Jul 13 2007
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Fence Sitting on UFO Contact
“Yo, dude.”
After my recent talk on contactees at the Roswell Festival, my girlfriend overheard a couple of people saying (rough quote here) “It seems like he doesn’t want to commit to anything.” They apparently continued to discuss whether I “believed” in the Contactees’ tales or not, and seemed to be upset that I didn’t take a strong stand about it. There are not many subjects in the UFO canon for which I hold strong beliefs. This is not the usual attitude at UFO conventions, and the speakers who make their audiences angry, scared, or awed get the callbacks. I was simply engaging in some fun speculation. At least I thought so.
The point of the lecture (for those who haven’t seen it) is that some of the 1950s space brother folk may have had actual experiences with extra-human consciousness, while many of them were most likely making things up. The actual title of the talk was “The 1950s UFO Contactees: A Bunch Of Liars, or an Unrecognized Art Movement?” It was sort of a history lesson, and a guess that some of them may have had experiences that they couldn’t put into thoughts and words other than “the space people are here to save us” message. The main idea of the talk was that the Contactees were sometimes a “bunch of liars,” sometimes creating “art” and often both.
Since we can’t possibly prove whether the Contacees actually met long-haired space hippies or not, how can anyone take a definitive position on the subject? Belief requires no proof, and I need some of that in a form that would convince any reasonable person. Since the contactees are one of my interests, I choose to look at them as I suppose a sociologist might do. Labeling them an “art movement” was a little facetious, but the fact that they created fanciful literature, music, diagrams, and photos makes them creative in my book. They wanted to pass along ideas that are not amenable to “normal” modes of communication. Isn’t that one of the main definitions of art?
This could apply to the entire UFO subject as well: A zetetic mindset informed by a creative approach. I suppose that’s my current philosophy.
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July 13th, 2007 at 6:36 am
Your outlook on the Contactees-as-art-movement is similar to that which I adopted for my MA thesis a few years ago. Thus, of course, I think you’re dead-on with this approach!
In order to actually get my adviser to go along with the whole “UFO” theme I had to develop a scholarly approach to the movement which did not have the aroma of belief. I ended up exploring the Contactees (and other facets of UFO belief and advocacy) as Cold War subcultures, similar to the Beats, in some ways.
I’ve been meaning to get back to my research and refine my views a bit more. Someday, I guess!
July 13th, 2007 at 8:13 am
Good post. The Contactees are a very interesting group to study. I don’t think all of them were merely liars; a whole lot more going on there, and that doesn’t mean it’s ET. Have you read Colin Bennett’s Looking for Orthon, on Adamski? (I think you said you had, once.) Great book, imo.
Greg, your book Project Beta was mentioned on C2C last night! Caller insisted what he was told by someone who insisted he “worked for the government” and met reptilians, and it’s the truth because, well, he was told it! lol.Something like that. So either the guest or Noory asked if the caller had read your book, and they encouraged him to do so. (as should everyone.)
July 13th, 2007 at 10:13 am
Greg, a discussion on your ‘beliefs’ seems rather an odd concept to begin with.
Not only do they not know you, but in my opinion, and probably in yours, belief in anything is rather liquid insomuch as everying is a moving target.
We all need open minds because, frankly, we are going to need them if we wish to keep our sanity.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
The problem I would have with the contactee proposition is:any being from another world would have immense problems with a different gravity, infectious diseases (e.g. native american susceptibility to european disease), and an utterly different cognitive-cultural-behavioral outlook such that we would be mutually unintelligible to one another. It would be fascinating to hire a private investigator & do in-depth background checks on contactees, to find out what was really going on.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Aw, don’t listen to those people. Humans want solid answers, no matter how nuts they may be. We can’t stand to just say, “Well, I really don’t know.” I *like* your philosophy, Greg.
“a guess that some of them may have had experiences that they couldn’t put into thoughts and words other than “the space people are here to save us” message.”
In the words of Puff Shaddy–True dat! If you think aliens are going to come down and get you, aliens will come down and get you. o_0 Wish I had made it in for the lecture, but I was gone by Sunday.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Ajg,
I don’t attempt to be formally academic, but I can see how anything “fun” must be excluded from academic writing. In the past I have compared Contactees to the Beats in that they were unsatisfied with the status quo as well, they just chose a different way to express their frustration. In many ways, I feel a kinship with both movements.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Regan,
Good one! It must have been Heiser, who I think I spoke to briefly at Roswell. I’ll have to thank him.
