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Both Ends Against the Middle
©2009 Brian Allan
*Authors Note*: I should make clear from the outset that I am a fully paid up, long time investigator of the paranormal in all its forms and I categorise Ufology as another facet of this endlessly fascinating subject. So far I have written a total of five books relating to the paranormal with a further two currently awaiting publication. In addition I have written many scripts for documentaries dealing with it and participated in several TV documentaries as well, so I am a friend of UFOlogy and consider myself both knowledgeable and experienced enough to make observations about the matter and its place in our culture.
However, I do not take the beliefs and assumptions surrounding mainstream UFOlogy on board on blind faith alone; e.g. are we visited by non-earthly entities? My own experiences indicate that the answer is almost certainly yes, but in my considered opinion not in the way normally associated with the standard view of the UFO phenomenon. Unfortunately, at present it is probably true to say that as a subject UFOlogy has now lost it way slightly and become little more that a continual retelling and rebooting of major incidents that occurred over the last 50 years or so. However, the legitimacy or otherwise of these encounters is not the subject of this article although the reader may unconsciously use them as reference points.
The use of the words, ‘blind faith’ is quite deliberate and reflects just how synonymous with religion UFOlogy has become. In many respects, just like a religion, it requires a conscious effort of unquestioning belief to accept many of its dogmas and mantras and the sight of many of those who act as UFOlogy’s high priests and prophets squabbling over relatively minor details in order to save face is frankly embarrassing. In that sense they have failed to evolve with their subject and remain in stagnant and outdated mindsets. In what follows I only ask that the reader keeps an open mind, something that should be self evident in those who follow this remarkable subject, but sadly, in order to ‘keep the faith’ is all too frequently absent.
Both Ends Against the Middle
"We are part of a symbiotic relationship with something which disguises itself as an extra-terrestrial invasion so as not to alarm us."
- Dr Terence McKenna (1946-2004)
There comes a time when even the most hardened UFO aficionado must accept that a single, narrow paradigm based on the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (ETH) is dangerously limited. Just in case there is still anyone out there who does not understand what the ETH implies then please indulge me in this brief explanation. The ETH assumes by rote that any contact with anomalous or non-human entities or sightings of unclassifiable aerial objects must, of necessity, be classified as extraterrestrial in nature. It also assumes that alien spacecraft, if that is what they are, are nuts and bolts machines that have journeyed across the vast, stygian voids of interstellar space to arrive here for whatever reason on our beautiful and humble little planet earth.
It is a view that glosses over the demonstrable fact that in order to travel the distances required, these craft would have to travel at multiples of the speed of light, and that in doing so would experience considerable temporal distortions, in other words experience a degree of time travel. This is not a fantasy; it is proven fact using our own understanding of physics. The usual answer to this is that the ETs use some form of exotic ‘sub-space warp drive’, or ‘hyperdrive’ or some other dubious means of propulsion. As a theory, because of its obvious attractions it has many adherents, but from a practical point of view and at our stage of development it is technically unfeasible if not impossible to attain and that, in very simplistic terms, encapsulates the ETH outlook on the phenomenon.
The other factor that is also quoted and it is the one that, remarkably, links it to its main competitor, ‘The Psychosocial Hypothesis’ (PSH), is the equally esoteric discipline of quantum physics, for it is here in the realms of the infinitesimally small that the impossible becomes possible. This viewpoint will understandably seem heretical and an anathema in some quarters yet quite fair and reasonable in others and it is to the difference that we now turn our consideration. It would be totally unfair to make these judgment calls with nothing to corroborate them, so allow me to set out my stall.
I am old enough to remember the emergence of Adamski and Van Tassel et all from the USA and eccentrics like George King from the UK who inspired the Aetherius Society (which still exists) when they first appeared to the scene and preached to a considerably less well informed and more gullible public than exists now. I also watched them on TV shows during the late 1950’s and the 1960’s as they stated their case and were, in the main, feted for their sheer unpredictability and originality. The one common feature they all advocated was that we as a species are in the thrall of, or at least inferior to, some mysterious external power, sometimes good, sometimes bad and sometimes indifferent, but always immensely more powerful than we are.
The alternative, the PSH, which is in some ways a more reasonable view point compared to the ETH, states (again very briefly) the idea that we are indeed visited by non earthly entities. Conversely, rather than originating in some far off star system they exist, quite literally, only a hairsbreadth away from us, right here and right now coexisting with us unseen on planet Earth. They have been here since the beginning of time and only vary in appearance and role according to the society, culture and era that encounters them.
