A UFO Hunter's Guide: Sightings, Abductions, Hot Spots, Conspiracies, Coverups, The Identified and Unidentified, and More - Softcover

Lueder, Bret

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1578634873 ISBN 13: 9781578634873

Publisher: Weiser Books, 2012

Synopsis

Alien abductions. Repeated UFO sightings. Conspiracies and coverups. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, UFOs are part of our culture. How to sort out fact from fiction? A UFO Hunter's Guide has the answers: the facts, figures, people, places, and events that make up the modern scope of UFOology.

A UFO Hunter's Guide features:

Competing theories about UFOs
• Famous cases and hot spots around the world
• Field tips from investigators and researchers
• An extensive list of international UFO research societies

Lueder cites the contributions and findings of worldrenowned researchers Zecharia Sitchin, William Bramley, Jordan Maxwell, Nancy Red Star, Stanton Friedman, Dr. Carl Sagan, Jacques Vallee, Raymond Fowler, and many others, along with a vast array of cases sightings, alleged contacts, and abductions.

Whether you're simply curious, or a researcher with a serious interest in uncovering the truth about UFOs, A UFO Hunter's Guide is a valuable resource.

About this title

About the Author

Bret Lueder is a journalist, author, and filmmaker. He has published numerous articles on music, spirituality and UFO's in the Chico News & Review, Magical Blend Magazine and UFO Magazine, among others. He lives in Chico, California. Visit him at www.bretlueder.com or www.esotericguide.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A UFO Hunter's Guide

Sightings, Abductions, Hot Spots, Conspiracies, Cover-ups, the Identified and Unidentified, and More

By Bret Lueder

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

Copyright © 2012 Bret Lueder
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-57863-487-3

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1: What Is a UFO?
2: Early Sightings, Researchers, and Contactees
3: Modern Research, Researchers, and Contactees
4: Top Cases and Hot Spots Around the World
5: Associated Phenomena, A–L
6: Associated Phenomena, M–Z
7: Protocols for Contact
Appendix A: The Field Investigator's Kit
Appendix B: Characteristics of an Abductee
Appendix C: Close Encounter Classification System
Appendix D: MUFON Code of Ethics
Appendix E: Sources Used in Writing This Book

CHAPTER 1

What Is a UFO?

There are many competing theories about the origins and nature of UFOs. Forexample, researchers Brad Steiger and Sherry Hansen Steiger list seventeentheories at their website, www.bradandsherry.com. In UFO: The Complete Sightings(1995) by Peter Brookesmith, there is a list of nine theories. Further, thesetheories are often categorized. In The Mammoth Encyclopedia of ExtraterrestrialEncounters (2001) edited by Ronald D. Story, the subject is divided into"conventional (unintelligent)" and "unconventional (intelligent)" encounters.

Others use terms like "natural" versus "unnatural," "material" versus"immaterial," or "physical" versus "nonphysical" to categorize, or break down,the UFO situation. Choose whatever terms feel best to you. Below is a simplifiedbreakdown that gives three categories of UFO manifestation:

• External UFO theories suggest that UFOs are phenomena that originate outsideof the human mind, whether physical, ethereal, or inter-dimensional.

• Internal UFO theories suggest that UFO phenomena originate within the humanmind—that they are psychological, spiritual, and/or inter-dimensional.

• Internal/External UFO theories incorporate the first two categories into one,several of which offer inter-dimensional explanations.

Many of these theories can be interpreted as originating in one or morecategories, depending on your viewpoint. For example, inter-dimensionalphenomena can be described as external, internal, or internal/external,depending on your definition of the word—the objects can be physical and thenmorph into the ethereal, or vice versa. They may also be physical in onedimension, go through a wormhole or stargate (see chapter 6), and also bephysical in this dimension. Or they may be ethereal in this dimension and inothers. There's really no limit to the possibilities.

I see this particular breakdown as helpful because it helps you visualize thevarious alleged dimensions and how a UFO may travel between them. It helps youimagine the many inter-dimensional theories quickly and easily and see thesubtle differences between other dimensions that are perceivable internally, aswell as ones allegedly proved by mathematicians to have originated externally. Ilike to imagine UFOs phasing from the ethereal to the physical worlds, orinternal images from within manifesting—not just as external projections,holograms, and/or hallucinations, but as physical, 3D objects. For me, it's partof the fun with this kind of research.

