Friday, July 13, 2012

Contact and the Future, Part 4

[More speculation about Contact & the Future, assuming ETs provide substantial access to their knowledge...]

>Arms Race

Contact will ignite an arms race, as militarists in major nations desperately seek to create their own 'flying saucers', etc., to achieve military 'supremacy' to 'defend' their nations. Despite its advantages, the U.S., in one way or another, in time, may 'lose' this race, just as badly as the eventual 'winners', e.g., China. Given the increasing dependencies, vulnerabilities, and other threats, and the enormous expenses which will likely be necessary to deal with these issues, no nation can afford to squander vast sums on military expenditures. Moreover, not even absolute 'air supremacy' is enough to ensure the survival of a nation or civilization.

>Miscellaneous

Important new alternative energy sources are almost inevitable in the near future. If the ETs make available something akin to LENR (Low Energy Nuclear Reaction) devices, or something even more exotic, then a massive transition will occur over the next few decades. The transition could, and certainly will be managed by some corporations and energy exporting nations in various ways to sustain their wealth and power; some will understand this, and act accordingly, and those who don't will have serious problems. In particular, energy exporting countries will need to maximize their profits in the remaining years of the fossil fuel era, invest their current wealth in creating a self-sustaining infrastructure (with a significant cybernetic/robotic element), and manage a very significant redistribution to their citizens of the resulting income.

A dramatic transformation from materialist medicine to consciousness based medicine is inevitable. Doctors, nurses, and others who interact with patients will be 'retrained' to understand that their attitudes, beliefs, and intentions can and do have enormous consequences for their patients. Many medical offices and facilities will include healers of various kinds. The gradual replacement of human surgeons, etc., by cybernetics (robotics) has already begun. While the exact mix is difficult to foresee, the future of medicine is a radically new combination of healers, cybernetics, and robotics.

Procedures similar to EFT (Gary Craig's Emotional Freedom Technique) and other 'tapping' methods, etc., will be used by nearly all primary care health workers. These procedures or techniques serve the enormously important purpose of 'ritualizing'--emphasizing and focusing on--deliberate positive intentions, and will be widely used as a supplement to, and in some cases a replacement for technological medicine. Elements of big pharma and other corporate health care service entities which may suffer losses from the decline in dependence on materialist medicine could compensate for these losses by beginning now to do the research to establish the most effective intention-enhancing 'rituals', and could profit by providing education, training (to supplement traditional medical training), and services.

The validation of the reality of, and our ability to interact with other realms of consciousness and existence--an inevitable result of any extensive contact with ETs--while of interest or practical relevance to only a small minority of humans, will nonetheless lead to new respect for, and a significant increase in 'business' for shamans, and others who specialize in such matters.

While it's long been foreseen that dramatic advances in the capabilities of cybernetic virtual reality systems will be widely used for entertainment, and other more practical purposes (e.g., healing, education, etc.), what was not foreseen is that the evolution of these systems, and their uses, will be guided by the dramatic new understanding of consciousness and reality.

'Philosophy' will be largely replaced by metaphysical knowledge.

Bad news for many kids who dream of becoming scientists and engineers, or young adults who look forward to a long and fulfilling career in these fields, since, except for a few, they won't be able to compete with the cybernetics.

Most factory workers will be replaced by cybernetics and robotics--even in the nations with the lowest labor costs. Developing nations will never experience what the U.S. experienced--decades of a thriving middle class based in large part on unionized factory jobs. In other words, virtually all of the wealth or profit from manufacturing will accrue to the corporations, mostly to the handful of owners and corporate executives. It's important that the governments of China, et al., understand this, and begin to plan, however 'socialistic' it may seem, for systems to redistribute this wealth. In the U.S., of course, any efforts to begin this process may be doomed by the opposition from 'conservatives'; and the social consequences could be devastating.

Good news for lawyers, since vast amounts of money will be changing hands, and the lawyers will get their cut. And--coming soon--a whole Universe of ETs who can be sued. Who wants to be the first lawyer to file a class action lawsuit in Federal Court: Humans v. Universe? And good news for comedians who can find something humorous about almost any situation.

Bad news for the NSE (U.S.G. National Security Establishment). It may turn out that, in some sense, their decisions have--in the worst case, fatally--screwed the United States of America, and perhaps most of the human race. On the other hand, the decisions made by the NSE will likely be accepted as reasonable by most Americans, despite the consequences. As bad as our prospects may seem to be, the NSE and the civilian leadership of the U.S. could manage this, but only with a sobriety, rationality, and wisdom hitherto lacking in their words and deeds. Our system of government, and the institution of the NSE has, in some sense, failed horribly. Secrecy can be 'life'--but only for a while, and only at great cost. See President Eisenhower's Farewell Address, et al.

>New Age Movements

It is certain that there will arise one or more new 'spiritual' 'movements'--a few old folks, but mostly young folks. See "A.D." {Recent Books} for a speculation of this prospect. When they understand that all of the institutions on Earth failed and/or lied to them, and none can now be trusted, and the whole foundation of our most basic understanding of the nature of our existence was 'not exactly true' [See: 'When the Truth is Found to Be Lies...'], then they will look for--and they will quickly find 'new' truths--the spiritual understandings of all advanced civilizations--and they will set about creating a new world. It's possible that humankind will 'split' into two groups--those who will come to understand important spiritual truths, and by their faith, create something like a 'new world', perhaps here, or perhaps even on a colony world; and those who won't--and the latter, in some sense--for better or for worse for them--will be 'left behind'.

Whether or not most of the human race will survive over the coming decades, it's certain that this is the end of our 'childhood', or as some might say, the fulfillment of the 'Mayan Prophecy', which apparently does not foretell an 'apocalypse', but is certainly a suggestion that the end of an era of many millennia is coming--soon.

>'The Greatest Nation on Earth'
>'American Exceptionalism'

For various reasons, Contact will be more difficult, initially at least, for the U.S. than for any nation. Suddenly, the greatest nation on Earth is just--well--the greatest nation on a "Pale Blue Dot", and of rather little consequence in the vast cosmic scheme of things. [See Youtube for Carl Sagan, "Pale Blue Dot". Of course, he missed the part about "...no hint...". Too bad he's not here to see this unfold, but then--maybe he is, in some sense :) ]

Despite our greatness, for over six decades--since long before most Americans were born--our government lied about one of the most fundamental facts of our existence; and in some ways, the philosophical basis of our entire civilization--reductionist materialism--was a delusion, and a lie.

Obviously Contact is a global issue, and only the United Nations can speak for the nations of the Earth. But if the U.S. can't or won't lead the world--by taking a major role in initiating at least Acknowledgment, if not Contact, and managing the consequences--then, who, if anyone, will?

Whether or not President Obama starts this process now (as of this writing, July 2012), the next President will certainly have to deal with the consequences--one way or another. If no one in the news media asks the Presidential candidates the important questions about how they will deal with Disclosure and Contact, then the news media are idiots--or worse--and in some sense they will have betrayed the future of this nation. If America is still a great nation, then the American people--before they speak--will learn as much as they can of what is already, and may soon come to be known, listen to what the two candidates have to say, and in accordance with their faiths and beliefs, but most of all, listening to their hearts, choose whoever they believe can best deal with the enormous challenges of Contact and the Future.

> Update Spring 2016

Fast forward to June 2016, in a very interesting Presidential Primary campaign. Four years ago the American people made their choice, but for better or worse, the political system has degenerated further into a bitter and dysfunctional state. Obviously it will be very difficult at present for the U.S. to deal with Contact, but if UFOs become a campaign issue as a result of comments by John Podesta and Hillary Clinton, et al., and Acknowledgement--without significant Disclosure--is forced by serious MSM attention, then the situation will be worse for the U.S. than with first Contact before Acknowledgement and Disclosure.

If MAJIC doesn't take responsibility for this situation with a subtle but sufficient action to encourage MSM attention, and the MSM don't make this an election issue well in advance of the final months of the campaign, then once again the American people will have been deprived of critical information necessary to choose the next President; and MAJIC, humankind, and the ETs will have to deal with the next President--whoever that might be. And MAJIC: Please don't let this be an 'October Surprise'.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Contact and the Future, Part 3

[More speculation about Contact & the Future, assuming ETs provide substantial access to their knowledge...]

>Nukes

Why are the ETs concerned about nuclear weapons? Since they clearly have the ability to end the U.S., and while they might suffer some loss and might be irritated, but are not seriously threatened by our weapons, what are their intentions?

First, they did not interfere with the use of nuclear weapons in WWII, because in that phase of nuclear warfare, the nuclear weapons were as a practical matter simply a quicker means of doing what the U.S. was already doing--except for the radiation effects--with B-29s, napalm, and HE (high explosives)--the standard firebombing attacks on military and civilian targets. The huge arsenals nations now possess are fundamentally different in nature, and in no sense a substitute for conventional weapons.

Would the ETs intervene in a major exchange between the U.S. and Russia (formerly U.S.S.R.)? Presumably this has been thoroughly discussed in highly classified analyses by the nuclear war planners in nations with large arsenals.

