At the very least, we should give serious consideration to the extent the intelligence community manipulated public perception while authoring UFO and abduction lore. Intelligence interests have been well documented and demonstrated in circumstances such as the Maury Island fiasco and the supposed contactees of the 1950's.
However, as long as we largely refuse to regularly address the Big Brother pink elephant in the room of ufology, truth and objectivity will continue to suffer. This reaches far beyond Leah Haley or any other given case.
Brewer shares some of the comments (including some of my own) left at his blog on his posts about Leah Haley and the possible involvement of government mind control programs. Some readers, like myself, find Brewer's writings on this subject a good thing, while others are downright hostile.
As I've said before, I don't know if Leah Haley is right. But I think there's a lot -- a lot -- there, in terms of government involvement of abduction events.
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| Gloira Lee (aka Lee-Bryd) |
At the same time, all this covert government activity surrounding aliens and human contact doesn't negate the reality of literal aliens. Or, what we call aliens.
Jacque Vallee wrote of hidden human manipulators in his books, Messengers of Deception the classic, but today, it seems this idea is ignored, or even, as Jack Brewer points out, met with downright hostility. Nick Redfern has addressed similar ideas of human elements deep within the government as cause for, or in partnership with non-human entities in his book Final Events. And interpretations of secret experiments as UFO related, such as Roswell, in his Body Snatchers in the Desert: The Horrible Truth at the Heart of the Roswell Story It's a thin line to walk, to consider the reality of government intentionally creating (or co-creating) alien, UFO events in secret, to believing there are underground bases containing vats full of human body parts stirred by aliens as uniformed soldiers stand by.
I keep going back to the news decades ago of Satanic abuses. The media was full of stories of individuals who insisted they had, upon regressions, recovered memories of horrific abuses, all within a Satanic setting. Animal sacrifice, human sacrifice, sexual and physical abuse of children and adults, devotion to Satan, these memories were buried until they erupted under regression. Then those tales faded away, and we began hearing more and more of alien abductions. Time lines overlap; the 1961 Barney and Betty Hill case is considered the "first" alien abduction and predates the Satanic abuse events, as do the earlier contactee encounters. But I've often wondered if the controllers were experimenting with different themes to deliver their experiments. Satanic rituals here, alien abductions there. Maybe that's ridiculous, maybe not. Maybe there's some truth there, maybe not. As I've said, it's possible a cover was needed so different settings were auditioned. It's possible they decided the alien thing worked for a long list of reasons, including the hide in plain sight idea. In other words, if there really are aliens, (and I think there are) why not further employ disinfo by using the very thing so many -- including the government responsible for these distractions -- deny exist?
I have to add, that for those who've experienced these things, they are very real. They are real. (I'll refer to my own missing time experiences: whatever, whoever, caused those missing time episodes in my life, the fact remains: my memory was fucked with, and it wasn't by me. That's real. That's wrong, whether aliens did it or humans.) Because there might be the possibility these events were manipulated by humans, or even completely created by humans (which I doubt), that is no doing of the experiencer. We have to remain absolutely sensitive to, and respectful of, the witnesses. We have to really listen to their stories, and not just wait for places where we can insert our own ideas of how things are.
6 comments:
There's one big problem with the notion that governments are distracting us with false moral panics: the government is not required because the people seek them out themselves.
Just read Charles Mackay or a history of witch trials or of mesmerism. Read sociology texts for examples of panics in other non-Western cultures.
We shouldn't dismiss the fact that people with no memory of abuse or aliens will seek out investigators who will tell them what they want to hear -- that someone harmed them.
It's sad, but we do this on our own, without manipulation. In trying to make sense of a random existence, we sometimes invent magical agents, impossible processes, and non-existent facts.
Here's an example regarding missing time. Advocates of the Hill case will always tell you the Hills left Colebrook at exactly 10:05, expecting to get home around 3 AM. Because the Hills got home at 5 AM, it is claimed the couple had two hours of missing time. But the advocates neglect to mention one crucial report:
Barney, speaking at Peirce Memorial Church, Nov 7 1965, said: "When Betty and I left Colebrook, we never remembered the exact time until we were regressed back under hypnosis. Here, I had looked at a clock on the wall, and the time was five minutes after 10 at night." (Fuller, Incident at Exeter, p. 196)
Yes, it's quite possible that the Hills' missing time is not real but a post-information effect resulting from a suggestion from Hohman and Jackson.
Something to think about, since missing time is now considered an indication of abduction.
