The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters

by Story, Ronald

  How were a medical doctor and a college professor flim-flammed by a fable that in another context few people with an IQ higher than a coat of floor wax might believe? In our defense, BS’s sessions were convincing in the extreme. He had an Irishman’s gift for blarney, a con man’s cunning, and a draftsman’s eye for specific details. As a clincher, there were surprise factors in his sessions—such as the clinically plausible hitech exam, the ghastly birth lab, and his mention of alien ennui—that electrified us because we naively assumed they were beyond his powers of invention. BS’s case remains one of the most persuasively detailed CE-3s ever, and though it made monkeys out of us for a while, chances are that it would have done the same to many of the intelligent life forms in the galaxy.

  BS deceived us just as decades of supposedly real CE-3 yarns before and since have duped other investigators—who rarely discuss hoaxers. BS’s hoax worked because we wanted to believe him, and we were seduced by his ability to spin an appealing saga. Our inadequacies were those that have afflicted the spotty history of abduction investigations from the beginning.

  The Garden Grove hoax is unusual in that we compiled a complete audiovisual and written record of a CE-3 hoaxer’s regressions, from acceptance to exposure. Also, our somewhat humbled perseverance ultimately solved a complex case without media sensationalism. More important, we began to make sense of its wealth of birth imagery, which we found was common in other supposedly real and known-to-be-imaginary cases. (See BIRTH MEMORIES HYPOTHESIS)

  In retrospect, our first CE-3 case was a stumble that we made into a giant leap: BS hoaxed us into permanent skepticism about CE-3 claims. Now I think of him as our first Imaginary Abductee. Like the subjects of that 1977 study, BS fabricated a typical and perinatally rich CE-3 narrative out of his own fertile fantasy. His case establishes that hoaxers, Imaginaries, and allegedly real abductees have more in common than proponents are likely to acknowledge. (See also IMAGINARY ABDUCTEE STUDY)

  —ALVIN H. LAWSON

  geomagnetic explanations for UFOs Dr. Michael Persinger, a neuropsychologist at Laurentian University in Canada, has conducted and published hundreds of studies showing how magnetic fields can produce UFO-like visions as well as hallucinations of saucers, “Grays,” and abductions in people subjected to the fields in a controlled laboratory setting. Beginning his research in the early 1970s, Persinger initially showed that UFO reports were statistically correlated with seismic (earthquake) activity. His results showed that increased reports of UFOs come at times when seismic activity is low or stable.

  Working with geologist John Derr and others, Persinger speculated that the tectonic stress that builds between earthquakes produces powerful geomagnetic fields. These fields, it was hypothesized, somehow affected the areas in the brain that can produce hallucinatory phenomena. One related line of speculation has asserted that plasmas are produced by a building tectonic strain in the Earth’s surface, thus creating powerful but localized geomagnetic fields. Plasmas—balls of charged air particles—are not speculative phenomena, and have been produced in laboratory settings. The piezoelectric effect, the production of electricity when a crystal is pressured or crushed—is often theorized to be the source of plasma energies that can emerge from the Earth. In addition, plasmas are believed to be related to “earthquake lights” as well as lights observed at volcanic sites. Greg Long’s 1990 book, Examining the Earthlight Theory: The Yakima UFO Microcosm does an admirable job of showing how a 1970s UFO flap on the Yakima, Washington, reservation was probably caused by tectonic strain on a ridge in the reservation covered with over 100 earthquake fault lines. The eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 is hypothesized as relieving the building tectonic strain in the region, thus accounting for the sudden cessation of UFO reports in UFO reports in the area after the pressure was relieved. Another investigator, Paul Devereux, has long theorized that charged balls of light coming from the Earth produce mental and physical phenomena in people who come close enough to observe the lights.

  Persinger’s more recent research has focused on identifying specific brain sites and specific magnetic frequencies that can produce a host of phenomena. For example, magnetic fields focused on the temporal lobe can create visions of various types. Research shows that different magnetic frequencies focused on various brain areas can, in fact, literally create abduction-like experiences as well as visions of saucers, angels, and apparitions. Persinger has speculated that “haunted” sites and places where longterm phenomena occur are situated on an area of the Earth’s surface where plasma energy is regularly released.

