Saturday, December 17, 2011

Appropriate security on UFOs probably 2-way street


By Steve Hammons

If some unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are related to intelligent visitors from elsewhere, what is the impact on national security and global security? This is a question that may have faced U.S. and international officials at least since the World War II era.

Wartime security and secrecy procedures probably would have been implemented in such a case. The alleged Roswell incident reportedly occurred in that climate when “Loose lips sink ships” was one of the mottos to remind Americans to keep information about sensitive military activities secret so it would not fall into the hands of enemies.

Many elements of American society including industries, scientists, journalists and others understood the reason for this kind of security related to defense matters and gladly cooperated. American lives were at stake and the outcome of WWII hung in the balance.

And, the “need-to-know” guideline used to maintain security was (and is today) widely accepted as reasonable and necessary in many cases.

During and after WWII, loyal Americans were helping make sure that necessary secrecy was maintained to protect the country and our friends around the world. Most people probably assumed that this was a united group effort that benefited everyone in the long run.

GRASSROOTS INTELLIGENCE

Today, concerns exist about finding the balance between certain security situations, including UFOs and other anomalous phenomena, and making sure that this balance is a united group effort that benefits everyone. Is secrecy at the appropriate levels? Do Americans have a need to know about certain developments?

Many researchers and others have weighed in on these kinds of questions. In fact, there may be different kinds of views within the defense, intelligence and scientific communities about how much and what kind of information and awareness should be made available to the American people.

Additionally, how the information is made available may be a key factor.

It’s hard to make a judgment without knowing more about what we might be facing. Is there a threat from hostile adversaries from elsewhere? Are there friends and allies who want to help the human race? Are there just explorers, visitors and those passing through who are neutral and unconcerned one way or other about the human condition on Earth?

Managing relationships with our international human friends, allies, “frenemies,” competitors, adversaries and flat-out enemies is quite challenging. Maybe we can think about how more complex it would be when dealing with unusual visitors from elsewhere.

Gathering intelligence might be a lot more difficult. As in dealing with other human groups, communication and cultural differences could also play a part. In the case of certain extraterrestrials or other anomalous beings, actual physical and biological differences could also be an element. Gaps between humans and others in technology and/or deeper knowledge might be significant.

If unusual visitors are actually interacting with Earth and humans, who are friends, allies, frenemies, competitors, adversaries and flat-out enemies?

And, what if some visitors want to “save us from ourselves?” That is, they look down on the Earth, gather intelligence about how it is functioning and being run, and note that there is vast poverty, hunger, suffering, disease, ignorance, injustice and overpopulation.

What if they note that the Earth’s ecosystem and climate are in grave danger? Or, maybe they know that Earth may face some other threats that we do not fully understand at this time.

And, they may see that the human race has the potential to rise to a higher consciousness and deeper understanding, but is not there yet.

TEAM EFFORT

These are quite complex dynamics that could actually be facing us now, if you believe the many credible researchers looking into these topics.

Maybe we can understand how difficult it would be for insiders in the defense, intelligence and scientific communities to sort it all out and make sound decisions. Their missions include protecting and helping the American (and other countries’) people in various ways. Maintaining appropriate security is part of this.

And standard intelligence tasks do not just include gathering information and keeping it secret. They also include interpreting and organizing the information, then disseminating it to the right people in the right way.

In the case of the UFO subject, providing information to the people about what they need to know may be a legitimate and important part of this intelligence mission.

The people, for their part, probably must take the responsibility for being open to new information, including that which is subtle, complex, “between the lines” or presented in relatively general ways. We might also need to use our own judgment, perception and gut feelings about what we are told.

We might need to find understanding within ourselves about what is going on. Human consciousness is undoubtedly a key factor that is part of the overall situation.

As we move forward, there will be more research into UFOs and what is going on. Many people will learn more, one way or the other. This ongoing educational process can contribute to national and global security, as well as enhance the development of the human race.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Insight, understanding not always found in official reports, documents


By Steve Hammons

Sometimes things like government documents, news accounts and scientific investigative reports don’t always convey the deeper potential of forward-leaning research into human perception and awareness, as well as other interesting phenomena.

