Point of Convergence

As many of you may know, I recently had the opportunity to make a presentation at a very unique and powerful conference event held in the heart of Manhattan, titled “An Inquiry into Anomalous Experiences and the Phenomenon”. The event turned out to be a smashing success, both in terms of the inspiring quality of the presentations being made by a group of speakers that included yours truly, Garry Nolan, Mitch Horowitz, Tim Grieve-Calrson, and Sean Esbjörn-Hargens, but also - just as, if not more importantly - in terms of linking together a group of passionate researchers, experiencers and enthusiasts from all around the world. That feeling of a cosmic family coming together was palpable throughout. The organizers of the event, James Iandoli of Engaging the Phenomenon, and Jay Christopher King of the Experiences Group - both good friends of mine - did a wonderful job in planning for and executing this unique event. In the end, I would say the event came off without a hitch. A great time was had by all, and - even more inspiringly - there is already a second event planned for December, and rumblings of other events of a similar nature to be held in places all across the country, and indeed overseas as well. I think this is exactly what many of us involved in the conference were hoping would happen- that this would be the catalyst for a movement, rather than just the hosting of a one-off event. Speaking of my presentation at last weekend’s event in New York City, the event organizers have been kind enough to make the audio content of my presentation available so I can now share it with all of you, my regular audience on Point of Convergence. Much of the material will be familiar to many of you - based on previous podcast episodes. That said, this probably marks the occasion when I put it all together in the most comprehensive, overarching way yet, in terms of the implications for the ultimate nature of reality. And with that said, let’s get to it: Here is the audio from my presentation at the “An Inquiry Into Anomalous Experiences and the Phenomenon” conference held last week in Manhattan, for this, the 73rd episode, of the Point of Convergence podcast.

If there’s one thing that becomes abundantly clear to those who endeavor to study the so-called UFO Phenomenon closely, it’s that it defies easy categorization. When you come across a researcher or enthusiast who claims they’ve made quick work of what’s actually going on – i.e. who’s involved, where they’re from, what their agenda is, etc, you can be sure that their conclusions have more to do with their own wish-fulfillment than with the data at hand. That isn’t to say there aren’t distinctive patterns that emerge within the totality of human experience with these various non-human others, giving clues as to the underlying reality – because I believe there are. But even amongst those distinct patterns, various elements of ambiguity still inevitably bubble to the surface, resisting simple classification and description. Indeed this ambiguity may be part and parcel of a Phenomenon that involves interaction with entities who seemingly come from domains of existence beyond our own, where perhaps even notions like space and time manifest very differently. One of the elements where this applies is in regards to how human beings interpret the nature of their experiences with these various non-human, alien others, along a spectrum ranging from positive, to neutral, to negative. This somewhat murky picture gets even murkier when one adds the element of time; for evidence seems to suggest that the longer people have to reflect on the nature of their encounters, the more they begin to see their interactions in either a positive light, or at least as a net neutral. To be sure, this is not always the case, but nevertheless, often enough to draw our attention. I already mentioned that sometimes contactees/abductees/experiencers find that their interpretation of the nature of their experiences evolves over time, given the advent of further perspective. Often this comes down to letting the ontological shock wear off a little – because, lest we forget, these are very often, at least initially, extremely traumatic experiences, where human beings encounter strange looking entities that they’ve been told their entire lives cannot possibly exist. That is not to say that trauma equals inherent negativity – in terms of the intentions of these various others. It just means that the physiological and neurological reaction to the event leaves clear evidence of PTSD for any trained therapist to find clear signs of. Beyond having perspectives change over the long haul, once in a while we find the interpretation of an experience can change almost in real-time, or, at least within a matter of days, to weeks, to months. That’s exactly what happened in a case we’re going to delve into in this episode. It involves the abduction of two teenage parents and their young infant son. Were they taken against their will? Well, that’s complicated. Were they initially traumatized by the shocking nature of the experience? Yes, absolutely so. Were they also permanently transformed for the better – to the point that their understanding of themselves and reality itself was expanded? Undeniably. And here again we see the overtones of the complexity of these situations. Why are these experiences initially so ontologically shocking, even when they can ultimately prove so positively transformative? And why and how is the element of personal sovereignty and personal agency so complicated when it comes to the subject of alien contact and/or abduction accounts? These are the very matters we’ll seek to engage with, by delving deeply into an astonishing real-world example, in this, the 72nd episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

