754

Angels, Demons, Spies in the Skies, and Other UFO Theories

U.F.O. - N., Pl., UFOs, or UFO's.

An Unidentified Flying Object

I wanted to go into some detail concerning the various hypothesis / theories that have been used to UFO phenomenon. I began my research with little or no background in UFO literature, or the phenomenon as a whole. My interests in other esoteric arenas gave me some perspectives, but I could easily see how so many people are confused by the whole concept of UFOs. There are several theoretical debates going on to this day about the subject, and in almost every case; everyone is saying they are right, and yet I see all the theories as having strengths and weaknesses. My first goal was to establish a framework of the augmented differences to base more assumptions upon later. My initial study at first, left me with a lot of other questions, in particular on topics I decided I also wanted to cover concerning theories about the connections between UFOs, angels, aliens, demons, and other spies in the skies. Another thing that I was intrigued by, was the large number of scientific and governmental speculations about the truth behind UFOs. In each case there were theories that I had never even entertained or for that matter had never heard of, and I am a fairly well read individual in the esoteric scholastic arts. So as I begin, I would like to go into further details concerning the basics of UFO research, and a few things that they seem to have in common, or at least in speculation may be interrelated.

The UFO question is far from the first mystery in history to fall prey to the 'Closed Minded Syndrome'. Two Yale professors reported the fall of some three hundred pounds of meteorite in Connecticut in 1807, to which President Thomas Jefferson is alleged to have said, "I could more easily believe that two Yankee professors would lie than that stones would fall from heaven." In 1768 a committee sent by the French Academy of Science to investigate the reported fall of a meteorite actually alerted the testimony of a witness to make it seem that the object was really only an ordinary rock that had been struck by lightning. Only a quarter century ago, a paper was published which attributed the great Meteor Crater in Arizona to a geological rather than astronomical cause...saying it was a natural earthly phenomenon not a meteor. William S. Burroughs once said, "If the United States had discovered the Straights of Magellan first, we wouldn't tell anyone. That way we could attack from the rear." Arthur C. Clarke once said, "Any sufficiently developed technology is indistinguishable from magic." But wasn't it also the Persian Magi who originally said, "That nature is the only pure form of technology."

I use these quotes and examples to let the reader see how quickly and easily ignorance concerning the UFO issue can be spread (and why scientists, conspiracy theorists, science fiction authors, or even the government or anyone else might want to cover up information regarding UFOs or UFO evidence. In fact of of the modern day hypothesis on the subject are lacking proper hard empirical data. I only wish to point out that all speculations become invalidated judgment calls without physical proof. Yet just because there is not physical proof for something does not mean that it does not exist. It simply means we do not know how to identify the phenomenon. We often forget that for a long time man did not believe in the existence of the atom, molecules, viruses, genetics and other now commonly understood ideas that are verifiable through modern scientific research. It is also probable that many people would be unable to accept other worldly intelligent life, even with physical evidence. This is not to criticize any individual viewpoints or views on the subject, but is another reason why there is little verifiable information about the UFO phenomenon in the 20th century.

Whatever the truth is - it is doubtful that it will be found if we continue to examine the facts with a strictly scientific, religious, skeptical, or paranoid bias. I believe that the various schools of thought would be better educated if they would accept each other for having different and even opposing views - for the sake of sharing data, unfortunately my experience has shown me that more prejudice and polarization just ends up happening inevitably. But one thing in my opinion is most likely to be true: that UFOs are some kind of real phenomenon and we should try to work together, with the hope of eventually solving and defining these mysteries that have existed since ancient times and continue to be a mystery in the modern age.

I hope you enjoy my humble, yet modest speculations.

Hypothesis 1 : The UFOs Do Not Exist Theory

Some of you may be saying this to yourself, wondering why I would start off with a theory stating that UFOs do not exist, therefore negating the whole purpose of asking you to consider that UFOs may exist. Here is my rationale, the UFO debate is much like arguing the existence of God. It is very possible that on the one hand UFOs may not exist and all of the rhetoric that follows is delusion and imaginary.

To not explore this possibility is to be very unethical when looking for answers to what may lead to truths. Also by exploring the possibility that UFOs do not exist allows me to present the formative arguments that oppose this idea, and lays a ground work for the theories that follow. Now we must accept that UFO sightings as they have been statistically recorded fall into one of two classifications, or categories. The first advocating conventional explanations and the second advocating unconventional explanations.

