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Earthbound Hypothesis and the New Breed of Ufologist: The EBH


The EBH or Earth Bound Hypothesis claims that UFO's along with their occupants are from earth, not from outer space as some others theorize. The EBH has several sub categories.

UFOs
from
Earth
?


A. Shaver theorem a name given to those theories or sub-theories which state that there was or is a large civilization living below us in a hollow earth or massive caverns below the surface of the earth. These theories incorporate ancient myths, stories such as Atlantis, Mu or other lost continents, which are used as support for the overall theory.


B. UFO's are the result of earth bound science, usually military. Experiments in advanced propulsion or antigravity devices have resulted in what the general populace calls UFO sightings.


Sub categories of this theory revolve around W.W.II Nazi technology along with secret bases such as Roswell, Dulce or Hangar 18. There are cross over theories that speculate these technologies originally came from alien visitors. However the theory generally states that earth's scientists are far more advanced than we are lead to believe. That the military as well as scientists have been withholding various forms of advanced super-science from us.


The modern western world is at the moment favouring this view over most others. Depending on whom you listen to the theories divides into several subgroups. The first claims that UFOs are earthly machines, efforts have been made to trace the machines far back into history, the airship scares of the mid 1800's bespeaks vehicles made here on earth, operated by normal yet illusive earthlings. The Germans during W.W.II are credited with designing even test flying a saucer shaped craft. This has in recent times grown to a full-scale fleet of UFO type craft (best described as CS1 type craft). The stories even detail secret bases in Antarctica, battles with the navy in the ice plains even super advanced weapons.


C. Religious or psycho-mystical. Theories or ideas falling into this category deal with ancient lands lost continents such as Atlantis, Mu, or several long forgotten lands such as Shangri-La or Argatha. Some claim the Aztecs had advanced technology. To others they are merely ancient visitors from space, who became trapped here eons ago then slowly lost their advanced technology.


In general these theories work their way toward religious or occult mystical connotations with secret societies a lot of mystical knowledge finds it's way into the evidences presented. Other evidences are taken from the annals of UFO history but flavoured with the views of the occult or mystical researchers.


These sub categories of theorem mix together well, elements of each can be found in all the others, for example some writers or theorists mix the element of Hitler's interest in the occult with his interest in secret weapons. Claiming he may have received the plans for an antigravity drive from a secret order called Thule. An organization not unlike the freemasons, a black magic society that had been keeping the secrets of advanced technology from man for many thousands of years.


Other popular theories place a secret underground civilization here on earth amongst the mountains of the Himalayas, even extending to the shatter mountain ranges in the USA. A vast network of caverns with amazingly long connected tunnels supposedly extends all over the globe. Below us lives an entire civilization of super advanced beings that use UFO type craft to visit the surface world. The occult also works its way into these theories as the inhabitants of these subterranean worlds are supposedly super advanced not only in science but also the mind, often exhibiting strange miraculous powers. There are of course claims then counter claims, even Jesus is supposedly a traveler from these subterranean levels (keeping mind there are also those who claim he is from outer space.)


Each theory seems to be able to borrow any part of any other theory to support its claim. A lot of the evidence that emphatically proves one point can also be used to infallibly prove another point.


Another popular theory gaining followers today is the "Grey invasion theory". A variation which is becoming popular is the subterranean element which briefly states that the Roswell crash was not of an interstellar or interplanetary type craft but a craft from the inner earth. Technology was back-engineered from the craft eventually finding its way into some of our latest stealth planes or jet fighters.


This along with captured Nazi UFO's has lead to the developments of some fairly advanced technology even Velcro has at times been linked to advanced gained from alien or inner earth technology. There are even those like Robert Lazar who claim to have been part of this back engineering process.


One can take the evidence from the Roswell case mould it reshape it claiming that the aliens with their super advanced technology are from anywhere on or off the earth. That same reasoning can also be used to show that the Greys are here to either save mankind or enslave it. One variation has the aliens as benevolent beings who came here (from above or below) to save us from some impending doom. Both natural as well as manmade disasters have been detailed. Other theorem has the aliens as terrible invaders who are trying to take over our planet. In a variation on this they are the vanguard for a massive fleet of reptilian creatures. Who will arrive on a vast spaceship (planetoid) called wormwood that is even now hurtling toward us from the deep of space. This is called the "Red Dot" addition.


The earthbound hypothesis is rapidly gaining more followers or adherents. Many who once believed that UFO's must necessarily be from outer space are now changing their outlook re-examining theories. The more we discover about deep space, just how far away life must be, if it exists, the more prone UFO theorist are to place the origins of these craft a lot closer to home perhaps even right here on the earth.


From the time Kenneth Arnold saw his nine discs over Mount Rainer in Washington State until as recently as 1985 it was still possible to find contactees who claimed that all visits by UFO's originated somewhere within our own Solar System. The reasoning behind the theory was basically sound; it did away with the problems of faster than light travel. If the UFO's where coming from our own celestial neighbourhood say Mars or Venus even Saturn then you need not have worried about the mathematics involved. One need not take into consideration the millions of years needed to travel from even our closest neighbour outside of our solar System.


Our nearest neighbour in the universal sense is the star Alpha Century. Even assuming that there was a planet near Alpha Century that could sustain life then assuming that that life was intelligent enough to build small saucer shaped craft. Then assuming that they would want to travel all that way, buzz a few farmers never actually reveal themselves to us. It would take by the most conservative estimates, about four million years to get here from there.

