Friday, March 31, 2006

Forget the idea of "other dimensions" for a moment. Perhaps Jacques Vallee's proposed "psychic thermostat," while a well-intentioned attempt to reconcile UFO observations with their psychosocial effects, isn't needed to encompass the weirdness of alien visitation. Forget, also, the idea that aliens are necessarily from space. (Sure, some might be, but I'll deal with them another time.)

Instead, let's assume for adventure's sake that we're sharing the planet with a flesh-and-blood offshoot of the human species. As I've tried to demonstrate, the prospect isn't as absurd as it initially seems; indeed, I expect it will seem much less so when we've learned more about our world and our relatively brief tenure here. (It bears mention that eminent primatologist Jane Goodall has defended the scientific search for "Bigfoot," a cryptohominid commonly described as enormous. Assuming a gigantic and purportedly foul-smelling primate can successfully lay low, it may be substantially easier for an intelligent technical society, with a tested capacity for stealth and a full repertoire of disinformation tricks, to dodge our radar.)

Astrophysicists discern black holes -- the invisible corpses of collapsed stars -- by detecting their gravitational influence on neighboring phenomena. Similarly, the search for extrasolar life hinges on the belief that technological civilizations -- regardless how advanced -- will necessarily betray their existence via electromagnetic emissions. Freeman Dyson, for instance, has suggested hunting for alien megascale engineering by looking for its distinctive energetic signature.

We can apply the same basic principles to the search for nonhuman intelligences here on Earth. If some UFOs are indeed the work of an indigenous race, we ought to be able to detect the inevitable "signature" it's imprinted on the planet. This confirming evidence can take many forms: anomalous fossils, genetic traces, "mystery" transmissions, and even inexplicable artifacts.

Our technology-driven world is effectively shrinking at a pace that threatens to obliterate remaining wilderness areas. At the same time, we continue to map the continents and oceans (not to mention the surfaces of other planets) with ever-improving instruments. It stands to reason that the "Ultraterrestrial Hypothesis" is testable. In other words, no matter how addicted to seclusion, a parallel society will eventually betray its existence.

But maybe they don't want to be found. Maybe they'd prefer to observe from the balcony, unseen and unsuspected, while we go about our blundering affairs onstage. If so, then they've almost certainly noticed the hazard we pose to their maintained stealth. And while they might be our technological superiors, one couldn't blame them for being at least a little concerned.





Whitley Strieber has remarked that his "visitors," the subject of the best-selling "Communion" and subsequent books that delve into the ufological, accomplish their agenda largely through stealth and cunning; their technology, as enviable as it may be, is secondary. Strieber attributes the fall-back in his encounters with nonhumans to the fact that he no longer resides in his isolated New York cabin, but in the busy community of San Antonio. Apparently the "visitors" (whoever they are) are daunted by the ubiquity of modern civilization, able to exist among us for only limited periods -- and even then assisted by considerable disguise and technical savvy.

In many ways, this would be an appalling predicament for our hypothetical ultraterrestrials. For most of human history they would have enjoyed unimpeded dominance. Humans, without a global media infrastructure, would have been easier to fool (and perhaps to exploit) than we are now. (Or do I err on the side of overconfidence?)

In almost any event, the "others" would have been compelled to misdirect us in order to maintain cultural coherence. I suspect that the prevailing notion that they hail from outer space originates from an overarching disinformation campaign with roots that predate humanity as we know it. For millennia, we've interpreted them according to the disguises they adopt, each tailored to mesh with the given paradigm. Even a cursory overview of world folklore indicates that this ability is extraordinarily well-honed; it may be their most zealously guarded secret.

However, I suggest that our abrupt transformation into a global, intricately networked society poses a grave challenge to what has traditionally been a routine effort. We may be on the threshold of some oblique form of contact; alternatively, this contact may have begun in modern times, marked by the emergence of the contemporary UFO phenomenon and the equally alarming epidemic of so-called "alien abductions."

