In the UFO truth movement there are few leaders, mostly celebrities.
Joseph Burkes MD 2022
In the position paper titled ” Why Might Terrestrial Elites Fear UAPs?“, I put forward the proposition that an extraterrestrial presence could threaten terrestrial ruling classes. This includes most of the planet’s military, economic and political elites. If this were true, then the de-facto secrecy campaign, and the ridicule of UFO witnesses, are the logical results of elite forces acting to maintain the status quo. (A link to the position paper appears at the end of this blog.)
I have proposed the creation of a mass movement to work for disclosure that will promote world peace and perhaps will be able to reduce the risk of a future space-based arms race targeting the intelligences behind the flying saucer phenomenon. It is my hope that such a campaign will truly represent the interests of the majority of people on our planet and not those of elite groups that defend hegemony by denying the significance of UFOs.
CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP CAN EXACT A TERRIBLE PRICE
The challenges facing such a mass movement for a people’s peaceful disclosure are numerous. Perhaps the most daunting is its leadership’s susceptibility to co-optation. Unfortunately, corrupt leaders often use “the power of the people” for selfish purposes.
This certainly has been a familiar pattern found in radical political movements of both the right and the left during the 20th Century. Whether fascist or communist, the sad legacy of charismatic leaders has been monstrous wars and savage political purges resulting in the death of millions of people.
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT IS IMPORTANT
In order to minimize the damage done by corrupt leaders, I imagine such a proposed campaign for cosmic peace will need to incorporate strong spiritual values into its program. This became even clearer to me after the draft of the above-mentioned position paper “An ET Presence Threatens Terrestrial Elites…” was first circulated on the Internet in 1997 and 1998. Soon after its publication, I received a number of responses that emphasized the spiritual issues posed by what appears to be an ET presence. One letter of importance asked the question whether our involvement with this issue was “to serve others”, or was it “to have others serve us?”
THE UFO RESEARCH INDUSTRY
As applied to the leadership crisis in ufology, the absence of an ethic “to serve others” leads to a host of problems. A number of observers have complained about the backstabbing and egoism exhibited by prominent researchers. To a certain extent, market forces in the cottage industry environment in ufology drive such attitudes. Here the ethic of “have others serve me” is manifest.
Those UFO experts in the past have been compelled to work “the meat and potatoes” circuit of expos and book signing sessions. More recently UFO celebrities have established subscription based media enterprises. In a competitive mode they are struggling within a rather small marketplace. In a field rife with uncertainty, an individual claiming to be the “expert,” must appear to be the “one who really knows.” Otherwise why would anyone bother to listen to that person and buy her/his wares?
Since an essential part of sales must be appearing to “stand on the cutting edge,” UFO subculture leaders must constantly come up with new and exciting information about, and solutions to the flying saucer mystery. The need to appear better than one’s fellows, and to attack the competition, feed the tendency towards shameless personal attacks.
THE ROOTS OF SHAME GO BACK TO CHILDHOOD.
There are however more profound sources for the egoism that cuts a destructive path across ufology. In my opinion more potent than economic competition are the psychosocial factors. Let’s face it, ufology has been relegated to the fringe by the powers that be. For any self-respecting professional to profess an interest in a subject so marginal, is to risk loss of social standing. Very powerful emotions experienced during normal childhood development may come into play here.
Our susceptibility to shame starts off in childhood. During early emotional development, frustration about one’s relatively helpless condition coexists side by side with the growing need to be accepted by other children. Being “small” and not able to do what the “big kids” do is a constant preoccupation throughout childhood. Teasing and being excluded by older children is a harsh lesson unfortunately we all must experience.
I believe that every individual, at least to some extent, carries these concerns into adulthood. The attitudes of the mainstream culture are such that to simply profess an interest in UFOs often triggers smirking from friends and co-workers. Much can be at stake both socially and psychologically. To become a leader in ufology ups the ante considerably and some degree of social ridicule is certain.
In order to stand against the currents of the dominant culture that dismisses UFO enthusiasts as terminally kooky, an individual must surely have a strong sense of self. I believe it requires a determined and hopefully healthy ego to openly defy conventional wisdom. This force of conviction flowing from ego in its most extreme form can become transformed into a sense of self-righteousness and self-aggrandizement.
DOLLARS $ VS “EGO DOLLARS”
Economic sacrifice and even hardship are often the rewards of trying to “make it” as a professional ufologist. The difficult economic conditions produce frustration, anger, perhaps even bitterness in some individuals. If an ufologist can’t receive payment in real money, then perhaps a salary in “ego dollars” might suffice. Real dollars are of course the preferred compensation.
Unfortunately, in the UFO field there are few enough of the greenbacks to go around. Thus, many researchers I suspect demand ego gratification as a substitute for financial reward. The personal attacks rampant in the field are in my opinion the products of those that insist on having their egos gratified at the expense of others. The in-fighting and the mud slinging that abound in ufology should therefore be viewed as the logical outcome of a group of researchers that have been marginalized by a larger society. They sadly vent their frustrations on one another.