  The influence of magnetic fields and frequencies on human behavior is under intense investigation in laboratories across the globe. Military and medical applications are both being investigated. Publication of results from this vast arena of research does occur routinely, however the scientific journals disseminating studies are highly technical and sometimes obscure. Major university research libraries and government repositories generally carry these technical journals. The amount of research being conducted in this area is staggering. For example, the Harvard University Genetics Department supplied this writer with a bibliography of 3,000 published studies in 1995.

  Exactly how magnetic fields can produce mental phenomena is also becoming known. In 1992, the mineral magnetite was discovered in human brain cells. In the presence of a magnetic field, the magnetite in brain cells aligns itself with the field and begins to resonate (vibrate). As it resonates, ion channels on the surface of brain cells open allowing the passage of specific ions that result in the release of neurotransmitters. This produces imagery and other experiences. The textbook Psychopharmacology (Little, 1997) and Grand Illusions (Little, 1994) both summarize this process.

  Related to the geomagnetic explanation of UFOs is the proposal that electromagnetic pollution accounts for increased paranormal phenomena. Albert Budden’s Electric UFOs (1998) and Allergies and Aliens (1994) assert that electromagnetic pollution created by microwaves, transmission lines, and modern society’s proliferation of electronics has created a cesspool of magnetic pollution. Budden proposes that this bombardment of electromagnetic energy alters brain chemistry through its influence on brain magnetite. Hauntings, abductions, missing time, and paranormal experiences result from this influence. A more speculative but all-encompassing theory invoking geomagnetic energy is that proposed by Greg Little. (See also GEOMAGNETIC INTELLIGENT ENERGY THEORY OF UFOS)

  —GREGORY L. LITTLE

  References

  Little, Gregory L. Grand Illusions (White Buffalo Books, 1994).

  ———. Psychopharmacology (White Buffalo Books, 1997).

  Long, Greg. Examining the Earthlight Theory: The Yakima UFO Microcosm (CUFOS, 1990).

  geomagnetic intelligent energy theory of UFOs Building from the works of John Keel and Carl Jung as well as from geomagnetic research and neurochemistry, the present writer has theorized that the plasma energies produced by the Earth represent Carl Jung’s archetypes manifesting in physical reality. This form of archetypal manifestation can be described as intelligent geomagnetic energy forms.

  The theory begins by proposing that the electromagnetic energy (EM) spectrum is the abode of Jung’s archetypes (as Jung himself stated). The EM spectrum is sometimes referred to as forming the fences that hold physical reality together. The entire universe is bathed in constant pulses of EM energy. The human visual system is capable of perceiving less than 5 percent of the EM spectrum. The remaining 95 percent of reality is there—all around us—but unseen. A perusal of a basic text in psychology or physics will explain the EM spectrum in more detail.

  As proposed by Jung through his concept of archetypes and John Keel with his idea of “ultraterrestrials,” the intelligent energy theory proposes that UFOs, abductions, apparitional, and various other psychic phenomena are produced when the intelligent energy forms residing on the unseen ends of the EM spectrum manifest in physical reality.

  Jung wrote in several places that angels wer
e archetypal forms that could manifest into reality. This process has long been termed transmutation by occultists and occurs by an alteration of the energy form’s vibrational frequency into the narrow band of the EM spectrum perceived by the human visual system. As such, these manifestations have also been termed “spectral intrusions.”

  The theory accounts for a wide range of ancient reports. For example, in Zechariah 5:2, a flying tube 30 feet by 15 feet is described as a permanent curse of the Earth judging the deeds of men. In Zechiariah 5:6 he is shown an object the size of a bushel basket moving through the Earth. He is told that the object collects the wicked thoughts of men. Zech. 4:6-10 describes lamp-shaped objects that run “to and fro” everywhere on the Earth. These are the “eyes of God” that record everything that occurs on Earth. These “collection” devices are normally unseen but are living beings as described by the angel who showed them to the ancient prophet.

