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 STAR GATE 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.