UFOs of the first category includes a host of mundane explanations such as satellites, balloons, aircraft, birds, and planetary conjunctions.

This first category also includes more imaginative possibilities like, insect swarms, ball lightning, swamp gas, and greenhouse effect theories. These are generally lumped into a group known as Identified Flying Objects or IFOs. The UFOs that are as yet not identified are loosely believed to fall into one of the proposed groups already stated, or may also be categorized as hoaxes, hallucinations, imaginary sightings, or otherwise as things that for practical purposes do not exist. Therefore the first category determines that UFOs do not exist. The second category is the one most of you reading are probably more familiar with, dealing with speculation and theories.

There are three kinds of sightings in this category and they are identified based on the location of the object in question; first are objects sighted in the sky but not near the ground called Unexplained Aeriel Objects or UAOs, second are objects sighted in the oceans or in and around other bodies of water called Unidentified Submarine Objects or USOs, and third are objects that are sighted in flight but generally near enough to the ground to be observable by individuals without radar or other technological equipment called Unidentified Flying Objects of UFOs (the classic UFOs by definition we generally lump all three of these different categories into for convenience). The main argument against UFOs not existing is this second category, which has been documented by the world militaries and governments whatever their individual take on the existence of UFOs may be. Documentation, is evidence of something as opposed to nothing. All other theories of UFOs report one or more of these three types in their usual sightings.

This theory is argued for and against in each of the following discussions, but bringing it to the forefront seemed prudent in presenting all the evidence properly. Carl J. Jung had a lot to do with modern UFO research in an indirect way. He loosely proposed the view that saucer shaped UFOs are symbolic of the longing for the souls as a collective unconsciousness seeking unity for the human species. In effect his view would be that UFOs are not necessarily real in the scientific sense. But Jung never tried to credit or discredit any UFO theories.

On the other hand there were the hard line skeptic scientists who were more purposeful with their intentions.

Carl Sagan, Donald H. Menzel and Thronton Page helped to label UFOs as a modern myth. All three develop the view that UFOs do not have any more scientific reality than religion does, They used religion to destroy the credibility of UFOs for scientific study. But as the Sagan's of the universe continued to boast their theories about fake saucers and crop circles, others were active in trying to use UFOs to get rid of religion. Erich Von Daniken and Edgar Cayce (as well as Ignatius Donnelly many years before the 'sleeping prophet' was born) would propose that the myths of the ancients support the ideas found in the UFO phenomenon.

One side of the debate would say that UFOs support the backbone of forgotten knowledge behind nearly all past and current religious movements. The other side would say that religion and UFOs have one thing in common : they are both make-believe. Either side has its logical basis and bias, as do all theories of this first kind, and they usually end in the same divided kind of rhetoric.

Hypothesis 2 : The Religious-Supernatural Theory

This theory was developed almost entirely by John A. Keel in two books that have been very influential on the modern UFO research; "UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse" and "The Mothman Prophecies". Keel basically says UFOs are being another dimension that exist in the midst of our world. Hell calls them 'ultraterrestrials' (which will also be part of another theory later described), and he tries to avoid making the religious connection with UFOs. Although he says, "They seem to have a demonic nature, but much of the time they fly into our world the way we would go to movies for entertainment."

This theory puts forth the belief that UFOs have been directly influential in human affairs and natural disasters in many parts of our histories since ancient times. Keel also claimed to be in contact with extraterrestrial life to some degree. He had impressions that UFOs could know your every thought and action in advance (making us easy targets for their experimentation and abductions). And that UFOs maybe in control of his and other minds on Earth. He is very interested in what the United States government has covered up concerning UFOs and other related supernatural phenomenon.

One reason why Keel's work may not have received much attention is that it's implications are too unsettling...or that it points at too many facts. There are a few more secularized versions of this theory, that do not find Keel's work unsettling at all. It has been developed by Christian fundamentalists who believe that UFOs are a sign of the coming millennium and its prophecies.

The forerunners of this movement are Clifford Wilson, Zola Levitt, John Weldon, and Hal Lindsey. It has quite a following. For them it means that the Devil and his demons have been set loose on Earth in preparation for the end times and the second coming of Christ. It is the Devil and his angels let loose to torment civilization, to lead us to repent and believe in Christ before he comes to judge the Earth. These theorists also believe that UFOs increased in frequency after the invention of the atomic bomb, therefore fulfilling Revelational prophecies questionably.

