It is a strange condition: a historical phenomenon that is potentially a huge, world-changing revelation for mankind is trivialized and ridiculed by US mainstream culture — perhaps more than any other subject. The possibility that there are intelligently operated unusual aerial vehicles (UFOs) flying in our skies, demonstrating capabilities far superior to our most advanced technology, is almost unthinkable — The Great Taboo.
Despite irrefutable evidence and observational data collected and corroborated over decades by credible researchers (many of them with PhDs in applied sciences) using accepted methodologies and forensic techniques, the National Science Foundation does not accept the UFO phenomenon as a legitimate subject for fundable scientific research. Why not?
Compare that posture with, for example, China, where there are more UFO research organizations supported by scientists, universities and the general population than any other nation. Most of these organizations are funded by the government and are affiliated, forming what is called The National Society of Extraterrestrial Studies, or NASETS. NASETS members are exclusively scientists and engineers from universities, government agencies and industry. Members must hold PhDs. in their respective fields and have at least several research papers on UFOs published in peer-reviewed journals. (Some might say this just illustrates how naive and backward the Chinese are.)
There has not been a lengthy, balanced, in-depth investigative report about the phenomenon and its potential consequences (political, social, religious, technological, etc.) by a major U.S. news organization. Ever. They have ignored or downplayed seventy years of credible data, troves of leaked or declassified government documents, and the testimonies of numerous former military, NASA, intelligence, airline, and other government insiders affirming the UFO reality. Since the early 1960's the subject has mainly been absent from elite news media, and either treated with humorous condescension or dismissed outright by the rest. It is nearly impossible today to read an article on the subject by a mainstream reporter that is not peppered with well-worn clichés such as: "true believers," "the truth is out there," or the inevitable, tiresome: "little green men." It is rare indeed to watch local television newscasts that do not place reports about unexplainable UFO events in the same fluffy context as water-skiing poodles.
It is well understood that public perceptions of events and circumstances are shaped by media opinion and framing. Why is the UFO phenomenon the Greatest Unserious Story in American journalism?
One obvious reason is the almost unshakeable aura of mysticism and pseudo-religious cultism that has been attached to the phenomenon for more than half a century — to the dismay of serious researchers. Back in the early 1950s, waves of mass UFO sightings occurred around the US and abroad. Not long after, books by individuals who claimed to have met envoys from other worlds — in the Americas and Europe — became hugely popular. Some of the authors were respected figures in their spheres, such as diplomats and university professors. Their accounts did not describe any mystical or supernatural qualities about the visitors, but introduced them as humanoid beings — more evolved than us in consciousness — who know, understand, and work with higher laws of physics and universal spiritual laws that govern our existence.
Around the same time, almost overnight most of the psychics and trance-mediums (some of them recognizing a lucrative opportunity) abandoned their disembodied American Indian “Spirit Guides” and began channeling or receiving through séances and Ouija-boards communications from space beings who came from other galaxies, other dimensions, or the Chronosynclastic Infundibulum. Several of these mediums were quite charismatic and attracted coteries of sincere spiritual seekers. Hence, the mystical UFO cults and pseudo-religions were born. For ignoble purposes, the mainstream media became (and largely remain) focused on this subtext of the phenomenon while excluding information about the serious investigations.
The stereotype of gullible, wide-eyed, escapist “true believers” has been perpetuated and is almost iconic, especially in Hollywood. It is understandable that a large segment of the population is put off by the UFO/Extraterrestrial story if this image is all they see.
Another major reason for the trivialization and ridicule is the simple fact that according to the official Establishment version of reality: UFO's do not exist.
Independent surveys (contradicting mainstream media reports) have found that a majority of US adults accept the validity of the phenomenon, and 80% of this group said they think the government is hiding from the public its knowledge of extraterrestrials.
Hundreds of thousands of decent, honest, sensible Americans have had mystifying, or frightening, or wondrous sightings of unexplainable, extraordinary aerial objects, yet must bear or suppress their memories in a society where “authorities” discredit and discount their experiences. “I know what I saw” is the common mantram for a segment of the population caught in a kind of social cognitive dissonance. It is frustrating for many, and terribly unfair — unfair because this dissonance is not of their making. In addition to the reasons given above, a root source of the ridicule involves what is perhaps the longest running and most successful covert “psychological-operations” ever conducted against a national population — with the complicity, at the highest levels, of influential media companies.
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The issues touched upon above, and many more — such as the connection of the phenomenon to several critical crises in the world today — will be addressed during a multi-media presentation titled: UFOs: Their Spiritual Mission and Role in Coming World Changes, on Wednesday, August 20, 7:00 PM, at the Anderson Valley Grange. All are welcome. The information presented will indeed challenge conventional paradigms, but will be offered for one's consideration only — and in a spirit of HOPE for the world.
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Postscript: The concept of a “tin foil hat,” or helmet, for protection against mind interference originated in an early 20th century science fiction story. It gradually became associated with various paranoid beliefs about mind control by spies, nefarious government agencies, and paranormal entities. When and why it was linked to mystical UFO enthusiasts is unclear — and patently illogical, for why would anyone wear a brain shield if they hope to receive messages from beings in the phantasmatic zones of space?
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