Looking Behind the Mask: Cosmic Trickster Phenomenon and the ETH
The study of UFOs, for the most part, is concomitant with the alleged presence of intelligent alien life visiting planet Earth. Ever since the late 1940s, when strange and highly-advanced aircraft began to appear that was unrecognizable to a majority of our military institutions in countries around the world, members of the scientific community and intelligence agencies that were bold enough to embrace the serious study of such as-yet unexplained phenomena were forced, partially for lack of any justifiable proof to the contrary, to consider whether some of the UFOs being witnessed might actually represent alien intelligence from other worlds.
Probability, on the other hand, would likely favor a terrestrial origin for the majority of our unexplained aerial phenomenon that remains unaccounted for in any official capacity. After all, while the possibility of alien life does exist, the lack of any physical evidence for this forces those of us bound to the often harsh scrutiny of scientific methodology to accept that in the lack of any such evidence, this may not be the likeliest solution to the UFO problem.
But removing the more obvious notion that many UFOs could be man-made aircraft buzzing around unbeknownst to the majority of us, there still may be other ideas worthy of consideration that, while speculative, could lead to some new understanding of the apparent separation that UFO phenomenon appears content to keep in relation to humankind and our level of awareness regarding UFOs. Thinking along these lines, my friend David Jones, editor of New Dawn Magazine in Australia, recently shared an article with me that explores some of these odd elements of Ufology, and how there almost seems to be an element of “disguise,” or even a subtle sense of “practical joking” on part of the intelligence behind some alleged forms of ongoing nonhuman contact (here, we mean specifically the variety that could be associated with UFOs and what we perceive as “aliens”). The piece, titled “Behind the Mask: Aliens or Cosmic Jokers?” was penned by researchers Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince, and is now available for viewing on New Dawn magazine’s website:
Behind the Mask: Aliens or Cosmic Jokers?
In their article, the authors touch on the seemingly inextricable association between UFOs and extraterrestrial phenomenon thusly:
“The ETH has become so dominant partly because the Magonian approach challenges our cherished consensus reality so outrageously, whereas the concept of space ships from other planets doesn’t. Also, high-profile cases such as Roswell, Area 51 and Majestic 12 – all firmly based on the ET interpretation and centred on government conspiracies and cover-ups – came to dominate Ufology in the 1980s. But paradoxically they derive from the very agencies allegedly behind the conspiracy. In fact, trace any famous case back to its source and you will find that one way or another it originated within the military and intelligence community.”
And probing that connection with intelligence agencies, the authors go on later to state a discomforting possibility: that perhaps attitudes linking UFOs and the so-called extraterrestrial hypothesis might actually be encouraged by such agencies. “They want us to think UFOs are extraterrestrial nuts-and-bolts machines,” the article says, “and the aliens are flesh-and-blood in order to divert attention from the reality that the real ‘aliens’ co-exist invisibly with us on the Earth – and are the source of all cases of high strangeness.”
This is a unique approach to understanding the phenomenon, since it does not rule out the potential for there being involvement and secrecy by government, but also does not venture to suppose our world governments are actually behind the UFO mystery. But perhaps most important of all, the necessary dichotomy is made between UFOs and extraterrestrials; this, as I outline earlier, is perhaps one of the most necessary elements to furthering our understanding of the phenomenon altogether… especially in the absence of any real tangible evidence–let along solid proof–upon which to base our preconceptions that UFOs, by virtue of remaining unexplained, must therefore be “alien.”
Image by Cornelia Kopp via Flickr.
9 Comments
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Now Micah,
Are you planning to have any guest speakers on your upcoming podcast? And might the subject of OWLS be on the docket?
Mike C!
Comment by Mike Clelland — February 12, 2012 @ 9:00 pm
Mike,
Surely not! Ha ha…
Comment by Micah — February 12, 2012 @ 9:02 pm
But what many people fail to consider, is that there might be a very well-thought purpose and methodology in the ‘clowniness’ of the UFO phenomenon.
And if people find that hard to believe, then maybe they’d want to rent Patch Adams on Netflix
Comment by Red Pill Junkie — February 13, 2012 @ 1:46 pm
My take on this? The “clowniness” or trickster element in UFO and paranormal reports may simply be a misapprehension on our part. The element left out here from the “Magonia” hypothesis is the way in which the phenomenon seems to “change” in accordance with human belief systems. During the 50s UFOs claimed to have come from “Venus” and the technology noted in contact cases seemed to adhere to the flashing-light, analog dial and vacuum tube variety that was the prevalent “high-tech” during that era.
