part0020

M any of the UFO encounters discussed in previous chapters were traumatic and frightening to their main witnesses, and many involved physical aftereffects such as injuries and unusual infections. In most of these cases, however, it did not seem that people were being deliberately injured or terrorized with threats of violence. But there are UFO encounter cases that do have a negative, violent aspect, including some that are reminiscent of Gothic horror stories. There are also mysterious events, such as the notorious cattle mutilations, that have a threatening, sinister quality and have been linked indirectly with UFOs. This sinister aspect is an important part of the UFO phenomenon, and so I will discuss it briefly in this chapter. As it turns out, it also fits into the Vedic picture of life within the material universe.

A case in the Gothic horror category occurred near Greensburg in western Pennsylvania on October 25, 1973, and was investigated by the psychiatrist Berthold Schwarz. 1 At about 9:00 p.m., a farmer named Stephen Pulaski and at least 15 other witnesses saw a bright red ball hovering over a field. Pulaski and two ten-year-old boys went toward the field to investigate, and Pulaski took along a rifle. As they approached, their auto headlights grew dim, and they saw the object descend toward the field. Continuing on foot over the crest of a hill, they saw the object glowing brilliantly with white light and either sitting on the field or hovering directly over it. Pulaski said the object seemed to be about 100 feet in diameter. It was dome-shaped and made a sound like a lawn mower.

As they were observing the object, one of the boys saw something walking along near a fence, and Pulaski fired a tracer bullet over its head. This revealed two creatures that towered one or two feet higher than the six-foot fence. Both creatures had long arms that hung down almost to the ground, and they were covered with long, dark grayish hair. They had greenish-yellow eyes, and they emanated a strong odor—like burning rubber. They seemed to be communicating by making whining sounds resembling the crying of a baby.

Pulaski fired three rounds into the larger creature, which responded by whining and lifting its right arm. At that moment, the glowing craft vanished, leaving a glowing white area in the field, and one of the boys ran away out of fear. The creatures slowly turned around and walked back toward the woods. They were not seen again, but later on, when Pulaski was joined by investigators from the Westmoreland County UFO Study Group (WCUFOSG), a dog began tracking something unseen, and several members of the group smelled a strong sulfur or chemicallike odor.

At this point, Pulaski went berserk and went running around, violently flailing his arms and growling like an animal. He had visions of a man looking like the Grim Reaper, heard his name being called from the woods, and made confused statements such as, “If man doesn’t straighten up, the end will come soon.” Then he collapsed.

Pulaski was examined by Dr. Schwarz, who concluded that his disoriented behavior had no precedent in his life history. Pulaski had never experienced trancelike, dissociated states, and he showed no signs of convulsive disorders such as temporal lobe epilepsy. However, he did have a history of violence on the school bully level, and he was a hunter who went for his rifle when confronted with an unfamiliar, threatening situation. Schwarz concluded that the stress of the frightening situation caused Pulaski to become temporarily unhinged and enter a dissociated psychological state known as a fugue.

Schwarz pointed out that this case was one of an epidemic of at least 79 “creature” cases occurring in a six-county area of western Pennsylvania in 1973, as documented by WCUFOSG. In all of these cases, the creatures were werewolflike entities that mysteriously appeared and disappeared, and left few traces of their existence. There were some reports that the creatures left tracks, and there were reports that they emitted foul stenches. There were also cases where they were said to have killed chickens, ripped off the hindquarters of a St. Bernard dog, and torn the throat of a pet deer, but there were no reports of injury to humans. 2

What are these creatures? The easiest explanation is that they are all figments of overworked imaginations, but this does not explain why there should be a rash of bizarre creature incidents in a large geographical region during a particular time period. What would cause people’s imaginations to become overworked in this particular way in a six-county area of western Pennsylvania?

To understand these entities, two questions must be answered. The first is, what is their ontological status? That is, what are they made of, and what causes them? The second is, why do creatures appear that seem designed to invoke terror in people who see them?

The elusive nature of both the creatures and the accompanying UFO led Schwarz to speculate that they might have been materialized and then dematerialized by some intelligent agency. As another example of such materialization, he mentioned a report by Pierre van Passen about how “his German shepherd dogs savagely fought with a poltergeist black hound, until one shepherd dropped dead.” 3 As in the Pulaski case, this example involves both the paranormal and violence. It reminds one of people’s old fears of ghosts, witchcraft, and black magic.

A related example of paranormal violence is provided by the account in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa of a person named Sudakṣiṇa, the son of a slain king of Benares, who sought revenge for his father’s death. Sudakṣiṇa performed a ritual called abhicāra, in which the object is to summon a demonic being from a sacrificial fire and send him to attack one’s enemies. This had the following result:

Thereupon the fire rose up out of the altar pit, assuming the form of an extremely fearsome, naked person. The fiery creature’s beard and tuft of hair were like molten copper, and his eyes emitted blazing hot cinders. His face looked most frightful with its fangs and terrible arched and furrowed brows. As he licked the corners of his mouth with his tongue, the demon shook his flaming trident. 4

This description is, of course, reminiscent of ancient and medieval Western lore involving magic, and we can easily dismiss it as a fairy tale. But the creation of the fiery demon is based on a rational principle, whereby preexisting subtle forms can be manifested on a gross physical level. In Chapter 7 (pages 256–57 ), I compared the Vedic picture of the universe with a computer operating system, in which people with the right status can call up programs by typing appropriate key words. In a computerized virtual reality system with the right software, it would be possible to evoke fiery monsters by performing rituals.

The Vedic universe is described as a product of māyā , or illusion, and it can be thought of as a universal virtual reality system. One meaning of māyā is magic. When a magician generates an illusion, such as that of sawing a lady in half, he makes use of a suitable apparatus. Likewise, the illusory world created by a virtual reality system depends on the computer as its apparatus and the computer programmer as its magician.

In the Vedic universe, the role of the computer is played by a fundamental energy called pradhāna. This energy is activated by an expansion of the Supreme known as Mahā-Viṣṇu, who acts as the universal programmer. The activated pradhāna produces subtle forms of energy, and these in turn produce gross matter. 5 From the Vedic perspective, both types of energy are comparable to the unreal manifestations produced by a virtual reality system. But we can think of these energies as being real because they behave consistently and reliably as long as the universal system is operating.

Although subtle energy is not directly perceivable by our ordinary senses, it is just as much a product of the universal system as gross matter, and thus it is just as substantial as gross matter. In one sense it is even more substantial, since gross matter is generated from subtle energy.

In the story of Sudakṣiṇa, the fiery demon was a preexisting being with a body of subtle energy, and the fiery gross material form was generated temporarily on the basis of this subtle form. It is possible that the Pennsylvania creatures or the poltergeist black hound were similar manifestations.

This is a tentative explanation of the ontological status of these beings, but what can we say about the motives that may lie behind their sudden appearance and frightening behavior? We can shed some light on this by turning to the famous conversation between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna called the Bhagavad-gītā. There it is stated that material manifestations of life and consciousness are governed by three fundamental principles: sattva, rajas, and tamas . In translation, these have been called the modes of goodness, passion, and ignorance, and Kṛṣṇa defined them as follows:

O sinless one, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode become conditioned by a sense of happiness and knowledge.

O son of Bharata, know that the mode of darkness, born of ignorance, is the delusion of all embodied living entities. The results of this mode are madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul. 6

One misconception that can arise from the word “goodness” is that the three modes have something to do with ethical distinctions between good and bad. This is not correct, and it would be better to think of the modes (called guṇas, or “ropes,” in Sanskrit) as basic psychological programs that can be recognized by their characteristic behavioral symptoms. Sattva could also be translated as “pure beingness,” and it refers to the introspective recognition of one’s existence as a conscious self. Rajas could be translated as colored, reddened, and dusty, and it refers to the contamination of one’s consciousness by passionate desires. Tamas literally means “darkness,” and it refers to the tendency of conscious beings to fall into deep illusion.

The three modes are said to continuously interact with one another in the minds of individuals, with the result that different modes will become prominent at different times. According to Vedic understanding, different races of humanoid beings tend to be predominated by different combinations of the three modes. Thus human beings of this earth tend to be predominantly in the mode of passion, with some admixture of goodness and ignorance. The Devas and ṛṣis of higher planets are predominantly in the mode of goodness and thus, in comparison with ourselves, they tend to be very peaceful and attracted to knowledge.