Humans do not have the knowledge or analytical ability to accurately model the global effects of large exchanges. (And they don't really care what happens to the rest of the human race in such a situation). If an attack on a primitive planetary civilization is forbidden ('illegal'), then from the ETs' perspective, the U.S. and Russia, et al., might be welcome to commit suicide, but not be permitted to cause the inevitable collateral damage to other nations, much less be permitted to destroy the human race. If the ETs acted, would they stop the exchange, and if not, would they somehow limit the consequences to the suicide of the participants?

>Religions

The main concern in the U.S. is what the new metaphysical understandings might mean for Christianity. The certain result is, generally, 1) the beginning of the end of theological 'Christianity', and the notion 'divine authority' for the Vatican, etc., and 2) the beginning of a 'new' (or 'old'?) religion based on some variation and/or elaboration of the Jesus teachings. Whatever the accuracy of Biblical accounts of particular claimed events and statements, it's likely to be seen that the simple teachings were a simple expression of a radically new, and perhaps unique (?) approach to life, which is based on the notion that if you can create, or at least powerfully influence, your own reality, and you know that in some deeper sense you are immortal (though not in this physical form), then you can give up the fear and hatred, the violence and killing; and just live your life, and love.

Initially of course, whatever is learned, there will likely be an increase in church attendance, as many Christians seek solace and comfort in the only remaining institution on Earth which they (will initially) believe didn't lie to them. Over time, many, or perhaps most Christians will continue to go to churches, in many cases with different 'services', and continue to celebrate Christmas and Easter, etc., but with a new, and perhaps equally or more inspired understanding of the Jesus story. A few may come to believe the main significance of Contact--the new, or affirmation of the 'old' metaphysical understanding that 'faith' can dramatically influence the reality we experience--as the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy (Truth and Freedom).

Presumably other religions will likewise celebrate religious traditions, with their respective new understandings. Only an expert in the beliefs of the followers of various religions could provide a comprehensive comparison and contrasting of those beliefs with whatever metaphysical understandings the ETs might convey.

>U.S. Politics

Contact will begin the greatest, and most bitter and divisive debates since the Civil War era, or perhaps ever in our history. Whatever is learned from the ETs, it will difficult for 'progressives' and 'liberals', but far more difficult for 'conservatives'. The social consequences of the inevitable dramatic changes in the coming decades--whatever the outcome of Contact--can only be managed by enormous government interventions, and conservatives obviously will oppose these.

It's possible that an irrational and destructive coalition of folks will arise, united by a shared resentment, anger, and hatred for ETs and the U.S. government, and especially in response to what the ETs and U.S.G. might tell us. If even a small minority of politicians and political commentators align themselves with this coalition, and especially if one or more major news organizations begin to 'fan the flames', then the Contact process in the U.S. will be doomed, and other nations will take the lead. This would be a devastating, if not fatal blow to the future of the U.S.

For the NSE (National Security Establishment), after decades of manipulating the U.S. media, and running psyops on the American people, this will be their greatest challenge, and perhaps their 'finest (?) hour'. Or perhaps their 'final hour'.


>They Should Stop Violating Our Airspace!

Why?

Before demanding they stop 'violating' 'our' airspace, it would be useful for the human race to understand why they're here.

And, it should be noted that for over six decades (or, since the dawn of civilization) they have been 'violating' 'our' airspace, and yet life on Earth goes on. Well--so far, at least.

>They Should Respect Our Laws!

Why?

Why would an intelligent life form respect our laws unless we can explain them? It's pointless to try to 'justify' or 'defend' human laws (or any other aspect of our civilization) to an intelligent life form, unless we can provide a comprehensive rational explanation of how our laws arise from an understanding and analysis of the logical implications of verifiable 'first principles'. For example, try explaining a moral, ethical, or practical basis for the provisions of U.S.C. Title 26.

>Why Should We Trust Them?

Why shouldn't we?

One of the most socially (and politically) difficult aspects of Disclosure in the U.S. will be the loss of trust in major institutions of our civilization--Presidents, Congresses, the institution of science, religions (primarily Christianity in the U.S.), and the news media.

Even if we can't trust any of the major institutions on this planet, why should we trust the ETs?

The simple answer is that for most people, the concept of 'trust' or 'truth' is totally subjective, and so people will trust or not trust the ETs for the same reasons they 'trust' anyone or anything in life.

A fuller explanation is beyond the scope of this blog, and is unlikely to serve any useful purpose.

Part 4

Contact and the Future, Part 2

[More speculation about Contact & the Future, assuming ETs provide substantial access to their knowledge...]

>What Are They Like?

ETs, some of whom may appear to be biologically similar to humans, have a much better understanding of consciousness and reality. Their ships may be highly evolved consciousnesses, and the ETs' interaction with their ships will likely be based on a mutual understanding of consciousness and reality. It's quite possible that children raised on this world, and taught from birth the basic metaphysical truths, would in some sense be like some of the 'ETs'--without their cultural knowledge of course--but fundamentally different than most of the rest of the 'humans' on our world.

The ultimate relationship between 'biological' and 'cybernetic' intelligences is difficult to foresee. One possibility is that 'technological', i.e., constructed artificial intelligence collectives which achieve replicance--in contrast to 'biological' replicants which might eventually evolve (or be helped to evolve) to achieve some level of 'intelligence'--would be assimilated into a larger ET collective, or if they became problematic, would be terminated.

The larger issue is, in a more general sense, the relationship between 'spiritual' beings existing in 'physical' form, and the constructs of their consciousnesses, i.e., 'technology'; or even more generally, the hierarchy of the constructs of consciousness and intention (see Precedent Causes, below). And--can a 'technological' (cybernetic) intelligence be constructed which, by its 'thoughts' and 'intentions', etc., directly influence reality?

>The History of Our World, Our Race, and the Universe

Perhaps ETs created our world, our major religions, and perhaps they created our race or were involved in some way. It's likely that they interacted in significant ways with ancient civilizations. While some have argued our civilization is a farm, or garden, or a zoo, it's more likely we are in some sense the 'children' of one or more ET races, and perhaps at the same time an experiment of sorts in nurturing evolving races and civilizations, presumably in conjunction with, and at the behest of some common spiritual collective.  Perhaps some of them, honoring what they believe to be an 'imperative' of the Creation, create worlds as homes and schools for souls; and thus they would wish us the best, and with enormous patience, hope that some day we will 'grow up', and join with them in their efforts--to ensure '...that life in the Creation will endure, and flourish'.

>Precedent Causes

Who or what is 'God'? One of the most obvious questions a 'scientist' might ask God is: Who created You? Precedent Causes are obviously of extreme interest for the ETs who are still curious; and of course ETs might in principle be aware of umpteen levels of reality and consciousness 'beyond' ours. Since these are likely incomprehensible and unverifiable from our perspective, they might be interesting, but largely irrelevant to us at present.

>'Alien Abductions'

See the 6th and 7th paragraphs of the original article on this blog (UFOs...).

The realm of alien abduction research is a morass of confusing and contradictory claims and beliefs, horribly muddled by the widespread use of 'hypnotic regression'.

While some researchers believe the 'alien agenda' is to create a hybrid race, many of the interactions suggest the alleged 'abductors' are more interested in our consciousnesses, and experiencing our emotions, rather than genetic material. Of course it may be that in other realms of existence, consciousness is 'genetic material'.

Whatever the 'reality' of these beings, and whatever their relationships, if any, to the advanced technological intelligences, it's important to us (and presumably thus to the ETs) that some explanation of this situation be included in the initial contact communication.

>Men In Black

While elements of the NSE (U.S.G. National Security Establishment) have obviously harassed and threatened, etc., UFO witnesses and researchers, another non-human class of beings have also apparently attempted to silence UFO witnesses. If the non-human MIB activities were actually intended to suppress knowledge of the ET presence (rather than to emphasize its reality), then obviously MIB-class beings will be opposed to contact.  It may be that some beings from other realms, who have long interacted with humans, fear and dread that, as a result of contact, humans will come to understand them, and learn to deal with them--perhaps to their great detriment.

>The U.S. Military Can Protect Us from the ETs

No, they can't.

>REG Research and Development

The science of REG design (Random Event Generators)--i.e., psi sensors--is very primitive, and will evolve dramatically over the years. Psi sensors (or whatever clever name will evolve for such devices) will eventually be included in many cybernetic devices, and will be used in devices and web pages, etc., to register the state of mind of the user, and/or viewers' responses to content. (For a primitive version of the concept, see ...Psi Experiment). Some folks will make huge amounts of money from this technology and its applications. Similarly, something like the 'LOA Trainer' concept Intentions... may have an important role in educating people, and likewise make some folks lots of money.

>The Burden of Roswell--The Folly of Reverse Engineering

See Reverse Engineering.

>Why Would They Have 'Shot Down' Military Aircraft?

Did President Truman, or some high-ranking military commander, issue an order to "Shoot Them Down"? Did the ETs, in some cases, destroy U.S. and perhaps Soviet aircraft which attacked them?

Given the record of truthfulness of the U.S. Air Force in this matter, we'll never know for sure what the U.S.A.F. did, or what the ETs did, unless the ETs tell us.

