Flying Saucer to the Center of Your Mind: Selected Writings of John A. Keel

by Keel, John A.

  Who were these bizarre people, and where did they eventually go? No one seems to know, and scientists sweep these “erratic” artifacts under the carpet. Clergymen, on the other hand, point to the Bible and Genesis 6:4: “There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that…”

  Researchers who have plunged into the vast literature on elves, fairies, and leprechauns have come up with equally fascinating cases – carefully documented throughout history – in which apparently sober and reliable people have actually seen “little people.” in many of these cases, the reported behavior of these “little people” is very similar to the behavior of the “little men” who have allegedly been observed around grounded flying saucers.

  As we examine this great mass of data, much of which is impressively documented, we are forced to wonder if perhaps these ancient groups may not have found it preferable to coexist with savage and unpredictable modern man, while remaining aloof from him (us). Perhaps they even developed their own hidden cultures safe in some foreboding jungle or mountain range. Few people seem to realize that four-fifths of our planet is largely unexplored (since it consists of water, deserts, jungle, and icefields), and that only Europe and the United States have been adequately mapped. There are, in addition, many places where only three or four white men have passed through in all of recorded history. The world is full of hiding places. Some of them are right here in the United States.

  Remember that UFO activity seems to be most intensive in isolated, thinly populated areas. In those regions, the activity reaches a peak between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., when most of the local population is fast asleep. Dr. Jacques Vallee and other patient researchers have charted these patterns. Many ufologists fear that such obvious efforts to operate unobserved might suggest an ultimately hostile motive. Because of these patterns, it is highly probable that a considerable part of all UFO activity has gone on totally unobserved and unreported. Thus we can almost be certain that for each observed activity there are hundreds or even thousands of flights, landings, etc., of which we are not even aware.

  This kind of intensive and continuous activity would be logistically unrealistic if the objects had to fly back and forth between Earth and some home base on another planet. It would be far more practical for the objects to operate from bases of some sort in the barren plains of the Midwest, the little-explored and rarely visited forests of Northern Canada, the jungles of Brazil, or a thousand other isolated and inaccessible places.

  One group of far-out cultists have advanced the theory that a super-race of giants resides in caves deep toward the center of the Earth, and that these “Deros,” as they are called, not only operate flying saucers but are also responsible for all our troubles, ranging from wars to flu epidemics. This “Inner Earth” theory was first expounded by one Capt. John Cleves Symmes in 1818. He actually petitioned Congress for funds to finance an expedition to the center of the Earth (he planned to enter through an opening he was sure existed at the North Pole), and he even succeeded in getting 25 Congressmen to vote for his scheme.

  In 1944, a welder named Richard shaver sent a long letter to Ray Palmer, then the editor of Amazing Stories magazine, outlining his alleged experiences with the Deros and their underground world. Palmer wrote a story based on the letter and published it. The magazine was flooded with letters from readers “confirming” Shaver’s story – some 50,000 in all – and the “Shaver Mystery” was born. Interestingly, Richard Shaver described saucer-shaped craft some three years before Kenneth Arnold’s report of nine such objects near Mt. Rainier, which kicked off the nation’s first publicized “flying saucer scare.” For a time, Ray Palmer was even accused of having created the whole UFO mystery just to sell his magazine. But the events of the succeeding two decades cleared him of that ugly charge.

  If anything, Shaver’s tales appear to have been based upon weird hallucinatory experiences that might have been very real to him, and which may have been part of the long campaign to feed us confusing misinformation. Certainly all that we know about Earth and the mechanics of its motion rules out the possibility of a hollow interior. None of the advocates of the “Inner Earth” theory have been able to produce even a small shred of evidence to support it.

  That “spook light” in Missouri must be originating from some spot within a ten-mile radius, yet no one has ever discovered its hiding place. If it were not for its apparently intelligent and controlled behavior, we might be able to write it off as a natural phenomenon.

  Ivan Sanderson, a renowned biologist, is one of the serious, scientifically oriented ufologists who have dared to suggest that some of the mysterious flying lights might really be misunderstood natural phenomena. In his recent book, Uninvited Guests, he proposed that some of these objects could be alive – living packets of energy, drifting in from space to feast at the “free lunch counters” of our power lines. However, the “spook light” and its many counterparts were around long before this planet was girdled with power lines.

  In 1947-48 another, more mundane, theory enjoyed brief popularity. It was suggested that the luminous blobs might be parcels of ionized air, electrical plasma, or ball lightning. Scientists quickly discovered, however, that ball lightning was a very rare phenomenon and followed a definite pattern of behavior quite different from UFOs. Tiny balls of electrical plasma were later produced in laboratories, but they only lasted for brief seconds and had to be created in a vacuum. It was also suggested that a “corona effect” around power lines might be producing spheres of electrical plasma. This theory was quickly discarded.