For example, the open-source files on Project STAR GATE provide plenty of educational information about research into extrasensory perception (ESP), anomalous cognition, remote viewing and transcendent warfare.

Much of this material seems quite helpful. And, it seems to be associated with several other types of anomalous, unconventional and leading-edge topics.

ESP research with dolphins seems particularly fascinating. Other studies indicated that humans might be able to perceive across time. Actually, there are several other aspects of “integrative perception,” “complementary cognition” and "transcendent power" that appear to open up new potential for many people around the world.

Yet, when we see these kinds of approaches in real-life practice, they may take many forms. While many modern researchers try to use scientific methods, other examples follow another path. They may be rooted in ancient understanding.

In my novel Mission Into Light, published in 2001, elderly Navajo and former U.S. Marine Corps “Code Talker” Joe Bear is thinking about his association with the Joint Reconnaissance Study Group, a 10-person joint-service military and civilian team based in San Diego. The son of Joe’s former World War II buddy is now an Air Force colonel and commanding officer of the group.

Below is an excerpt from Mission Into Light, Chapter 10, called “Navajo Intel.”

CHAPTER 10, NAVAJO INTEL

Joe Bear and his wife Maggie had returned to their home in the Navajo Nation in the northeast corner of Arizona. Their visits with friends in San Diego had been fun, but the trip was tiring. He still drove his pickup the full distance to San Diego and back.

He felt a need to make arrangements with certain friends. Code Talker friends. But for now, he sat on his front porch.

Joe thought about the things he’d seen and done in his time on Earth. As a young man, he and other Navajo Code Talkers were part of the networks of OSS, intelligence, and cryptography experts fighting the Japanese military in the Pacific. The Code Talkers went on dangerous missions and were often near, on or behind the front lines. Many of them did not make it back to the Navajo Nation alive.

The Code Talkers still alive sometimes got together. Some of them belonged to the VFW post in Gallup, New Mexico, just across the Arizona state line. A small modest museum in a Kayenta restaurant displayed memorabilia about the Code Talkers.

And yet, Joe often felt his duty as a Marine was not yet done. Old OSS and intelligence buddies from World War Two kept in touch from all over the country. Some of them helped put together the meeting they had planned.

Tom O’Brien was the son of one of his old Marine buddies. Grown up from the boy Joe remembered. And now an Air Force colonel in charge of an intelligence and research team in San Diego. Joe had a feeling this group was going to accomplish something good.

As he was thinking about these things and looking out toward the rocky hills in the distance, his wife Maggie opened the front door and came out on the porch with lunch time plates of mutton stew and two glasses of cold lemonade.

She put the food and glasses on the table nearby and silently sat down next to him. They had raised two sons, now grown and married with children of their own. Joe and Maggie were the grandparents of three girls and two boys.

They lived comfortably in a newer double wide factory-built home that had all the amenities. A satellite dish on the roof brought in dozens of TV stations to the new thirty-two-inch TV their sons had given them last Christmas.

Joe and Maggie had lived almost their entire lives on the Navajo reservation. When Joe was recruited for the Marines at age nineteen, Maggie went to San Diego briefly to be near him. Joe had often sent her letters from strange places in the Pacific, and the letters were frequently edited by military censors for security reasons.

Maggie took bites of the stew, sipped on her lemonade and reached over to touch Joe’s hand.

“What are you thinking about, old man?”

“Oh, those people on Thomas O’Brien’s team in San Diego. I think about what they are doing and what they might accomplish. I feel hopeful, but sometimes worried,” he told her as he picked up his lemonade and took a sip.

“They have enemies, don’t they, Joe?”

“Yes, wife, they do. Dangerous enemies.”

“They’re coming up for your meeting?”

“Yes. We’re going to take them to that old kiva in the hidden canyon we discovered. Maybe it has some power from the ancient times,” Joe speculated.

Maggie would also attend as well as their two sons, who would help with all the guests.

“Eat your stew, old man. It’s getting cold.”

Joe reached out and took the nearby plate and a fork. He held the plate of mutton in his lap and started to eat. He’d been eating mutton since he was a small child.

