This the draft of my November/December CE4 Corner article -- The mystery gets real. It will be appearing in this month's MN MUFON Newsletter. You can find the Journal isssues at http://www.mnmufon.org/mmj
Let me know what you think.
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The last month or so since the MUFON conference has been a powerful time in my life, and in
the lives of many around me. For whatever reason, the currents of events in peoples' lives have
seemed to reach a turbulent point. No less true for the close encounter phenomenon.
I have gotten a number of calls from experiencers, frightened and traumatized, sometimes
calling late at night. What happened? I can only guess. Memories are usually fragmentary yet
the experiences were powerfully and painfully real. This was coupled with a set of experiences
that I was apparently part of, which occurred at the conference itself, which demonstrate the
impact that encounters with the unexplained can have on a person's life.
Friday night of the conference, we had a great time, one of those let-your-hair-down evenings
spent on the dance floor. It lasted into the night. Then, with a few beers in my system and a lot
of energy burned on the dance floor I packed it in, looking forward to another great day at the
conference. The next day, I learned that one of the people at the conference had had a
somewhat different experience that evening - a rather unearthly one.
Since we were both conference attendees, I was able to interview the experiencer several times
the following day. She described the event in increasing detail during the day as memories of
the event emerged within her mind. Sometime late in the day, she described how she had been
taken aboard a craft hovering over the hotel. She also described seeing others from the
conference aboard the craft, apparently taken in the same manner she had been. Were the
people she observed actually present or were they screen memories? Was this event a classic
abduction or did something else happen that we do not understand? I don't know. Since I was
apparently one of the people, the suggestion I might have been there took me by surprise - I
had no memory or indication of any CE4 event that evening. Yet whatever the truth may be, it
was clear something frightening and powerful did happen to her, and perhaps to others.
The last day of the conference, it happened again - only this time, the event was even more
terrifying for the experiencer. She described a frightening encounter, again involving people
that she first saw as familiar faces. The effect was powerful, leaving her traumatized all morning
as she left on the flight home from the conference.
I learned of the events after I arrived home myself, talking with her soon thereafter. I
interviewed her once more, as did a couple of other investigators. And as she described the
events it was apparent that much of what she recalled was likely also screen memories. Once
again, what happened to her is not known. But we know that a powerful event occurred and
left a lasting traumatic effect on her psyche.
Over the next week, I received several other unrelated calls from experiencers, also very
frightened. The experiences they described were similarly cryptic and traumatic. In more than
one case, the experiencer described people resembling people she knew, being part of the abduction. In each case, they were either being taken at the same time, or were somehow in
league with the visitors. In at least one case, the vision of people she knew being involved in
these events left the experiencer with a deep feeling of mistrust - feeling betrayed by the very
people she most trusted. The end result was confused, disoriented thinking and intense fear,
life turned upside down.
What do we do when the frightening and unexplained happens to someone? What can we say?
How can we help the person who has had such unwelcome attention from "Them"? Probably
the best thing we can do is to listen. Offer an ear, and any support we can. Most importantly,
we must not judge - we must avoid drawing any conclusions regarding what happened.
The phenomenon can present us with a hall of mirrors. What we see on the surface, familiar
faces involved with "Them", often turns into illusion. Yet we do not know what the reality is.
Seldom is there any physical evidence. Even though in several cases there have been tantalizing
suggestions of traces, the phenomenon remains frustratingly and elusive.
The phenomenon presents us with paradoxes, impossible memories and illogical sequences of
events - trauma with little or no evidence. It brings us a full spectrum of mystery. Yet what to
one person might be an interesting puzzle or even a source of wonder, to another can be an
object of terror. Hearing the voice of an experiencer shortly after an encounter can quickly
remind us how the phenomenon is far more than an object of curiosity. Rather, it can be a
devastating monkey wrench in the gears of life. At a time like this, to the experiencer the
mystery can get very, very real.