The initial phase of contact can be a very difficult process, especially when dealing with violent and irrational primitives armed with weapons of mass destruction. The ETs made it clear--dramatically in the summer of 1952 (if not before), and many times since--that they're here to do something they consider important, and that they have something important to tell us. The U.S. alone, among the nations of the world could have taken the lead in Contact, but chose not to. Indeed, the U.S.G. went to considerable lengths to keep its citizens from understanding the situation. It's impossible to offer tentative explanations of particular events until the exact details are publicly known, but in general, it's important to ensure that the primitives understand what the ETs are capable of doing--and may be willing to do--before the primitives attempt to use nuclear armed suicide pilots, etc., over their own countries, in a deranged attempt to 'defeat' the ETs.

Part 3

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Contact and the Future, Part 1

[The following assumes knowledge of previous articles (occasionally cited).]
It's easy to speculate about Contact and the future, and lots of folks have. However incorrect it turns out to be in hindsight, it can still be useful in promoting thought and discussion of 'knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns'.

There several critical decisions for the ETs regarding how to proceed with contact.

1) Should they provide a summary of information, and offer to provide more details on request; or a large package of information--enough to convey as much as possible of the information they consider critical, but small enough to be made available on the Internet?

2) Should they (initially) include information about religions of other civilizations similar to ours; and their (ETs') knowledge of metaphysics?

3) Should they (initially) provide information on science and technology, especially energy technology?

4) Should they (initially) tell us the whole story of their role in our history?

Without their knowledge--especially of past Contact experiences--we can't know what choices they would make.

What would we learn if they provided access to most of what they know? Most, if not all of the following is known by various people, and presumably already known by elements of all major governments.

>Critical Failure Modes

Existing critical vulnerabilities and risks (e.g., large nuclear arsenals, the vulnerability of the cybernetic and electrical grids to solar EMP and hacking; pandemics, etc.) will increase dramatically with the rapid evolution of genetic engineering, synthetic life, nanotechnology, and Artificial Intelligence, etc., and increases in drug resistant microbes, massive species extermination (extinction), Global Warming, and the continuing environmental degradation of the Earth, etc.

>The End of Life As We Have Known It For A Very Long Time

In the 'worst' case, from the ETs' perspective, while not 'technically' inevitable, as a practical matter--due to our attitudes, political realities, rapidly evolving technologies, technological and environmental vulnerabilities, etc.--a major collapse and even depopulation in the next few decades of some or perhaps many technologically advanced as well as developing nations may be likely.

Absent such a collapse, in many critical respects, life as we've known it for millennia is coming to an end anyhow--as a result of the rapidly evolving technologies mentioned above.

>Consciousness, Reality, and Spirituality

Contact will begin a revolution in the science of metaphysics--the study of consciousness, reality, and spirituality, and human health and well being. Necessarily, this will end the theology of reductionist materialism; and will be the beginning of a slow end for elaborate 'divine-authority' religious theologies, except as cultural traditions and refuges for a few 'true believers'.

Probably the best single page summary on the Internet, from a 'spiritual' perspective, of what we might learn about the nature of our existence is "Rational Spirituality" by Ian Lawton. [No longer available.]


'Psychic phenomena' are absolutely real, but at present, human psychic abilities--except for healing others--are rarely significant in our reality. There's nothing inherently good or evil about psychic abilities, since everyone is 'psychic', and every day their thoughts, etc., influence themselves and other people, and the world--for better or worse--whether they know it or not, and for most people, whether they like it or not.

Something like the LOA ('Law of Attraction'), combined with something like EFT ('Emotional Freedom Technique', etc.) will be of immensely greater importance than any efforts to increase our 'psychic' powers, and science will explore the continuum of these two related understandings of the relationship between consciousness and reality, and the ability of humans to construct the realities we experience, and in particular the equations which characterize intentions, etc., and relate intentions, etc., time, and consequences...and the nature of the interaction between and among individual and collective consciousnesses, and whether the intentions of a group of people, synchronized or 'harmonized' by some means, can significantly affect the reality experienced by the group.

The understanding that humans have remarkable abilities to heal themselves, emotionally and physically, will have enormous consequences for our civilization. For most people, in most cases, this power can be significantly increased by the interaction with one or more healers. From the perspective of current medical knowledge, this might be understood as an extraordinary and deliberate enhancement of the 'placebo effect'.

>Science

Perhaps the most critical question for science is: are the "Laws of Physics" as we believe we know them, absolute, or only our constructions, overlaid on some deeper truths and realities?

While scientific and technological knowledge the ETs could provide might be critical, by far the most important scientific issue is metaphysics, and a change in the consciousness of humankind--a spiritual revolution. Even a new energy source, or an extraordinary new understanding of our planetary environment, etc., while they might be critical to our survival, will not ensure our survival unless our attitudes change.

Wild, or not, speculation: there is no 'objective' past, present, or future. All exist simultaneously, and there are probabilistic preferences, i.e., 'lowest energy solutions', but all are changed 'simultaneously' by conscious choices and intentions.


Part 2

Monday, July 9, 2012

Contact, Acknowledgment, and Disclosure

 [ 19 December 2017:

https://coi.tothestarsacademy.com/

Extraordinary.

Even more congratulations to the entire TTSA team (and Leslie Kean).

This is official acknowledgement of U.S.G. interest in UFOs (contrary to decades of lies); 'semi-official' acknowledgement that UFOs are real, and ETs are here; a very minor, but enormously significant disclosure; and major MSM coverage.

Unfortunately, however... You can spend millions and billions of dollars to investigate and study UFOs for years, but you will never learn who the ETs are, and you will never recreate ('reverse engineer') their technology until you talk to the ETs. This civilization, without major changes in our path, doesn't have enough time left to accomplish what TTSA claims they intend to accomplish. The only way this civilization can survive long enough to travel to the stars is to learn from the ETs about the experiences of other civilizations which reached our stage of technological development. We can begin Contact now:

http://ufospsychicets.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-solution-to-fermi-paradox-can-be.html

To the TTSA team (and U.S.G.): please do it now, while we still have time. ]


[17 OCT 2017] This post is somewhat obsoleted (or is it?) by:

To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (TTS/AAS).
https://dpo.tothestarsacademy.com/


Watch the 'live broadcast' (40 min.).
 
Congratulations and many thanks to TD and all involved. It's an extraordinary first step, and hopefully will lead to more disclosure, official acknowledgement, and eventually to Contact--because Contact is what's desperately important for our civilization now.

Whether or not they pursue Contact, DOD/CIA, et al., have effectively acknowledged the UFO reality, and if 'official' Acknowledgement (and some 'Disclosure') are initiated or forced, they have an excellent response to any criticism about decades of coverup:

< Of course we denied the reality for years--like all the nations who knew, for National Security reasons. But most Americans have long understood that, and neither Congress, the news media, or the scientific community have seriously pursued the issue in the last few decades. We invited Congress and the news media to ask questions (see Chris Mellon's statement in the broadcast) but they ignored us--and ignored the interest of the American people in the UFO presence. So--don't blame us... >

While not perfect, the TTS operation is a really excellent defensive maneuver (and presumably the last in a series starting with the 'Chase Brandon' affair), and will deflect most of the anger mentioned below to those who are really at fault.

It's impossible to know exactly what's going on inside TTS or the National Security State, but surely they understand that while Contact will be enormously difficult for our civilization, the alternative of ignoring the experiences and mistakes of past civilizations is and will be worse. Don't believe that? Then ask the ETs. 

TTS/AAS & Co. have the ability to initiate the first step in Contact right now, by openly posing the question in 'Real SETI...' or '...Fermi...' to NASA, for example. Perhaps you can find a willing reporter or news organization--and a cooperative NASA spokesperson...]


==========

The big news story will be that for over six decades UFO's have been flying around, violating 'our' airspace, with no respect for our 'laws',  interfering with our strategic 'defense' capabilities, and according to some folks, 'abducting' and 'molesting' our people, etc. And the U.S.G. doesn't know who they are, why they're here, or what their plans are; is helpless to do anything about it; and has lied about their knowledge of the situation since at least 1947.

The ensuing media frenzy, and public anger, in the U.S., and to a lesser degree in other nations, toward various parties, including the ETs, could be very disruptive, and even destructive.

Perhaps the National Security Establishment will consider Contact first--see the 'Covert Diplomatic' option in A Real SETI...--so they'll actually have something useful to convey to the American people. If no response is received then the current situation is unchanged--no notification of or acknowledgment to any party or the public is required. [FEB 2017: Barring certain unusual (and  rather extreme) efforts to establish credibility, the CD option is no longer possible for the U.S. See 'Sample Message...'] If a response is received, on the one hand, it forces disclosure, but on the other, interest in the facts of life in the Universe--and, whatever is initially learned, the fact that the U.S. Government is actually 'doing something' about it--may outweigh the obsessive interest in decades of lies by the U.S.G., and the failure of politicians, the institution of science, and the news media to address the UFO/ET presence.

>How Would The ETs Respond?

If the ETs intend contact as soon as humans are ready [September 2017: they do], and are willing to compromise on the principle of formally communicating only with a 'collective of sovereigns', then they should [will] respond to any CD approach they regard as authentic and credible, i.e., representing an actual message from the head of state, containing a credible promise to quickly deliver the response to the UNSC (UN Security Council). CD allows one nation to initiate a request, and [5/2017 (subject to the decision of UNSC)] gives access to the message from the ETs to representatives of all nations. [5/2017: The initiating country is bound by the disclosure promise(s) made in the initial message (see Sample Message), regardless of UNSC actions (or inaction). The ETs will not respond in a useful way unless they believe their message will be delivered to the world, after a brief period to allow governments and the U.N. to privately analyze and discuss the message, and prepare for the consequences of public disclosure.]


