What to do - a beginning draft of the next CE4 Corner artilce

What to do if you have had a close encounter...

This is an evolving draft of my next article for The CE4 Corner, my series both in the Minnesota MUFON Journal and in my newsletter, News from the Bridge. Please feel free to read it and make comments if you wish. Please also remember that it is a work in progress. What you see here may not be the final version.

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The closing days of the National Guild of Hypnotists convention, followed by the flight home, have given me a little while to reflect on the work of the last year. Of this, I've noted that some of the most challenging and interesting work has continued to involve helping clients to come to terms with close encounters with the unexplained. Another thing I've noted is that those who have contacted myeslf or other researchers seem to be only a small fraction of the total number of experiencers. For every encounter experiencer that comes into my studio, there are untold more that never seek help. Among those, perhaps some of them never tell anyone what they have experienced, instead bearing the weight on their solitary shoulders.

I've written in past articles about the challenge of the healers' doorway. How to get help if you find that you need it. But if something happens to you, what is the first thing you should do? Whom can you tell and whom can you trust? What help is available?

In an earlier article entitled What to do, I described some suggestions of what someone can do in the event of a UFO sighting. I described cases of sightings, distand encounters, and finally close encounters of the first, second and third kind. In each case, the encounter can be thought of as a relationship - increasingly close, the more meaningful and unexplained the sighting is. A close encounter of the fourth kind (CE4) is where an interaction takes place between the entities and the witness in the reality of the phenomenon. A CE4 is no longer simply a sighting but becomes an experience. In such a case, the witness seems to be the focus of the phenomenon.

A possible CE4 experience can be suspected if the following is observed:

1. A diversion of attention toward the phenomenon. This can include the sighting of a UFO, a change in the environment (such as a sudden quietness or sense of unreality), or a change in state of mind (such as the compulsion to pull the car over to the side of the road, or a feeling that for some reason you must go outside).
2. A capture scenario, in which the witness is somehow immobilized, “fetched" by entities, and transported into their domain.
3. A subsequent encounter with the entities in the reality of the phenomenon.
4. A return to the location of the initial encounter - usually after a delay on the order of an hour or two. This may include a discontinuity or ambiguity in your memory of the sighting, where the sequence events may not make sense.
5. An aftermath of possible confusion, and psychological and/or spiritual side effects.

Since events in a CE4 seem to be under the control of the phenomenon it is not overly useful to suggest any procedures for the witness to follow. However, if possible, try to note as much as you can, including the time both before and after the event. Some experiencers have stated that the memory of an event seems to persist for a moment or two after the event. Some have described the memory vanishing in a manner simiar to that of a dream when one awakens in the morning (sometimes, an encounter may be re-enacted in recurring dreams). Thus, it might help, if one notices some suggestion of a close encounter experience, to write down as much as one can as quickly as possible. This can be a matter of instants, so rapidity is vital.

Ultimately, do not try to keep the event to yourself. Instead, if possible, try to inform someone you trust about it. If you feel that some medical symptom may be traceable to the event, contact your health care provider. He/She may or may not be willing to believe your account so you will need to decide how much of your experience you want to share with them. However, it is important to document as rapidly as possible, any medical effect that might be related to the encounter and to obtain treatment for any condition that may have resulted.

In addition, a number of experiencers have told me that they now carry a camera with them, ready to use at all times. Most of the latest model cell phones have built-in cameras, so this may not be as difficult as it once was. However, when something strange and powerful happens, perhaps the initial stages of a close encounter, the challenge is often to remember to use the camera. I have heard many a witness tell me about spectacular encounters - and only after the UFO was long gone did they remember that they had a camera close by. Like any tool, a camera is only useful if one remembers to use it. In the pace of the moment, remembering such a thing may be a tall order, indeed. However, anything that can be recorded is better than nothing...

The close encounter experience can be reality-shattering. In The Cosmic Bridge, I discuss the impact of such an event in the life of the experiencer. It can be easy to feel stuck between worlds, in the abyss between our everyday world and the realm of the Visitors. Perhaps the best thing the experiencer can do is to contact someone who will provide an empathetic ear - accepting their story for what it truly is, their memory of an encounter with the extraordinary. The right hypnotherapist, UFO researcher, or even understanding friend, can help the experiencer to come to terms with their shattered reality.

After a sighting or encounter, if you have memories or feelings possibly related to a CE4, don't try to deny them. Rather, in a way in which you feel comfortable, you may wish to report the event to a trusted UFO researcher. This can be someone from MUFON, ICAR, or another organization or researcher (including myself). In addition, you can contact the National Guild of Hypnotists (603.429.9438) for help in finding a hypnotherapist in your area. The most important criterion is your level of comfort in discussing the event.

For better or for worse, a UFO encounter can be an incredible experience. Hopefully these suggestions offer some guidelines so that an experience can be of less impact to the experiencer and of benefit to the greater UFO research community. Hopefully, with enough data from witnesses and experiencers, this phenomenon can be better understood, and we can add one more piece to the Cosmic Bridge between the human and phenomenal worlds.