If ETs are coming to Earth then where are they?

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.

Aliens or fairies? Depends on whom you ask.

It's interesting how phenomena can be seen or explained differently depending on the time period or culture they are observed in.  An example would be UFOs.

In times past, strange lights and mysterious disappearances were blamed on fairy folk.  The phenomenon of missing time that alien abductees report has similarities with the tales of the fairy realm having a different flow of time than the human realm.  If you look into the fairy lore there are a lot of similarities between fairy activity and UFOs and extraterrestrials.

So, is this the same phenomenon but seen through different eyes?  If it's the same phenomenon then which is it:  fairies or aliens?  Or none of the above?

Something that I find particularly interesting is that now we seem to be looking back over our legends and inserting UFOs and ETs in order to explain the strange occurrences told of in those tales.  This isn't confined to only legends either, but to history as a whole.  Ancient astronaut theorists have long pointed at the strange events of history and blamed extraterrestrial influences when in the past these events would have been blamed on fairies, angels, deities, or spirits.

I suppose what I'm getting at is this:  We view things through the lens of the time period.  How will we look back on such unexplained phenomena in a hundred years?

Merlin's prophecies reveal guidance from UFOs and aliens, state experts

Extraterrestrials as demons?

UFOlogy is a very deep and complex subject and I expect to discuss various aspects of it as I post more blog entries.  The specific topic I'm going to focus on now however is the view that what are commonly seen as extraterrestrials and their spacecraft are actually demons.  To clarify, I mean demons in the sense that most of Christianity knows them (and demons are a whole topic all by themselves).  I'm talking about malevolent supernatural entities, commonly seen as the antithesis of angels.

I think I was first introduced to the idea that extraterrestrials (aliens, if you will) are actually demons about eight or so months ago at a UFO/Paranormal lecture.  The speaker was a religious man, having gone to divinity school if I'm not mistaken.  Since I don't get the opportunity to attend such lectures very often I thought I'd check it out even if I thought it was a little strange that someone with that background claimed to be a paranormal scholar of this variety.  Without going into too much detail (this story could provide a completely separate blog post of its own), about halfway through the night the speaker began to "get down to business," so to speak.

At this point we had discussed predominantly UFOs and extraterrestrials, covering all the major bases of the UFO/alien lore.  Then this lecturer dropped a bit of a bomb on me.  He suggested something that seemed completely strange and absurd to me at the time because it seemed very foreign to my way of thinking.  He suggested that aliens were not actually creatures from another planet and that they were actually demons.  Malevolent spiritual entities taking the form of "aliens" in order to corrupt and damn us.  I won't go into all of the intricacies of this because I honestly can't.  At this point the night seemed to take a more evangelical turn and that had me in something of a squirm-in-your-seat kind of uneasiness that lasted until I left the building.  That said, this lecturer brings to mind an interesting suggestion.

Typing this now, I remember seeing references to extraterrestrials (or at least the "bad" ones) as being evil, followers of Satan, working against God, etc. prior to this lecture but I can't recall someone ever stating that ETs were literal demons taking form to torment and deceive mankind before this.  While studying Fortean lore, I came across the concept of one being taken away and brought back by fairies.  Again, fairies may even merit their own individual blog post; there's a lot more to fairies than Tinkerbell.  Anyway, when looking over these accounts, there are a lot of similarities between ancient encounters with fairies and modern encounters with UFOs/aliens, abduction being just one of the commonalities.  Could extraterrestrials be supernatural entities rather than flesh and blood creatures from other planets?

Everything we claim to know through science suggests that it is very, very unlikely that extraterrestrials are visiting or ever have visited Earth.  The vastness of space and the technology required make the possibility of aliens visiting our planet a very slim one indeed.  This is what science tells us.  But what if the "aliens" are already here?  There are a number of avenues to go from this question, but for the purpose of this post I'm going to choose the fairy folk/demon avenue.  Suppose these entities are supernatural beings, mostly native to our planet (or at least our general level of existence) that have been here as long as we have or longer.  What if only our perception of them has changed?  In the past it was fairies and magic; in the modern age it is extraterrestrials and spacecraft.  Perhaps this is how we rationalize these experiences in the the current age.

None of this really sheds any new light on the subject of UFOs/aliens and I'm certainly not the first person to propose this line of thinking, but it does give one something else to consider.  Personally, I'm on the fence.  I'm convinced of the reality of the UFO phenomenon but I have absolutely no idea what is behind it, whether it's extraterrestrials, fairies, demons, Earth energies, or any of the other less-than-conventional ideas.  I can't throw down an opinion one way or another.  Maybe you can though.

Let me know what you think in the comments or use the poll to the right.  Or you can do both if you're so inclined.