I realized after the last couple days of posts that I have been kind of harsh on the 'field' that is affectionately referred to as Ufology. I don't think that just pointing out flaws is a necessarily effective way of changing something for the better. So with that in mind I will be taking the next couple of days to offer some solutions to one of the bigger aspects of mainstream Ufology. Namely that of the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis as the solution to the occupants of these apparently intelligent, structured craft that seem to defy physics as we understand it at this moment in time.
The first alternative that I wish to take a look at is actually one of the more recent ones. It's the late Mac Tonnies Cryptoterrestrial Theory. In his excellent work, The Cryptoterrestrials, Tonnies offers an excellent thought experiment in the form of a short book published posthumously. Tonnies examines the UFO phenomena and it's attendant occupants as not visitors from distant galaxies, but rather as our literal oh so terrestrial brothers. Tonnies speculates that perhaps at some point in the past our species could have split and formed to separate species. Mac envisions that these entities may have diverged from us on the evolutionary path not in necessarily profound ways. They could, if necessary, pass for one of us at your local supermarket.
For Mac the most significant way that they would most differ from us is in regards to the field of Psychotronics. Or in other words they would have a technology of the mind. To compliment our own physical technologies. Mac does a wonderful job with weaving many different threads together as he essentially plays with different ideas, without ever truly settling on one. I can't stress that enough, many people that initially received the book responded with such venom and criticism. They frequently lamented that by accepting Mac's 'theory', the field would be in essence returning to the days of the Shaver Mysteries. Beware the Hollow Earth and all that jazz. I can't help but wonder if the people who wrote these things about Mac's book ever even read it. Actually I will go out on a limb and say that they definitely didn’t. There is no way you can read his book and come to the conclusion that Mac had at any point truly believed his theory was nothing more than a thought experiment, is definitely missing the point.
I can't say it enough you really should read this book, if only for the fact that Mac was willing to think outside of the box in order to try and solve the UFO enigma. Did he think that he had it right? No, but I think he knew what he was doing would be important. You can follow this link to order the book, and I also highly recommend you looking in the links section for mac's blog Posthuman Blues and of course his website mactonnies.com. Both are very fascinating reads. I will leave you with a little post from Mac's blog that I think really sums up what his theory was.
Friday, September 29,2006
Every few nights I get out my laser pointer and indulge my cats in a frenetic game of "chase." Cats are natural hunters, and they're effectively incapable of not looking at the quickly moving red dot that I project onto the carpet, walls, or any piece of furniture that happens to be in its path.
To my cats, the red dot possesses its own vitality. It exists as a distinct entity. While they may see me holding the pointer, they can't (or won't) be distracted by such things once the button is pressed and the living room is suddenly alive with luminous vermin. So they chase it. And chase it. And, if they get close enough, even take swipes at it -- in which case I make the dot "flee" or disappear in what seems like a concession of defeat (which, of course, only further arouses the cats' predatory curiosity).
To my cats, the red dot possesses its own vitality. It exists as a distinct entity. While they may see me holding the pointer, they can't (or won't) be distracted by such things once the button is pressed and the living room is suddenly alive with luminous vermin. So they chase it. And chase it. And, if they get close enough, even take swipes at it -- in which case I make the dot "flee" or disappear in what seems like a concession of defeat (which, of course, only further arouses the cats' predatory curiosity).
All the while I'm controlling the red dot, I'm taking pains to make it behave like something intelligible. Just waving the pointer around the room wouldn't be any fun. So I make it "climb," "jump" and scuttle when cornered -- even though the laser's impervious to obstructions.
This sense of physicality seems to be the element that makes chasing the laser so engaging -- both for the cats and for me.
I can't help but be reminded of our continuing search for assumed extraterrestrial vehicles. UFO sightings demonstrate many of the same aspects of a typical feline laser hunt: mysterious disappearances, "impossible" maneuvers and a predilection for trickery -- the apparent desire to be seen despite (or because of) a technology presumed to be far in advance of our own. More than one UFO researcher has noted that UFOs behave more like projections or holograms than nuts-and-bolts craft . . . an observation that begs the nature of the intelligence doing the projecting.
According to astrophysicist Jacques Vallee, UFOs are part of a psychosocial conditioning system by which perceived "rewards" are doled out to reconcile for the dearth of irrefutable physical evidence. The phenomenon -- whatever its ultimate nature -- obstinately denies itself, thus enabling the very game it's intent on playing with us.
We see that sudden spark of red light; we pounce. This time we'll catch it for sure.
This sense of physicality seems to be the element that makes chasing the laser so engaging -- both for the cats and for me.
I can't help but be reminded of our continuing search for assumed extraterrestrial vehicles. UFO sightings demonstrate many of the same aspects of a typical feline laser hunt: mysterious disappearances, "impossible" maneuvers and a predilection for trickery -- the apparent desire to be seen despite (or because of) a technology presumed to be far in advance of our own. More than one UFO researcher has noted that UFOs behave more like projections or holograms than nuts-and-bolts craft . . . an observation that begs the nature of the intelligence doing the projecting.
According to astrophysicist Jacques Vallee, UFOs are part of a psychosocial conditioning system by which perceived "rewards" are doled out to reconcile for the dearth of irrefutable physical evidence. The phenomenon -- whatever its ultimate nature -- obstinately denies itself, thus enabling the very game it's intent on playing with us.
We see that sudden spark of red light; we pounce. This time we'll catch it for sure.
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