If you don't know where you are, this is a fanfic alternative story for the Wano arc. Look for more context at the main post.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ATTENTION: This is the second half of the chapter if you haven't read the first one yet, do it here.

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第 963 + 54i 話 『Pirate Luffy vs. Yonkō Kaidō』

Kaidō's office, Onigashima 

Back in Kaidō's mansion, Tashigi tirelessly attacks Who's Who, who easily pushes her back again and again without even looking at her, completely disregarding her as a worthy opponent as he focuses in Basil Hawkins. The Magician's proving to be quite proficient at defending, so Who's Who isn't having it easy considering he has to keep his distance so that Hawkins can't create a doll out of him and also go with non-lethal force in case he's already made the doll. But that's fine. Who's Who's enjoying his hunt very much when Sylvia & Catelyn suddenly stop fighting, confused for a couple of seconds as though they just came out of a trance.
Sylvia & Catelyn to Hawkins at the same time

YOU!! What did you do to us?? You're going to pay for this!!

Both girls rush against Hawkins but...
Who's Who

STOP! He's mine.
pointing his finger at Tashigi without looking at her This pest, though, is a pain in the ass. Take care of her.

Hawkins to himself

(Time's up already? We're running late. How much longer will it take him to get back??)

Who's Who curious

So... Is there a way to know whether you made me a doll? Would I feel something if you did?

Hawkins smirking

There sure is one. Come and find out.
(I need three cards for a「Life Plus」, I can only use one if I want to have a chance. But which one?)

Who's Who

Playful, aren't you? Huhuhuhuhu... Maybe I should take you up on that off...

Mouseman interrupting while munching

Don't fall for that, boss. If he had made a doll of you, he'd have slit his own throat long ago.

Who's Who

Hmm... I see. So your only strategy is to make me a doll? And what if you don't? You're a good defender, but can you actually go for a win any other way?

Hawkins silent

。。。

Who's Who

What? Cat got your tongue? HUHUHU!!

​
In that moment, a man enters the office rushing, with a profusely running nose and endless stream of tears down his cheeks.
Unidentified man

Captain, look at me! I'm back! I'm back!!

Recognizing the voice without needing to look at the man, Hawkins responds.
Hawkins

Faust! We've been waiting for you, you know? Did you bring him?

Faust taken aback

Oh! Eeh... No. Libra said he'll wait for us at the ship. He prefers to remain neutral in this affair.

Hawkins

Mm... Okay.
(I kind of counted on him to help us with the more physical aspects of the fight. Shit.)
Then, we're done here. Time to wrap this up, boys!

尾田栄一郎

(I still haven't figured out what to do regarding my nightmarish augury from earlier but there's still night ahead... We'll see.)

Who's Who puzzled

Oh, finally, the cat is h...
Wait. You're not the cat.
Why're you not the cat?? I was sure you...

Hawkins turning to Faust

He's not a ca...
FAUST, YOUR FACE!!

Faust interrupting while crying his eyes out

YES, captain!! MY FACE!! My face is back!!!

Who's Who

Well... The cat was the only member of your crew I had some sympathy for. If he's not a cat, then that makes things easier.

Hawkins pointing at Mouseman

Vusama, Tokoloshe, take the rat and shut his mouth already. I don't want him spoiling anything else.
throwing a card towards his men「Eight of Wands...」

Who's Who

Hey! Mouseman is not your toy!
Nyki, kill the cat.

Nyki confused

Didn't we all just agree he's not a cat?

Who's Who

Who cares??? Kill him!

Felicia next to Mouseman

Eight of wands... That's for quick decisions, rapid action...

Mouseman

Boss! That card's a boost!

Hawkins whispering

「...in Reverse」

Who's Who uses「Soru」to intercept the card as well as to sneak on Tokoloshe and Vusama and slay them with his claws but as soon as the card touches him, his movement becomes very slow. The Occult pirates dodge with ease and proceed to attack Mouseman. Slowly, Who's Who turns his head to Hawkins
Hawkins

Don't talk. You're too slow now and we don't have the time.
Yes, you fell for my trap. You've been slowed down. No more superspeed, no more sneak attacks, no more avoiding me making you a doll.

Hawkins sends his strawman to attack Who's Who, but the sabretooth pirate manages to dodge and run away from it.
Hawkins to himself

(His slowed down superspeed is still quite the speed... Did I blunder this?)