It was convenient for aliens to be from Venus or to have bases on our moon as it solved this problem of space travel, even at light speed. Today however we know enough about our immediate part of the galaxy especially our own Solar System to be fairly well certain that there is no life close by except of course ours.


This places contactees like Adamski or others of his ilk in a very awkward position. There are still people who believe Adamski's claim that he went to Venus as well as Mars. They believe that life similar to ours existed on these planets. Either these contactees where being lied to, or they where doing the lying. Recent evidence suggests that it was the contacts not the aliens who lied.


I had heard the George Adamski story from many sources I had seen several of his pictures, which looked quite convincing considering how long ago they were taken. There were claims that he was an hoaxer in for the money, other people saying that he was some sort of hero, while others who thought that he was quite mad.

Adamski's first book 'Flying Saucers Have Landed' is basically a short story, which describes his first initial sightings of craft through to a meeting with one of the Occupants. The occupant was allegedly from Venus Adamski gave him the name Orthon. The book finishes with Adamski claiming that the Orthon would return to visit him again.


Claims made in this book are no wilder than many other contactee claims. However, when we move to the second book 'Inside the Space Ship', things start becoming a little bit too bizarre. The second book details further contacts with the man from Venus. In its amazing pages we are introduced to a Martian as well as a man from Saturn. All these people are Human Adamski tells us that he is told that all the planets in the Solar System are inhabited.


The Scout Ship takes him to the Mother Ship where others meet him taking it in turn to show him around the ship. He is then taken to a Laboratory where they view the surface of the moon. Adamski claims there are spacecraft hangars inside the larger craters of the Moon. On the 'dark' side of the moon he claims there are clouds, mountains, rivers, lakes forest even cities! Adamski's books are only recommended for serious UFO researchers or others interested in the history of ufology.

Recently the ufonaughts have moved further afield. Zeta Riticuli or other far off galaxies are much too far away for us to determine what the probability for life is. How convenient is it for contactees or chanellers that it is extremely unlikely in our lifetime or indeed many lifetimes to come that our scientist will be able to refute any claims for life on these far galaxies. We of course return to the problem of distance verses time but there are ways around that too, as we shall see.


Not unlike the Christian concept of god, the more that we discovered about the universe the further away God seemed to get. Aliens are also getting further away. Some however are getting closer. From right here on Earth or as many conspiracy theorists would have us believe "right under our noses". Many people claim that there is a possible earth bound origin for the strange craft that flit about our skies. Even as Betty and Barney Hill were claiming that their aliens where from Zeta Reticuli others where stating that the lost continent of Atlantis was the UFO's home base.


According to Mm Bavalski founder of the Theosophical society, or followers of the sleeping prophet Edgar Cacey Atlantis somehow survived the deluge. its machinery still operating as late as 1920.


These super weapons deep beneath the waters of the Bermuda triangle are responsible for the planes or ships that disappear in the area. Super weapons like these also feature in the Shaver Mysteries.


According to Shavers supporters chief of which was the late Ray Palmer* a well known some might say respected science fiction editor  The earth is hollow inhabited by a race of beings called Deros. These evil insidious creatures delight in using their technology to hassle or befuddle those of us that live on the surface world. Their amazing technology includes mind-altering machines including, you guessed it UFO's.


The base for theses UFO's is some where in the arctic circle. Palmer even produced a satellite photograph of a giant hole at the South Pole through which these craft could enter. Proof positive, proof that is also being resurrected more recently by those who follow the Nazi UFO hypothesis.


Apparently the Nazis where either visited by aliens during the final stages of W.W.II or given the technology to build antigravity engines, eventually developing a working interplanetary craft. Or they invented it themselves. Right now even as you read this there are secret bases on the moon (off world neighbourhood hypothesis) they have travelled to Mars, even becoming stranded there for a while. Survivors of the Third Reich are living in secret bases on the Moon, thus avoiding the war crimes tribunal.


Did the German scientist get their hands on a flying saucer as far back as 1939 or was Roswell the first contact, are all UFO's or at least the great majority of sightings actually secret government test flights of the next stage of stealth craft. A natural progression of off world hypothesis is that some secret government or organisation has developed or been given the knowledge of antigravity. Knowledge which these individuals are keeping to themselves, only to be revealed at the last minute perhaps as one Japanese investigator states , " To appear at the last moment saving us all from some earth shattering catastrophe, they will arrive in UFO's which they already have".


Several writers have covered both the off world with the Earthbound hypothesis's by stating that "They will claim to be our long lost space brothers or they will claim that they knew about the coming doom all along "Had to keep it all secret for our own protection". Either way we will all be their thankful yet unwitting slaves from then on. Stan Deyo** makes similar claims in his 'Cosmic Conspiracy' yet leans toward the dark forces of Satan as the true course of all our woes.


The whole Roswell affair hinges on a small but ever decreasing amount of evidence that says that the US government is in cahoots with the evil greys. The Roswell situation came about due to two elements. Frank Scully's book 'Behind the Flying Saucers' (1950) then Allendes claims to have witnessed the Philadelphia experiment. Both have taken on the proportions of urban legend having grown into a mixed up conglomeration of claims then counter claims. Ending recently in the sudden mysterious arrival on the scene of the alien autopsy footage. Frank Scully was the American columnist who first suggested to the world that recovered flying disks with a crew of little men were in the possession of the US.


In his book, 'Behind the Flying Saucers', Scully claimed that up to that time there had been four such recoveries. These stories have since proved very unreliable no supporting evidence has been uncovered. Scully sited various 'sources' which now seem dubious. Scully is also the name given to one of the characters in the hit TV series the X Files. Perhaps this is an in joke on the UFO community as Dana Scully is the Series sceptic?


