm to carry out otherworldly (and other-dimensional) business!

Indeed, the associations between UFOs and spiritualism were once very much joined at the hip. Although many of those stigmas have lifted and risen past the clouds and into the cosmos with the space-brothers themselves, there obviously are still unique similarities between the spiritual nature of mankind and the UFO phenomenon; perhaps more than could be discussed in several volumes, and certainly more than could be named here. At the heart of the matter, it seems that the ultimate nature of the UFO mystery does still maintain some link to our inner-selves. To truly unravel the mystery, perhaps we need only look within.

Spiritual Vessels: The Spiritual Side of UFOs is a post from: Mysterious Universe

REALITY, n. The dream of a mad philosopher. That which would remain in the cupel if one should assay a phantom. The nucleus of a vacuum. - The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, born April 24, 1842

Every day on Mysterious Universe is UFO day, but today, June 24, is the official UFO Day. According to Wikipedia, in 2001, June 24 was designated World UFO Day in honor of Kenneth Arnold’s 1947 sighting of nine crescent-moon shaped craft flying over Mt. Rainer in Washington State that ushered in the modern UFO era.

So how are we expected to celebrate UFO day? All we have to do is look up, watch the skies and maybe see something as unidentifiable as Kenneth Arnold describes:

“The sky and air was clear as crystal. I hadn’t flown more than two or three minutes on my course when a bright flash reflected on my airplane. It startled me as I thought I was too close to some other aircraft. I looked every place in the sky and couldn’t find where the reflection had come from until I looked to the left and the north of Mt. Rainier where I observed a chain of nine peculiar looking aircraft flying from north to south at approximately 9,500 foot elevation and going, seemingly, in a definite direction of about 170 degrees.” - Kenneth Arnold’s statement via Project 47

While considering those “mirror bright” discs on that midsummer afternoon, it’s doubtful that Arnold realized that on that very same day an ocean away Europeans were celebrating St. John’s Day in honor the birth of Saint John the Baptist. He was Jesus’s “cousin” whose birth was prophesied by an angel as the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah  making him one of the most supernatural figures in the Bible.

Here’s how Europe honors the patron saint of baptism, bird dealers, converts, epileptics, farriers, hail, hailstorms, Jordan, Knights Hospitaller, Knights of Malta, lambs, monastic life, motorways (because he said “Make straight the way of the Lord”), printers, spasms and tailors. As a baptizer, he is associated, naturally enough, with the healing qualities of water and sacred wells and springs.  Naturally, they celebrate his day by setting a whole bunch of fires.

“Fire-festivals have been most generally held all over Europe is the summer solstice, that is Midsummer Eve (the twenty-third of June) or Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth of June) …Whatever their origin, they have prevailed all over this quarter of the globe, from Ireland on the West to Russia on the East, and from Norway and Sweden on the North to Spain and Greece on the South…. According to a medieval writer, the three great features of the Midsummer celebration were the bonfires, the procession with torches round the fields, and the custom of rolling a wheel … and he explains the custom of trundling a wheel to mean that the sun, having now reached the highest point in the ecliptic, begins thenceforward to descend.

In the case of the wheel that figures so prominently at Midsummer — without a common source, isn’t it a very curious symbol to so preoccupy an entire continent? The old Roman solstice festival of Summanas honoured the aspect of Jupiter responsible for casting thunderbolts at night. …”In Glamorgan [Wales] a cart-wheel swathed in straw used to be ignited and sent rolling down the hill. If it kept alight all the way down and blazed for a long time, an abundant harvest was expected. … In Poitou [France] also it used to be customary on the Eve of St. John to trundle a blazing wheel wrapt in straw over the fields to fertilize them. .At Lower Konz  if the fiery wheel was successfully conveyed to the bank of the river and extinguished in the water, the people looked for an abundant vintage that year…On the other hand, they believed that, if they neglected to perform the ceremony, the cattle would be attacked by giddiness and convulsions and would dance in their stalls.” - Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, 1922

It might sound like midsummer’s madness to celebrate the saint of baptism with fiery wheels until you discover that John the Baptist was said to represent the return of the prophet Elijah, one of the few Bible immortals who gets to heaven without actually dying.

The story of his departure to heaven goes like this:  Elijah, in company with Elisha (Eliseus), approaches the Jordan. He rolls up his mantle and strikes the water (2 Kings 2:8). The water immediately divides and Elijah and Elisha cross on dry land. Suddenly, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appear and Elijah is lifted up to heaven in a whirlwind.

And that’s just the end of the tale.  This Elijah character is a major player in all things Biblically paranormal:

According to Wikipedia Elijah appears in the Hebrew Bible, Talmud, Mishnah, New Testament, and the Qur’an. According to the Books of Kings, Elijah raised the dead, brought fire down from the sky, and ascended into heaven in a whirlwind (accompanied by chariots, not in one). In the Book of Malachi, Elijah’s return is prophesied “before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord,”^[4] making him a harbinger of the Messiah and the eschaton (the end of days)  in various faiths that revere the Hebrew Bible.

