I've brought up the similarities between UFO sightings and older, more magical phenomena like fairies before. I have been thinking for a while that these phenomena are one and the same and the extraterrestrial explanation is just our modern take on something that has been happening for a very long time. Pondering the Fermi Paradox earlier today it occurred to me that the evidence of intelligent extraterrestrials visiting us (or existing at all) is severely lacking. Sure, there are lots of things that could be interpreted as evidence for extraterrestrials, but there doesn't seem to be anything really concrete that says "All of these things are caused by aliens."
No doubt the UFO phenomenon is real. People see strange and unidentifiable objects in the skies all the time. Unidentified does not necessarily mean extraterrestrial though. That we jump to the extraterrestrial hypothesis as an explanation for UFOs tells how much our collective thinking has been affected by the times we live in. Science fiction influences aside, we assume that since we can travel into space that an advanced alien civilization should be able to travel much farther into space, bend space and time itself, and generally defy the laws of physics as we know them.
That's the real rub of it: the defying of the laws of physics. To get here from another star in a timely manner, as well as to remain undetected by humans, these aliens would have to have technology that resembled magic to us simply because it would defy all understanding that we have of how the universe works. We're talking faster-than-light travel, wormholes, unimaginable energy sources, etc. Thinking about this, there's little wonder some ufologists have looked at the magical descriptions of strange things in the past and decided that they must be the product of extraterrestrial technology.
There is another possibility though, just as incredible but for some reason treated as infinitely less likely. What if all of these unexplained UFO sightings, alien abductions, messages channeled by contactees, etc. are the product of spirits? I should probably clarify what I mean by spirits here. I mean beings from beyond the physical plane of existence. More modern terms might be extradimensionals or ultraterrestrials. I am not referring to ghosts or the souls of deceased humans, but beings that have never been human at all.
Grimoires of magical knowledge such as the Keys of Solomon discuss at length how to contact non-human spirits. To most people this will seem impossible, but once you've accomplished it for yourself it seems a lot more believable. Beings capable of moving between planes of existence, in some cases capable of affecting events on the physical plane, seem to be on par with how we think of extraterrestrials; especially in some New Age circles and UFO cults. There are also parallels between spirit channeling and the channeling of extraterrestrials. When looking at the similarities, extraterrestrials and spirits could be interchanged in most narratives and the story would remain the same.
The more I ponder this subject the more I think that it's likely that we aren't being visited by extremely advanced flesh-and-blood intelligent extraterrestrials. The odds against them existing, finding us, having enough interest to interact, and then having the ability to get here are just staggering. But what about beings (spirits) that are capable of moving between planes of existence, not bound by the limitations of time or space, that have been interacting with humans since the dawn of our species? Is that any more likely? It bypasses several of the problems in the extraterrestrial hypothesis at the cost of invoking a mystical view of reality that is extremely distasteful to some people.
Personally, after the experiences I've had, I'm more inclined to believe in spirits than extraterrestrials visiting us. I would even go so far as to say that those claiming to have encounters with extraterrestrials through channeling or abduction may actually be contacting non-human spirits (if they are contacting anything at all). Again, it is our modern mindset that prohibits us from believing in spirits but allows us to accept extraterrestrial visitation as a possibility. If UFOs and other phenomena ascribed to extraterrestrials are actually caused by spirits then that could explain why we can't seem to find these mischievous aliens; they simply aren't sticking around on the physical plane long enough to be caught. Not being native to the physical plane, they may even be incapable of truly being "caught" as we might catch an animal in order to study it.
Whether a strange being is an alien or a spirit may ultimately be totally up to the perceptions and beliefs of those encountering it. These are just my ongoing observations and musings on the subject; take them as you will.
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