While the release date is unknown, The History Channel is promising its new series, "Project Blue Book," will be out sometime in the winter.
 
For those of you living outside of the Ufological universe, according to The History Channel,
 
“’Project Blue Book’ is based on the true, Top Secret investigations into Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and related phenomena conducted by the United States Air Force from 1952-1969. The series is inspired by the personal experiences of Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a brilliant college professor recruited by the U.S. Air Force to spearhead this clandestine operation (Project Blue Book) that researched thousands of cases, over 700 of which remain unsolved to this day. Each episode will draw from the actual case files, blending UFO theories with authentic historical events from one of the most mysterious eras in United States history.”
 
The project is headed up by none other than Robert Zemeckis, the guy who did "Contact" and "Back to the Future," and stars Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger in "Game of Thrones") as the father of modern UFO research, J. Allen Hynek.

​The show is being sold as a fictional series, but one that looks at real Blue Book cases in an attempt to bring awareness to the UFO phenomenon. While the fans of "Ancient Aliens" and other similar programming are undoubtedly excited, I think many within the deeper UFO community are perhaps a touch concerned.
 
So, being that I am a generous fellow and want to ensure History’s newest show doesn’t suffer the same fate Littlefinger did in "Game of Thrones," (oops, should have said “spoiler alert”) here are the three things the series must do to reach the hearts of the UFO community. 

1) Take the phenomenon seriously. 

Most of us in the UFO subculture have basically thrown aspects of our life away. I am officially “that guy who is into UFOs,” and it generally sucks. Sure, people still accept you. Sure, you still get invited to parties. However, every time anything UFO related pops up, everyone stops and looks at you, hoping you chime in so they can all have a good laugh behind your back. Personally, I have it easy. My wife accepts my weirdness and my kids are young, so they are convinced UFOs are just part of everyday life (#softdisclosure). My co-workers have come to accept it, or generally could care less. Life is sweet.
 
However, I know a few people who have lost grant money for academic projects, spouses, and their jobs for even being slightly involved in UFO discourse. Depending on your employers and your industry, it can be pretty dangerous out there. So why put up with the all the crap? The phenomenon, assuming it exists, is undoubtedly the most important scientific, philosophical, theological, social, and cultural pursuit there is. Gaining actual insight into the possibility that there exists an intelligent objective and real “Other” outside of ourselves changes everything. Such a discovery would affect all aspects of existence; humanity is no longer the sole arbiter of the decisions regarding its station on Earth, the Cosmos or reality itself.
 
Assuming they had the brain capacity, imagine how Neanderthals in Europe felt when Homo Sapiens rolled in. What is the word for when complete and utter fear cohabitates with relief and need? They realized they were not alone (Praise be to the gods!), and then realized they were not alone (Oh hell no!).
 
Once you begin to pursue this question, this reality, then your grip on daily life becomes a little more tenuous. You begin to look awry at the world around you. Some of us hold on as best we can, but I know others who have slipped away and are different people now. Poof. Gone. Regardless of your personal opinion on this, as some may chalk it up to mental health or stability, the phenomenon has an impact, and often, a very serious one.
 
With all that being said, let’s avoid, or at least tone down, the tropes of conspiracy, secret “men in black,” and government cover-ups. MJ-12 is so 1980’s; let’s just keep that nonsense to a very minimum. Tell real stories and try hard to keep them authentic; these things change people’s lives, and not always for the better. 

2) But don’t take the phenomenon TOO seriously. 

If you can laugh about it, you can talk about it. That is a fundamental truth. I’m going to assume that this series will follow an “X-Files” model. Different stories each episode, yet an over-arching plot line that will wrap up by the final episode. Classic. Awesome.
 
Keeping in mind what I stated above, I am friends with a lot of ‘UFO people.’ Most of them are ‘normal’ everyday folks who drive their kids to gymnastics and drink beer. A few, however, are totally wild and wacky. If there is a box to live inside, they lost that box somewhere on the side of a desert highway and walk a very strange path. Do they take themselves seriously? Hell no! They know they are a little ‘out there’ and they love it.
 
Nothing is funnier than a Ufologist or UFO investigator who thinks they are Fox Mulder. We all know some of these folks. They walk around in their black utility vests, armed with a pistol, and drive SUV’s full of evidence collection bags and latex gloves. They mean well, but God help them, they need to relax a bit. You would never have seen Hynek rocking a .357 ready to blow a Grey’s head off.
 