The same people who a few years ago where stating that the MJ12 documents are the genuine article, where a few years before that flocking to Eric Von Dänikens lectures. Before that people of the same mentality where just as easily beguiled or beflumoxed by Adamskis claims that he had been to Venus or that a photo of a chicken brooder*** was a flying saucer. Understandably they also wanted to believe that the autopsy footage was real but by this time it was too late serious investigators had had enough. Almost nobody rushed out instantly believing the footage was genuine. We were learning.


The latest claim by fanatics is that the whole thing from beginning to end was an elaborate ruse or disinformation exercise. In other words there is a real conspiracy going on the whole Roswell thing including everything created around it was simply to throw us off the track. This does not take into account the growing evidence that the whole thing from beginning to end was a hoax. Chief amongst the candidates for smartest joker of the century is Bill Moore.

More recently Billy Meier the one armed Swiss contactee claimed that he had been in contact with beings from the Pleaides. Billy became famous for his remarkably clear photographs of the Pelaideians Beam Ships. Billy's remarkable phoo's included, shots of the beautiful alien girl Samjese, photos of Jesus on the cross even a close up of the supernova dubbed Gods eye. Amazing stuff which people wanted to believe but in the end couldn't, it was just too good. But then so was Adamski.


There are those that still believe Adamski Shaver or Meier. The number of true believers is getting smaller, not so small as to have no effect on how people feel about those of us that study the phenomena, the press has a field day with mass suicides that are linked to comets, people gassing themselves because they fear the MIB's. Or others who try to implant Orgone energy into cardboard boxes because the King of UFO's told them that the aliens told him to tell them to do it. People look at all of us, even the serious investigators like we are all mad wild eyed fringe cultist's waiting for the space brothers to arrive taking us away.

 

The Pleiadians are alien beings from the star cluster in the constellation Taurus known as the Pleiades.

 

Billy Meier (Eduard Albert Meier-Zafiriou), has many photos to back up his claim that the Pleiadians have contacted him and given him all the details inquiring minds need to know. Underground Video claims that an investigation of his photos reveals that Billy is a hoaxer. Karl Korff also exposed the hoax, claiming that some of the photos of spaceships were models with bonsai plants as background. One of Billy's photos is claimed to be that a Pleiadian named Semjase, but in fact the picture was taken from an old Sears catalog. Billy also claimed that Semjase or some other Pleiadian gave him a piece of alien metal that was analyzed by some character named Vogel, but nobody seems to know where this otherworldly metal might be.


With the MJ12 documents now discredited to a very reasonable degree (save a few holdouts) I have predicted where the next big turn in Ufology will be. Ufologists must now turn away from Mars, Venus or other planets within our reach, we know far too much about these planets to suppose that here could be life intelligent enough to build ships then travel here. Mars is by all accounts a beige coloured dead world. Anyone with Internet access who dials up NASA can log straight onto information from Observer the latest Mars probe verifying this for themselves.

 

We must look away from our own planet, there are so few places left unexplored that the possibility of secret bases is so far remote as to be nothing more than conspiratorial wishful thinking.

 

The simple fact is that the Amazon, the Antarctic or the bottom of the Bermuda triangle do not contain secret bases earth bound space creatures or long lost super advanced races of Atlanteans. True believers may not like it but it is unavoidably true. The supposed evidence for such claims has shown to be lacking in substance being based on arguments that come apart at the slightest logical questioning tug.

 

While the folding space-time theorem offers an intriguing mathematical puzzle, there is no evidence that UFO's come from our own future or from identical universes that interlock with ours. Even the mountains of documented UFO reports do not support this theory. (Although I predict that these reports will very soon begin appearing). This newest location hypothesis will make the basis for the next millennium of discussion, for the moment though it remains just a theory.

 

Right now the UFO community is sitting on the verge of a new wave of speculation together with new perhaps incredible discoveries about the origins of the craft, (Channelers not withstanding). The stir coursed by the MJ12 documents then the Alien Autopsy footage have gone the same way as the Meier or Adamski sensations. What is left in its wake? A new breed of investigator, one who is willing indeed only too eager to check then recheck any claims made about secret documents or amazing pieces of film, try claiming now that you are a government agent with secret knowledge, see how long you can keep up the pretence. Fewer people are going to come forward with FOIA papers with bold black ink all over them. People are going to research, investigate double checking each fact for themselves. Ufologists are now undertaking their own investigations relying less on the observations or claims of other people.

 

Had the Santanelli film been released ten years ago there would have been no shortage of people prepared to jump on the bandwagon. The 90's however saw a new breed of UFO investigator not so ready to jump in where angels fear to tread. We looked at the film, examined the stock, looking for errors or inconsistencies most importantly we asked questions. Throughout the years there have been those that stayed true to the real nature of the enigma, Santanelli however wasn't stupid he knew as many people would buy the film in an effort to prove it fake as would purchase it because they believed it.




* There is a general consensus that Palmer did not really support or believe Shavers theories. That Palmer was the Col Parker of his time he could see a dollar to be made.

** As far as I know Stan Deyo has never actually said this in print. But, this is a pretty big but, he admitted it to me personally in an interview some years ago.

*** There is the claim that the designer of the chicken brooder actually used Adamskis drawing as a model for the feeder. However as far as know Adamski never received any royalties.