As a young boy he helped his family with the herd of sheep the family had. Both Maggie’s and Joe’s mothers, like many Navajo women, used the wool to weave beautiful clothes and blankets on old-style traditional looms.

Joe remembered the horses and dogs the family had when he was a boy. It was a good life. They lived in a traditional hogan back then. No modern kitchens, bathrooms, and carpet in those days.

Many Navajo families still lived in hogans, or kept one nearby their more modern homes. Even today, many did not have electricity or phones.

As they finished their lunch, Maggie started to clear away the dishes to take them inside to the kitchen.

Joe then made some phone calls to a couple of friends and confirmed a sweat ceremony for that afternoon. These men had known each other since childhood and through World War Two service in the Pacific. After the war, they had grown older, raising families, living out their lives on the Navajo Nation and sometimes traveling around the Four Corners area and the Southwest.

From their home in the Navajo Nation, they had watched the turbulence of the Cold War and Vietnam years shake the larger society of the United States. Assassinations, racial troubles, terrorist threats, had come and gone. They had also witnessed abuse of natural resources, extinction of animals and plants, weather changes, and natural disasters. Technology had made quantum leaps in their lifetimes.

INNER VISION

Later that afternoon, Joe and three friends met at a small hut-like sweat lodge. The rocks to be used for the sweat lodge were sitting on a campfire outside. Using a shovel, the four each carried one large, hot rock to the center of the small hut, then sat in a circle. From a bucket inside, water was poured on the rocks, causing great clouds of steam, and filling the lodge with heat.

Joe had suggested the meeting, and he led the proceedings.

“Great Spirit of all life, hear our words. We seek guidance from You. Our friends and our people want Your Path to be made clear.”

The four good friends then began a song, an ancient song of special medicine words. More water was added to the hot rocks. White clouds of steam again filled the air.

Joe closed his eyes and listened to his friends’ songs. Sometimes they took turns, or joined one another as the feeling moved them.

After twenty minutes or so, Joe started to see something in his mind’s eye.

Clouds. White clouds against a deep blue sky. From inside the clouds, something stirred. Joe tried to see what was inside, but could not. Then he relaxed, and watched, and waited.

Very slowly, a large, white bison stepped out of the cloud and looked straight at Joe. The huge animal then looked down, and gestured with his front leg, as if pointing down. In Joe’s vision, he looked down and saw the shape of the continent of North America. The bison then spoke to him.

“See how the land has changed, my brother.”

And Joe saw North America as it was long ago. Thick forests across all of the eastern half of the continent and into the central plains. This was the land long before the Europeans discovered it.

The only humans were the thousands of native tribes, clans, communities, and families. These people had spread and populated the continent from coast to coast, and from the frozen north to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond.

This vision triggered many feelings in Joe Bear. Strange feelings were swirling inside him. Sadness, grief, anger. But something else was moving him. The white bison again was looking at him, as if trying to communicate.

Joe tried to focus his vision on the face, the horns, the powerful body of the buffalo. The animal was calm and looked at Joe again, then started to glow, radiating a strange light. It again spoke to Joe.

“My brother, beautiful days are ahead. Nature and the Spirit have brought us along this river of life. Our land will be beautiful again.”

The buffalo was happy, Joe thought. That was a good sign.

The bison then gestured again to him.

“Your friends can help us, brother. They may take us home. Look here and see them.”

As the bison gestured down again, instead of North America, Joe saw a large cloud, swirling gently like a slow-motion cyclone. Inside the circling mass were millions of people. A brilliant golden light was shining on one part of the slowly spinning cloud. Part was in darkness.

“Your friends are here,” the buffalo said, pointing to a small bright spot in the cloud. Joe noticed other points and regions of darkness and light.

Joe had questions.

“How can I help them?”

“Look closer, brother.”

Joe then saw the faces of Tom O’Brien and the others as he did when he spoke to them in San Diego. He remembered looking into the faces sitting around the small table in the JRSG office at Point Loma. Joe heard his own words as he talked to the group about the Code Talkers and World War Two.