Among the Vedic humanoids, there are a number of groups that are predominantly in the mode of ignorance. These are broadly known as Bhūtas (a term which, appropriately enough, can be translated as “entities”). They include the Piśācas, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, and Vināyakas, as well as the Ḍākinīs, Yātudhānīs, and Kuṣmāṇḍas. These beings are said to live in subtle form on the earth and in the region immediately above the earth’s atmosphere. 7 They are known for their mystic powers, including the power of suddenly appearing in gross material form and disappearing.

It is said in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa that these beings are known for causing trouble to the body and the senses. They also cause loss of memory and bad dreams, and they are said to be particularly troublesome for children. 8 These problems, of course, are frequently mentioned in reports of UFO abductions. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa goes on to say that one can drive these beings away by chanting the name of Viṣṇu (God). In general, the chanting of the holy names of the Supreme Lord can counteract the influence of beings in tamo-guṇa.

The tamo-guṇa , or mode of ignorance, does not necessarily entail a lack of knowledge or ability. In fact, extensive knowledge of material subject matter can go hand in hand with deep illusion. The Manhattan Project in World War II is a good example of this. There the best physicists of the time used their most advanced knowledge to create a weapon that continues to threaten the security of the entire world.

One could argue that there were good reasons for building and deploying the atomic bomb. For example, it saved millions of American and Japanese lives that would have been lost in an invasion of Japan, and if we hadn’t worked hard to develop it, then the Japanese or the Germans might have gotten it first. But this argument simply shows that an illusion may contain logical structure. An illusion may be so powerful and compelling that it is very difficult to see through it and perceive reality.

In the Vedic literature, Maya Dānava is the epitome of a person who is highly advanced in material knowledge and also deeply mired in illusion. He is famous for creating technological marvels, such as the vimāna of King Śālva described in Chapter 6 , but his efforts are almost always devoted to illusory or destructive goals. In general, we find in Vedic accounts that beings in the mode of ignorance tend to be interested in acquiring advanced technology and mystic powers.

Many UFO manifestations seem to show the symptoms of the tamo-guṇa, and they also seem to involve advanced mastery of mystic powers and material technology. Thus the creatures seen by Stephen Pulaski were frightening monsters that appeared and disappeared, and they were accompanied by a weird, glowing UFO that also vanished suddenly.

Likewise, many UFO entities are reported to treat people in an alienated, impersonal fashion, and they are known for appearing, disappearing, and passing through walls. I argued in Chapter 5 that these beings have often presented people with communications that seem absurd or deceptive. These features are all characteristic of some of the Vedic humanoids, such as the Bhūtas, that are predominantly in the tamo-guṇa.

One puzzling development of recent years is the phenomenon of animal mutilation, in which the dead bodies of domestic animals such as cows and horses are found lying in farmers’ fields with bizarre injuries. In typical cases, it is found that various organs of the victim, such as udders, genitals, or the rectum, have been removed with surgical precision. Eyes or ears may be excised, and teeth may be extracted. There are serrated “cooky-cutter” cuts, and sometimes a single joint is removed from a leg. It is almost universally noted that the body is devoid of blood, and that there are no signs of blood on the surrounding ground.

Mutilation cases first became prominent in the late 1960s, and they have occurred in great numbers since that time. Thus in Colorado, Elbert County Sheriff George Yarnell had records of 64 mutilation cases between April 6, 1975, and September 23, 1977. In the same period, over 100 reports were recorded in the Logan County Sheriff’s office in northeastern Colorado. Mutilation cases were reported in all but 5 or 6 of the 48 contiguous states between 1967 and 1989, and they were also reported in 6 of Canada’s southern provinces, as well as in Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Europe, the Canary Islands, and Australia. 9

In 1975, cattle mutilations in Colorado became so common that Governor Richard Lamm spoke out against them at a meeting of his state’s Cattlemen’s Association. He said, “The mutilations are one of the greatest outrages in the history of the western cattle industry. It is important that we solve this mystery as soon as possible. The cattle industry is already hard hit from an economic point of view. From a human point, we cannot allow these mutilations to continue.” 10 Here I cannot help but notice that there is a certain amount of irony in the governor’s humanitarian concern. After all, the aim of the cattle industry is to raise animals for slaughter, a procedure that differs from the mysterious mutilations only in the matter of being carried out by known means, behind closed doors, and under economically profitable circumstances.

Many have suggested that predators are responsible for the animal mutilations, but others have pointed out that known predators do not produce long, clean cuts of the kind seen on the mutilated animals. Another theory is that satanic cults are responsible. This seems more plausible and may account for some cases. But the observed rate of animal mutilation is so high that if cultists were solely responsible, one would think that the police would have apprehended quite a few of them by now and that their stories would have become well known.

As we might expect, some have suggested a connection between the animal mutilations and UFOs. The case for this begins with the observation that the cuts on mutilated animals show features that would be difficult to duplicate out in the field using known human technology.

Testimony along these lines was provided by John Henry Altshuler, M.D., a doctor of pathology and hematology who studied at McGill University and who worked at the Rose Medical Center in Denver in 1967. In September of that year, he was shown the body of a horse named Lady on the Harry King ranch in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. The horse had been killed and mutilated on the night of September 7, 1967. On being taken to see the horse by police about ten days after it was found dead, Dr. Altshuler said, “The outer edges of the cut skin were firm, almost as if they had been cauterized with a modern-day laser. But there was no surgical laser technology like that in 1967.” 11 He went on:

I cut tissue samples from the hard, darker edge. Later, I viewed the tissue under a microscope. At the cell level, there was discoloration and destruction consistent with changes caused by burning.

Most amazing was the lack of blood. I have done hundreds of autopsies. You can’t cut into a body without getting some blood. But there was no blood on the skin or on the ground. No blood anywhere. That impressed me the most.

Then inside the horse’s chest, I remember the lack of organs. Whoever did the cutting took the horse’s heart, lungs, and thyroid. The mediasternum was completely empty—and dry. How do you get the heart out without blood? It was an incredible dissection of organs without any evidence of blood. 12

Some have reasoned that incisions requiring a technology unknown to man might be made by high-tech UFO entities. It is interesting to note that satanic cults tend to be ruled out because their members are thought to have only ordinary human powers. In an earlier age, in which people believed in the supernatural powers of witchcraft, the satanic cult theory might have seemed more persuasive.

Most of the evidence for a connection between UFOs and animal mutilations has been circumstantial, although there have been a few eyewitness accounts of direct UFO involvement. There have been many reports of strange lights in the sky at the same times and in the same places where mutilations were occurring, and UFO-like ground traces have been found near mutilated animal bodies. Strange, unmarked helicopters have also been seen—an unexplained phenomenon that has often been noted in connection with UFO encounters.

The helicopter/UFO connection has struck many people as rather ominous and threatening in its own right, and so I will make a few observations about it here. In the famous Cash-Landrum case, it was reported that two women and a child received apparent radiation burns in an encounter with a fiery, diamond-shaped flying object accompanied by about 23 twin-rotor helicopters. In this case, it seems that the object, and certainly the helicopters, might belong to the U.S. military, although this was denied by military officials when the matter was taken to court by the two women. 13

In another case, UFO contactees Betty and Bob Luca reported that black unmarked helicopters repeatedly flew low over their home, followed their car, and even buzzed campgrounds where they were in residence. 14 (Betty Luca is the name of Betty Andreasson after remarriage.) This seems to be a typical experience for close-encounter witnesses. It has led to speculations that military personnel in helicopters might be pointlessly hazing UFO witnesses, or that UFOs disguised as helicopters might be harassing them. Either way, the phenomenon has the senseless, negative quality associated with the tamo-guṇa .

Ed Conroy, a journalist who wrote a book about Whitley Strieber, also reported being repeatedly shadowed by mysterious helicopters. On one occasion, he saw a helicopter fly behind the Tower Life Building in San Antonio, Texas, and not appear on the other side. On another, he saw two Chinook-style helicopters flying so close together that their rotors should have meshed like eggbeaters, and his neighbor Linda Winchester also saw this. 15 Curiously enough, Whitley Strieber reported a nearly identical incident: “I once saw—in the presence of two other witnesses—two such helicopters flying low over a populated area with their rotors meshed together like eggbeaters.” 16

In cases like these, the helicopters seem to be illusions. Since UFOs are reportedly capable of making themselves invisible, it hardly seems that such illusions could simply be disguises intended to make UFOs look like ordinary aircraft. As with many UFO manifestations, the mystery helicopters are difficult to explain. Perhaps the simplest interpretation is that they are intended to send people the message that there are powers in the world that they do not understand.

