Diana Walsh Pasulka

[Alejo]

I just got through he chapter where she's discussing Star Wars.

It was a rather interesting read, mostly as she points out how, for all intents and purposes, religions around the world are based on true events, but to the mind events that can create an anchor for religiosity are also influenced by fiction. She discusses how there have been studies where the way real historical events depicted in works of fiction have influenced what people remember as true historical fact.

To our brains, she posits, there's very little cognitive compartmentalization, unconsciously at least. For instance, even if we know for a fact that the movie Gladiator is a work of fiction, she proposes that most people would probably start to meld the actual life of Marcus Aurelius, with the character depicted in the movie.

She's obviously presenting this within the UFO context, and shows how what most people expect from the phenomenon, or know about it, and the assumptions made about it, have all been influenced by Hollywood. People are excited about a disclosure, because their expectations about alien life being confirmed as real, is tainted by what fiction has offered them in the past.

This was an incredible idea to ponder about, mostly about our perception of reality, and not just about the UFO topic, but in general. What we know, and what we wish to be true, will affect how we perceive events in our lives. But also, it really made me take a second look at what Hollywood is doing today, and the push to force the woke agenda on everyone, even when they do it at a loss of income, the purpose for it is quite larger, to influence people's memory and thus their perception of reality.

And if McGilchrist is on to something, then the world we build and live within will be influenced greatly by all the stories we tell ourselves, things like love, courage, relationships, family, and so on.. will become very different things because of the mass entertainment, even if consumed with the awareness of it being fiction, if there's no extra barrier of knowledge, your reality changes drastically.

If someone can create and belong to a religion of Star Wars, knowing it's fiction, it's because there's also enough there to grab from, perhaps a connection to the information field that lies beneath the fantastic features of the story. I mean sort of the same happened to Caesar who turned into Jesus, it's technically a fiction but with the specific layers underneath it.

If we continue to demolish our ability to tell stories that carry this same connection, our reality is kind of doomed.

I just wanted to share that.

 

[Anthony]

She's obviously presenting this within the UFO context, and shows how what most people expect from the phenomenon, or know about it, and the assumptions made about it, have all been influenced by Hollywood. People are excited about a disclosure, because their expectations about alien life being confirmed as real, is tainted by what fiction has offered them in the past.

This was an incredible idea to ponder about, mostly about our perception of reality, and not just about the UFO topic, but in general. What we know, and what we wish to be true, will affect how we perceive events in our lives. But also, it really made me take a second look at what Hollywood is doing today, and the push to force the woke agenda on everyone, even when they do it at a loss of income, the purpose for it is quite larger, to influence people's memory and thus their perception of reality.

Right, not only is the general perception of the UFO phenomena tightly controlled by how it's presented in popular culture and by certain researchers, but this then also acts like a filter that limits our openness to discovering any further possibilities or truths about the phenomena that lies outside of how it's usually represented. This plays on our usual tendency to reinforce what we already think we know and it would apply to a lot of other areas of life, not just when it comes to UFO's. She quotes Vallee who says "Believe no one. Believe nothing."

 

[Mike]

I’ve been reading the book. It is interesting. I’m also around the part of the book where she talks about Star Wars.

I have other thoughts about the book thus far, but does anyone else think that Tyler might be a psychopath? After reading the chapter about him, I was thinking that there seemed to be something very off with him and his overall story as presented and/or that he an agent of some kind. The story and him just seemed to be too far over the top and when he describes things like meeting generals and how they and the situations are presented just seems more like a caricature instead of something real that happened.

Who knows maybe he has been abducted and programmed by 4D STS.

Some points that stood out about him and his story from his chapter and what she wrote that seemed like red flags for me (bolds below are mine):

• The part where she talks about him filming everyday conversation of astronauts and sending them to her (and then taking a picture of her blindfolded, and showing her, when going to the supposed alien crash site) was just bizarre. Add to this that he just inundated her with such things (texts, videos, etc) when he first contacted and communicated with her. Page 29 – Diana – “It all just didn’t seem to add up.”
• Getting her and James to dress up and look ridiculous to go to the crash site where Tyler is dressed stylish.
• The story about the supposed crash site being littered with tin cans so people wouldn’t find artifacts. As if the government wouldn’t turn over every stone and totally sweep the area to get everything related to such an event. Then there are the supposed special metal detectors to identify artifacts.
• Tyler gets ‘special permission’ to take Diana to the supposed crash site that is supposedly in a no-fly zone in New Mexico.
• Pg 30 – 35 The whole story just seems too fantastical and a caricature and/or just off. First mention of ‘phenomenon’ and “A few months later I started work in a very special facility at the space center, which was the next step, I think, in my evolution of off-planet experience.” Then he relates story about having a predictive memory and telling a general an experiment in space will work, etc. Then being called to Washington to explain to another general. Then “The next week at work, I was given a plaque, a patent, and five hundred dollars.” I could go on about this part (maybe I’ll type out these pages later just so everyone can read it), but I echo what Diana mentioned earlier – “It all just didn’t seem to add up.”
• Pg 35 – “Tyler explained that his connection to off-planet intelligence helps him create biotechnologies.” I’m currently on pg 136 and I don’t think this has been explored in depth or explained further. I found his description of how he receives inspiration and his steps/preparation for such underwhelming. Is he inspired, in contact with, and/or being used by 4D STS? KS on the forum brings up that his inventions seem to fit with the transhumanist agenda.
• Pg 39 An experiencer that knows Tyler tells Diana:
  