Then, just a few short months before the Messiah shows up, this cousin John is born to the old and barren sister of the Virgin Mary, Elizabeth. From then on there always seemed to be a little confusion about just which one of these miracle babies was the real deal.

The Jews of Jesus’ day expected Elijah to come before the Messiah; indeed, some modern Jews continue to await Elijah’s coming as well, as in the Cup of Elijah t he Prophet in the Passover Seder. This is why the disciples ask Jesus in Matthew 17:10, ‘Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?.’ The disciples are then told by Jesus that Elijah came in the person of John the Baptist, Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. — Matt. 17:11-13

Maybe they were convinced, I’m not so sure I would have been. These mysterious births and reiterations of Elijah seems a little suspicious to me. Like maybe they’re alien’s sitting up there in the Mothership taking turns at playing Messiah’s for us easily conned Earthlings. Not to mention the whirlwind and the raising people from the dead (skills that Elijah passed on to Elisha–the guy who watched him get sucked up by the whirlwind–by simply leaving his “spacesuit” behind when he flees in the “whirlwind. (After that Elisha gets the garment he raised the dead and made bears eat people when he summoned them, which doesn’t seem exactly human or saintly.)

However, maybe it’s not such a mystery that St. John’s Day and World UFO Day collide. Could be that the fiery whirlwind and chariot to heaven are the original inspiration for the straw ones that are burned on St. John’s Day. And the flying saucers just the latest iteration an old, old story.  Maybe the actual memory  is lost to mankind, but the symbols continue to haunt us. So on this UFO Day I plan to follow St. John’s direction and Kenneth Arnold’s example and look up and maybe we’ll see something mirror bright and miraculous come into view.

Swing Low Sweet UFO: Kenneth Arnold, St. John’s Day and Chariots of Fire is a post from: Mysterious Universe

Often, reports of UFOs become so bizarre and convoluted in the way they are explained that they fall just short of being comprehensive (and perhaps more often, they seem to miss any and all logic by more than a nautical mile).

Thus, the stranger aspects of the UFO experience, particularly the manner in which alleged UFO craft are able to move and maneuver, are so strange to humans that the reports are dismissed outright as hallucinations, gross misinterpretations, or outright lies.

Still, human perception of the phenomenon at hand–whatever that may be in a given case–is also a factor which must be given credence. After all, as Carl Sagan brilliantly pointed out in the 1970s, the manner in which we might assume a one-dimensional creature would perceive a two-dimensional invader could be strange indeed. Could humans perceive aliens from other realms, especially if they had the dimensional capabilities to “shift” into the fourth dimension, in the same way?

To illustrate how this might work, we’ll set the stage by imagining a small, furry and yellow one-dimensional buddy who crawls up and down a straight line. This, in his one dimensional world, is about all he can do (and for those of us in a 3D realm, it sounds none-too-exciting). Now imagine a big red fuzzy from 2D land, who suddenly makes a pit stop on yellow fuzzy’s 1D line… and to make it more interesting, let’s say our 2D friend is shaped slightly like a horse shoe, so that when he lands, each of his “legs” strikes a different location on yellow fuzzy’s 1D line. As yellow travels along, he’ll be shocked to see that similar representations of this “invader” appear to exist simultaneously in two different places on his 1D line. Below is a video that demonstrates a similar concept:

Sagan had such a unique way of presenting these sorts of concepts, and needless to say, the implications for how humans might similarly perceive strange phenomenon from other dimensions is illustrated far more clearly. Hence, the odd maneuverability of UFO craft, or even the strange, sudden appearance of a ghost, bizarre monstrosity, or other apparition might not seem so far out after all! Now if humans can just manage to grasp the concepts altogether: after all, Lord Rees of the British Astronomical Society recently told the British Daily Mail the following regarding whether humans will ever be able to grasp such mysteries present within the cosmos:

Just as a fish may be barely aware of the medium in which it lives and swims, so the microstructure of empty space could be far too complex for unaided human brains.

Indeed, as much as we know, there may be a few things we just won’t grasp… hence, will we ever truly unravel the mysterious nature of the cosmos, or at very least, the strange objects and other oddities sometimes witnessed right here on Earth?

The Brain Game: Can Humans Grasp Mysteries of the Cosmos? is a post from: Mysterious Universe

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing models obsolete.” – Buckminster Fuller quote from Ralph Metzner’s email.

Want to have your mind blown? On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi initiated the first successful chain reaction that made the atomic bomb possible. Just four months later, April 16, 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofman had what he called a Vorgefühl.

