Don’t Believe Too Much
Drawing by witness. Sorta looks like Phil Klass, doesn’t it?
A recent post over at Mac Tonnies’ Posthuman Blues mentioned one of my favorite UFO stories. Actually, it may have been one of the earliest abductions, and it is full of symbolism.
Early on the morning of December 3rd, 1967, patrolman Herbert Schirmer was making his rounds near Ashland, Nebraska. He saw what he thought was a truck disabled near the side of the road. As he neared the object and switched on his high-beams, Schirmer realized that it was no truck. An oval object with red lights shining from inside was hovering about eight feet from the ground. As Schirmer watched, the thing began to ascend, shooting flames accompanied by a “siren-like” sound. It passed a few feet over the patrol car and was lost from sight in a few seconds.
The incident seemed to last about ten minutes, but when Schirmer returned to the police station to write up his report, he found that he could not account for almost an hour of time. His entry in the logbook simply stated “Saw a flying saucer at the junction of highways 6 and 63, believe it or not!”
Conveniently enough, this incident took place while the (in)famous Condon Committee was still gathering information for its report on UFOs. He was brought to Boulder, Colorado to undergo regressive hypnosis with psychologist Dr. Leo Sprinkle. During the session, it was revealed that after he first came upon the UFO, Schirmer had been approached by three human-looking beings between 4.5 and 5 feet in height. He later drew a picture of the one he took to be the “leader.” The being addressed him, asking “Are you the watchman of this place?” Schirmer said sure, and after assurances that he wouldn’t shoot at the ship, they took him on a short tour of the interior. The Ufonauts all wore tight-fitting uniforms with fabric that covered their heads. On the right breast of their clothing, there was a patch or embroidery depicting a winged serpent.
Schirmer was later promoted to chief of police for Ashland, but had to quit after personal, psychological and marital problems ruined his concentration. He was haunted by the experience for years afterwards. You can hear his account on a record that was released by the Center for UFO Studies in the mid-1970s.
The thing that makes this case a significant one for me is a quote which I read many years ago. I have forgotten where this appeared, but during the course of the regressions, Schirmer said that the one being he talked to left him with this admonition: “We want you to believe in us, but not too much.”
More details on this fascinating case at UFO Evidence, or just enter “Herbert Schirmer UFO” into any search engine.
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Feb 14 2008 
February 14th, 2008 at 3:16 am
Hi Greg
Such a rich case! A segueway between the classic contactee story and later abductions. The pilots seem to be early variant greys.
When SERPO first appeared I wondered if the name was any reference to the insignia on these entities’ mission patches. It’d be interesting (if perhaps futile) to look through the USAF (or other org) patch archives to see if anything similar came up. Or perhaps this is the ‘winged serpent’ and these guys will be back on 2012
Has anyone ever classified UFOs /reports by colour? This one is red, like the Exeter NH one of a couple of years previously. it’d be interesting to look at perceived / remembered colours and associated shapes of objects.
Cheers
Mark
February 14th, 2008 at 10:16 am
I have heard of that admonition before; man, what a rich case!
And the winged serpent, Quetzalcóatl/Kukulcán/Viracocha/Gukumatz!!
PS: Greg you wrote,
“He was bought to Boulder…”
Really? How much did he cost?
February 14th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Hello, Greg.
I have been lurking about here for a year now, and have finally been moved to make a comment.
This particular case has always stuck in my mind as perhaps holding a key to the UFO phenomenon, in large part, because of the statement given by the perceived ufonaut: “We want you to believe in us, but not too much.”
I am one of those folks who doesn’t necessarily hold to the ETH, because so many of the UFO sightings involve non-physical objects and persons which so often break the laws of physics that I cannot believe that these sightings are of physical, mechanical objects which have flown their occupants across countless thousands of light years in order to make strange proclamations such as the one reported in this case. It just doesn’t make sense.
I also have been a student of the parallels between the UFO phenomenon and fairy lore from across the world, as well as the tales of angels, demons, djinn, and other semi-physical beings who interact with humans on their own terms for their own inscrutable, often nonsensical-seeming, purposes.
In my studies, which have gone on for about thirty years now, I have come to agree with Jacques Vallee that the UFO phenomenon, in part, may be a manifestation of some sort of control mechanism which helps evolve human belief, thought, and society, although, like him, I cannot guess toward what purpose, although like Vallee, and John Keel, I am pretty certain that the purpose of these beings is not necessarily for the good of mankind.
I believe that these entities or manifestations, if you will, are more likely self-serving, and need or want humans to believe in them for some reason.
Why would they desire our belief in them?
I suspect, although I cannot prove it, that our belief, our attention, and most importantly, our emotional attachment towards our beliefs in these manifestations, serves as some sort of non-physical, energetic sustenance for these beings, manifestations, UFOnauts or whatever you want to call them. Emotional responses carry a great deal of energy, and anything to which we devote a great deal of time and attention also generates personal emotional energy. It is possible that these UFO beings represent an entity or life form that is either pure energy able to project a simulated physical form, or some sort of creature which can phase between pure energy and matter, back and forth at will. (I realize that such theorizations are just as odd and improbable as physical ET’s traveling light years to come here and spook the natives, but, it also, in my mind, seems to fit more of the evidence than the ETH.)
If these UFO/Fairy/Angel/Demon/semi-corporeal beings are indeed based on energy, who is to say that they do not also feed upon energy in the form of emotion and belief?
Or, perhaps I am talking out of my bum.
I recognize that the UFO phenomenon is much more complex than my thoughts above convey. Quite a few sightings, especially the ones leaving behind physical effects, indicate a physical, possibly mechanical, object, so it is likely that my thoughts only explain some sightings and experiences and not others. I am not opposed to other explanations covering other aspects of the vast and complex set of experiences which define the UFO phenomenon.