  I had primed Jeff for the meeting, telling him of my concerns. I also knew an experiencer who knew Tyler. His interpretation of Tyler was informed by his belief in extraterrestrials and his Christian beliefs, so I wasn’t that surprised when he told me that Tyler was probably an angel, which to him meant that he was a person who is part human and part extraterrestrial. “You are just about to meet someone who is not human,” he said. “He is older than both of us, but he looks twenty years younger. I don’t know what he is.”

• Pg 40
  

  I had hoped Jeff would be a little reserved and keep Tyler at arm’s distance, but Tyler’s charisma proved to powerful and was no match for my suggestion that perhaps Tyler was using it for a purpose. None of my warnings were heeded. This would be just the first case where Tyler’s charm and social abilities were evidenced. Every person or group of people to whom I introduce him was taken by his demeanor. He was some kind of rock star, and that just added to my suspicion of him.

• Pg 46 Tyler’s story about the cell phone and other prominent technology coming into existence from the ‘special room’ that people use where he works. It all just, like Tyler and his overall story as related by Diana, seems too fantastical and off to me.

 

[Alejo]

I have other thoughts about the book thus far, but does anyone else think that Tyler might be a psychopath? After reading the chapter about him, I was thinking that there seemed to be something very off with him and his overall story as presented and/or that he an agent of some kind. The story and him just seemed to be too far over the top and when he describes things like meeting generals and how they and the situations are presented just seems more like a caricature instead of something real that happened.

Yeap, I hear ya.. I had similar thoughts about Tyler, although other's who have read other works of hers have shared more about him in this thread. My initial thought was that he wasn't a real person, but if he is, which it looks like he might be, there was something off about him.

The part about him sending her videos of his emotional reaction to the Space Shuttle disaster... it's just odd, she presents it as this emotional moment that helped her connect with him, but in any other circumstance, if someone I never met in real life, sent me a video of himself crying, I would find it really odd.

 

[Ben]

I have other thoughts about the book thus far, but does anyone else think that Tyler might be a psychopath? After reading the chapter about him, I was thinking that there seemed to be something very off with him and his overall story as presented and/or that he an agent of some kind. The story and him just seemed to be too far over the top and when he describes things like meeting generals and how they and the situations are presented just seems more like a caricature instead of something real that happened.

Who knows maybe he has been abducted and programmed by 4D STS.

I agree that it's all a bit over the top with this Tyler guy. Towards the end of the book he comes across in a very different way, not like a psychopath at all. His behaviour when they visit Rome is much more emotionally unstable, less self assured and more neurotic generally. He has something like a religious conversion after spending time with priests. It gives the impression that he is having a crisis of conscience of some kind. It's all quite strange, again.

The author doesn't draw any firm conclusions towards the end of this book but remains open minded. The main thing she seems interested in is how beliefs are formed and does a very good job of describing in detail the ways in which we are all influenced during this process by our exposure to media. None of us come to the subject of UFO's without a whole set of memories and preexisting biases based on what we have seen on TV, film, etc. Any religious background we might have strongly affects our perception of it too. There's not much indication that she is interested in the idea that this could all be a result of design, as in hyperdimensional beings benefiting from this belief formation.

One very interesting point - she describes how the artefact they retrieved in New Mexico was tested by a group of scientists. They explain that they are baffled and (without drawing any conclusions) simply point out that it cannot have originated on this planet. It suggests that she might be leaning towards the reality of non-human intelligence after all. This artefact might be something to ask the C's about. What was the object and its origin, who were these scientists?

 

[JEEP]

I've finished the Preface, Acknowledgments, Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2. Reading the names of those connected early on with the UFO phenomenon felt like a blast from the past - Budd Hopkins, John Mack, John Keel, Jacques Vallee, Jack Parsons (JPL/Aleister Crowley/L. Ron Hubbard), Whitley Strieber. Sadly, I haven't a clue now where exactly I acquired all that info other than some from Strieber's book - and in the 80s/90s while raising children. Really delved into it until I realized it was too time consuming plus there was a trend to the dark/satanic side that I didn't want anything to do with. Pretty much drifted till chance/coincidence led me to Laura and Cass.

Nice to know from this thread that Tyler D. and James are really Timothy Taylor and Dr. Garry Nolan - that takes some of the mystique out of this book. I didn't know Carl Jung had written a book about UFOs or that Jediism as a religious movement existed (and yes, Jedi as in Star Wars).

