My Journey with UFOs and UFOlogy

 

The giant red orb appeared in my life on November 4th 1990. I was an adult with another witness and we were mesmerized, shocked in disbelief and in awe. There are no adequate words when faced so abruptly and undeniably with the impossible. It changes you and my life was never the same again. In my book Cosmic Witch I describe it as an initiation into the uncanny.  

I had childhood encounters that I had chalked up to imagination or fever dreams, but experiencing a UFO as an adult forced me into rethinking everything I thought I knew about myself, our world and the very fabric of reality. But, what can an individual do with these new thoughts and feelings? I looked for community both in the UFO clubs like the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and later Skeptics Canada. And while I met some nice people in both belief camps neither of these groups worked for me. So I struck out on my own patterning my investigations after my late friend Robert Moore and Jenny Randles UFO investigative handbook.

My first website chronicled my investigation into spook lights and appealed to witnesses of the paranormal including UFOs to share their encounters with me. And in those early days I was honored to connect with so many others that like me just needed to share their experiences in a safe space free of any judgments. I am still privileged to meet with others, but my role now is focused on being a keeper and steward of their experiences by preserving these through my online initiatives and database and less on investigation.  

What I came to realize through my research and investigation is that the simplistic cases were often easy to find mundane explanations for, but those that involve high strangeness, perhaps the majority, defy any easy explanations. 

This is where UFOlogy has often struggled.  Cases involving high strangeness are often neglected or worse ridiculed by the investigators themselves because the details are too mind-boggling to be acceptable to a “nuts and bolts” mindset. This has left us with the dominate hypotheses of it must be extraterrestrial (UFOlogy) or it must all be mundane (skeptic groups) and neither of these are satisfying. 

Branches of UFOlogy have also leaned too far into the idea of disclosure from the American government who has a history of playing dirty pool so to speak with the subject of UFOs. The recent revelations in the US Congress have provided the public with little to no tangible evidence for their claims and until such time comes we should be treating this as more myth-making that may or may not have some kernels’ of truth to them. The obvious risk is the creation of a state sanctioned belief system or narrative as to the nature of these cosmic mysteries. And human history should teach us the inherent danger in this. 

Keel and Vallee both advocated for multidisciplinary academic approaches decades ago. The Society for UAP Studies (SUAPS) and the Sol Foundation are currently fulfilling this role. I am cautiously optimistic about both initiatives, and hope at some stage they will include the arts.

While the academy is playing catch up on our subjects UFOlogy needs to evolve in order to remain relevant. It should be focusing more on the witnesses and the most unusual experiential reports in an ethical and supportive way. And less on debunking the easy cases which brings us no closer to understanding the nature of UFOs. 

North American UFOlogy also lacks in diversity. In order to more effectively explore the complexities of extraordinary experience it needs to reach out beyond its own colonial mindset and listen to the voices of Indigenous peoples and other cultures from around the world whose own experiences may not reflect the mainstream hypotheses, but are equally valid and important.  

I love the UFO. It has shaped my life in different ways sometimes painfully and unpredictably so, but always inspiring and keeping my sense of wonder alive.  The UFO has taught me that the Universe is a deeply rich and mysterious place where highly strange magical things can and do happen and for that I will always be grateful. 

Originally published to AP Magazine Dec. 2024 edition 

 Both Massimo and I are featured in the December 2024 issue of Alternate Perceptions Magazine! There is a wonderful review of Mike Fiorito's new book UFO symphonic Journey's Into Sound and an excerpt of Massimo's chapter. I write about my UFO journey including getting a bit spicy. Also features Bob Davis, Kathleen Marden, Nancy du Tertre, and Joey Madia. 

https://apmagazine.info/

Thanks so much to Brent Raynes editor of AP Magazine and good friend for the amazing work he does bringing us the high weirdness every month of the year go check it out!

Swedish UFO flap and Nuclear Power Plants

Several nuclear power plants around Sweden were simultaneously visited by mysterious lights and objects this past Friday January 14th 2022 at approx 8:30pm resulting in numerous reports and even a police chase. 

Daniel Petersson and his family were driving southward on highway E6 when they first spotted a large light near the Ringhals nuclear power plant. At first the family thought a plane may have been in trouble and they began to film the large, bright light. The Petersson's video can be seen on local Swedish media here. A security guard also witnessed what he thought might be a large drone and quickly notified the authorities.

Still taken from the Petersson's video of the mystery light.

Google map of the location

A 2011 view of the Ringhals power plant. 

Ringhals is the largest nuclear power plant in Scandinavia, and has had two of its four reactors shutdown. Reactor 1 was permanently taken offline on December 31st 2021, two weeks before this incident.

The power plant has been in operation for 44 years, but has had a history of safety concerns promoting extra monitoring from the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and protests from Greenpeace and local citizens.

Roughly at the same time as the Petersson sighting other mysterious lights began appearing at nuclear power plants around Sweden namely Forsmark, Oskarshamn and Barsebäck, the last one being fully decommissioned. 

