Joseph Burkes MD 2014, updated 2026
Apologia is defined as a form of practiced rhetoric used in self-defense and as the vindication of a person, course of action, etc…
In response to my posting on NASA’s plans for possible Mars missions, critical comments were made that the official space program was a waste of money and that there has been a US secret base on Mars for “over a decade.” I was described as not doing “my homework” presumably for not knowing about this base and that I should step down from my “pulpit.”
I thought that the criticism might have some merit, not that there is a secret US base on Mars, but rather that many of my postings have a “preaching tone” to them. I must acknowledge that my rhetoric at times does offend both in form and content.
Admittedly, I sometimes sound like I am preaching from a “pulpit” but believe it or not, my views are iconoclastic (fancy word for smasher of idols), in that I can no longer accept the ET hypothesis as the exclusive cause of flying saucers. The extraterrestrial explanation was a position that I once joyfully and so reckless embraced during my five years of intense volunteer contact work during the 1990s.
As the result of studying the works of John Keel and Dr. Jacques Vallee I realized that the High Strangeness associated with flying saucers made the ET Hypothesis as the sole explanation very unlikely. Both Keel and Vallee pointed out the many absurd elements that are part of encounters with non-human intelligences (NHIs). Dr. Vallee has stated that the interactions are so bizarre that the NHIs behave as if they don’t come from “another star system”, but rather “from another dimension.”
In addition, the so-called aliens are reportedly totally telepathic and their awesome psychic powers in my judgment allow them to manipulate spacetime. This would explain such experiences as, screen memories, missing time and the Oz Effect. The Oz Factor is sudden alteration of the witnesses’ perceived surroundings and the environment can feel isolated and “unreal.”
John Keel observed that phenomena associated with UFOs are “reflective.” The encounters are staged in such ways as to reflect the underlying beliefs of the witnesses and their expectations as to what the so-called “aliens” should be. In other words, the interactions are individualized for each experiencer. This could explain the thousands of different phenotypes (category based on appearance) of the beings that witnesses report seeing. What I am suggesting is that the so called “races of aliens” such as Nordics, Grays, Mantids, Reptilians etc. sometimes can be disguises worn in a kind of theater of the mind environment. This mechanism doesn’t preclude that some of encounters are with physical beings. Both physical and psychic interactions are occurring and the challenge for both experiencers and researchers is to distinguish between the mental and physical aspects of contact.
My maverick views have caused conflict in my dealings with volunteer contact workers. I am in accord with CE-5 activists by supporting the practice of facilitating what I call “Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE) while denying any certainty about the ET Hypothesis. I must admit that many find my positions confusing, even disruptive. How can we urge people to engage the “ETs” on what are typically their terms, without uncritically accepting a belief in friendly aliens? My critics have a good point. I must admit, however, that the flying saucer challenge is so complex and so important, that we must be open to other possible explanations, ones outside of the popular ET hypothesis.
Despite uncertainty concerning who or what the so-called “aliens” are, and what their possible goals might be, I still urge experiencers to actively engage these non-human intelligences with every tool at our disposal. This involves simultaneously using both physical, (going out into the field in groups) and psi-based contact methods (meditation and thought projection).
So, if I am preaching from a “pulpit”, I imagine that I might be a bit like a Jesuit priest who doubts the existence of a Christian God. My ideas about the role of highly trained experiencers that I call “Prime Contactees” disturbs some fellow members of the “contactee clergy.” Even worse, for some contact workers, is my Virtual Experience Model describing how UAP intelligences use their extraordinary psychic powers when interacting with humanity. From my personal contact experiences and from those of other witnesses, I have realized that consciousness-based mechanisms of contact are being employed during encounters. I call these mechanisms the “Virtual Experience Model which from a traditional physicalist point of view would be viewed as “illusions.” I put quotation marks around the term “illusion” because if mind or consciousness is the wellspring of creation and not mass/energy, then our entire physical reality can be viewed as an illusion. This is philosophical position of Eastern mystical traditions and is called “maya.” Thus, the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be in some ways more “real” than physical reality. I should mention that I was compelled three decades ago to leave the leadership of a contactee organization, the Center for the Study of ET Intelligence (CSETI). Fifteen years later it happened again in a different contact network. This second time was partly the result of my independent views and activities. Thus, if I have a “pulpit” that I should “step down from”, I must acknowledge that it can get pretty lonely up here when I deviate from more traditional contactee points of view.
Let me make some general comments to my critics.
