I post this talk by Alexander Wendt with some misgivings as I don’t want to be perceived as a nut job. Some of us know Wendt from his excellent work in physics and language. What I find most provocative in his talk on the suppression of UFO research is that this is the ultimate taboo, a line we must not cross. That is why I find it so compelling. It seems highly likely that if you have made contact, and have no frames of reference for such experience, you will dismiss the experience or develop some form of amnesia. My position is that these UFO experiences are not physical or mental but somewhere in between, in the liminal zones, coming at us through hypnogogia, lucid dreaming, poetry, art, and doodles on a cocktail napkin. An advanced civilization, according to Ed Snowden, would be able to encrypt their communications. And it is very likely that they could communicate telepathically to sensitive persons,in altered states of consciousness. At any rate I think this is a rich topic we should not shy away from. What if UFOs are thought-forms which we have activated? Perhaps the Aliens among us want to share the Mystery, without doing us harm?
I applaud Wendt for coming forward with this, and you as well John. This is more of a “cracking of the nut” rather than a case of an unhealthy mental nature. I see it as another acorn in the satchel of professors, scientists and other esteemed individuals coming forward to take today’s taboos out of the dark and onto the table for examination. I feel he does not provide his own speculations for good reason…give them what they can handle. What now TED? Based on the YouTube comments, the average viewer is questioning TED’s red flag. Is Wendt’s “Help Wanted” ad not a call for “good science” (see TED’s content guidelines…)?
I remember listening to this episode of What’s Your Theory last year (another one with our fellow cosmonaut @Jeremy Johnson … perhaps he is some form of extra-terrestrial life… ) in which they discuss the implications of a society that more or less universally accepts UFO’s as a given…
I would agree with you John. This is another phenomenon that you listed as a qualifier for Extraordinary Knowing - #14 by dkpierce. What I feel is different in this case from, say, telepathy, NDEs and OBEs is the “physicality” of it. In a modality that is heavy on reports from subjective experiences, having visual, objective evidence is a step in a new direction for the sciences. Or the acceptance of extraordinary science practices.
TED has no compunction about supressing (i.e., banning, deleting) talks it thinks “go too far”. Just ask Russel Targ or Rupert Sheldrake.
In light of John’s comments, though, this seems like a good time to refer to C.G. Jung’s 1958 essay “Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things We See in the Skies”, as it is very much about the liminal, at least as Jung sees it.
) in which they discuss the implications of a society that more or less universally accepts UFO’s as a given…