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Is There a Singular UFO Phenomenon?

4/27/2013

19 Comments

 
If you receive my newsletter, you already know that the editor of Paranthropology has asked me to write a critique and evaluation of Steven Mizrach’s article on the “para-anthropology of UFO abductions.” I discussed this article a little while back, and you’ll recall that Mizrach suggested that the “ultra-terrestrial hypothesis” of Jacques Vallee, whereby the UFO phenomenon is to be understood as an intrusion of beings from another dimension, is the most fulfilling explanation for UFOs and alien abduction narratives. Mizrach wrote to offer some interesting questions about the UFO phenomenon that I’d like to discuss a bit more as I work on some ideas for my article. This is what Mizrach said:

But if we are dealing with a purely subjective experience, how do we explain objective traces, multiply witnessed events, and physiological effects on witnesses? […] I think a lot of "alternative archaeology" (especially the kind that denies indigenous people the ability to build their own buildings) is crap, and I think "ancient astronauts" theories are also rubbish. […] I was mainly trying to suggest approaches and the possible validity for an eclectic approach.

He also asked me about my view of Vallee’s work. This, in turn, brought into focus something I’ve been thinking about for a while now: What is the warrant for lumping together several different “mysteries” as part of a single UFO phenomenon? Why do we assume that lights in the sky (UFO sightings), crop circles, “abduction” events, and cattle mutilations are part of a single phenomenon and that all of these distinct topics require a single explanation?

Here is where I think it helps to look at “ancient astronauts”—not as evidence of aliens but rather as a body of data that purports to trace back aspects of the modern UFO myth to ancient antecedents. While Mizrach is happy to dismiss such speculation as “rubbish,” I think it reveals important information about how the modern UFO myth was concocted from unrelated parts and how it is sustained by the assumption that its various elements are related and therefore require the projection of supernatural beings to adequately explain.

In the case of crop circles, it’s fairly obvious that modern crop circles are a hoax. But even crop circle enthusiasts can’t quite decide how or whether supposedly genuine circles are related to UFOs. A famous 1997 video (later proved a hoax) shows two small orbs forming a circle, while the oldest report of a crop circle, from 1678, a field was said to have burst into flame, resulting in an unnatural mowing, attributed to the devil—not to any lights in the sky. The accompanying illustration shows the devil mowing the grain with a scythe. Other circles were attributed to fairies, who, again, were not traditionally associated with UFOs, though I suppose one could try to make them into trans-dimensional beings if one really wanted to.
Picture
The Devil creates a "crop circle." (Wikimedia Commons)
The case of “alien” cattle mutilations is even more clearly contradicted by ancient reports. While modern cattle mutilations are routinely attributed to aliens (even though they are almost always the result of natural decay), the ancients and medieval people attributed extremely similar events to the actions of the goatsucker, a small bird. The goatsucker (older Spanish chotacabra = modern Spanish chupacabra) mythology, in turn, gave rise to the modern El Chupacabra myth, the chief competitor to aliens in explaining cattle mutilations. The ancients and medieval people did not associate the action of the goatsucker with bright lights, human abductions, metal ships, or any of the other paraphernalia of modern UFOs, which suggests strongly that the connection is a modern one. After all, the oldest reference comes from Aristotle, with no UFO trappings: “They say that when the udder has been sucked that it gives no more milk, and that the goat becomes blind” (History of Animals 21.2, trans. Richard Cresswell). Medieval people conflated the goatsucker with the screech owl (believed to kill children and mutilate corpses, according to Ovid, Fasti 6.131ff) and decided that the goatsucker killed and mutilated goats.

The case of UFO sightings also finds interesting parallels in ancient times. The Greek poet Pindar saw a bright light in the sky, as recorded in the scholia on his work: “there was heard a great noise, and a flame of lightning was seen descending, and Pindar saw that a stone image of the Mother had come down at their feet, and the oracle ordained that he should set up a shrine to the Mother” (trans. Jane Ellis Harrison). This is, of course, usually described as a meteor strike in modern discussions. The Greeks, though, also associated an epiphany of the gods with flashes of lightning and supernatural glowing in the sky. This might sound like a UFO, but the Greek descriptions don’t have two key elements of modern UFO sightings: the lights are not small round dots darting through the sky, and none appears as a metallic orb or saucer. Instead, they are spectacular displays of divine radiance, something most modern UFOs lack. (By the Roman period, some references to flying shields appear, but always in the context of supernatural miracles during major world events, not as random intrusions of space men.) I’ll have more to say about this tomorrow when I begin reviewing the “evidence” for ancient UFOs collected by Jacques Vallee in his Wonders in the Sky (2009).