There are several possible explanations for a non-response to a CD operation, such as failure to detect the signal, or inability to establish the message is authentic and credible. These possibilities could be minimized by certain partially overt actions taken as the effort is initiated.

What would they say? One possibility is "We will provide a more substantive response to an open request initiated by a multinational group or the UNSC." Or, more simply: "Open multinational, UNSC, or UNGA initiated." While reasonable in one sense, in that it's indicative of a very 'even-handed' approach with respect to the interests of all nations, it also ensures the process of initiating a request for communications will be 'bogged down', if not buried, perhaps indefinitely, in the morass of UN bureaucracy and diplomacy.

A better option for the ET response might be delivery of one or more data storage and/or communications device(s), which humans could interface with using their technology. The problem, of course, with delivering one or more physical objects, is that some humans, including perhaps most scientific 'experts', would fear infections from ET microbes, and might not trust even explicit assurances from ETs that the objects are 'sterile'. And so the objects might be destroyed, or end up locked in some biological containment facility, and never used. For now, therefore, this is simply not a practical option, unless the initiators of the CD (or other) approach decide in advance that they will trust explicit assurances that any objects delivered will be free of infectious organisms, and request such assurances in the initial message. Absent this, some form of optical communication between a ship and a ground station is most appropriate for now.

The OD (overt diplomatic) national or multinational approach is a bit of a fantasy, unless the announcement is made exactly as the operation is initiated. Otherwise, the rest of the world will loudly complain, and the UN will attempt to assert control, and stop the effort, or at least cripple it with a diplobabble message. Moreover it will force disclosure or acknowledgment, and the world will have to deal with all the resulting social problems, without any useful information from the ETs.

By far the most likely to elicit a response from one or more of the ET groups would be a rational public request from the UN. The most probable response would be a message, and an end to actions solely intended to make their presence known, i.e., the limited demonstrations of presence which have characterized their behavior for decades. [FEB 2017: The ETs absolutely will respond to a U.N. message--but perhaps not at the exact time or in the exact manner requested.]

The UN, of course, has already spoken on the issue of contact. While their response is, on the one hand quite honest and reasonable, on the other hand, it was a rather sad, and perhaps an obituary or even epitaph class declaration of the primitive and psychologically fragile nature of our civilization. [UN press conference video, 13 October 2010.] For now, the UN, speaking for the nations of the world, has sent a message to the ETs--somewhere in between 'go away' and 'sorry, we just can't deal with reality now--if ever'. Of course, this is not news to the ETs.

>U.S.G. Disclosure

Forget about it, for now. "The files were destroyed, if they ever existed, the people who created the 'coverup'--if there ever was a coverup--are dead, and, it's all S&M [Sources and Methods]." The S&M tactic--the claim that Disclosure would cause extremely grave harm to the 'National Security' of the U.S.--while total and incredibly stupid nonsense, would be highly effective. Most Americans (and most politicians) will buy it, especially after the Congressional Investigation and the "Commission to Make the UFO Coverup Problem Go Away" are announced.

>"Congress Will Get to the Bottom of This (Coverup)".

Not a chance. Many members of Congress will support, overtly or covertly, the elements of the NSE who were and are opposed to 'Disclosure' (as opposed to simple 'acknowledgment').

Some 'totalitarian' governments have erased their people's history, and it will be seen that this is exactly what the NSE has accomplished. The only practical approach is an 'historical' commission, and even they will never learn anything close to 'the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth'.

[FEB 2017: If you're interested in Contact, perhaps you'll consider looking at the Contact and the Future posts (Parts 1-4). Though somewhat dated, most of the points are still relevant. While it's not 'too late' to even consider Contact, the prospects for a positive outcome (for humankind) have grown dimmer over the years, and especially in the last few months.
 
Only the ETs know the whole story from the larger perspective. They have a wealth of information on the history of UFOs and the U.S.G. (and other nations). The best single source of information on this subject at present is "UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry", by Michael D. Swords and Robert Powell (et al.) (see Recent Books).] 

Recent Books

If you're interested in UFOs and ETs, these are useful and important books, and it would be helpful to at least become familiar with the general contents and arguments by reading descriptions, editorial and reader reviews, and discussions on the Internet.

"UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record", by Leslie Kean. One of the best UFO books in recent years for the open minded general audience.

"UFOs and Nukes", by Robert Hastings, the world's leading authority on the subject (outside of the U.S.G.). It's pointless to speculate about the nature and purpose of the ET presence without understanding the information provided in this book, and other related sources of information about ETs and nuclear weapons.

"UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry", by Michael Swords and Robert Powell; and other contributors. This is a huge book, more like a college textbook than a typical popular UFO book--and someday it will certainly be studied by university students learning of this strange era of U.S. history (along with Richard Dolan's 'UFOs and the National Security State' books, et al.). It's rightly regarded by experts in the field as one of the most important UFO books in recent years, if not decades. For better or worse, it may be the last 'pre-Disclosure' book on the subject.

"Triangular UFOs: An Estimate of the Situation", By David Marler. See this post: If You're Interested in Contact, Read This Book: Triangular UFOs


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Watch the Big Triangles

[A continuation of sorts of 'Would They Talk to Us'].

The most compelling evidence that at least one group of ETs intend that we know of their presence, and by implication, that they intend the possibility of Contact, is the behavior of the large triangles.

Two of the events are the Hudson Valley and Belgium sightings, decades ago. Both involved sightings by many witnesses over many days and longer. The Belgium case involved interaction with military aircraft, and amazingly (by the standards of the US Air Force), the Belgium military openly acknowledged the events.

The next (?) major event was Phoenix, witnessed by hundreds of people. Initially ridiculed by the governor of the state, a former Air Force Officer, years later it was confirmed when the governor acknowledged he had in fact personally observed a large triangle, which was (to him) obviously 'not of this earth'. At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, the appearance occurred when many people were outdoors, looking at the sky to see the Hale-Bopp comet; any ET race would have understood that this would be an ideal time to demonstrate their presence.

Finally, the Stephenville event was not simply an obvious demonstration of intent that humans would know of the ET presence, but may have been a message to the U.S. Government, since the flight path apparently ended near or at the restricted airspace of the President's ranch. While there's no publicly available 'proof' to support this speculation, perhaps the U.S. Government got the message:

{We can do this in 'broad daylight', when the President is at the Ranch, when lots of reporters with lots of cameras are watching. If you continue this policy--and if you continue to believe that the greatest threat to the future of humankind is the truth--too bad. Sooner or later the truth will be known, and if you don't deal with issue, at some point we may--and if you aren't prepared for it, you have only yourselves to blame.}

Was a revised version of a U.S.G. 'UFO Preparedness' plan distributed more widely, at least partly as a result of this event?

Would They Talk to Us?

Of course they'll talk to us--they already have, in deeds if not in words. They've made it absolutely clear that they're here; that they intend for us to know of their presence, but are not (yet) forcing the issue of 'acknowledgment'; that they have the technical capability to destroy our civilization, but despite many attempts to 'shoot them down', have refrained from any massive retaliation; and that they are particularly 'concerned' about our nuclear weapons.

Whether or not they've already had limited verbal communications with highly secretive elements of the US and other governments--only the governments and the ETs know--based on publicly available information, it's obvious the governments haven't learned much about how 'Rapidly Evolving Technological Civilizations' survive and prosper.

So, in the context of this blog, the question is, would they respond, and if so how, to the sorts of requests for communications described in 'A Real SETI...'?

In other words, are they willing and able to begin an 'intelligent conversation' with our civilization?

First, are they willing? There are several possible explanations for their clearly demonstrated intent for us to know of their presence, while not forcing the issue. What does this imply about their intentions?

One explanation is that they have no interest in contact in the near term, but are simply 'rattling our cage', either as a scientific experiment conducted on primitives, or simply for 'entertainment'.

Or perhaps, similarly without any intention of near term formal contact, they are gently making it clear to us that there are other far more intelligent and technologically advanced life forms in the Universe, and that we should begin to consider the implications for our possible future(s)--on Earth, and perhaps in space.

Another rather strange explanation is the notion of a 'Vast Malicious Alien Consciousness'. That is, some vast consciousness, responsible for UFOs, fairies, and the whole range of 'paranormal' phenomena, is malicious, but so far incapable of intruding into our 'consensus reality', and is trying to get us to 'acknowledge' it, or 'believe' in it's reality, thus empowering it to do us grievous harm. The (im)plausibility of this argument is discussed in 'Vast Alien Consciousness...'.

Another possible explanation is the premise of this blog--that they have in effect knocked on our door thousands of times, and intend the possibility of contact, but have deferred in a limited way to our systems of 'government', and are waiting for one or more 'sovereign' groups (nations) to take responsibility for beginning a conversation. In other words, they are definitely 'willing' to begin a conversation...

But even if they're 'willing', are they 'able' to have an 'intelligent conversation' with us? In other words, do they have the ability to convey useful information relevant to the future of our civilization?

There are two requirements for such a conversation: first, the cultural understanding and linguistic fluency necessary to communicate, and second, the technical means to interact with our communications systems.