Ground markings similar to typical UFO traces have also been seen at mutilation sites. For example, in the case of Lady a broken bush was found about 40 feet from the horse’s body, and “around the bush was a three-foot circle of six or eight holes in the ground about four inches across and three to four inches deep.” 17

Possible connections between UFOs and animal mutilations have been discussed in many newspaper articles since the late 1960s. An example is the article entitled “UFOs Zapping Cows? Why That’s Out of This World,” which was printed in The Dispatch of St. Paul, Minnesota on Dec. 27, 1974. The article related statements by UFO researcher Terrance Mitchell, who declared that “I’m convinced the taking of ears, udders and other portions of animals is part of a scientific investigation being conducted by beings using UFOs.” 18

For him, the clincher was a 400-pound heifer found dead on December 1, 1974, in a field owned by farmer Frank Schifelbien of Meeker County, Minnesota. “The heifer was found dead in a perfect circle of bare ground in a snow-covered field, with no footprints to be found anywhere in the vicinity, sheriff’s deputies told Mitchell.” 19 Mitchell ruled out the theory that cultists were responsible on the grounds that they should have left visible footprints. He also pointed out that photos taken from the air showed an array of perfect discolored circles, several feet in diameter, in a pasture near the heifer’s body.

A similar mutilation story emerged in Cochran County, Texas, in 1975. A dead heifer was found on the farm of Darwood Marshall in the middle of a “perfectly round circle,” according to a report by Sheriff Richards of Cochran county. 20 There was said to be no blood in the body of the cow or on the ground near it. While Richards was investigating this case, Darwood Marshall found a dead, mutilated steer about a quarter mile to the west. This animal was lying in the middle of a circle about 30 feet across. This circle, like the first one, was a burned patch in a field of young wheat about four inches high.

I have had reports of UFOs in the area, but have not seen any myself. The people that have been reporting this all tell the same story. It (UFO) is about as wide as a two-lane highway, round and looks the color of the sun when it is going down and has got a blue glow around it. When these people see this thing, in two or three days we hear about some cows that have been mutilated. I don’t know what is doing this, but it sure has got every one around here uptight. 21

Researcher Linda Howe has reported hearing from deputy sheriffs, ranchers, and fellow journalists many off-the-record stories connecting UFOs with cattle mutilations. She has also cited direct testimony linking UFOs and humanoid entities with cattle mutilation cases. For example, in April 1980, near Waco, Texas, a cattle rancher was walking through his land looking for a missing cow when he saw two four-foot-high creatures about 100 yards away. They were green or dressed in green, with egg-shaped heads, and were carrying a calf. He said he could see their eyes and spoke of them as “sloe-eyed, like big, dark almonds.”

He had read about UFO abductions (a fact that should be considered in evaluating his testimony), and so he ran to his truck in fear of being abducted. Two days later he returned to the site with his wife and son, and found a calf’s empty hide pulled inside out over its skull, along with a complete calf backbone without ribs. He reported that there was no blood associated with the remains and no sign of buzzards. 22

In May of 1973, a close encounter reportedly took place near Houston, Texas, in which a witness observed a calf being mutilated by UFO entities. I mentioned this case in Chapter 5 as an example of UFO communications warning of adverse effects of environmental pollution and nuclear testing.

The witness, Judy Doraty, was driving along with four family members when all five people saw a very bright light in the sky that paced their car. The family members recalled Judy pulling off the road and walking to the back of the car, then returning, getting back in, and complaining of thirst and nausea. This episode apparently included a gap of an hour and 15 minutes in Judy’s memory that was filled in through hypnosis administered on March 3, 1980, by psychologist Leo Sprinkle.

Under hypnosis, Judy Doraty recalled a bilocation experience, in which she seemed to be standing by her car and simultaneously standing inside a UFO where strange beings were mutilating a calf. She also saw her daughter being examined in the craft by the beings. The creatures she saw were similar to the typical “Grays” but not exactly the same. They had thin, pasty-looking skin, their noses and mouths were not noticeable, and they had large, unblinking eyes. However, the eyes, rather than being black, had vertical pupils and pale yellow irises. They spoke English with a high sing-song sound but didn’t use their mouths. Apparently, this was mental communication, as usual.

The calf was taken up to the ship, squirming and struggling, by a beam of pale yellow light, which seemed to have substance to it. The light seemed as though it would be solid to the touch, and it swarmed with particles like motes of dust in a sunbeam. Once the calf was on board the craft, body parts were excised while it was still living. Fluids and other bodily materials were sucked out through tubes, and different organs were placed in different “basins” or scooped-out areas. The beings explained to Judy mentally that their purpose in cutting up cows and other animals is to monitor the spread through the environment of some kind of poison that will eventually affect humans. Finally, when they were finished, the calf’s dead body was returned to the ground by the beam. 23

This account has the surrealistic quality of many UFO close encounter stories. Whether it was real or an illusion, Judy Doraty’s experience with the beings was strikingly vivid. But its content seems illogical. It hardly seems necessary to grotesquely mutilate animals in order to monitor pollution. Beings capable of producing antigravity beams would presumably be able to detect pollutants in animals without harming them. And even if it is necessary to cut up the animals, there is no need leave their bodies lying in ranchers’ fields. This activity may be intended—by whoever is responsible for the mutilations—as a way of frightening people with some unknown danger.

Like the Pennsylvania creature cases, the cattle mutilations seem to combine the negative qualities of the tamo-guṇa with mysterious events involving paranormal powers. The Doraty testimony is particularly interesting because it involves an experience of entering into a UFO in an out-of-body state, a topic I will discuss in greater detail in Chapter 10 . According to Doraty, her out-of-body experience was somehow spontaneous, and the beings told her that they had not intended to bring her on board. Nonetheless, even though they were engaged in the gross physical operation of cutting up a calf, they had no difficulty in seeing and communicating with her on a subtle level.

This power of acting on gross and subtle levels is typical of many of the humanoid beings described in Vedic literature, and the macabre acts of mutilation are reminiscent of certain groups of the beings in the mode of ignorance. If the animal mutilations are, in fact, being carried out by such beings, one might ask why they should do this at this particular time. Of course, I cannot answer this question with certainty. But one tentative possibility is that the beings are disturbed by present-day human activities involving nuclear testing and pollution of the environment. After all, this is the reason they reportedly gave to Judy Doraty. If ignorant human activities have disturbed beings in the mode of ignorance, then animal mutilations may simply be their way of showing their displeasure.

The mutilation of animals tends to worry people because it suggests that human beings might also be subjected to deliberate harm or death by UFO entities. There are several categories of evidence suggesting that such inimical behavior might occur. This evidence ranges in a continuum from frightening and traumatic abduction cases up to rarely reported instances of overt violence. In this section, I will give some examples of this evidence. I begin with an abduction story that is unusually traumatic, which supports the idea of a connection between UFOs and animal mutilations, and which contains dark hints of more inimical activities directed toward human beings. I should warn the reader, however, that in Chapter 10 I will give another possible interpretation of this case.

While driving home at night on a road near Cimarron, New Mexico, a twenty-eight-year-old woman and her six-year-old son reportedly saw five UFOs descend near a cow pasture. She had confused memories of a close encounter and reported a time loss of about four hours. Later, the woman was hypnotized by Dr. Leo Sprinkle in several sessions, from May 11 to June 3, 1980, in the presence of Paul Bennewitz, who was investigating for APRO (the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization).

As it turned out, a very disturbing abduction account emerged. Although this account is particularly bizarre and gruesome, I feel that it should be presented so as to give a balanced view of the experiences being recounted by UFO witnesses. The following summary is based on notes taken by Leo Sprinkle during the hypnosis sessions. 24

Under hypnosis, the woman first reported seeing brilliant lights and witnessing the mutilation of a cow. “They’re landing. Oh, God! . . . Screaming of the cattle; it’s horrible, it’s horrible! It’s in pain. Incredible pain!” She described a silvery, tapered knife about eighteen inches long and one-half inch thick, which was plunged into the cow’s chest. While the cow was still alive and struggling, the entities worked on its genitals with a circular, cutting motion.