The case of the abduction narrative, the ancients had a very different view than modern people. Modern ufologists claim that ancient stories of incubi and succubae are precursors of the alien abduction narrative, even though these appearances (readily explained by near-sleep dream states) lack the trappings of modern UFOs. There are no lights or saucers, no medical experiments—just weird sex. Others claim that fairy abduction myths are also precursors of the alien abduction narrative, although typically such supernatural abductions take place underground and not in the sky. They are, however, often associated with weird sex—but not cattle mutilation, crop circles, or glowing metal orbs in the sky. Worse, the first modern alien encounters, like that of George Adamski, were taken straight from Buck Rogers, involved civilized meetings with Nordic aliens, and had nothing to do with the night terrors of the stereotyped abduction narrative.

Vallee explains away these problems by positing that ultra-dimensional beings irrupt into this world from other dimensions and are interpreted through filters in the human mind to take culturally-determined forms. But if we can’t trust the shape of the being, where it is interacting with us, or the actions it performs—all “cultural” interpretations—why should we suppose the being exists outside the human mind at all? Indeed, that was the argument David Lewis-Williams made in The Mind in the Cave (2002) in directly attributing to known, repeatable brain imagery the origin of shamanic deities and monsters, the earliest precursors of the alien theme. Like Vallee, he believes culture determines how ambiguous imagery generated by the brain in altered states of consciousness is perceived, but unlike Vallee, he sees no reason to suppose that these shapes, which can be induced by hallucinogens or electrical brain stimulation, are messages from another dimension. 

That, though, is a question for another day. Today I’d like to know why we’ve decided, after about, say, 1965 or so, to use the UFO myth as an overarching explanation for phenomena that don’t appear to have any actual reason to be viewed together. Sure, from the time of Betty and Barney Hill, strange lights in the sky have been linked to abductions to the point where they are inseparable now, though this was not the case before the Outer Limits made it so. The sheer diversity of situations and events attributed to aliens implies to me that a myth has been created and is sucking in all manner of “unexplained” events under one umbrella—but that doesn’t make the myth true. Again, I think ancient history helps understand this.

The Greeks had a myth of the supernatural hero, and they used suspiciously similar evidence to support it. They claimed (as Pausanias noted) that ancient ruins were so overwhelmingly large they must have been the work of Cyclopes, giants, or the heroes. They dug up extremely large bones and claimed these were the very bodies of the heroes, the giants, and the Cyclopes. And they made sacrifices to the subterranean spirits of the giant heroes and prayed to them for help, which they believed the heroes provided from beneath the earth. These heroes, too, were believed the have mated with humans and produced hybrid offspring.

But we know today that the myth of the heroes was concocted from unrelated parts: faded Mycenaean gods, the actual physical remains of Mycenaean cities, and the bones of extinct elephants and other Ice Age fauna—unrelated concepts dragged together in service of a single explanatory story that combined history, myth, and outright fantasy in service of an idea that said much about contemporary conditions in Greece and very little about the supernatural realm of the loved dead. I’m not sure I understand why the many and varied aspects of the UFO myth are not similarly roped into service of a modern myth. Perhaps by dropping the UFO framework it would help us to better understand the actual history, form, and function of the myth’s moving parts.
19 Comments
Tara Jordan
4/27/2013 08:27:36 am

Great post Jason, Correct me if I am wrong but Vallee merely suggests that there is a phenomena or a process interacting with our dimension or consciousness, & this phenomena induces a wide range of experiences depending on the individual subjected to it.John Keel is almost on the same line. I consider myself ultra skeptical & I reject any testimonies or personal experiences from laymen (I`m not denying or rejecting the idea that amongst them,there is a percentage of individuals who may have experienced something genuine,but for the sake of keeping the issue as clear & rational as possible,I dismiss these testimonies). What I am unable to reject are the personal testimonies from thousands of legitimate witnesses, civilian - military pilots, air controllers,radar operators etc.. who have publicly or privately discussed what they personally saw & experienced.I strongly believe the ufo field has been polluted with the extra terrestrial hypothesis, the abductions-men in black lore,the cattle mutilations phenomena & ancient Aliens garbage.but there is a genuine "non flying objects" phenomena.

Reply
Jason Colavito link
4/27/2013 11:42:28 am

Yes, Vallee's idea is that other-dimentional consciousness leaks into this dimension and induces culturally-defined hallucinations. I don't see why we need to add the extra layer of trans-dimensional mind parasites when simple mental processes would do.

One of the weirdest explanations for UFOs I've heard is Karl Shuker's idea (well, I read it in one of his books...he might be citing someone else) that UFOs are really transparent air-gliding jellyfish-like creatures that only briefly become visible under the right atmospheric/solar conditions. I'm not sure where they are supposed to go when they die or why planes don't smack into them.