True. Western and non-Western cultures alike, throughout history.
But one doesn't answer all, or vice versa. And the idea that outside forces, (human, non, or both) that manipulate the masses is not new, and is a good one for understanding some types of experiences, such as UFO ones.
As to the Hills, they did experience missing time, -- whether or not they were literally abducted by physical, literal aliens, who's to say. But something intentional happened to them (and it's interesting they had a close relationship with someone in the Air Force; forget the name at the moment.)
It's easy and basic enough to connect missing time with abductions and UFOs. In my case we have: UFO sighting. Missing time. To suggest they aren't connected is sort of stupid. Especially when it's happened more than once, with other people involved. Oh, wait, we were just being mystical and magical and clinging to facts that aren't there :( -- No, don't buy that. At the same time, I don't think "abduction" as I've said many times because 1) I have no memory of aliens, being inside craft, or other alien abduction 101 stuff and 2) Not so sure about literal alien abductions in the first place.
It's possible non-human energies play on the very things you noted. I suspect that, as many others have. It's all connected, rather than isolated incidents.
That's another problem with these phenomena: once people feel they've had one of these experiences, their certainty becomes very strong, even in the absence of corroboration. This is a common finding in laboratory-induced false memories.
That sounds very dismissive, I know, yet it happens. It's very frustrating to think we might make these mistakes, but it has been studied and demonstrated.
The tricky part is trying to separate psychogenic anomalous experiences from true mysteries. You have been very cautious in your own case, Ms. Lee, but as you know, many people seek out a particular explanation to the exclusion of other possibilities. Once we make up our minds, wee seek out confirmation, dismiss disconfirmation, and resist other explanations.
If we want to reduce these phenomena to one cause, to say "it's all connected," well, we must not forget we're all human.
I think we must have some modesty.
As for the Hills, the closer I look at the early reports, the less I see (I have Walter Webb's two reports).
I had no reason to doubt their trip took two hours longer than they'd planned for, though I doubted the reason. I was surprised to find there is no reliable data to place them at a particular place at a precise time. Interuppted Journey is littered with excuses for lack of data. Here's just one example: when they lose sight of the object when it goes behind Cannon Mountain, Betty looks at her watch. "She could not read the dial very plainly in the dashboard light, and never did get an accurate reading." (Fuller, p 28). Also, the Hills note when they get home that both of their watches are stopped (Fuller 33). This is repeated by proponents as evidence of an anomalous experience. But I have noticed we are never told at what setting the watches stopped. Wouldn't that help establish a time for their contact? So why is that evidence missing, like so much of the other evidence that is nonetheless part of the Hill narrative?
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You are right that the Hills had many friends in the military, usually from Pease AFB. It's funny that in her 1995 memoir, Betty has high praise for military officials; rather, she claims it's UFO investigators who coverup and deny UFO evidence!
Betty hotly criticised modern abductions; I think that would extend to MILABS too.
And, again, abduction advocates will not tell you any of this.
Thank you for the thoughtful ongoing consideration you give the subject matter, Regan. I have a personal appreciation for your efforts.
My experience leads me to believe the primary challenge in motivating people to seriously consider the extent psychological operations (and particularly abuse of involuntary human research subjects) may play significant roles in ufology is that so many people emotionally avert from the issues. Basically, the subject matter tends to upset people for any number of reasons, consequentially leading many of them to refuse to participate in objective and intelligent discussion.
The intelligence community relationships with 'contactees,' delving into psychic phenomena, delving into the paranormal, Doty, Moore and many more such circumstances all play roles in how the public came to perceive ufology, whether or not said public may be aware of the manipulation/propaganda. Add in hypnosis, frauds and an overeager UFO community, and if there is anything odd about the numbers of reported and suspected abductions, it is that there are not a whole lot more of them.
I would like to once again emphasize, however, that I am by no means suggesting such as liars, trauma or alphabet agencies account for everything that goes bump in the night. Actually, it seems to me it would be rather absurd to propose there is nothing fascinating left for science to discover. As you point out, Regan, various possibilities are not mutually exclusive of one another.
That stated, I suggest the time is past due for us to collectively let go of the propaganda and take a fearless inventory of what we truly know to be factual as compared to that which is assumed. I further suggest the exercise is futile if we omit consideration of known human technology, verified psychological operations, declassified aircraft and similar relevant terrestrial circumstances. If we claim to want the truth, we have a responsibility to honestly look for it, and I appreciate the example you are setting, Regan.
Thank you Jack!
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