Remote viewing and more in documentary film ‘Something Unknown’

By Steve Hammons

The new movie The Men Who Stare at Goats is bringing expanded awareness to the general public about unconventional and anomalous topics involving human consciousness and the nature of “reality.”

Another film, this one a documentary, is doing the same.

Dutch filmmaker Renée Scheltema’s film Something Unknown is Doing Something We Don’t Know What, like the “Goats” movie, looks at discoveries in modern physics and psychology, remote viewing, telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, unconventional healing, therapeutic touch, psychic detective work and related subjects.

Scheltema has a background in Dutch TV and has created other documentaries. After her bachelor’s degree in law, she also earned advanced degrees in journalism and criminology.

INTEGRATIVE RESEARCH

In the film, various scientists and researchers give their views about the possibility or probability that unconventional and unusual forces are at work in the Universe and Nature – or at least they seem unusual to many of us.

Some of the people featured in the film include former Apollo astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, former Project STARGATE researcher Dr. Harold (Hal) Puthoff, University of Arizona professor of psychology Dr. Gary Schwartz, University of California professor emeritus of psychology Charles Tart, parapsychologist Dr. Dean Radin and several other prominent scientists and investigators.

Something Unknown explores reports of phenomena and aspects of human consciousness that seem to defy logic and our general understanding of ourselves and our environments.

Yet, much research into topics like near-death experiences, remote viewing, ESP and other subjects seems to indicate that something truly is going on that should be thoroughly investigated. In addition to any understanding of these phenomena that can be attained, the film serves as a vehicle to communicate to and educate us about these discoveries.

As the title of the film seems to indicate, there is “something” in the Universe and Nature, or perhaps many “somethings,” that are behaving in ways that are unique, puzzling and at times, amazing.

Physicists, psychologists, biologists and other investigators are changing their views of how things work around us and within us – and the interesting connections between the two.

Are these unconventional phenomena really “paranormal” or simply normal and natural?

GETTING UP TO SPEED

Different human cultures certainly approach human consciousness, dreams, visions, the afterlife, Nature and other common experiences in different ways. The modern scientific approaches of Western civilization have often created and reflected a different view of how things work and how Nature operates.

In addition, the divide between “science” and “spirituality” seems, at times, to define a separation that may not really be present at all.

The trends and trajectory of our understanding about human consciousness, biological systems, quantum physics and a wide swath of other studies seem to be moving toward a new way of looking at things – at the “something” and what it is doing.

The general public is now being exposed to more kinds of films, TV programs, books and other information that are getting all of us up to speed on the discoveries and developments in these fields that affects each and every one of us.

These communications efforts, like Something Unknown, seem to be part of the process to inform us, deepen our understanding, enhance our consciousness and … well, “we don’t know what.”

Something Unknown will be shown at the Santa Fe Film Festival on Dec. 3 and 5. The film is also available on DVD. For more information and to view the movie trailer, go to SomethingUnknown.com.

Two new movie projects explore Area 51, UFOs

By Steve Hammons

Nevada's not-so-secret test range for advanced U.S. aircraft and extraterrestrial-engineered UFOs is the focus of two current movie projects.

Oren Peli, who created the current independent film sensation Paranormal Activity, is now working on Area 51, using a somewhat similar style.

Meanwhile, the rights to a project tentatively titled S4: The Incredible True Story of Bob Lazar were recently obtained by Curmudgeon Films.

Lazar is the individual who came forward in 1989 and claimed to have been a scientist at Area 51 where he worked on and viewed extraterrestrial craft.

Will today's audiences be interested in the subject of Area 51 – a topic that has been the subject of so many TV programs, films and books?

PROFIT POTENTIAL

Peli's Paranormal Activity was reportedly made on a budget of about $15,000. It has already grossed approximately $65 million during a limited distribution in college towns and smaller venues in about 950 theaters. Last weekend, it was being shown on 2,000 screens.

According to some reports, the movie has, so far, achieved a return on investment of 434,000 percent, making it the most profitable film on record.

Peli got a bump up in his resources for Area 51, reportedly obtaining funding for a $5 million budget for the story of three teens with a video camera who try to sneak onto the secret base to see what they can see.

It may not turn out well for the three teens – but the results might be excellent for Peli and his associates.