Ever since human beings have had some sense of the immensity of the Cosmos, when we look up to the starry array above their heads in the dark of night, an enduring question emerges: How many other planets with sophisticated civilizations like ours are out there? With a thousand pinpricks of light coming through that black tapestry of the night sky, many of us logically assume the cosmos is likely teeming with life. Of course, that initial impression, based more on a hunch perhaps than solid data, has only grown stronger and stronger as our understanding of the immense scope of the universe has come more fully into view. Dazzling as the earth, our home planet is, it is but one rock circling one star in one star system amongst hundreds of billions in our Milky Way galaxy alone. And likewise that galaxy is merely one of trillions scattered across the vast expanse of the cosmos. The so-called Fermi paradox arises from the apparent conflict between the lack of clear, obvious signs of extraterrestrial life despite consistently high estimates for their probable existence. This paradox is named after Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi, who, as the story goes, in the midst of a casual conversation with fellow physicists Edward Teller, Herbert York, and Emil Konopinski, in almost the precise middle of the 20th century, exclaimed, when thinking on these matters: “But where is everybody?”, or something to that effect. It is indeed a perplexing matter. As time has gone on, we’ve gathered more and more evidence not just about how gargantuan the cosmos actually is, but how, as Dr. Ian Malcolm, a character in the original Jurassic Park movie played by Jeff Goldblum famously says, “Life finds a way”. In other words, life seems to spring up even in the most inhabitable of environments. That being the case, and considering how many goldilox-like planets must exist, even amongst the many planets that are perhaps not suited for life, where are all those civilizations? Why are we not finding clear evidence of their existence? Of course the Fermi paradox makes certain assumptions, firstly about the nature and ultimate reality of the spacetime construct we find ourselves seemingly firmly embedded within. But also about the notion that civilizations that are perhaps out there – and perhaps much more advanced than we earthlings, would not choose to interfere with our ability to perceive their existence. When you really think about it: this is a rather strange assumption to make. After all, we manipulate our environment almost the moment we gain the ability to. Why would this not occur with interstellar civilizations that have mastered interstellar and perhaps even intergalactic travel in the same way we’ve mastered intercontinental travel? And of course, last but certainly not least, there is the clear evidence, gathered not just over the course of what you might call the modern UFO era, reaching back to the early to mid 20th century, but even to our distant religious lore and early Creation myths, suggesting these Others have been here for a very long time, perhaps even predating us as beings walking this blue pearl of a planet. So, all this being the case, what does this mean? Why are we simultaneously being visited and interacted with by these various non-conventionally human others, while also being presented with a visible universe that appears starkly devoid of life? These are the compelling and head-scratching matters that we’ll endeavor to make sense of in this, the 71st episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

For those who’ve spent decades searching for answers to the elusive yet seemingly ever-present enigma colloquially known as the UFO Phenomenon, the last several years have been a whirlwind of activity and revelations. It is well understood by those veteran to this field that elements within the U.S. government spent decades not only covering up details that made it abundantly clear that there really was a there there - that we were being visited by non-human intelligences operating craft of the most sophisticated nature - but they simultaneously sought to silence those who sought to proclaim this very fact to the masses. Using a combination of scorn and ridicule, at minimum, and personal and professional tacks and even violence when necessary, at maximum, the U.S. government’s general approach to the matter of the UFO Phenomenon was to squelch public interest in this topic, while simultaneously doing it’s darnedest to understand it. Of course part of the reason why that approach remained static for so long is that the secret-keepers didn’t make much headway in terms of really getting to the bottom of the enigma. Yes, there have been crashes and crash retrievals along the way, including of craft that evidence now seemingly suggests we did manage to bring down on occasion, and there apparently have been some major technological breakthroughs as a result. But the real root of this issue still remains elusive. And here I speak of the identity of the beings who are parading around our skies with impunity, and who are interacting with, and sometimes taking aboard their