For example, I am also convinced that many sightings of UFO’s, particularly in the US southwestern desert regions, are likely of military experimental aircraft, and that the US government has used citizen’s belief in the ETH and aliens to cover up their own top-secret activities.
Other cases may indeed be of ET’s observing our planet and the life therein. There are some cases which seem as if that is the simplest explanation for the details of those cases.
And of course, there are many mis-identified celestial phenomena, conventional aircraft, lens flares, atmospheric phenomena, and optical illusions which are not proof of anything except that people cannot always know what it is they are seeing. (Such mis-identifications do not in any way indicate mental instability or stupidity on the part of the percipients–it is more indicative of how our eyes and brain work than anything else.)
But from my perspective, many UFO cases seem to indicate that they are human interactions with some sort of chameleon-like chimerical entity, which seems to want to us to believe in it for whatever purpose of its own, and will transform its shape, name, and folklore, to best interact with individual humans and human society at any given time.
Whatever these entities or beings are, they seem to like to help humans create folklore and belief systems by playing the part of “the other” for us.
That they do so makes me wary of their ultimate purpose, although it may simply be that they play these often nonsensical-seeming games with us so that they can sustain their own lives through feeding upon our beliefs. If that is the case, then I suppose I cannot help but see the relationship between humanity and whatever these critters are as a symbiotic: they get food, and we humans get our imaginations stretched and exercised in ways we may not have managed completely on our own.
Perhaps these entities have served as inspiration for social, religious and scientific advances over the years.
If that is the case, then I suppose I should not begrudge them a little bit of human emotion as food.
Or–as I said before, I could just be talking out of my hind end.
But even if I am, thinking about UFO’s and theorizing about them is very fun indeed.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Oh wow. What a great post. First, thanks for the info on that record. I just followed the link to where I can hear it- looking forward to it!
And thanks for the comment about Phil Klass- made me LOL because it was so right on.
“We want you to believe in us, but not too much.”
Absolutely fascinating. I get the feeling the same can be said for whatever intelligence is behind paranormal phenomena- perhaps it’s the same intelligence behind both UFOs and paranormal phenomena.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Also, isn’t it in Transformation where Whitley Strieber talks about taking his son’s friend back to his father and they take a wrong turn (so to speak) in New Jersey and end driving down a street where all the houses look strange and have carvings of snakes on them? They try to find that neighborhood again and never can.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Awesome first post Helgarde! While I might not agree with everything you say I think you might be onto something when you say, “But from my perspective, many UFO cases seem to indicate that they are human interactions with some sort of chameleon-like chimerical entity….and will transform its shape, name, and folklore, to best interact with individual humans and human society at any given time.”
Anyway, I like your non-dogmatic, open minded approach and my own thinking on this is much closer to yours than the ETH hypothesis so often esposused by folks like Stan Friedman.
And Greg, that record is INCREDIBLE! So fantastic to get to listen to all these famous voices in the field of ufology. So glad you posted the link again as I didn’t see it the first time around.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I’ve heard the Herb Schirmer audio before and his account is one of those that’s fairly hard to dismiss outright much like Lonnie Zamorra’s case. Was this an alien abduction/encounter case? I see it more as an exotic encounter case. Sounds like a crypto-terrestrial encounter to me. Encounters with little humanoids who behave strangely and have magical powers/ advanced technology have been reported by humans before we had written communications. Could the greys be their latest pyschic illusion to keep these/we overgrown primitives out of their hair?
February 14th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Helgarde:
I’d say that I personally agree with pretty much everything you wrote.
February 14th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Queerer than we can suppose…I find
much to agree with in Helgarde’s post-
but I don’t think there is only one
explanation for the UFO phenomena ( above and beyond the prosaic explanations of the hardened debunkers.)
February 14th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
…but I have to point out that the
sketch looks remarkably like Leonard Nimoy in his first screen role-a Martian
in ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE…
February 14th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Mark,
The object wasn’t red, it was metallic with red lights shining from the inside. Perhaps I did not make this clear. When Schirmer sent inside, the light source was apprently from a glowing red “cone” -like thing on the ceiling of the main “cabin,” which the alien dude said was part of their power source.
I like the case becuase there were no medical examinations or anything, just a friendly tour (unless you count the “green fog” that was shot at the witness, and the device that was applied to his neck that sent a shock through his body.) The “leader” also said that Schirmer would one day travel through the universe, but I don’t think that ever came true.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
RPJ,
Corrected the typo. Thanks.
You try and write something meaningful every couple of days and not make a mistake!
February 14th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Helgarde,
Thanks for your first comment. Like Nick says, I pretty much agree with it all. It looks like our best choice is to screw the sense of it all and have fun, possibly learning something about ourselves and the nature of reality and cognition on the way.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Craig,
I didn’t know that about Nimoy. Did you listen to one of his songs I posted last year?
February 15th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Awesome and really facinating post Greg.
P.S. Not that this has anything to do with this post but…I just happened to totally stumble across an article you wrote for a book put out by Disinfo a few years back. That was a great article too. (for some reason I was paging through the book looking for an article by someone else that I wanted to re-read)
February 16th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
That idea of apparitions fitting into expectations is one of the main features of a ‘daimonic’ encounter.
Notice the witness has drawn a ’star’ right on the throat (communication) chakra. And there’s even an ‘arrow’ pointing right at it!
February 17th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
And there is an uppercase, bold “I” on the left chest area, over the heart, and in line with the serpent badge on the opposite chest area. I love UFO stories that feature snakes–a very intriguing DNA idea.
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
There is a 33 minute video of Schirmer talking:
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=8551429834022761290