A.D. After Disclosure: When the Government Finally Reveals the Truth About Alien Contact (21 page)

The idea that ancient humans believed extraterrestrials were gods was made popular in the 1970s by author Erich von Däniken. “If our own space travelers happen to meet primitive peoples on a planet some day, they too will presumably seem like ‘sons of heaven’ or ‘gods’ to them,” wrote Von Däniken, in
Chariots of the Gods
. “Perhaps our intelligences will be as far ahead of the inhabitants of these unknown and as yet unimagined regions as those fabulous apparitions from the universe were ahead of our primitive ancestors.” Von Däniken’s writing inspired others, notably linguist Zecharia Sitchin, who wrote a series of books on ancient Mesopotamia. Together, their speculations have been criticized and ridiculed by professional scientists, historians, and archaeologists, yet found expression in films such as
Stargate
and
The Fourth Kind
.

In a discussion that includes time travelers, multiverse visitors, intelligent dinosaurs, and self-replicating AI machines, let us now turn the argument around. If extraterrestrials can be interpreted as biblical angels and demons, can the opposite be true?

If there are truly angels and demons that exist as part of God’s cosmic tapestry, perhaps early humans saw them for what they truly were. Perhaps it is modern humanity, with its technology and sci-fi movies, that errs in interpreting the Others as extraterrestrials. From our perspective we like to see our ancestors as confused, but could the confusion be ours?

The late John Keel believed that UFOs were related to the demons, angels, and fairy tales of the past. The events described in that literature, he wrote, “are similar, if not entirely identical, to the UFO phenomenon itself…. Strange objects and entities materialize and dematerialize in these stories, just as the UFOs and their splendid occupants appear and disappear, walk through walls, and perform other supernatural feats.”
⁶

On various websites and ministries, many evangelical Christians have seconded this belief. Although it may strike some as odd, there are many evangelicals living in America who know chapter and verse of the UFO cover-up, can lecture at length on the difference between Project Grudge and Project Sign, and discuss famous sightings in great detail. They believe; they simply happen to disagree as to the origin and the intention of these Others.

Time Travelers

For science-fiction writers, time travel stories are catnip. Of course, they usually work best when you don’t think too much about the scenario—just as Sarah Connor mused while on the run in Mexico at the end of the first
Terminator
film.

In 1993, the first original film for the Sci-Fi (now SyFy) Channel was
Official Denial
.
⁷
Although it was about the UFO cover-up, it contained a twist ending in which the question turned out to be not where the aliens were from, but
when
they were from. The visitors were not alien after all: they were ourselves. Having bred diversity from their DNA in order to survive an environmental collapse, they had returned backward in time to save us, and thus to save themselves. The abduction of certain people was part of a protocol to follow specific bloodlines that were important in DNA development and ancestry.

Although such a left turn makes for a dramatic surprise, it also answers several questions about the Others, and in a surprisingly consistent manner. It explains why sightings increased markedly after the Second World War. That could simply be the “jump time” when the modern age began truly to unfold. It also might explain why they have been seen throughout human history. Could it be that, in a different time stream, there were
no “ancient aliens” visiting our ancestors, but that future time traveling humans made the decision to appear in our past? From our present-day perspective, we would perceive these visits as ancient when, conceivably, they might be occurring at the same time as ours.

The notion of “aliens” as extratemporals, or time-traveling humans from the future, is intriguing, if a bit convoluted. Still, the idea of the Others as evolved, time-traveling, versions of ourselves has its own puzzles and inconsistencies. If people of the future are our visitors, then presumably there is another time stream in which we do not have a UFO phenomenon—at least in the original time stream where the decision was made to go back into the human past. Or does the whole thing go in some bizarre loop? For now, at least, time-travel is only theoretical (and according to many physicists, just barely). Moreover, the full weight of UFO sightings and reports do not easily fit the time-travel thesis.

All of the Above

The universe is not only bigger than can easily be grasped, but the rules by which it operates may be odder than we realize. Given this emerging scientific reality, it may be that there are multiple extraterrestrial groups who visit us, a real life
Men in Black
way-station.

By way of analogy, if the United States is a tourist destination, why should the only tourists come from Japan? What about the United Kingdom, China, Brazil, and a hundred other countries? If there is something on Earth that is interesting to one species of intelligent life, and if the universe is “teeming” with such life, then Earth may be a destination stop for many other life forms. Even within a single group there may be multiple agendas.

We can mix it up further. If they are not all extraterrestrial, there may be multiple types of entities that are here, some of which include our other theories. We may have extraterrestrials mixing with ultraterrestrials, and neither group may think much of the “home-grown” Earth-based Atlanteans. At the same time, there may also be artificially intelligent and genetically enhanced creatures tossed in for good measure.

If the universe is as huge and diverse as we now believe it is, and life is rare enough to be interesting, but common enough to facilitate interaction, then anything is possible.

Question #2: What Do They Want?

Obviously, this is a difficult question to answer. If only we knew who they were, we might better grasp their intentions.

It is clear that whoever these Others are, they have interacted with us on their terms. This is not a relationship of equals. For many years, they have determined when they choose to encounter us, where they have encountered us, and the nature of the encounter itself.

It is distinctly possible, given the fact that we are so deep into a continuing contact without a singular disclosure event, that they want little to do with us, or at least have no desire for open contact. The Brookings Report anticipated this in 1960, stating, “If the intelligence of these creatures were sufficiently superior to ours, they might choose to have little, if any, contact with us.” As
Star Trek’s
Gene Roddenberry would put it, they might have a Prime Directive.