craft and into what appear to be other apparent domains of existence, civilians who the military is powerless to protect. This is not to say that these so-called abductions are purely malevolent in intent, but merely to point out that, when you get down to it, part of the reason the government has kept this under wraps for so long is that they have zero ability to police the skies within our nation state borders, and thus they are failing in one of the core tenets of what makes a nation-state viable to begin with. In other words, why should a populace ascribe authority to a government when it is simply unable to ensure the smooth running of a society, with even the most basic guarantee as to citizen safety? Not only is the notion of so-called “protected air space” rendered meaningless by these Others as they buzz in and around our skies, but so too are physical boundaries like locks, doors, walls and the like. When they want, these Others can appear in your room, in the middle of the night, and there’s nothing the government can do to prevent it. And here I really do mean literally nothing. As I mentioned at the outset, the government’s about-face in recent years really has taken long term ufologists by surprise. For the first time in history, we really do seem to be on the verge of full-blown disclosure. And by that I mean, not only the acknowledgement that some of the craft and phenomena being spotted regularly in our skies are not the property of the U.S. military of any other known nation-state operator, but also that we are being visited by non-human entities, of a sophisticated nature, who seem to rank higher on the proverbial food chain than do we human beings. But we again come to the real question at hand: who are these Others? Where are they coming from? How long have they been here? What are their intentions? How many of them are there? Are they one group, or many? These are the fascinating, yet daunting, matters we’ll seek to engage with, from the vantage point of a towering 30,000 foot view, overlooking the multidimensional landscape, if you will, in this, the 70th episode, of the Point of Convergence podcast.

Over the course of the history of this podcast, I have taken several opportunities to publish a special edition of the podcast, where I answer audience questions, in a feature I call The Inquiring Mind. This week’s episode mark’s the occasion where I do this for a 4th time. Now, since the 3rd edition of the Inquiring Mind, which launched several months ago, you could say a few things have changed. Perhaps the most significant change came recently, when I posted an actual photo of myself to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. I followed that up this past week with my first two video interviews, first for James Iandoli’s Engaging the Phenomenon podcast and YouTube channel, and then for Kelly Chase’s The UFO Rabbit Hole YouTube channel. There are other interviews scheduled in the near future as well, which I will let people know about as they become available. Part of the interest that has arisen lately relates to an event I attended at the Monroe Institute back at the end of May. Regular listeners to the podcast may recall that I discussed events from that multi-day retreat in Episode 67, which was titled Human Initiated Contact: On Proactive Communication with Non-Human Intelligence. That event marked a new season in my history as a researcher of the UFO Phenomenon and its intersection with other topics of interest, such as near death experiences, out of body experiences, and psi phenomena like telepathy, psychokinesis and precognition. This new season involves me doing actual field research, where I travel to various locations to join with others in actively exploring these various points of convergence. As it turns out, at the time of the launch of this podcast, I will be away for a second time doing active field research. The fruit of that experience I hope to report on in future episodes of this podcast. These new opportunities to connect with various players in this field, including both leading researchers and individuals Joseph Burkes has deemed, prime contactees, is yet another of the many profound opportunities that have arisen since I first started this podcast, some 18 months ago. It goes without saying that I really had no idea then, the many avenues this profound path of discovery would open up before me. Here’s to that journey of adventure and fascination, as it continues to manifest in each of our lives. But for now, without further adieu, let’s get back to the matter at hand: which has to do with me answering more of the thoughtful and thought-provoking questions that you, the audience, have sent in, for this latest edition of the Inquiring Mind feature, in this, the 69th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