Trying to attract a popular audience is fine. Go ahead. Everyone loves pulp fiction. Have fun. Just try not to make the UFO community look like a bunch of fools who take themselves incredibly seriously. We laugh. A lot. Mostly at ourselves. 

​3) Move beyond the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Popular media is stuck on the ideology that flying saucers are piloted by aliens from other planets. The mainstream adjusts slowly, I suppose, to strange things. The vast majority of people are tourists when it comes to the UFO enigma. They try a bit of the local cuisine from time to time, dabble in a touch of this or that, and then move on to the next thing. Scratching the surface of the Ufological narrative usually leads a person just deep enough to reach the “nuts and bolts biological aliens” idea. Being tourists, they don’t go much further down, and they certainly do not begin to piece together the varied tales, stories and “evidence.” In truth, no hypothesis really works. Whatever is going on, it is well beyond anything we can imagine.
 
With all that being said, my dearest producers at History Channel, please recognize that your role in all this is that of the gatekeeper. The mythology you weave through the stories you ‘green light’ will dictate a lot for the UFO community. Everyone starts off exploring UFOs somewhere. “Project Blue Book” will undoubtedly bring a bit of new blood into the UFO community; please try to educate as much as you try to entertain. I know you have superiors, corporate bosses, parent corporations, CFOs, VPs of Marketing, and CEOs. You need to make a profit, I get that. You need ratings. Just avoid sanitizing the UFO for a mainstream TV audience palate. Tell an authentic and grass roots tale as best you can. Damn the man.
 
UFOs, as a cultural and mythological phenomenon, are incredibly complex. There are narratives on top of meta-narratives. Social and political events affect interpretations and ideological frameworks which in turn shape the phenomenon itself. It is, as Carl Jung called it, “a living myth.” To really simplify what could be pages and pages of philosophy, please, for the love of God, let the plot for your show be more complicated than aliens in jars from a crashed flying saucer in the desert. In ‘truth,’ and I use that word loosely, the UFO phenomenon is much richer, convoluted, absurd, and complicated than aliens in space ships from Zeta Reticuli. Many of my friends and peers in this field have dedicated decades to the study of UFOs. They know the whole alien thing is just one theory, and most likely, not the correct one. Don’t rehash that same old story. We’ve had it. It’s done. Gone. Let it die quietly without a bang, and hell, no whimper either. 

Three simple things can go a long way. We love you, History Channel. You kids are alright. Sure, "Ancient Aliens" is pretty ridiculous at times. No UFO researcher worth their salt has ever “suggested” ancient astronauts are responsible for the Pyramids. However, you and your company have gone all-in on the UFO thing and I can respect that.
 
I’m sure there will be some disagreement with me on a couple things from some colleagues, most likely about my claim that "Ancient Aliens" is only ridiculous “at times,” but they are just posers. They watch it. Everyone secretly loves Tsoukalos with his crazy Swiss hair and body building expertise. I would totally buy that guy a beer. Actually, scratch that, he’s rich so he can buy me a beer.
 
I hope this helps, and I hope you take some of my advice. I definitely don’t speak for the whole UFO community, but as someone who kicks around Ufological circles, I have a pretty good handle on the situation. Oh, and well-done casting Gillen. That guy basically made "Game of Thrones" the best. Now that Littlefinger is dead, I could care less what happens to Westeros. Full disclosure (easy Bassett), I hope the White Walkers win…

-MJ Banias

In a small lonely town, in a dark lonely wood, a lonely monster withdraws from its strange lonely world and enters the realm of human myth. Seth Breedlove’s latest Small Town Monsters production, The Flatwoods Monster, tells the tale of a strange tall sentinel and the May family which bumped into it one evening in 1952. ​

​Michael Horn, the Authorized American Media Representative for Billy Meir, recently ‘called me out’ during one of his YouTube shows. He suggested that my current book project is a waste of time, and that my work studying the UFO subculture is a foolish enterprise. He criticized me for not believing in Meier’s claims concerning his alleged contact with the Plejaren, and that I had not done ‘true’ research into the case. He claims that the extent of my research concerning the Meier case comes from all the fraud UFO researchers who suggest that Meier’s evidence is hoaxed. You can view those alleged frauds here and here. I do not want to engage with Meier’s claims. I personally do not care.
 
Rather, I’d like to discuss Mr. Horn’s need to compel belief in Meier, and perhaps in turn, himself as his torchbearer.  
 