A significant point made early on is the distinction between two groups - the academics/scholars of the humanities and ufologists and scientists. The former demands transparency whereas the latter adheres to confidentiality/secrecy. These two codes of conduct came into a verbal conflict at a conference Diana had arranged. Understandable in one sense the need for secrecy, but one can also sense the excuse of National Security has been overused and abused to the detriment of the American public and the progress of other modalities.

Notable is the already mentioned Tyler reference to DNA as a receptor and transmitter that "works at a certain frequency -- the same frequency, in fact, that we use to communicate with our satellites in deep space. Humans are a type of satellite, in fact." Much discussion regarding this connecting with off-planet intelligence i.e. anomalous cognition, and the process of creativity including reference to Kary Mullis and others who describe this type of contact as "the download" from a nonhuman source. This concept of "receiving" creative ideas from "out there" or external to one's self isn't new in that I believe even the Beatles admitted their songs just came to them out of thin air. And James details his approach/process that he says can be trained. He thinks about the problem to be solved just before bed and lets the little "elves" (the subconscious processes in his head) work on it while he sleeps. Haven't we heard of answers/creative ideas coming in dreams before - the Cs have said such ideas are all from 6D. And, I think that is the difference - is it a STO or a STS pursuit?

I did find disturbing the part about perception management - from the Durant Report of the 1953 Robertson Panel (pg. 57) that recommended -

a project of perception management that they termed "training and debunking": a mass-media education campaign, enacted with the help of academics and media moguls, to control public knowledge about UFOs.

The result is that the phenomenon is usually portrayed inaccurately and only serious researchers know this according to the author.

Likewise disturbing is where all this tech is going and the implications for transhumanism. One certainly gets the understanding that tech far beyond what the public knows exists - and if it's biomedical tech with off-planet influence, is it really for the benefit of humanity? Nanobots and mRNA applications come to mind. And Diana's research paper, The Spectrum of Human Techno-Hybridity: The Total Recall Effect, with this excerpt posted by @KS -

She writes that by the ‘‘late twentieth century, our time, a mythic time, we are all chimeras, theorized and fabricated hybrids of machine and organism. In short, we are cyborgs’’.

- chilling! Has she contemplated that this presumed connection with off-planet intelligence might not be all about improving humanity's health and well being? Brings to mind that old slogan, Better Living Through Chemistry - make that super alien-tech instead!

I wish Diana had included a screenshot from the first episode of the last season of The X-Files of the mesa representing the extraterrestrial craft crash site she and James were taken to by Tyler to find artifacts. Can't say I remember that scene or story line.

She quotes Vallee who says "Believe no one. Believe nothing."

This quote appears over the beginning of Chapter 3. However, on the previous page, the beginning of the last paragraph begins:

Jacques Vallee once told me emphatically, "Trust no one. Do not even trust what you see."

Do read what she has to say in the rest of that paragraph! It bears out Jacques' warning.

 

[iamthatis]

I must say that I didn't like the characters of the story. Tyler seemed to be emotionally unstable, especially later in the book, during the visit in Vatican. His ventures allegedly inspired by the extraterrestial intelligence, very noble at the first sight (bone implants for cancer patients!), but fitting so well to the transhumanist agenda... When you search about the real person that was portrayed by James, you can see archetipical sciance gate-keeper, praising mRNA vaccines and taking fat grants from the goverment. Tyler: bone implants, James: gene therpies. Does that perhaps not belong to the "posthuman" egregore sphere of influence? Even Pasulka has been interested in the subject of posthumanism (from "The Spectrum of Human Techno-Hybridity: The Total Recall Effect"):

I wanted to bring it up since I've had that feeling during reading the book. But this may be because I've researched about her first (superficially, I admit!), and that maybe spoiled the reading for me.

In the 90's, Haraway wrote the Cyborg Manifesto. The main quote that stuck with me from her piece is "I'd rather be a cyborg than a goddess" - as if women had to chose one or the other!

A CYBORG MANIFESTO by Donna Haraway

projects.iq.harvard.edu

“A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway, in which she furthers the biomythographies of intersectionally marginalized women through posthuman aesthetics. Her writing transgresses the same boundaries I do everyday through my lived experience as one of these marginalized women.”
- Anu Zaman ‘23

Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto is a key postmodern text and is widely taught in many disciplines as one of the first texts to embrace technology from a leftist and feminist perspective using the metaphor of the cyborg to champion socialist, postmodern, and anti-identitarian politics. Until Haraway’s work, few feminists had turned to theorizing science and technology and thus her work quite literally changed the terms of the debate. This article continues to be seen as hugely influential in the field of feminism, particularly postmodern, materialist, and scientific strands. It is also a precursor to cyberfeminism and posthumanism and perhaps anticipates the development of digital humanities.