Jacques Vallee has remarked, somewhat famously, about the possible futility of trying to look behind the curtain; what might we be confronted with? Given the opportunity, could we even comprehend what we're seeing?

Like the origin of the "aliens" themselves, this sense of existential humility may prove to be a clever construct designed to limit our perceptions.

6 comments:

JohnFen said...

w.m. bear, you make a critically important point.

Also, although Mac makes good points, it's quite easy for us to overestimate our coverage of the Earth. In fact, most of the land surface of the Earth is sparsely populated at best. I'd wager that a surprisingly large population could exist undetected even in modern times, if they put effort into it.

Carol Maltby said...

The lore of the most human Irish fairy folk, the Tuatha de Danaan, AKA the Sidhe ("shee"), is that these warrior-scholar types are full human stature. They are said to be living underground in the hollow hills, in these times.

A race living in biospheres in the bottom of the ocean, might well have craft seen leaving or entering the surface via the sea. If they had those technological abilities, interplanetary flight capabilities should not be ruled out. This could be a more satisfactory explanation for what appears to be a large humanoid face on Mars.

Carol Maltby said...

John Velez has undoubted got a cogent countering opinion on whether the Others are deterred by urban living.

As for rural, they'll pick who they pick. I can't be more than 10 miles as the saucer flies from Whitley's
original NY cabin, and I've not had experiences of his sort. And no, I don't wish to have them and I don't wish my family and friends to be plagued with them, thank you.

Mac said...

Because occult invisibility has nothing at all to do with bending light rays or some such but rather with bending the attention of others so that it goes "right around" you and simply doesn't NOTICE you!

Oh, I've got this mastered -- women *never* notice me!

Sonny said...

If there's a secret ancient civilization, and they're descended from human beings, there's nothing to stop them from blending in, learning our languages, appearing as men in black (MIB) or mysterious strangers. Even if they no longer look quite human, they could use disguises.

Regardless of what shape they are, even if they're extraterrestrial in origin, they could get on the Internet and respond to posts like this. How would anyone know the difference? If they're human in form, if you saw one sitting with a computer how would that be different from seeing anyone else using a computer? The only difference might be: They have a secret civilization to fall back on.

If their false identity life doesn't work out well for them, or they get bored with it, they retreat to the system of underground bases built by the ancients. Probably, while there they get a rejuvenation treatment that is not available in our civilization, so they can come back with a new identity and a few years off their purported age.

Their strategy of concealment has probably not been effective against modern militaries that can search for underground tunnels. This was a risk they took when they allowed the industrial revolution. Their defense must be to infiltrate intelligence agencies and claim that all of their bases are super secret defense projects. Intelligence agencies that require their highest clearance officers to have every day of their life documented since birth present a special problem. Maybe they have some of their own children within civilization, taking that risk. Maybe they control Manchurian candidates for intelligency agency positions, to do their bidding.

Another leg of their defense, if necessary, would be to influence societies to accept strangers without real proof of identity. They would especially be opposed to any society where every member is documented or authenticated in a complete way. That would mean a society they can't infiltrate and monitor to keep control over and prevent from breaking their monopoly on world rule, interstellar travel, immortality, or whatever it is they're keeping from the rest of the world instead of sharing as part of our civilization.

Now the theory at this point gets tricky. They would have an interest in making some groups on Earth act like they are part of the ancients, to help do all the political and cover up activities without the actual ancients having to do any more than give a few orders to religious and political leaders and occasionally show off some of their technology to awe them. The cultural evolution of human groups results in secret societies becoming religions, which then become mass religions and, eventually, ethnic identifications, then merely notions of ancestry with some political implications. A fractal set of ancient influenced groups is thus unfolding during each generaton in history. On the other side, those who think they are the real ancients because they have some of the technology are being set up and played by more ancient ancients. This is also a fractal set that reaches back to the civilizations founded by the dinosaurs and the very origins of life in our galaxy.

Mac said...

Sonny--

Thanks. Some good food for thought.