Horn is the “world’s leading expert on UFOs,” according to George Noory. His About page also lists a long pedigree of being basically everything, from martial arts expert to the inventor of the “first portable neck pillow.” Compared to him, I am but a small player in the UFO world (and the travel pillow industry), and I haven’t really invented anything of consequence. However, I do have a soapbox.

​Horn’s claim revolves around his fundamental belief that the Billy Meier case is the only true case of ET contact, and that all other UFOlogical work is wasted on frauds, fakes, and useless lights in the sky. 

Apart from literally alienating everyone else who has had a UFO sighting or contact experience, Mr. Horn spent a bulk of his criticism concerning my poor research skills, and that of the broader UFO community. 

I do not take issue with Meier’s evidence, and Mr. Horn’s defence of said evidence. They can believe whatever they want. Where things became problematic for Mr. Horn was when I informed him that, regardless of his claims of real evidence, I did not accept Meier as some messianic prophet. My “personal criteria for belief” were not met by Mr. Meier’s photographs, stories, and prophetic visions. That is usually how it goes in situations like this; it always hinges upon belief, and not necessarily what can be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. Perhaps I am merely the Doubting Thomas to Mr. Horn’s Simon Peter, while Meier is Horn’s Christ-like figure. I demand to ‘place my fingers in the holes in his hands’ before I assume Meier is telling me the truth. 

​Mr. Horn claims that Meier and his ‘belief system’ are not religious. However, when I simply asserted that I had no interest in discussing the Meier case, and that I did not buy into Meier’s claims, Mr. Horn pursued the issue with significant vigour and zeal. I do admit that I did mention to another person in an e-mail, and I’m paraphrasing here, that Meier did seem like a ‘cult leader,’ and maybe that was unfair of me. However, by making a claim that Meier is the ‘only true contactee’ and is the only person receiving true prophetic visions from an alien race sure sounds like religious and cult-like messaging. Adding to this, Mr. Horn’s constant need to defend Meier, and be his messenger, only adds to the feeling that there are theological and religious motifs at play. To be clear, while Meier may not be a cult leader, he sure ‘feels’ like one.
 
I recently read an interesting article by Dr. Massimo Teodorani concerning the UFO community’s ‘need to believe versus know.’ He writes,

“UFO iconography is a drug at all effects, and can be used to switch minds in many ways, also to collect proselytes to make up new fanatic religions, but more generally to give people a sort of psychological medicine with which people can escape from the hard reality of everyday, where the continuous competitions of present society often obscure the human and spiritual dimension: people need to retrieve the very nucleus of their soul. This intimate need is clearly legitimate, but it is also risky: in fact persons who are not well rationally grounded are very easily subject to manipulation: it seems that most persons in the world are just in this condition, especially at our epoch. When critical thinking starts to lack, who leads this society has at his disposal a huge mass of sheep, ready to follow alleged miracles, saviour aliens and related gurus. The less people think in a grounded way the least this people are conscious of what is happening at their shoulders. This is the effect of UFO iconography.”
 
Whether Horn reads this or not, I’d like to be perfectly clear on one thing. I am simply choosing to stay critical. Yes, I am critical of Meier’s ‘evidence.’ I am critical of all ‘UFO evidence.’ As Teodorani points out, the UFO icon, the UFO image, beckons us to believe, as if the flying saucer (or Beam Ship in the Meier case), will lead us to some supposed truth. Meier and Horn simply want me to “retrieve the nucleus of my soul,” and see their beliefs as being the only beliefs.
 
Perhaps the fundamental issue at hand is that Meier is no longer authentic, but merely an icon, an image. As historian and philosopher Daniel Boorstin pointed out,

“We have become so accustomed to our illusions that we mistake them for reality. We demand them…They are the world of our making: the world of the image.”
 
Meier, somewhere in his experience, be it true or false, is no longer himself, but lost adrift in the image he has created of himself, and that others have created for him. As with any saviour, any messiah, he or she must shed themselves, their own reality, to become that illusion which their followers need and want. Much like Plejaren Beam Ships and flying discs, Meier is no longer grounded in the self, but has been removed from it; a ghost, an illusion, both present but also not. 

I struggled with writing this post. I fear diving into the abyss and facing the wrath of Mr. Horn. A person, no matter what they think, can be rational, and appreciate that I simply do not believe. I have doubts, and this being the 21st century, they should be fine with that. However, if Mr. Horn is no longer the man he once was, he is an image, a symbol of some new faith, which must defend itself at all costs, then reason no longer matters; rather, it becomes a battle of ‘them versus us.’
 