“The usual English word for this is “presentiment,” but the German word suggests something stronger than the laid-back “presentiment.” Something was telling Hofmann to retrace his steps and perform a new synthesis of the discarded molecule, LSD-25. One is free to speculate that the “instruction” to re-synthesize LSD came from a spiritual power which intervenes in the affairs of man to restore order when the danger of disorder has become too great. “

Far out, man! Of course, with all due respect to Dr. Hofman, the paradigm-annihilating power of LSD didn’t really explode on the scene until twenty years later, about the time when Ralph Metzner, as a PhD candidate in psychology at Harvard in the early 60s, joined up with Dr. Timothy Leary and Dr. Richard Alpert (later known as meditation guru Ram Dass) and mounted a study of LSD that became a sort of Psychedelic Manhattan Project.

Dr. Metzner revisits the early days of  “tune in, turn on, drop out” in his new book Birth of a Psychedelic Culture, a collaboration with Ram Dass and others involved in the early days of experimentation. He recently discussed the book and his lifetime of work in consciousness transformation and altered states at the Noetic Retreat Center.

During the course of the wide-ranging talk, Metzner discussed many issues that Mysterious Universe often reckons with such as the ritual use of Ayahuasca, shamanism and alchemy. Later, reading his blog, I also discovered he shared MUs interest in the UFO/ET phenomena. He had even used the same quote Ben and Aaron read on MU Episode 324 from Linda Moulton Howe’s story about “John Smith’s” face-to-face meeting with ET. In another post he discussed UFO disclosure.  Hoping he’d share more insights on the subject, MU contacted Dr. Metzner by email and he graciously replied, offering fascinating insights on the UFO/ET phenomena:

MU: On Sunday you talked about the theory of radical empiricism and I read more about it on your blog and in your “Expanding Consciousness” essay in which you explain how James’ theory would not exclude “anomalous experiences, such as UFO abductions, near-death experiences, and mystical or paranormal experiences. They need not and should not be excluded in a radical empiricism.”

Then I read this quote on your blog about UFO disclosure:

“Perhaps the most significant consciousness expanding development in our time is the steadily increasing worldwide disclosure about UFO sightings and ET contacts. As the veils of official government secrecy and disinformation are lifted, the time will come (sooner or later) when there is worldwide conscious public recognition of the presence of scientifically and technologically highly advanced civilizations visiting Earth from other worlds. Recognition of their scientific and technological superiority follows logically from acknowledgment of their presence – from the fact that they are here (and “we” have so far only gone as far as the Moon). While this recognition has already occurred for numerous individuals (e.g. like the English Councilor Adrian Hicks) when it occurs publicly and openly, it will be, without question, the most significant consciousness expanding event in the history of civilization.”

My question is this: Do you think there’s an avenue by which radical empiricism can take hold across society and allow the general population to tap into the “altered state” that has so far kept UFO phenomenon safely on the fringes?

Dr. Metzner: Radical Empiricism is an epistemological position that is taken by many researchers in states of consciousness (like William James, Charles Tart, Stan Grof, Ken Ring and others including me). I don’t think of this epistemological position as something that would ‘take hold’ across society, like a popular movement,. But there could be a more general openness to anomalous phenomena –for example when you compare Brazilian culture with Anglo-Saxon, Euro-American science–the Brazilians accept that UFOs, as well as various spiritual healing, etc., are real and are more interested in researching it and applying it than arguing about whether the phenomena are real.

MU: What do you think will have to transpire in order for secrecy and disinformation to be lifted from the UFO phenomenon?

Dr. Metzner: The UFO/ET situation has been hijacked by the American (and other countries) military establishment who want to acquire the advanced technological capabilities of the visitors for their own obvious purposes. There is some evidence that even within these extremely secret military industrial groups there are dissenting voices who are pushing for disclosure. Some believe that other countries, like France, Brazil, India and perhaps China, will disclose what they know and then the Americans will have to reveal what they know, in order not to look like idiots, and be left behind with the technology. On the other hand, some within those groups seem determined to counter any disclosure movement with disinformation and ad hominem attacks

MU: Did you know [Harvard-based UFO abductee researcher] John Mack and his work with contactees? Mack’s experience at Harvard seems not entirely dissimilar to your own with Leary and company. Mighty forces worked to discredit his research–as they have against Sheldrake and Radin and Brian Josephson. Do you think this is simply scientists aversion to any psi or so-called paranormal research? Or could it be part of secrecy and disinformation efforts?

Dr. Metzner: John Mack was a friend and I had a have great respect and admiration for his work and his courage in bucking the academic taboo on taking UFO/ET accounts seriously. Several academics I know of have lost their jobs due to that interest. John Mack beat back the prejudice and prevailed. We discussed several times the parallels between UFO contact experiences and psychedelic experiences. Both are paradigm shattering experiences. We agreed that psychedelics can reach more people than have had ET contacts (although John thought we couldn’t really be sure how many millions of people have had the latter). He also pointed out LSD experiences can be interpreted by the user as unusual states of brain-mind, induced by a drug, whereas the UFO/ET contact experience is virtually impossible to explain as anything other than an ET contact for the person who has had it.

