Flying Saucer to the Center of Your Mind: Selected Writings of John A. Keel

by Keel, John A.

  We can now begin by recognizing the provable fact that most UFOs are paraphysical, and are part of the invisible environment of this planet. They can enter and exit our reality at will. But they have always been beyond our reach, and always will be. We are blind ants trying to comprehend the true shape and nature of an elephant. We have wasted twenty years indulging in fantasies and feuds, nourishing our egos by going on radio and TV to denounce the Air Force, the government, and each other.

  Despite our original campaign to make public asses of ourselves, skepticism is almost nonexistent. Millions of people have now seen these marvelous phantasms and accepted their existence as fact. Millions more will be seeing them in the coming years. We must re-evaluate our priorities and establish new goals. We must systematically collect all available data and reduce it to useful form, which will enable us to better interpret the overall patterns of the phenomenon. This is not an easy task, nor is there any glory in it. Today, fewer than 25 people in the U.S. are actually involved in productive UFO research. The rest are all tilting at the same old windmills, collecting the same old clippings and engaging in the same old debates.

  I am telling you now, after three years of costly investigation and research, that flying saucers do not exist; but something else does. The UFOs are merely static – noise. We must concern ourselves with the signaler that is sending out that noise. The only possible way to do this is to launch a sensible, systematic study. Kenneth Arnold, Ray Palmer, Meade Layne, Ivan Sanderson, Morris Jessup, Lord Dowding, Victor Goddard, and many other intelligent, qualified men have been telling us the truth for years. There are many other prominent people, whose names would astound you, who have told us privately that they accept fully the paraphysical concept, and totally reject the ET fantasy...

  We can drop all this nonsense. We can begin deeper, more important and fruitful investigations, in depth, into each individual area. If you live in Ohio, you don’t have to travel to Florida to stare at the sky. Somewhere within a few miles of your home, there is an area that has been a UFO window for centuries; and probably not more than one or two reports a year are actually published in that area. But, if you go there, you will find that things are seen continuously, year after year.

  We have to find these areas. I called them “base areas” in one article, and this led to a great deal of misunderstanding; everyone was running around looking for underground UFO hangers. But there are no underground UFO hangars, because there are no UFOs. The UFOs take any shape they want to take: they can be a black Cadillac in one sequence of events, then the same energy can be recomposed to form a cigar-shaped object, or a grotesque monster, or what have you.

  It is easy to use the term “hallucination” for these things, but the term really doesn’t fit. I’ve been calling these things “induced hallucinations,” because the people seem to see what someone wants them to see. Many of these objects that have been seen on the ground, and that have left marks behind, are identical to the black Cadillac whose window was broken with a rock and yet was able to vanish into thin air; that is, it existed temporarily, then it was no more. We will never be able to get at the source of these objects. They can come to us, but we cannot go to them. We will never be able to communicate with them, except when they want to be communicated with – when they pick out people who have psychic ability to be “contactees.”

  They also pick people with very interesting religious and racial backgrounds. If you have Indian blood in your veins, you are more apt to be “contacted” than any other type of person. The majority of our contactees have either Native American or Gypsy blood. If you are Jewish, your chances of being contacted are almost zero. We have very few Jewish contactees for some reason. On the other hand, we have a great many ex-Catholic contactees. So, the religious factor seems to be of some significance.

  But the Native American factor is the most important of all. If you live near an Indian reservation, and if you have the tact and ability to win the confidence of the Indians, they will tell you a great deal about the UFO phenomenon. They know all about it. A great many of them have been contactees for years and years. But, you will have to go onto the reservation… You will have to spend some time there and win their confidence. You couldn’t do it in an afternoon.

  Also, if you should encounter real Gypsies, and if you should be able to win their confidence, you would learn a great deal from them. They, too, know all about the UFO phenomenon. It is no mystery or secret to them at all. They know the whole story. In fact, a great many people know the whole story because, as I said, there are thousands upon thousands of contactees all over the country who never tell anyone about their experiences.

  These contactees are usually introduced to the whole “secret” over a long period of time. I have contactees in my files who were first contacted in 1961, but were not fully aware of what was happening until 1965. Gradually, they were trained and “educated” through their contacts, and given some very useful information that could be proven. We have received scientific information that has been proven in the laboratories. There is a highly qualified physicist on the West Coast who became a contactee in 1966. He has received information for a metallurgical process that has proven out in the lab. He is now getting a patent for it.

  Another man in Florida received valid information for a process involving nuclear energy. Wilbur Smith in Canada received several provable bits of information. He made no secret of it. He wrote and talked about it, and gave lectures on it. These contacts are going on all the time. There are various reasons why people refuse to come forward with these stories.

  We do have the “public contactees,” a very small group of a few dozen people, who seem to be exploited for propaganda purposes. That is, they are given information that is not necessarily valid. They are told to go out and spread the word, which they do, and end up making themselves look like idiots. They believe it themselves, which nobody else does, and there is no possible way they can prove what they are saying.