I stand, ultimately, at the precipice. I hold my breath. Mr. Horn pushed me here when he publicly recounted the content of private emails between us; the real question is whether he is willing throw himself at me again. Regardless of the struggle on the way down, we both know what is waiting for us. Rock bottom.
 
Unless he uses his expert martial arts to grab onto the cliff’s edge before he topples over with me. Damn it! Look at those moves. This is going to hurt…
 
 
- MJ Banias

Michael Horn attempted to comment on the above post. Unfortunately, the comment box only allows a certain amount of characters before cutting off a comment. I have spoken with Mr. Horn, who was quite understanding and reasonable, and I will post his entire rebuttal below which he sent to me via e-mail. It is only fair that he be able to address my article concerning Meier and himself. 

My intention at this time is not to respond with a point by point counter argument. As I mentioned in my original post, I don't want to hit "rock bottom" by engaging in an argument which will fundamentally hinge upon faith in a prophet's words. 

I appreciate that Mr. Horn is advocating for something (and even someone) he as dedicated a major portion of his life to. I also appreciate that Billy Meier, and Mr. Horn, have been targets of ridicule and attack by the broader UFO community. To Mr. Horn, my article is undoubtedly another shot across the bow to which, understandably, he must shoot back. 

While Mr. Horn wholeheartedly denies my claim that Meier "feels" like a cult leader, I do stand by my words at this time. Should my 'feelings' change, I will be the first to admit it. However, many religions, both Ufological and not, have been founded upon alleged evidence and prophesy. Is Meier a cult leader? I do not know, and I leave that for better researchers than I to sort out. I think that this battle has already been waged however, and a simple Google search of Billy Meier will lead to many websites and books that have gone back and forth on this claim; perhaps most notably the 'UFO Prophet Blog'.

I wish to conclude by saying that Mr. Horn, since the writing of his response below, has extended an olive branch of sorts. He considers Billy Meier's message to be incredibly important, and fights for it with significant vigour because he thinks our very planet depends on it. I hold no ill will towards Mr. Horn regarding of the contents of his rebuttal. As many of my readers know, I take some interest in the UFO phenomenon itself but my true passion and focus is on the UFO community itself, its interactions and ideologies. My interest in the Meier case is more anthropological and cultural, and not truly in the evidence (be it legitimate or not) regarding Meier's contact with extraterrestrial beings. 

We are all seekers of truth, and we all take solace in the truth in different ways. Regardless of where you, the reader, stands concerning the Billy Meier case, I, and undoubtedly Mr. Horn, invite you to do what you see fit to find that truth. We will not all walk the same path, but let us remember to be respectful of every path so long as it is honest and well intentioned. 

​- MJ Banias

***********
Mr. Horn's Response 

MJ,
If only you’d used a fraction of the energy you did in making quacking sounds here to actually research and substantiate your claims, you might not have ended up, self-admittedly, standing on a box of…soap.
I will insert corrections to your silly inaccuracies.
MJ: Michael Horn, the Authorized American Media Representative for Billy Meir, recently ‘called me out’ during one of his YouTube shows. He suggested that my current book project is a waste of time, and that my work studying the UFO subculture is a foolish enterprise. He criticized me for not believing in Meier’s claims concerning his alleged contact with the Plejaren, and that I had not done ‘true’ research into the case. He claims that the extent of my research concerning the Meier case comes from all the fraud UFO researchers who suggest that Meier’s evidence is hoaxed. You can view those alleged frauds here and here. I do not want to engage with Meier’s claims. I personally do not care.
 
MH: I have never criticized anyone for “not believing in Meier’s claims concerning his alleged contact with the Plejaren”, since I have never asked anyone to believe…anything. $200 to your favorite charity for showing the contrary. We are strictly evidence and fact based in our approach, research, claims, etc. You just don’t have what it takes to address that, as we’ll see, repeatedly throughout your article. 
 
MJ: Rather, I’d like to discuss Mr. Horn’s need to compel belief in Meier, and perhaps in turn, himself as his torchbearer.  

MH: Again, young amateur that you are, you talk about “belief”, a non-existent element in all of the evidence, information, analyses, etc.
 