Can't believe I used to read this stuff. University is whack.

Anyways, I also like the objective distance that Pasulka has maintained from the phenomena and its people so far. There's also a major issue in that approach IMO. I haven't finished the book, yet, but I remember that the C's said that if you sit on the fence, you'll get splinters. Could she said to be on the fence?

So far, she makes little mention the more intense emotional breakdowns, schizophrenia, sexual abuse, and other harrowing effects of 'alien' encounters. No mention of Karla Turner, for instance. Pasulka focuses on very high-profile individuals who seem to have received information, a mystical experience, or 'a mission'. Her narrative makes it all seem pretty cool, actually. In other words, although her presentation includes an analysis of media effects on consumers, she's also producing a certain media effect with her own presentation, where evil just doesn't seem to enter into the conversation in a clear and concise way. It's a strange thing for someone who has spent a lifetime studying religions, which always contains a good vs. evil component.

It's sort of like a posthumanist who might say, 'I'm not advocating for any of this, its simply an objective process - we are already cyborgs, and we can either get on board with the changes in technology, body and reality, or live in an outdated delusion.' The danger is that it sounds so convincing that it might actually be correct. Meanwhile, this line of thinking is designed to get everyone to stop questioning it, accept it as inevitable, and just get on (circuit)board.

So I'd posit that her attempt to remain totally undecided or agnostic about 'aliens' means that it's almost impossible for her to render any sort of ethical judgment about what's going on. I think that true objectivity would include a moral component - is this for good or evil? Otherwise it's just relativism masquerading as objectivity.

 

[Alana]

It's a strange thing for someone who has spent a lifetime studying religions, which always contains a good vs. evil component.

It's sort of like a posthumanist who might say, 'I'm not advocating for any of this, its simply an objective process - we are already cyborgs, and we can either get on board with the changes in technology, body and reality, or live in an outdated delusion.' The danger is that it sounds so convincing that it might actually be correct. Meanwhile, this line of thinking is designed to get everyone to stop questioning it, accept it as inevitable, and just get on (circuit)board.

So I'd posit that her attempt to remain totally undecided or agnostic about 'aliens' means that it's almost impossible for her to render any sort of ethical judgment about what's going on. I think that true objectivity would include a moral component - is this for good or evil? Otherwise it's just relativism masquerading as objectivity.

That's one of the things that bothered me the most about her and how she presents everything in the book. Her inability to apply critical thinking and discernment when it came to all "communications" she describes. It seems that she neatly put them all inside the same box and left it at that.

Sure, there's the universe/information field/omnipotent & omnipresent consciousnesses - people can and do tap into it.
As the C's and Ibn al-Arabi said, it's a jungle out there, so there are also dead dudes and all kinds of "stuff" to communicate with.
But there are also the good and the bad non-human entities that communicate with us and it's not hard to see, through researching so many cases by the experiencers as she claims she has, that some of these intelligences are evil, or at least, that they do not have humanity's best interests at heart.

Even in James' case (chapter 2) he was paralyzed in bed during one of his experiences. He said he was ok with it, but that might just be some form of manipulation technique by the entity, something that Diana herself presents as something that happens often during these encounters, the hypnotizing/controlling of the human by the intelligence.

This glossing over the bad stuff to present a hopeful picture for the future reminded me of the series Taken, which was aired in December of 2002 while I was still living in the USA . It was the first time in my life that I watched something UFO/abduction related and the whole idea horrified me as much as its "happy" ending did.

It was just a 10-episode series by Spielberg that aired every day for some reason a bit before the Xmas holidays that year. And though the plot is a bit blurry in my head after all this time, I will never forget the pain, suffering and psychological destruction that generations of the families of abductees went through so that (spoiler alert!)

Spoiler

a new form of human/alien hybrid was created, our hope for the future!

At the end of the last episode, I was left staring incredulously at the screen. I just couldn't believe that for almost 10 hours all we saw is how those abductions/alien interactions had destroyed the lives and the people themselves who experienced them, but in the last quarter of an hour, the creators of this story did everything in their power to present it as if, it was all worth it!

(Here, I found it, you can read the plot.)

So, fascinating as Diana's book is, and it is (I learned a lot of things I did not know and it gave me lots of food for thought), throughout my reading, I too kept thinking: you are a religious person and a professor of religion, what about the battle between good and evil, the entire premise for the creation of Christianity and Catholicism? How do you fit that into the UFO/contact stories? And even more importantly, what about our souls? There's no mention of souls at all, it all sounds very materialism-based: humans are computers, biotech will save us, non-human intelligences are helping us... I just finished the book and I am still thinking about it, so just some thoughts.

 

[Alejo]

Anyways, I also like the objective distance that Pasulka has maintained from the phenomena and its people so far. There's also a major issue in that approach IMO. I haven't finished the book, yet, but I remember that the C's said that if you sit on the fence, you'll get splinters. Could she said to be on the fence?