Over at Curmudgeon Films, obtaining the rights to S4: The Incredible True Story of Bob Lazar from New Line Cinema might turn out to be a good investment too.

A screenplay is being written by Kenneth Yakkel. He is reportedly incorporating the true life accounts of Lazar, who in 1989 spoke with Las Vegas TV news reporter George Knapp about Area 51 and the alien spacecraft Lazar claimed to have seen in secret hangars there.

Lazar told Knapp, of KLAS, Channel 8 (a CBS affiliate), that while working at a location called S-4, he saw extraterrestrial craft that were being examined and "back-engineered" by U.S. personnel.

He also claimed that he was briefed about the background and history of the extraterrestrials and their activities on Earth

AUDIENCE INTEREST

A steady stream of movies on related topics have been released in recent months. Area 51 and S4: The Incredible True Story of Bob Lazar seem to fit in nicely with other excellent works that have been thrilling and enlightening viewers lately.

The recent remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still presented several new angles for audiences to think about, including the destruction of Earth's natural resources, ecosystem and environment.

Race to Witch Mountain took young and old movie fans on an action-packed adventure that included two extraterrestrials who appeared as human kids and needed to enter a secret Nevada military facility.

During the summer, the light-hearted Aliens in the Attic entertained us with a story of a vacationing family dealing with friendly and not-so-friendly aliens. The kids in the movie had to take charge due to alien mind control that affected the grownups.

The troubling film District 9 opened in theatres last August and presented an even different scenario of aliens landing on Earth. We saw the dark side of humans – how we treat each other and how we might treat beings who are different from us.

In November, the animated Planet 51 is scheduled to open in theatres. This fun film is a twist on the usual scenario of aliens visiting Earth. This time, humans are the aliens flying the UFO and landing on someone else's planet.

This same theme of humans invading another planet will be explored in James Cameron's Avatar, due in theatres this December. This technically-advanced movie promises to be a visual thrill with a story that is deep and meaningful.

Also in November, The Fourth Kind will deal with accounts of abductions of humans by extraterrestrials or some kind of unusual beings. This somewhat frightening topic will be looked at in the story of a psychotherapist who discovers that her clients have possibly experienced alien abduction.

Undoubtedly, audiences will also be ready and waiting to line up, buy their tickets and popcorn, and enjoy upcoming movies such as Area 51 and S4: The Incredible True Story of Bob Lazar.

Police sergeant sees ETs at crop circle? No UFO reported

By Steve Hammons

An off-duty police sergeant in the UK is reported to have seen possible extraterrestrials or unusal beings on the ground near a crop circle last July 6.

According to published reports, the unidentified Wiltshire officer was driving that morning near a crop circle that had appeared a few days earlier near Silbury Hill.

Then, he spotted three human-like figures in what appeared to be white coveralls.

Crop circle researcher Andrew Russell is working with the officer in researching the incident. Russell is quoted as saying, “At first he thought they were forensic officers as they were dressed in white coveralls.”

“He stopped his car and approached the field. The figures were all over six feet and had blond hair. They seemed to be inspecting the crop,” Russell said.

As the officer stopped his car and got out, ''He shouted to the figures who, at first, ignored him, not glancing at him. When he tried to enter the field they looked up and began running,” Russell stated.

STRANGENESS STARTS

According to Russell, the officer said, “They ran faster than any man I have ever seen … I looked away for a second and when I looked back they were gone.”

The officer also reportedly noticed a crackling electrical type of noise, similar to static electricity, as he approached the crop circle.

''I then got scared,” the officer is reported to have told Russell. “The noise was still around but I got an uneasy feeling and headed for the car. For the rest of the day I had a pounding headache …''

Another crop circle researcher, Colin Andrews, is also looking into this case, according to UK news reports. Andrews is reported to have said he is ''convinced'' by the officer's report.

Andrews has reported on his Web site colinandrews.net that the three beings “were wearing one piece white suites, with hoods that had been dropped onto the back of their heads.”

He also noted that the officer was about 400 yards away when he first yelled toward the individuals.

He also wrote on his blog site that “the officer is planning to use a police sketch artist from another police authority to produce images from the experience.”

So far, there has been no mention of a UFO or unknown craft in this case.