MJ: Horn is the “world’s leading expert on UFOs,” according to George Noory. His About page also lists a long pedigree of being basically everything, from martial arts expert to the inventor of the “first portable neck pillow.” Compared to him, I am but a small player in the UFO world (and the travel pillow industry), and I haven’t really invented anything of consequence. However, I do have a soapbox.
 
Horn’s claim revolves around his fundamental belief that the Billy Meier case is the only true case of ET contact, and that all other UFOlogical work is wasted on frauds, fakes, and useless lights in the sky. 
 
MH: Again - and now it must be called out as a blatant, unsubstantiated, deliberate…lie – I have expressed no “beliefs”, fundamental, or otherwise. Obivously, I have every email I sent you.

MJ: Apart from literally alienating everyone else who has had a UFO sighting or contact experience, Mr. Horn spent a bulk of his criticism concerning my poor research skills, and that of the broader UFO community. 
 
MH: While I make no apologies for “alienating” evidence-less people, lease present actual, credible, testable evidence for “everyone else” who has had a “contact experience”. And why aren’t you rebutting  my criticism with actual…evidence that you or anyone else in this field knows what they’re talking about?

MJ: I do not take issue with Meier’s evidence, and Mr. Horn’s defence of said evidence. They can believe whatever they want. Where things became problematic for Mr. Horn was when I informed him that, regardless of his claims of real evidence, I did not accept Meier as some messianic prophet. My “personal criteria for belief” were not met by Mr. Meier’s photographs, stories, and prophetic visions. That is usually how it goes in situations like this; it always hinges upon belief, and not necessarily what can be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. Perhaps I am merely the Doubting Thomas to Mr. Horn’s Simon Peter, while Meier is Horn’s Christ-like figure. I demand to ‘place my fingers in the holes in his hands’ before I assume Meier is telling me the truth. 
 
MH: “Believe”…again? “Messianic prophet”? Please substantiate. Your “personal criteria for belief” are irrelevant, ignorantly so, as is “it always hinges upon belief, and not necessarily what can be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt.” Especially since, incompetent attention-seeker that you are, you didn’t read and avail yourself of these:
https://theyflyblog.com/2017/08/18/billy-meier-beyond-reasonable-doubt/
https://theyflyblog.com/2017/09/25/its-1964-all-over-again/
MJ: Mr. Horn claims that Meier and his ‘belief system’ are not religious. However, when I simply asserted that I had no interest in discussing the Meier case, and that I did not buy into Meier’s claims, Mr. Horn pursued the issue with significant vigour and zeal. I do admit that I did mention to another person in an e-mail, and I’m paraphrasing here, that Meier did seem like a ‘cult leader,’ and maybe that was unfair of me. However, by making a claim that Meier is the ‘only true contactee’ and is the only person receiving true prophetic visions from an alien race sure sounds like religious and cult-like messaging. Adding to this, Mr. Horn’s constant need to defend Meier, and be his messenger, only adds to the feeling that there are theological and religious motifs at play. To be clear, while Meier may not be a cult leader, he sure ‘feels’ like one.
 
MH: Mr. Horn, that’s me, indeed pursued the issue…since you had already told someone the case was a fraud, that it was a cult, etc. Need I again point out your dishonest “belief system”? As far as “sounds like religious and cult-like messaging… feeling that there are theological and religious motifs at play”, would have the decency – since you lack the journalistic and professional ethics – to substantiate your precious little…feelings?
 
MJ: I recently read an interesting article by Dr. Massimo Teodorani concerning the UFO community’s ‘need to believe versus know.’ He writes,

“UFO iconography is a drug at all effects, and can be used to switch minds in many ways, also to collect proselytes to make up new fanatic religions, but more generally to give people a sort of psychological medicine with which people can escape from the hard reality of everyday, where the continuous competitions of present society often obscure the human and spiritual dimension: people need to retrieve the very nucleus of their soul. This intimate need is clearly legitimate, but it is also risky: in fact persons who are not well rationally grounded are very easily subject to manipulation: it seems that most persons in the world are just in this condition, especially at our epoch. When critical thinking starts to lack, who leads this society has at his disposal a huge mass of sheep, ready to follow alleged miracles, saviour aliens and related gurus. The less people think in a grounded way the least this people are conscious of what is happening at their shoulders. This is the effect of UFO iconography.”


MH: Why didn’t you spend your time reading the actual evidence in the Meier case, instead of trying to use someone else’s comments, which contain no mention of Meier,  to attack it?
 
