The Alternative UFO Hypothesis

Hi everyone,
I just joined this forum yesterday. I've been reading posts and it seems there are some very knowledgeable people on here. I'd like to share my views with you and hope you will have constructive comments.

I've had in interest in UFOs since I was a kid. At that time I really like the idea that they were coming from another planet or outer space, i guess there was something fantastic about it like in Star Wars or Indiana Jones. I was wishing I could see one, but at the same time I was so scared by them that I didn't want to.
However, I was always doubtful about the pictures I had seen from various UFO sightings. I didn't believe in the Roswell crash and preferred to believe it was a prototype that didn't work well. As I gained knowledge in subjects like psychology, I became more interested in the connection it had with UFOs.

This led me to investigate the possibility of a psychological explanation, and to the work of Jacques Vallee and his Inter Dimensional Hypothesis (IDH) which does not necessarily exclude the existence of the Extra Terrestrial Hypothesis (ETH).
However one thing that always bugged me was that UFO detractors tend to claim UFO sightings came in mass after Roswell, or the first UFO abduction case, or even before in some comic books. Their point seem to be that UFOs are some part of modern pop-culture and perhaps a resultant of our scientific and general knowledge of the universe.

Now what about all the UFO depictions in ancient art? How did these people who had old conceptions about the nature of the universe get the concept of a flying saucer, or even a plane for that matter. But what is even more strange is why those artist kept on associating UFOs with religious characters (mainly Jesus and Mary).





Or the old old stuff that is hard to explain:





It seems humans have been seeing UFOs for a long time. If you go here, you will see the many representations of angels in catholic art. They are bright and they float in the sky kinda like UFOs.
Angels used to be sent by God to interfere with human business and inspire certain individuals in the course of history.
Today we don't believe in God as much, but there is a comparable mass of unknowable in the universe that lies beyond our sight.
Is it possible that we replaced the unknowable God by the unknowable universe, and rationalized our theories to match our materialist conception of the universe?

Our cognition is dependent from our brain. We see what we can; and when we see something we cannot categorize as something we know, we make an approximation without necessarily being aware of it. The best ancient people could comprehend UFOs was as an angel with wings and light. The best we can do is a flying saucer.

So I'm wondering if it is possible that UFOs are purely informational content going through our consciousnesses that we are trying to decode with difficulty. The monotheists religions are founded, I believe, after an intermediary between God and the people has ascended to heaven and brought back the important message from God. Perhaps this kind of experience has turned into the modern day abductions.

I feel both these events are life changing in some ways that can be similar. I think these abnormalities in consciousness could be the result of a natural unconscious regulation of our brains, and a remodeling of our "world map," our conception of reality, towards a more positive model. The content of this brain update would register as a flying saucer because it is how we can comprehend it best.


I hope you enjoyed reading and will share your comments.

Originally posted by townio
Hi everyone,
I just joined this forum yesterday.

Welcome to the forum townio

The best ancient people could comprehend UFOs was as an angel with wings and light. The best we can do is a flying saucer.

I completely agree with this. I'm not referring to angels in particular, but to the 'gods' in general. Many ancient civilizations described and portrayed their gods as flying people, or bird-people or having characteristics that would allow them to fly (wings).

From that perspective I believe some of these religious and ancient representations are the result of rationalization of things people couldn't understand into things they could - birds fly therefor anyone or anything that flies must be a bird, or have bird like characteristics.

So I'm wondering if it is possible that UFOs are purely informational content going through our consciousnesses that we are trying to decode with difficulty.

That's a very interesting perspective.

When talking about UFOs I like to clarify a bit what I'm referring to, so first let me get to it: it is my personal opinion that when it comes to UFOs only a small minority of the reports and sightings are really unexplained, in the sense that people did really witnessed something other than man-made aircraft, weather phenomena or some celestial occurrence or body (planets, stars, comets, meteors etc).

In that small percentage that I will call "real UFOs", I am about 99.9% positive that there is definitely solid craft being seen. I say this because the Radar data and physical trace cases seem to point in that direction.