I've pondered about this also, and playing devil's advocate there for a second, perhaps she wants to safeguard her reputation as she does seem to move in rather high places, with military, academic world and even Hollywood.

So, perhaps her reluctance to go there might be her simply playing it safe, or being PC about it. That isn't to dismiss her own blindspots when sifting through the material. The main thing for me is that she seems to be rather well informed and seems to have read from many sources, which is why I have trouble with her seemingly neutral stance.

 

[Anthony]

She distances herself from proclaiming that the phenomenon is real or not due to her academic background and she adopts the same approach to studying UFO's as she does for her religious studies; she's more interested in how the belief in UFO's affects humans, what leads someone to believe, etc. That seems reasonable enough but these are also separate things, there is what humans believe about the phenomenon and then there's what the phenomenon actually is or does, which is by no means the same, especially if it's true that 4D STS play a major role in shaping human beliefs. So there's a limitation to what she can uncover by adopting the stance of supposed impartiality.

 

[T.C.]

The whole Tyler story was quite weird, but intriguing.

When I started the first chapter, not knowing the overall tone and style of the rest of the book, I thought I was reading something akin to Casteneda - some kind of fictional quest that was based on some truths Pasulka had learned from somewhere and was using narrative to convey them.

As I kept up with the thread and learned that Tyler is a real person, I had to reassess my reading of the book and reframe my impressions.

I don't know what to make of the artefact story. Assuming there really was an artefact, and I think there probably was, since the story around it turned out to be a damp quib in the end, I think there are three possibilities:

1) It was a real crash-site, and James found it by chance.

2) Tyler planted it and James either found it by chance or through some sort of suggestion.

3) Tyler and James had a lot of private correspondence before they met in person. Maybe Tyler had the artefact (alien or perhaps made by himself or the organisations he worked for) and told James about it, and that he wanted to get it out into scientific circles, so he cooked up the mystery trip and gave it to James for him to find, and James played along.

The description of where it was found seemed like it would be difficult for a piece of wreckage to get to. It sounded like a pretty deep hole covered in rocks. That sounds like it was planted there to me.

Tyler and James' ability to ask questions and have the answers come to them is an interesting topic. I certainly 'believe' in this kind of thing because it's happened to me plenty of times. The problem is, the results of answers coming to me don't influence society on a mass scale. But with an inventor, things start to get murky.

If we look at Tyler's situation at face value, he was trying to invent things that improve the lives of human beings. But then, where are these kinds of thoughts or ideas coming from?

Are they coming from an STO source that wants to help those who are asking? Or are these ideas coming from a group like 'Thor's Pantheon' or these underground psychic influencer groups? If they are coming from these influencer groups, does that mean that these kinds of technologies are actually a set-up. Is there much difference between Tyler and James getting inspirational ideas about advanced technologies, and say, the lizzies appearing to people in the distant past and teaching them geometry and farming and metal-work?

Ultimately, I think the question around this type of phenomon is whether or not one just blindly believes that these kinds of ideas that seemingly come out of the blue are from benevolent sources. DeSouza is an example, I think, of where that naivety can set one up for a fall.

I notice a few other posts mentioning the author's approach, and it somehow not sitting quite right. Obviously, as an academic with a reputation to maintain, appearing as objective and 'scientific' as possible is useful for her career. But I think what's kind of rubbing some of us the wrong way is her total non-committal to anything at all. Well, maybe she does have her beliefs about the things that she studies, but if she does then she keeps them to herself.

I think this approach of hers irks us here because we are all searching for the truth, as close as we can get to it. The way the author writes about things, it almost leaves the impression that she isn't really bothered about the truth, or affected by it, or maybe even looking for it. It's hard to put into words. I mean, Laura is as big a skeptic as you can find, but she at least analyses everything she's learned in order to assign probabilities to what's going on in the world.

I think this approach of Walsh Pasulka is due to her religious beliefs, and studies of religion. Again, it's about credibility, but I think it's also that she had to develop a way of approaching subjects of study that could on the one hand be academically sound and credible, and at the same time, didn't destroy or criticise the areas that she was studying, e.g., Catholicism.

 

[Mrs. Peel]

I think this approach of Walsh Pasulka is due to her religious beliefs, and studies of religion. Again, it's about credibility, but I think it's also that she had to develop a way of approaching subjects of study that could on the one hand be academically sound and credible, and at the same time, didn't destroy or criticise the areas that she was studying, e.g., Catholicism

I'm almost finished listening to it. My impression is she's not leaning one way or the other because she wants to keep writing and selling books that can be read by the mainstream and doesn't want to be viewd as a crank and thereby alienate potential readers. The title American Cosmic itself is pretty generic and wouldn't immediately scare off anyone. And once they started reading it, they may say "hmmmm"...

 

[Mike]

I finished the book last night. I didn’t like it overall and my overall feeling about the book is that the reader is an outsider looking in and the author doesn’t provide enough data, information, and explanation for the reader to have a full picture of what was and is going on and thus the book really ends up keeping the reader on the outside and left hanging.