  So, the whole bag is far more complicated than just sitting around waiting for the Venusians to land on the White House lawn. If they were going to do that, they would have landed at the Vatican in 1600, or they would have landed in London in 1200, or in Jerusalem, or what have you. But while they are always appearing and landing, they never enter into formal contact with governments in a provable way…

  I trust that I haven’t blown your minds with all of this... I do hope that you all enjoy the convention. I am sorry I can’t be there. This is John Keel , signing off…

  CHAPTER 23

  MEDICAL ASPECTS OF NON-EVENTS – ANOMALY MAGAZINE, 1969-72

  According to his own words in The Autobiography of Malcolm X, the late (assassinated) black leader was in a prison cell when the following took place:

  As I lay on my bed, I suddenly became aware of a man sitting beside me in my chair. He had on a dark suit. I could see him as plainly as I see anyone I look at. He wasn’t black, and he wasn’t white. He was light-brown skinned, had an Asiatic cast of countenance, and had oily black hair.

  I looked right into his face. I didn’t get frightened. I knew I wasn’t dreaming. I couldn’t move, I didn’t speak, and he didn’t [either]. I couldn’t place him racially, other than I knew he was a non-European. I had no idea whatsoever who he was. He just sat there. Then, suddenly, just as he had come, he was gone.

  A great number of UFO (as well as MIB) sightings are entirely subjective. That is, the objects are seen only by specific individuals under very specific conditions. Non-specified persons in the same areas see nothing. RAF air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard has suggested that although most sightings are made by persons with latent or active psychic abilities, non-psychics standing within the “aura” of psychic percipients can also see objects that would normally be invisible. Our own field experiments indicate that this incredible hypothesis might actually be valid.

  When a specific individual with proper qualifications is located in a specific “window” area
at a time when specific electromagnetic conditions exist (a “flap” period), then that individual is able to perceive beyond the visible spectrum or, possibly, intercept a “signal” that plants an image in his or her mind. While the image may be very vivid and detailed, it is actually non-real, subjective, and “hallucinatory.”

  The big problem with this type of sighting is that it takes a highly trained investigator to determine whether or not the reported observation was real or subjective. None of the published UFO cases contain the information necessary to make a definite determination. However, in those cases in which the witness reported an unusually intense emotional reaction, it is probable that a subjective event occurred.

  We term these cases “non-events.” They are quite real to the percipient, and can rarely be distinguished from objective sighting reports of possibly solid physical objects, except by a very thorough, in-depth investigation using objective, professional methods. Many “lights in the sky” sightings, “close encounters,” and “contactee” experiences have proven to be subjective rather than real...

  The contactee syndrome frequently produces a long-range sequence of physical and emotional changes that closely parallel the well-known symptoms of chronic alcoholism. In many cases, the percipient (UFO contactee) experiences one of two major reactions during the initial contact: 1) Extreme fear, oft-times bordering on hysteria, and 2) complete euphoria.

  Hysteria can create temporary paralysis and physiological reactions such as nausea, temporary stomach disorders, headaches, etc.

  The euphoric reaction is exactly the opposite. In these cases, the percipient experiences an acute sense of wellbeing or, at minimum, a total lack of volition and control. He or she enjoys the “contact” and looks forward to a recurrence of the same kind of event.

  Following contact, one of two emotional responses frequently take place: 1) Expansion of awareness and perception, or 2) Rapid deterioration of personality.

  The euphoric-type experience can sometimes produce a combination of these responses. We have now closely investigated and studied approximately 200 involved percipients. In several cases, we were able to isolate potential contactees before their main experiences began. They were kept under constant study through all the stages of initial “contact” and their reactions were carefully recorded and compared. The following information has been derived from those studies.

  The type 1 “expansion” percipient gradually develops a higher IQ and heightened perceptions in all areas. ESP abilities are frequently enhanced. The unconscious mind seems to release all kinds of hidden data into the conscious mind, sometimes through dreams and sometimes through sudden flashes of acute perception. In a few cases, it was noted that visual and auditory acuity were also noticeably affected. These percipients were able to see slightly above the normal visible spectrum, and were able to hear sounds in the ultrasonic range. These changes can occur very suddenly, even within 24 hours after initial contact.

  The type 2 “implosion” percipient may briefly enjoy heightened perceptions, but this is usually followed by a slow deterioration of personality.

  Persons who were fundamentally honest before contact begin to suffer from confabulation. The UFO event dominates their life, and they willingly engage in any lie or subterfuge necessary to substantiate their story. Since they are consumed by total belief, they can successfully pass lie-detector tests. Specific sensory information is so deeply implanted in their mind that they are able to recite their UFO experiences word-for-word months, even years, later.