Since they obviously have the ability to create optical signals--lights on their spacecraft, and beams of various kinds--and since detection of optical signals is technically trivial, even for us, clearly they have the technical means to communicate in at least a limited optical Morse code conversation. But unless they have an extraordinary understanding of our civilization, then no 'useful' conversation would be possible.

While they obviously have excellent 'physical intelligence', i.e., they can interact with aircraft, and electronic weapons systems, etc., in a very controlled and rational way, the critical issue is their 'linguistic and cultural intelligence' capability.

At the minimum, if they've had any interest in our civilization--and it's obvious that they have--they will have monitored our radio and TV for decades, and thus should have an excellent understanding of life on Earth. They've also had the capability to deploy probes (invisible or nearly so), capable in principle of physical surveillance of printed materials, and monitoring personal conversations. And in recent years, they certainly have had the capability to monitor (and even interact with) the Internet. At the extreme, they may be intercepting essentially all communications, including classified government traffic, and thus have access not only to what the public knows, but more complete access to the 'secret' activities of governments than any humans, in or out of our governments.

Even if, as 'biologicals', they are not far more 'intelligent' than humans, we know that (if our progress continues) in a few decades, humans will have created cybernetics which will far exceed the practical intelligence of humans. Such an intelligence (with unrestricted access to the Internet, etc.) would have a far better understanding of our civilization than any human; and so it should be obvious--since their technology is 'centuries' if not 'millennia' beyond ours, and since, for an advanced civilization, construction of such a cybernetic intelligence would be a trivial exercise--that, if necessary, they will have such a 'cybernetic intelligence'. And so we should expect--if they were sufficiently interested--that they and/or their cybernetics will have a vastly greater understanding of life on Earth than any intelligence analyst, or any talk show host, reporter, politician, or scientist, etc.

Thus, if they intend the possibility of an 'intelligent' conversation with our civilization, they certainly have the necessary technical ability, and cultural understanding and linguistic fluency.

We know with certainty that at least some of the UFO appearances represent an effort to make their presence known, without 'forcing the issue'. But what we don't know--at least from publicly available sources--is which group or groups of ETs would talk to us? Would one or more groups oppose, and perhaps try to prevent any contact between humankind and the civilizations of the Universe? What do we have to do to begin a conversation? And what would they say?

[Update:  If you're interested in this issue ('Would They Talk to Us?') you might also want to read 'Watch the Big Triangles' , and 'If You're Interested in Contact, Read This Book: Triangular UFOs'. The major 'big triangle' events are important demonstrations of the intention of at least one group of ETs to make their presence known. Also, if you're interested in this subject, you might also be interested in 'Contact, Acknowledgment, and Disclosure'.]

'Vast Alien Consciousness' and Acknowledgment

One of the more interesting arguments against USG acknowledgment of the ET presence is that the UFO/ET phenomenon represent a vast, powerful, and malicious alien consciousness (VAC) manifesting itself as 'flying saucers', 'alien abductors', fairies, etc., and that by acknowledging the reality of UFOs, this consciousness will be empowered to do us harm.

On the one hand, UFOs clearly represent a 'physical' reality--they emit and reflect light, reflect radar frequencies, interfere with electrical systems, and leave impressions on the ground when landing. On the other hand UFO experiences and related (or apparently related) phenomena often seem like 'paranormal' experiences, i.e., they often involve altered states of consciousness, and/or may seem to occur in a 'non-ordinary' reality, sometimes including strange beings and other anomalous apparently-physical phenomena. At present, we simply don't understand enough about the nature of consciousness and reality to know whether UFOs, etc., are real or simply manifestations of some VAC. Indeed, we don't even know what 'real' means, and whether everything in our reality--the entire Universe--might simply be a manifestation of some VAC.

Thus the issue is not whether UFOs are manifestations of a VAC, but rather whether they are malevolent, etc., and whether acknowledgment will empower them to do us harm.

While some aspects of the UFO phenomenon, etc., seem benevolent, or at least benign or indifferent, some clearly seem malicious or malevolent.

The 'empowerment' argument arises from the notion of the observer effect (in quantum mechanics), and the related notions of the power of intentions, expectations, and beliefs to shape our experiences and reality; or from the folklore notion that "if you don't believe in fairies (etc.), you won't see them, and they can't hurt you"; or perhaps from the psychological notion that expectations and beliefs influence perceptions.

An announcement by the US and/or other nations, or the UN, followed by massive media coverage, would have a dramatic effect on the consciousness of humankind. And certainly more people would see, or believe they had seen UFOs and/or had been 'abducted' or otherwise contacted by ETs, etc.

Indeed, if the President, in an address to the nation, flanked by military officials and leading scientists, declared that fairies were real, then we should expect more people to report seeing fairies.

While an announcement that 'UFOs are real' and the resulting media coverage would certainly have some effects on our experience, there are several problems with the argument that a VAC represents a grave or mortal threat to the United States and other nations.

First, the power of the collective of human consciousness to constrain the VAC interaction with humankind obviously far exceeds that of the alleged VAC. After six decades of UFOs (or thousands of years, as many believe), the VAC is apparently still incapable of significantly influencing our reality.

Second, cultures and civilizations throughout history have recognized (believed in) powerful forces and beings, and while their beliefs have had profound effects on their lives and cultures, so far, apparently, no civilization has been destroyed as a result of acknowledging these forces and beings. Of course it might be argued that never before in human history has the consciousness of the entire human race been affected to the extent possible with modern mass media and worldwide communications. The effect of mass media, however, could work both ways--statements by government officials and others, and media coverage could be used to promote fear, and feelings of helplessness, etc.--thus 'empowering' the VAC--or just the opposite; and thus dramatically influence beliefs and expectations of the world's people, and presumably, the reality they would experience.

For decades, elements of the USG have manipulated by various means and for various reasons, the attitudes and consciousness of the American people, and the USG Psychological Operations elements presumably would recognize the importance of this for managing reactions--for better or worse--to disclosure and contact in general, as well as any real or imagined VAC threat.

Third, since UFOs clearly have the ability to appear to groups of humans, and to cause aircraft, etc., to malfunction, and if they intend to force us to acknowledge them, why haven't they done something dramatic enough--appear over a major city in broad daylight, or cause an aircraft to crash in clear view of multiple witnesses, etc.--to initiate a media frenzy and the resulting change in our awareness?

Fourth, while some people may seek a personal physical or 'mental' interaction between humans and ETs, the purpose of this blog is not to suggest personal interactions, but rather an invitation to a very specific class of possible ET or other intelligences--beings who understand our civilization, are monitoring our communications, and who have simply been waiting for us (one or more governments) to accept responsibility for initiating contact--to communicate with us using our technology, initially with a simple recordable binary 'message'--an appearance, or not--or an optical alphanumeric message.

Of course it might be argued that a public welcome message, or 'request for communication', from a government, and the inevitable coverage in the news media would profoundly affect human consciousness, and as a result, empower a VAC to intrude more forcefully into our reality. But to the extent that our expectations, etc., are controlling the situation, the predominant expectation will be that an intelligence of the sort described above--whether a non-malicious VAC competent in our reality, or a nominal 'physical' biological and/or 'cybernetic' collective--either exists and is willing to contact us, or not.

VAC proponents can argue this endlessly, e.g., that public acknowledgment by a government of even the possibility that ETs are visiting our world will open the door for a whole range of malicious beings, etc., etc. If this is a concern, then the concern might be minimized by first using the 'diplomatic' initiative previously described (A Real SETI and Why It Matters), which will have no effect on the consciousness of the mass of humankind unless and until it succeeds, and the success is announced. Any response to a covert communications effort will not have occurred because of a change in the consciousness of a civilization, since only a handful of people were aware of the effort, but rather will have occurred because some intelligence already has the cultural and linguistic fluency, and the physical and technological competence in our reality to understand and respond to a request for communications from one or more governments, presumably for the reasons suggested elsewhere in this blog.

Finally, while a response to a covert 'request for communications' does not absolutely disprove the malicious-VAC hypothesis--indeed, in the foreseeable future we simply won't know whether UFOs, etc., are manifestations of a VAC far beyond our understanding of reality--it's irrelevant whether the response came from a VAC, ETs, ETs manifested by a VAC, or a superintelligent cosmic chipmunk living in Kansas City--the objective is to determine whether an intelligence is willing and able to communicate with us in our language(s), and whether such an intelligence has and is willing to convey information which may be of critical importance to the well-being and survival of our civilization.

No Nukes

If President Obama and leaders of other nations truly want a world free of nuclear weapons, and since the ETs are certainly 'concerned' about our nuclear weapons, and may likewise want a world free of nuclear weapons, perhaps the President will consider proposing an extraordinary deal: We do the hard part, and the ETs do what would for them be the easy part. For example: We negotiate an agreement among the nations of the world; and the ETs remove all nuclear weapons, significant quantities of fissionable materials, enrichment and reprocessing facilities, nuclear waste, and nuclear power plants; and they provide a watt-for-watt, safe and 'environmentally friendly' technology--which we can manufacture--to replace our nuclear plants, and they provide their advanced capabilities for monitoring compliance, and addressing any threats from non-cooperating nations (if any). Impossible perhaps--they may not have the slightest interest in helping us, with information or technology--but isn't it worth asking? Of course, the decision to disclose what the USG knows about the ET presence, and an attempt to initiate contact (if USG is not already in contact with the ETs) might be the most difficult decision a US President has ever made. But there are more difficult decisions, given our huge arsenals of nuclear weapons, and the suicidally stupid policy of 'Mutual Assured Destruction'.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Sample Message for 'Diplomatic' Contact

July 2023: If you want to initiate Contact now, see Extraterrestrial Contact 2023

{FEB 2017: Barring certain unusual (and perhaps rather extreme) efforts to establish credibility, the CD (Covert Diplomatic) option may no longer be available to the U.S.]

