More recently, Harvard psychiatrist John Mack believed that anyone who works with people who claim to have been abducted by aliens from outer space is just crazy. A year later, his perspective changed drastically when he met Budd Hopkins, a pioneer in the field of alien studies with experience working with about 200 "abducted."
“Nothing I encountered in my nearly 40 years as a psychiatrist prepared me for what Hopkins told me,” Mac wrote in his latest book, Abductions.
When Hopkins later introduced him to the four abductees, he was impressed by the coherence of their stories. “None of them showed any symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorders, except that they were greatly alarmed by what happened to them.
There was no indication that their stories were the product of delusional visions or fantasies, or false interpretations of dreams. None of these people are like those who would make a strange story for personal gain. " He was also impressed by the "consistency of their stories down to the smallest detail."
As a physician, Mack was interested in how people dealt with their strange experiences and what exactly was behind it all. In his book, he tells how he worked with 76 such people (47 of whom are women) who remember being taken inside a strange aircraft; they displayed appropriate emotional responses without any sign of mental breakdown that could lead to such stories.
“Working with them deeply impacted me,” writes Mack. "The intensity of the emotions and energies that emerge as the abductees relive what has happened cannot be compared with anything I have previously encountered in my practice."
Mack believes this is much more than just a topic for psychology magazines or discussions with students, as it has "important philosophical, spiritual, and social implications." Most of this shocked his scientific perception of reality anchored in the material world.
“According to this perception, the mind is to a large extent a manifestation of the brain activity of the brain of a person or other advanced beings. If, on the contrary, the mind is perceived by us as something already existing in space, such perception is an example of 'subjectivity' or a projection of our mental processes.
Promotional video:
“The phenomenon of abduction led me (I would say - irreversibly) to the vision that we are participating in the life of the universe or universes, filled with intelligence, from which we have cut ourselves off, having lost the feelings with which we can comprehend it. It has also become clear to me that our limited worldview or paradigm lies within destructive patterns that threaten the future of humanity - mindless corporate acquisitiveness that penetrates deep differences between rich and poor and exacerbates hunger and disease; ethno-national violence leading to mass killings that could escalate into a nuclear holocaust; and the destruction of the environment at a scale that threatens the survival of life on Earth."
Mac considers the abduction experience along with other influences that currently challenge traditional scientific wisdom, i.e. such as near-death experiences, the practice of meditation, the use of psychedelic substances, and shamanic practices that lead to an altered state of consciousness. While there is a tendency to associate the abduction phenomenon with UFO sightings, Mack notes that many ancient myths tell about the communication of people with inhuman minds and spirits.
“The modern scientific principle that we are alone in the universe is essentially an anomaly, a minority point of view,” notes Mack. “Through the centuries and eras, people have reported contact with many gods, spirits, angels, fairies, demons, ghouls, vampires and sea monsters. All of them have instructed, directed, persecuted people, or formed friendships with them for different purposes and with different motivations.
While many of these creatures felt quite at home here on Earth, most of these creatures came here from other habitats or other dimensions. Heaven, in particular, has always been considered a haven for non-human beings and has become a common symbol for extraterrestrial dimensions, especially in recent times, when earthly limits have shrunk significantly. As Ralph Noyes noted, “We used to live on Earth with spirits and gods. Now that we have driven them out, heaven has become their home."
The traditional belief of the indigenous inhabitants of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean in the outer worlds corresponds to a certain extent to the modern concept of outer space. The Hopi Indians believe that their teachers were Kachinas, spiritual beings from other planets.
According to Irish folklore, fairies originated on other planets and travel across the sky in cloud-like subdued boats or "ghost ships". Koryaks in Siberia remember the mythical era of their Great Crow, when people could easily ascend into Heaven. In short, numerous myths, fairy tales and legends tell us about creatures that fly into the sky and travel freely between heaven and earth. Mack believes that nowadays, abducted UFOs "continue the extensively documented tradition of ascension to heaven and communication with extraterrestrial beings."
Folklorist Peter Roycevich refers to the possibility of the existence of "mind, spirit, energy, consciousness, which is behind all kinds of experiences of collisions with UFOs and non-human entities and adapts its shape and appearance to fit into the environment of a given time."
He cites as an example a long history of observing unusual aerial phenomena, objects or creatures consisting of light, as well as observed in antiquity “celestial carts, chariots flying through the sky, shining flying palaces that floated across the sky … Fire crosses were also visible over western Europe.. In the United States in the 1800s. the Americans watched the ships sailing across the sky. These ships in the sky may have been related to modern UFOs, but have been interpreted according to the technology and mythology of the time.