MU: In your blog you mentioned “John Smith’s” experience of meeting an ET and having a powerful psychic experience, his mind flooded with data and images that caused him to faint. Did his description remind you of your own experience with LSD or other consciousness expanding drugs? If there is an overlap between UFO sightings and abduction experiences and effects of mind altering substances, how would you describe it and what significance do you think it will play in the disclosure revelations?

Dr. Metzner: I know personally of several individuals who had had ET contact experiences while in an altered state induced by psychedelics. I don’t think it helps the cause of rational discourse about either one of these events to mingle the descriptions. Then the UFO sightings and ET meetings can be written off as drug-induced hallucination triggering a double shot of incredulity and accusations of mental derangement. Although social science experiments can be done to see how they are correlated, Ken Ring did a survey study in which he found there was a positive correlation between individuals who reported being abused as children and later having UFO/ET sightings, contacts or abductions. This doesn’t prove that child abuse causes UFO/ET sightings, contacts or abduction hallucinations. Rather it points to two sets of phenomena that both involve a high degree of dissociation (which is both a cognitive skill and a defense mechanism).

Dr. Ralph Metzner tells MU: “UFO/ET Situation has been Hijacked by the Amerian Military” is a post from: Mysterious Universe

Your mind will likely be doing back flips by the time you reach the end of Season 3′s finale.

Our tales of stalking Sasquatch on Airforce bases seem mundane in comparison to the the later content. We’re talking StarGates and Death Stars people. Look out.

We will return to regular free programing with Season 4 starting on the 16th/17th of June.

Show notes, music, and video after the jump

Jungle Girl

Bigfoot Drive-by

Bigfoot Bodies

The Nightstalker

Lawn Creatures

Click here to view the embedded video.

Out Of The Dark: The Complete Guide to Beings from Beyond

Ghost Pint

Plus+ Content

You can join Plus+ by clicking HERE

Stargate Aramu Muru

Ascension Mechanics – A’Shayana Dean Interview

Earthfiles Viewer Letters About High Strangeness

Out Of The Dark: The Complete Guide to Beings from Beyond

Music

CRUMBS – Dribbles via undomondo

——————————————

Auditory Canvas
“Chrysalis” (mp3)
from “Fabric of Life”
(Summer Rain Recordings (White))

Buy at Napster
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

Auditory Canvas
“Get Green Soothe (feat. Severn Cullis-Suzuki)” (mp3)
from “Earth EP”
(Summer Rain Recordings (White))

Buy at Napster
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Puretracks
Buy at Amazon MP3
Buy at mTraks
More On This Album

——————————————

Final Track – Regular Show

Kerrier District – Lets Dance and Freak via blouse.

CRUMBS – Moon Relish via undomondo

Midnight Savari – Pinisi via Disco Delicious

Final Track

Sebastien Tellier – Divine (Midnight Juggernauts Remix) via blouse.

Episode 324 – Mysterious Universe is a post from: Mysterious Universe

When Ben and Aaron recently interviewed abduction experiencer Dave Eckhart in MU Plus+ Episode 123, he told them that if the government knew an eighth of what he did about the alien agenda, there would never be disclosure.

If he could prove that frog-ape aliens carried him from his bed to off-world medical facilities where Reptilian doctors operated on him alongside many other men, women and children, it would be a real PR nightmare for the government.

Unfortunately, Dave lacks physical evidence to back up his story, and since everyone knows extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, his alien visitations will be dismissed as lies or delusions and anyone who doubts that conclusion will risk public ridicule.

If that sounds like an overstatement, just check out Jacques Valle’s recent crop circle posts on Boing Boing and see the spectacle skeptics made of themselves holding Occam’s Razor to the throat of a man with a graduate degree in astrophysics and a PhD. in information studies. Dozens of commentators–many of whom erroneously assuming the Valle credits UFOs with crop circle creation–demand to see his evidence. When he provides links to research, the skeptics reject the scholarship of his sources. They obviously don’t know what they’re talking about or to whom they are speaking, but even when the facts are repeatedly pointed out by Boing Boing’s moderator, they will not give up the fight.

Indeed, the “skeptics’” knee-jerk reactions are often more vehement and emotional than the views they are disparaging. So, what is it about UFOs and other paranormal phenomenon that so infuriates these self-proclaimed “rational thinkers?” They probably can’t answer that question themselves, but the truth is out there.

In 1952, the U.S. military received reports of 1,900 UFO sightings and people were becoming convinced that UFOs were real and the government should do something about them. Several studies , investigations and projects had been already undertaken by military and intelligence agencies to examine the problem. The results were inconclusive, often further complicating the situation by layering unanswerable questions atop the existing mystery.

However, the whole UFO thing was getting out of hand, and neither the military nor intelligence wanted to have their agencies held responsible for solving the riddle of the ages and failing. Out of this pension-threatening crisis, an answer emerged from the CIA.