MJ: Whether Horn reads this or not, I’d like to be perfectly clear on one thing. I am simply choosing to stay critical. Yes, I am critical of Meier’s ‘evidence.’ I am critical of all ‘UFO evidence.’ As Teodorani points out, the UFO icon, the UFO image, beckons us to believe, as if the flying saucer (or Beam Ship in the Meier case), will lead us to some supposed truth. Meier and Horn simply want me to “retrieve the nucleus of my soul,” and see their beliefs as being the only beliefs.
 
Perhaps the fundamental issue at hand is that Meier is no longer authentic, but merely an icon, an image. As historian and philosopher Daniel Boorstin pointed out,

“We have become so accustomed to our illusions that we mistake them for reality. We demand them…They are the world of our making: the world of the image.”


Meier, somewhere in his experience, be it true or false, is no longer himself, but lost adrift in the image he has created of himself, and that others have created for him. As with any saviour, any messiah, he or she must shed themselves, their own reality, to become that illusion which their followers need and want. Much like Plejaren Beam Ships and flying discs, Meier is no longer grounded in the self, but has been removed from it; a ghost, an illusion, both present but also not. 
 
I struggled with writing this post. I fear diving into the abyss and facing the wrath of Mr. Horn. A person, no matter what they think, can be rational, and appreciate that I simply do not believe. I have doubts, and this being the 21st century, they should be fine with that. However, if Mr. Horn is no longer the man he once was, he is an image, a symbol of some new faith, which must defend itself at all costs, then reason no longer matters; rather, it becomes a battle of ‘them versus us.’
 
I stand, ultimately, at the precipice. I hold my breath. Mr. Horn pushed me here when he publicly recounted the content of private emails between us; the real question is whether he is willing throw himself at me again. Regardless of the struggle on the way down, we both know what is waiting for us. Rock bottom.
 
Unless he uses his expert martial arts to grab onto the cliff’s edge before he topples over with me. Damn it! Look at those moves. This is going to hurt…
 
MH: Honestly, “stay critical” and this poor guy “struggled with writing this post”? My question is, why did he…give up the struggle so easily?
 
I know that my calling out these effete, pretentious and clearly inept poseurs, like MJ, who view the Meier case as another opportunity to present their spineless, wimpy and unsubstantiated tripe, offends the overly-sensitive. Maybe a bucket of cold water over their collective heads would drain the crap out and wake them up to where in hell they really are.
 
Look around, young clowns, that this world that is descending on – and doubtlessly offending – your poor, precious sense of reality is precisely what Meier and his Plejaren friends have been trying to warn us – you - about, in hopes that we/you would truly want to assure our own future survival.
 
Within not too long a time, coming events will so reframe our realities and priorities, that we’ll be left to wonder WHY on earth we ever let this historically significant matter be hijack by timid, boring academics, refugees from some misguided college course on “How to Master the Art of Hack Journalism”.
 
If MJ wants to actually research, learn and/or engage in debate – shockingly traumatic experiences for Snowflakes and Millennials to be sure – let him do so. After all, he’s inheriting the world much warned about and I worry that he’s quite  ill-prepared to live in it.

If extraterrestrials were in fact working within the United States government, this would mean they have made their way to Earth with the intention of colonization and conquest. Since the formation of the U.S. in 1776, expansion has been at the center of government policy. Manifest Destiny dominated much of the 19th century, and this exacerbated slavery-driven sectionalism, resulting in the Civil War, which consolidated power in the hands of the federal government. From here, the reinstatement of the Central Bank and the establishment of the federal income tax in 1913 gave the government, and the aliens, the means to manipulate large groups of people, accumulate resources and entrench themselves as the world super power. This is a position that after WWII would only intensify. What has happened since has been a systematic takeover by U.S.-based ideologies, largely free-market capitalism and liberal democracy, which are both incredibly effective ways to
implement large-scale control. This is because they provide acceptable levels of micro-level freedoms while providing governing bodies with tools to carry out macro-level manipulation.
​
This strategy would make sense. Any outright declaration of war from an alien entity would have instigated a more unified response from humanity. Instead, by assuming control of a young country, securing its hold of vast resources and using these resources to establish a world order relatively easy to manipulate through the control of capital flows and communication is a much more subtle and effective way of gaining control over the entire planet. Additionally, this type of “slow-play” conquest seems more likely since a species with the foresight to seek out new planets to inhabit would be willing to play this century-long waiting game for total control.