A Wiltshire Police spokesperson is quoted in news reports as saying, "The police officer was apparently off duty when this happened so we have no comment to make because it is a personal not a police matter."

SITE HAS HISTORY

This apparently is not the first time unusual phenomena has occurred at this site.

According to researcher Andrews, “This is the same location where on the 23 May 1994, four researchers (including one nuclear scientist) visiting a crop design in this field, witnessed intense military presence moments before they each experienced 45 minutes missing time and within a short while a further period of missing time.”

“Each had red marks appear on their necks and had severe nose bleeds hours later,” he reports on colinandrews.net.

“This is also the site of a secret military surveillance during the same week as the 1990 Operation Blackbird. It was over these fields that the army filmed a large unidentified white orb,” Andrews’ Web site notes.

Andrews also pointed out that there have been “a number of very similar reports of entities in this exact field and those next door.”

He states that a previous incident involved “a very close encounter with a 8-9 feet tall being, north of Silbury Hill.”

A witness “was visited by three government officers who produced a book of sketches of different ET beings and ask the witness which one he had seen. At least two agencies were allegedly involved which should help verify this case.”

Google logos, H.G. Wells help public preparedness on UFOs

By Steve Hammons

The Google logo “doodle” on Sept. 21, H.G. Wells’ birthday, showed the three-legged extraterrestrial invaders from Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds, published in 1898.

Recent Google UFO doodles sparked curiosity and motivated amateur sleuths who tried to determine the meanings of the mysterious flying saucers in Google’s logo on Sept. 5 and Sept. 15.

The War of the Worlds was made into movies over the years, including the most recent 2005 version directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins and Dakota Fanning.

One of the most noteworthy outcomes from the book was the Mercury Theatre radio broadcast on CBS based on the novel that aired live on Halloween, Oct. 30, 1938.

Some listeners believed the radio drama script by Orson Welles was a series of real news reports about an invasion of Earth by frightening creatures from Mars and panic swept many communities in the U.S.

WELLS, WELLES AND PROJECT BLUEBOOK

This incident has been cited as an example of mass hysteria that may have affected U.S. authorities investigating real unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and alleged extraterrestrial visitation to, or activities on Earth.

The first head of the U.S. Air Force’s Project Bluebook, Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, wrote in his 1956 book The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects that "The [U.S. government's] UFO files are full of references to the near mass panic of October 30, 1938, when Orson Welles presented his now famous The War of the Worlds broadcast."

Project Bluebook, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base at Dayton, in southwestern Ohio, claimed to be a straightforward investigative effort into UFO sightings. Some researchers allege that the project was actually a cover story of sorts that obscured and assisted other government activities in this area.

Google’s celebration of H.G. Wells’ birthday with a War of the Worlds logo doodle also reminds us of the 1938 radio show and the effects on the social psychology of the U.S. that Halloween night. The fact that the radio broadcast based on The War of the Worlds had such significant impacts on American society seems to make the book and the radio program highly relevant today.

Why? The acclimation and preparedness of the American and international public to the possibility of extraterrestrial contact may be an important goal now.

REACTIONS TO FICTION, FACT

How would Americans and people around the world react to a similar fictitious incident now, if it was misinterpreted as reality? How would we react to a real situation misinterpreted as fiction?

What would our response be to the realization that we truly are being visited by intelligent beings from elsewhere? Many credible researchers indicate that activities on Earth by intelligent beings from elsewhere are a reality.

Therefore, being psychologically and emotionally prepared seems to be important. The safe and steady acclimation of the public to such a possibility may be the best route to take.

We might remember that the first Google UFO logo on Sept. 5 was of a disc- or saucer-shaped craft apparently sending a beam of light or energy down to an “o” in Google. Clicking the logo took users to the Google search for “unexplained phenomenon” and a very large number of many interesting topics.

The Sept. 15 doodle showed a similar UFO over a series of crop circles that was linked to a Google search page for “crop circles.”

Both of these had no apparent direct connection with the works of H.G. Wells, other than the general concept of extraterrestrial visitation and the wide range of possibilities that Wells explored in many of his works.

There are many unexplained phenomena on our planet and in this Universe – or multiverse. Even as we discover explanations for some mysteries, different unexplained situations seem to emerge as physicists, psychologists and researchers of all kinds explore the unknown.