 


THEORIES OF UFO ORIGIN AND INTENTIONALITY


A MODERN MYTH OF THINGS SEEN IN THE SKY

The distinction between the existence of mystery aircraft and the existence of reports of their existence derives from the distinction between the existence of flying saucers, and the existence of reports of Unidentified Flying Objects. While few accept the existence of flying saucers, none can deny the existence of reports of Unidentified Flying Objects.

An understanding of the mystery aircraft phenomena is impossible outside the context of the UFO phenomena, for mystery aircraft remain, despite the best efforts of investigators, reporters, and analysis, Unidentified Flying Objects. Indeed, considered as a sociological and epistemological phenomena. the parallels between reports of flying saucers and reports of mystery aircraft are striking.

First, reports of observations of mystery aircraft have coincided with reports of observations of flying saucers. The state of Nevada has been the site of a major UFO flap for the past several years. Indeed, the question of whether an Unidentified Flying Object is reported as a sighting of a mystery aircraft or a flying saucer may have more to do with the predisposition of the individual observer than with the nature of the observed phenomena. Thematic apperception -- "I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't believed it" -- is a well established element of the psychology of human perception.

Second, the nature of many of the mystery aircraft reports are strikingly similar to other UFO reports. Strange lights seen moving erratically or at high speed in the sky have long been core elements of the UFO phenomena. Investigations of flying saucer reports have consistently demonstrated how even experienced and trained observers can misinterpret familiar phenomena seen under unfamiliar (or even familiar) circumstances. Although this precedent cannot exclude the existence of novel aircraft, it does suggest caution in interpreting such reports.

Similarly, reports of radars tracking high speed targets were a staple of the early flying saucer literature, though these were subsequently dismissed as resulting from anomalous radar propagation or operator inexperience. The incidence of such reports has declined with the availability of improved equipment and greater operator experience. But anomalous propagation of radar signals, creating false targets on radar screens, is an abiding problem.

Reports of intercepted radio conversations that are alleged to emanate from high- performance aircraft, such as Aurora may instead emanate from pranksters. Such mischief makers have actively propagated flying saucer sightings, and were a major source of the Crop Circle phenomenon in the United Kingdom.

Finally, one is struck by the similarity between the cultural significance of the mystery aircraft phenomenon and that of the other Unidentified Flying Object phenomenon, claims of sightings of flying saucers. Carl Jung noted that belief in flying saucers was a response to the deep cultural anxieties of a society threatened with sudden nuclear annihilation.

Belief in the existence of marvelously capable and highly secret aircraft resonates with some of the deeper anxieties of contemporary American society. Aviation has long been one of the distinguishing attributes of American greatness, from Kitty Hawk to Desert Storm. But the economic challenge of Japan, coupled with the declining fortunes of the military aerospace industry, has created growing uncertainties about the future. It would be comforting to belief that the decline of America and American aerospace was more apparent than real. It would be reassuring to believe that concealed in the most hidden recesses of the American technostructure were devices of such miraculous capabilities that they will astound the world when at last they are revealed, and will restore America to its rightful station of leadership.

 


Towards a Revisionist History of Ufology

Peter Rogerson

 

One of the commonest cliches that has become associated with UFO beliefs is that the UFO phenomenon is of great antiquity. Reference is made to fairy beliefs, the airship waves, etc., in proving this point. Now there is no doubt that there are some parallels between the folklore of fairies and these other manifestations, but to ascribe them to a common UFO phenomenon is, I now believe, a gross oversimplification.

 

These parallels should not be pressed too far. It remains true that many traditional beliefs may be found in modern UFO lore, but the latter in no way comprises a true fairy faith which, according to Professor Reidar Christiansen, as quoted by Briggs (1) answered the questions of the untimely deaths of young people, of mysterious epidemics among cattle, of climatic disasters, wasting diseases and strokes, infantile paralysis, and the birth of mongol and otherwise deficient children . To which one may add the question of psychological collapse under the stress of intolerable living conditions; and in the case of changeling myths, a way of society coming to terms with child abuse.

 

Now, while individual strands of beliefs occur throughout the UFO literature, they do not do so as a coherent whole. The UFO beliefs may have elements of a folklore but, outside of small sub-cultures, they do not constitute a true mythology around which people structure their lives. However, occasional expectations may arise, especially in the so-called flap areas (i.e. areas of social panic). Such panics can spread outwards to cover relatively large areas as, for example, the cattle mutilations scare. (2)


The exact origin of the flap situation is difficult to establish, despite works on Warminster, (3)
Exeter, (4) Uiditah Basin, (5) Ann Arbor, (6,7) Point Pleasant (8) and Stoke-on-Trent. (9) Recently such a flap area existed in Dyfed. Despite alleged investigations by ufologists, no really valuable sociological data have been gathered. Several suggestions can be made. For example, the flap may centre on a dominant individual percipient and/or investigator. John Rimmer and Roger Sandell have suggested that flap areas tend to be areas on the urban/rural fringe, or where urbanisation is progressing in hitherto rural areas. John Keel has suggested that the same areas repeatedly generate flaps; the explanation for which (if any) should be sought in sociological terms.

 

A further point that must be emphasised when dealing with historical UFO records is that we have no real justification in assuming that the airship sightings are nineteenth-century UFO waves, at least in the sense that they are occasioned by the same external common source. They are related in that they concern rumour, visions and social panic concerning aerial objects. And they possess such common features as any rumour in which misperception of celestial objects plays a part. However, the various airship panics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries arose separately, and must be evaluated in terms of the whole spectrum of belief systems of the period. For example, the 1909 airship scare coincided with, or was even an integral part of, a larger public hysteria about German spies in Britain. This information, uncovered by Nigel Watson in a study of airship reports in Lincolnshire local papers, (10) must have been available to the earlier researchers into 1909, but was presumably ignored as irrelevant.

