I AM and the Law Although Guy and Edna Ballard’s Theosophy-inspired I AM movement of the 1930s is frequently cited as the first UFO quasi-religion, Guy Ballard’s teachings never emphasized extraterrestrials; instead, he claimed to have learned high wisdom from the inhabitants of Earth’s etheric plane, an elemental level of existence not usually accessible to … Read more
Just Visiting A variant of traditional channeling is a “walk-in,” by which an extraterrestrial entity occupies a body whose original soul has voluntarily—but not irrevocably —departed. The ET assumes complete control of the body. Although worryingly close to possession, a walk-in is different because the original soul still resides in the body. Rather than possession, … Read more
She Died for the Cause By the late 1950s, popular enthusiasm for Adamski-like tales of face-to-face contact had waned. Television and tabloid journalism had given contactees a condescending and superficial raking, and mainstream America was nearly done with the idea. Hard-core UFOlogists and buffs continued to be captivated by contactee stories, but growing interest in … Read more
Revelations at Giant Rock In 1950, a man named Samuel Eaton Thompson met Venusians, who explained to him that Earth’s troubles exist because people are born under different astrological signs—making them inherently incompatible. George Van Tassel had another idea. A onetime flight engineer with Lockheed, Van Tassel had become preoccupied with religious existentialism before World … Read more
UFOs, Channeling, Quasi-Religion, and Cults “Salvation Will Come from the Cosmos! I Have Been Chosen, So Pledge Your Lives to Me!” Most people feel a deep need to believe in something: God, Mother Earth, or quantum physics; the Chicago Cubs, pyramid power, or Charlize Theron; atheism, cold cash, or the scientific method. For many, UFOs … Read more
Chupacabra Existing in a sideways relationship to alien abduction is the Mexican Chupacabra (“goat sucker”), a creature with roots in ancient Mesoamerican legend linking powerful spirits with a variety of incredible beings. Some Toltec and later Aztec art of the 10th to 16th centuries, particularly friezes and other sculpture, depicts winged beasts suggesting the god … Read more
Cooler Heads Dr. Ronald Leo Sprinkle (born 1930), Professor Emeritus of Counseling Services at the University of Wyoming, has brought a measured approach to hypnotism-based investigation of alien abduction accounts. A member of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, Sprinkle has seen UFOs on multiple occasions, and hosted the Rocky Mountain Conference on UFO Investigation … Read more
The Sting of False Memory During 1952–53, hypnosis dominated the most celebrated of all hypnotic- regression cases, when a Colorado housewife named Virginia Tighe remembered details of her past life in 19th-century Ireland, as a woman named Bridey Murphy. Whether the amateur hypnotist, Morey Bernstein, successfully regressed Tighe is unknown. Reporters began to dig following … Read more
Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy Before the 1940s, hypnotism existed mainly as one of the minor tributaries of show business. Stage hypnotism was not as lowly as horses that could count, but less honest than the man who kept multiple plates spinning on multiple sticks. People attending hypnosis shows anticipated the novel diversion of a professional hypnotist-performer … Read more
Taken . . . and Taken Again A familiar aspect of nightmares is the exhausting repetition of unpleasant situations. The dreamer feels pursued and trapped. Some abductees experience similar discomfiture because they suffer alien abduction not just once but multiple times. One of the more celebrated of those unfortunates is Debbie Tomey, who was taken … Read more