We live in a world where wars no longer make much sense, yet they wage on, and this somewhat inexplicable continuation of fighting could be the result of a foreign entity using the world’s most powerful country as a tool for global domination.
​
This historical-trajectory approach to uncovering alien control of the U.S. government helps set the framework, but looking at some of the more day-to-day activities of those in Washington could help provide further proof. For example, the Snowden leaks proved to both U.S. and global citizens that government surveillance is very real. While government agencies justify this as part of the fight against terrorism, no one really buys this argument. What could possibly be the purpose of spying on individuals and tracking their activity when the vast majority of people do absolutely nothing to threaten state power? There are only two genuine explanations (which complement each other): to learn about human behavior patterns, and to generate fear. ​

“We have become so accustomed to our illusions that we mistake them for reality. We demand them. And we demand that there be always more of them, bigger and better and more vivid. They are the world of our making: the world of the image.”
                                                                                                                      -Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America   

I have argued in the past that UFO discourse, debate, and inquiry has been relegated to the taboo fringe due to contemporary hegemonic power systems, such as late Capitalist ideology. To continue exploring the cultural theories that direct Ufological ideology, I wish to explore the alien abduction/contact question, and focus on the broader UFO community’s acceptance of this phenomenon as being an act of defiance against the status quo power systems which hegemonically govern Western ideology and society.
 
I appreciate that there are many people within the UFO community and subculture that do not accept the abduction/contact phenomenon as being objectively real, and therefore, legitimate. The intention of this article is not to explore the reality of abduction and contact. To be honest, the ‘truth’ behind the phenomenon does not matter. What matters, at least from a critical standpoint, is that the phenomenon, in UFO circles, does have a broad acceptance of being authentic, and, for all intents and purposes, is “real.”
 
To avoid further compartmentalizing the UFO subculture into various camps of belief, we can generally appreciate the relativism that surrounds the abduction/contact narrative. Those within the UFO community who have not totally ‘alienated’ experiencers generally approach the phenomenon with a “whatever floats your boat” attitude. In other words, “everyone is entitled to an opinion.” This relativist attitude is quite common within UFO discourse, as the UFO/UAP phenomenon is ideologically tied to the abduction/contact phenomenon.

Furthermore, the attitude generally follows a subjectivist metaphysical line of thinking. The common argument goes something like this:
 
What is the difference between believing in God and believing in aliens? People believe in Allah, Yahweh, Buddha, Samsara and various avatars, messianic prophets of all sorts, reincarnation, and a whole assortment of other deities. Is not the belief in extraterrestrials, interdimensional beings, or some other alien intelligent Other the same? Humans have a variety of religious and spiritual beliefs which are generally respected. In fact, as our species begins to piece together more information about the cosmos, and the discoveries of dozens of exoplanets which could potentially harbour life, doesn’t the science basically justify the possibility of life elsewhere in our galaxy, and that it is well within the realm of reason that it is coming here?
 
The theology, while controversial, is just that, theology. It matters not, especially since we can look at the ebb and flow of UFO/ET religions over the last several decades with crisp hindsight. I do not support a theological belief in aliens, however, the ideological “catch 22” here does have a certain level of truth to it.
 
An interesting cultural phenomenon is that with all the various religions and beliefs out there, assuming that extraterrestrials are visiting Earth, or some other similar ideology, is culturally taboo. Mainstream cultural ideology has no problem with faith in the various, albeit appropriate and allowable, religious deities, but faith in an alien Other, that is considered wholly unacceptable.
 
The abduction/contact narrative is, in simple terms, countercultural. Furthermore, the tacit support for the people who experience these events, and the general acceptance of this phenomenon by the UFO subculture, is an overt act of dissent towards established cultural and social ideologies. This relativistic position challenges the taboo, and the mainstream culture as a whole. It is a saber rattling performance, a haka (to borrow from the Maori of New Zealand), which generates an ideology for the disenfranchised. A sort of, “people are abducted by aliens, and I’m OK with that” mentality.
 
Supporting the abductee/contactee creates the appearance of radicalism, and attempts to subvert the scientific, academic, political and economic power systems designed to maintain the cultural and social status quo. It tries to force the mainstream consensus reality into the proverbial corner, and provide a view into a world consisting of individuality, unique thought, and ‘authenticity.’
 
“Damn the man.” Well, sort of. As I stated above, “it tries.”

​This worldview without judgement, supported by the UFO community and the abductees/contactees, is not what it seems. Similar to the mechanisms of late Capitalism, and the constructs of contemporary power systems, this anti-establishment position generated by the UFO community is an illusion.          
 