 

It is to much the same historical period that the modern set of religious miracles such as the appearances of the Virgin or the Welsh Revival can be traced. These phenomena are thought to be the product of social tensions between a conservative peasantry and a cosmopolitan, urban society. The psychological climate which generated Lourdes also led to the explosions of anti-Masonic and anti-Semitic hysteria in France. (11)

 

The 1905 Welsh Revival, though less historically famous, has the advantage that it received contemporary sympathetic, non-polemical treatment. (12) The Revival was the culmination of a long struggle against cosmopolitan and Anglicising influences. It was a revival not just of Baptist fundamentalism, but of a deeper sense of Welshness. One feature of the glossoria of the period was that people ill-versed in the Welsh language were said to declaim in perfect, classical Welsh while the spirit moved them.

 

If we widen our study of the origins of UFO beliefs to consider the full range of folklore and social panics in the 1920s and 1930s, we see how the UFO folklore began to emerge. We can also solve one of the problems which confronted the historians of ufology when they supposed that UFO phenomena vanished between 1913 and 1943. For, of course, if rumours of machines in the sky are part of the whole spectrum of popular rumours and social panics, then one rumour is interchangeable with another. To take this to its logical conclusion, we should question whether the UFO experience of the last thirty years is related to a single belief system. Rather we should perhaps think of separate social panics, rumours, folklore and contemporary mythologies, all organised around a common structure of the flying saucer.

 

This implies that, beneath the surface, the various UFO waves are really quite separate social panics, generated by very disparate circumstances.

 

The internal content of the reports has varied considerably over the thirty-year time period. The material acquired by Keyhoe in 1950 (13) can be contrasted with that gathered by Keel in 1967. (14) In the early period of the UFO epoch, the typical UFO report concerned airline pilots encountering strange machines in the sky; the reports of the modern era centre around close encounters and abductions . It is true that elements of much of the later UFO beliefs can be detected as early as 1947, when little [green] men (15) and MIB (16) occur. However, the first report of any sort of abduction case comes in 1954, backdated to 1921. (25)

 

The 1954 French wave marks, in my view, a new kind of UFO belief system, only semantically connected with the American material. It is in this wave that folklore, fairy-tale elements first seize the centre of the UFO stage. It is significant that this development took place in a rural society where the wave reached a stage of near-panic in places. Hoaxes and real events coincided, and the wave occurred at a time of national defeat and government crisis. It also marks a radical departure from a military to a domestic context.

 

The evidence suggests that, once set up, the UFO rumours evolved gradually from a secular military rumour (as were the 1909 and 1913 airships) to a more supernatural set of rumours. As the rumour shifted from an urban to a rural base, strands from traditional belief began to play an increasing role. The situation is rendered even more complicated than indicated above by virtue of the fact that several belief systems having little in common met under the title of flying saucers in the mid-1950s. One might argue for the existence of almost totally separate UFO and flying saucer rumours. The former would be exemplified by Ruppelt (17) and chronicled by Jacobs, (18) being wholly secular in content and gaining wide public appeal. The latter might be exemplified by Adamski (19) and chronicled by Flammonde, (20) almost wholly religious and supernatural.

 

The current paradoxical state of the UFO in popular imagination may to some extent be influenced by the fact that the UFO folklore regarded the UFOs as hostile whereas the flying saucer folklore (with a few exceptions like Bender [21]) regarded them as superhuman benevolent forces, almost god-like figures. An aspect of the subject briefly touched upon above was the wave phenomenon. Superficially, the existence of UFO waves might indicate the presence of some sporadic physical phenomenon generating the reports. However, a closer examination suggests that temporal cycles are probably generated by social factors.

 

One must always remember that the contents of such major catalogues as UFOCAT or INTCAT are UFO records, (22) many of them reports of very low strangeness value. Dr Johnson (23) has suggested that a type-A UFO wave, (24) that is, a wave that builds slowly and falls suddenly, may be an indication of a novel phenomenon. However, if we are to envisage a signal of an inexplicable phenomenon boosting a noise of misidentification, the cut-off of the signal should not lead to a rapid drop of reports. Rather, the rush of noise would be expected to subside slowly. A study showing a drop in the strangeness of reports preceding a drop in the total of reports might be interesting, though not very conclusive.

 

The sudden drop in reports which has been noted suggests a social panic which has been defused by some reassuring statement. Perhaps it is worth noting that such a panic is likely to be generated by the press. It would be an interesting study to see if other press panics, such as stories about muggers, for example, follow a similar pattern. Of course we cannot exclude more exotic possibilities, such as some periodical physical phenomenon causing people to have hallucinatory experiences or to misperceive conventional stimuli.

 

It should be noted that hypotheses involving magical extramundane intelligence cannot be usefully discussed in scientific terms. If such an intelligence were indeed surveying the Earth, it could rest assured that no conclusive evidence could be determined to prove its existence and that extramundane intelligences are not, nor are ever likely to be, socially acceptable interpretations of puzzling experiences. Supporters of the ETH must accept the fact that there is no way that their views can be regarded as anything other than a leap of faith, unless the suspected ETs themselves determine otherwise; and suspend their activities in favour of those who are trying to determine whether UFO experiences are at root a psychological or a physical phenomenon.

 

There are no easy solutions to the UFO experience in sight, and we must resign ourselves to a long, slow process of trial-and-error studies of possibly related social, psychological and physical phenomena. In this process many popular beliefs about ufology will have to go to the wall.