She next reported that she and her son were captured by a number of strange-looking beings and taken into different ships. These beings wore dark brown uniforms with an orange and blue insignia having “three lines and a line across the bottom.”

Initially she was unable to move, but later she regained this ability and began to put up a violent struggle. She was restrained but could kick and scream and call her captors names. She remembered being forcefully disrobed and reported a forced physical examination, including a vaginal probe. It is said that she later suffered from a life-threatening vaginal infection.

Although some of the beings treated her roughly, others showed curiosity: “They think it’s funny—they love my hair. Their heads are large. But they have no hair, no eyebrows. The gentle one in the first ship was fascinated by my eyebrows and my eyelashes, too. They don’t blink!”

As all this was going on, a tall, jaundiced-looking man, dressed in white and looking different from the others, entered in an angry mood. He declared that the woman wasn’t supposed to have been taken: “They tell me they’re sorry. They use that word, too. They apologize, ‘Those things happen; it’s unfortunate. The young one is all right’ . . . They ask me to understand that it [the cattle mutilation] was necessary.” This communication with her was telepathic, although the beings used spoken language to communicate with one another. One detail is that the tall man burned her face, perhaps unintentionally, by touching it with his hand.

He then apparently ordered the other beings to be punished: “I remember seeing them naked, waist up, thin, ribs, clavicles, more ribs than we have—I don’t know. The thinness of them, their hands and yet they could pick me up. . . . Not claws, long fingernails, knotty and gnarled. Harsh looking, so small, thin, bones. . . . One has a nose that’s crooked, turned up and crooked. They shuffle, drag their feet.”

These beings also sported bizarre but distinctly human-looking clothing. “There was a Franciscan Monk’s collar. Belt, military type boots, patch. Ugly, rowdy, rough. One was feminine. She had a collar, gathered at the neck like a pilgrim with ruffles—Victorian period? Didn’t look comfortable. Patch. Squared head, holes like a small nose—or just two holes. Pea green! She honestly was green! I can’t believe it still! . . . How can they be like this?”

The tall man proceeded to take her on a circuitous route through a number of strange places, perhaps on different ships. There are descriptions of a huge room with control panels and 24-inch TV screens, and some kind of elevator. At one point she saw a planet: “On the table, white light in my eyes, the takeoff, how fat my body got—lead! Heavy! . . . We get in a round cylinder—swoosh! Big room! Breathtaking! Stars everywhere. Beautiful, so beautiful. I can see a planet. It’s big, white, black, white here and black. I only see the top half. They never tell me I can’t go to the window, it’s understood.”

The sequence of events is confusing, and she also ascribed confusion to her captors. “When the man in white comes in and restores order, I feel a respect from him for me. He seems old, very old. . . . He seems agitated, but not with me. . . . I’m scared, not of him, but his confusion. It worries me that they don’t know what they’re doing.” She was repeatedly told that it is “regrettable that they must do this.”

The ship she was on seemed to land. “I’m excited, ecstatic, not scared. I think they’ve taken me somewhere important. . . . More people come in like the one in white, although they’re not all in white. There are five of them; two look differently: narrow eyes. They’re not greenish, not slitty eyes; like those on first ship, but they’re not huge. They seem to be important! Maybe doctors or scientists. I don’t know why they don’t know what to do with me. I’m not allowed to go to the window, but I can see ships, activity, the outline of the terrain. Hilly, not big like mountains.” At this point, she remarked that it was very cold, and she also noted a disturbing humming sound.

“They are very kind; the way they move is beautiful. They all shuffle their feet, long strides. Taller than me. Six feet or taller.” Like the others, these beings lacked hair, but they were attractively dressed, and three looked quite human. They asked her to forgive them but said she wouldn’t be allowed to say anything about her experience.

In another session, she also said that they mentioned alterations: “I don’t want to talk about him again ever. Let it die, let it rest. . . . Alterations—the word ‘necessary alterations’ in order to bring me back.” The word “alterations” apparently referred to implants that may have been placed in the body of the woman by the entities, and it has been alleged that such implants were found in the woman’s body by means of CAT scans. 25

As she was led out of the ship, she recognized the landscape: it seemed to be the Roswell area of New Mexico, to the west of Las Cruces. She was taken down an elevator to a subterranean complex swarming with the strange beings and roaring with the water of an underground river. “They like my reaction—awe! Incredible! Base city of operation.” At this point, she briefly saw her son and was again separated from him.

Then, reacting in horror, she managed to break away and fled into a room with large tanks that seemed to be filled with some kind of body parts, floating in circulating fluid: “I’m looking down at pools of water. Something is horrifying me. . . . Top of a bald head. Light is dim. . . . I think I see an arm with the hand—human! Other something red and bloody looking. Oh, God! I’m so scared at seeing this. Ahh! Tongues, huge; they look real big. They’re under liquid, real dark. . . . They found me, but when they found me, I was in the corner on the floor crying.”

On being recaptured, she was led to a room where she experienced traumatic treatment, perhaps for the purpose of obliterating her memory. “Ow! Pain is so intense! Flashes, bright light flashing, something like two wires joined in a light bulb. Whoosh, whoosh, light! I’m screaming. My son is crying. They’re doing it to him too. . . . You know something. They don’t like us. They are something monstrous to me now. I feel like I’ve been in Auschwitz.”

After this treatment, she and her son were taken back to one of the ships. As the ship flew through the air, she was shown her car, which was parked on board. They were placed in the car, and the car was transferred gently to the ground. She then drove home with no conscious memory of her experiences on board the UFOs.

This remarkable story contains many elements that appear frequently in UFO abduction cases, including the physical examination, telepathic communication, the strange hum heard by the woman, the display of emotions such as anger and curiosity by the humanoid entities, and the transfer of the woman’s car into one of the UFOs. The possible insertion of implants into the woman’s body is also a feature that this case shares with others described by Budd Hopkins and Raymond Fowler.

There are also features of this story that are unusual. Of course, one is the allusion to an underground base populated by alien beings and located somewhere in New Mexico. This is a very controversial topic, and it comes up in connection with the government-alien conspiracy theories discussed briefly in Chapter 3 ( pages 110–15 ). There I mentioned allegations by journalist Howard Blum that Paul Bennewitz was fed disinformation about government conspiracies and underground alien bases by U.S. military agents working in league with UFO researcher William Moore.

The Cimarron case is thus wrapped up in a particularly convoluted controversy that is filled with paranoid speculations and counterspeculations. According to Blum, the hypnotic regression of the woman by Leo Sprinkle came before the period of the government disinformation campaign against Bennewitz. 26 At the same time, there seem to be discrepancies in Blum’s version of the story. For example, he says that Sprinkle called in Bennewitz for consultation because he was puzzled about the woman’s case, 27 whereas Linda Howe’s documentation indicates that Bennewitz met the woman first and referred her to Sprinkle. 28

In evaluating this case, we should keep this background information in mind. We should also consider that there is other evidence from UFO reports suggesting that various humanoid races may have underground or undersea bases on the earth—although these may have no connection with the U.S. Government. For example, Filiberto Cardenas described being taken to an undersea base ( pages 176–78 ). Likewise, Betty Andreasson spoke of an abduction experience at the age of thirteen in which she was taken through water to an underground complex. 29

One striking feature of the Cimarron case is that the alien entities seemed to be of several different physical types. The woman’s statement that some of the beings have “more ribs than we have” is paralleled, strangely enough, by a description of an alien body supposedly recovered by U.S. military personnel from a flying disc that crashed in 1948 in Mexico, near the Rio Sabrinas and south of Laredo, Texas. An anonymous participant in this recovery effort maintained in letters written in 1978–80 that in this body “the entire abdomen was encased by a riblike structure all the way to the hips.” 30

One of the most bizarre feature of the Cimarron story is the entities’ clothing, which seems like something one might pick up from a party costume shop. Yet this feature is corroborated by the story of Filiberto Cardenas, whose trip to an undersea base in 1979 included an encounter with an enthroned alien personage wearing a cape and a jeweled chain. 31 It is also corroborated by another, apparently independent, encounter case that reportedly took place a few months after the Cimarron incident in the same general area of the United States.