There are two main problems with this theory.

First is that the Devil or Satan traditionally has no authority except from God, and therefore would be unable to wage a war for possession of the Earth. The Devil was at his best a tester of faith, at his worst and adversary.

The second problem is, how are we to define which UFOs are demonic and which are supposedly angelic? For an example - What a Jew calls an angel, an Egyptian would call a demon, and what a Christan would call a Devil at one time was a Jewish Archangel.

It would be very hard to know what we can trust to be true concerning UFOs, if we only base our opinions upon the various Western holy scriptures. Manly because our cultural words define them in such different ways. But you can take your pick.

Hypothesis 3 : The Wartime Secret Weapon Theory

This theory was popularized in the 1950s, but seems to regain interest in any decade surrounding a wartime occupation or conflict concerning the United States military. There are many documented claims that the U.S. government constructed advanced technological devices with the aid of foreign powers. These may have been over time used to support theories of a major cover up on the part of many of the world councils and elite organizations.

I know that this theory is extremely popular but it has three very serious contradictions that should be considered before putting much faith into ti.

First, UFOs were reported soon after World War II. Our military jet aircraft were barely operational at that point in history, so it is unlikely that we would have been able to operate any 'saucers' that the government might have found and experimented with.

Second, if these UFOs were recovered they would not have been allowed to be seen flying anywhere near public areas or civil airports where the majority of all sightings take place at this time.

Third and finally consider the Cold War kept open channels of information exchange between Europe and the US / Russia and the US from existing until very recent history. It would have been very hard to keep anything of great technological value secret for very long on a global level...let alone more than thirty years time.

But still, this is arguably the most commonly accepted possibility to a majority of the UFO community.

Hypothesis 4 : The Hollow Earth Theory

The most daring and ingenious of the theories has to be this one, although it is not often given much credit due to the fact that it is the one that was also given much speculation by Adolf Hitler and the S.S. when searching for ancient artifacts for the Nazi regime in World War II.

It was originally advanced by authors like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells earlier in the 19th and 20th centuries. It was made popular when connected to UFOs in the 1960s.

It claims that the Earth is actually a hollow (or semi-hollow) sphere, having openings at either polar ice cap. Flying saucers are assumed to emerge from and return to these polar gateways, to a secret civilization living inside the Earth. This ideas seems to have existed in some mountain cultures religions prior to recorded history, and may have to do with the perpetuation of legends concerning St. Nicholas and his flying sleigh.

This theory again gained support from observations made during Admiral Richard E. Byrd's arctic and antarctic expeditions. However his discoveries were denied by his second in command in the official records, which has led most future researchers to take on bias against it.

Although there is almost no current proof of this theory, there has also been no extensive research done that currently disproves it. Anyone who reads more about Admiral Byrd's life would have to agree on two things: This was a dedicated explorer not an irrational pseudo-scientist, and as such he must have believed greatly in the need to prove this idea right or wrong, for he spent essentially his entire life trying to do just that.

Hypothesis 5 : The Underwater Civilization Theory

This theory has it basis in the idea that long ago there was a civilization called Atlantis or Mu (these being the most often sited in mythology) and that these civilizations flourished due to extraterrestrial visitations, these visiting aliens carried out experiments on Earth people. The Earth people fell in awe before advanced technologies which the beings possessed, and man in his ignorance began to worship these beings.

Now in modern times, remnants of this ancient culture still are active and exist amongst us on some unseen level. Reports of unknown objects entering, leaving or proceeding through large bodies of water happen from time to time today. They are labeled as USOs or UFOs depending on the particulars of the objects movement type. Speculations on these kind of UFOs include three main ideas.

First , there are those who believe that UFO bases secretly exist in strategic locations throughout the worlds major ocean beds, to remain isolated from man's activities and possible detection. By moving underwater UFOs would have access to all continents and could reach most major inland cities via tributaries, and also eliminate detection by atmospheric flight trails.

Second, are those that follow the lead of Ivan T. Sanderson, who proposed no that an extraterrestrial civilization could be using the ocean depths, but that a native civilization, one having evolved underwater long before man could be the cause of such phenomenon, he also suggested that it is likely that both suggestions may apply.

Third there are those would would take the same train of thought a step further by relating it to Plato's documentation of Atlantis and / or various other Deluge depictions of a worldwide flood.