 

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References

 

1. Briggs, Katherine. Vanishing People

2. Donovan, Roberta and Wolverton, Keith. Mystery Stalks the Prairie, 1976

3. Shuttlewood, Arthur. The Warminster Mystery

4. Fuller, John G. Incident at Exeter

5. Salisbury, Frank. Utah UFO Display

6. Sherwood, John. Flying Saucers are Watching You, Saucerian Press, 1966

7. Young, Moore. UFO - Top Secret

8. Keel, John. The Mothman Prophecies

9. Pace, Antony and Stanway, Roger, Flying Saucer Report, 1968

10. Watson, Nigel. Unpublished material on the 1909 airship.

11. Webb, James. Flight from Reason

12. Fryer, Rev. R.T. Psychological aspects of the Welsh Revival, 1904/5 , Proc. SPR, XIX, December 1905

13. Keyhoe, Donald. Flying Saucers Are Real

14. Ibid.

15. Bloecher, Ted. Report on the UFO Wave of 1947, author

16. Arnold, Kenneth and Palmer, Ray. The Coming of the Saucers, authors, 1952

17. Ruppelt, Edward. Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, 1956

18. Jacobs, David. The UFO Controversy in America, 1975

19. Adamski, George and Leslie, Desmond. Flying Saucers Have Landed, 1953

20. Flammonde, Paris. Age of the Flying Saucer, 1971

21. Bender, Albert. Flying Saucers and the Three Men, 1968

22. Rogerson, Peter. Doves are just middle-class pigeons , MUFOB New Series, 7

23. Johnson, Donald. A structured approach to the analysis of non-physical UFO evidence , MUFOB New Series, 10

24. Saunders, David. Research in progress , No. 54

25. Paris-Match, 25 October 1954 (Gamard)

 

Flying saucers: are they us?
Saturday Evening Post,  March, 1984 
by Donald A. White

Although many assumptions must be piled one upon another to create the theory that "flying saucers" are from another world, only a single assumption is required to indicate that such craft--if they do indeed exist--come from the planet Earth!

UFOs, flying saucers--why have they captured and held the attention of so many people? Perhaps because we'd like to believe we are not alone in the universe. Our earth and solar system are a part of one average galaxy called the Milky Way, which contains 100 billion stars similar to our own sun. Since most of these "suns" have satellites or "planets," even the most cautious scientist will admit millions of planets in our galaxy may be capable of supporting some type of life form in some stage of evolution. These life forms might be millions of years behind us in evolution or millions of years ahead of us in intelligence. Because the evolutionary changes on Earth were created by the trillions of accidents since the first building blocks of life were created, it is inconceivable to imagine this erratic chain of evolutionary events occurring in exactly the same manner--even on a duplicate Earth--anywhere in the universe and producing the same level of potential evolutionary intelligence as man's.

The two most popular worldwide theories on flying saucers can be briefly described. The first: Flying saucers are some combination of unique weather and earth-related phenomena (such as swamp gas, freak electrical discharges from the sky or pizoelectric effects within the earth's crust); the second: They are natural objects misidentified as weather balloons, helicopters or even bright stars.

The bona fide UFO advocate, of course, will quickly point out the great number of airline pilots and qualified scientists who have observed UFOs in action and described, with some degree of mechanical detail, what was often confirmed by other qualified observers miles or even hundreds of miles away. Although many "sightings" admittedly could well be natural phenomena or wishful thinking, this group also points out the 10 percent or more of such sightings unexplainable even wish to class very large numbers of reputable observers as "kooks."

So where do the saucers come from? And why? If they exist then they must come from other worlds, say observers. Why this theory? Simply because the saucers have flight capabilities beyond anything within man's current ability to duplicate. These capabilities include observed speeds of 5,000 miles per hour or more and the ability to stop abruptly in midair and change direction (often at right angles) with "G" forces that no human pilot could survive. "Consequently they are the product of a far advanced technology and piloted, or guided, by a superior intelligence," proponents of this theory would say.

Why are "they" observing Earth? Some saucer advocates go back to the beginning of recorded history to prove that strange flying craft have observed the earth for the thousands of years. The most common theory is that these extraterrestrial beings are monitoring Earth at regular intervals--perhaps because we have harnessed the enormous destructive power of the atom before we have learned to control ourselves. "It could be," say the UFO advocates, "that the 'saucer people' want to protect us from ourselves. Or, as we take the first step toward space exploration, to protect themselves and their worlds from our proven capabilities for mass destruction." (One estimate is that, in the total recorded history of our planet, only 15 years have passed without some major war under way!) It does make sense that, if you lived next door in space to the planet Earth, you would be quite concerned about your neighbour’s first visit!

It sounds like a plausible theory. After all, we've all seen Star Wars and "Buck Rogers" and realize the universe is crammed with intelligent furry critters, clever lizards and cute robots of every size and inclination--none as dull as our day-to-day associations with ordinary people in the pursuit of paying taxes and financing a new car or home. And there are hundreds of sightings daily all over the world; in addition, the press whets our interest with personal experience stories from just plain, average people who have "made contact" with the strange little green men with narrow eyes (though they usually forget to take pictures or bring home artifacts). And although hypnosis has been used to help these persons reconstruct their "contacts," I tend to disregard such saucer lore, since by amateur hypnosis I have convinced friends that they saw and heard perfectly splendid, classic flaying saucers as they were leaving my home. It's actually far more difficult to get them to stop smoking for 24 hours!