External Theories

The categorical breakdown, along with what I see as the most dominant theories,is listed below.

Extraterrestrial Space Craft

This theory suggests that UFOs are physical spacecraft built and operated by anintelligent species that is not indigenous to Earth. This is by far the mostcommon, popular, and prevalent theory. A variation on this theme suggests thatUFOs are inter-dimensional in the sense that they are physical craft in ourdimension and can phase into and out of other dimensions, where they are stillphysical in the context of that dimension (see www.startinglinks.net/cydoniaufo/11.htm).

Terrestrial Craft: Alien-Built vs. Man-Made

Several researchers have theories describing UFOs as being from Earth. WilliamR. Lyne finds that there is no evidence whatsoever to indicate that visitorsfrom other planets have come to Earth for any reason. His book Space Aliens fromthe Pentagon (1994) emphatically declares that all UFOs are physical craft madeby humans using technology stolen from Nikola Tesla and smuggled to Germanybefore World War I. Other researchers hedge more toward the middle. For example,William S. Steinman in UFO Crash at Aztec (written with Wendelle C. Stevens,1986, UFO Photo Archives) and Stanton Friedman, author of several books (seechapter 3) make the seemingly more rational case that some UFOs may be fromother planets while many others are no doubt man-made.

There is also a theory that claims that there is at least one advanced speciesindigenous to Earth—a species that has chosen to remain invisible to the"normal" world. In this scenario, these hypothetical beings manufacturephysical, metallic UFOs. Some say they reside inside the Earth. Some say theyare humans from the future of Earth. It may be that a combination of all fourtheories is true (see chapter 6).

Earthlights Hypothesis

First propounded in the 1970s by Paul Devereux, editor of the academic journalTime & Mind, this theory makes the case that tectonic stresses of various kindsin the Earth's crust can, under the right conditions, manifest in strange andelusive light forms. Particular mineral deposits are thought to influenceearthlights as well. Many promising UFO sightings, upon investigation, haveturned out to be some kind of light form.

Devereux told me in a personal interview:

Earthlights seem to belong to the same family of phenomena as ball lightning andearthquake lights but can sometimes show distinguishing properties and behavior,such as unusual longevity. They are exotic energy forms, which, like plasmas,can seem metallic when seen in daylight. There is a polarity effect too, in thatearthlights can occasionally appear pitch black, as can ball lightning.

These lights are often reported in conjunction with the seismic activity ofearthquakes and volcanoes and can apparently interact with the atmosphere.Researcher Michael Persinger has concluded that earthlights can generateelectromagnetic fields that can trigger hallucinations in some witnesses.Devereux advises: "It is important not to be misinformed, which is somethingufology has suffered from for decades." For more information on earthlights, seeEarth Lights Revelation (1989) by Paul Devereux, Examining the EarthlightTheory: The Yakima UFO Microcosm (1990) by Greg Long, and UFOs and Ufology(1997) by Paul Devereux and Peter Brookesmith.

Indigenous Atmospheric Beings

Trevor James Constable developed this compelling theory after studying the workon orgone by energy pioneer Wilhelm Reich. He found that UFOs were "spacecreatures" and claimed to take infrared photographs of the "plasma" beingsregularly. For more information, see Constable's classic works The Cosmic Pulseof Life (1977) and Sky Creatures (1978), as well as his work atwww.trevorjamesconstable.com. (See also chapter 6.)

Aberrant Weather Phenomena

Water spouts, tornados, rogue waves, wind shears, rare cloud formations, andelectromagnetic occurrences and interactions (including earthlights) are justsome of the natural weather phenomena that may explain many UFO sightings.

Many Bermuda Triangle books have good anomalous weather information. See, forinstance, The Fog: A Never Before Published Theory of the Bermuda TrianglePhenomena (2005) by Rob MacGregor and Bruce Gernon and The Hurricane Hunters andLost in the Bermuda Triangle (2007) by Tom Barnes. (See also chapter 4.)

Always check the local weather conditions at the time of any sighting or contactencounter, as well as before field excursions. You can find the information atwww.accuweather.com and www.nws.noaa.gov.