My feeling is that the “trickster” factor may not be an element of the “other” at all but, rather, may be how our human belief systems shape what we experience. How else can we explain the “airship” phenomenon of the 1890s? The ships described often adhered to a peculiarly Victorian kind of “high tech” of the boiler plate and propellor shaft variety popularized by Jules Verne and returning to us in our day in the “steam-punk” fad.
It may not be the “others” playing tricks on us at all. It may be our own belief systems actively shaping a phenomenon whose ontological status may not directly translate to our limited material world, and more importantly, our limited human concepts of “reality” that we believe to be deterministic. This then, may represent a quantum shaping of human experience manifesting from the detritus of our Jungian collective consciousness.
The “trickster” meme may actually stem from our very human beliefs around determinism and absolutism. We think of entities as being immutably, one thing or another. They may not have any such status in our material world. They instead may be “forms” that depend as much on our concepts of reality as they do the reality of the “others”. Think about it….
Comment by Mike Good — February 14, 2012 @ 2:55 pm
Interesting thought Mike G…..
Comment by Louy — February 15, 2012 @ 10:18 am
I agree with Mike Good and have been stating as much for quite a while now.
There is NO question. Humanity as at the very epicenter of the UFO enigma. It exists because of us. That does not mean that men created UFOs much like the atheist argues that man created God. As Mike has stated, the human perception of the UFO phenomena has adaptively evolved to fit the social paradigm in which contact cases are documented.
To understand the UFO phenomena, we MUST understand the juncture of the UFO/alternative consciousness and our perception based, possibly entrained, reality system.
Again, our reality may in fact represent their “space”, or the medium through which they navigate as we experience their merger with our consciousness in any perceived UFO event. Whether that be a sighting or an actual contact experience.
There is only one reason that we do not possess UFO evidence. How can we collect that which we directly hide, unknowingly? That which our physically bound and entrained senses block out in order to maintain a survival based consensus reality and it’s typically facilitative cognition.
IMO, our own ongoing evolution is the answer.
If mankind’s sight is at a disadvantage in the dark because of his naturally developed and oriented eyesight, what must happen for mankind to possess both diurnal and nocturnal eyesight? Mutation. (precisely like the young boy’s case, which was just discovered and documented a few weeks back in China I believe)
I have a term for what Mike describes here as the trick playing high strangeness that IMO we ourselves are responsible for amid such encounters. I call it Sentient Evolution. We are the dreamers. It’s what we do best.
Comment by Anonymous — February 15, 2012 @ 5:51 pm
I agree with Mike Good and have been stating as much for quite a while now.
There is NO question. Humanity as at the very epicenter of the UFO enigma. It exists because of us. That does not mean that men created UFOs much like the atheist argues that man created God. As Mike has stated, the human perception of the UFO phenomena has adaptively evolved to fit the social paradigm in which contact cases are documented.
To understand the UFO phenomena, we MUST understand the juncture of the UFO/alternative consciousness and our perception based, possibly entrained, reality system.
Again, our reality system may in fact represent their “space”, or the medium through which they navigate as we experience their merger with our consciousness in any perceived UFO event. Whether that be a simple sighting or an actual contact experience.
There is only one reason that we do not possess UFO evidence. How can we collect that which we directly hide, unknowingly? That which our physically bound and entrained senses block out in order to maintain a survival based consensus reality and it’s typically facilitative cognition.
IMO, our own ongoing evolution is the answer.
If mankind’s sight is at a disadvantage in the dark because of his naturally developed and oriented eyesight, what must happen for mankind to possess both diurnal and nocturnal eyesight? Mutation. (precisely like the young boy’s case, which was just discovered and documented a few weeks back in China I believe)
I have a term for what Mike describes here as the trick playing high strangeness that IMO we ourselves are responsible for amid such encounters. I call it Sentient Evolution. We are the dreamers. It’s what we do best.
Comment by Jeff Davis — February 15, 2012 @ 5:54 pm
Fascinating discussion, Mike & Jeff.
If a UFO appears and there’s no one to see it, does it make any noise?
There’s definitely a very important component to the mystery hidden inside human consciousness. In the end, that might very well be the mythical ‘missing link’ for a UFT (Unified Fortean Theory) that some researchers have sought.
But there’s something that still eludes me. If we are the dreamers, and the ones that grant the phenomenon existence, or at the very least an easier manner in which to penetrate our reality by the mere fact of believing in them –the way Strieber and others have speculated– then what do we make of that enigmatic phrase that was given to police officer Schirmer:
Do dreams seek a respite from the dreamers from when dawn comes?
Comment by Red Pill Junkie — February 16, 2012 @ 6:58 pm
Adequate evening! News describing my at liberty is literally completed, proceed to journey implementation.
Comment by biottalarma — April 5, 2012 @ 7:33 am