For those who look at the UFO Phenomenon as a primarily “nuts and bolts” enterprise, elements of this enigma that veer into the domains of the spiritual and the paranormal are often seen as superfluous to the main point of the exercise. From the point of view of traditional ufologists like this, the central point is that some kind of biologically-based alien intelligence is here, in our midst, buzzing in and around our skies - and apparently our most supposedly secure air space, for that matter - with impunity. From this perspective, the focus and the fascination lies in the sophisticated nature of the technology on display, and in the earthly presence of apparently bipedal alien life forms. Interestingly, and, I would suggest, tellingly, researchers in the distinct field of hauntology have a similar tunnel-vision focus. For traditional hauntologists the assumption is often that deceased human beings are responsible for much of the paranormal experiences people report having. And when the dead are not responsible, the aim often turns towards the so-called “spirit realm”, where angels and demons reside. For someone with only a cursory understanding of the two fields just described: namely ufology and hauntology, the assumption is largely that these are distinct and unrelated fields. The first has to do with extraterrestrials arriving from Zeta Reticuli, and the second has to do with ancestors who refuse to fade fully into the domain of the afterlife, and with spiritual entities who are meddling in the affairs of human beings, supposedly with the hopes of determining the ultimate destiny of human souls. Again, this is how these matters appear to someone with only a shallow understanding of these two fields, with a correspondingly shallow understanding of the data arising in the literature of these two fields. For those who are intimately familiar with the full breadth of said data, however, the overlap between these two fields is startling. So much so, in fact, that those who really are attempting to look at these matters with objective eyes see that this is all part of some overarching category of inquiry. Why do mysterious balls of light - often referred to as “orbs” - often show up both in cases ascribed to ufology and hauntology? Why do UFOs and aliens sometimes appear right alongside deceased human beings? These overlapping data points seemingly demand we step back and look at this from a more overarching perspective. Beyond these similarities, another fascinating and (for some) disturbing data point is shared by both ufology and hauntology. Here I speak of the so-called Hitchhiker Effect - where human beings seem to be “followed” by entities of various forms, after having had encounters of either ghosts and/or spirits, or aliens alongside sightings of UFOs. Startlingly, not only do these entities and phenomena follow people who’ve had such encounters, but they often are reported to “spread” - almost like a virus of some sort - into the lives of people who simply know the person initially “afflicted”. And this hitchhiker phenomena can then carry on the lives of such individuals for months, even years. These overlapping data points of course raise profound questions. Who then are these entities appearing in both ufology and hauntology? Have we mistook them for the wrong types merely because our categories are based more in folklore and wishful thinking than in reality? And what of us? Who are we? In other words, what are we really composed of that would allow such seemingly energetic life forms and phenomena to attach to us? And, ultimately, what do these revelations suggest in terms of an overarching metaphysical understanding of reality itself? These perplexing, astonishing and mind-bending matters are the focus of this, the 68th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

When we think back to the dawn of the modern UFO era in the 1940s, and the subsequent reports of sightings and interactions ever since - whether they be of the quintessential flying saucers, black triangles, tic tabs, or orbs, the focus has largely been on how these strange and sophisticated craft and/or phenomena seem to suddenly appear in our skies. Where are they coming from? Who are they? What is their agenda? All of these questions inevitably arise as we perceive them entering our reality. It goes without saying that it is these Others, whoever and whatever they may ultimately prove to be - whether extraterrestrial, interdimensional, time traveling humans, ultraterrestrials, or all of the above - it is they who have been in charge of the interaction with us. And it is this revelation that has set many a human being on edge. Why is this off-putting for some? Well, because we humans like to believe we’re in control of our daily lives. Of course, this fragile sense of control is only further perturbed when we learn of so-called “abductions”, where these Others, or at least a subset of them, reportedly take human beings from the comfort of their own homes and up into their craft and elsewhere. While what I just outlined describes the typical narrative around UFOs and aliens, and our interaction with them, it is not the full story. For decades now there have existed groups of curious and bold people who have sought to take the front foot - as it were - in regards to the encounters with these apparently non-human intelligences. These groups have sought to define a series of protocols around which contact and ongoing communication with these - for lack of a better term - aliens, can take place. While these attempts at human initiated contact may seem surprising to some, what is even more interesting is that the historical record has shown that these efforts have proven successful. Not always. But often enough so as to be considered effective. Of course, what this also suggests is that there really is an opportunity for a relationship here - a two-way dialog, so to speak: human to other, and vice versa. But what are the nature of these protocols? And what makes them quote, unquote “work”? And who, really, are we contacting when these efforts do prove successful? Are we being deceived, perhaps even