  Back in the 1900s, General Electric’s brilliant Dr. Steinmetz had carefully taken the “corona effect” into consideration when he designed the first power systems. The wires were spaced and insulated in such a way as to prevent the effect from taking place. Steinmetz’s system has been constantly improved upon. Today, most modern power plants are equipped with a “corona meter,” which tells them instantly if a spark or corona is building up anywhere along their lines.

  In 1966, an electronic engineer named Phillip Klass dusted off the electrical plasma theory and tried to reopen the whole subject. He garnered a lot of newspaper space, such that the aimless and thoroughly disproven concept again roused the ire of the UFO buffs.

  There may really be a natural explanation for many unidentified flying objects, but we haven’t stumbled upon it yet. What could glow so brightly that it actually burns the eyes of many witnesses, responds to light signals from the ground, dodges bullets intelligently, and makes absolutely no sound?

  For 20 years, the ufologists have told us that such things are “space ships” from another world. But perhaps they are making a mistake by lumping these lights together with the large, metallic objects that have often been seen in broad daylight and which might possibly be “space” ships.

  In hundreds of reports, these “metallic” objects have been described as gigantic in size (in contrast to the lights, which are often only a few feet or even a few inches in diameter). Portholes, fins, and other distinguishing features have frequently been observed on these mysterious objects. Are these huge machines hiding in our forests and plains, or are they based at the bottom of our oceans? Or could it be that some of these things are “alien” after all?

  Let’s open Pandora’s box a little further… If some of these larger craft are “alien,” and if they are visiting our planet repeatedly without establishing open and direct contact with us, then they must have another, unsuspected purpose. If some – or most – of the observed UFOs are based here, then it might be plausible to assume that the alien visitors are engaged in social or commercial intercourse with the “beings” occupying those theoretical bases. The visitors may be coming from the home base of those other beings, and may be bringing in supplies, additional personnel, etc., to establish new bases.

  Should this be the case, the visitors may very well have hostile intentions. They could busily be setting up a sufficient number of secret bases, prep
aratory to launching a sudden and totally unexpected attack against us. If the visitors come from a great distance, it might take them many years or even centuries before their terrestrial bases would be strong enough to launch such an attack.

  In the meantime, it would be necessary to keep us from suspecting anything. A program of psychological warfare would have to be instituted to keep us in confusion and blind us to the presence of the bases and the reconnaissance craft being used to study us, examine our strengths and weaknesses, and plan the ultimate attack. The strongest technique would be to engineer situations that would create a curtain of ridicule around the whole subject of unidentified flying objects, instill fear in the accidental witnesses to UFO operations, and avert official recognition or study of the phenomenon.

  Apparently, this is precisely what is being done.

  The rapid increase in reported UFO activity since 1964 indicates that new bases are possibly being installed and expanded throughout the world, under our very noses and without detection. If some of these UFO “bases” have always existed here, perhaps they have been somehow enlisted to participate in the visitors’ operation. To keep us off-guard, we have occasionally been contacted and given messages of peace and goodwill, and handed a “line” about the visitors’ place of origin and motives. The circulation of such stories kept the avid UFO believers off-guard and, at the same time, made the whole subject seem even more ridiculous to the skeptics.

  Thanks to the UFO buffs’ 20-year campaign to convince everyone that the “flying saucers” were from outer space, no one has thought of looking for an answer closer to home. While everyone has been studying the skies, searching for a clue to the origin of the UFOs, the objects and their occupants may have been happily nesting in our very midst, quietly preparing for their “D-Day.”

  Astronomers and physicists have tediously repeated the same arguments against the possibility of extraterrestrial visitations for 20 years. Everything we know about the planets in our own solar system seems to rule them out as possible sources. The nearest star is four light-years away and, according to our concepts of celestial mechanics and the limitations of our own technology, it would be virtually impossible to travel that distance within a human lifetime. But we cannot overlook these sobering facts:

  1. Entities from another star system would probably have a technology completely different from our own

  2. They might also have a much longer lifespan – or even immortality

  3. They might know many things about the universal laws that we have not discovered, or even suspect

  In other words, the factors that seem like insurmountable problems to us might not even exist to them.

  Now, let us assume that such an extraterrestrial race exists and that interstellar travel is no problem to them. This is a mighty big assumption, admittedly, but there are some extraordinary “facts” to support a very interesting hypothesis. The alien race might have “discovered” the Earth in prehistoric times and established a base or two here, far removed from the areas where man was then living. Perhaps the giants and dwarfs were the most advanced lifeforms on Earth then, and they were either driven into hiding by the aliens, or were drawn into a compact with them.

  As the centuries passed, the aliens found it expedient to enlarge their bases on Earth. Perhaps they found that their home planet was orbiting a dying star and they realized that they had to find a new home. If all of the contact reports contain a grain of truth, then they closely resemble us and come from an environment similar to ours. Therefore the Earth might be more suitable to them than any other planet in our solar system, or even in the entire galaxy.