They form part of what is commonly called ‘the paranormal’ and display many of the strange characteristics associated with the term. These characteristics comprise those displayed by what we have come to term as ghosts, apparitions, revenants, shades, poltergeists or any of the colourful lexicon that has developed around this equally perplexing subject; and this includes the ‘craft’ that they allegedly travel in. Perhaps the most convincing evidence that we do live in a closely aligned multiverse of realities inhabited by non-terrestrial creatures comes from a series of experiments that took place in the village of Diss in Norfolk, England. This lengthy project began in the last decade of the 20th century and culminated in the year 2000; it was called the ‘Scole Experiment’.
The Mirror of Reality
Due to considerations of space I do not intend to go chapter and verse into this truly fascinating piece of research; which was, in essence, a controlled experiment to demonstrate the existence of an afterlife, or at least that consciousness does not cease with physical death, but I do intend to comment on just one or their discoveries and its far reaching implications. One particular phase of the experiment used a number of cameras, both still and video, set to record in complete darkness and what these cameras revealed was remarkable. They recorded images of what looked like planets hanging in space, pictures of varicoloured pyramidal and other geometric shapes and strange sheets of colour combinations reminiscent of the aurora borealis. There was however one fleeting image that was genuinely staggering in its implications. One of the videotapes caught the likeness of a small creature that the participants in the experiment named ‘Blue’ because of the colourwash that permeated the frame.
The image clearly shows a small being with a large egg shaped head, large almond shaped black eyes and a small slit of a mouth; in fact Blue looked exactly like an archetypal Grey often seen during alleged encounters with supposed non-terrestrial spacecraft. Before moving on it is probably as well to quickly examine further evidence for these parallel dimensions, this time from the hazy vantage point of magic and the occult. Following one of his many magickal experiments, the notorious late 19th century, early 20th century mage, Aleister Crowley, drew a picture of an entity he named ‘Lam’. This entity was, to all intents and purposes, exactly like a grey. What this seems to demonstrate is that, as commented on earlier, we find this strange, amorphous and lingering connection between Ufology and the paranormal, for magic and thaumaturgy are no more bizarre in concept than some of the wilder excesses to emerge from the wealth of accounts relating to the mythos of the UFO. Perhaps it also lends weight to the hypothesis that, to paraphrase an observation by the late author and visionary, Arthur C. Clark, technology and magic are closer than one might think.
Do Physics Supply an Option?
Likewise, using the same logic this is no more unlikely than the many channellers, mediums and psychics who claim to have contacted extraterrestrials and I have personally participated in one such apparently successful demonstration. In this instance the entity being manifested called itself ‘Golida’ and claimed to originate, not from any alien galaxy, but from a separate or parallel reality; I keep an open mind on the validity of the incident. The Scole team used this kind of communication and were informed by their team of assistants on the ‘other side’ that we are surrounded by a series of realities, dimensions if you like, some empty, but some containing entities of various kinds. In common with the occupants of UFOs some are friendly towards us, some are indifferent, but, worryingly, some are openly hostile and cause us actual harm when they are able to access our reality. It is these entities that apparently fill the roll of ET races such as the reptilians of UFO lore.
This of course fits extremely well with at least two theories prevalent in quantum physics. One, the ‘Many Worlds Theory’, holds that everything we do, every single action we intend to take, exists as a series of ‘probability waves’ until we decide on one definitive course of action. The probability wave then collapses into reality and therefore exists in this universe, although it could equally happen in another one, but in a slightly altered manner. The other theory suggests that according to ‘Superstring Theory’ (superstrings, we are informed, are the incredibly small particles that bind reality together) we exist in series in Membrane Universes (M-Branes) all comprising only two dimensions (from our perspective), although obviously we see our own as having three dimensions.
What exists on these M-Branes is anyone’s guess, but it is just possible that given the right set of circumstances, whether produced artificially or naturally, contact can be made and it is there that these exotic creatures may reside. Admittedly there are a good number of ifs, buts and maybes here, but keep in mind that quantum theory is just that, a theory; a series of speculative equations that enable science to make sense of the universe around us. But one must also remember that in every single instance where our technology has developed sufficiently to test these bizarre proposals they have proved to be absolute correct. The most obvious example of particle physics in action is nuclear fission with all its plus and minus points, it is indeed unfortunate that the first practical use of anomic energy was to destroy, kill and maim, hopeful this will never happen again.
From this we see that since the equations, deliberations and arcane mental gymnastics of quantum physicists have been proven correct so far, then there is hope that, in time, their other astonishing concepts will also be found to be accurate and this may well include the existence of parallel realities and indeed practical time travel. With the possible existence of these hitherto invisible regions comes the strong possibility these they are inhabited, but with what exactly? The fact that any hitherto unknown race might be contacted does not mean that it is necessarily technologically superior to the human race, but like so much of the subject this is, indeed has to be, speculation. If these beings do exist perhaps their technology is just different rather than superior.
The Ethical Answer?
