|
COPYRIGHT 1992 General Media International, Inc.
Close encounters of the first, second, and third kind (CE-1s, CE-2s,
and CE-3s in UFO vernacular) were first described by astronomer J.
Allen Hynek 20 years ago. In a thumbnail guide for the uninitiated,
CE-1s include UFO sightings closer than 500 feet. CE-2s involve close
sightings accompanied by physical evidence such as markings on the
lawn. In CE-3s, witnesses report coming face to face with aliens. Just
a few years ago, UFOlogists established the CE-4 label to cover cases
in which humans are allegedly abducted by ETs.
Not satisfied with the current groupings, however, emergency medical
physician Steven Greer of Asheville, North Carolina, has recently come
up with another category: Close encounters of the fifth kind, in which
humans and aliens intentionally communicate through ordinary light and
sound.
But the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial
Intelligence (CSETI) members don't just head for the nearest cow
pasture at night and wait for UFOs. Instead, after a consistent pattern
of UFO reports has been made in a limited geographical area over an
extended period of time, CSETI sends a team.
To attract UFOs, CSETI fills the night air with prerecorded beeping
sounds alleged made by UFOs and flashes 1-million-candle-power lights.
This, says Greer, has led to the exchange of on-and-off blinks, what he
calls a "photon dialogue." The result, adds Greer, is "coherent thought
sequencing"--a phenomenon in which the team telepathically welcomes the
aliens, conveys CSETI's peaceful intentions, and encourages the craft
to land. When mental contact has been made, adds Greer, "consciousness
lock-on has been achieved."
Within a few years, Greer hopes, this technique will encourage UFOs to
land so that CSETI researchers can go aboard. "Anonymous government
officials," Greer notes, "want to be briefed before this occurs."
Greer's new group has garnered support throughout the UFO field.
Psychologist Leo Sprinkle, a retired University of Wyoming professor
who's worked with so-called UFO contactees, recently helped to launch
CSETI at the International Association for New Science conference. He
feels that CSETI "represents the next step in UFO investigations." And
physicist Brian O'Leary, former astronaut trainee and author of
Exploring Inner and Outer Space and The Second Coming of Science, to be
published this winter, also backs CSETI. "Contacts between
extraterrestrials and Earthlings seem to have been going on for
decades," he says, "but we still don't want to admit it."
Not everyone agrees. Mark Rodeghier, director of the Center for UFO
Studies, asks, "How do you know what contact is? And where would you
look? If it hasn't happened in fifty years," he adds, "CSETI has to
assume that the ETs are just waiting for us to act. I find that hard to
believe."
Maybe, but CSETI efforts are moving ahead. In addition to establishing
groups in the United States, Greer also plans projects for Belgium,
Great Britain, and some South American locales. Greer and Paul Von
Ward, a former U.S. diplomat and author, have also discussed the
possible benefits of developing a diplomatic protocol for human/alien
relations based on citizen diplomacy, in which private individuals ease
the way to cooperation and peace. Says Greer, "We feel that's really
the missing link." --Paul McCarthy
|
|
Email this article
Print this article