Psychologist Mario Pazzaglini points out that UFO sightings have been recorded over the past 10,000 years, beginning with Ezekiel in the Old Testament, when a vision containing wheels, angels, light and clouds is described. Since ancient times, people have seen lights in the sky, crosses, light or rays of light, and ghosts; much of this has been explained as religious miracles. Such phenomena often fit into pre-existing spiritual beliefs held by observers.
The phenomenon of transferring people to other dimensions also has a long history in most cultures. Tibetans believe that people can separate the "etheric" or "subtle" body and go on journeys outside the body that last for hours or days.
“Mind or consciousness created by grosser matter cannot communicate with these subtle entities,” says the Dalai Lama. “For some people, the gross level of the mind is suppressed and the more subtle level is activated. Then there is an opportunity, a chance, to see another being, more subtle than our mind or body."
Jacques Valle, in his books "Measurements" and "Passport to Magonia", describes hundreds of cases of observation of objects moving in the sky and their passengers - at different times, on different continents and in different societies. He mentions the seemingly inexplicable presence of discs in the symbolism of various civilizations; for example, the Phoenicians and early Christians associated them with communication between angels and God.
He compares some aspects of the phenomenology of UFO encounters with historical records of mystical experiences. The rays of light usually play a role in both encountering UFOs and colliding with entities during out-of-body experiences.
Vallee says that these creatures appear in different forms, have extraordinary abilities, and often try to take something belonging to people, or communicate with them and make fun of them. “UFO passengers, like elves, are not extraterrestrials. They are inhabitants of another reality,”Valle believes. "The interaction of the abducted with the aliens is part of an age-old and widespread myth that has shaped the structure of our beliefs, our scientific expectations and our view of ourselves."
Vallay believes that the UFO phenomenon constitutes proof of the existence of dimensions outside of space and time. Edgar Cayce also spoke about other dimensions ('4th dimension' January / February): “Perhaps UFOs do not come here from ordinary space, but from the multidimensional sphere of being, which is located around us and whose existence we so stubbornly refuse to take into account despite the evidence that has been at our disposal for centuries."
Dr. Mack invites us to open our minds to study phenomena that we have not yet comprehended. “The most egregious question is: is there any reality independent of consciousness? At the level of personal consciousness, are we able to directly comprehend reality, or are we bound by the limitations of our five senses and the mind that organizes our worldview?
Is there a common, collective consciousness operating outside of our individual consciousness? If collective consciousness exists, how is it influenced and what determines its content? Are UFO abductions a product of this shared consciousness? If consciousness penetrates through all elements of the universe, then what role do such events as UFO abductions and various mystical experiences play in our consciousness and in the entire space?"
UFO abductions are similar to other dramatic paranormal experiences, in the process of which the individual consciousness of an individual is radically transformed. A person is initiated into an altered state of being, which ultimately leads to reintegration of himself, immersion in states previously inaccessible to him."
Sometimes this process is caused by illness or injury, and sometimes a person "is simply drawn into a sequence of states of being, in which he acquires new abilities and heightened sensitivity." The shaman learns to penetrate into other dimensions of reality, in which he acquires a sensitivity that allows him to perceive and integrate this new experience. " Like many abductees, the initiate is honing his new receptivity to serve wisdom that can be used by his people.
The experience of assimilating what is initially perceived as light from the outside often takes place during mystical insights or transcendental journeys leading to spiritual rebirth, says Mac. “A mystic or shaman, like a kidnapped person, makes a pilgrimage, usually filled with zeal, in order to gain new experience or knowledge. This includes rebirth, which in itself can be very traumatic - a return to a supernatural, primordial state with the goal of realigning the experiencer's consciousness."
Mack views the abducted person as “a modern Dante, whose ontological attitudes underlying his worldview are revealed in the process of this experience. Upon returning home or in his car after spending time with aliens, he tries to reassemble his worldview. Most often, he goes on his journey alone, and in most cases, his absence remains unnoticed by those to whom he could turn to confirm his coordinates."
Dr. Mack believes that most abductees experience an expansion of consciousness and personality transformation. Occasionally, “the information transmitted by aliens basically boils down to the need to change human consciousness and our relationship to Earth and to each other. Even the helplessness and loss of control, at least initially imposed by aliens - one of the most traumatic aspects of this experience - seems 'engineered' to cause a kind of ego death, which can be followed by spiritual growth and expansion of consciousness."
One of the abductees, Sarah, described her experience as “dimensional fusion… because it didn't actually happen here. It happened half here and half somewhere else."
Katherine remembered the "place" she was between incarnations on Earth. In this "place" the bodies are not dense, but appear only as a kind of energy circuit. “It was a very, very, very, very long time ago,” she explained. “This was before any of us lived here. This place is in a completely different universe. It is not in our space-time dimension."
Anna had the ability to connect time frames, as if she were functioning simultaneously in different periods of time. "It's real. This is not philosophy,”she insisted. "I can really move to other time frames and my experiences pull me from other time frames here."