Reply
Tara Jordan
4/27/2013 01:36:29 pm

Based on what you said, I suspect Shuker was referring to Trevor James Constable concept of biophilia,or ufo as "bioforms".As to the ufo phenomena as "mental process" or Jungian approach to ufology (psycho-cultural phenomena), I have regular exchanges with Allen Greenfield (very sweet old man) who despite his deep involvement in esoterism & "para-psychology",has very interesting ideas about ufology.He doesn't believe in the ET hypothesis but sees the phenomena more like a belief system, stimulated by neurological,psychological & even intra-pyschiatric reactions.

Clint Knapp
4/29/2013 01:25:08 am

I've heard the jellyfish claim before too, though I couldn't say who was spouting it at the moment. Whichever crank it was had been speaking on Carlos Casteneda, who in his last book "The Active Side of Infinity" (published posthumously) described giant amoebas in the sky who secretly controlled human minds.

Varika
4/27/2013 03:35:50 pm

No offense, Tara, but why are pilots, air controllers, radar operators, police, etc. so much more reliable than, say, me, who is an elementary school teacher? They are all capable of being fooled by their own minds. Especially when they have long, stressful and/or boring hours at their jobs. There's no real reason to assume that they are going to be more reliable witnesses than "laymen."

Reply
Varika
4/27/2013 04:44:27 pm

...ah, that should have read "WE are all capable...." because I certainly HAVE been, though my mind seems to prefer tricking me with auditory rather than visual miscues.

Tara Jordan
4/28/2013 12:11:51 am

For the sake of keeping this issue as sane & rational as possible,I take the minimalist approach to the ufo phenomena, only taking in consideration specific anomalous cases (unidentified Aerial Phenomena), from which there is a considerable amount of technical data, I believe the minimalist approach lays a proper ground for scientific investigations.I reject & dismiss any "personal encounters" or so called "contacts"(I wouldn't`t take my own account into consideration & expect scientists to take it seriously ).I have personal friends working for NASA (one of them a prominent astrophysicist) & they are not reluctant to discuss the issue,in fact they happen to be really interested in exobiology & even xenoarchaeology,but as soon as you get into the "traditional" ufo lore,they lose interest, A reaction I frankly quite understand, considering the state of the field ufology. Take the case of Jacques Vallee,a brilliant individual with scientific training but who progressively became as credulous as the casual ufo buff, because of his close association,extensive work & collaboration with ufologists.You wouldn't hear Vallee saying anything negative about anyone (even regarding the most atrocious characters & blatant charlatans that are infesting the field of ufology). I lost any respect for Vallee when he failed to denounce professional hoaxer & cult leader Billy Meier.I am paraphrasing but Vallee said something like," I have questions regarding some of Billy`s pictures,but some are them are quite interesting..".

Varika
4/28/2013 12:01:30 pm

I just meant that given the infinite suggestibility of the human mind, even for official judicial proceedings I tend to disregard witness testimony, and UFOlogy is no different for me. Technical data is another matter entirely, and I agree that I would (and do!) expect data to be inspected with a significantly more open mind than I do witness testimony.

I admit to finding the UFO phenomenon endlessly fascinating...but my open-mindedness is "I am open to you showing me your hard evidence, but still require a 'reasonable doubt' standard." So far, even the hard evidence has not met that particular standard for me. I leave open the possibility that something will someday, just like I leave open the possibility that I'll hit the lottery jackpot, but I suspect the chances of hitting the lottery are far better....

Cathleen Anderson
4/27/2013 11:32:14 am

I think this picture says it all. (rofl)

http://cheezburger.com/7369409280

Reply
Jason Colavito link
4/27/2013 11:43:29 am

Ha! Don't tell William Henry. He already thinks telephone booths are Jesus star gates.

Reply
CFC
4/27/2013 03:17:23 pm

Jason,
I'm enjoying these articles and am learning a great deal but admit that I know nothing about this subject.

charlie
4/27/2013 02:26:16 pm

Just my 2 cents, but there are some honest UFO's.
All research into them explained most, but not ALL ufo's. Most were shown to be odd clouds or some other atmospheric aberration. The US Air Force did admit, I can't give the source, that they were left with some actual unexplained unidentified flying objects. All this really does say is that there were/are some things that may have been observed, even photographed that are not hoaxed nor can they be explained.
I do not think the ufo's are from some other planet. Another dimension? Now that IS a very good question as string theory does include about 10 or so unseen dimensions. Some physics types have even postulated multiple universes, so I wonder how to prove/disprove some real ufo's.
I look forward to the continuation of this article.
Thanks Jason, you made me think and that is always a very good thing.
cheers

Reply
charlie
4/27/2013 02:29:37 pm

Cathleen,
LOLMAO, good one.
As a person who has had the good fortune to have shared my life with some cats, I'll just add that I am certain that cats know much more than I do, but they will not let me in on their secrets..........LOL.

Reply
Cathleen Anderson
4/28/2013 04:04:16 am

I'm glad you enjoyed that. LOLcats is one of my favorite humor sites.