Internal Theories

Internal theories require the investigator to look inward for confirmation, ordenial, of any of these ideas. Although the urge will be there, the bestinvestigators will not lie to themselves about their personal experiences andwill be able to use them as a trusted reference during an investigation. Belowyou will find the main internal theories.

Psychological Phenomena

Whether or not a UFO originates from an external or an internal source, there isalways some degree of internal, psychological impact—not just on the witness orcontactee, but on society as well. Pioneering psychologist Carl G. Jung, duringhis communications with Major Donald Keyhoe (see chapter 2), proposed that UFOsightings may be the product of some type of mass hallucination and that theywere worthy of further study (see Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seenin the Skies [1978]).

Consciousness researcher and explorer Terence McKenna also sees UFOs as "an ideacomplex emerging in the collective psyche," but claims that UFOs werephenomenologically "real," or real to the perceiver. He argues:

[P]silocybin reveals an event at the end of history of such magnitude that itcasts miniature reflections of itself back into time. These are the apocalypticconcrescences that haunt the historical continuum, igniting religions andvarious hysterias, and seeping ideas into highly tuned nervous systems.

The Archaic Revival

For more information on this theory, see The Mind Parasites (1967) by ColinWilson.

Until the present era of UFOs that began in 1947, sightings and contacts wereoften viewed through a religious lens, attracting Catholic priests to performexorcisms and other rituals designed to rid a person of demons or other suchnefarious entities. Carl Sagan speaks of this in his The Demon-Haunted World:Science as a Candle in the Dark (1997), as does Jacques Vallée in his Messengersof Deception: UFO Contacts and Cults (2008).

In fact, it was Jacques Vallée who first introduced the idea that UFOs wereeither a type of evolutionary "control system" or part of one. In his classicwork, The Invisible College (1975), Vallée suggests that UFOs act as a way toshake up stale mass psychological patterns by triggering projections that fosternew kinds of thinking—UFOs among them. He suggests a possible inter-dimensionalaspect as well. Richard Haines explores this as well in his UFO Phenomena andthe Behavioral Scientist (1979).

Inter-dimensional Craft

It is hard to trace the origins of this idea because of the crossover with dreaminterpretation and traditional shamanic experiences. All three phenomena havebeen with humanity from the beginning of recorded history, and probably before.But dreamlike states are reported in association with UFO sightings andabductions to such a degree that many subscribe to the theory that UFOs areethereal, inter-dimensional phenomena that elude definitive description.

John Keel proposed that UFOs were "elemental intelligences" that he called"ultraterrestrials." These are described as being akin to the types of entitiescommunicated with during some traditional shamanic experiences. Anothervariation is Thomas E. Bearden's supposition that the psychic stresses arousedin the dream state can manifest what are described as UFOs to a humanconsciousness. Jung might describe the end result of these proposed "stresses"as a hallucination. This discussion is continued by John Keel in MothmanProphecies (1975), by Allen Greenfield in Secret Cipher of the UFOnauts (1994),and by Philip Imbrogno in Interdimensional Universe: The New Science of UFOs,Paranormal Phenomena & Other dimensional Beings (2008).

Spiritual Beings

The idea that the occupants of UFOs, and possibly the UFOs themselves, arespiritually advanced beings has grown steadily in the West as more and morecontactees come forward with similar messages (see chapter 2). In fact, manyindigenous cultures adhere to this belief, as demonstrated by Nancy Red Star inStar Ancestors (2000). Now deceased Flying Saucer Review editor Gordon Creightonheld to the notion that UFOs were used as a disguise by certain spirit beingsknown as "djinns," beings also described by Farah Yurdozu in her work (seechapter 3).

Orbs are also thought to be what are known as "Ascended Masters" (see chapter 5)who can take on spherical form and a variety of colors (see below). Theseascended beings allegedly can also choose to activate their merkabas, orreflexive mental envelopes, which allows them to travel anywhere in the universe"outside of time." The Book of Knowledge: The Keys of Enoch (1973) by J. J. andDesiree Hurtak is the prime source of this esoteric knowledge.

Internal/External Theories

Internal/external theories blur the lines between what we perceive inside andwhat we perceive outside of ourselves. How do we tell the difference? Keyinternal/external theories are listed below.

