Volume 1 (1999/2000)
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Volume 2 (2000/2001)
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UFO's
The New School of Thought
Catherine Howard
Regina Mundi, Cork
Catherine Howard (Regina Mundi, Cork) reviews Alien Dawn: An Investigation into the Contact Experience by Colin Wilson
I have just finished reading Alien Dawn: An Investigation into the Contact
Experience by Colin Wilson (published by Virgin Publishing Ltd). Only
a few minutes ago, I closed the book and sat here, overwhelmed (and slightly
confused) at the implications of the theories Wilson had highlighted in
his book. All of them are part of a new school of thought on UFOs.
A few years ago, right about the time that The X-Files first aired on
TV, I developed an interest in UFOs and the now tired question of whether
or not we are alone in the universe. I devoured book after book of fantastic
tales, thinking everything I read just had to be true, convinced that
little green men were visiting earth and abducting and conducting experiments
on people.
However, over time, my thirst for UFO knowledge dissipated. Then, last
week, I had to stop off at the library on the way home from school with
a friend who had to collect some books for her mother. My friend was -
justifiably - embarrassed at the prospect of having to select a few of
the literary masterpieces that are Mills & Boon, and forced me to
stand in the same aisle while she commenced with the formidable task.
(I guess if anyone came along I was supposed to create a diversion). As
I edged my way down the aisle, away from the offending M&Bs, I caught
sight of Alien Dawn and my interest in alien life and UFOs was instantly
rekindled. But it seemed that, along with myself, UFOlogy had grown up
somewhat since last we'd met and had now emerged as a serious science.
The focus of modern UFO debate, on the surface, appears to be who they
are, what distant planet they come from and what exactly are their reasons
for colonization. It is the discussion of such things that separates the
die-hard UFOlogists from the Trekkies. And no, aliens are not yet another
conspiracy theory. They don't threaten, they warn offering help not war.
These entities and associated phenomenon are trying to open our eyes to
what's really in front of them. They are not a different race, necessarily;
they have just moved past the evolutionary rut homosapiens find themselves
in and are trying to let us know that we must make a change.
The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left-brain and the
right brain. The left and right brain are two entirely different people.
The left-brain handles logic, language and other practical matters. It
is referred to as the dominant hemisphere. The right brain, on the other
hand, deals with intuitions, feelings and the recognition of patterns.
Normally, the two sides operate on completely different wavelengths. But
if they were to act together we would gain amazing powers: have out-of-body
experiences (OBEs); see people, things and situations that are happening
somewhere else and; possess a host of telepathic powers. Some find that
they have the ability to travel back in time and see the past. Even W.B.
Yeats experienced some of these remarkable right-brain powers. He described
how once, when he had been thinking intently about delivering a message
to a fellow student, the student had suddenly 'seen' Yeats in his hotel
hundred of miles away, where Yeats planned to send the message. Yeats
had no recollection of appearing to his friend. Many of those abducted
by aliens reportedly gain these powers.
The
thing is, we all possessed these abilities at some point and some of us
(such as Uri Geller) still retain these powers. Somewhere in history,
perhaps when humans began to form villages, towns and cities, our path
emphasised the left-brain road. We need the left-brain to concentrate,
it 'scans' our lives everyday looking for problems and obstacles. It acts
as a filter to the messages the right brain sends us so that we can carry
on living normal lives.Scientific discovery, the invention of the car,
the plane, the atomic bomb, the computer, etc. resulted. But man has become
trapped in a left-brain universe. In this position, we can only deal with
the present, the now and fail to contemplate the extent of true consciousness.
There are several levels or types of consciousness. High-pressure consciousness
is the dominant influence of the right brain. For example, when you walk
out into the sun on a beautiful spring morning you'll notice your surroundings
more than you would on, say, a rainy morning. Ultimately, you're paying
more attention and you feel more alive. Low-pressure consciousness is
when the signals from the right-brain are ignored or filtered out, in
order to concentrate. Modern humans don't have the choice to decide whether
the right or left-brain dominates, our evolution has already decided for
us. Therefore, when the left-brain isn't being used as much as it can
be, our right brain cannot step in and keep us amused with some telepathy.
Instead, with nothing to do our the consciousness slips into a kind of
hypnosis or boredom!
According to Wilson the 'aliens' are probably coming to warn us of what
will happen if we continue to develop as a left-brain species. They have
already passed this phase in their evolution and are now coming here to
warn us. In fact they have taken a step further and have begun a breeding
programme. Breeding programmes, the human species as an alien experiment
and alien-hybrid babies are all mainstream UFO theories. But what is interesting
is one researcher's belief that we're not supposed to know that they are
here. In Biblical times, alien craft tried to disguise itself as religious
events. Then when we developed technology, aliens took the form of weather
balloons and planes and military spy craft.
Another point raised by UFOlogists is whether we know what is 'real'.
Wilson makes an extremely scary comparison to highlight this point. He
compares the human race on Planet Earth to a science fiction story called
'Outside' by Brian Aldiss. Six people - four men and two women - live
together in a house that appears to have no particular location. Each
morning, they go and look in a storeroom, where each day's food appears
magically. All day they stay in the house and play cards and when night
comes they go to bed. It never occurs to them to wonder what they are
doing there or how they got there. One night, one of the men, named Harley,
feels strangely ill-at-ease and forces himself to stay awake after the
rest of the house have gone to sleep. During the night, he sees one of
his housemates get up and go into the room where their food appears. But
this time, there is a door that leads outside. Deeply disturbed, he goes
and wakes one of his other housemates. He tells them that there is a way
outside and that they should investigate, but as he speaks, his housemate's
flesh seems to dissolve and he turns into some kind of insect. Harley
eventually finds his way outside. He is filled with a desire to discover
where he came from, and why he's here. He feels cheated by all the years
he remained in the house. He sees buildings and runs towards them, opening
the door to a lighted room.
A man sitting behind a desk in the room tells Harley that it has taken
him four years to get out of there. Then he begins to explain. Earth is
under attack by a race of insect like creatures called Nititians. They
come to Earth, kill human beings and assume their place. They maintain
their human body by a form of self-hypnosis. They have been conditioned
to act exactly like human beings.
A group of five Nititians have been captured and placed in a secure environment,
with one human as an observer. And because the human does nothing but
sit around and play cards all day, so do the Nititians. They never ask
why they are there are how they happened to get there. They just accept
the reality they are presented with.
The man Harley saw leave in the night was the human observer. As Harley
realises the implications of what he' s been told, he begins to protest,
'But I'm not a Nititian.' But as he does so, he feels his body beginning
to dissolve and take its true insect form.
Scary thought. Finally, reports on work of Andrija Puharich, a man who
worked closed with Uri Geller, who now studies profoundly gifted children.
"You wouldn't believe how many of those kids are out there. They
seem to be on genius level. I know dozens, and there are probably thousands."
Wilson wonders if this is the beginning of the change that the 'aliens'
are working on.