  The type 2 percipient (and some type 1’s) may develop obsessive-compulsive characteristics, and become completely preoccupied with the contact experience. Such individuals devote a large part of their time to spreading the “message” of the UFO occupants, even though this may lead to the loss of their jobs and the eventual disintegration of their family life. They become “space-age messiahs,” and willingly endure ridicule and hardship in order to advance the “cause.”

  These characteristics are also found in religious fanatics who, following a vision or profound religious experience, abandon their former way of life to dedicate themselves to “saving souls.” The religious fanatic often develops contempt, even hatred, for those who are “unenlightened.” Many vile crimes have been committed by fanatics who justified their actions by claiming that they were following orders issued by the “voice of god” – a classic symptom of paranoia.

  On the other hand, the true UFO percipient usually ignores ridicule and skepticism, feeling that he knows the truth, and that others will eventually learn it also. The UFO buff is, by way of contrast, an obsessive-compulsive personality with paranoid leanings. Unlike the UFO percipient, the buff openly combats skepticism and is an avid publicity-seeker. Very few real percipients want, or seek, personal publicity.

  UFO percipients usually suffer mental blackouts, amnesia, and disorientation in time and place. Additional UFO experiences can occur, sometimes on a daily basis, after initial contact. These events usually taper off within a few months, rarely lasting beyond a year. But they can recur again, several years later.

  Contact is preceded by a long sequence of preparatory events that are so subtle they are seldom noticed by the potential percipient. In several cases, we have traced these back as far as five years before the overt contact finally took place. In a few cases, these events began in childhood, even though the percipient was not formally contacted until he or she reached adulthood.

  The divorce rate among contactees is very high. Part of the contactee syndrome involves divorcing their present spouse and later remarrying a person presumably selected for them by the “entities.” in a number of cases, both parties in the new marriage became convinced that they were actually “space people” themselves! Outwardly, these people are perfectly normal in all other respects. Their UFO obsession rarely seems to require extensive psychiatric treatment. The UFO “entities” become a part of their everyday lives – a very secret part.

  A majority of all UFO percipients are medically sound, and not heavy drinkers. In fact, many are teetotalers. Yet chronic alcoholics suffer from many of these same symptoms. After several years of hard drinking, there is a distinct deterioration of personality. The hallucinations of delirium tremens are followed by “korsakoff’s psychosis,” which results in amnesia and disorientation of time and place. Confabulation becomes a prominent symptom, and fictitious episodes are created, to the extent that the severity of the amnesia may not be at first apparent. The patient becomes impulsive, untruthful, and unreliable, and divorce often follows naturally.

  The contactee syndrome could be based upon some still undefined form of schizophrenia. The unconscious mind is directly involved. The synapses (memory circuits) of the brain appear to be tampered with in some inexplicable fashion. The percipient’s memory is sometimes overloaded with information (to account for periods of time that collapsed during the contact experience). Thus, a percipient may have vivid total recall of a sequence of non-events that seemingly took several hours, while the actual elapsed time was considerably shorter. Memory of these non-events can include detailed sensory information regarding smell, touch, etc. This is mental hyperbolism – over-programming of the percipient’s mind.

  These non-events are often allegorical, and may be meant to convey hidden meanings to those capable of properly interpreting the data.

  Two techniques are employed by the UFOs. Some percipients are forced to forget their experience by a block that cuts off the memory cells from the conscious mind. Then, as in the case of Betty and Barney hill, the subconscious may feed this hidden data upwards, through dreams and nightmares. The only way to circumvent the block is through the skilled use of hypnosis. However, information extracted through hypnosis cannot be totally trusted.

  Other percipients have the memory cells of the actual experience altered in some manner, and false data replaces the true memory. This false data can take incredible forms. The monsters, flights to the other planets,
etc. may be remembered with absolute clarity and total conviction. These confabulations seem as real to the witness as his memory of what he had for breakfast that morning.

  Fragments of the real experience can remain buried in the unconscious mind. Uninformed psychiatrists and researchers usually make the mistake of merely trying to obtain further confirmation of the remembered experience through hypnosis. They do not try to dig for a deeper, alternate sequence of events.

  No contactee event can be accepted on the strength of the percipient’s surface memory alone. Paradoxically, total recall of an event may indicate that the event never actually took place. The percipient is able to remember every minute detail because those details were carefully implanted in his memory banks. Witnesses of this type may clearly remember extended visits to the “caves of the Deros,” or to the splendid cities of some distant planet, when actually their bodies never left the spot where the contact occurred. This type of non-event is most common in Irish “fairy” lore, occult records, and religious “miracles.”

  We cannot, of course, exclude the possibility that some percipients may have undergone a genuine physical experience. But our studies indicate that most, if not all, percipients suffered mind-tampering rather than a real experience. This led to deterioration of personality, insanity, paranoid schizophrenia, and other emotional aberrations.

  Non-smokers, teetotalers, and vegetarians seem to have a higher rate of contact. LSD users have a very high rate, and can reveal all of the symptoms. Metabolic changes can occur after contact.