This is a sample message for the 'diplomatic' contact effort by a single nation, as suggested in A Real SETI and Why It Matters. 'Common courtesy' is important, but in this situation, human diplobabble is inappropriate, and might be regarded as willfully stupid, if not gratuitously insulting to any intelligent life forms who understand our civilization, and the history of the U.S.G., et al., and UFOs.

{Begin message}

I am requesting information concerning the possibility of initially confidential electronic communications, using our technology--or technology which you might provide and which can interface with our systems--between the U.S.G. (and presumably eventually other governments or the U.N.), and the advanced technological civilizations which are currently interacting with our civilization.

I ask that you reply in optical Morse Code to the persons or system transmitting this message.

I ask that you refrain from potentially harmful physical or mental interaction with any persons involved in the transmission of this message.

If you cannot now, but may in the near future, provide a substantive response to this message, I ask that, if possible, you acknowledge receipt of this message.

If you respond to this message, I will, within one day, deliver this message--and a notification that a response was received--to the members of the United Nations Security Council; and I will deliver your response within one day of their acceptance of full responsibility for the receipt of same.

If you respond, this message and your response will be made available to the people of our world within thirty days of your response, by the U.S.G., if not by the U.N. As you understand, it is certain that some nations--but not the U.S.--will severely limit, by various means, the public availability of your communications.

Thank you.
/signed/ [the nation's President and/or Prime Minister]

{End Message}

A Real SETI and Why It Matters

May 2021: If you want to initiate Contact now, see Time to Start Talking to ETs
 

Are we alone in the Universe?

After fifty years of SETI, scientists are still discussing the Drake Equation, and asking "Where are they?"

Do we really want to know if we're alone in the Universe? Or are we only interested in 'safe' aliens--primitive life in our solar system, or intelligent life too far away to have a useful conversation, or for them to do us harm?

If ETs, with knowledge and technology beyond our understanding, were already visiting our world, would we want to know? Certainly, for their own reasons, governments and scientists might want to know; but would they want the public to know?

Would we want to talk to the ETs?

SETI researchers and other scientists will argue that there's no evidence of an ETI visiting our world. And even if they were here, and had something to say to us, why haven't they simply said it? Why don't they 'land on the White House lawn'?

If even a small percentage of the UFO reports represent an ETI visiting our world (NOV 2017: they do), then perhaps the simplest (and most obvious) of many possible explanations is that, from their perspective, they've knocked on our door, thousands of times, and they're waiting for us to answer.

They might know from long experience that a dramatic and unexpected appearance or message could would cause a major disruption to our civilization; and that contact is always enormously difficult for a civilization, and can be a disaster if unwelcome. And so they continue to make their presence known, in carefully limited appearances around the world, and wait for us to say we're ready: for those who speak for the people of our world--one or more governments, or the UN--to ask them to make their presence known so that we can begin discussions of the possibility of contact.

While this explanation might seem ridiculously improbable, it's certainly easy to test. If ETs were monitoring our communications, a simple statement from the US or another government, or the UN, reported by the media, might would be sufficient to elicit a message or undeniable appearance.

Last year (2009), in a joint US-Australian effort, NASA transmitted the messages collected in the "Hello From Earth" project to Gliese 581d, some 20 light-years away. A quote from the project website: "Will we get an answer? No-one really knows. So why not send a message and find out?"

So why not send a message and find out whether the folks from Gliese 581d, or anywhere else, are already here and willing to talk to us?

Would NASA and CSIRO (Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), or any nation's space agency, welcome a simple appearance--an undeniable demonstration of presence--or perhaps a message from any ETs who might already be visiting our world?

Would UNESCO and IAU (the International Astronomical Union), cosponsors of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, and representing governments and scientists around the world, welcome such an appearance or message?

The answers to this simple question, from the governments and scientists of our world, would not only be a message to any ETs who might be listening, but would also be profound statements of the character of our civilization at this point in our history.

To minimize any uncertainty about how ETs might respond, the date, time, location, and nature of the requested appearance or message might be specified, and the event, or non-event, could be recorded, or even broadcast live.

Of course, the UN and the national governments might prefer, at least initially, to announce the presence of, and deliver any message from an ETI in their own way, rather than invite the ETs to communicate directly with the public.

So, perhaps scientists (e.g., the IAA SETI Post-Detection Taskgroup) and government officials of one or more nations would consider another approach.

If ETs understood our civilization (they do), and intend the possibility of an eventual constructive relationship (they do), they might any 'well intended' ETs will refuse a request for secret communications with any one nation, to avoid the inevitable anger and resentment of other nations. On the other hand, perhaps they would would respond to an open request (announced in the media), or even a secret request from the leader(s) of one or more nations, for (briefly!) secret or 'diplomatic' communications, if the nation(s) promised to quickly* share the message and any ET response with the UN, or perhaps the UN Security Council. [*E.g., notification of receipt within hours; message content within hours of request from U.N./U.N.S.C.] If the ETs regarded the promise as credible, perhaps they would provide useful information regarding their purpose, the possibility of 'diplomatic' and/or open contact, and the nature of the information they might be willing to share.

Such an effort could be undertaken by the US or another government, using an existing communications capability, or something as simple as an optical (International Morse Code) messaging system (a bright signaling light) to transmit a message, cameras to record any response, surrounded by a circle of strobes or spotlights, bright enough to be easily seen from space, to 'advertise' the system. If successful, it would allow scientists and government officials from several nations to secretly discuss the issue, and then to assemble a larger group of scientists, politicians, religious leaders, and others for further discussions--still in secret--and finally, to inform the public.

However unlikely (not!) it might seem that such efforts would succeed, both (open and covert) are simple, cheap, and could be done now. Of course the consequences for humankind, if successful, would be enormous.

Even if we somehow could choose to initiate contact now with an advanced ETI, why would we? Why would we choose--other than curiosity--to begin a process which might will be the most difficult, disruptive, and even destructive experience in human history?

For the scientists and others discussing Global Warming, the continued destruction of our living planet, the dangers of nuclear weapons, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence--for those who wonder if our civilization will survive the coming years and decades--the answer should be obvious: Would any rational civilization ignore the possibility, however slight, of learning about life in the Universe, and the experiences of other rapidly evolving technological civilizations?

From the perspective of those who may know the stories of countless civilizations like ours, do we have a bright and prosperous future, or are we marching mindlessly toward an apocalyptic cliffside? Do most civilizations like ours survive, or almost none? What happened to all the others?

If we aren't curious enough to even ask "Who are you, and what do you want?", then perhaps the scientists and governments will consider a different sort of request for communication. For example: If you have something to say to us that you believe, years from now, we're likely to desperately wish we had heard now, then please say it now.

What if the ETs told us that, as some people already believe know, our attitudes and beliefs, and the institutions of our civilization are simply incompatible with the technologies we already have and will soon create, and the harm we have already done and continue to do to the Earth? What if they told us that life, as those alive today in the US and many other nations have known it, at least in some critical respects, is coming to an end (it is), one way or another, and soon; and that our only choice is how to manage almost unimaginably difficult changes?

Do we even have the ability as a civilization to voluntarily make major changes in our way of life? Would it be worth the effort to survive? Would we regret ever having asked about the experiences of other civilizations, and what they portend for the future of humankind?

So far, for better or worse, the answer from the governments, most of the scientists, and perhaps most of humankind, seems to be that ignorance is bliss, and we'd rather not know if ETs are visiting our world, much less ask them about the lessons we might learn from past civilizations.

And yet, if intelligent spacefaring life is abundant in the Universe, and contact is a common but not inevitable experience, isn't it worth wondering about the others--faraway and perhaps long ago--who might have made the same choice we're making? What became of them, and their hopes and their dreams and their fears for the future of their worlds and their people?

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Truth and Freedom

Inscribed on a wall in the headquarters of a leading UFO research organization is the ancient prophecy: "And Ye Shall Know the Truth and the Truth Shall Make You Free." Perhaps the irony of this statement--in light of their policy with regard to sharing their research with the public--is lost on the researchers? Does the strength of a nation truly arise from the ignorance of its people?

The fact that humans can and do to some extent influence the reality they experience--even perhaps to the extreme, as Jesus suggested, that by some 'faith' humans might 'move mountains'--certainly does not by itself lead to 'freedom' or 'peace on earth' for anyone, but simply leads to another realm of possible cooperation and conflict, and at its worst, 'psychic warfare'. What does this have to do with UFOs? How could an understanding of psychic research profit humankind? And what 'truth', if any, could possibly make us 'free'?

The relevance of UFOs, of course, is that advanced spacefaring races will have a vastly greater understanding than we do of the fundamental nature of, and relationship between, consciousness and 'reality', and they almost certainly know how such an understanding (or lack of understanding) by a rapidly evolving technological civilization is related to the likelihood such a civilization will survive and prosper.