In 1980, a week before Thanksgiving, a couple was driving north of Denver. The man, a commercial artist, reported seeing a “cerulean blue light,” and the couple subsequently lost an hour of time. Hypnotic regression was carried out on July 5, 1984, by Richard Sigismund, a social scientist from Boulder, Colorado. Under hypnosis, the woman said they were picked up in their car by a light beam and transported to a nearby craft resting on struts. A hairless, tall “man” in a blue robe beckoned to them hypnotically.

He’s looking at us, telling us to come in. He’s the leader. The leader is in a blue cape. It’s stupid. It’s illogical. Cape is illogical. He doesn’t need a cape. Not like that. . . . He doesn’t talk with his mouth. He talks with his mind. 32

Drawn by the being’s influence, they entered the craft and were examined physically by a humanoid being wearing a yellow robe and ruffled collar. The woman, who was pregnant at the time, felt violated and raped, and she had a serious illness after the abduction. Her child later turned out to have an IQ of 170, however. 33

There are other accounts featuring entities wearing strange costumes. An example is the friendly encounter of Mrs. Cynthia Appleton with tall, fair beings wearing plasticlike garments with “Elizabethan” collars (see page 369 ). Other examples are the patches with serpent emblems worn by the beings in the three abduction cases involving Filiberto Cardenas, William Herrmann, and Herbert Schirmer (see page 184 ). Of course, in many UFO cases, beings are said to wear relatively featureless form-fitting suits, and in others spacesuits or “diving” suits are described.

The strange clothing sometimes reported in UFO encounters seems to resonate with human psychology. In particular, the Halloween-like costumes with sashes, capes, and insignia seem to fit in with the tamo-guṇa, which is characterized by dreams and madness. It is tempting to suppose, then, that encounters involving strange costumes are a projection of deranged human minds. But we have already discussed the evidence indicating that people evaluated as psychologically normal have reported such encounters. There is also much evidence indicating that some UFOs are physically real vehicles.

It is therefore worth considering that real beings under the influence of tamo-guṇa may be involved in some cases in which odd clothing is observed. It does seem unlikely that outmoded human clothing styles would just happen to be the latest fashions on distant planets. It is possible that the odd clothing is simply another feature of human culture that is being borrowed to create an impression on human witnesses.

I am not aware of any close-encounter cases in which entities from UFOs were said to wear the ordinary clothing current in the country where the cases occurred. However, there are the “Men in Black” visitations, in which contemporary suits and ties are worn in an artificial way that seems designed to create a bizarre impression (see pages 326–28 ).

In addition to cases where bizarre clothing is reported, there are also encounters involving beautiful clothing, or at least an overall beautiful effect. The Fatima case ( pages 293–301 ) is an example of this, and another example is the case of the smallpox lady in Appendix 2 . Vallee cited an example, which dates back to 1491 and was reported by a famous Italian mathematician named Jerome Cardan (1501–76). In his book De Subtilitate, Cardan presented the following account, which had been recorded by his father:

August 13, 1491. When I had completed the customary rites, at about the twentieth hour of the day, seven men duly appeared to me clothed in silken garments, resembling Greek togas, and wearing, as it were, shining shoes. The undergarments beneath their glistening and ruddy breastplates seemed to be wrought of crimson and were of extraordinary glory and beauty. 34

The men said that they were “composed, as it were, of air,” they lived for about 300 years, and they were subject to birth and death. They conversed with the elder Cardan for over three hours on various philosophical topics and disagreed among themselves on the cause of the universe. Jerome Cardan concluded his account of his father’s meeting by saying, “Be this fact or fable, so it stands.” 35

Thereupon Śrīla Vyāsa, the pure sage whose works are most magnanimous, with his ascetic strength awarded divine vision to the king, who then saw all the sons of Pāṇḍu exactly as they appeared in their former bodies. The king saw the five youths in their celestial forms as rulers of the cosmos, with golden helmets and garlands, the color of fire and sun, broad-chested, beautiful of form, with ornaments crowning their heads. There was not a particle of dust on their celestial robes, which were woven of gold, and the Indras shone exceedingly with most valuable necklaces and garlands. Endowed with all good qualities, they were like expansions of Śiva himself, or like the heavenly Vasus and Ādityas. 36

The Devas are said to be in the sattva-guṇa, or mode of goodness. Their clothing tends to be spotlessly beautiful, and descriptions of them tend to stress that they are brilliantly shining. This can be contrasted with cases involving weird or frightening humanoids who are sometimes said to wear bizarre clothing. In these latter cases, features characteristic of the tamo-guṇa tend to cluster together.

Clearly, the Cimarron case has a number of features that are paralleled by other UFO cases. This, of course, does not prove that the woman’s story is genuine, and one’s credulity is definitely strained by her description of body parts floating in vats. These body parts might be organs from the cattle the woman saw being mutilated, but she also mentioned a floating bald head and a human arm and hand. Were these human victims? There are some accounts of human mutilations following the pattern seen in animals, but the evidence linking these cases to UFOs is not very strong.

One possible human mutilation incident occurred in India in 1958 and was reported by British UFO researcher Jenny Randles. The witness was an Indian businessman, who wished to remain anonymous and who refused to allow a taped interview of his testimony to be publicized. According to his story, a UFO was seen to land in broad daylight, and four three-foot-tall entities emerged. Two boys playing in nearby rocks were subsequently found to have disappeared. One was later discovered dead, with several organs removed, as if by “expert surgery.” The other was in a catatonic trance and died five days later in a hospital without speaking. 37 This case follows the animal mutilation pattern, but the evidence behind it is weak due to the reticence of the witness.

There is an instance in Brazil of a human being who was mutilated in a way that agrees in detail with typical cattle mutilation cases. 38 However, there is no evidence in this case indicating who or what perpetrated the crime.

Cases involving attacks on human beings by UFOs armed with beam weapons have been reported from the remote forested regions of northern Brazil by Jacques Vallee. In these cases, a small, box-shaped object, known locally as a “chupa,” is typically seen flying about, projecting a brilliant beam of light on the ground. The objects will sometimes attack people by “zapping” them with a narrowly focused beam of light. These beams seem to have a variety of effects. In some cases they cause illness, and in others the victim dies—either due to the direct effects of the beam or due to side effects such as heart attacks.

The case of Raimundo Souza is an example of the latter. Souza was a forty-year-old professional hunter, reputed to be in good health, who lived in Parnarama near Sāo Luís in northern Brazil. The hunting technique used by Souza and his friends was to lurk at night in the forest in a hammock set up in the branches of a tree. When a deer came by, they would shine a flashlight in its eyes. The deer would freeze, and it could be easily shot.

While waiting for game in his hammock one August night in 1981, Souza struck a match to light a cigarette. A flying object rapidly came overhead and aimed a beam at him and his hunting companion, Anastasio Barbosa. Seeing this, Barbosa got down from his hammock and hid under some bushes, watching the object circle overhead. The next morning, he found Souza’s dead body on the ground with one arm broken from his fall and with purple marks on various parts of his body, except the face. The marks were circular and smooth like a bruise, 1 to 2.5 inches in size, and there were no puncture marks. As there was no autopsy, the cause of death is not certain. However, Barbosa was not suspected of murder. Vallee obtained much of his information regarding Raimundo Souza from Police Lieutenant Magela of Sāo Luís, Brazil, who was chief of police in Parnarama in 1981–82. 39

These reports from Brazil are the only ones I have run across suggesting that UFO-projected light beams have caused human fatalities. However, there are corroborating stories in which people are said to have been violently attacked by such beams.

An example from America is the story of Eddie Doyle Webb, a 45-year-old truck driver from Greenville, Missouri. Early in the morning of October 3, 1973, Webb noticed that his tractor-trailer rig was being overtaken by a brightly lit, turnip-shaped object that was roughly as wide as a two-lane highway. When he leaned out of the window of his truck to get a better view of the object, he was hit in the face by a “red flash of fire” that blinded him and partially melted his glasses frames. 40 He was hospitalized with “bilateral severe reduction in vision of both eyes, undetermined etiology,” but he gradually recovered his sight over a period of three weeks. 41 This incident led to an extended battle between Webb and his insurance company over a workman’s compensation claim for the eye injury. Apparently the insurance company did not want to cover a UFO attack.

