Carl Jung: the Collective Unconsciousness and UFOs

I recently finished reading Gary Lachman's book, Jung the Mystic.  Lachman has an interesting take on Carl Jung's hidden side of psychology and takes his readers on a fascinating biographical journey that looks at Jung's struggles to self identify in the world of psychoanalysis, yet unconsciously attempting to define his place in an ultimate universe of knowledge, the collective unconscious.

Jung appeared to morph over time from Protestant, Psychiatrist, Gnostic, Guru, etc.  Lachman details Jung's struggles with these internal mental constructs as he attempted to hold on to the label of scientist while publicly denying the role of mystic.  It appears that Jung may have been an empiricist in the beginning, but slowly drifted away towards the mystic...paranormal.

 Lachman further explores Jung's concepts of the collective unconscious  archetypes, and synchronicity which like his mentor, Freud, appeared to center around the interpretations of dreams.  Freud's interpretation of the human psyche centered around sexual gratification and identity, Jung disputed the Freudian premise and focused on the psyche as a primordial identity defined by ones ancestral culture.  One wonders if Jung was attempting to describe the psychology of the human genome. 

Jung's movements outside the box of psychoanalytic thought would eventually drive a wedge between himself and Sigmund Freud.  Jung was seen as the future of Freudian thought and Freud's number one acolyte.  Jung's "outlandish" thoughts for that time period and his self-induced psychotic break would lead to Freud's public demand that Jung undergo extensive psychoanalysis, under Freud's guidance of course.  Jung ignored Freud thus securing the break and the rest is history.

Later in the 1950s, Jung would look into the UFO phenomena writing his book, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky, published in 1958.  According to Lachman:

"Jung argued that whatever their phyical reality, and Jung seemed to be of two minds on this, the strange circular flying shapes that had been reported for the last decade...were "projections" of the modern psyche's need for meaning, an expression of mass hunger for wholeness.  They were in short, mandalas from outer space."

By the time that Jung was looking into the UFO phenomena, the world was gripped in the Cold War which Jung described as "global schizophrenia." 

"...these mass sightings suggested that a collective shift in the human consciousness was on the way..."

Lachman goes on to state that most UFO researches at the time rejected that the UFO phenomena was a mere projection of the unconscious.

In past postings, I've been attempting to delve in the psychological aspects of UFOs.  What does it really mean?  One has to wonder if it's society's psychological push back against an ever changing world that is in conflict with our respective cultures and belief systems.  Can the UFO be a mental construct, or the symptom of a change in paradigms that's been in the making for the past 60 years?

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it for those interested in Jung's "other" theories and for that matter, Jung's "other" side. 

Robert Hastings AWOL at National Press Clubs DC "Hearings"

Most are aware of the recent National Press Club's "Congressional-style" hearings held last week.  I had noticed that Robert Salas and a few other former military members had given their testimony before the panel.

I couldn't help but notice that one individual was totally missing from the festivities...Robert Hastings.

From the UFO Chronicles:
 
"Hastings decided not to participate in that event, saying, “It’s unfortunate that Bassett chose to mingle the highly credible testimony of the missile launch officers, and the missile security guard, with questionable claims made by some of the other witnesses at the hearing. That is counter-productive if one is attempting to educate the public about the UFO reality and undercuts the legitimacy of the Disclosure process that he supposedly wants to bring about.”

Yet, doesn't this mean that Salas also chose to "mingle the highly credible..." with questionable claims by others?

I'm hesitant to say this, but kudos to Hastings for not participating in this "carnival."  Most know that I tend to be at odds with Hastings' nuke and UFO connection theory, but I believe that positive acknowledgement should be given when well warranted.

Question to ponder:  Does this represent a possible schism between Robert Hastings and Salas?

A Preview of Things to Come

I have a few up and coming projects for this blog.  Earlier last year, I had started to collect data on the 1967 Belt, Mt UFO sighting.  This project stalled due to other things going on in my personal and professional life...all good things, but busy none the less.  I've recently re-started the Belt project and hope to present it on the blog in the near future.

For those not familiar with the Belt, Mt sighting, this was truck driver Kenneth Williams sighting on the evening of 25 March 1967 near Belt, Montana.  I like to refer to this incident as the third and last story of the Malmstrom UFO trilogy.  Blue Book did do a cursory investigation and labeled it as unexplained, but I've come to believe, as others, that this was a little lack luster of an effort from the Air Force and local agencies.  It was covered in the local newspapers, then like most UFO stories it slowly faded with the passage of time.

I'll also be covering the 1968 Minot UFO cases.  There is quite a bit of information that needs to be reviewed.  A while back ago, I touched on one of the Minot stories reviewing David Schuur's story.  It should be easily accessed by using the search feature on this blog.

I further hope to post a couple of articles looking into the psychological aspects to the UFO abduction phenomena.  This area ties in well with my current profession working in the inpatient psychiatric setting.

I've been toying with looking more in-depth at the Roswell story, but I figured that there are plenty of sites were one can get his/her daily Roswell fix.