  The Hebrew Book of Enoch (translated in 1928) also contains numerous descriptions of devices used by “angels” in their work. These flying objects are described as “pipes,” orbs, and tubes. They not only record events on Earth but are used by the Watchers (fallen angels) to literally contain the souls of evil people after death. The souls of these people are then taken to the “gates of hell” where they are pushed out the tubes into hell. This ancient religious text (3 Enoch) describes the fallen angels who control these collection devices as gray in color, short like children, and having a partial humanlike appearance.

  The geomagnetic intelligent energy theory proposes that the EM spectrum is the spiritual world. The intelligent beings residing on the unseen ends of the EM spectrum can, under some conditions, come into physical reality when their frequency comes into the visible frequency range. The powerful EM fields constantly produced by the Earth (and the Sun) provide an energy source for the EM forms to utilize.

  Human consciousness is changed when in proximity to an emerging EM form because of the alteration in neurochemistry. In addition, people can voluntarily tune themselves to specific EM frequencies through various rituals and processes. Many occult practices as well as religious rites are designed to foster an attunement to specific EM frequencies.

  The theory also proposes that ancient ritual sites, including specific mound and pyramid complexes, were built because they were in areas where frequent and powerful geomagnetic fields emerged from the Earth. Many rituals were designed to allow the participants to attune themselves to the frequency of the emerging EM form. Many Native American legends relate how this process works. Three books: The Archetype Experience, People of the Web, and Grand Illusions; and a series of articles in Alternate Perceptions develop this theory.

  —GREGORY L. LITTLE

  References

  Alternate Perceptions, Box 9972, Memphis, TN 38190

  Jung, C. G. On the Nature of the Psyche (Princeton University Press, 1960, 1969).

  Keel, John. UFOs:Operation Trojan Horse (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1970).

  Little, Gregory L. The Archetype Experience (Rainbow Books, 1984).

  ———. People of the Web (White Buffalo Books, 1990).

  ———. Grand Illusions (White Buffalo Books, 1994).

  ghost rockets of 1946 Strange phenomena reported in the skies of Europe just after the Second World War, for the most part in the year 1946, have become known among the students of the UFO problem as the “ghost rocket” mystery. This UFO flap was first recognized officially when Finland announced over Helsinki radio on February 26, 1946, that “inordinate meteor activity” had been noticed in the nation’s northern districts near the Arctic Circle. Later, toward the end of May, persons in northern Sweden also became aware of unusual sights in the heavens. On June 9th, when something spewing a trail of smoke raced through the night sky over Finland’s capital city, Helsinki, at a reported altitude of one thousand feet, leaving an illuminous afterglow, public consternation became widespread. When another report was made, asserting that an unidentified luminous body giving off glowing vapor had approached the Finnish coast from the direction of the Baltic, only to turn sharply and retrace its course, a corre spondent for the London Daily Mail, stationed in Helsinki, cabled the story to England, thus arousing international interest.

  Unsure of the exact nature of the phenomena being reported, the newspapers adopted the term “ghost rocket” to explain the “missile-like meteors.” As reports accumulated at an increasing rate, suspicions grew that the Soviet Union was testing missiles over the Baltic Sea. Often, a single “ghost rocket” would be seen exploding in the air, prompting careful ground searches for fragments. According to press reports, the residue recovered after such explosions consisted of tiny particles of dark-colored, slag-like material. This seemed to reinforce the meteor theory, but it did not explain other puzzling characteristics reported by witnesses.

  People claimed that the strange objects did more than simply fall earthward, as one would expect of a meteor. Instead, the ghost rockets would fly horizontally, and sometimes even dive and climb, leap, barrel-roll, and backtrack. And while some of the objects in question crossed the sky at tremendous velocity, many times the objects reportedly moved in a very leisurely fashion. Frequently the objects sighted were not shaped like missiles, but more like common bolides, yet they would behave in an unme-teorlike manner. Expressions used in such cases were: “luminous bodies,” “balls of fire,” “cometlike,” “shooting starlike,” “flarelike,” “greenish globe,” “gray sphere,” “like a huge soap bubble,” “shining ball,” “rotating object emitting sparks,” and an “arrow-shaped object.”