Here is an example of a light-beam attack in Spain. On January 28, 1976, just after midnight, a 24-year-old farmer named Miguel Carrasco was walking home from his girlfriend’s house in Bencazon when he saw a powerful beam shoot from a strange craft hovering in the air. As he began to run, two tall, thin entities emerged from the craft, blinding him and paralyzing him with a beam. He awoke to consciousness at 2:30 a.m. on his front doorstep, banging and screaming, “The men from the star will come back—let me in and shut the door!” A local doctor saw strange burns on Miguel’s cheek, and he was treated for them at a local hospital. However, they faded away in seven hours, and Dr. Mauricio Geara, the physician who treated them, later said, “We don’t really know what they were due to.” 42

Here is another example, from Arizona. In the evening of November 5, 1975, seven woodcutters were returning home from a long day’s work in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. While driving along the bumpy forest road, they saw a yellow light through the trees and shortly drove within viewing distance of a hovering disc-shaped UFO. One of them, Travis Walton, got out of the truck and approached the craft, driven by curiosity. His six co-workers watched as he was knocked flat by a brilliant, blue-green beam emanating from the UFO. The men fled out of fear, and when they returned a few minutes later Walton was nowhere to be seen.

When the men told their story to law officers, they were initially suspected of murder. However, all but one of them passed a polygraph test indicating that they believed their UFO story to be true. (The man who didn’t pass the test was considered to be in too agitated a state of mind for polygraph testing.) Extensive searching by police-directed search parties revealed no sign of Travis Walton, but five days later he showed up with a story of having awakened to consciousness in the presence of strange-looking aliens on board UFO. They had apparently kept him for the five days and then released him along a deserted country road. This is just the beginning of the Walton story, but here I am only interested in the fact that the account of the light-beam attack was confirmed by six witnesses. 43

Another story involving an attack by a beam of radiation was told by Francis P. Wall to UFO investigator John Timmerman in 1989. Wall said that he was a private first class in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. In the early spring of 1951, his company was mounting an artillery attack on a village in the Iron Triangle region near Chorwon. A glowing, disc-shaped UFO approached them, and Wall requested permission from his company commander to fire on it. He shot at it with an M-1 rifle with armor-piercing bullets, and he heard the sound of metal hitting metal. The object “went wild” and began to move erratically and flash its light off and on. Then the UFO apparently prepared to attack the men by revving up some kind of generator:

Then, a sound, which we had heard no sound previous to this, the sound of, like of, ah, you’ve heard diesel locomotives revving up. That’s the way this thing sounded. And, then, we were attacked, I guess you would call it. In any event, we were swept by some form of a ray that was emitted in pulses, in waves that you could visually see only when it was aiming directly at you. . . . Now you would feel a burning, tingling sensation all over your body, as though something were penetrating you. 44

Wall testified that at first there seemed to be no ill effects from the radiation. But he went on to say, “Three days later the entire company of men had to be evacuated by ambulance. They had to cut roads in there and haul them out, they were too weak to walk.” 45 In this incident, the radiation beam was different from the one reported in the Walton case. However, the attack on Walton was also preceded by a sound reminiscent of a powerful motor. Describing what happened just before he was struck by the beam, Walton said, “Suddenly, I was startled by a powerful, thunderous swell in the volume of the vibrations from the craft. I jumped at the sound, which was similar to that of a multitude of turbine generators starting up.” 46

The so-called Men in Black, or MIBs, provide another category of evidence involving possible inimical behavior toward humans by alien entities. In a typical story, a UFO witness or investigator is visited by one or more strange men, who order him to suppress any information he may have about the UFO phenomenon and threaten him with violence if he doesn’t comply. In many instances, these men seem to be perfectly human, and they are often thought to be government agents. This is typically the case in stories involving military personnel who disclose information about UFOs in violation of their oaths of secrecy.

There are many cases, however, in which the threatening visitors do not seem to be at all human. They are generally dressed awkwardly in black garments, they have abnormal bodily features, and they exhibit bizarre and inept modes of behavior. When this is combined with exhibitions of strange paranormal powers, the impression conveyed is of a nonhuman, ghostly sort of being who is crudely disguised as a human.

A typical MIB story of this type was related by the psychiatrist Berthold Schwarz in connection with Dr. Herbert Hopkins, a physician living in Orchard Beach, Maine. Hopkins became involved with UFO investigations when he used hypnosis to probe the memories of a close-encounter witness named David Stephens. This apparently brought him to the attention of a rather strange personality.

On Saturday night, September 11, 1976, while his wife and son were out to see a drive-in movie, Hopkins’s phone rang. The caller identified himself as the vice president of a New Jersey UFO organization that later turned out to be nonexistent. He wanted to come and discuss the abduction case Hopkins was investigating, and Hopkins invited him over.

The man arrived almost immediately at Hopkins’s door—apparently without time for travel from wherever he made his phone call. He was dressed like an undertaker in an impeccable black suit, was bald, and lacked eyebrows and eyelashes. He sat motionlessly like a clothing store dummy and proceeded to ask Hopkins a number of questions in flawless English, speaking evenly spaced words in an expressionless monotone. When he rubbed his straight, lipless mouth with his gloved hand, it turned out that he was wearing lipstick.

After the conversation had gone on for some time, the man said Hopkins had two coins in his left pocket, which was true, and he asked him to remove one. Hopkins took out a penny, and the man asked him to lay it on his palm. According to Hopkins, “The shiny new penny was now a bright silver color . . . the coin slowly became light blue in color, and then it began to become blurred to my vision. . . . It became more blurred, and then became vaporous and gradually faded away.” 47 Hopkins declared that this was a “neat trick” and asked the man to make the coin return. He replied, “Neither you nor anyone else on this plane (not planet) will ever see that coin again.” 48

The man then asked Hopkins if he knew why Barney Hill had died. Hopkins said that he thought this was due to a long illness. But the man replied that, no, Barney died because he had no heart, just as Hopkins no longer had his coin. With this, he ordered Hopkins to destroy all tapes and other materials in his possession relating to the Stephens abduction case, and out of fear Hopkins later complied.

At this point, the man seemed to run down and said slowly, “My energy is running low—must go now—goodbye.” 49 He walked out and went very unsteadily down the steps. As the man went around the corner of his house, Hopkins saw a strange bluish-white light shining up his driveway. The man walked up the driveway away from the road, even though it was a dead end with no means of egress. Then he was seen no more.

According to Betty Hill, Barney Hill died of a stroke, not a heart attack. 50 Thus the visitor’s statements about the removal of Barney Hill’s heart were incorrect. Nonetheless, they had their intended effect, for Hopkins immediately destroyed his tapes and other records relating to the Stephens abduction case.

What would constitute proof that Herbert Hopkins’s story was true? His wife testified that when she returned home after the experience, she found that he had turned on all the lights in the house and was sitting at the kitchen table with a gun. 51 This unusual behavior plus his sincerity in telling his story was enough to convince her. But even if there were other eyewitnesses to Hopkins’s story, this would not constitute proof. One can argue that eyewitnesses might be lying or hallucinating. And if someone claimed to have photographed the Man in Black, one can argue that the photograph might be a hoax.

Proof is not possible, but the story might be true. If so, it is an example of behavior that is certainly inimical and manipulative. Since the strange man appeared abnormal and stunted, and used occult powers to create fear, he fits nicely into the Vedic category of beings in the tamo-guṇa, or the mode of darkness. This is additional evidence tying in at least some UFO entities with beings in this category.

Thus far, I have briefly touched on the following types of evidence for inimical activities by unknown intelligent beings: (1) cases involving frightening monsters, (2) macabre animal mutilations, (3) horrific abduction experiences, (4) attacks with beam weapons, and (5) visitations by ghoulish “Men in Black.” There are also some stories suggesting that human beings have been captured and killed by alien beings, and there is a large literature on mysterious disappearances that I have not tried to review here.

All of these events seem to take place on the margins of human social consciousness. Although some of them create a stir in the news media for some time, none have ever become prominent enough to be openly recognized as real by official civic and academic bodies. This may be partly because people have a strong tendency to deny things that seem incomprehensible or threatening. This denial, of course, begins on the level of individuals, and it can be formalized by policies set within governmental and academic institutions.