To borrow an idea from the French philosopher, Jean Baudrillard, concerning ‘hyperreal’ states, we, as a society, struggle to interpret what is real and what is not. In his famous work, Simulacra and Simulation, Baudrillard writes,
 
“We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning. (79)”
 
It is not that we lack information regarding the phenomenon, as a search of the MUFON database or YouTube will provide a large collection of abduction/contactee stories; rather, it is that we struggle with the ability to distinguish between real and ‘unreal.’ We cannot differentiate the experience from ‘the image.’
 
The abduction/contact narrative is hyperreal, it exists because there is information regarding it; YouTube videos, blog posts, books, TV shows, documentaries, podcasts, and late night radio shows. However, it also does not exist, as it is not a shared or common human experience. When faced with a story of abduction and/or contact, we, individually, must decide its reality, yet the ‘act of decision’ is objectively impossible. The story, the narrative, is not simply the telling of an event, but a vast collection of technological data, interpretation, and a subject with very little judgeable information flooded by opinions of ‘experts’ on both sides of the debate. In other words, the abduction/contact story is not the event itself, but the collection of ideology which surrounds that event. One cannot separate one instance of abduction/contact from the rest; there is no place to stand from which to do that, as no one can shed their ‘knowledge’ concerning the phenomenon. We cannot remove ‘the image’ from the picture.

The act of support by the general UFO community for the abduction/contact narrative is ultimately a simulacrum. It is pretend, not because members of the community do not mean it, but because they want it to have meaning. The UFO community inundates the abduction/contact narrative with other illusions and ideologies, compounding it, influencing it, and only widening the expanse between real and ‘hyperreal.’ Charges of government conspiracy, insidious hybrid baby breeding, Disclosure, secret space programs, and many other scenarios complicate the narrative. The ‘information’ spins and churns and collapses on itself only to spin and churn and collapse again, ad infinitum. Similar to the lights and sounds of the Las Vegas strip, the city becomes lost in the fantasy, and the fantasy becomes the city itself; the two cannot be separated. This relativist support for the abduction/contact narrative is, in totality, tied into the web of information, but essentially meaningless.
 
Where does this leave us?
 
The problem with ideologies is that they cut both ways. While the UFO community may look upon mainstream power systems, such as modern Capital or Government, with disdain and mistrust, the community itself does not have some special access to ‘truth’ or ‘reality.’ While mainstream society and culture may be a hyperreal state of constructed  illusions, the UFO subculture, and the politics it supports, is also illusionary. As the famous X-Files quote suggests, “The truth is out there.” That is to say, it is not in here with us, the UFO community. It is and forever will be “out there.”
 
With all of this, we still see the UFO community, and the abduction/contact narrative relegated to the fringes of general society. Regardless of the illusion, contemporary power systems require their ideological constructs to keep them functioning. The abduction/contact narrative, while ideologically motivated, still challenges the status quo. While it is merely the swapping of one ideology for another, albeit a more democratic ideology perhaps, current social, political and economic interests do not want a trade to occur.
 
The support for abductees/contactees among the general UFO community, that posturing haka, is still dangerous for the status quo. While we may never be free of ideology, perhaps some ideologies are “better” than others. This acceptance of those who interact with an alien Other shows a glimpse into the world of stark individuality, and a world where even the most alienated can find a place and voice within society. Is it perfect? No. Is it less worse? Maybe.
 
Do people get abducted or make contact with an intelligent Other? I personally do not know. Strange things do happen, and I’ll leave it at that. Whether it happens or not, the ideologies behind the abduction/contact event are truly what shape it, more so than the event itself. We cannot have the experience alone, that is impossible, rather we have ‘the image’ first, and the experience comes after.  

-MJ Banias

[Featured image: Alien Abduction (2014 film)]
​

​The thought that these TV shows are a fundamental part of UFO discourse is undoubtedly making many within the UFO community gag. When these shows air for the first time, Facebook is typically riddled with negative comments. There are concerns over the use of debunked evidence, criticism of the  ‘experts’ chosen to be interviewed, and even disapproval for the various UFO incidents and events that get selected for (re)examination (I’m looking at you Roswell…).

That being said, the UFO discourse often demands to be accepted into mainstream culture without success. The cable shows ironically are the only method to achieve that goal. However, with every episode, UFO discourse moves farther and farther away into the cultural fringe.

-MJ Banias