Keeping our analysis simple or frankly speaking “dumbed down” because the mechanisms of contact are too complex to easily explain, for me is a kind of betrayal. Especially so, since I believe what might be called “Flying Saucer Central Intelligence” has deliberately led me on a path to understand the following:
1.They create visual illusions that we call “sightings.” This is done perhaps because some saucers are indeed physical and that they have probably been shot down on occasion while flying over “hostile territory.” Thus, holographic types of visual displays are safer for both them and for the contact activists engaging them under fieldwork conditions.
2.They train “Prime Contactees” from an early age. These are remarkable contact experiencers that can successfully request sightings with others present. When the saucers subsequently appear, the “Primes’” special relationships with UFO intelligences are clearly demonstrated to all present. The challenge, however, is the following: how can activists utilize these highly specialized contactees to stage human-initiated encounters, while at the same time avoiding hero worship of the “Primes”?
3.An intelligence-counterintelligence model is useful in understanding the mechanisms of the worldwide contact drama. This proposition is based on fact that UAP intelligences threaten all terrestrial elites, but not in my opinion the Earth’s people. Thus, our rulers have been in conflict mode visa vie the phenomenon for the last 80 years. In a sense, as viewed by those hellbent on maintaining the “UFO truth embargo”, contactees, abductees and perhaps anyone who talks about a personal sighting are “agents of influence,” i.e., working for UAP intelligences.
4.And finally, I have urged those having positive contacts to openly debate the anti-contact, “evil alien” abduction theorists. These “abductionists” have a powerful position in “flying saucerdom”, aka ufology. As shown by FREE Experiencer Survey, however, most contacts are viewed as being neutral or positive. A small, but still significant group of experiencers, are the “abductees.” They number about ten percent of those who were studied in the FREE survey and view their contacts as being negative. Nevertheless, abductees rather than contactees have historically been the focus of UFO research groups whose investigators often rely on hypnosis as it were some kind of magical “truth serum.” By placing subjects in highly suggestible states, hypnotists can sometimes elicit narratives that correspond more to their points of view than being accurate recollections of physical events that may have been forgotten.
I believe that I promote these controversial concepts in the spirit of service. I would like to think that this analysis could help the contact network mature to the point when someday it could become part of a mass social movement that calls for peace on Earth and in the Cosmos. Although this seems like an impossible dream at this time, I envision a future struggle in which voluntary democratic organizations will successfully link the flying saucer phenomenon to possible solutions for the seemingly insurmountable problems that humanity faces. These are global warming, mass hatred such as racism and religious fanaticism, as well as the obscene disparities of wealth and power that exist here on Earth.
We know that flying saucers are not using fossil fuels as their propulsion system. If the secrets of their technology could be safely downloaded into our terrestrial culture, we might reduce the dangers of global warming. This would require, however, establishing a sustainable world peace because under current conditions such awesome power would likely first be used for military purposes. It is doubtful UAP intelligences would allow this.
Open contact with UAP NHIs could accelerate the trend towards global unity on cooperative terms. In my judgment, they likely see us as one people living in one homeland. National conflicts would likely diminish if humanity realized that our differences mean little in the face of an enormous diversity of intelligent life in the Cosmos.
Finally, the extensive record of contact with the so-called aliens indicates that these non-humans are totally telepathic. If as the result of cultural exchange with what are sometimes called “off planet” cultures, humanity might develop its nascent psi capabilities; this could lead to high levels of cooperation based on cooperation and empathy. Imagine a world where politicians were incapable of successfully lying under conditions of universal telepathy.
These developments would be nothing less than a radical restructuring of Earth civilization. The alternative, in my view, is to continue down the path we currently are on, increasing environmental destruction, endless tribal warfare and interpersonal strife that have turned this jewel of planet into what many experience as “the nightmare of the day.”
There are those who imagine that the so-called ETs might be willing to intercede, by stopping nuclear wars or global warming, both of which could threaten the very existence of our civilization. In my judgment, if we need the alleged “ETs” to save us from ourselves, if we care so little about protecting ourselves and our children from such devastation, then perhaps we are not worth saving. Despite the awesome challenges we face, I am hopeful. Humanity will survive and ultimately thrive based on our willingness to choose wisely. I invite contact experiencers and disclosure activists to dialogue with me on these important topics
End of Sunday August 31, 2014 “sermon,” updated on April 18th 2026.
My friend and publisher Rey Hernandez as a public service has placed online Volumes 1 and 2 of his compendia “A Greater Reality” and can be read on the Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com
My chapter in Volume 2 of “A Greater Reality” sums up my three decades of contact activism and can be accessed at:
Contact Underground 