The so-called UFO Phenomenon is a tricky affair because, no matter when and from where you enter the discussion, you’ve inevitably going to face having your assumptions and expectations stretched. Indeed, to those really paying close attention to, for instance, the wealth of experiencer data that’s been amassed over decades, it’s clear that a discourse around the nature of potential UFOs and aliens in our midst eventually leads to a much deeper rabbit hole where our place in the universe and the very nature of reality are in play.

Of course, one of the biggest leap those who enter this discussion face is the notion not simply that aliens exist “out there” - somewhere, perhaps in some corner of the vast expanse of the Cosmos, but that they’re here, and perhaps have been for as long – and undoubtedly – even longer than we’ve been looking for them.

But if that’s true, skeptics ask, why aren’t we finding clear, undeniable evidence for their presence, and, for that matter, why don’t they simply land on the White House lawn to put the matter to rest once and for all? It’s absurd to think they’re here, these skeptics confidently assert, but then chose this bizarre stealthiness.

Absurdity you say? Indeed - we’ve got that, in spades even! Welcome to the UFO Phenomenon as it actually exists, rather than how you’d like it to be based on your 21st century Western expectations and assumptions - one of the largest and most questionable of which is the belief that if they were here, we’d be able to detect them with relative ease.

Another major deeper dive into the proverbial rabbit hole comes when one comes to grips that these various others are not only here, but are actually interacting with various human beings - and that this circumstance is much more commonplace than the mainstream media and present political set would have you believe.

And even once you’ve digested that interactions really are happening, you’re then confronted by just how diverse these interactions are. Indeed, they seem to cover the proverbial gamut: from positive encounters with supportive, inspirational entities, to frightening encounters with beings who conduct obtuse medical procedures and examinations that seem, on the face of it, to be much more invasive than is necessary - especially if these beings are as advanced as they purport to be.

Yet an even more paradigm-stretching matter arises when people hear of encounters with beings that humans come to find they recognize, and even feel a pre-incarnate familial connection to. And often these encounters involve the person being reminded of a particular mission they are here - in this incarnation as an earth human - to fulfill. Of course, this brings to mind for some people the religious notion of angels and demons - as old as human civilization itself.

But these beings often arrive in spacecraft and have their own home planets. Are these the same entities as are reported in religious traditions, or different ones altogether? And how are we to make sense of these particular encounters from within the dazzling complexity that is the UFO Phenomenon? These are the very matters we’ll seek to disentangle in this, the 76th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

Being Christian: A Sermon on Baptism (featuring Fr. Paul Paino)