Haven’t read Bennett’s book, but I think I have it on the shelf. Have to do that now.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
uv777bk,
They were discussing their frustration with my seeming “fence-sitting” on the issues. As I have said, dogmatism will get one in hot water very quickly in the UFO subject. Also, it’s not as fun as speculation.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
misteranderson,
I try to guard myself against anthropocentric views of “aliens.” There are FBI files on many of the contactees, which indicate that some were conmen and had a history of scams to their credit. Some though, seemed to truly believe what they were saying.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Yards,
Sorry you couldn’t make it. I also had problems with seeing other lectures as I had to be at the book table most of the time.
Solid answers in the UFO field are not only no fun, they close us off to the mercurical nature of the phenomenon.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Greg,
Don’t you think it’s kind of hilarious that some of them are conmen? What colorful people! If I were a fiction writer, it would be fun to come up with a kind of Jonathon Lethem-Philip K Dick-crime noir centering around these conmen. How hard would it be to find & read these FBI files on the conmen?
July 14th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Sure sounds like the ol torture the data long enough and you can make it confess to anything. So now it appears that the fbi has data to torture the data to make some of the contactees conmen. Well the con is alive and well for anyone that has solid answers are lamb based and titled no fun. Well all you fence sitters are right it is no fun knowing the answers and the probing you receive when you try to find answers to these weird phenominas; especially, when you believe after face to face contact. If you can’t even except 1/4 of the info from supposed abductees, I guess you find it not hard to believe the real liars, those that sell off bodies for alien technology. Personally with all the hidden secret bases in canada and the states one would have to at least question the fraud that is being done and protected by the FBI, etc, plus all the UfO disinformation groups and closeminded people that fear what they haven’t seen. As it is easier to believe someone to be a conman then believe that it may just be possible that the universe has weird things just like many of the peoples on the earth. I truly feel for those that have been abducted by aliens or government aliens it would be no fun.
July 14th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
misteranderson,
Some of the files on contactees have been released and I think some are available at the FBI website.
July 14th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
sasdave,
I don’t quite understand what you’re trying to say, but I didn’t even mention abductees in the post.
Abductees to me are almost completely separate from the Contactee movement. The circumstances are different, and I do think that something strange is happening to at least some of these people–something that may have more to do with contact with extra-human consciousness than the Contactees ever experienced.
If you have a mainline to “THE TRUTH” I have nothing more to say. Perhaps some day I will receive incontrovertible evidence which knocks me off the metaphoric fence, but I will also realize that trying to convince others of this TRUTH will be an impossible task. Best to keep it to myself or communicate with others who have had similar experiences.
For now, I prefer to leave the question open, but that will never satisfy some people.
July 17th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Sorry Greg,
I guess what I was thinking was abductees and contactees are quite the same. When in the situation of being a so called contactee your life in ways gets abducted. You look at things quite differant and you look for acceptance to expressions of messages or happenings to what you have experianced. I’m sure these contactees’ were abductted first were able to be brainwashed into giving certain expressions to express. No differant then the way the FBI have files created to deal with damage control; especially, on subjects like this. I guess some have to make light or joke at these long hair hippie type aliens and label them an artmovement. Regarding a main line to the truth, it has been available and in front of our faces for some time. If you or I were able to take a tour of these so called nonexistent underground UFO bases, one may realize the real conmen are in and part of the very places that hide the truth. Truth can be a double edged sword.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Dave,
No worries.
Since “the truth” is hidden from most of us, how do we know what it is?
We are enslaved to a global corporate nightmare, but that’s something we can all understand because it’s part of human nature (the bad part of course) to be greedy. Not everyone has had experience with UFOs and aliens, whatever they are, so that requires a bit more convincing for most people.
As far as underground UFO bases, how do we know that those stories aren’t lies to cover up something else? Where does it end? I am not a fan of infinite regress.
The only way I could know about all of this for sure is if I had some sort of omnipotent view of things which is available to very few, if any people on this planet. I make very few assertions and doubt almost everything, which doesn’t keep me from thinking about things.
I did not joke about the Contactees by calling them an art movement. It was a serious attempt to look at them from a viewpoint that I hadn’t seen before. The mind control theme has been done before and has just as much validity as my mental exercise, in my opinion.
We could go on with each other ad infinitum!