It is also evident that the threatening events I have been discussing are truly marginal in the sense that they do not seriously interfere with human activities at the present time. Things would be different, for example, if an alien invasion force took over London, or even if people were regularly zapped by aerial beam weapons in the streets of New York City.

The natural question is, “If unknown beings actually exist and are doing all these things, then what is their plan, and what are the prospects for the future? Are they going to invade and take over, as we might do in their position, and if not, then why not?” It is difficult to answer these questions by examining UFO reports, for these reports show that the mysterious UFO entities are not inclined to clearly explain their plans to the people they contact.

However, the Vedic literature contains a great deal of information on the relationships between various human and humanlike races, both on the earth and in interplanetary space. Since there are strong parallels between reported UFO phenomena and Vedic accounts of humanoid races, this information may convey some insight into the threatening actions that people have associated with UFOs. In this section, I will therefore discuss some examples from the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa of inimical treatment of human beings by nonhuman races.

One common theme of the Vedic literature is that there are wars in the heavens between the Devas and the Asuras. There is a cosmic hierarchy that rules the universe according to divine law, and there are also rebellious elements that oppose this hierarchy. As I mentioned in Chapter 6 (pages 207–9 ), the upper level of the universal hierarchy is predominated by sages (called ṛṣis and Prajāpatis) who are mainly interested in meditation and spiritual development and who do not concern themselves with political struggles. The lower level, however, is controlled by the Devas, who do engage in politics.

Generally, the Devas act as universal administrators under the authority of the sages, who in turn act under the authority of Brahmā, the first created being in the universe. However, certain relatives of the Devas rebelled against this system, and their descendants have engaged in repeated and extended wars with the Devas. These beings are known as Asuras, and they include various subgroups such as the Daityas, the descendants of Diti, and the Dānavas, the descendants of Danu.

As we might expect, the wars between the Devas and the Asuras involved various reverses caused by political and technical developments on either side. This is illustrated by the three flying cities of Maya Dānava that I mentioned in Chapter 7 as Vedic equivalents of “mother-ships.” The following quote from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa shows how these cities upset the balance of power between the Devas and the Asuras:

Maya Dānava, the great leader of the Asuras, prepared three invisible residences [pura ] and gave them to the Asuras. These dwellings resembled airplanes made of gold, silver, and iron, and they contained uncommon paraphernalia. My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, because of these three dwellings the commanders of the Asuras remained invisible to the Devas. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Asuras, remembering their former enmity, began to vanquish the three worlds—the upper, middle and lower planetary systems. 52

Here the word pura can mean residence or city. In this case, the Devas were saved by Lord Śiva, who destroyed the three flying cities and thereby obtained the name Tripurāri (“Enemy of the three cities”).

When the atheists, after being well versed in the Vedic scientific knowledge, annihilate inhabitants of different planets, flying unseen in the sky on well-built rockets prepared by the great scientist Maya, the Lord will bewilder their minds by dressing himself attractively as Buddha and will preach on subreligious principles. 53

The commentator, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, pointed out that the Buddha referred to here is not the historical Buddha that we know but one who lived in a different age. Here the word “atheists” is used to translate deva-dviṣām, which literally means those who are inimical toward the Devas. In this case, the enemies of the Devas again obtained remarkable flying machines from Maya Dānava. They were thwarted, however, by an incarnation of Buddha, who captivated them through external material features such as beautiful clothing and who then persuaded them to adopt the philosophy of nonviolence.

An important feature of the wars between the Devas and the Asuras is that they were never allowed to get too far out of hand. Higher authorities would periodically intervene to restore the divine order, and this often provided the occasion for avatāras of the Supreme Being to present lofty philosophical teachings and engage in remarkable pastimes.

At times, however, these wars would have repercussions involving the earth and its human population. For example, Indra, the king of the Devas, once slew Vṛtrāsura, the ruler of a group of Asuras. The followers of Vṛtrāsura were thoroughly defeated, and one contingent of them, called the Kāleya Dānavas, decided to seek revenge by terrorizing humans on the earth. They made a plan to do this by setting up a base of operations within the oceans of the earth and coming out at night to attack the sages and ascetics who at that time provided guidance to human society:

In the Hermitage of Vasiṣṭha the miscreant band devoured a hundred and eighty-eight brāhmaṇas and nine other ascetics. They went to the holy hermitage of Cyavana, which is visited by the twice-born, and ate one hundred of the hermits, who lived on fruit and roots. This they did in the nighttime; by day they vanished into the ocean. At the Hermitage of Bharadvāja they destroyed twenty restrained celibates who lived on wind and water. In this fashion the Kāleya Dānavas gradually invaded all the hermitages, maddened by their confidence in the strength of their arms, killing many hosts of the twice-born, until Time crawled in upon them. The people did not know about the Daityas, best of men, even as they were oppressing the suffering ascetics. In the morning they would find the hermits, who were lean from their fasts, lying on the ground in lifeless bodies. The land was filled with unfleshed, bloodless, marrowless, disemboweled, and disjointed corpses like piles of conch shells. . . .

While men were wasting away in this manner, O lord of men, they ran from fear into all directions to save themselves. Some hid in caves, others behind waterfalls, some were so fearful of death that fear killed them. There were also proud and heroic bowmen who did their utmost to hunt down the Dānavas; but they could not find them, for they were hidden in the ocean; and the bowmen succumbed to exhaustion and death. 54

There is at least a superficial resemblance between this story and the modern accounts of cattle mutilations and of attacks on humans by UFOs. In both cases, death is inflicted by unknown beings that operate at night, using powers that are remarkable from an ordinary human point of view. In both cases, there are corpses drained of blood. It is also interesting to note that UFOs are often seen to enter and exit from oceans and lakes, as though perhaps they were maintaining some bases of operation hidden within the waters. (See Sanderson, 1970.)

The attack of the Dānavas on the ascetics clearly had a much stronger impact on the human society of that time than cattle mutilations and UFO activities do today. However, it was still on the level of terrorism. Even though the Dānavas had been fighting the Devas for outright supremacy, they did not try to openly invade the earth and take over but simply tried to frighten people with gruesome scare tactics. This is similar to what happens with cattle mutilations and the more frightening UFO manifestations, and one might ask why things should be done in this way. Some reasons will emerge as we consider additional examples.

The basic plot of the Rāmāyaṇa is that a powerful being named Rāvaṇa had taken over a region called Laṅkā on the surface of this earth, and from that base of operations he was causing considerable trouble to many different groups of beings. For this reason, a group of Devas, Gandharvas, and sages, who were concerned with affairs on the earth, gathered together and made the following appeal to Lord Brahmā:

O blessed Lord, having been favored by thee, the Rākṣasa Rāvaṇa perpetually troubles us since thou hast granted a boon to him, and we are helpless and forced to endure his fearful oppression! The Lord of the Rākṣasas has inspired terror in the Three Worlds, and, having overthrown the Guardians of the Earth, he has even humbled Indra himself. Provoking the Sages, the Yakṣas, Gandharvas, brāhmaṇas, and other beings, he tramples them under foot, he who has become insufferable through pride, being under thy protection. 55

This statement makes the important point that Rāvaṇa had conquered the earth. At least, he had overthrown the Guardians of the earth. In those times, there were some beings on the earth and in its general vicinity who were nearly as powerful as Rāvaṇa himself, and he would fight with them to establish his hegemony. He would also send Rākṣasa marauders to make nocturnal attacks on brāhmaṇas and ascetics who were living in the forest, away from major centers of population. This, of course, is reminiscent of the stories about people in remote regions of Brazil being zapped by UFOs wielding beam weapons.

However, Rāvaṇa did not try to take over human lands and herd people onto reservations, as European settlers did with the American Indians. Instead, he would simply enjoy luxuries in his aerial mansion, while sending out henchmen to engage in acts of terrorism. I would suggest that two observations can be made about this: The first is that life on the earth in the human environment was not attractive to Rāvaṇa. By conquering the Guardians the earth was his, but he and his people had no interest in invading the human ecological niche.

