Greg Bishop on one of my all-time favorite UFO encounters:
Don't Believe Too Much
The being addressed him, asking "Are you the watchman of this place?" Schirmer said sure, and after assurances that he wouldn't shoot at the ship, they took him on a short tour of the interior. The Ufonauts all wore tight-fitting uniforms with fabric that covered their heads. On the right breast of their clothing, there was a patch or embroidery depicting a winged serpent.
An image of a winged serpent? On an extraterrestrial? Readers of my "cryptoterrestrial" posts probably understand my reservations.
7 comments:
I never said that the beings were extraterrestrials, but the fact that a police officer from a small town in Nebraska in 1967 would say that this was what he witnessed brings up all sorts of questions. If he hoaxed it, why did he choose this semantically-laden symbol?
It may in fact strenghten the CT because Schirmer seems to have inadvertently tapped into something much bigger than a UFO sighting--something that reached across time, cultures, and "common sense."
I don't think he hoaxed it, because he lost his job and his wife and had to move out of town, and seemed genuinely puzzled and disturbed by the whole thing.
Weird and fascinating case all around.
Was Schirmer the cop who ran into the "alien figure" decked out in what appeared to be a tin-foil suit who ran alongside his cruiser?
Or am I thinking of another case?
And, say, didn't Betty Andreassen describe her "abductors" as also wearing skin-tight suits, with boots, and an iconic patch on their chests with a similar figure or logo? Now, that's just eerie.
Unless she somehow lifted that imagery from the Schirmer case. Consciously _or_ unconsciously.
Hi Intense--
Or am I thinking of another case?
Another case. I know the one; it also involved a police officer whose life proceeded to disintegrate after his alleged encounter.
And yes, the symbol of the phoenix figures prominently into the Andreassen mythos as well.
The winged serpent is Qetzalcoatl, the savior-god of the Aztecs (and possibly also the Maya, as I recall). This is what makes the story fascinating to my mind -- Schirmer's "abduction" sports an objective connection with human mythology.
What this connection means, of course, is anybody's guess....
A winged serpent is also related to the caduceus--the winged wand, rod or staff of Hermes, which has been the symbol of the American medical profession for a very long time.
But before the medical establishment took it as their symbol, it was an identifier of Hermes, the messenger between the gods and men in Green mythology.
In that sense, it is just as interesting a symbol for a UFO occupant to be wearing as an image of Quetzecoatl.
Wings and serpents, taken both separately and together, have a potent symbolic meaning through Judea-Christian culture as well.
All of these facts make me believe less that the UFO occupant was from outer space and more that if he is not a denizen of our physical world, then he is a projection from inner space--a creation of our collective unconscious which desires to manipulate our beliefs for one reason or another.
Hi Barbara--
Good stuff -- thanks! :-)
"Don't believe too much..."
Wise words, indeed and in fact.
I say, not only that, but don't just believe, or trust, but verify first. Then, it's not a matter of belief, but a form of empirical or deductive/inductive "fact," and at least a basis for further speculation, theory, and framework for hypothesis that allows one to continue investigation and determine how true, or not, one's presumptions or theorems may actually be by being able to build on same. Rinse, and repeat, again.
Always keep out a critical eye, especially in fields of speculation, esoterica, and the paranormal. Honesty and truth requires nothing less, IMHO. 8^}
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