This theory has the most empirical data supporting it for one reason, more than 50% of all UFO sightings seem to appear around water as USOs. It has the most recorded perspectives as a theory, and is not altogether irrational, but once again does not prove or disprove anything.

Hypothesis 6 : The Space Animal Theory

This is definitely the least popular of all the unconventional theories out there.

It was brought to public attention by the US Air Force during its Project Sign (code name Project Saucer) activities in the late 1940s. The project gave a press release in April of 1949 admitting the idea that they had remotely considered and that many UFOs acted more like animals than anything else. The USAF still claimed all information was unreliable.

The oppositional view to this is as follows : UFOs are groups and masses of living organisms that are as much a part of our atmosphere and space as the life that we find in the oceans, they move in schools and possibly make polar migrations with the seasons like birds or fish.

These ideas was expounded upon by Trevor James Constable in the 1970s and was also by Ivan T. Sanderson. Constable wrote of these creatures, "...they are amoeba like life forms existing in a plasma state. They are not solid, liquid, or gas. Rather, they exist in the fourth state of matter - plasma - as living heat substance at the upper border of physical nature."

The possibility of this kind of life is still speculative but as a researcher I was surprised that this theory has been ignored by most UFO theorists, in fact it is rarely if ever brought up in such texts.

Hypothesis 7 : The Extraterrestrial Theory

ETH ( or as you will usually see this on abbreviated for Extraterrestrial Hypothesis ) is the most popular theory, over the years arousing the most emotion and controversy. It puts for the ideal that one or more civilizations from outer space have mastered interstellar space flight and have had the human race under a kind of scientific observation program since about 1947.

Some of the best material written about this form of UFO phenomena are by Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. Some say that the ET have long been in contact with mankind, perhaps controlling his physical and cultural development for millennial. The natural speculations on this theory seem to link with the Olmec, Inca, Maya, Hindu, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian areas in particular. There is also the belief that these civilizations may have gone to the stars seeking ET life as far back as 12,000 B.C. or earlier. This is sometimes referred to as the Ancient Astronauts theory.

The real basis for this debate is something that many involved with it are completely unaware of. The point is not weather or how much intelligent life exists in the galaxies. Most scientists agree that there is probably intelligent civilizations elsewhere. And the point is not weather such civilizations have developed interstellar travel.

The real point is that most scientists find it hard to accept the idea of ET visitation on the scaled implied by UFO reports (thus to them it tends to invalidate all reports as such). If UFO reports were not so common more scientists would probably seriously consider ETH research. Oddly this is exactly the opposite of what many exasperated UFO proponents realize, in their attempts to prove ETH by sheer numbers of reports.

Despite intensive research no proof of ET visitation has been produced in more than fifty years time.

Hypothesis 8 : The Time Travel Theory

This theory is popularized among science fictions writers Whitley Striber, Harlan Ellison, Phillip K. Dick and Clive Barker. It is based on the premise that man will advance to such a high technological level in the coming centuries, that we will be able to manipulate the barriers of space and time, so that we can return or leave any continuum we wish.

How does this relate?

Well, the biological and morphological descriptions of occupants sometimes reported to pilot UFOs, generally avoid contact or at least do not go beyond an informal communication with the witnesses. This policy of noninterference would seem more appropriate for a society visiting its own past, rather than one exploring for new information. They seem to already know a great deal about us according to enthusiasts of this debate.

The morphological component involves the biological feature of neotony - a characteristic in which infantile features are retained in adult form. A neotenous trend is evident in primates, particularly in man ( the result is a longer childhood and acquisition of knowledge and values by children), and will tend to continue theoretically in the future. This implies that human adults could at sometime in the future look like today's children. UFO occupants are often described as small and childlike with heads larger than their bodies. This theory has two tragic flaws.

First there is too little authenticity and reliability among reports involving UFO occupants.

Secondly it simply uses too much 'what if' explanations to interest the average UFO researchers.

Otherwise it is a fairly interesting theory despite lack of empirical data.

Hypothesis 9 : The Ultraterrestrial Theory

There are three breaches of folks who have adopted this train of thought.

The first are UFO enthusiasts since the 1960s that became disenchanted with the ETH due to lack of contact over the years, these individuals moved toward a more esoteric concept involving ultraterrestrials in a parallel universe.