  But while they were preparing to evacuate their own planet, we were breeding rapidly, and also progressing technically. Recognizing this, and realizing our fierce, warlike nature, the aliens were forced to adopt a subtle, long-range plan – a plan to commandeer our planet as suddenly and as painlessly as possible. Additional bases would have to be established prior to the final, overt action. We would have to be kept either totally unaware of their activities, or confused and uncertain about it all. As the plan neared completion, more and more people would have to be enlisted to help prepare the way for the arrival of the final armada. The evacuation or transfer would be an enormous operation, and the ultimate “takeover” would be on a global scale. It would probably be achieved in a single day of our time.

  More and more, the massive numbers of UFO sightings in 1966-67 seem to uphold this “hostility theory.” The obviously covert activities of the objects in remote, thinly populated areas, far removed air force bases, radar nets, and major military installations further indicates a planned operation based upon the element of surprise. In addition, we are confronted with the enigma of the unidentified people who visit UFO witnesses in these areas, and harass or threaten them into silence.

  Reports on the activities of these mysterious individuals are now coming in from every state, and the government denies knowledge of their identity. Most of these “mystery men” are described as being dressed in dark clothing, and they are said to be dark-skinned with Oriental features. In a number of recent cases, very tall individuals with unusual features have also turned up, sometimes accompanied by females who usually have red hair. They use ordinary automobiles for transportation, but rarely have a license plate visible.

  Could it be that a “Fifth Column” is now operating amongst us, preparing for the final stage of the UFOs’ unknown plan? In 1967, there were over 1,000 inexplicable power failures reported in areas of intense UFO activity, and something new was added – telephone failures. Phone companies have their own power supplies. During the Great Blackout of Nov. 9, 1965, the telephones continued to function in the stricken Northeast. Since then, telephones have become an object of distrust among ufologists. Innumerable UFO witnesses report bizarre telephone problems after revealing details of their sightings to the press or to local UFO investigators.

  Many ufologists throughout the country received strange threatening calls this past summer, warning them to get out of the UFO field. Whoever is committing these “hoaxes” must have either unlimited funds (for monumental phone bills), or they must possess the technical equipment necessary to cut into the phone system. To accomplish the latter, they would also need a thorough knowledge of how the telephone system really works. It is improbable that this kind of telephone interference could be accomplished by equipment aboard objects hovering in the air. It would almost have to be done from the ground. AT&T is “baffled,” and apparently unable to do much about the complaints pouring in.

  In a speech before the 1967 Congress of Scientific Ufologists in New York City, Prof. Gordon Evans, a political scientist and one of the best of the “serious-minded” ufologists, suggested that we may have made a grave mistake by trying to simplify the subject. “You don’t simplify the extraterrestrial,” he said. “You give him more credit than hitherto.” in other words, if the UFOs are from an extraterrestrial source, they are apt to be up to something far more complex than a simple aerial survey of our planet.

  UFOs are a part of man’s long history on this planet. If they are extraterrestrial, and there is no evidence either contemporary or historical to prove this, then they have deliberately chosen to remain aloof of us. If they are of terrestrial origin, then they come from a group that has carefully remained hidden from us; or else they represent a natural phenomenon beyond the understanding of present-day science.

  We have tried to find a simple answer to something that may be extremely complex. The amateur ufologists have struggled to support the extraterrestrial thesis, despite the contrary evidence and the clear indications that the objects have been operating consistently in specific areas. When the UFO buff has been followed by a black Cadillac containing men in dark suits, he has reasoned that he was being harassed by the CIA or “government” because he “knew” that the UFOs are manned by three-foot tall Martians. When his phone misbehaved – apparently “bugged” – he was sure that th
ose same “government agents” were out to “shut him up” and destroy his collection of yellowing newspaper clippings.

  Unfortunately, the UFO buffs have spread their anti-Air Force and anti-government paranoia until, today, the general public is whispering about a conspiracy to suppress UFO information. As a result, fewer and fewer people are reporting their sightings and experiences to the government. And this may be precisely what the “aliens” had in mind all along. How could the government take any real action, or investigate the situation properly, if they have been cut off from their central source of information – the public at large?

  Maybe it’s all a sucker’s game, and we’re the ones who have been the suckers. So long as there are UFO skeptics in government and out, and so long as there are people who cannot comprehend the meaning of events, the UFO controllers can continue to play this game with us. They could hide a flying saucer a mile from your home, and you would never even realize it. Even if you saw that saucer every night for months on end, you would be more apt to believe that it was coming from Mars every night, or that each object was a different one. Such is our present fallacious line of reasoning.

  The 1964-67 outbreak of rarely publicized incidents in the air and on the ground should, at the very least, impel us to launch a crash program to find out exactly what these things are, and what they are really doing here. Our government spends millions of dollars annually on such things as fisheries and studies of butterflies, but the Air Force could only filter out $500,000 to a handful of physicists and psychologists at the Univ. of Colorado for UFO investigations.