It seems possible that many of these mysteries, discoveries and situations could affect us in ways we may not fully understand at this time. But, by opening our minds to the possibilities, as H.G. Wells did, we can possibly become more prepared for new and unconventional developments.

Google’s new UFO crop circle logo raises questions

By Steve Hammons

Google’s customized logo has again sparked curiosity and mystery.

On Saturday, Sept. 5, the Google “doodle” featured a disc-shaped UFO with a beam of light or energy connecting the saucer with the “o” in Google. Today, another flying saucer UFO is hovering over the Google logo in the form of a crop circle.

When visitors click the logo, they are taken to the search for “crop circles.” The previous anomalous logo took users to a search for “unexplained phenomenon.”

Interesting theories and connections related to the Sept. 5 logo quickly surfaced, since Google’s usual logo doodles normally celebrate or note significant cultural events. It wasn’t immediately clear what the UFO meant.

Today’s saucer and crop circle doodle is also somewhat mysterious.

However, a connection seems obvious: Both feature a disc-shaped UFO, and crop circles have long been theorized to be connected with extraterrestrial and/or extra-dimensional visitation and communication.

EARTH CHANGES

Although some crop circles have been created by humans, many truly seem to be unexplained phenomena.

In fact, crop circles played a part in my two novels, Mission Into Light and the sequel Light’s Hand. In Mission Into Light, the main character, Mike Green, is recruited into a small San Diego-based joint military and intelligence research group.

The unit, called the Joint Reconnaissance Study Group (JRSG), is tasked with investigating various interesting and unusual phenomena. Mike was on Team Two of three, three-person teams.

In Mission Into Light, Mike’s Team Two partners were pursing their own assigned intelligence and reconnaissance. Team leader Army Col. Ed Thompson and Army Special Forces Capt. Bill MacNeil were looking into something interesting.

At least it was interesting to them. Crop circles.

MacNeil had seen a TV show about them. He was on the Internet at the office the next day, finding out what he could about the strange phenomena. He found photos and information about the many different crop circle patterns on the Internet and he’d shown Ed quite a few.

Bill had worked on farms as a teenager. The idea that crops could be a focus of some strange, cosmic art and communication was fascinating to him.

Ed was also looking into something else. Something Team One member Navy Commander Dan Wells had talked to him about. The concept of upcoming Earth changes.

Wells had come to him on a Monday morning and told him about Team One’s Air Force Capt. Amy Mella’s dream and the conversations over brunch with her and Green. Dan told Ed about some of the Earth changes theories of geological catastrophe.

At a group meeting, Ed and MacNeil wanted to present the crop circle information and the Earth changes theories in as reasonable a manner as possible. They were confident that their group colleagues had open minds. They had Mac lead off with the crop circle phenomena.

“As you all know, we’ve been looking at the UFO area. We’ve expanded that line of research into the crop circle issue.”

He looked around at their faces. He and Thompson got a kick out of stretching their imaginations and watching their minds work as they tried out this new angle on their colleagues.

“You probably have heard about them. Large and often intricate symbols in fields of canola, wheat, and other crops. Clearly a form of communication.”

“Although there’ve been some pranksters and fakes, there are also many crop circles that cannot have been hoaxes. There seems to be mathematical, scientific, and symbolic meaning to the formations. Possible symbolic maps or universal symbols and messages. Maybe something to do with physics. It’s not completely clear.”

“In the apparently legitimate cases, the actual plants have gone through unique changes which have caused them to bend, and not break. And some biological and cellular changes in the plants have been reported by botanists.”

MacNeil reached into a cardboard box he had brought into the room and passed around packets of photos of crop circles, most taken from the air.

“There’s a portfolio of twenty examples for each of you. We can get you a much larger sample if you want. It’s on the Internet and there are some good books of photographs available. A brief report on some of the dynamics of the circles, locations, theories, and the like is attached to the photos. Maybe we can discuss it further after the meeting, if anyone’s interested.”

PARTS OF THE PUZZLE

In the sequel novel, Light’s Hand, crop circles continue to play a role. At a group meeting, the JRSG commanding officer, Air Force Col. Tom O’Brien, leads the discussion.

“Okay, the team leaders will now brief us on where we stand with the ongoing research and where we’re going. Commander Wells, do you have any more to add about the marine mammals and the geologic problems?”