Then the scene suddenly changed. Those young people were now in Arizona. Joe could see pine trees. It felt like north central Arizona, south of the Navajo nation, maybe the Apache lands to the south. Or maybe he saw the Four Corners region of the southern Rockies. Maybe Ute country. Joe wasn’t sure, but he somehow felt it was Indian land.

In his vision, he saw Thomas O’Brien and these young people involved in a struggle. He saw danger and heard the sound of weapons. He heard O’Brien call out Joe’s name. Joe saw injured and dead people lying on the floor of a pine forest.

He then heard soothing words.

“All is well, my brother.” It was the white buffalo again. “Do you see?”

Joe then looked down and saw North America, the slow swirling cloud of people, and O’Brien’s people of the JRSG, all in one scene.

The play of light and darkness slowly changed, and the darkness faded away like the dawn of a new day. The swirling of the cloud gently stopped. The cloud and the picture of North America started to glow like the white bison.

Joe slowly opened his eyes. He was laying down in the sweat lodge, his body and the towel beneath him were soaked. His friends were also lying down and silently sleeping, dreaming, or having their own visions. One of his old friends was snoring loudly.

Joe slowly got up and walked outside. It was almost sunset now. A warm and gentle breeze dried some of the moisture from his body and hair. The old man raised his arms above his head and stretched. His old body had many aches from eighty-five years of life.

He drank from a canteen of water nearby and ate from a bag of food that their wives had prepared. One by one, his friends slowly awoke and came out of the sweat lodge to join him.

They passed around the canteen and the bag of food. As the four old men sat in the setting sun and relaxed, they started an informal debriefing. What kind of visions did each have? What was seen or learned?

Each had an unusual dream or vision that day. They compared the messages they had received. They tried to interpret images and words. They revealed to each other what their buddies had a need to know.

Joe told his friends about the bison, and looking at North America as if he were up in space.

The Code Talkers had once again completed an intelligence mission, like the days of their youth in the Pacific.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Phoenix-area Indian lands are down-to-Earth site for UFO conference


By Steve Hammons

It seems to make sense that the 20th annual International UFO Congress will be held on Native American Indian lands in Arizona.

The conference, beginning Wednesday, Feb. 23, and running through Sunday, Feb. 27, is located at the upscale Radisson Fort McDowell Resort on the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation northeast of Scottsdale. The hotel at the resort is reportedly sold out.

A connection between UFOs and other unconventional phenomena with Native American Indians is something that researchers and average people may want to pay attention to and think about. Many Indian people have legends of “star people” or “sky people” that visited long ago ... and maybe still do today. In addition, Native American cultures often value several kinds of human perception, including dreams, visions, instincts and signs.

In today’s scientific jargon, we could call these kinds of awareness “anomalous cognition,” a term describing extrasensory perception (ESP) and related to what U.S. defense and intelligence researchers called “remote viewing.”

Some of the traits of American Indian perception could also be related to space-time anomalies and “synchronicity” – unusual coincidences that seem to have meaning. And, certain understanding we might acquire through unconventional methods could be interpreted as mysterious communication from the Great Spirit.

Indian consciousness, in many ways, looks at life and Nature as a cycle, circle or hoop. This viewpoint could also provide insight about anomalous phenomena of various kinds.

ANCIENT REALITIES

As retired Army Special Forces Colonel John Alexander, PhD, explained on the Feb. 20 “Coast to Coast AM” radio show, UFO disclosure has essentially happened. Several U.S. presidents, high-ranking U.S. military officers and others have made this clear, Alexander pointed out. He stated to his radio show host, award-winning investigative journalist George Knapp, it appears to be a fact that various kinds of unusual unidentified objects in the skies have been around for decades.

Other researchers note significant indications that the same kinds of phenomena may have been present for centuries.

Here in North America, it is probably reasonable to consider that Native American Indian people could have had close encounters with UFOs, unusual intelligent beings and other unconventional phenomena that modern scientists are still trying to understand.

