Jed sez:
> Assuming aliens create crop circles . . . the circles do not > look like an attempt to communicate with us, but rather an > attempt to mystify us. Or amuse us. They resemble art, or > graffiti. There is no other intelligent life in the solar > system, so if they are here, they are capable of crossing > interstellar space. They must be far advanced. No matter > how alien their psychology may be, if they want to > communicate with us, surely they can figure out a direct, > surefire method of doing that! Radio, skywriting, a > personal visit, a note on the front door . . . > > I suppose it is possible these aliens are not intelligent > in the normal sense. That is, not sentient. Perhaps they are > like a swarm of bees in a beehive, acting on instinct. It is > hard to imagine how such creatures could create advanced > technology but it is not unthinkable. It's a slow news day, so idle minds (like mine!) can run rampant with speculative fodder. Regarding the thrust of Jed's commentary, again, I suggest we do not forget the suggestion of avoiding direct eye contact when conducting investigations out in the field. It's considered a threat. Gary Larsen has a wonderful cartoon that depicts the aftermath of when a dubious researcher mistakenly decided it was time to try out a handshake buzzer on his next encounter with a band of gentle gorillas. Alas, copyright restrictions prevent me from showing the aftermath. Speaking of alien encounters, it is logical for most of us to logically assume aliens must be, well... totally alien, both in physical appearance as well as in intelligence. Perhaps this is so, but then perhaps not. Please humor me for what I hope some Vortex readers might conclude is an enchanting tale. Do not touch the controls on your TV! <Off the Wall Commentary> Just a week ago I decided read another UFO abduction account from an obscure book that had been collecting dust on one of my book shelves for decades. I'm glad I finally took it off the shelf to digest its contents. The tale allegedly occurred in the southern part of Brazil back in the late 1950s. Foreign accounts of this nature do not tend to be advertised within the US particularly because (1) we don't take the subject of CE4K (close encounters of the fourth kind) seriously, and (2) accounts originating from presumably backward countries like Brazil were considered of little value. But I digress. I have to say it was an unexpectedly fun read, as far as alleged UFO encounter/abductions go. The Portuguese to English translation was stilted, but I endured. The entire abduction scenario took about 10 days - earth days, that is. The abductors were humanoids. Genetically speaking, they were remarkably similar to us. Incidentally, I should add that the Brazilian abductee who had been temporarily spirited back to the home planet of these space travelers was abducted illegally according to the extraterrestrial civilization's laws. Apparently, an interplanetary expedition was checking out our plant & agricultural fauna. The survey captain mistakenly speculated that a nearby earthling, who had the misfortune of curiously skulking nearby when the craft landed, might actually be a farmer. They speculated he might be an agricultural expert who could give them advice on the various plants they were collecting. Turns out our Brazilian abductee wasn't a farmer at all. But later, back on the home world, this survey captain was summarily demoted for abducting the earthling against his will... He was transferred to a lesser profession of shuttling cargo between the home world and some remotely located steel mines. But getting back to the star of this story, after our abductee arrived on the home world it was quickly determined that he should be sent back. However, before sending him back a few of the bigwigs decided that they might as well offer poor guy a few days of hospitality to make up for the inconvenience of having been taken against his will, and also just to show him that they weren't all that bad. They weren't particularly worried about the abductee spilling the beans and blabbing to his Earth brothers about what he saw - which is exactly what he did when he was returned. They knew no one would believe him. And few did. Our abductee soon discovered a fascinating fact that the global civilization on this planet had taken advantage of a mysterious abundant source of free/clean energy called "Solar Energy". The phrase or terminology this abductee continuously used in the telling of this story was "Solar Energy". Keep in mind that this abductee only had a second grade education. The late 1950s was still decades before any of us had an inkling about global energy concerns. The abductee noticed that all technology on the planet (both large and small, immobile or mobile) had been individually fitted with its own "solar energy" power modules. He noticed that the need for a global electrical grid was completely irrelevant. Again, the limited education of this individual apparently caused him to continuously describe the power as "Solar energy" even though he never described seeing any solar panels. All he was told was that the power was the same energy that is generated from the sun, ergo: "solar energy". At this point in the reading of this alleged account it was easy for me to speculate on the premise (Hey! Continue to humor me please!) that "Solar Energy" might have been another term for LENR/CF technology. Now, let's do a little bit of a history lesson in regards to the origins of this extraterrestrial civilization: They apparently went through their own crisis period where after nearly blowing themselves up they managed to settle their difference. The process was helped along when a scientist discovered what we could speculatively describe as a form of LENR/CF technology. He executed a ultimatum to all the countries on his planet. That ultimatum was either accept a new global government along with the equal sharing of all natural wealth amongst all the population, or else I'll neutralize all dissenters with my LENR/CF ray gun thingee. Well... since 