used? Are we opening ourselves up to manipulation? Or are these interactions exactly what they often appear to be: peaceful and cooperative? Are these Others our moral superiors? Or are they just technological giants with no qualms about using less advanced species? These have always been, and will continue to be, the pressing and pertinent questions in play when it comes to human contact with alien others. Speaking of these matters, I personally had an opportunity recently to engage these very questions in a very direct, up close and personal manner, when I joined a special group of experiencers and researchers to both pursue contact, and explore consciousness, as part of a multi-day retreat. It is the nature of the experiences we had, as well as the lessons learned as a result, that are the topic of this, the 67th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

In the long history of strange events occurring in the lives of human beings, the drive for understanding has been, not surprisingly, shaped by the model of reality prevalent at the time. Thus, while our distant ancestors saw the appearance of strange, awe-inspiring non-human intelligences as a manifestation of angels and demons: entities normally bound to the spiritual domain beyond this mortal coil, modern westerners have tended to see more recent appearances of these non-human entities as the arrival of extraterrestrial entities who’ve traversed the vast expanse of outer space to get here. In both of these described kinds of encounters, the interpretation has less to do with the elements of the encounters themselves, and more to do with the overarching meaning-making model of a particular civilization. And, of course, this is not just a time-bound phenomenon. Because, even today, a Shamanistically-oriented culture is likely to see these Others in a very different light than a scientifically-minded society shaped by the values of the Enlightenment. In fact, when the gatekeepers of a particular society are convinced that certain kinds of described encounters just simply cannot be - as in modern western societies - then when these encounters are cloaked in a particularly potent degree of what is often termed High Strangeness, the event is just suppressed altogether, lest the witness be deemed mentally unstable or of questionable credibility. This of course doesn’t mean that such events don’t happen, but merely that they have no place to be categorized and analyzed within a particular framework. All this is to say, the annals of non-conventional encounters from across time serve as a kind of road map for our shifting collective attempt to describe reality itself. And to separate the understanding of these kinds of encounters from the overarching meaning model of a particular time and place in which they occurred is to miss a major point of the exercise; for these matters work hand in hand, in a coordinated and interwoven feedback loop of event and interpretation. Typically, while a certain brave subset of pioneers are willing to question the meaning model of a particular time and place, the overarching metanarrative doesn’t begin to break down - making room for new and transcendent hypotheses - until the sheer volume of outlier data has created enough collective cognitive dissonance so as to make it clear that there is no other feasible way forward than to trail-blaze a new metanarrative. Speaking of trailblazing new metanarratives, today we’re going to discuss the work of just such an individual. Donald Hoffman, an American cognitive psychologist and professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, with joint appointments in the Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, the Department of Philosophy, and the School of Computer Science, is someone who - decades ago - became convinced that the reality model that western society has been living under over the last several centuries simply cannot stand. From his perspective - and he is one of a growing segment within the scientific establishment - the data arising from diverse fields of study has made it clear that physicalism - the metaphysical view that all mental phenomena are ultimately physical phenomena, or necessitated by physical phenomena - is simply incorrect. As it pertains to the usual subject matter of this podcast, Hoffman’s work opens up new, tantalizing and explanatorily powerful ways of making sense of the strange encounters we’ve been discussing, while also offering a robust explanation to make sense of the so-called Fermi Paradox. It is the implications of Hoffman’s Conscious Realism as it pertains to the UFO Phenomenon and general paranormality that we’ll be doing a deep dive into in this, the 66th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