Take as an example the artifact discussion near the end. That kind of came out of left field without really any detailed information about it. Is she talking about the artifact that James first found or the other one that she and Tyler found. It seemed to me to read at the end that she might be talking about the second one. Regardless, it left me more agitated about the book, since there wasn’t much information, than wondering about the supposed artifact.

Another example is her calling Tyler an American hero. I can’t really determine why she says this. Ok he worked for NASA and he invented things that seem to help people, but she just doesn’t provide enough information and explanation, IMO, for such a statement. Maybe she wanted to try to respect him being an ‘invisible’, as she calls him and James, and therefore doesn’t provide information.

A final example is that she referred to ‘the phenomenon’ in the book a number of times, but doesn’t give a detailed explanation of what exactly this is other than ambiguously linking it to communicating with or relating it to a person's DNA being a receiver of sorts for inspiration from off-planet intelligence. And she doesn't really develop in depth and provide information about what she sees as the off-planet intelligence.

Something that did pique my interest was it was mentioned in the book that Tyler needed to be at a location for something to work, but not much information is given.

Tyler believes that human beings are designed to interface with the phenomenon, but only under certain conditions, and some human beings are better able to “connect” than others. I knew that Tyler had a unique job, and I learned that part of the job description was that he was to be placed in certain locations. Apparently, Tyler’s mere presence was supposed to facilitate certain required events and processes.

Before starting this book, I had begun reading off and on the book ‘The PK Man’ by Jeffrey Mishlove. In the beginning of that book the author describes how Ted Owens seemed to influence things like weather on location when he had made predictions about such things. Like his presence might be necessary for the prediction to come true. And Ted Owens talked about being in contact with, helped by, and able to get ‘aliens’ to act on his behalf. Figure I will read ‘The PK Man’ book next in full, since there seems like there might be some similarities between Tyler and Ted Owens.

Like DeSouza the author could use some exposure and understanding about 4D STS and how malevolent and manipulative such beings can be.

As an example, she doesn’t side one way or another about the ‘aliens’/’angels’ being good or bad that healed the dog when a woman prayed all night for help. When the dog was healed it seemed like it could be an interaction with 4D STS, even though the dog was healed. I think a realistic take on the event given our perspective is that 4D STS healed the dog toward some other overall plan or objective, such as influencing and using the husband and wife. Yet, I think the story and how much the husband’s life was changed influenced the author to see it as a positive, the ‘aliens’/’angels’ as a positive.

She had also had reported this about the husband:

(…) At the time the episode aired, Rey had already begun to receive the first round of data compiled by his organization. His dataset included over three thousand reports from people who claimed to have UFO-related experiences. Overwhelmingly, these experiencers reported positive interactions with non-human intelligence.

At the very end of the book she writes this and misses the chance to consider just what 'the predator' is and what it is capable of:

(…) As I opened the book, I was struck by Shklovsky’s words: “The prey runs to the predator.” This referred to the search for extraterrestrial life, of course. It suggested that if humans actually did meet such life, it might not be friendly. I came to understand these words in a different way. I related them to our relationship to media and technology and the unreflective embrace of both. As philosopher Martin Heidegger had predicted years earlier, technology would bring about a new era, an era as much dominated by technology as the medieval era had been dominated by God. Technology and its effects would be misunderstood. In this misunderstanding, Heidegger argued, humans would face a great and potentially very destructive crisis. In Heidegger’s last interview, the German magazine Der Spiegel asked if philosophy could prevent such a negative outcome. Heidegger answered: “Only a God can save us now.” At Heidegger’s request, the interview was only published posthumously.

From her writing this, if I had to guess, I’d say she would lean toward ‘aliens’ being good (or some of them) and being what people would term as angels or even the ancient gods.

It really reminded me of this exchange with the C’s and made me think that maybe the author does highlight some important things in her book about a new religion being formed related to UFOs and ‘aliens’ and how that has come about. She doesn’t say that it is on purpose, but we could see it that way. And that this new or budding religion with the influence that humanity has been under in terms of media and 70 plus years of Cointelpro is in preparation for the ‘aliens’/4D STS to be introduced as the saviors of humanity... and worshiped as the good guys.

(Gaby) Recently in the news it was reported that there have been over 350 reports mostly coming from military personnel, mostly within the past 2 years or so.

(Andromeda) UFO reports.

(Joe) Like an increase - a flap.

(Niall) Just in the last 2 years - since March 2021.

(L) A military UFO flap...

A: Main prep should be psychological and spiritual. As to appearance, nothing like what you would expect. Most will be done via proxies as invaders do not fit earth's FRV. [Review of answer] Some dramatic displays of power and control are possible.

Q: (Joe) Who are the proxies most likely to be from our perspective?

A: Heads of government who are "plugged in" or replacements.