Abductees often refer to their experiences as "dreams," says Mack, which may be a euphemism to cover what they cannot be - "namely, an event that happened in another dimension and from which they could not wake up." Mack says he often saw “upset, even tears,” on the faces of the abductees when they realized that the experience they had decided for convenience as a dream had occurred in a kind of completely 'awake' or conscious state, however great. from what is familiar to them.
The problem is compounded by the fact that dreams are an important way of processing and internalizing the experiences of the day. Therefore, it is not surprising that, since the abduction itself is a powerful and disturbing experience, it can contribute to the occurrence of genuine nightmares or dreams that reproduce in altered form the experience of the abduction, even during the same night as the abduction."
How can such a traumatic experience be spiritually transformative? Mack says, “I don’t see any inconsistency in this, unless we link spirituality exclusively to the subtle realms free of pain and struggle. Sometimes the most rewarding spiritual training and growth comes from the hands of ruthless teachers who pay little attention to our egos, our psychological defenses, or established points of view.
Zen Buddhism is well known for its shock therapy methods. You can go even further, proving that true spiritual growth inevitably traumatizes, as the boundaries of consciousness break through and we open up to new spheres of being."
The kidnapped people discover that the universe itself is intelligent. “They develop a sense of reverence for the mysterious cosmos, which in their eyes takes on a soul and becomes sacred. The sense of separation from the rest of creation is destroyed and the experience of oneness becomes the main aspect of the evolution of the consciousness of the abducted."
What can we learn from the phenomenon of abduction?
Mack believes that “the use of modern technology to pull resources out of the Earth is bringing the biosphere to the brink of collapse. We are a biological species out of harmony with nature, broken off the chain in indulging our desires at the expense of other living beings and the Earth, which gave us life. The task of reversing this trend is of immense importance. Even if we recognize the danger we have created, the vested interests that stand in the way of balancing our relationship with nature are menacing in scope.
Huge corporate, scientific, educational and military organizations consume billions of dollars in wealth and maintain a state of paralyzing stagnation that is difficult to reverse. Because entangled in the networks of international business, the world has become nothing more than a giant market, divided among the most impudent entrepreneurs."
Mack believes that we are resisting changing our understanding of space. The US government funded the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, SETI, suggesting that extraterrestrial intelligence could be found using radio waves sent into the universe. "The expectation of receiving a radio signal from an extraterrestrial source," noted the philosopher Terence McKenna, "is a culturally rooted misconception, like looking for a good Italian restaurant deep in the galaxy."
The mystery behind the kidnapping is a threat to the elite and a particular problem to the government because the government’s business is to protect the people. “Recognizing that strange creatures from radar-free aircraft that ignore the laws of gravity and space / time itself are invading our homes and abducting our people is a big problem,” says Mac. "This could explain why the government's policy on UFOs has been so convoluted from the start, a kind of twisted denial and cover-up scheme that can only fuel conspiracy theories."
The abduction phenomenon encourages us to “discover the meaning of our 'power' in a deeper, spiritual sense,” says Mack, hoping it could distract the world's peoples from their struggle to dominate the Earth and from exploiting nature without regard for future generations.
"Rampant growth has become an end in itself, ignoring the inevitable collapse that comes nearer as the population grows uncontrollably and the plunder of the Earth continues." The UFO abduction phenomenon is “intricately linked to the nature of human greed, to the roots of our propensity for destruction, and to the future consequences of our collective behavior. For the abducted and for all others who wish to listen, this phenomenon leads to enlightenment in its fullest sense."
Western religious leaders may find it difficult to grasp the meaning of abductions, but the religious traditions of the East, which have always recognized the presence of a wide range of spiritual entities in space, embrace the phenomenon of abduction more easily "than the more dualistic monotheism, which so strongly opposes this phenomenon, does."
What does Mac think this means?
“In all likelihood, the abductions boil down to two interrelated projects: first, changing human consciousness in order to prevent the destruction of life on Earth; the second is the crossing of two species to create a new evolutionary form.
“Nothing in my work with UFO abductions has surprised me more than the discovery that what is happening on Earth has not gone unnoticed in other parts of the universe. The fact that the Earth itself and its possible destruction could have consequences that go beyond the limits of its immediate surroundings did not at all enter into the worldview in the spirit of which I was brought up.
But from the information received by the abducted, it is clear that the Earth is a valuable and important part of a wide and interdependent space system that reflects the interconnectedness of life on Earth. Thus, the kidnapping phenomenon represents a kind of remedial initiative."
A. Robert Smith is editor of Venture Inward and author of several books. In the past, Smith worked as a correspondent and columnist in Washington; his work has been featured in the New York Times Magazine, Newsday, Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post, Portland Oregonian, Virginian-Pilot and others. He lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia.