Illumination
"Have you seen the light?" - Reverend Cleophus James
I am getting towards the end of John Keel's The Mothman Prophecies and in a lot of ways it is not nearly as scary as I had initially hoped - in other ways in far more frightening than I could ever imagine. The basic premise follows some strange paranormal events that occurred in the Point Pleasant, West Virginia region during 1966-67 - culminating in the collapse and disaster around Silver Bridge.
My initial take on the book was that it would be focused around the paranormal events and cryptozoological oddities that occurred around this region during this time. While the initial focus on these strange creatures was what caused me to pick-up the book, there is actually a much darker and more intense premise to the book.
I had recently read another John Keel book - Our Haunted Planet - that despite its allusions to ghosts and other things that go bump in the night, is actually about the source of paranormal experience, rather that the visual displays we see that are merely the symptoms of a much deeper issue. Keel puts forward the idea that the paranormal experiences we have had since the beginning of recorded time, are the interactions of beings that co-exist with us on the planet, but rather exists on the edge of the visible spectrum of light.
As an aside, in some interviews with a local Austin eccentric, who is a delusional paranoid - thinking that his rural shooting range is bordered by Kennedy-financed witches and warlocks - has put forward his assumption many times that we are all "beings of light" - something eerily similar to Keel's ideas - of which I am sure he has never read.
In either case, the Mothman Prophecies is more or less an earlier version of Our Haunted Planet - Keel reviewing these preternatural theories through the context of the events from the time. Keel assures us that the "UFO phenomenon" is not based on any sort of beings or spacecraft from another planet, but is merely our modern take on events that have been happening for thousands of years. Several places in the Bible mention what can be described as "UFOs" - specifically scenes in Genesis, the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of course, Ezikiel's vision. The Mahatbratta, part of the Braghvada Gita - a Hindu book similar to the Western Bible - also mentions a battle in the heavens that sounds remarkably like a air battle between technically advanced flying machines and culminating in a nuclear war.
Keel also touches on the concept of "illumination" - a common thread running throughout secret society and covert organizational lore since the beginning of time. His idea is that some of the lights that come blasting down from these "vehicles" is the source of "illumination" that causes lives to change - for better or worse - and that this has been happening to our best and brightest fellow humans since the beginning of time - whether or not they can consciously remember it as such.
In the Bible, the tentmaker Saul is "converted" on the road to Damascus and forever after becomes St. Paul. Reading that section in the Bible can sound remarkably like a modern UFO contactee story - if read literally and not in the allegorical context of the book. Saul sees the bright light shining on him and then realizes his true purpose in life. Keel gives other similar accounts as well.
But truly the more disturbing part of the book is based on the interference or involvement of the so-called Men in Black - often described as being dark (not black or african-american), oriental in appearance, often wearing neatly pressed overalls, black suits, heavy boots or shoes (found leaving similar tracks to the "moon boots" of the Apollo landings), and often wearing clothes that are either out of date, or not yet in fashion. They travel in dark black cars - out of date, but brand new - and panel trucks, some sporting signs for businesses that don't actually exist.
A precursory read of the description would seem to lend credence to the idea that they are from a government or quasi-governmental agency, often times decried as Air Force or CIA personnel. It would be somewhat comforting to think that they were such, but a deeper look into the descriptions makes it seem like that is anything but possible. My take is not that they are "beings from another planet" but their ability to manipulate folks is alarming at the least. In fact, one of the most haunting features of these beings are their ability to show up unannounced at remote locations, often paying visits to those who have recently witnessed unexplained phenomenon - and the witnesses let the MIBs into their houses!
Maybe this needs to be taken into the context of 1960s rural society, but I can't imagine letting one of these creepy folks into my house - much less not attempting to get some photographic or physical evidence of their visit. I am not sure what has happened recently in the field - and certainly need to do more research here - but it seems like a modern witness would be much more cynical and less likely to believe that such a bizarre person would be a representative of any government. I can only imagine what a late-night visit from a malicious, dark-clad malcontent would bring in our day and age. Ka-boom!
Keel's books are a really interesting take on paranormal phenomenon. Though I think it would be really hard to prove any of his assertions, a lot of them are based on sound scientific ideas and as such could lend itself to some sort of non-biased testing. Unfortunately, we would have to admit as a society that there are things in our world that are beyond comprehension in our 3-dimensional based scientific belief system. I can't even imagine the cost involved in trying to figure out how to test for 4th dimensional light-based beings, but I'd love to see the documentary.
For further reading:
The Mothman Prophecies
Our Haunted Planet
"Have you seen the light?" - Reverend Cleophus James
I am getting towards the end of John Keel's The Mothman Prophecies and in a lot of ways it is not nearly as scary as I had initially hoped - in other ways in far more frightening than I could ever imagine. The basic premise follows some strange paranormal events that occurred in the Point Pleasant, West Virginia region during 1966-67 - culminating in the collapse and disaster around Silver Bridge.
My initial take on the book was that it would be focused around the paranormal events and cryptozoological oddities that occurred around this region during this time. While the initial focus on these strange creatures was what caused me to pick-up the book, there is actually a much darker and more intense premise to the book.
I had recently read another John Keel book - Our Haunted Planet - that despite its allusions to ghosts and other things that go bump in the night, is actually about the source of paranormal experience, rather that the visual displays we see that are merely the symptoms of a much deeper issue. Keel puts forward the idea that the paranormal experiences we have had since the beginning of recorded time, are the interactions of beings that co-exist with us on the planet, but rather exists on the edge of the visible spectrum of light.
As an aside, in some interviews with a local Austin eccentric, who is a delusional paranoid - thinking that his rural shooting range is bordered by Kennedy-financed witches and warlocks - has put forward his assumption many times that we are all "beings of light" - something eerily similar to Keel's ideas - of which I am sure he has never read.
In either case, the Mothman Prophecies is more or less an earlier version of Our Haunted Planet - Keel reviewing these preternatural theories through the context of the events from the time. Keel assures us that the "UFO phenomenon" is not based on any sort of beings or spacecraft from another planet, but is merely our modern take on events that have been happening for thousands of years. Several places in the Bible mention what can be described as "UFOs" - specifically scenes in Genesis, the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of course, Ezikiel's vision. The Mahatbratta, part of the Braghvada Gita - a Hindu book similar to the Western Bible - also mentions a battle in the heavens that sounds remarkably like a air battle between technically advanced flying machines and culminating in a nuclear war.
Keel also touches on the concept of "illumination" - a common thread running throughout secret society and covert organizational lore since the beginning of time. His idea is that some of the lights that come blasting down from these "vehicles" is the source of "illumination" that causes lives to change - for better or worse - and that this has been happening to our best and brightest fellow humans since the beginning of time - whether or not they can consciously remember it as such.
In the Bible, the tentmaker Saul is "converted" on the road to Damascus and forever after becomes St. Paul. Reading that section in the Bible can sound remarkably like a modern UFO contactee story - if read literally and not in the allegorical context of the book. Saul sees the bright light shining on him and then realizes his true purpose in life. Keel gives other similar accounts as well.
But truly the more disturbing part of the book is based on the interference or involvement of the so-called Men in Black - often described as being dark (not black or african-american), oriental in appearance, often wearing neatly pressed overalls, black suits, heavy boots or shoes (found leaving similar tracks to the "moon boots" of the Apollo landings), and often wearing clothes that are either out of date, or not yet in fashion. They travel in dark black cars - out of date, but brand new - and panel trucks, some sporting signs for businesses that don't actually exist.
A precursory read of the description would seem to lend credence to the idea that they are from a government or quasi-governmental agency, often times decried as Air Force or CIA personnel. It would be somewhat comforting to think that they were such, but a deeper look into the descriptions makes it seem like that is anything but possible. My take is not that they are "beings from another planet" but their ability to manipulate folks is alarming at the least. In fact, one of the most haunting features of these beings are their ability to show up unannounced at remote locations, often paying visits to those who have recently witnessed unexplained phenomenon - and the witnesses let the MIBs into their houses!
Maybe this needs to be taken into the context of 1960s rural society, but I can't imagine letting one of these creepy folks into my house - much less not attempting to get some photographic or physical evidence of their visit. I am not sure what has happened recently in the field - and certainly need to do more research here - but it seems like a modern witness would be much more cynical and less likely to believe that such a bizarre person would be a representative of any government. I can only imagine what a late-night visit from a malicious, dark-clad malcontent would bring in our day and age. Ka-boom!
Keel's books are a really interesting take on paranormal phenomenon. Though I think it would be really hard to prove any of his assertions, a lot of them are based on sound scientific ideas and as such could lend itself to some sort of non-biased testing. Unfortunately, we would have to admit as a society that there are things in our world that are beyond comprehension in our 3-dimensional based scientific belief system. I can't even imagine the cost involved in trying to figure out how to test for 4th dimensional light-based beings, but I'd love to see the documentary.
For further reading:
The Mothman Prophecies
Our Haunted Planet
posted by golgo13 at 9:44 PM
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