At the other side of the room, Nyaban Kit charges against Faust. The newly-faced pirate waits for his attacker to be close to him with his right arm streched out at his opponent and then...
Faust

「Draw」❕❕

From Faust's open hand, a boot comes out and hits Nyki's face. After stopping in confusion, Nyki decides that boot is no threat and leans forward growling with his mouth open trying to intimidate Faust but...
Faust

「Draw」❕❕

This time a rapier comes out of Faust's hand, going directly into Nyki's mouth and piercing through his head and thus ending the growl.
Now let's make a quick detour to speak about Faust's ability. He has the power of the「In In no Mi」, a paramecia devil fruit that turned him into a Lottery-man and grants him all sorts of tricks involving randomness. In particular, it allows him to save in the ability's memory a copy of any inanimate object he touches with his right hand and summon it afterwards, only that he can't choose what to summon, the「prize」is determined at random. Summoned prizes exist until they're discarded or something else is summoned.
An important detail Faust learnt at a considerable price is that prizes can't be erased from the ability's memory and saving useless objects or too many will only bloat the pool of prizes and lower the chances of ever summoning something useful. Two years ago, he managed to save a copy of the Mane Mane no Mi's ability during a skirmish with some「Baroque Works」officers. It was the first and only devil fruit ability he ever captured. He didn't even know he could do that! Euphoric, he thought he could wield two devil fruit powers at once, something no one had ever done. He played with his new ability for a while. He turned his head in that of his own cat to try it and then... Out of habit he summoned another prize and the Mane Mane powers were gone. Not only that, his face, permanently changed to that of his cat. Ever since, he tried every single day to summon the Mane Mane ability again to get his face back, but to no avail until tonight.
Now, Nyki drops dead and Who's Who stares at Faust in anger. He starts running towards the random pirate but...
Tashigi

「Ranga Chō (Wild scent butterfly」❕❕

With a long combination of very precise and fast slashes, Tashigi defeats Sylvia and Catelyn before tripping over. After getting her glasses back from the floor, Tashigi stands up.
Tashigi

You're next,「Shadow hunter」!!

Who's Who forgets about Faust and lunges enraged against Tashigi.
尾田栄一郎
Who's Who

「Gagan (Fang gun)」❕❕

Tashigi sheathes her Shigure, crouches a bit and lunges too against Who's Who while drawing her katana in a horizontal slash.
Tashigi

「Ki Hayate (Cutting gale)」❕❕

After the clash, there are no winners. Tashigi, with four big holes in his body falls down unconscious. Unable to dodge as he's used to, Who's Who's got a wide cut in his belly from side to side bleeding profusely. Had he not activated「Tekkai」on instinct soon enough, he'd have been eviscerated. As he touches his wound he sees a card going through his chest.
尾田栄一郎
Hawkins

You lowered your guard again.
You wanted to see if I had any other means of fighting other than making dolls? Game is on.
「Four of Pentacles in Reverse」
Feel the greed boiling in your soul. Take everything. Every risk. Don't hesitate.

Who's Who with a fierce gaze

I'll skin all of you alive!

Hawkins to himself

(He's talked! He's not slowed down any more! DAMN!)
「Knight of Pentacles in Reverse」❕❕

Who's Who moves next to Faust in an instant and is about to tear off his head with one claw but Hawkins' strawman appears inbetween and the feline's claw hits a sort of force field in front of the strawman that blocks the attack.
Hawkins

Faust! Do it!!

Faust

「RNG」❕❕

After blocking the first attack, the force field on the strawman disappears and then a white glove pointing with one finger starts to flicker around the office positioning itself next to every person in the room in quick succession.
Who's Who

I'm so tired of this shit!
「Gagan」❕❕

Who's Who's maw bites the strawman but it's Mouseman's body the one pierced by his big fangs.
Hawkins shouting

Again!

Faust

「RNG」❕❕

Who's Who

No! You had him??
「Rankyaku: Gaichō (Victorious bird)」❕❕

Who's Who shoots a cutting kick with his claw directly at Faust but the blue airblade flies towards Hawkins instead.
尾田栄一郎
The Magician falls to his knees severely wounded.
Faust feeling guilty

Captain!!

Hawkins before passing out

Keep going!!

Who's Who towering before Faust

I don't know what the hell is going on any more. Does that even make sense?? Who cares? He's down. I bet he cannot transfer damage to anyone now.
「Shigan Madara (Finger gun Spots)」❕❕

尾田栄一郎
Absolutely terrified by the huge and bloodlusty sabretooth tiger-human in front of him, Faust utters a single word.
Faust

[RNG]

As Who's Who's claws make contact with Faust's body, the pointing glove stops over Who's Who's head and with every hit, his claws pierce his own body until he covers himself in holes and ends up looking like a cheese grater before dying without even realizing what hit him.
​
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Rooftop 

(🎧 recommended: Luffy vs Ratchet round 2)
After getting back up, Kaidō looks at Luffy with a slight smirk. His broken lip bleeding. Kaidō didn't expect something like that at all.
Kaidō

I'm not gonna lie, that was a good punch, Mugiwara...
So, you want to play a bi...