In the long history of the modern UFO Phenomenon, a key and iconic moment stands out as of particular import. I speak of a rumored crash of a sophisticated aerial vehicle in the desert terrain near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. The event prompted an initial acknowledgement by the government that this was indeed a moment of the greatest significance: the crash of an actual alien craft, apparently not of this world, and piloted by beings of a decidedly non-human nature. Of course, as many of us now know, that initial acknowledgement was quickly retracted, giving rise to a series of ever more mundane and suspect explanations, involving a downed weather balloon and the like. And when rumors spread that the crashed vehicle included actual entities, the cover story was that these were merely crash test dummies, mistaken for living, breathing beings of extraterrestrial origin. While many deeply invested in ufological history long questioned the official account of what happened that night all those years ago in the American desert southwest, evidence to demonstrate that the prosaic explanations were propaganda aimed at covering up something more world-shaking was scant. That was, at least, until 1997 - some 50 years after the event in question - when a retired Colonel of the U.S. Army emerged to offer a new account of what he claimed really happened that night. His claims provided sweet vindication for those long convinced that what slammed into the New Mexico desert in 1947 was anything but conventional. Colonel Philip Corso - the man making these claims - suggested not only that an alien craft really was recovered that night, but that indeed alien entities were also “at the wheel”, as it were. He even claimed to have laid eyes on one of these aliens in a later turn of fate while he was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. And his claims didn’t stop there, he also stated that he came to be involved in a scheme to take technology recovered from the craft and farm it out to American industry, in order to jump-start the American advantage over adversaries of the time such as the Soviet Union. He also suggested this was done under the cover of a “foreign technology desk”, done in such a way as to cover the tracks of the true origin of this revolutionary tech. It goes without saying that these claims are as bold as they come. If true, they are truly world-shaking - with implications that effectively rewrite not just the history of the 20th century, but once and for all settle the matter of our place in the universe. But how credible are these claims? And what historical lines of evidence exist to either support or refute them? These are the very matters we’ll seek to delve into in this, the 65th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

When strange and sophisticated aerial vehicles were first spotted buzzing in and around our skies in a series of flaps during the period of the 1940s, many assumed these represented the visitation of an extraterrestrial species. The beyond next-gen characteristics of these advanced craft – where they could travel at incredible rates of speed, hover in place, and make 90 degree turns on a dime – suggested to most that these could not logically be the property of any known nation-state actor. The technological prowess of these so-called unidentified flying objects was simply too advanced to be of terrestrial origin. It is therefore not surprising that the seemingly logical conclusion that many came to was that these simply must be visitors from beyond our planet. At first, when the barrenness of the planets of our own solar system was not yet fully realized, many assumed these to be visiting Martians or Venusians. And then as our surveying of the planets of our own solar neighborhood showed them to be lifeless, ufologists and the public alike began to wonder from which extra-solar source these beings were coming from. But again, the assumption was still that these must be visitors from “outer space”. After all, that seemed to be the only frontier we had yet to explore. Since those early days of the flying saucer phenomenon, other – and to most, more exotic – hypotheses have arisen, suggesting these Others may be interdimensional in nature, or perhaps even time-traveling humans from our future. Some researchers suggest both extraterrestrials and interdimensionals may be in the mix. In the course of that conversation, again, the assumption has been that these must be something non-terrestrial in nature, because the sophistication of the craft themselves suggest no known nation-state actor could have developed such beyond next-gen technology. However, there is one key assumption being made here: and that is that it is only the known nation-state actors: The United States, Russia, etc, that could possibly even get close to this level of technological prowess. The pertinent question to ask here is: is that a fair assumption to make? Is it only nation-state actors that we need to account for? Or is it possible that some other human group, not usually accounted for, could actually be responsible for the design and development of these UFOs – or at least some of them? Perhaps to many people’s surprise, there is a rather daunting amount of historical evidence suggesting the possibility that these craft – or again – at least some of them – could actually be the property of a rogue group of scientifically-oriented techno-military elites that may have broken off from conventional society sometime during the middle part of the 20th century, not long after, we should note, the first series of sightings of disk-like craft. But what is the nature of this evidence? And does it get even close to passing muster in terms of suggesting that a truly sequestered society might exist, in our very midst? Is it possible that some of the beyond next-gen vehicles that have been spotted in our skies might actually be of terrestrial origin, after all – even if that terrestrial origin is of a non-conventional nature – one that exists beyond the scope of our nation-state global system? These are the very questions we’ll seek to engage with in this, the 64th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.