In Arizona, earlier and current inhabitants include the Navajo, Hopi, Apache, Zuni, Yaqui, Southern Paiutes, Akimel O'odham, Tohono O'odham, Mojave, Maricopa, Cocopah, Halchidhoma, Havasupai, Hualapai, Jocome and Jano tribes, as well as the Yavapai, hosts of the UFO conference. In the Phoenix region, at the northern edge of the Sonoran Desert, there are several Indian communities whose lands nearby help form a rich cultural environment in a modern metropolitan area.

Throughout North America, Indian people have beliefs, legends and perspectives that could be very valuable to us today as we try to learn more about forward-leaning edge-science topics of interest.

ADVANCED PERCEPTION

How can we combine ancient accounts and insights with our modern research into unconventional phenomena that are not completely understood?

One way might be to develop an “integrative perception” or “complementary cognition” that merges our logical mind with intuition, gut feelings, ESP and instincts. This approach seems to be at the heart of the many successes of the U.S. Project STAR GATE remote viewing program.

Prayer, meditation, creativity and other kinds of internal exploration and communication can probably also play parts in increasing our understanding about our environment and ourselves. Looking to Nature, as American Indians do, might provide additional understanding about realities, both conventional and unconventional – including UFOs.

Who knows? The circles and cycles of Nature might contribute to a repeat of the March 1997 phenomena when one or more large mysterious objects or craft reportedly cruised at low altitude right over the metro Phoenix area one evening.

At least that’s what hundreds or thousands of people living in Phoenix’s “Valley of the Sun” claim to have seen.

The International UFO Congress is featuring many credible researchers and will also have sky-watching sessions at night. The heavens above Arizona’s Sonoran Desert at the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation should provide a good view. Being on the far northeast outskirts of metro Phoenix, the urban “light pollution” will be replaced by vistas of the Milky Way Galaxy, our home neighborhood in this vast Universe.

Or maybe, unusual visitors will pick a bright, sunny Arizona day to show us they are here.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Focus of UFO disclosure should be on meaningful factors


By Steve Hammons

Some unidentified flying objects (UFOs) seem to many people to be “intelligently controlled physical craft of some kind from some place that is not here.”

That is a premise of and a quote from the new book A.D. After Disclosure: The People’s Guide to Life After Contact by Richard M. Dolan and Bryce Zabel. These authors use a starting point that is beyond the various discussions about the question of “if” Earth humans are being visited by spacecraft and other kinds of phenomena that are quite unconventional.

They seem to feel that this has already been well established.

As a result, Dolan and Zabel say that their book is not trying to prove that some UFOs are related to intelligent beings, though they do include some very interesting information that supports this view.

“Thousands of books have been published, all debating whether UFOs are real or just figments of our imaginations. This book is not one of them,” the authors state.

READINESS AND PREPAREDNESS

Their starting point is: What does it mean? What are the factors involved? How is human society on Earth going to adjust to it? How will it unfold?

Dolan and Zabel may have a point. A moderate amount of research using reliable sources certainly gives the impression that it is quite possible or probable that some UFOs represent real circumstances that we should look at carefully.

It naturally follows that we should be prepared psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. In addition, human societies and cultures should be ready for various impacts affecting public health and safety, economics, technology, scientific knowledge and other elements of life.

Dolan and Zabel say, “An acknowledgment that ‘UFOs are real and some of them are not us’ will not end the debate, but only lead to more questions. It might also mark a new phase of the mystery.”

As the authors of A.D. After Disclosure point out, there are many valid questions and some lead to other unknowns. The desire for full disclosure of information about the UFO phenomena related to the U.S. and other nations is understandable. Yet, there could be certain aspects that require careful consideration.

Is the standard “need-to-know” guideline for the handling of sensitive information a good way to proceed? Or, should different methods be used to increase acclimation, readiness, insight and understanding?

Dolan’s and Zabel’s website AfterDisclosure.com presents a variety of views from researchers and observers who are interested in these kinds of subjects. The site is a resource that seems to provide a reasonable overview of the investigations into and discussions about the UFO topic.

WHERE TO FOCUS

It might be helpful to consider the viewpoint of Dolan and Zabel about where to focus our attention. Is it worthwhile to engage in endless debates about whether Earth is being visited by intelligent beings or is that actually already evident?