I obviously cannot say that all (real) UFOs are solid craft, and so I can't rule out your hypothesis, but I don't think it is THE answer.

In fact, the more I read and learn about this field, the more I am convinced that there is not ONE answer to the phenomena, and therefor I cannot rule out your hypothesis as the explanation for some cases.

I hope you enjoyed reading and will share your comments.

I did! I hope you continue participating in the forum

Thanks for your answer converge,
I think my hypothesis is not incompatible with real crafts being sighted at the same time. I guess it is limited to those sightings which have no hard evidence. If a radar spots a UFO then it is a material object and not a psychological phenomenon.

reply to post by townio

Like I said I don't dismiss your theory, none of us know the answers after all, but I think the evidence that does exist point out to solid objects, at least in the cases where such evidence exists of course. I can only speculate about the others.

I would like to pose a question to you though: if we were to explore your hypothesis more extensively, how would one do it? I mean, how could we test it? I don't think we could do it, and it's damn frustrating that some hypothesis - and who knows, even answers - are out of our reach.

Well I don't really know if this could be tested in any ways. As brain process are mostly chemical, I would assume one or several chemicals would be responsible for those brain processes, and if identified could be used to generate or stop these effects. I would think stress plays some role in that process as it releases hormones that provokes changes in brain cells.
Hallucinogenic drugs binds on receptors which are naturally used by our brains. In specific situations, your body can release these similar chemicals and make you trip.
From what I know of psychopharmacology it is mostly trial and error and single drugs usually have multiple effects. I think most answers about the human mind will be found through computational sciences rather than experimenting. I guess we'll have to wait for AI to know for sure

Honestly, I believe that everything we see and process is there somewhat. For example, you see a harley davidson motorbike after thinking of one or your brain processing one. I don't believe the brain or consiousness has maifested this I just believe its coincidence.

So for ufos I don't believe our senses are tricking us into processing something that really isn't there.

Some people may do so as I can't speak for everyone.

I've never experienced a hallucination so I cannot say what the body goes through when enduring one but I must say that there must be some hint of realization that it dosent exist.

I think, for the roswell crash, it is essential to read the Project Serpo website [google is your friend here].

Anywho, sorry if I didn't completely get the point you were making, im walking home and reading at the same time haha.


Oh and welcome friend, im new aswell!

Take everything witha grain of salt!

Originally posted by townio
Well I don't really know if this could be tested in any ways. As brain process are mostly chemical, I would assume one or several chemicals would be responsible for those brain processes, and if identified could be used to generate or stop these effects.

And to be identified one would need to have the luck to be monitoring someone when they had a "UFO sighting" or 'encounter' heh

I have never believed the UFOs as hallucinations or psychic projections theory.

IMO its more plausible that UFOs are real structured craft piloted by some very smart beings that try to leave as few traces of their presence as possible. Couple that with a terrestrial coverup by our governments that attempt at all times to remove what little traces are left behind and you wind up with just a small fraction of evidence leaking out. That fraction of evidence would never lead me to conclude that what we do know is some type of ethereal hallucination.

Well written post

You might be interested in Dr John Edward Mack, his ideas have some similarities to yours. He was a Professor at Harvard and studied abduction cases. He tended towards the idea that abduction cases were powerful spiritual events rather than physical. When asked if aliens were materially real, he replied...

"Face value I wouldn't say. I take them seriously. I don't have a way to account for them."[1] Similarly, the BBC quoted Mack as saying, "I would never say, yes, there are aliens taking people. [But] I would say there is a compelling powerful phenomenon here that I can't account for in any other way, that's mysterious. Yet I can't know what it is but it seems to me that it invites a deeper, further inquiry."

He naturally met a lot of hostility to his ideas and is called a crank by many. Such was the negative publicity he aroused, that Harvard conducted a thorough review of all his papers to find examples of professional misconduct. They found none and his tenure continued until his death by a drink driver (a genuine accident).

I find it very difficult to accept that there are abductions or that there are spiritual aspects, nevertheless his ideas make me wonder. He wasn't your average UFO conference a**hole making wild claims of BS. He could be wrong about many things but he was who he said he was and stood by his ideas.