THE ROAD AHEAD
This analysis is rather basic, and I hope it provides a framework for a more detailed investigation of the psychosocial causes of the leadership crisis in ufology. My concerns are more than theoretical. It is my sincere hope that we can create a mass movement to work towards a people’s disclosure of what possibly is an ET presence. To do so will require a great number of enlightened leaders.
This will involve people that are able to work together cooperatively and hopefully minimize the destructive effects of egoism. Here again there is much room for exploring the spiritual/ ethical dimension. I ask again whether we struggle to serve others, or do we attempt to compel others to serve us?
It is my hope that this future campaign for UFO truth will be based on the high principle of altruism combined with honesty and humility. This is a tall order no doubt! Only time will tell whether ufology is up to the challenge.
Truth comes in three phases. First it is ridiculed, then it is violently opposed, and finally it is declared to be “self-evident.”
Addendum:
My guess is that over the decades, some prominent personalities in the UFO subculture (notice I am not using the word “leaders”) have been approached by counter-intelligence officers. They operate out of the Executive Branch agencies of the US government: the CIA, NSA, DIA and Naval Intelligence. These career clandestine services officers have been tasked to target the civilian UFO research community. Corporate security operatives are likely also involved in this process. I imagine that they start off by offering “inside information” that contains both accurate data mixed in with disinformation. Over time, the UFO researchers conceivably might be further compromised by becoming witting or unwitting disinformers.
This type of operation has been analyzed by Grant Cameron in his book “Managing Magic.” Cameron identifies Bill Moore, co-author of “The Roswell Incident” as working with US Government intelligence in the 1980s. Steven Greer MD also developed a cooperative relationship with Executive Branch Intelligence Services in the 1990s. More recently Tom Delonge has worked with recently retired government insiders from the CIA, the DIA, and the US Airforce. According to Grant Cameron these types of operations are part of a gradual “acclimatization” program to help make the public aware that we are not alone in the universe.
In my view, such counter-intelligence operations have no great significance as long as the vast majority of contact and disclosure activists are operating in what I call “the consciousness raising mode.” We have our UFO playpen meetings, conventions and symposia in which a wide assortment of conspiracy and New Age theories abound. As Dr. Vallee pointed out when he publicly ceased being involved with UFO organizations over two decades ago, there is very little chance of doing meaningful work with a community that is mainly interested in arguing over their competing belief systems and promoting wild pet theories.
I suspect that over time, sufficient numbers of contact and disclosure activists will “surface” with the correct understanding of both politics and spirituality that could hopefully allow them to move “flying saucerdom” into what I call the “organizing phase.” I believe contact experiencers will play a role in this process as many are activists promoting both human initiated contact and government disclosure on this topic. I suspect that these social movement activists will set the stage for the emergence of a worldwide peaceful revolutionary campaign. In my view, if such a movement is to succeed, then it will have to link flying saucers with radical solutions for the seemingly unsurmountable problems our civilization is facing. I refer to the challenges of war, environmental damage from human activities and the obscene disparities of wealth that together have turned this jewel of a planet into what the Buddha reportedly called, “the nightmare of the day.”
From where will this true leadership force emerge? Presumably, following this schema, they could conceivably be guided by telepathic interactions with UFO intelligences. In my opinion, some of these mental communications could be on a subliminal i.e. a unconscious level. We should remember that there is a vast pool of contact experiencers. I am including in this number, perhaps every person on the planet with a bona fide sighting. This might be followed by a concomitant telepathic link with what contactees refer to as “friends in high places.” The numbers of such individuals could conceivably be millions, on a planet of over seven billion people.
How long will this process take to unfold? If UFO intelligences have been here for centuries, if not for millennia, then they conceivably have some kind of “masterplan “that they are following. My guess is that this process will not unfold over decades, but more likely over generations. This prolonged timetable matches the time that was required for other just struggles, such as ending most overt forms of slavery and to establish some basic human rights for women and people of color. In addition, the preconditions for open contact and the downloading of “ET” science into our technological culture will be a world peace based on social and environmental justice. Since this will not be accomplished for a considerable amount of time, activists should prepare themselves for the long haul.
Additional blogs offering a power structure analysis:
You can’t control a person who wants “no thing.” I suspect that Flying Saucer Intelligences are feared by our planet’s elites because they can’t be controlled by the usual methods applied to the general population. If we start to identify, not with things and thought forms, but rather with universal consciousness, then ultimately, we cannot be controlled either.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2021/10/19/why-do-the-control-groups-oppose-an-et-presence/
If flying saucer intelligences threaten all terrestrial elites, but not necessarily the Earth’s people, then it is understandable that governmental response to UFOs is a counterintelligence one.
What will it take to convince people that UFOs are important?
“Science, Counterintelligence & UFOs”
Researcher Val Germann wrote this important multi-part article in 1997. He has given me permission to repost his work on my blog site.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/09/04/science-counterintelligence-and-ufos/
Contact Underground 
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