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me undeniable) and as psychic devices whose exact properties remain to be defined. As a focus for psychic phenomena, the UFO evokes a deep emotional reaction in the viewer, but logical development of an investigation is prevented — or precluded — by the apparent violations of causality that surround it and by the sociological climate that is created. Scientists may be willing to interview witnesses who have seen a landed craft, but they may not wish to talk with the witnesses. Or a witness may offer as "proof" of his experience a couple of pancakes given to him by extraterrestrials, or a recitation of meaningless messages, or a story of sexual contact with a being from outer space. Pursuit of the rational study of the case is discouraged. The lurid aspects of many such stories make their serious examination improbable, and this in turn reinforces the role of the -ewd 1 In the course of twenty-five years of investigation into paranormal phenomena one hears many stories. In the past, I have only published those stories I could authenticate or that I felt met basic criteria of reliability. Beyond these cases, however, a certain number of consistent rumors play a role in the unfolding of the total myth. They involve stories of contact between humans and alleged visitors residing on earth. Some of the descriptions are extremely detailed and have involved scientists as witnesses. Some of the humans associated with the cases are said to have eventually disappeared. A spectrum of experience runs from abduction or contact to the close encounter, to the exposure of humanoids, and, finally, to the reports of aliens among us. I have spent hours with Betty and Barney Hill and have had a chance to discuss the case of their abduction with Dr. Simon. I have spoken at lenght to other abductees like Travis Walton and Herb Schirmer. I have also become acquainted with the stories of people who said they had paranormal faculties and claimed to derive them from UFO contact. every country, based on the idea that humanity has a higher destiny. You will find people in remote towns of California who have literally dropped out of city life (where they had held responsible positions and enjoyed good salaries) because they had recieved messages from space instructing them to do so. Many of the people I am referring to are middle-aged, have families, and work steady jobs. They would be regarded as perfectly ordinary folks if it were not for the fact that their lives have been changed by what they consider to be genuine extraterrestrial communications. They wait. And, a curious fact in the current state of the world, they seem perfectly happy. We could categorize them among the victims of city pressures who have sought the psychological comfort of small-town life. But we might also wonder whether they are not the forerunners of a new spiritual movement. Are we slipping, as Aime Michel has warned, toward a new age of the irrational? I know a man who left Los Angeles with his family after a message he believes came from another planet instructed him to find an isolated spot and live in semiretirement, "providing a center of peace in the world of intense turmoil that was to come." He now lives with his wife in a small onl 1 sat 1 tan 1 a eat mW: eu mountain village, has no television set, reads avidly, and awaits further instructions. He is one of the happiest old people I have met in the United States, a country where one does not find too many happy old people. We are not here dealing with escapism — we are dealing with the next form of religion, with a new spiritual movement. Why bring all this into the open? Because flying saucers, real or not as objects, clearly introduce a central element in an already troubled future landscape. It would be overly optimistic to predict that they will decrease its dangers. It is nonetheless interesting to ask what will happen to our civilization if the next step in the development of the phenomenon is a massive change of human attitudes toward paranormal abilities and extraterrestrial life. rumors as secret folklore, rich in new images. The Next Form of Religion What interests me is not the likelihood of such a contact but the fact that a subculture now exists in