Evolutionary Control Systems

The physical aspect of Jacques Vallée's "control system" is possibly some typeof holographic projection technology that is used with the goal of eithergovernmental psychosociological studies (like how to handle crowds, etc.) butmay possibly be research into unknown natural phenomena as well, which impliesother dimensions that are perceivable both internally and/or externally. Whileacknowledging both the physical and ethereal nature of many reported UFOs,Vallée takes the position that the subject warrants serious scientific scrutinyand should be studied from both perspectives.

Fred Beckman and Douglas Price-Williams of UCLA propose that Vallée's computer-detectedUFO activity patterns resemble the kind of planned reinforcementschedule commonly used in the process of training, ironically reinforcingVallée's control-system theory (see chapter 3). He believes that UFOs are one ofthe means by which the concepts of man are organized. It is not fully known,however, who or what is doing the controlling.

Inter-dimensional Craft

These are physical craft with the capability of traversing dimensions. Severalindividuals, like James Gilliland, maintain that some of these craft can phasein and out of our reality and are both physical and ethereal at the same time.The technology here is apparently so advanced that these beings/crafts can moveabout successfully in the dream state, as well as in the "waking" world.

Because ETs can allegedly move through the dream state with such ease, it isthought that they normally operate at or around the Delta (1.5–4 Hz) or Theta(5–8 Hz) brain wave frequencies (the frequencies of deep sleep and drowsiness,respectively) and rarely enter into the Alpha (9–14 Hz) or Beta (15–40 Hz)ranges (the frequencies of being alert and highly alert). ("Hz" stands for hertzand refers to cycles per second.) See Cosmic Deception: Let the Citizen Bewareby Steven Greer (2002) and Becoming Gods: A Reunion with Source and BecomingGods II (1996 and 1997 respectively) by James Gilliland for an analysis of thisassumption.

Merkabas

Merkabas allegedly represent the highest achievement in consciousness expansionand expression. When individuals activate their merkabas, they unlock a latentpart of human consciousness. It's like having your own universe. The shape ofthis "light body" looks similar to what many believe is the classic saucer shapeof a UFO. J. J. Hurtak says that, once activated, an Ascended Master canphysically travel "anywhere in God's Creation," literally "outside of time" andto no physical detriment.

The merkaba originates from thoughts within, yet manifests in the physical, 3Dworld. The Crystal Links website describes them thus:

[It] is the divine light vehicle allegedly used by ascended masters to connectwith and reach those in tune with the higher realms. "Mer" means light. "Ka"means spirit. "Ba" means body. Mer-ka-ba means the spirit/body surrounded bycounter-rotating fields of light, (wheels within wheels), spirals of energy asin DNA, which transports spirit/body from one dimension to another.

www.crystallinks.com

Orbs

Orbs became a subject of interest in the mid-1990s. These mysterious entitiesare considered by many to be a spherical form of spiritual consciousness,possibly Ascended Masters. They appear to be attracted to loving, oftenfeminine, energy and have been photographed extensively. They can appear ontheir own, but others claim to be able to manifest these "beings" throughintention, prayer, and/or ritual (see chapter 5).

Skeptics claim that they are merely light-refraction effects from a camera'slens. But there are many photographs in existence that easily make the case thatnot all "spots" on a piece of film stem from light refraction. Orbs are alsophotographed in association with near-death experiences (NDEs). But are theyexternal ethereal phenomena or internal, possibly hallucinogenic, phenomena? Orboth? For more information on orbs, see Rickard and Kelly, Photographs of theUnknown (1980).

UFO Shapes

If merkabas have a distinctly saucer-on-saucer shape, and orbs are typicallyspherical, is it possible to glean any information from the shape of a UFO?

From a purely quantitative information-gathering approach, documenting andcategorizing what may appear to be simple, mundane shapes can have dramaticresults when cross-referenced with other sightings. By cross-referencingabduction cases, for example, researcher Wendelle C. Stevens has found thatthere may be a globally orchestrated effort to contact humanity by a specificrace of beings thought to come from the Reticulan star system. Comparing theshapes of the craft reported enabled Stevens to find other similarities, leadingto his startling conclusion (see chapter 2).

(Continues...)

Excerpted from A UFO Hunter's Guide by Bret Lueder. Copyright © 2012 Bret Lueder. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Weiser Books
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1578634873
• ISBN 13: 9781578634873
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272