Maybe our discussions should be related to more useful directions such as: Are there more than one type of visitors or unconventional intelligent beings? Who are they? Where are they from? What do they want? How long have they been around? Are they friendly, hostile or neutral? Are there dangers involved? Can they help us in various ways?

As the authors of A.D. After Disclosure and many other researchers point out, the roles of our defense, intelligence and scientific communities are also of interest. Certain elements of these groups probably have gathered solid information on the subject over the years and decades.

Our communications media also have an interesting position in dealing with this general topic. Are the increasingly diverse mass media being responsible and providing credible perspectives for their audiences?

And will average people in many walks of life and in many circumstances use the information and insight in ways that are constructive and healthy? These appear to be issues that are worthy of examination and exploration.

An additional element to consider is that the idea that we are being visited by interesting beings may just be the tip of the iceberg.

We could learn that our basic understanding of Nature and the Universe needs updating. There may be new insights about human consciousness, life after death, and how time and space function in mysterious ways.

Dolan’s and Zabel’s position of looking beyond petty debates and misinformation so we can concentrate on more important and meaningful aspects of the situation seems to make sense.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Disclosure on anomalous topics not so mysterious after all


By Steve Hammons

UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation, multiple dimensions, the afterlife, extrasensory perception (ESP) – these are just a few of many forward-leaning and edge-science topics that seem to be generating increased public interest.

The natural curiosity about certain unconventional areas seems to be very understandable and appropriate.

Leading-edge research into anomalous subjects can sometimes seem a bit far out there. However, in many cases it may not be much of a leap from more conventional areas of common knowledge and routine study.

The continually-evolving mass media appear to be handling emerging understanding about anomalous phenomena in a wide variety of ways. In some cases, the media presentations on certain topics may seem to be “dumbed down.” In other instances, the intelligence of the general public is respected.

An element that could sometimes be overlooked is the significance of grassroots factors involved in the increasing awareness and perception about interesting unconventional phenomena.

MORE UNDERSTANDING

The concept of “disclosure” in regard to certain unconventional topics can imply many kinds of developments. For example, many people think that government officials should announce something of significant interest about UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation.

At the same time, disclosure can involve gradual education and acclimation through various media platforms that inform people in different kinds of ways. Movies, TV shows, books, articles and other works of fiction and non-fiction can be important parts of disclosure.

Consumers and audiences of many kinds of media seem to be increasingly aware of emerging possibilities and probabilities about some edge-science topics.

A good example might be the open-minded way that theories and research about ESP are sometimes presented and accepted. Since many people have had experiences with significant gut instincts and intuition proving to be valid in their own personal lives, the concepts surrounding expanded human consciousness may seem quite reasonable and logical in some ways.

Although the research and activities of the U.S. government efforts known as Project STAR GATE might stretch the limits of usual beliefs about human abilities of perception and awareness, even these interesting multi-decade defense and intelligence programs may not seem so strange after all.

LEAP OF FAITH

An additional area of interest is how the many types of unconventional phenomena seem to be related.

What about connections between ESP and the afterlife? Do certain UFOs zip in and out of hidden dimensions? To some researchers, there are multiple combinations of anomalous topics that seem to have connections.

Are there any common denominators? Where do some of these phenomena overlap? When do we consider something “scientific,” “natural” or “spiritual” in discussing these kinds of subjects?

These questions do appear to indicate that what we might consider unusual areas of research could actually just be very natural. ESP, multiple dimensions and other intelligent life are, somewhat obviously, part of Nature. To the degree we consider edge-science subjects as an integral part of the natural world and universe, we will probably be more able to accept and understand various situations.

Of course, just because something is part of Nature does not mean it is always pleasant or wonderful. Life and death, creation and destruction, survival of the fittest – these kinds of dynamics in Nature are serious factors indeed.

Yet, the vision of transcendence beyond some of the difficult aspects of life and “reality” is something that humans have reached out for throughout history. Transcending our normal state of affairs on planet Earth is a goal that seems to be increasingly achievable.

More disclosure – various kinds of disclosure – will most likely move us forward to greater understanding of ourselves, Nature and a transcendent intelligence.