Soon a handful of renown scientists, aka the Robertson Panel, were assembled to review the UFO evidence (or as much of it as they CIA thought prudent to reveal ) and four days later, the eggheads concurred with the intelligence agency’s recommendations. In their conclusions, documented in the classified “Report of Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified flying Objects Convened by Office of Scientific Intelligence, CIA,  January 14-18, 1953,” some of the brightest men of 20th century science blithely sign off on a nationwide program of disinformation. Indeed, they provided blanket plausible deniable to the entire U.S. government on UFOs in particular and pretty much anything else they might want to wash their hands of at any future date.  And they did it with this brief statement:

“Attention should be directed to the requirement among scientists that a new phenomena, to be accepted, must be completely and convincingly documented. In other words, the burden of proof is on the sighter, not the explainer.”

Why would these smart guys agree to authorize this diabolical get-out-of-jail-free card for the CIA?

In the report’s conclusions, they agreed with the CIA’s findings that UFOs were cultivating “a morbid national psychology in which skillful hostile propaganda could induce hysterical behavior and harmful distrust of duty constituted authority.” It’s unclear how they arrived at this conclusion given that earlier in the report they noted “the general absence of Russian propaganda based on a subject with so many obvious possibilities for exploitation might indicate a possible Russian official policy.”

Nonetheless, the scientists were convinced that the hypothetical propaganda threat was so worrisome that it required that “the national security agencies take immediate steps to strip the Unidentified Flying Objects of the special status they have been given and the aura of mystery they have unfortunately acquired.”

Okay, so how do you put out those weird lights in the sky? With a weapon more powerful than any death ray from outer space: Through a “broad educational program integrating efforts of all concerned agencies that should have two major aims: training and….” (wait for it) ‘debunking.’”

The training part would “result in proper recognition of unusually illuminated objects,” which sought to make sure UFOs would henceforth be identified as much less troublesome balloons, meteors, etc. Mission easily accomplished.

But how to you educate people to embrace debunking ? It requires more subtly, and, of course, Walt Disney:

“The ‘debunking’ aim would result in reduction of public interest in ‘flying saucers’ which today evokes a strong psychological reaction. This education could be accomplished by mass media such as s television, motion pictures, and popular articles. The basis of such education would be actual case histories which had been puzzling at first but later explained. As in the case of conjuring tricks, there is much less stimulation if the ‘secret’ is known. Such a program should tend to reduce the current gullibility of the public and consequently their susceptibility to clever, hostile propaganda.”

The panel goes on to suggest that the education program solicit the input of an expert on mass psychology, another on advertising and mass communications. Television personality Arthur Godfrey was suggested as a channel for reaching a mass audience “of certain levels.” As well as Walt Disney, Inc. for creating animated cartoons.

I don’t know what role Mickey Mouse played in bringing this “education” plan to fruition, but it’s abundantly clear that the plan succeeded in spades; just look at what it did for the career of Amazing Randi built for himself by training legions to recite the debunkers’ motto: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

Well, here’s an extraordinary claim: These self-anointed “skeptics” are unwitting government tools programmed by mass media to facilitate the takeover of planet Earth by alien invaders and to be extremely annoying while doing so. I’ve got the documents to prove my case right here; if you say my claim is inaccurate, the burden of proof in on you, baby. Let’s see your papers.

UFO Disinformation: Whose Truthiness Can We Trust? is a post from: Mysterious Universe

Many past US presidents have shown interest in the mystery behind UFOs. Bill Clinton, for instance, had told his White House liaison to the United States Department of Justice, Webster Hubbell, to look into finding out who killed JFK, as well as what was going on with reports of UFOs, according to Hubbell.

Before that, Jimmy Carter had witnessed a UFO while serving as governor of Georgia, and later asked then CIA director George H. W. Bush about getting access to UFO documents. Bush was said to have warned him something along the lines of “you don’t have clearance for that information, Mr. President,” prompting the question, “if not the President of the United States, who exactly DOES have clearance to secret information on UFOs?” Ronald Regan, Gerald Ford, and even John F. Kennedy also were known to have ties to inquiries into UFO secrecy.

Now, news has been circulating for several days suggesting that yet another US President, Dwight Eisenhower, may also have been briefed about the alleged presence of extraterrestrials. Jeff Peckman at the Denver UFO Examiner writes, “Henry W. McElroy, Jr, retiring State Representative to New Hampshire, declared this week that former U.S. President Eisenhower was briefed about the presence of extraterrestrial intelligent beings on Earth.” According to statements attributed to McElroy, a document he viewed while serving as a New Hampshire Congressman described offers for Eisenhower to actually meet with alien visitors.

Researcher Larry Bryant has also shown interest in the report, claiming that McElroy has said others were shown the document as well, saying “The ex-representative says he knows at least one former legislative colleague who recalls having seen the paper in question. How many others can (and will) corroborate the account?” In an effort to find others who may have seen the document, Bryant says he is also posting an online classified advertisement to help track down witnesses.