The second is that the pattern of terrorizing people at night says something about Rāvaṇa’s psychology. He, along with the Rākṣasas and Dānavas in general, had a strong streak of the tamo-guṇa, or mode of ignorance. On the ordinary human level, this is the same sort of psychology that one sees in psychotic killers or mad dictators. Rāvaṇa was particularly concerned with tormenting brāhmaṇas and ascetics, because these persons were worshipers of the Devas, who were Rāvaṇa’s old enemies.

Here is a way of bringing about the end of that perverse being! “May I not be destroyed by Gandharvas, Yakṣas, Gods or Rākṣasas” was Rāvaṇa’s request, but thinking man to be of no account, he did not ask to be made invulnerable in regard to him; therefore, none but man can destroy him. 56

Rāvaṇa thought that human beings were completely insignificant, and this gives us another clue as to why he didn’t particularly concern himself with them. But this turned out to be his downfall. Following the advice of Brahmā, the assembled celestial beings asked Lord Viṣṇu to incarnate on earth as an apparent human being to slay Rāvaṇa. Lord Viṣṇu agreed, and He took birth as Rāma, the son of King Daśaratha of Ayodhyā.

In due course of time, Rāvaṇa learned about the beauty of Sītā, the wife of Rāma, and he devised a plan to abduct her (see pages 238–39 ). This created a conflict between Rāvaṇa and Rāma, and eventually Rāma slew him with celestial weapons in a great battle.

This brings up another point concerning human beings. From the point of view of celestial beings such as Rāvaṇa, humans are utterly inferior and unimportant. Why then did Lord Viṣṇu, the original source of Brahmā and all the Devas, agree to live among them as one of them?

The answer is that according to Vedic literature the human form of life is uniquely advantageous for making spiritual advancement. Subhuman forms of life lack the intelligence required for spiritual contemplation, and superhuman beings tend to become wrapped up in the enjoyment of great power, beauty, and longevity. But the human form, with all its trials and tribulations, provides a gateway through which the soul can readily ascend to higher spiritual stages. Since the primary concern of Lord Viṣṇu is with the destiny of the soul, it was natural for Him to be concerned with the human race.

Curiously enough, this very idea comes up in one of the channeled UFO communications—whatever their real source may be. Here is a quotation from a communicator named Hatonn, who said that he represents the “Confederation of Planets in Service of the Infinite Creator:”

Many of us who are now circling your planet would desire to have the opportunity that you have, the opportunity to be within the illusion and then, through the generation of understanding, use the potentials of the illusion. This is a way of gaining progress spiritually and has been sought out by many of our brothers. 57

Since the human form of life is the sublime position for spiritual realization, all the demigods in heaven speak in this way: How wonderful it is for these human beings to have been born in the land of Bhāratavarṣa. . . . We demigods can only aspire to achieve human births in Bhārata-varṣa to execute devotional service, but these human beings are already engaged there. 58

Bhārata-varṣa is the domain of the short-lived human form of life, and thus it refers to this earth planet. 59 Since the human race is important from a spiritual point of view, it tends to be protected by higher authorities within the universe, and this is one reason why it is not easily taken over by more powerful beings. This idea also comes up in another form in the following description of the Gentry, or fairy folk, recorded in Ireland by the ethnologist Evans-Wentz:

The folk are the grandest I have ever seen. They are far superior to us, and that is why they are called the gentry. They are not a working class, but a military-aristocratic class, tall and noble-appearing. They are a distinct race between our own and that of spirits, as they have told me. Their qualifications are tremendous. “We could cut off half the human race, but would not,” they said, “for we are expecting salvation.” 60

In summary, the Vedic literature, many UFO communications, and Celtic folklore all suggest that human society may sometimes be affected by the activities of more powerful beings who are primarily concerned with their own affairs. While pursuing their own agendas, these beings may occasionally intervene in human society in ways that seem mysterious from a limited human perspective, but make sense within their own complex framework of activity. These interventions may be harmful or beneficial, depending on the underlying motives of the beings involved. They fall short of displaying the full powers of these beings for a variety of reasons, ranging from spiritually-based laws of noninterference to contempt for the weakness of insignificant humans.

Thus far, I have discussed two Vedic examples of alien invasions of the earth. In each case, most human beings experienced these invasions in the form of sporadic nocturnal attacks by terrifying beings who seemed to come out of nowhere. The attacks were highly disturbing to people who heard about them and devastating to those who experienced them, but they didn’t have much effect on human society as a whole. There is one example, however, of an attempt by Daityas and Dānavas to take over and rule human society, and this forms the main plot of the Mahābhārata .

The story begins at a time long ago, when human society was prospering. People were dedicated to principles of virtue, and they did not decline into decadence as they began to experience material success. However, this auspicious situation did not last. Just as in the story of the Kāleya Dānavas, human society began to be affected by events occurring in celestial planetary systems. Here is what happened, as narrated to King Janamejaya by the sage Vaiśampāyana:

But then, O best of monarchs, just as humankind was flourishing, powerful and demonic creatures began to take birth from the wives of earthly kings.

Once the godly Ādityas, who administer the universe, fought their wicked cousins the Daityas and vanquished them. Bereft of their power and positions, the Daityas began to take birth on this planet, having carefully calculated that they could easily become the gods of the earth, bringing it under their demonic rule. And thus it happened, O mighty one, that the Asuras began to appear among different creatures and communities. 61

As in the case of the Kāleya Dānavas, this attempt involved covert activities rather than an out-and-out invasion of the earth by alien armies. The technique adopted by the invading forces was to enter in their subtle bodies into the wombs of the wives of kings and thereby take birth in royal families. In this way they seized control of earthly governments and were able to exploit the earth as they liked.

As these demonic creatures continued to take birth on the earth, the earth herself could not bear the weight of their presence. Having fallen from their positions in the higher planets, the sons of Diti and Danu thus appeared in this world as monarchs, endowed with great strength, and in many other forms. They were bold and haughty, and they virtually surrounded the water-bounded earth, ready to crush those who would oppose them.

They harassed the teachers, rulers, merchants, and workers of the earth, and all other creatures. Moving about by the hundreds and thousands, they began to slay the earth’s creatures, and they brought terror to the world. Unconcerned with the godly culture of the brāhmaṇas, they threatened the sages who sat peacefully in their forest āśramas, for the so-called kings were maddened by the strength of their bodies. 62

In response to this invasion, Bhūmi, the earth-goddess, approached Lord Brahmā and asked him to save the earth. Brahmā responded by ordering the Devas to incarnate on earth just as the Asuras had done: “In order to remove the burden of the earth, each of you is to take birth on the earth through your empowered expansions to stop the spread of the demonic forces.” 63 Brahmā also requested Lord Viṣṇu to appear on the earth as an avatāra to oppose the demonic forces, and He agreed to do so.

In due course of time, various Devas appeared on the earth, either by entering personally into the wombs of earthly mothers or by impregnating earthly women and producing offspring that partook of their own nature. Then Lord Viṣṇu appeared as Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva and Devakī.

With the aid of the incarnate Devas, Kṛṣṇa gradually annihilated the forces of the Dānavas. This involved many complex developments, and one of them, the fratricidal struggle between the Pāṇḍavas and the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, is the main subject of the Mahābhārata . In this struggle, the celestial war between the Devas and Asuras was reenacted on the earth, and by Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement the forces of the Asuras were eventually defeated.

Several points can be made about this complex story. The first point is that at the present time much has been written about beings from other planets who reincarnate in human bodies as “Wanderers” with the aim of carrying out some higher purpose. There is also talk of “Walk-ins,” or souls that take over existing bodies and displace their original souls. These concepts are similar to the idea presented in the Mahābhārata that the Devas and Asuras could take birth on earth with specific missions to perform.

To understand this idea, it is necessary to have a preliminary understanding of the soul, the subtle body, and the process of reincarnation. Curiously enough, these topics come up repeatedly in UFO close-encounter cases, and I will discuss this in the next chapter.

Another point is that invasions of the earth by inimical forces often provide an occasion for the introduction of profound ethical and spiritual teachings into human society. Thus Rāvaṇa’s invasion resulted in the descent of Lord Rāmacandra, who taught the life of an ideal king. Likewise, the Mahābhārata invasion culminated in the speaking of the Bhagavad-gītā by Kṛṣṇa. An interesting question is: Will something similar happen as a result of today’s situation?