In an interesting article here at The Stream Timothy Furnish ponders the mystery of unidentified flying objects or “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAPs) He comes up with seven possible identities:

  1. They are super sophisticated secret weapons of the US military
  2. They are super sophisticated secret weapons of another terrestrial super power
  3. They are the aircraft of inter dimensional travelers
  4. They are the vessels of time travelers.
  5. They are aircraft piloted by travelers from another planet 
  6. They robotic drones sent from another planet to investigate life on earth.
  7. They are the manifestation of demons.

The problem with the first six theories is that they are rooted in a purely materialistic and mechanistic mindset. This is to view the phenomena purely through our own preconceptions about reality. In other words, “Because we have airplanes and rocketships and modern technology we assume beings from other planets must have similar aircraft but better and more advanced.”

If there is life on other planets why would we assume that their development of technology would necessarily be anything like our own? These theorists suffer from an amazing lack of imagination. If UAPs (UFOs) are real they might be an example of a technology and civilization totally, utterly and unimaginably different from ours. Everything there would be alien—not just the little grey men with pointy heads.

The problem with all the theories and all the attempts at investigation is that they are based on our Western European assumptions about science, the physical world and the way to discover truth. What if UFOs are, in some way, outside our usual modes of sense perception and therefore beyond the reach of empirical, scientific investigation.

Some time ago I was sent a chart which displayed on a horizontal plane the range of sound waves known to science and on a vertical plane the range of light waves that were known. In the middle where the two planes bi-sected was a comparatively tiny range of sounds and sights that were visible and audible to the human senses. The range of what we cannot see and hear is vast compared to the small range of what is visible and audible.

In other words, Hamlet’s observation to his intellectual friend Horatio still holds true, “There are more things in heaven and earth Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

So what are UFOs? Is Timothy Furnish’s final answer the right one? Are they the rocket ships of demons? I don’t think so. Demons don’t fly around in aircraft. The alien creatures that have been reported could be the manifestation of angelic beings. Creatures from that realm of reality are known to be able to assume a physical form in the way that we put on clothes.

However, I think it is more likely that UFOs and aliens are manifestations of a different kind. in his book Daimonic Reality the British writer Patrick Harpur proposes another theory. He suggests that there is a realm of reality that is between the purely supernatural and natural/physical realms. This in between realm is neither materialistic in the hard scientifically verifiable sense, nor is it purely invisible and spiritual in the angelic sense.

Instead this realm is the realm of humanity’s collective unconscious, and from it all sorts of paranormal beings emerge.—not only aliens, but a range of other paranormal entities who usually populate the Twilight Zone of horror films and science fiction TV shows and books. They are real products of the human collective mind, if you will, so they really “exist” but neither in the empirical, scientifically verifiable way nor the angelic invisible sense. 

They are usually beyond our natural sense perception as ultraviolet rays and sound waves that are higher or lower in their frequency are beyond our senses.

Sometimes these beings can emerge into the material realm and we can really “see” them. They might register on our senses and our technology. They might even leave scorch marks on the grass, footprints or other relics of their visitations but Harpur says you will never actually capture a Yeti, a leprechaun, an alien, Mothman or a chupacabra.

I think UFOs are from that realm. Curiously,  Harpur notes that this sort of phenomena–whether it is poltergeists, hauntings, UFO encounters etc. etc. often occur when there is increased psychic disturbance through trauma, social violence, war, famine or some other kind of personal or societal stress.

So now, as our race and our world is experiencing stress and upheaval on so many fronts we should not be surprised at extra disturbance coming from this “in  between realm.”

What to do about it? Not much we can do except get on with our own ordinary lives in this temporal realm all the time acknowledging that “there is more in heaven and earth than both our philosophies (and our scientific theories) has dreamt of.”

Dwight Longenecker is the author of Immortal Combat – Confronting the Heart of Darkness. Visit his blog, browse his books and be in touch at dwightlongenecker.com