Strangely, there is very little information available online pertaining to McElroy and the statement which led to all this controversy, aside from that which has appeared at UFO-related websites. Why would this kind of story be ignored by the mainstream media? Is its content simply too fringe for the taste of larger news sources, or are there other circumstances involved?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Was Eisenhower Briefed on Extraterrestrial Visitors? is a post from: Mysterious Universe

Sure, this post is titled a bit curiously. “Wait a minute,” you’re probably thinking. “What kinds of mistakes do I have to start making before I start seeing UFOs?” Ah, I too wish it were only that simple… hence, before I go any further, I’d best clarify a bit.

Earlier today, SiFy Network featured a roundup at their website detailing the “Top 10 most common explanations for UFOs.” Sure, conventional wisdom doesn’t seem to conflict with many of the items included in SiFy’s list being mistaken for alien spacecraft, including meteors, the planet Venus (now there’s a classic), ball lightning and even “experimental military aircraft,” which ranked at number one (while regular, non-military aircraft came in close behind at second place). But the thing that always get’s me going when I see articles like this is that, as a matter of definition, many of these things actually are UFOs!

Think I’m kidding, or maybe just crazy? Before you begin casting stones, follow my rational for a moment, since when we get right down to the matter of definition, this observation actually does begin to make sense. Simply put, the acronym “UFO” doesn’t stand for “Unwanted Foreign Occupants,” or anything that specifically entails an actual extraterrestrial spacecraft. Instead, the popular term merely denotes the presence of an Unidentified Flying Object. Arguably, the funniest thing about all this is that what I’m pointing out here is so well known–even among those who don’t consider themselves UFO buffs–that it’s almost silly to devote time to spelling it out; and yet, somewhere along the way, the notion that a “UFO” is a term that specifically refers to an alien craft obviously began to take shape. How did this happen?

It’s rather difficult to nail down exactly what caused this to occur, much less find an exact date, although when viewing the Wikipedia entry for the term UFO, the authors note a similar aspect regarding the way the definition began to evolve after its inception in the early 1950s:

The United States Air Force, which coined the term in 1952, initially defined UFOs as those objects that remain unidentified after scrutiny by expert investigators, though today the term UFO is colloquially used to refer to any unidentifiable sighting regardless of whether it has been investigated.

Although it is not directly implied that the United States Air Force intended “unknowns” to be accepted as alien visitors, they certainly remained unaccounted for according to USAF records once official investigations turned up empty-handed. Again, many would argue that UFOs today–whether or not they’ve been investigated–are most often also associated with alien visitors from other planets, rather than foreign military craft and other terrestrial possibilities. The last place these things appear to come from is anywhere on Earth, right? Hence, following this logic (and maybe a healthy dose of Occam’s Razor) we can see how easily the notion could have developed over time that if these strange objects are seen in the sky, it’s only rational to conclude that they descended into view from even greater heights (outer space), and that they are likely visitors from other worlds.

When it comes to its application, “UFO” was also a more all-inclusive term for use with the variety of strange objects people began reporting after WWII, especially after pilot Kenneth Arnold’s famous sighting of “flying saucers” over Mount Ranier, Washington, in 1947. Ironically, the craft Arnold spotted weren’t really “saucers” either, but were half-moon shaped, although Arnold had noted they flew “like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.” “UFO” wouldn’t begin to see common use until five years after Arnold’s sighting, but the test of time proved it to be the more popular name in the long run, and by the mid 1950s, various “contactees” claiming to have made contact with spacemen were morphing their wild stories from secluded seances into physical encounters with occupants of UFO craft (often claiming they traveled here from neighboring planets like Mars or Venus, which are less than impressive locales by today’s standards).

The way we perceive UFOs as a culture, right down to nit-picky little definitions, is a fascinating subject when we consider the way our attitudes and beliefs toward them have changed over time; and no doubt are continuing to change in ways we may not yet perceive. How will we treat the subject ten years, or even ten decades from now? Who knows… but one thing is for certain: next time you spot something bizarre and unexplainable in the night sky, you can proudly proclaim with a degree of certainty to those around you, “yes, that is indeed a UFO!”

The Best Mistakes That Lead to UFOs: A Matter of Definition? is a post from: Mysterious Universe

Around this time each year, as if according to some serendipitous schedule, whispers of governmental disclosure begin making the rounds.

Maybe it’s just the excitement that comes with Spring (which, from my dark bunker several miles below the Earth’s surface here in the US where I write these posts, feels more like Summer). Or maybe it’s just that, following US Congressional primary elections, folks start looking for something else to talk about.

Whatever it is that causes this strange phenomenon, it has returned on cue this year to spread further speculation as to whether the world powers plan on admitting what they know about aliens visiting Earth; or if nothing else, the truth about all the information they’ve lacked for decades, outside that supplied by the UFO community.One example was emailed to me only hours ago, proclaiming that US President Barack Obama will soon be dishing the inside scoop on UFOs once and for all. The email described how Obama and his administration are planning “a bold step forward in helping our planet become an interplanetary culture” that is more open and accepting of alien life. Nonetheless, every time people start asking me if I think Obama will be “the one” to reveal clandestine knowledge of UFO activity in and around Earth, I rather grimly offer that, for the time being, having food on the table is the top priority, hence I’m glad he and other world leaders seem more preoccupied with global economic problems. Come on, UFO researchers and unusual aerial phenomenologists will be of no use to anybody without their daily bread… can’t solve the Earth’s mysteries on an empty stomach!