Kevin Randle's site, A Different Perspective, seems to be just as good as any of the Roswell sites regardless whether you support the UFO/ET theory or not.  I personally like Kevin's site as he allows both believers and skeptics to hash things out in the comments section.

I almost forgot,  Tim Printy's SUNlite, has a Roswell section each issue that's well worth the read.  So read Randle's site first, then go to Printy's place to get the opposing view point.

Over all, I'm pleased with the viewership of the blog as it's pushing close to the 30K views.  Not withstanding those that accidentally stumbled across the site, I'm hoping that those that stick around and/or come back from time to time will consider that there are alternative views and logical explanations for most of the UFO phenomenon.

And lastly, fill free to drop comments.  If you have the urge to say I'm "full of it" then by all means post a comment.  I only ask that you tell me why you believe so.  Conversely, if you like what I'm posting, let me know.  I enjoy the feed back either way.

Edited to add Tim Printy and SUNlite link.

Wikipedia Lists Echo and Oscar Flight as Hoaxes

Just when I thought that I was taking a breather along comes James Carlson posting on Realityuncovered.net alerting to a Wikipedia article listing known UFO hoaxes.  Sure enough, there's Echo and Oscar Flight's story.  I suspect James had a good hand in flavoring the article, at least regarding the two Malmstrom 1967 claims.

Can both incidents be labeled as hoaxes?  If we take into account of Col Walter Figel statements then it is entirely possible.  Remember, Figel always viewed the report as a joke.  Who actually had perpetrated the story remains unknown to me.  I recall James telling me, during a past phone conversation, that he felt strongly that possibly Raymond Fowler was responsible for spreading the rumor portion of the claim.  That may, or may not be, but that still does not answer the question as to who made the call to Figel.  I still have not discounted the possibility that Figel may have made the story up himself.  I still postulate that the evidence shows that is was highly possible, if not probable, that no maintenance teams were actually present on the day in question making the phone call on the SIN line impossible...I still tend to lean that way.

The entire story of Oscar reeks with the probability of a hoax regardless of Robert Salas' or Fred Meiwald's statements.  Both individuals tell a different story with each omitting the other one's version.  I'll not rehash the Oscar incident since the reader can simply archive my numerous posts.  It is possible that the hoax was targeted towards Salas since all of the top side phone calls were passed on to him...not Meiwald until later in the story.  If Oscar's top side personnel had wished to prank Salas, then there had to be someone in on it down in the LCC...Fred Meiwald.  Perhaps that is why Meiwald wrote to Salas some years later that Salas' version of events was not quite how Meiwald had remembered it.  Yet despite my speculations, I have no proof of the matter, so it remains purely speculation. 

One wonders if Robert Hastings will reference the Wiki entries in future editions of his book...doubtful.

Back to my break!

Taking a Break

I've been quiet on the blog front since the beginning of the new year.  The plain truth is that I need a break.  Besides, I've covered everything on the Echo and Oscar UFO stories that I can think is relevant to the reader.  I've broken down both stories in short and simple to digest form.  And from the look at things, there appears to be no new ground to cover at this point in time.  After awhile it becomes a circular argument.  So I leave my work for all to consider, one way or another.

I'll eventually start back up at a later date.  I had been working on the Belt UFO story and hope to finish up and present it on the blog in the distant future.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Joyful New Year!

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all a joyful Holiday season and my wishes for the coming new year to equally as joyful and filled with  good health and happiness.

Thanks to all for your support and readership this past year.  Take care and be safe!

Tim Hebert, "The old Cold War Warrior"

Robert Hastings Double Downs on Echo and Oscar Flights

Robert Hastings continues to dig up the decomposed carcass of Echo and Oscar Flights further attempting to apply jumper cables to this folklore.  Recently, on The UFO Chronicles web site, Robert penned the usual "gospel" along with the literary flogging of James Carlson.

Basically, its the same old story.  There is nothing new, nothing has changed....simply it's staled old bread.  Robert attempts to resurrect the same cast of characters as if their story will change the final outcome.  Not a chance.  Question for the reader to ponder:  If Robert is convinced that others are lock-stock in step with his view point, why write another article?  I suspect that not all have drank from Hastings' chalice.

But I urge the reader to read the article and compare notes.  While your at it, view the seemingly obligatory video of the "famed" September 2010 news conference and notice who was not present, or truthfully, who was not invited, then ask the all important question...why?

Robert jams it to Carlson, yet refuses to acknowledge/refute my work on this blog.  Why is that?   Simply, my work stands alone and is correct...or very closely so.  You'll notice that Robert rarely comments on this site, other than the time when he threw a temper tantrum when taken to task on his FE Warren debacle.  Where's that solid research going for him these days?

While I'm at it, Frank Warren was supposed to "correct" some of my facts.  That was back in November 2010 and I've yet to be "schooled" by the master.  Yes Frank, its cognitive bias in all it's glory.

Robert's version of Ufology math concerning Echo and Oscar simply does not add up, no matter how often his attempts to bring it up.  But keep at it Mr. Hastings, practice makes perfect...doubtful as it may be.