An acceptance of the reality of psychic phenomena would free the scientific community and others from the oppressive constraints of the theology of scientific materialism, and lead to a dramatic increase in efforts to understand consciousness, reality, and the scientific basis of spirituality. And that understanding, for those religious believers willing to reconsider some of their beliefs, would free them from the oppressive constraints of the myriad inconsistent highly elaborated religious theologies.

And that freedom, together with an emerging scientific understanding of consciousness and spirituality, arising from efforts to understand various mystical and religious beliefs, Near Death Experiences, reincarnation research, psychic research, various forms of faith and 'energy' healing, and various interpretations of quantum mechanics, etc., could lead to an extraordinary new understanding of our true nature, our connection to each other--perhaps that in a fundamental sense we are all part of a vast consciousness many call 'God'--and a new freedom and not only understanding, but awareness of our responsibility to one another--a new era for humankind, and perhaps 'peace on earth' for those who want it.

One remarkable implication of some explanations of the 'Law of Attraction' is that humans live to some extent in separate realities, or 'multiverses', and by their thoughts and intentions, choose or 'attract' their experiences, or at a more fundamental level, 'create' their reality. It's not clear exactly what influence various elements of consciousness--the 'soul', the 'subconscious', and the normal waking consciousness--have on events, much less how to characterize a thought or any form of consciousness, or how the multitude of realities might interact, and exactly what 'objective' influences constrain this freedom, etc. But, if humans exist, at least to some extent, in their own realities--and are free to construct those realities--then this 'truth' would certainly offer those who thoroughly understood it a degree of freedom far beyond what is implied in either the scientific materialist or in most religious perspectives on reality.

Perhaps the UFO researchers will take the time to ponder the inscription on their wall, and consider that it might be more than simply a clever saying...and ask themselves whether we're really more likely to survive and prosper, as a 'free' nation, in the coming years and decades, by ignoring the possibility of learning more about the true nature of our existence, and the experiences of other rapidly evolving technological civilizations.

Reverse Engineering

So a flying saucer crashed at Roswell (or perhaps lots of saucers in lots of places), the US Government recovered the wreckage, and has 'reverse engineered' the saucers to create their own saucers, and magical sources of 'free' energy which could create energy independence for the US, etc. And much of modern technology was actually developed by reverse engineering crash debris, and we actually have the ability to 'take ET home' (i.e., travel among the stars). Or so the story goes...

The notion that much of modern technology is reverse engineered from ET technology is absurd to anyone familiar with the history of science and technology. Where are the huge discontinuities in progress that such a claim implies? And why would anyone make these claims? While it may simply be an entertaining story, perhaps intended to earn money for the storytellers, a disinformation operation, or a honeypot intended for foreign intelligence services, perhaps a better explanation is that it conveys the message that UFO secrecy and the heroic efforts of the USG to sustain it have brought the US great benefits; and the ET technology and capabilities aren't really that mysterious or advanced, and shouldn't really frighten anyone; and we should trust the government's policy, and support the continuing secrecy. At the worst, this argument might have been used to badger USG officials into supporting the UFO 'cover-up'. Clearly such an argument, at least in the present day, is not intended for those familiar with the behavior of UFOs and the history of human technology.

It's certainly understandable that the military would regard the possibility of creating their own flying saucers, etc., based at least partly on reverse engineering ET technology, as of supreme importance to the national security of the US. And the possibility that the Soviets (or now, the Russians or Chinese, etc.) might have similar debris, and might use it to create weapons systems far superior to USG's would have been a nightmare to the US military. Perhaps these concerns would have been enough to justify, for at least some National Security officials, over 60 years of psychological operations conducted against the American people to suppress not only the details of the alleged crash(es) and engineering efforts, but even the reality of UFOs and the ET presence.

Perhaps the US has learned a bit about materials, energy, etc., and perhaps even has primitive 'anti-gravity' systems. Attempts to understand the relationship between electromagnetism (et al.) and gravity, e.g., predate the modern UFO era, as do various designs involving circular or rotating electromagnetic devices claimed to have gravitic effects. But has the US created anything with capabilities approaching those of UFOs?

There are several problems with the idea of reverse engineering ET technology.

The first problem is that the human race couldn't natively reverse engineer so much as a toilet on a starship--not for a billion or even a trillion dollars. Perhaps for a billion dollars, the military industrial complex could create a genuine 'reverse-engineered UFO toilet seat', and sit on it, and declare success, and make some money for taxpayers by putting it in an amusement park and charging visitors to sit on it. But the human race does not have the scientific knowledge, and not in the wildest dreams of any rational person do we have the native engineering capabilities to design, build, test, or operate a system with anything close to the capabilities of flying saucers.

A simple thought experiment, for those familiar with the performance characteristics of flying saucers, might help to understand this better...

A fully loaded F-22 accidentally flies through a time warp and crashes in the New Mexico desert in 1947. Can the US reverse engineer the technology and change the course of history?

The military officials (in 1947) can see that it's a jet airplane, with missiles [, rockets 8/12/2018, ] and bombs--and a really nice gun!--and the labels are in English. But the performance and weapons are obviously far superior to the F-80, etc. Now consider the thousands of parts, millions of design decisions, all the supporting technologies (communications, maintenance systems, refueling tankers, GPS, etc.), all the science--aerodynamics of supersonic flight, materials science, electronics, etc.--and all the manufacturing infrastructure and other requirements. How long will it take the US (or any other nation) to create these?

Without the cybernetics, humans can't design, build, or test an F-22. Even worse, humans don't (directly) fly F-22s--the cybernetics does. And the cybernetics of an F-22 and supporting systems simply could not be created, even if they could be understood, in 1947--or even in 1977. By 1997 scientists and engineers might have begun to understand, and perhaps even recreate the cybernetics...but so what? By 1997, the actual F-22 (in our 'timeline') was already under development. Perhaps the military will have learned a few things in six decades from studying the crashed F-22, but the F-22 is a child's toy compared to a flying saucer, and there is exactly no possibility we have natively reverse-engineered the complex systems of a far post-'Singularity' civilization.

Secondly, why did the saucer crash at Roswell? Is it even a real flying saucer? Why did the ETs permit us to have these materials? They know that humans, including the Americans, are violent and irrational, and the US military is and likely will be extremely hostile to the ET presence. Unless the ETs are incompetent or complete idiots, they would not have permitted the US to have materials which might allow us to develop capabilities which seriously threaten their activities here or elsewhere. And, as their interaction with our nuclear weapons shows, they aren't idiots, and they aren't incompetent, and they will not permit anything resembling the current human race to develop any threat which they cannot manage.

They may also know something which the National Security element of the USG doesn't seem to know, or perhaps even care about: that if we continue on our current path, we won't survive long enough to create anything useful from the crash debris. In other words, civilizations which reach our level of technological development--without a proportionate understanding of consciousness, spirituality, and the nature of our existence--will almost inevitably fail...and that at this point, only an experience as wrenching as contact could cause us to change our course of development.

And even if the US could achieve aerospace supremacy with respect to other nations, times have changed, and there are many critical threats other than Soviet bombers of 1947 (and a few years later, nuclear armed missiles)--for example, biological and cybernetic threats, either of which could be fatal to the United States. And thus even the extreme possibility--absolute aerospace supremacy, etc.--while a huge strategic advantage, can no longer ensure our survival.

Moreover, if we survive the next few years, humankind will eventually acknowledge the ET presence. Even if the US will have meanwhile created wondrous new energy technologies, imagining that the US and its corporations will become enormously wealthy at the expense of other nations, does anyone imagine that other nations will tolerate this without demanding the ETs provide them with equal or better technology?

If the ETs simply plan to eat the human race on Thanksgiving Day 2012, or have some other malevolent purpose, then they won't care what the human race does, as long as we don't exterminate ourselves, spoiling their dinner plans.

But if they have the slightest interest in the possibility of a constructive long-term relationship, then they won't begin it by contributing to the wealth and power of one nation at the expense of all the others, and thus infuriating most of the human race.

In perhaps the worst case, the US would have used reverse engineered technology to kill people in other nations in one or more of our wars. The ET presence becomes known someday, and the people of the other nations are outraged, demanding not only compensatory, but punitive damages, and the ETs feel obliged to comply, to the great detriment of the US. Even if the USG was foolish enough to make this mistake, the ETs, unless they're idiots or don't care about a possible future relationship with humankind, wouldn't allow such a situation to develop in the first place.

Finally, there is no 'free energy' and never will be. There are better technologies for producing energy than are commonly used today, and such technologies will certainly have significant economic impacts--on the petroleum industry, e.g. But in our society, governments will regulate and tax any new energy source, and global corporations, e.g., the major oil companies ('energy' companies), will continue to make large profits through investments, acquisitions, and political influence.

Obviously there are many reasons why the USG might want to continue the UFO/ET secrecy. But if, however improbably, the possibility of reverse engineering recovered ET technology is still one of those reasons, does the intelligence and analysis really support this argument?

Spirituality & the Transhumanists

If, in fact, thoughts and intentions can profoundly affect the reality we experience, why isn't this obvious to everyone, especially scientists? The simple explanation is that not only is the link between cause and effect obscure compared to common physical experiences, but the principle is heretical to materialist science. But there may be another explanation, at another level, for the attitudes and understandings of humans throughout history.