Q: (Joe) The dramatic displays of power and control that are possible, who would they come from? I mean, who would be giving these dramatic displays of power and control?

(L) Dramatic displays coming from UFOs?

A: Yes

Q: (Joe) They said most of it will be done by proxies, i.e. human beings, and there'll be dramatic displays of power and control.

(L) Yeah, but then we read the answer and then they threw that last part in afterwards. So, it was like an additional note on the topic. Well, people who've researched it know that they've turned off all the missiles at some place in Montana or somewhere years and years ago.

(Joe) Does that imply a generalized awareness of aliens among the human population at some point?

A: Yes

Q: (L) Can you imagine what that's gonna be like? Even all of us sitting here, we've all been reading about it, thinking about it, and talking about it for 25-30 years. And yet, if and when they ever actually came out and said, "Hi guys! Here we are!" We'd probably all go into some kind of panic attack.

(Joe) I'd be gettin' my gun!

(L) Well, I mean, c'mon! We've been programmed all our lives to think such things don't exist. It's all just a conspiracy theory. But all the conspiracy theories have been coming true! OMG!

(Andromeda) I know. And even when you know about them, it's still jaw-dropping.

(Joe) But they said as well that it would be nothing like what you would expect. So, what we're expecting is like Hollywood: Independence Day, the mothership in the sky, that kind of thing. Probably it's not going to be like that. So, how would it manifest?

(L) Why would it not be like that?

A: Overt violation of free will thus generating sharp and inclusive opposition.

Q: (L) So in other words, if they came out and announced they were invading, all the people would be upset and they'd unite together. Their unification would be sufficient to fend off or reject or otherwise negate the aliens' ability to enter our reality? Is that what you're saying?

A: Close.

Q: (Joe) People wouldn't be receptive to them.

(L) So it's all gotta be done by stealth.

(Joe) How do you get around it then? How do you introduce the idea of the existence of aliens without presenting yourself...?

(Chu) By not making it look like an invasion.

(L) Here to help. Displays of power by stopping warlike activity, being the saviors of humankind or something like that...

A: Yes

Q: (Joe) They'll present themselves as benevolent. It wasn't even that they were gonna be aggressive... It's more like how do they present themselves? Is it a ship?

(L) Well they can present themselves without presenting an invasion.

(Chu) Like miracles in the past or something like that? Angels?

A: Yes

Q: (Joe) We'll just have to wait and see.

A: Weather and geological activity also involved.

Q: (Chu) That one wouldn't grow awareness in aliens. People would just think it's a weather event.

(Scottie) Unless they come and save us from weather or geological events...

(L) So we have no idea what we're facing. And you can't help us out any more there?

A: To do so would violate learning directive. It is good that you know that prominent figures are already preparing the ground. Such as Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab.

Q: (L) So, it's up to us to exercise our brains and our networking to put the picture together and to be aware that these people are not acting in our best interests. They may be hooked up with evil aliens who plan to take over our planet and who definitely want to reduce the population by a large number, they want to starve us, freeze us... All the things that we've been seeing that they're doing: they're just sweeping ahead with no concern whatsoever for what the human population wants or thinks. That in itself is peculiar.

(Andromeda) Well, they feed on misery, right?

(L) Oh yeah, you're right: The more miserable, the more they get fed. And that's... *SIGH* Well, the only thing about that the more miserable people get, hopefully many of them will begin waking up and wish to find out how to stop the misery. So... That's a depressing topic! Who asked that?! You had to do that, right? Ruin my day! [laughter] Okay, let's see...

 

[thorbiorn]

Two interviews with Diana Walsh Pasulka
There is an interview:

Diana Walsh Pasulka: Aliens, Technology, Religion & the Nature of Belief | Lex Fridman Podcast #149

They talk about Ayn Rand, Nietzsche, Hanna Arendt, Jacques Vallée, Roswell, aliens and UFOs, myths and religions, Christian saints, said to have levitated and bi-located, At the end, they talk about death and being aware of death as important.

In the interview, he says that he thinks there is something human in everybody. I could not hear Diana Walsh raising any arguments against that, which would means psychopaths are not in their picture.

Lex Fridman links in that above video to another
How many alien civilizations are out there? Here are two screenshots from the video, where he presents what he thinks of alien civilizations.

​

The impression of Lex Fridman is that he is asking some questions, but much is left out, it is a 3D approach to explore the universe. Maybe he has changed his opinion since the video.

Back to Pasulka, there is another video, where she shares more of her own experiences.