Reply
John McKay link
4/27/2013 04:08:29 pm

Vallee isn't saying anything new when he says people can see or feel the same things and, after filtering them through their cultural conditioning, come up with completely different explanations. Night paralysis can be a demon sitting on your chest or aliens carrying you away. Wet dreams and shame become succubi and incubi. The first page of my book goes into different interpretations of giant bones. I think it is human nature to want simple explanations, grand unified theories. We want a single explanation for all unusual psychological and empirical experiences. The Medieval European mind saw everything as part of the war between God and Satan. Vallee wants them to be manifestations of fuzzy undefined other dimensions.

In between the two was the triumph of technology and progress. 1965 is almost exactly the highwater mark of the belief in unending progress and a technological cure for all ills. Naturally, at that moment, the grand unified theory of hard to understand stuff had a secular, technological sheen. Before 1930, that ideal of technology and progress was a positive thing. But the Holocaust and the nuclear arms race created generations who saw the sinister underside. The Korean war gave us the concept of brainwashing and mind control. The World's Fairs of the mid-sixties were the last to show that indefatigable optimism. Later in the sixties came napalm, the awareness of environmental costs of our progress, and, in a non-negative development, Carl Sagan let us know just how big the universe is and how unlikely it was for two civilizations to ever meet, let alone make daily joy rides through each other's skies.

The New Age was an explicit rejection of the secular, technological worldview. However, the use of fuzzy terminology like "planes of existence," "dimensions," "energy," "vibrations," and, finally, "quantum" allow the post technological generations to sound vaguely scientific and avoid the totally obscurantist language of demons, imps, and genies. I think the recent revival of cryptobiology is part of this trend. Strange beings are no longer aliens; they are chupacabras, mothmen, lake monsters, and sasquaches.

Lost civilizations are eternal. They can fit into almost any worldview: Titans, pre-adamites, ancient aliens... any worldview that has room for superior intelligent beings (which is to say, any worldview except Donald Trump's) can hide those beings in the past.

Reply
spookyparadigm
4/28/2013 07:18:57 am

It amazes me that so many wooists love the "its all connected" meme that they get from Keel and Vallee. Because, it does mean isolating all down to one variable: the human mind. Now, many of them will then embrace to talk about consciousness in which ever way they prefer (including as you've documented with Hancock, chemically altering consciousness). But it is setting up the framework to rob the whole thing of its power.

That's why the UFO became the overarching umbrella for weird things in the 1960s, with a slow decline coming to an end around 2000. For its first twenty years of existence, the flying saucer was very much embedded in the popular consciousness as a thing of space and science. Yes, already existing occultists and theosophists and the like latched onto it immediately (and helped create it) but its primary cultural meaning was Science, something you can see repeated time and again in all sorts of media and material culture. This semi-respectable grounding gave the UFO more power than the other weird ideas, most of which were doing very very poorly in the era of big Science (this is the nadir of the ghost, for example, almost completely snuffed out by parapsychologists to become at best a resonance of EMF recorded in stones, or a psychological symbol in fiction, before it makes a raging comeback). The UFOs poor cousin, Bigfoot/Yeti also thrives a bit specifically because of its supposed connections to biology and anthropology, and to Sir Edmund Hillary.

And then Science (physical science. It's around this time that the social and psychological sciences start to take a more permanent, if still obscure, interest in the topic) gives up on the UFO by 1970. And that's when for all intents and purposes, the modern era of the Weird begins (I assume you'll also note that it's when psychological science fiction and horror give way to the pulp revival, be it Lovecraft, Star Wars, or occult fiction/legend, that is still in full bloom so long as superheroes and vampires rule our pop culture). And lo, the three paranormal ideas that kill the Space UFO all emerge into popular consciousness in a very short period of years: alien abduction, ancient aliens, and the unified paranormal field theory, if we can call it that, of extradimensional consciousness/tulpas/etc.

The symbol of the UFO has been slowly drained of its power ever since. What was once almost a pseudoscience has now drowned in a mysticism that was always there, but now has completely taken it over.

Reply
Tara Jordan
4/28/2013 07:55:52 am

Great Post

Reply
Jason Colavito link
4/28/2013 01:45:26 pm

An excellent discussion and very true. UFOs are myths made metal, and the 1970s are still dictating the way our culture makes mysticism out of every mystery even while trying to cloak mysticism in the language of science.

Reply
Jvrol
4/30/2013 01:43:35 pm

Worse, it basically robs and guts out everything that makes the Ancient Myths so fantastical and turns them boring metal which they're reduced into shells of their former selves in order to "make sense" for the Post-Technological generations (or basically what makes sense for the Modern Paradigm). This is the real reason why I deeply despise the AAT so much because it can be summed up very simply which is very obvious "Science is killing Magic".


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