I promise not to destroy your love affair with flying saucers by poking holes in the space visitors theory and leaving you with only a ball of pulsating, fast-maneuvering swamp gas as an explanation. However, let's see how many assumptions one must make for the other-worlds theory to hold water:

Our first assumption was that perhaps one of our neighboring planets--such as Venus or Mars--held these super intelligent life forms. Since we've taken the first steps in researching our sun's planets, we now know that none (other than earth) can support any imaginable life form--much less the environment for building snazzy spaceships.

"Maybe our visitors are from a planet of a neighbouring sun?" Well, the nearest sun is Alpha Centauri, a mere 4.3 light years away (which is roughly 6 trillion miles)--a million-year trip going full tilt in a Lear jet! Obviously, if we Earthlings manage to annihilate our planet in one giant atomic explosion, it would have no effect upon Alpha Centauri's possible planets. Frankly, it might well be a case of "good riddance."

Of course, we have billions of such stars in our own Milky Way galaxy, which is 100,000 light years across. Why would "they" want to contact earth? Because we're intelligent creatures? Actually, if they have radio and television, it will be more than 50,000 years in our future before even half of these other earths can tune in "Gilligan's Island" or any radio signal from our planet.

And so the assumptions continue, piled one upon another until we have a fantastic stack of unlikely probabilities that must "mesh" in order to get one space visitor to Earth. (Obviously, if you can get one spacecraft here, you could load a gigantic mother ship with smaller spaceships and explain the many different types of saucers that apparently cram our airways.) But that's just one more assumption added to the stack.

Have we killed off all the little green men and cute, furry space critters for you? Worried because no super intelligence from somewhere in the universe is going to stop us from destroying our Earth? Don't be, because our theory, with only one assumption, explains who the saucer people really are! They're us.

In the past 100 years, the people of the civilized countries of the earth have undergone the greatest technological revolution conceivable on any planet anywhere in the universe. We've developed the laser, the transistor and worldwide communications that let us talk via satellite from our living-room chair to almost any other home in any developed country in the world. We can fly (cocktails and dinner included) between continents at almost 2,000 miles per hour. About the only thing we can't build today is a flying saucer that meets the qualifications and flight characteristics of those reported by reliable witnesses, time and time again. Here is a brief composite of those sightings:

"It was definitely of mechanical origin. It seemed to have ports or windows around the base or sides. It seemed to be trailing an antenna or submarine-type tower. It changed color frequently and colors seemed to pulsate. It was capable of hovering, then traveling at speeds faster than any plane's. It could stop instantly and then shoot off at a right angle or make these right-angle turns at speeds that would kill any living creature. It was seen by many other observers unknown to me and described in the same manner. It was tracked by airport radar and disappeared off the screen."

When apparently reliable witnesses report on craftlike UFOs, strong consistencies--and important ones--recur. These consistencies support the most likely assumption of all--that these craft were developed by Earthmen.

Now a short course in scientific fact. Of all things in this universe only the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) is consistent. So, utilizing the Doppler principle, we are able to measure our universe and gauge the speed with which we approach or depart any other star system in the universe. (The Doppler principle: The colors of light change in direct proportion to the speed of an object traveling toward us or away from us and move up or down the color spectrum. You've probably noted the same effect with a train whistle or car horn--the pitch gets higher as the horn approaches and lower in tone as it departs. Remember the pulsating colors on our reported "flying saucers" that shifted from yellow to red or green to blue, etc.? This is the Doppler effect you would most likely see if a craft were traveling at close to the spped of light. . .or traveling in time!)

Another scientific fact is the nature of time itself. Whether you happen to be a human, an alarm clock or an atomic particle, the closer you approach the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), The more time slows down for you! For instance, if you were to take a four-year trip in a spacecraft traveling at close to the speed of light, you'd be four years older when you landed--but on earth thousands of years would have passed. You would be ancient history--possibly a legend or more likely forgotten for centuries. Civilization (if it existed) would be thousands of years advanced. Language and technology would have undergone unimaginable changes. And you could not safely land your craft and walk about your home planet! Why? Because bacteria and earthly contamination to which these future Earthlings would be immune might easily overwhelm your more primitive immune system. You, in truth, would be alien on your own planet!

Travel into the future is possible. Chances are you've already traveled in time, for time actually slows down for the people aboard a jet plane. On a trip from New York to Los Angeles you arrive younger by perhaps a billionth of a second. the only noticeable effects would occur, however, near the speed of light.

Remember the high-speed, right angle turns made by our "flying saucers"? If they were observable to you on Earth as they flew at a speed approaching that of light, they would appear to make instant right angle turns at 5,000 miles per hour, although the time travelers themselves (during the ten seconds you observed their amazing performance) would be living "slower" and thus perhaps having a full hour to execute the manoeuver at very comfortable speeds and to exert no more "G" force than a normal turn in a jet airliner.

Certainly neither the United States nor Russia has discovered a means to travel in time. Having "saucers" darting willy-nilly about our countryside for decades would be a lousy way to keep a military secret.

Who--in all the known universe--could the builder be? For years we have searched space with massive radio telescopes. We have listened on all frequencies, seeking one faint radio signal indicating the presence of intelligent life. We have located the center of our universe and listened to the sounds of dying stars millions of light years apart in time and space. By 1981 we had searched to a depth of 2 billion years without a single radio signal indicating intelligence anywhere else in the universe.

