The Official Guide to UFOs-pages

Page 41 of 161

Page 41 of 161
The Official Guide to UFOs-pages

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much more respectable in modern science than spaceships from Mars. In cases in which radar observes the object at the same time that it is observed visually or it is photographed, we would have to postulate that one mind can project an object into the heaven in such a way that instruments such as radar and the camera detect it. This would be as exciting as spaceships! Certainly we do not know all there is to know about the operation of the human mind, so this hypothesis cannot be completely eliminated. And even if the UFOs are spaceships, psychological factors play an important part in the phenomenon. Nevertheless, this hypothesis is not really satisfying. Probably the most detailed study of the UFOs by a psychologist was carried out by Jung (1959). He was able to document a great many extremely fascinating psychological implications of the UFO. In his final conclusion, however, he could only state that psychological explanations were not the answer. An obvious and straightforward explanation of the UFOs is that the witnesses are lying or that the object is a hoax. Yet the Air Force, always acutely aware of this possibility, explained only a very small percentage of the cases which they investigated in this way. Often it is very difficult to imagine that a hoax is involved. The witnesses give all of the outward signs of being extremely sincere; often they are emotionally upset by their recent experience. Frequently, their background and general competence seem to argue strongly against which hundreds and even thousands of witnesses are involved (and a few such sightings are on record), one must reject the idea that all the witnesses were lying. If a hoax were involved, it would have to be the object itself. Before completely eliminating this explanation, we must remember that a hoax can be amazingly effective. I saw the great Blackstone on a stage apparently pass a rapidly moving handsaw blade directly through the neck of an assistant in a trance. A block of wood below the neck was sawed in half amidst much noise and flying sawdust. Yet this was admittedly a hoax. Would it be possible to some way cause an illusion in the sky which could completely fool hundreds of witnesses? I cannot absolutely say that it would not. On the other hand, in many cases producing such an illusion would appear to be almost as great a feat as building a flying saucer itself. One aspect of the UFO story does seem to be deeply involved in hoax. This is the so-called contactee cult. Many people now located over much of the world claim to have had direct contact with the flying- saucer people. (Adamski and Leslie, 1958; UFO International). Perhaps the contactee is informed by mental telepathy that he should report promptly to a certain lonely spot in the desert. Upon obeying, he is met by a flying saucer whose occupants are, as a rule, beautifully humanoid and who frequently take him into their confidence by allowing him to photograph themselves and their craft, inviting him in for a look at the control panels, and perhaps taking him for a spin, sometimes to Mars or Venus but best of all to the mysterious planet on the other side of the sun, unobservable from mother Earth. sufficient for the phenomenon as a whole. Thus another possible explanation for the great rash of UFO reports must be judged as falling short of IV. Hoaxes Or Lies