“Lt. Commander Etienne, Capt. Mella and I will continue our work with the Marine Mammal Program with a new emphasis on the Pacific Plate problem, as we’ve said. We’re going cross teams a little, too. MacNeil’s work on crop circles may tie in with Earth geologic changes, so he’s going to be involved in some of our research. That’s about it for Team One.”

It may seem odd for a U.S. military and intelligence group to be researching strange things like UFOs, ESP, crop circles, near-death experiences and similar anomalous phenomena, but the JRSG mission statement spelled it out in some detail.

When Mike Green read it, he felt it was a straightforward document in some ways, yet cryptic and mysterious between the lines. The JRSG had already made a dent in some of the “areas of research” and barely scratched the surface of others, Mike thought.

The first research area was UFOs. Mike, Ed Thompson and Bill MacNeil had witnessed an apparent UFO in the distance during a chopper ride from San Diego to Fort Huachuca, Arizona. At least that’s what the Navy chopper pilot called it ... off the record.

Ed and Bill had also gone to Phoenix after the half the city spotted a huge v-shaped craft gently glide over town one evening. They asked a few questions over at Luke Air Force Base but didn’t come up with anything more than the general public and press knew.

Bill’s research into crop circles also seemed to be probably linked to UFOs.

And when Mike and Bill were sent from Fort Huachuca to Roswell, New Mexico, the trip was suddenly canceled due to a reported ambush to discourage them. Uncle Jack had showed up to take them to a safe house in Phoenix. Why would Roswell be a sensitive issue at this late date? Dozens of books, movies and TV shows had looked at almost every angle of the so-called “Roswell incident” in 1947.

Mike remembered Bill MacNeil’s thoughts about the crop circles he was investigating. And MacNeil’s friends in crypto were coming up with ideas that the crop circles are trying to say something about planetary or physics concepts that might be related to Earth changes.

MORE CIRCLES

As the second novel moves toward the final climax, crop circles play a key role. At the group’s office on San Diego’s Point Loma peninsula, Bill MacNeil was sitting at his PC and was on the Internet. He was looking at a Web site on crop circles.

Something was going on. He needed to advise the CO, Col. O’Brien and his team leader Col. Thompson.

“Sirs. You might want to take a look at this. This Web site is reporting a significant increase in crop circles in the last seventy-two hours. In England, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark. Over here, in Ohio, western Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, and Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. Down in Mexico too. And a few in Australia and New Zealand.”

O’Brien and Thompson looked at the screen of MacNeil’s PC. MacNeil clicked his computer mouse until there were three maps on the screen. One of Western Europe, one of North America, and one of Australia and New Zealand. The new and previous crop circles were marked. There were dozens and dozens of new circles noted on the maps.

While they were watching, three new circles were forming that very minute in British Columbia, Washington state, and California’s Imperial Valley, which was just east of San Diego County and west of Yuma, Arizona.

What did it mean?

Members of the JRSG quickly find out that a major event is in the making, and the crop circles seemed to be connected to it.

Maybe we should all take a second look at crop circles – what they are, what they mean, what they are trying to say. Google may be helping us recognize this.

‘Integrative perception’ useful in health, media, defense

By Steve Hammons

Human perception is related to a broad range of important endeavors in fields like health, media, national defense and many other areas.

New developments in human perception and consciousness have the potential to help us make progress on these and other fronts.

Perception is personal and also social. It affects families, communities, countries and the international community. Our perception and understanding of ourselves are key in the areas noted above, and in many other ways.

We can take a look a few examples to see how human perception affects progress in various activities and areas of interest.

HEALTH, HOLLYWOOD, DEFENSE

In the area of health, when well-known health and wellness expert and author Andrew Weil, M.D., appeared on CNN’s “Larry King Live” show on Sept. 10, he tried to apply his concepts of “integrative medicine” to the current national debate about health care.

Weil is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. He also serves as a professor of medicine and public health.

Another example is the new movie Men Who Stare at Goats, starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges. This film takes a look at innovative exploration of human consciousness within the U.S. military.

Although the movie and the book upon which it is based are reportedly slanted toward ridicule, many of these actual military and intelligence programs turned out to be quite valid and valuable. People who see the movie might become curious about these important and leading-edge efforts behind the scenes and explore them further.

As Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently noted, the perception of the U.S. internationally is an area of concern, despite recent progress. “Strategic communication” is directly linked to human perception.

In fact, in a paper for the Marine Corps War College some years ago, a Navy SEAL officer studying there noted that “transcendent warfare” may be a useful concept that optimizes forward-leaning research and activities in human perception and consciousness.

INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE

When Dr. Weil was discussing his views of health with King on CNN, he noted the idea of integrative medicine. The concept of integrative medicine is similar to “alternative medicine” or “complementary medicine.”

Weil believes that leading-edge health and wellness methods can be successfully integrated with conventional Western medicine.

In his discussion with King, he suggested that Americans should take more responsibility for their own health and wellness through healthier eating habits, more exercise and other common-sense approaches.

He stated that the over-reliance, in his view, on high-tech and expensive technological and pharmacological methods to treat health problems is unsustainable and not always particularly successful medically.

Weil seemed to be saying that physicians and health care providers, government officials crafting health care proposals and all of us should consider “integrative” viewpoints and thinking about human health and the administration of health care services.

According to the Web site of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, “Since its inception, the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine has focused its efforts on three domains: education, clinical care, and research—with the primary emphasis on education.” The site notes that the “Defining Principles of Integrative Medicine” include the following:

1) Patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process.

2) All factors that influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration, including mind, spirit, and community, as well as the body.

3) Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods facilitates the body's innate healing response.

4) Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive should be used whenever possible.

5) Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically.

6) Good medicine is based in good science. It is inquiry-driven and open to new paradigms.

7) Alongside the concept of treatment, the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.

8) Practitioners of integrative medicine should exemplify its principles and commit themselves to self-exploration and self-development.

MOVIES, MINDS, INTELLIGENCE

Related to Weil’s views, we might wonder if this integrative perspective or integrative consciousness is applicable in other areas.

Although Weil is now best-known for his work in health, wellness, nutrition and integrative medicine, his 1972 book The Natural Mind focused on human consciousness.

This actually dovetails with the movie Men Who Stare at Goats and the real-life activities by the U.S. defense and intelligence communities regarding human perception.

Discoveries in the last few decades about human perceptual abilities have found that our instincts, intuition, gut feelings, extrasensory perception (ESP) and “sixth sense” appear to be quite real and valid.

A longstanding effort by the U.S. defense and intelligence communities commonly referred to as Project STARGATE found that humans have the capability to use “anomalous cognition” or unusual perception to gather intelligence. A specific protocol that was developed to do this came to be called “remote viewing.”

As our understanding about human perception and consciousness improves, it may become apparent that anomalous cognition is really not so unusual after all. Like the study of the health concepts of alternative and complementary medicine, the terms “alternative cognition” and “complementary cognition” might be more appropriate.

In fact, taking note of Weil’s perspectives, we might consider the term “integrative cognition” or “integrative perception” to describe using the full range perceptual abilities and capabilities of human consciousness.

This also brings us back to Adm. Mullen’s concerns about important defense challenges in understanding our own internal and external national behavior and how this is perceived overseas.

By examining some of these innovative areas, we can surely make significant progress in many important fields to deal with challenges facing us today.

Movies on UFOs, other worlds help public acclimation?

By Steve Hammons

Recent, current and upcoming movies on stories related to UFOs, off-Earth civilizations and how humans fit into the situation continue to emerge from Hollywood.

A few examples include Aliens in the Attic, a kid-and-family-friendly movie released in July. Planet 51, scheduled to open in November, is an animated film and another one for kids and families.

The dark and introspective District 9 hit theatres in August and seemed to strike a chord with audiences and critics. The Fourth Kind, dealing with abductions of humans, takes the genre to a different level and audiences can check it out beginning this November.

James Cameron’s Avatar, due out in December, is already creating a buzz and promises to be visually exciting and thought-provoking.

And Curmudgeon Films recently obtained the rights to the story of an alleged Area 51 scientist for a movie project tentatively titled S-4: The Incredible True Story of Bob Lazar.

MEDIA AND ACCLIMATION

Are these films and many other creative works helping people prepare psychologically and emotionally for possible significant developments regarding UFOs and encounters with non-human and/or human-related beings from elsewhere?