Whether or not Obama is making any effort to address the issue of interplanetary visitations to Earth (which, based on the sentiments above, some would argue he shouldn’t), in Russia one man’s alleged alien abduction may be posing a national security threat. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, a leader in a southern portion of Russia called Kalmykia, made a public claim on an area television program that he had had an encounter with a UFO which resulted in his subsequent abduction. In response to the strange claim, an MP has asked Russian President Dimitri Medvedev to investigate, over concerns that Ilyumzhinov might have given away state secrets to aliens which may pose security threats to the Russian people. In his defence, Mr. Ilyumzhinov, a former businessman, is described as being a bit “eccentric.”

The countdown clock to ultimate UFO disclosure probably isn’t getting any closer to midnight… at least on behalf of actions our governing bodies may be planning to take. Therefore, perhaps direct intervention from aliens may be the alternative, fulfilling prophetic visions of flying saucers landing on the Whitehouse Lawn and shaking hands with world leaders and Washingtonians. Should such an event ever transpire, let’s just hope the aliens prove to be friendly!

Disclosure on the Horizon: World Powers vs Priorities is a post from: Mysterious Universe

The Unholy Three (1930). This triple threat consists of a midget, a strongman, and a ventriloquist named Echo who concoct an ingenious plan to fleece the homes of wealthy people in the dead of night.

Okay, there were in fact four speakers on the UFO panel at San Francisco’s New Living Expo last weekend. Reuben Uriarte, the State Director for Northern California MUFON and Deputy Director of International Investigations, probably came closest to the evidence-based researcher type (in other words, the sanest of the bunch) but unfortunately it’s impossible to say for certain since his presentation of “the best UFO photos and live video footage” was thwarted by malfunctioning equipment.

But by the time Uriarte took the stage as the last speaker, it was obvious that the standing room only crowd had not come to see him or his slide show anyway. No, they were drawn by the trio who preceded him, all of whom belong to the  “we-don’t-need-no stinkin’ research” School of Ufology and that’s because they already have a direct or even divine line to Star Visitors, Edgar Cayce, George Noory or even all of the above.

Psychic and paranormal promoter Robert Perala was the MC and used his moment in the spotlight to drum up business for Conspiracy Con X in June (MU will so be there as will Ruben Uriarte and maybe this time his AV equipment will work). Plus a whole-day event with David Icke in October (neither Reptilian overlords nor  MU would miss it) before introducing the panelists. Each of whom was allowed 15 minutes to drive the crazy bus.  You can decide if there was a winner, but by the end we will probably all agree that they all made it to La la Land, albeit by slightly different routes.

First up, Dr. Richard Boylan, the former marriage and family therapist who who lost his license in 1995 for imposing his views of space aliens into the dreams and memories of two patients, nude hot tubbing with patients and bartering nude massages in return for psychological therapy.

Today he puts his faith in the Star Visitors, acts as a kind of shepherd for the Starseed Children and spokesperson for the Star Nations, which he describes as a kind of intergalactic Peace Corp. He claims that among adults over 65, one in eight are Starseeds, and the percentage grows as age decreases until among kids 12 and under 96 percent are Starseeds.

Of course, they don’t all know that they’re Starseeds. It happens just as Ben and Aaron discussed on MU319: the Star Visitor observes Earth’s plight and then “incarnates as a human to help out.” The human incarnation doesn’t remember he was a Star Visitor in a previous life, although he does bring his higher consciousness to this life.

Starseeds are different than regular humans in physical ways, too. “Starseed adults age more slowly, maintain robust health and sharpness,” Boylan explained, and then by way of example he introduced a woman from the audience who was 37 but “ looked like a college kid.” Then in a truly awkward moment the woman introduced herself and, you know, it was not impossible to imagine that she was aging at a normal human rate.

Then it got more awkward when Boylan said he wanted to measure her vast energy, so he descended from the stage with a forked dowsing rod and standing about 15 feet from the woman, pointed the forked object toward her. He took a few steps until the dowsing thing flinched out of sheer embarrassment.

“See how far her energy extends?” No one saw, and all I could think of was about a dozen NSFW jokes that involved hot-tubbing therapy sessions, dowsing rods and “energy extension.”

The last thing I heard him say was that Earth was going to be invited to join Star Nations.