There is a school of thought that sees the intentions of these beings as predominantly peaceful and benign. This is the position of Dr. Steven M. Greer, director of the Disclosure Project, which has lobbied members of Congress and other government officials for full disclosure on the ET presence on Earth. “Obviously, any civilization capable of routine interstellar travel could terminate our civilization in a nanosecond, if that was their intent,” Greer wrote in the “Disclosure Project Briefing Document,” released in April 2001. “That we are still breathing the free air of Earth is abundant testimony to the non-hostile nature of these ET civilizations.”
⁸

Implicit here is the idea of social evolution leading to the elimination of suffering and want. Accordingly, civilizations older than ours would have achieved advances in everything from health to politics to resource distribution. For such civilizations, war would be unnecessary, perhaps unthinkable. With the attainment of all physical needs, the next journey would be spiritual.

Among people interested in the UFO/ET topic today, the idea is often taken further still. Some, for instance, claim that they communicate with such beings via telepathic messages or channeling. Usually, they claim that the message and intentions they receive is positive, that these beings are humanity’s teachers and even spiritual masters, nudging us to raise our level of consciousness, and possibly gain admission into a larger galactic community.

Although some of these foregoing assumptions, like those gained via channeling, are essentially unverifiable, those regarding the peaceful nature of advanced civilizations can at least be argued for or against with a certain degree of logic on either side. After all, it is not impossible to argue that if an advanced civilization came from elsewhere to Earth, they must have found a way to avoid the species suicide currently facing humanity. Somehow, they would have discovered a way based on peace, not war. Author Michael Michaud described this perspective as being a “contact optimist.”
⁹

It is not difficult to point out logical flaws in such a perspective, and indeed Michaud found it unpersuasive. First, just because the Others have not annihilated us so far, there is no inherent reason why they might not do so in the future. Secondly, possessing advanced science and technology does not indicate superior ethics or spiritual evolution. The Nazi war machine of the 1940s made use of very advanced technology and weapons for its time. Similarly, the warfare and weaponry of more recent years does not indicate any ethical or spiritual advancement on the part of humanity.

Imagine our own time-travel experiment, in which a small group of 21st-century humans were transported to medieval Europe, carrying a few of our trinkets of contemporary life. We arrange a meeting with some of the leading lights of the time, perhaps philosophers and other scholars. They would notice our clothing, which would be of a craftsmanship and functionality they had never dreamed of. They would notice that we were substantially taller than they were, and in much better health. Through us, they would learn some of the marvels of the world and universe. Then they would see our iPhones, laptops, e-readers, and bluetooth devices—and probably see them as magical, certainly as vastly beyond their wildest ideas of what was possible. They might very well conclude that we had solved all of our social and political problems, that we had discovered a way to
improve human life beyond measure, and that we must be a peaceful race; how could it be that we had not destroyed ourselves—or them—despite our awesome power?

British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking advised caution when contacting aliens. He warned that if they were to visit us, “the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” These remarks in 2010 stirred up a brief storm, particularly when he speculated that aliens might want to raid Earth for its resources and then move on. “I imagine they might exist in massive ships,” he wrote, “having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach.”
¹⁰

Oddly, Hawking seemed to be speculating about “massive ships” in some kind of hypothetical sense, but quite a few UFO sighting reports, including some by military authorities, describe truly enormous craft. One example came from the Chilean Air Force on December 16, 1978. The pilots of two F-5 fighter aircraft, on a training mission near the Chilean town of Mejillones, saw an enormous object in the sky. Each of the airborne radar systems tracked it, as did ground control, meaning there were three radar confirmations of it. The object gave a radar return equal to 10 or more aircraft carriers. It had been motionless, but as the pilots approached, it took off at an “unimaginable” speed to the west. All at once, the object vanished from all three radar screens. The Chilean Air Force acknowledged the encounter, but offered no explanation. What could it say?
¹¹

To UFO researcher Vince White, the phenomenon is disturbing. These giant ships, he wrote, “are carrying a giant something…[perhaps] whole armies over our heads…[or] hauling resources out of this world we know nothing about.… Could there be unwilling and unlucky passengers aboard?”
¹²

Perhaps they have come to help, as Greer maintains, or to take, as Hawkins suggests. Maybe they just like to observe. In the evidence gathered throughout the past six decades, there appear to be examples of each motivation.

Let us take the example of the Grays, which may well be a type of cybernetic life form. It could be that they are well suited for space travel, but less able to function at their destination. Upon arrival, perhaps they are programmed to abduct some of the native inhabitants and bioengineer bodies that would allow them to colonize. Such a plan would take quite a few generations, maybe even centuries. In our typical human impatience, we might be inclined to argue that, because they have not zapped us into oblivion, they must be peaceful. In addition to the rejoinders offered earlier, we might ask why such visitors would wage open war and thereby destroy the planet they found so desirable in the first place? Second, in their time frame, it could well be that a centuries-long takeover strategy is perfectly feasible and normal to them. Patience may be their dominant trait.

We do not know. To assume their intent is peaceful, based solely on the available facts, is not responsible. It is possible that the Breakaway Group knows the answer. It is even possible that this group has collaborated with the Others. But if any of that has happened, neither side is sharing with the rest of us.

Scientific Research

Scientists who contemplate UFO reality usually consider the Others to be researchers, perhaps in part because they want to see extraterrestrial visitors as being like themselves, only from space.