To explore this question, we do not necessarily need to believe that UFOs and non-human or human-related civilizations are involved here on Earth. However, most people would say this is possible. Some people say it is probable. And others claim that it is a reality – a reality we need to deal with.

For people who are interested, the study of such situations is challenging. There seems to be much speculation and misinformation.

There also appear to be very interesting and well-researched documents, witness testimony and strong circumstantial indications that something along these lines has been going on.

In the mid-1950s, Walt Disney was reportedly approached by the U.S. Air Force and development of a documentary film about visitation of aliens to Earth was allegedly started. However, the plug was pulled on this project.

In subsequent decades, many “fictional” movies and TV shows did emerge that dealt with this topic in various ways. This trend continues now.

People can speculate about if this is an organized acclimation effort to prepare Americans and people around the world for an unconventional situation, or if it is just the creativity, imagination and money-making sense of the movie and TV businesses.

Either way, it is probably true that kids, teens and adults are today more prepared for the possibility or reality of the existence of non-human or human-related extraterrestrials, beings from other dimensions or similar kinds of unconventional scenarios because of movies, TV shows and books on these subjects.

SPECIAL SCENARIOS

Much has been written and discussed about the so-called “Majestic” or “MJ-12” group of experts reportedly formed after the Roswell incident.

Fewer people probably have heard of the alleged U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps “Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit (IPU),” which, it is claimed, may have been active even before the Roswell case, due to previous intelligence about unconventional situations.

Reports of activities like these could indicate that, as part of dealing with a complex scenario, U.S. leaders realized that the American people would need to be informed and prepared in some way that did not cause undue social or other problems.

Indirect methods such as movies, TV programs, books and other creative endeavors would naturally be resources that could accomplish this. The close bonds formed between Hollywood and the defense community during World War II could have been leveraged to deal with this new challenge.

It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Some of the recent and upcoming movies, like those before them, take a good, hard look not only at “aliens,” but also at ourselves – the human race. This seems to be a necessary part of acclimation about how we might interact with or respond to encounters with others.

The scenario of human contact with more advanced civilizations is often compared to the experience of Native American Indians who encountered the technologically more advanced Europeans beginning in the 1500s until the “conquest” of what is now the western U.S. in the late 1800s.

The Native American Indian tribes, cultures and civilizations suffered quite a bit from this interaction. This is an understatement.

Would this happen to our own human cultures in the face of a technologically-superior race from elsewhere? This is a question that has been carefully considered by many researchers.

BE PREPARED

Preparing ourselves for the possibility or reality of contact like this seems to be wise. Being prepared for possible situations of many kinds is usually a good idea. This can enhance safety and the chances for good outcomes.

Movies, TV, books and other kinds of creative activities have an important part to play in these efforts. They help us explore and consider various possibilities. They prepare us psychologically, emotionally and spiritually, as well as forming common perceptions among us that might be helpful.

Of course, there are other unusual and thought-provoking subjects that may be both related to, and somewhat independent of, the topics of UFOs and visitors.

These include leading-edge thoughts and scientific research into teleportation, time travel, anti-gravity methodologies, advanced human perception, life after death and similar kinds of subjects. Plenty of movies and creative works have tackled these topics too, often with great results.

I like to think that my own two novels, Mission Into Light and the sequel Light’s Hand, as well as the subsequent movie screenplay and two TV pilot scripts based on them, help move the ball forward in these areas.

The books tell the story of the “Joint Reconnaissance Study Group,” a San Diego-based U.S. joint-military service and intelligence team of ten women and men who are tasked with conducting special research and operations. The novels bring readers and viewers into the inner workings of this special activities group as they explore different kinds of mysterious phenomena and the connections between them.

My adaptation of the books to a movie screenplay and a one-hour TV pilot, both closely based on the novels, might also spark interest along the way.

A two-hour TV pilot written by two other screenwriters, based more loosely on my novels, is also a good example of using the TV media to entertain and inform. With the help and guidance from a highly-qualified science advisor, we made sure that our concepts were sound.

Maybe one day these projects will make it to the big or small screen. It would be rewarding to think that these works could contribute not only to the body of worthwhile film and TV projects, but also help somewhat in the larger situations we might face.