Here is a brief excerpt from his website explaining some of the activities of the Star Nation we have been invited to join:

At five minutes before our JPE [Joint Psychic Exercise], and the Star Nations Liberation, TAUSS, the Cabal’s secret underground extreme-speed magnetic-levitation subway system, was taken down for the Western United States sector, at least temporarily, to provide a distraction.
At one minute before the JPE/Liberation, Star Visitors advised the captives and their families that liberation was imminent. Also at one minute before, the magnetic containment fields, and the implants in the SV [Star Visitor] captives, and the black boxes tying the SV’s to the Cabal pain administration equipment were deactivated.

The precise locations where the Star Visitors were help is given to you to assist you JPE participants in geo-locating the Liberation project sites in case you want to time-jump back and lend specific energy to the Liberation effort as it is going on. It will be useful.

Again thank you for your participation. Your presence helped Star Nations ethically intervene in Human affairs to liberate its own members from Cabal criminal elements working in “black projects”. Black, indeed!

Moving on to David Wilcox who was new to this MU blogger. On his website he describes himself  as a professional lecturer, filmmaker and researcher of ancient civilizations, consciousness science, and new paradigms of matter and energy. His upcoming Hollywood film CONVERGENCE unveils the “proof that all life on Earth is united in a field of consciousness, which affects our minds in fascinating ways.”

(BTW, Aaron, you’ll be interested to know, the website has a multi-part series on: A New Philadelphia Experiment Revelation )

But after checking out his online mug shot, I couldn’t take my eyes off the guy on the stage who looked very different than the one pictured. I decided he’d had a nose job. My photos aren’t very good, but maybe you’ll be able to see what I mean.

As far as I could Google, Wilcox seemed scandal free, and I understood what he was talking about when he decried the “skeptical laughter curtain” that surrounds subjects like UFOs. I’ll even entertain the idea that “UFOs are ourselves from the future come back during this time of change to help us out.” [More helpful star people, you might note this as a theme of all the panelists].

But then he turned up the juice on his “cosmic download” and from what I could grab from the warp-speed verbiage, was that this was a cosmos filled with crappy science. I think I have an unusually high tolerance for fringe theories, but, come on: Is the pineal gland “a Stargate inside your brain”? Are we seeing so many UFOs because we are colliding with incoming vortex, natural time travel vortexes on Earth. Very strange areas that you step inside and sound of birds goes away. All the sounds go away? Is human evolution speeding up 300 times faster? Is there really micro-biological proof that evolution is speeding up? Does the Illuminati and Hitler equal Darkness Hidden? [Hitler comes up again, too] Is it true that there has to be anti gravity. There has to be time travel? Can you really turn Einstein’s theory of relativity upside down so that mass decreases?

You can look it all up on his website and try to make sense of his “Divine Cosmos” or you can just take him at his word when he tells you that the truth is so much more incredible than we’ve been led to believe.

That’s where I’m leaving it.

Next up was psychic and Coast-to-Coast regular, Sean David Morton. He started his presentation by announcing “I’ll bet you’re surprised I’m not behind bars.” I had to Google him on my iPhone to find out that in March, Morton was indicted by SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) for fraud which gave the New York Times the chance to write this headline: For Psychic, Suit Came as Surprise.

In a case that seems ripped from the pages of the satirical newspaper The Onion, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Mr. Morton for securities fraud on Thursday, claiming he swindled more than $6 million from investors by promising them “piles of money,” along with spiritual happiness.

Needless to say, Morton published a statement in response on the Coast to Coast website:

“I am shaken to my core by all this. I have never stolen from anyone in my life, and I cannot even fathom how someone could risk incurring such karma for base, short term monetary gain. I am sure it happens every day, but I firmly believe as the Apostle Paul said, What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”

“Anyone who knows me and knows my body of work from listening to this show over the past 20 years knows that I am all about the truth and doing what is right, and that is what my wife and I have done ALL ALONG, and we will be fully vindicated from these baseless allegations.”

This story was far more intriguing than his ADHD-ish, rat-a-tat patter that spilled a million names and not a drop of content: from Groom Lake to Area 51 to the fact that HE is a Star Child to comparing Stephen Hawking’s alien bashing to John Keel’s warnings to Dan Ackroyd on Larry King Live, catsthatlooklikehitler.com, Copernicus, Edgar Cayce’s prophecy that there would be a shifting of the poles, the Hebrew calendar, Hindu calendar, the Norway Spiral, which he described as “creating the IKEA version of HAARP.”

He predicted that this summer is going to make the summer of the 60s look like the 50s, which sounded ominous but then wrapped up by explaining, “How special Earth is because we are actively defended (by our Star Nation friends, I presume) and actively helped. We have royal blood. Every one of us. The [star visitors?] protect us because of our ability to achieve Godhood. 2012 will be the end of terror. The end of evil.”

He could have said more along those lines but his 15-minute behind the wheel had screeched to a halt.  Time for Reuben Uriarte, except, whoops, his video must have connected with one of those strange vortexes where you can’t hear the birds or watch the UFOs.  Oh well, see you all at Conspiracy Con X 2010!

The Unholy Three of Ufology: Boylan, Wilcock & Morton is a post from: Mysterious Universe