Remember the pictures you've seen of flying saucers? Who could build them now? We could--except we don't know how to build the power source or how it operates at this moment. Remember what we have accomplished in the past 100 years--from the horse cart to manned space flight. Today 90 percent of all scientists who have ever lived are still alive. We're virtually knee-deep in living scientists, technologically oriented and possessing computer systems linking them with the most recent thinking of thousands of others in their field. Computers can solve in seconds intricate problems that only a few decades ago would have taken a team of geniuses many months or years to solve. Forty years ago, college textbooks stated, "The atom is the smallest particle of matter. It cannot be divided." Then came Los Alamos.

Today we are exploring atomic fusion, which is basically safe atomic energy. It can turn the common isotope deuterium (found in all sea water) into electrical power--a source of power so plentiful that mankind will have departed this Earth and the Earth will have died before it is depleted. How far away is fusion as a practicable energy source? Perhaps 40 years or less. Perhaps far longer. But when we conquer fusion, we will be controlling the basic matter of the universe--the power of our sun. Combining this power, computers and other new technology, the possibility of time travel, or "looking into the past," may become a reality. Remember, when you look at any star, you are looking hundreds or thousands of years into the past!

Einstein is certainly to be reckoned with when one talks about time travel. He proved our potential to travel into the future, but not our potential to return. There was a paradox. For instance, should you physically travel back to your parents' childhood and kill one of them, then you could never have been born. Or suppose you killed Hitler at the time he was an art student? You would have completely changed civilized Earth as we know it today. We agree. It is physically impossible to travel backwards in time--as we know it. Let's look at the rules once more in their most simple form:

Rule 1: You can travel forward in time relative to "Earth time" if you travel fast enough.
Rule 2: You can never physically "see" into that future time unless you can exist in that time.
Rule 3: You can "see" into the past. Because of the time lag in light reaching you from any object you see, you always see in the past. (As you read this you are seeing words as they existed a thousandth of a second ago in your past. When you look at a star you may be seeing many thousands of years into the past.)
Rule 4: You cannot physically exist in the past--due to the paradox discussed above (i.e. killing your parents before you were born).
Rule 5: Time is relative to the speed of light and is different on Earth from any other point in the universe.
Rule 6: There's a lot we don't know about the nature of the universe, although scientists suspect that the universe curves back upon itself in a warpage in time and space. One amazing thing about the rules of our universe is that there are places where the rules that should apply--don't.

Astronomers, call these places "black holes"--areas of space where atoms are so compressed that the population of Earth would fit into a teaspoon. The mass of the mysterious "black hole" is so great it captures everything--including light and atomic radio signals. We can't see them or hear them--yet the "black holes" swallow up almost infinite amounts of matter, which simply disappear! It would be similar to pouring 100 gallons of water into an infinitely small funnel--with nothing coming out the small end of the funnel. It shouldn't happen but it does!

Meanwhile, separated from the "black holes" by thousands of light years are the phenomena called "white holes" where matter gushes into the universe--from where? Are black holes and white holes somehow connected in a fifth or sixth dimension? How does the matter travel between them--if it does? This phenomenon indicates connections between time and space we do not yet understand. When we bring our future research to bear on the problems of fusion power, we'll learn more about these doorways into the nature of time and space.

The year is A.D. 2381. Our scientists have discovered the technology to short-circuit normal space and time. They have discovered that, although they cannot physically exist in the past (due to Einstein's paradox), they can see into the past by a form of time travel. In the same manner that you could see over a very tall brick fence by using a trampoline to bounce you high enough to see over that barrier, they have used the unlimited power of fusion to create a warpage of time and space. Their equipment for this adventure is a flying laboratory that does not necessarily fly at all--but rather travels in time. Like the trampoline, it gains its power in short bursts that enable it to temporarily rend the fabric of time. Safely enclosed in a bubble of its own time, it oscillates perhaps thousands of times a second, back and forth between A.D. 2381 and the past. The enormous power requirements for each "jump" or oscillation into the past cannot be created aboard the laboratory, and therefore the craft must exist in its own time many times a second to "refuel." The speed and power utilized in these cycles determine both its location in the past and its ability to move in time.

Like a theater today in which we watch 24 still pictures a second become a solid moving picture, the 1984 "Earthling" sees a solid UFO. Humans have an "eye fatigue" that retains images for a short period after they cease to exist. It's why movies work--and possibly why UFOs seem real. "If you've ever photographed a TV screen or movie screen, chances are you got a blurred photo--since the camera does not have eye fatigue. Of course, if this theory is true, it would seem that qualified observers might have good, detailed descriptions of the UFOs they've seen--and photographs might consistently be fuzzy or lack good detail. And we must admit that, in spite of the millions of cameras that exist today, there has not been one good photograph of a UFO in spite of the amateurs' ability to get clear photos of jet aircraft apparently traveling many times faster!)

Since Earth is in constant motion through space and time, the time traveler does not depend upon wings or airfoils for locomotion. Rather, he uses the power at his command to travel in time, which serves as an excellent means of moving about. (Example: If you could stay exactly where you are right now, relative to our sun rather than the Earth, you'd find yourself freezing in space in seconds. The speed at which you travel in time determines your location. To the amazed viewers on Earth watching your apparently solid ship, your hovering in their space and time makes them see this unusual maneuver as "helicopter-like." Your enormous power and ability to travel in time and to approach the speed of light in the hovering process explain why the electrical field emanating from your craft may change colors or pulsate. Remember the Doppler effect?)

Now remember that by traveling at speeds approaching the speed of light, our time traveler is living in a "slower" time. What seems to be a five-minute manoeuver at high speeds, with impossible right-angle turns, is made very comfortably at these "slower" times. For the pilot of the saucer, several hours may have been involved in these very comfortable manoeuvers you observed at your "faster" time.