The second is individuals who adopted ancient scriptural texts in application with their beliefs in the UFO phenomena. Both of the first two branches think there are inter-dimensional beings that are thought to share our own dimension, only at a different vibratory level of existence, and that time may mean nothing for them. Proponent John A. Keel says, "UFOs are nothing more than transmogrification's tailoring themselves to our abilities to understand that the ultraterrestrials are somehow able to manipulate the electrical circuits of the human mind."

The third and most secular theory makes no assumptions that UFOs have good intentions towards the human races. It sees them as evil or demonic in the sense that they have been deceptive, in their influence on our religious values and belief systems. The biblical religion turns out to be a kind of cosmic joke. God is a space man whose advanced technology fooled people into believing he / she had divine power. Jesus' miracles were simply illusions created by computers on a controlled spacecraft, rather than God's handiwork. The beings would not necessarily be called demonic by secular scientifics, bu the would have some tendencies that could remind one of the biblical Devil. The reason UFOs don't land is that we as a race would discover their fraud and forsake them as Gods. UFOs have been linked to angels, fairies, miracles, ghosts, poltergeists and this theory usually accepts that all religious movements were initially influenced by visitations from these ultraterrestrial beings.

This is an interesting hypothesis with on major flaw, it relies almost wholly on the back of of scriptures and historical records that we cannot accurately date...so all theories are open to the usual scientific conjectures.

Hypothesis 10 : The Psychic Projection Theory

This theory is outlined by Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman mainly, and is based on Carl Jung's concept of the collective unconscious. However, it is taken a step beyond to postulate that the collective unconsciousness can psychically project material forms represented in modern times by the UFO. UFOs are supposed to have absorbed many of the ancient archetypal forms in which human beings have traditionally needed to believe and which they have sought to complete their world.

Clark and Coleman see a danger in the modern world of science disrupting man's close bonds to nature, to mysticism, and to the elements. They see the message of the UFO myths as "...the collective unconscious too long repressed, will burst free, overwhelm the world, and war, anarchy, fascism..." and that "when the unconscious can no longer be contained, its liberated contents will destroy all the conscious mind has produced : The fruits of science, technology, civilized order, and the very process of reason itself. Under the new imbalance a spiritual dark age will blanket the Earth." They also believe that past manifestations like saucers, spacemen, and apparitions of the Virgin Mary are aspects of a similar phenomena.

It is this theory that relies deeply on the concept of Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP) in order to demonstrate its subtle facilities, and just how they are pr-oven. Precognition, telekinesis, telepathy, and other forms of mind over matter are all being studied in relation to this theory. Being a fairly new concept, it has little definitive evidence. There is even less proof that a collective unconsciousness should be able to manifest what most observers have described as a flying saucer or UFO.

The more secular versions of this theory draw heavily on both Jung and Jacques Vallee. Jung argued that UFOs were psychological archetypes of the soul, usually were round in shape, and often glowed in the dark. When the old religions died, the world still needed an image of divine power to come from heaven and save us. Many UFO stories are similar to the fairy tales of old, and led to speculation as to how UFOs could be man-made (or mind generated in the individual). So it is natural to assume that UFOs are a manifestations of the human collective unconsciousness. As we became more industrialized and scientific of a society, we brought ourselves to the point of a world wide nervous breakdown. In order for our species to survive, our minds have recreated the angels and demons of myth as UFOs, our of our new world reality.

The dark side of this theory, is that we have no way of knowing if humanity will win this psychic pseudo-battle. Our psyches may actually revert the human races back to the jungle days, and in effect to destroy ourselves with out own unconsciousness. This is a very interesting twist that Jung threw into the mix of ideas. It also gives a whole new meaning to the Dead Sea Scrolls meanings about the war of the sons of light and darkness.

A Few Last Words on UFOs...

The whole thing starts sounding a lot like the chicken and the egg argument to me. I personally think that all of the UFO researchers would find the most truth if they worked together. Whether these are spies in the skies, or visitations by ancestors or original kindred...this does not seem like something which should divide scholars further into criticism and rhetoric negatively. As anyone can see it is a kind of muddled mess. Not to criticize, but as I stated...I think all the different theorists should let loose and work together before they decide what the truth or truths of the UFO phenomenon are or are not. True knowledge is usually found through the grouped efforts of many individuals all coming together in hunting for the common good of all human beings.

Everyone is saying they are right, yet I see all the theories having certain strengths and weaknesses to their arguments. I hope I have given you a good framework to base your assumptions upon. Keep the faith...love is the law.