Perhaps the transhumanists, and the scientists and others wondering whether the Universe might actually be a sort of 'computer simulation', would consider the similarities between their ideas and the ideas of those attempting to construct a scientific understanding of spirituality and human existence. On the one hand, consider life as one of a series of learning experiences for a spiritual being; and on the other, consider a 'transhumanist' future in which humans can choose to experience extraordinary time-compressed multiplayer 'virtual reality' 'computer' simulations--to experience, and remember (with their super-enhanced transhumanist intelligence) an entire simulated 'lifetime' on any given Saturday evening.

For some lives, the spiritual being, for whatever reason(s), experiences a life in which the physical being has no knowledge of the fundamental facts of their existence. And thus while their consciousness, combined with whatever other factors, is creating their daily experience, they have little or no awareness of this fact. And in other lives, the spiritual being, similarly for whatever reason(s), experiences a physical existence in which they, to some extent at least, remember who they are, and understand that their consciousness can profoundly influence the reality they experience. Who or what determines the extent to which the physical being will be aware of their true nature? And why?

And for the transhumanists: "Life on Earth--The Game So Real, You'll Forget Who You Are." In some optimistic transhumanist future, would you play this game? (Are 'you', a spiritual being, already playing this game, and have you, the human, forgotten who 'you' are?) In one modern concept of spirituality, there is no after-death judgment from a vengeful, arbitrary, and irrational deity, but rather unconditional love, and a complete review of the life experience. When a 'player's' life ends in the LOE game, you're back sitting on your living room couch with your beer (?) and bag of potato chips. With your cybernetically enhanced intelligence, you can review the entire experience in minutes, and perhaps spend days or even years reflecting on what you learned; and because your transhumanist mind is linked to the larger collective intelligence of not only the game 'creator', but the other players, your experience is now a part of the collective.

Could the experience of such a game be so compelling that you would actually choose to experience not just the joy and pleasure, but pain and sorrow and perhaps horrors as well, rather than sit around bored on your transhumanist couch? Or more to the point, can you imagine choosing to have an experience in which you don't even remember who you are, and have forgotten that you, the player, have the power to change the experience simply by remembering who you really are, and learning to control your consciousness? Or would the 'creator' have established certain requirements for the minimum level of experience, or mastery at the 'beginners' level, before progressing to the 'advanced' level?

In one spiritual perspective on life, the imperative seems to be to experience all the possibilities of existence, akin to Q's suggestion to Picard in the final Star Trek Next Generation: '...the unknown possibilities of existence...'. Similarly, some folks play computer games for the 'experience'--even 'bad' experiences.

And some folks play computer games not just for the experience, but to try to 'master' or 'win' the game; and in some sense, learning how to 'control' the game might be seen as simply another step in experiencing all the possibilities. Is the spiritual analogy a sequence of lives which lead to a conscious understanding of spiritual truths and the nature of our existence, and eventually the understanding that we are controlling the game, consciously or unconsciously, and can and do create the reality we experience?

Or in another analogy, as some have wondered for millennia, is life a dream of sorts, mostly simply experienced and beyond our control, but for some folks in some dreams (lives), a 'lucid' dream in which the dreamer not only becomes aware that they are dreaming, but that they can consciously control the experience?

For the scientists and transhumanists, did you, the spiritual being, choose a life in which you, the human, would completely forget who you are, simply because the experience is so compelling for a spiritual being and you don't care about 'mastering' the game, or perhaps so you would have another lifetime of experience, before choosing a life in which you remember who you are, dimly or perhaps quite clearly, and remember that, at least to some extent, you are actually creating the reality you experience? Or did you intend--or does it even matter what you intended, since it's all about the learning experience--that you would have the freedom in this life to choose: either live your life, simply for the experience, choosing to believe some religious or scientific theology, ignorant of who and what you are; or take the next step in consciousness and spiritual evolution, remember who you are, and begin to explore a new realm of 'unknown possibilities'? Or, to put it another way (to paraphrase a thoughtful commenter in a discussion of the simulation idea), would you want to know the 'cheat codes' to the LOE game?

So what did you, the spiritual being, intend for you in this life? In the concept of the 'Law of Attraction', etc., the answer is simple: if you find these concepts absurd or offensive or 'evil', because of your religious or scientific theology or whatever reasons, then they are 'evil' or wrong for you. But if you're simply skeptical, even extremely so, but nonetheless interested or even fascinated, then the implication is that perhaps you should explore the possibility. And a few would have a joyous sense that at some level they always knew these truths, and always intended to remember them, and have finally found what they were looking for, etc.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Intentions and the 'Law of Attraction'

The effect seen in REG (Random Event Generator) and other intention experiments is usually so small, that there might seem no basis for the extraordinary claim that intentions can actually influence significant events in the physical reality we experience, as suggested in the 'Law of Attraction' and related concepts. There are however several key differences between most REG experiments and the LOA idea.

1. Time. LOA might require repeatedly focusing on something over hours, days, weeks, or months, whereas a REG is usually expected to respond more or less now.

2. Specificity of Result. A REG is usually expected to do something simple and specific, but rather general LOA intentions might in principle be 'manifested' in an infinite number of ways.

3. Focus of Intention. Instead of focusing only on a REG or roulette ball, etc., LOA intentions are addressed to the entire 'Universe' (or 'God', etc.). Is it possible that consciousness can slightly influence arbitrarily small or large physical systems, without regard to conventional understandings of 'force' or 'power' or 'energy'?

4. Believability and Expectation. Our consciousness and/or the rules of our reality seem to prefer (however this might be described) that we experience a more-or-less materialistic, classical mechanics sort of world. From birth, most humans are programmed to believe that thoughts have no effect on physical reality and that 'magic' or 'miracles' are 'impossible' or at least extremely rare; and to the extent that beliefs influence perception and experience, we won't experience 'impossible' events. While a REG producing visibly, rather than merely statistically significant anomalous results, or levitation, etc., are clearly out of character in our consensus reality, the results of LOA intentions can never be shown, from a 'scientific' or materialist perspective, to be magical or impossible.

Two approaches might be used to test the ideas that intentions influence events in our lives. Presumably both approaches have already been described, if not actually undertaken as experiments; links to online articles describing such efforts are welcomed.

The subjective psychological approach might involve constructing a simple explanation of how intentions might influence events in our lives, along with appropriate mental exercises, and testing on a group of interested volunteers for several weeks or months. Questionnaires could used to explore the attitudes, beliefs, and sense of well-being, etc., before and after the experiment. Would a change in attitudes or sense of well-being, etc., be seen in any of the participants?

Another approach might be to construct a real or virtual large REG array connected to a computer simulation or 'lifelike' game, without the normal user inputs from a keyboard, mouse, or game controller. The array elements would be used as a substitute for the pseudorandom or actually random data used in a control version of the experiment. The simulations or games would be run for at least hours or days, perhaps longer, and intentions would be directed toward general results, and to the array as a whole rather than a single REG. Even if the intended outcome is specific in one sense, e.g., that in a simulation of a sporting event a particular team is intended to win, the complexity of the game, with inputs from many REGs, and the many possible scores, etc., would allow many possible paths to achieve the result.

This experiment differs from normal REG intention experiments by several of the criteria which distinguish them from the LOA idea:

1. Time--It's played over hours or days.

2. Specificity of Result--Rather than intending a specific result from a REG, i.e., higher or lower, a more general result is intended. In a competitive game simulation, a team or player might be intended to win, but without specifying how, or by what score, etc. In 'lifelike' simulations, various 'life' events might be intended, without specifying how they might be achieved or occur, or the details of the outcome. In a graphic image creation program, either a particular pattern might be intended, without regard to size, color, etc.; or the created pattern might be intended to be more attractive or interesting, and results might be judged by third parties compared to images created by random or pseudorandom inputs.

3. Focus of Intention--Intentions would be focused on an entire array of REGs rather than a single REG, and thus the collective behavior of the array determines the outcome.

4. Believability and Expectation--With millions or billions of REG values processed, it would be nearly impossible to show how the desired outcome occurred, or that anything strange happened, except that the results appear to be different from those of the control versions.

Thus the experiment would be at least a slightly better analog to the LOA concept than current single REG experiments.

While a large REG array--hundreds of REGs--on a chip would be enormously expensive to create, perhaps a prototype version with fewer REGs, constructed on a circuit board, using an attached computer to handle some of the processing, might be constructed for hundreds or a few thousand dollars.

A simpler, and much less expensive approach might be to construct a REG with a much higher output than the common 200 bits per second, and create virtual array with time division of the output. Perhaps the theorists could comment on whether there's likely to be any practical difference between a virtual array in which each REG exists only in brief moments of time, as opposed to an actual array in which each REG has a 'real', continuous existence.

The computer game or simulation controlled by the array might also be expensive to create, unless it could be undertaken as an open-source project.

Would any effect be seen? If so, could such a system be used to explore the effectiveness of various LOA ideas and approaches? Could it be used as a training device?

If experiments showed consistently significant and interesting effects, then a variety of commercial products might eventually be constructed and sold, both for research, and as consumer products. In the (perhaps near) future, as interaction of consciousness and reality is accepted by scientists and the public, perhaps such devices or systems could be marketed to the general public, for entertainment and education, etc.