  One of the mysterious “ghost rockets” of the 1946 Scandinavian wave, as depicted by artist Hal Crawford

  However, the most mysterious cases were the ones that had started the “ghost rocket” rumors. These sightings mentioned flying bodies that did not have a round, fiery appearance. They resembled wartime German V-2 rockets. Such descriptions used the words: “football shape,” “silver torpedo,” “cigar shape,” “rocketlike,” “silvery projectile,” “cylinderlike,” “missile-like,” “elliptical,” “bullet-shaped,” and “like a squash racket.”

  Although documentation is incomplete, reports catalogued to date seem to indicate that the aerial phenomena of 1946 slowly shifted southward from the Arctic, eventually reaching Portugal, Tangiers, Italy, Greece, and even Kashmir in India, by the month of September. The phenomena were striking enough to warrant official reaction from the governments of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Greece, Belgium, England, Russia, and the United States.

  Of all the nations affected, Sweden was the most alarmed, experiencing as many as a thousand sightings. Reports of ghost rockets reached a peak on August 11th in the skies of Sweden, and during the following days angry anti-Soviet editorials were published in most newspapers as tension in the country approached the boiling point. In the United States, such newspapers as the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, and the New York Times gave front-page treatment to the latest dispatches from Stockholm. The Swedish High Command, pressured by public opinion, seriously discussed the possibility that the Russians were conducting a mysterious bombardment of Sweden. The armed forces of Sweden were placed on alert and the government authorities prepared a strong protest addressed at a “certain neighboring country.” Restraining the Swedes, however, was the lack of any tangible evidence aside from the fragments of slag-like material gathered from ground searches. This perplexing problem was explained away by the Swedish military experts by the postulation of what they called: “the new explosion theory,” the idea that the ghost rockets were totally consumed by fire when they exploded and burst into flame. This hypothesis was based on a number of vivid eyewitness accounts.

  According to the New York Times, the United States felt compelled to send two top intelligence experts to Sweden to confer with the Swedish General Staff. They were General James Doolittle and David Sarnoff. Just what the two men learned about the mystery has never been revealed,
although Mr. Sarnoff told a group of electronics experts after his return from Europe that he was convinced the strange missiles being reported over Sweden were not a myth but something real.

  Aside from the exact nature of the ghost rockets, the biggest question mark about the flap was the secrecy imposed by the authorities in the nations affected. Early investigations of the riddle relied on public cooperation, and reports were often written up in detail in the press; but by July 27th, the Swedish government prohibited newspapers from printing the location of any ghost rocket. The Norwegian government also ordered that such information not be published as of July 29th, followed by the government of Denmark on August 16th. Later, on August 31st, Norway totally banned ghost rocket sighting information, while news on the continuing rocket barrage had all but disappeared from the Swedish press by August 22nd. Lending support to the fact that the mystery surrounding the ghost rockets was increasing was a story in the Christian Science Monitor which declared that the British Foreign Office had admitted that British radar experts were submitting secret reports about the ghost rockets.

  Although very little appeared in the Scandinavian newspapers at the time, the Associated Press learned that ghost rocket sightings had continued in considerable numbers right up to October before tapering off. The last official word on the ghost rocket mystery in 1946 was a Swedish military communiqué made public October 10th, remarking on the results of Sweden’s investigation. The briefly worded release asserted that, while most reports were vague, different instruments registered something definite, and that many reports were “clear unambiguous observations.” The Swedish experts claimed that some 20 percent of the ghost rocket reports appeared to be neither aircraft nor natural phenomena. Details of the 1946 Swedish investigation are still classified.

  The ghost rockets returned to Scandinavian skies in the first part of 1946 and during the early months of 1948. Even the conservative London Times acknowledged that ghost rockets were once again infesting the skies of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. According to the Times; pilots of the Norwegian Air Lines reported missile-like objects speeding along through the air, emitting bluish-green flames, and that these “missiles” were seen flying as fast as 6,700 miles per hour, traveling as much as 25,000 feet high and as low as the treetops. The 6,700 miles-per-hour clocking was witnessed and timed by the president of the Norwegian Airline Pilots Association.