That said, if they had developed some kind of galaxy hopping propulsion system then from one point of view they are superior. However, if on the other hand they still considered slavery as acceptable, or genocide, or euthanasia, or any of hundreds of other practises that our western culture in the main abhors, are they really all that superior or more advanced? Much would depend on the culture and the ethos of that culture compared with our own and ours is far from perfect. Therefore, it is likely that those who first encountered a truly alien race would have to be extremely diplomatic, open minded and flexible in their outlook. It seems that both context and culture are the only genuine universal constants, yet all of this does not even consider the thorny problem of how the various faith-based groups would view the matter and perhaps we should briefly consider this too.
One such evangelical Christian group was asked how they would respond if they were to discover that a hypothetical alien civilisation did not believe in a Creator God, (who is, incidentally, also by definition an ET), that they never had, and in fact they had no comparable concept. The response of the religious group was that rather than reconsider their own beliefs; they should bring the ‘Good News’ and the love of Christ the Saviour to them. This is a truly astonishing and breathtakingly arrogant stance, however it is understandable because to discover that they, and by extension everyone else irrespective of creed was wrong might be unbearable.
To some extent this blinkered mindset exists today where a few deluded but committed ‘true believers’ would sooner see their children die for want of medical intervention, preferring instead to pray over them and if they die, then it was God’s will and they are absolved of any blame. It is also seen in the desire to impose western values on an eastern culture and this curious paradigm was mirrored in the early days of Sci Fi movies, especially those fed to credulous teenagers as serials; serials that still occasionally appear on TV. The heroic earthling invariably crash-landed on some inhospitable planet ruled by humanoid beings living in a retro high-tech culture and dressed in a strange garb that seemed to consist of quasi-Egyptian styles crossed with the flowing robes of the Arab world. To go further with this particular line of reasoning is to draw unfortunate comparisons with what is presently occurring in the Middle East and runs perilously close to politicising the matter and, as a result, further complicate the issue.
What now?
What we can deduce from this is that the subject of Ufology cannot exist in a sealed vacuum and must stop looking inwards and many of the claims made by those closest to the core of the subject may even create a mystery where there is none. The answer why is in order to perpetuate the idea that all ETs come for other planets, and rather like the sincere but misguided parents who allowed their child to die, it is in their interest to do so. The idea of an ET source for non-human entities and their presumed craft is also an apparently geographical phenomenon; it seems that the USA in the main favours the ETH while Europe tends to the PSH, although there are obviously wild fluctuations in this: why? Is it perhaps because the USA is a highly developed, highly mechanised, ultramodern superpower that accepts technology, (however unlikely) as the answer to everything?
On the other hand is Europe, which, over the years sent many of its sons and daughters to America, just a little more hesitant to ascribe the arrival of these ‘visitors’ to some form of mechanical technology? Might the European ethos and mindset be slightly more conducive to the concept of accepting the possibility of an almost spiritual dimension to the issue? This is well demonstrated in the books of the French researcher Jacques Vallee who demonstrates this most elegantly in such works as ‘Passport to Magonia’ and, to be fair, the late and sadly missed John Keel also tended to this view in ‘The Mothman Prophesies’ and ‘UFO, Operation Trojan Horse’.
One other person who shared this opinion, although for slightly different reasons, was the late ethno-botanist and ethno-pharmacologist, Dr. Terence McKenna, who neatly characterised the situation with the following statement that headed this article; "We are part of a symbiotic relationship with something which disguises itself as an extra-terrestrial invasion so as not to alarm us." This deeply insightful observation does indeed cover most of the bases and aligns UFO experiences with the spirit quests of various shamans who have consumed a range of hallucinogens such as peyote, mescaline and of course ayahuasca prior to encountering a range of strange and unearthly beings during their journeys. The odd thing is that the beings they encounter tend to be the same or similar and they also share many resonances with the entities observe during UFO sightings.
Quite what this implies is not clear, but it does seem to infer that somehow contact can be made at levels other than physical, so it is not unreasonable to conclude that the experience can be deemed ‘spiritual’ or ‘psychic’ depending on how one interprets the words. Once again this opens up a huge range of options, far more than there is space for here, but perhaps we should heed the sage opinion of Dr McKenna. There is something else out there, but whether it inhabits the realms of deep space or is considerably closer to us than we care to imagine is something that will continue to divide Ufologists for some time to come, and, regrettably, although it encourages lively debate, at present there is no sign of agreement anytime soon.
©2009 Brian Allan
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Brian Allan is a UFO/Paranormal researcher, lecturer and writer. He is the Scottish Director of Strange Phenomena Investigations (SPI UK) (Scotland) and co-director of P.E.G (Paranormal Encounter Group), which is a self-help group designed to provide a safe and sympathetic environment for people who have been traumatised by their encounters. Brian is the popular author of
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