90% of the planet at this point were in the have-not category they voted Yes. The 10% that had everything were summarily voted out of power. Everyone subsequently pooled their resources. Presently, all of the inhabitants (all 20 billion of them I might add) are apparently living what we would call a high standard of living. There seems to be sufficient food and natural resources to feed and clothe everyone to a standard of living that is as good, if not better, than most western European socialist countries today. Alas, 20 billion mouths to feed nevertheless DOES put a tremendous strain on the planet's resources, even with LENR/CF as an abundant energy source. That's where Earth comes into the story. More disturbing was the fact that our Brazilian abductee did discover that this civilization was waiting for us to blow ourselves up, most likely due to a run-away nuclear exchange. They were sure that within 20 years (Keep in mind, this story came out in the late 1950s) we would most likely instigate another World War, and this time do ourselves in. In the aftermath, with what few survivors were left on our planet, these extraterrestrials would quickly step in and bring the planet back from the brink of disaster. Yeah, yeah... I know. This part of the story is playing the hero rescuing the disadvantage card. But please, just go with it for a few paragraphs more! ...CUZ HERE'S THE REALLY INTERESTING PART: Their plan would be to step in very quickly after a nuclear war had torn the world apart because they possess a technology that can easily NUTRALIZE RADIOACTIVE WASTE. They would in fact be highly motivated to step in very quickly, before all life (both plant & animal) died from terminal radiation poisoning. The plan then would be to help out what few remaining survivors were left on the planet, and then presumably move half of their burgeoning 20 billion inhabitants over to our world and start rebuilding. For me, this tall tale from an uneducated Brazilian abductee describing extraterrestrials as not only possessing "free" energy modules but also a technology capable of neutralizing radioactive materials and, well... I just couldn't help but wonder if they had figured out how LENR/CF works. Personally I think this fantastic tale could even be turned into decent movie plot, with just a few strategically added twists and turns, and perhaps a love interest as well, especially if someone with Speilberg's capacity were to put his weight behind the project! At this point I can hear many Vort readers remarking: But, but, but this absurd ET tale involves remarkably human aliens! Genetically similar humanoids! How preposterous can that be! This tale can't be real precisely because they are so genetically similar to us! * * * * * * Well... I have to confess that this tall UFO tale got me to thinkin about the high percentage of ET-humanoid-like encounters that have been recorded in modern times. I then found myself wonderin about how life must have spread across our own planet way, way back in the begin-in... Isn't it interesting how we are now beginning to realize just how stubbornly pervasive life might actually be across the universe. Lots of new nature programs have recently documented how life easily flourishes in some of the most hostile conditions we can think of, including scalding hot water springs, or within underwater trenches miles under the oceans where pressures are tons per square inch. We've also discovered just how difficult it is to stop the migration of invasive species as they hitch rides on furry legs & feathered wings, or perhaps inside the hull of a banana boat. And now, extrapolate this insidious little concept just a little bit more here and you have... Many reputable scientists have speculated on the premise that our planet may have been initially seeded with the building blocks of life (DNA) billions of years ago when the environment was nothing more than a steamy hothouse filled with noxious gasses. Curiously however, the same scientists tend to stop their speculation at this point. To extrapolate the scenario any further than an altruistic act that might have possibly happened billions of years ago and well... we would then have to start considering a lot of other messy ramifications for which most of us would prefer not to indulge in such as: What if all that initial meddling never really stopped? What if Earth, along with lots of nearby habitable planets, have always been subject to a continuous amount of "meddling" from outsiders. "Meddling"... perhaps "contamination" is a better word - could be due to a million reasons, like planetary expeditions, food surveys, real estate speculation, dropping off a few undesirable convicts... (You know... the riff-raff) Or perhaps one of my favorite scenarios: Puritans looking for a new world to practice their own religion free from outside influences. IOW, a bunch a disgruntled humanoids go find a new planet located in the backwaters somewhere outside of the primary transportation lines. Eventually, either by choice and/or by misfortune, they manage to sever all ties with the rest of civilization. They go native. BattleStar Galactica in the final episode (The new version, that is) extrapolated this concept very well. The concluding point being: Contrary to what most scientists loudly proclaim, the preposterous concept of alleged encounters with humanoid extraterrestrials might possibly turn out to be very logical if not downright pervasive simply because our DNA may not be all so divinely unique to this planet. Maybe our divinely unique Earth DNA is actually nothing more than an inheritance created from millions (if not billions) of years of a continuous "contamination". Guess who's coming to dinner. </Off the Wall Commentary > I now turn the television sets back to your control. NOTES: UFO contact from Planet ACART, by Artur Berlet Translation from Portuguese by Wendelle C. Stevens. Contributions by Wendelle C. Stevens Privately published by Wendelle C. Stevens ISBN 0-934269-08-4 Small edition run Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