Police at Forsmark also witnessed the UAP and using helicopters and police drones attempted to intercept it for up to an hour, and to no avail!  "The first observation from the patrol was made at 20.51 and we lost contact with the drone 22.10," says Petra Blomqvist, press spokesperson for the police. "According to the police, there is still no indication that the drone has landed inside the area of the nuclear power plant or that any object has been released from it."

All incidents were investigated by police and public statements were made by each with some at first denying the possibility of drones being the cause particularly of the Ringhals and Barsebäck events. The armed forces were also notified and so far no explanation has been provided other than the possibility of military drones by the Swedish Minister of Defence. 

These sightings of mystery lights and drones are similar to American ones from a couple of years ago that were never satisfactorily explained to the public either. 

In 1990 I witnessed a large red UFO hovering over a nuclear power plant in Pickering Canada, so these types of nuclear-related sightings are very much of interest to me. I have written about nuclear power plant and nuclear missile UFO sightings my own experience, and evolving ideas on why these locations are the scenes of UFO events.

While I do not think the psycho-social hypothesis is a perfect coverall explanation for all UFO sightings, including these types of events, I do think it would be foolish not to consider the wider social context in which these UAP appear.  

We do know that UFOs appear at times of great social upheaval. Consider the UFO waves in Europe and Russia during the late 80s and early 90s as the USSR collapsed, and the so-called Foo Fighters appearing during WWII to both military and civilian witnesses. I could give many more examples, but I would encourage those interested in examining UFOs from this angle to read Eric Ouellet's Illuminations: UFOs as a Parapsychological event. 

With this in mind it must be noted that these current incidents came one day after Sweden's military started patrolling the main town on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland amid increased tensions between NATO and Russia, and a recent deployment of Russian landing craft in the Baltic. Something that has been extremely troubling to many European citizens amid the ongoing stresses of living through the pandemic. 

It should also be noted these incidents coincide with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg's 178th Friday School Strike. 

If these mysterious Swedish lights and drones are UAP what may these events be trying to tell us? Are they an outward cry for help from a population experiencing tension and prolonged anxiety from Russia, climate change,  and the Pandemic? 

This was in no way covert. These incidents all occurred at the same time and on the same day and were witnessed by many people including police who unsuccessfully chased at least one object.  

Why appear over several nuclear power plants simultaneously and including ones not operational if not to simply and absolutely get the attention of authorities?  

These reports are nearly identical to a wave of drone sightings in France occurring in 2014-15 that involved sensitive nuclear submarine sites, nuclear power plants, and government buildings. It should be noted that this period also had acts of terrorism in France, creating a lot of anxiety in France and Europe at the time.   See news items here and here. 

We will likely never know.  

As always I love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment if you have some ideas on these mystery lights and drones. 

Further reading and sources. 

News Items are in Swedish.

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/halland/har-fastnar-det-mystiska-skenet-pa-film

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/uppsala/stor-dronare-flog-over-forsmark-polisen-utreder-brott

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/43901/mysterious-drone-incursions-confirmed-over-swedens-nuclear-facilities-this-weekend

Update: An unknown "drone' (it seems drones are the new weather balloon) was also reported by several witnesses over the Swedish parliamentary buildings at the same time the UAP activity was occurring over the nuclear power plants. These events are very overt, whatever these things may be. 

Update January 29th: Two weeks later more than 200 reports of mysterious lights and drones over Swedish skies and police have ruled out any foreign involvement. In other words is not the Russians or the Chinese.  

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/swedish-police-rule-out-foreign-powers-behind-1458594.html

UFO activity and Nukes

UFOs and nukes seem to go together. Twice I have seen UFOs near or hovering over a nuclear power plant and I am not alone in having this type of experience.  UFOs or UAP to use the more modern and trendy term are also seen at nuclear missile sites. And have disarmed them that at least once that I'm aware of. 

The question comes to mind why does the phenomenon appear at nuclear sites? And often enough that this has been noted by many UFO investigators? 

Nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are not the same thing. But both terrify most of us.  And maybe the answer to why they are so frequently seen at nuclear sites lies somewhere in our collective fear? Are these manifestations in the sky a result of our own terror? Does it provoke or invoke the phenomenon we witness like a cosmic answer to our subconscious cry for help? A modern version of the gods answering our prayers, only in a more scientifically believable format for the age of rationalism and information?

Some food for thought. 

Images taken from a South Korean protest against the use of nuclear power plants. Protesters are wearing traditional masks which are reminiscent, at least to me, of the Greys. 

After I initially shared this blog I was alerted to some research dating back to the 1980s that very much echoes my thoughts.

"Stephen Weart understood the point as far back as 1989 in his Nuclear Fear: A History of Images, ufos are transmutational symbols; a psychological, creative act of mythopoesis

“Awesome modern technology, said the UFO stories, must be accompanied by a full-scale transmutation of civilization and everyone within it.”

The Atom wields deep meaning in the explosion of inner forces within the individual.

See “So What does it All Add to” pp. 7-11 in"

http://www.astronomyufo.com/UFO/SUNlite6_6.pdf

Hat tip to Mrherr Zaar of the Radio Misterioso  FB group for the above information and link.