Michael Shermer with Diana Pasulka — American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology (Science Salon 105)
13.720 visninger 25. feb. 2020 The Michael Shermer Show
• Listen to the Science Salon Podcast # 105 (audio-only):http://bit.ly/ScienceSalon105 More than half of American adults and more than 75 percent of young Americans believe in intelligent extraterrestrial life. This level of belief rivals that of belief in God. American Cosmic examines the mechanisms at work behind the thriving belief system in extraterrestrial life, a system that is changing and even supplanting traditional religions. Over the course of a six-year ethnographic study, Dr. Pasulka interviewed successful and influential scientists, professionals, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who believe in extraterrestrial intelligence, thereby disproving the common misconception that only fringe members of society believe in UFOs. She argues that widespread belief in aliens is due to a number of factors including their ubiquity in modern media like The X-Files, which can influence memory, and the believability lent to that media by the search for planets that might support life. American Cosmic explores the intriguing question of how people interpret unexplainable experiences, and argues that the media is replacing religion as a cultural authority that offers believers answers about non-human intelligent life. Pasulka and Shermer also discuss:• the definition of religion• fictional religions and historical religions• Jediism as a religion• new religious movements and cults• Mormonism and Christianity• Scientology as a UFO religion• how to be spiritual without religion• Nietzsche, Jung, and archetypes• scientific truths and mythical truths• astronomical observatories and medieval cathedrals• UFOs as Sky Gods for Skeptics; aliens as deities for atheists, and• the rise of the Nones and the future of growth of new religions. Diana Pasulka is a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion. Her current research focuses on religious and supernatural belief and practice and its connections to digital technologies and environments. She is the author and co-editor of numerous books and essays, the most recent of which are Believing in Bits: Digital Media and the Supernatural, co-edited with Simone Natalie and forthcoming from Oxford University Press, and Posthumanism: the Future of Homo Sapiens, co-edited with Michael Bess (2018). She is also a history and religion consultant for movies and television, including The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring II (2016).This dialogue was recorded on February 19, 2020 as part of the Science Salon Podcast series hosted by Michael Shermer and presented by The Skeptics Society, in California.

Diana Pasulka has a new book, which seems to go a bit further, and has a more narrow focus:

Encounters: Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligences Kindle Edition
A revolution is underway. For the first time in human history, we are at the cusp of experiencing contact with nonhuman life-forms of all kinds due to technological innovations and research into the experiences of people at the forefront of this development.

In Encounters, author D.W. Pasulka takes readers to the forefront of this revolution, sharing the work of experts across a spectrum of fields who are working to connect humanity with unknown life-forms.

Most of us have visions of nonhuman encounters that are shaped far more by Hollywood than they are informed by the current research. Encounters rewrites our visions of nonhuman species by featuring the work and stories of contemporary innovators who are rethinking our most basic assumptions about life and its manifestations beyond our experience.

The author of American Cosmic, D.W. Pasulka is a professor of religion at UNC, Wilmington; her work as a scholar has given her the tools to systematically examine data that exceeds rational categories—exactly the skillset needed to parse the world of UFOs, angels, AI, dreams, and other dimensions, which exist at the edges of human understanding. Encounters is a riveting exploration of the leading science of nonhuman life and a bold glimpse of the future of humanity in a universe where we are far from alone.

The two interviews overlap in the topics they cover, but not so much, that one can not learn from listening to both. They speak about The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. The parents of Diana Walsh went to Esalem, probably The Esalem Institute.

 

[Alejo]

I finished this book a few days ago and I wanted to give my final impressions on it.

Overall, good I think, I would recommend it to people who want to understand how a phenomena can become part of the reality paradigm that we inhabit and we don't even realize it. I found that her work specially when she delved into the cognitive aspects of how these things are formed, was very interesting, beyond the UFO topic, life in general. Even the formation of our fears and dreams, customs and so much more.

The other chapters, where she shares personal stories, I found them a bit lacking, and some of them sounded fictional, but.. then again, maybe she was creating fictional stories to illustrate the point she was trying to make, that a story whether true or not, influences how we perceive the reality of an event. Which is interesting to consider, but I do not see the point of going through the trouble.

I liked that it was a book about UFOs that wasn't trying to establish the veracity of the accounts, asking the same questions.. "how do you explain it?", not denying the value of such books, but in that sense this one was refreshing. The religiosity of how we handle UFOs in general is rather interesting, a lot of strength can come from it, but because of how human beings behave, it's a very large weakness.

it's a weakness because of something she left out of the book, the nefarious purposes that this event may have, she did focus a lot, and sometimes too much, on the positive events, the pleasant, the awareness expanding ones, but there's just as much evidence of the evil within the phenomena that she seems to have glossed over to make her point. The fact that such a danger exist, makes people turning UFO into a religious concept, worthy of devotion and so on, a huge weakness.

Lastly, on Tyler, fictional or not... that one conversion in Rome, I don't know, it left me with the feeling of, perhaps he is an individual with a clear connection to influences out there, but he's got nothing solid within, I feel like if that had taken place in India, he would've turned Buddhist. No filter to these influences, which there's a few things scarier than a person for whom the "voices" are very clear, and inspire his behavior and efforts, and who ALSO believes them to be entirely positive.

Having said the above, I would still recommend people to read it.