Luffy interrupting

「Niku Niku no Morning star」❕❕

尾田栄一郎
Luffy dead serious

I'm not here to play, Kaidō. I'm here to kick your ass.

Kaidō wiping the blood off his cheek

WORORORORORORORO!!!
Wonderful! I'll humour you, Mugiwa...

Luffy

「Niku Niku no Ram」❕❕

尾田栄一郎
Luffy

This is for Kin'emon!!

Abstracted in his joyous mood, Luffy's kick takes Kaidō by surprise. He's not being hurt much but at least he's feeling pain with every hit, which is a good start. Without wasting a second, Luffy follows up with a barrage of attacks one after the other. Kaidō takes them all head on as though he didn't even know how to defend himself.
Luffy hit after hit

For Kanjūrō!!
For Raizō!!
For Momo!!
For Kin'emon's wife!!
For Tama!!
For O-Ren!!
For the old angel with Usopp's nose!!
。。。

Near them, Chopper tries to take on Jack, but the mammoth is almost just as good at sustaining damage as his captain.
Chopper to himself

(What can I do?? THINK!! This guy is super sturdy. It's like he doesn't even feel me. Is it because of his thick skin or is there something else? I need to find his weak spot or I'll run out of time. Four minutes passed already since I used the「Rumble ball」)

尾田栄一郎
Jack

Who the hell are you? A mink? Weird... You transformed but you didn't turn white.

Chopper uses his slender but strong reindeer legs to jump towards Jack with his brawny human arm ready to deliver a powerful blow.
Chopper

I'm a reindeer!!
(It's time to see if I can apply what I learnt with Nagisa.)

Jack

All that thinking just to make yourself an easy target? Meet my tusk, reindeer.

With a slight move of his head, Jack sends his left tusk at Chopper trying to pierce him. Although unable to change his trajectory in mid-air, Chopper manages to dodge.
Chopper

「Kami-e: Lens」

As the tusk gets very near to Chopper's skin, his body changes shape as though a force field prevented it from touching the tusk and yet continuing its trajectory.
Jack shocked

WHAT??

Chopper

「Tekkai Gong」❕❕

Chopper's arm tenses and becomes tough as iron before giving Jack a very strong punch to the right temple. With his head completely turned the other side and a bit dizzy, the Beast pirate falls to his knees with the front legs. Changing into a thinner reindeer-human body, Chopper nimbly steps on one of Jack's tusks and performs a double backwards somersault to get far from his opponent. Visibly annoyed, Jack is about to get up when Nagisa comes from a blind spot.
Nagisa

「Moeru kumade (Blazing rake)」

+1
Combining his strong「Ryūō」with the「Shigan」technique, the young monk tries to pierce Jack's ribcage with his fingers. He fails, but the hit is still strong and painful. Jack tumbles sideways due to the impact and instinctively throws a tremendous kick with his rear leg, that sends Nagisa flying into a distant rock.
Chopper worried

Nagisa!!

​
Meanwhile, Luffy keeps on striking Kaidō without rest.
Luffy very fatigued

This is pant pant for the minks...
「Niku Niku no pant Bombshell」❕

尾田栄一郎
(🎧 recommended: Luffy vs Ratchet round 1)
Kaidō bored

spitting Tch!
This is over, Mugiwara. You're out of steam. You made quite the entrance. You hit me harder than anything I can remember, but your body can't keep up any more. I barely felt those last sad and poor excuses of an attempt.

尾田栄一郎

You know, I strongly believe in second chances.
Tonight you came at me for a second chance at proving yourself. And you did. I would have liked this had been a second chance for me to have a good time, but any way... What you've done is astonishing. The fact you're still standing here alone is and you delivered a lot more. But it's not enough to kill me. Not even enough to kick my ass. And if you insist in trying now, you'll die. I mean, you're probably going to die regardless because you should be well past your limit by now, but you get what I mean, right?
Accept your fate. You will not win this battle. Surrender and try to live. You're strong enough to be my right hand. You're a pirate, aren't you? Sail under my flag and we will conquer all the seas in this world!

Luffy uses Kaidō's speech to catch his breath again. He stands with his guard and his head held high but behind that appearance, he's struggling to keep himself on his feet. His vision is blurred to the point he's depending on instinct and observation haki completely, his whole body aches as though it was being crushed by a mountain, his heart beats so fast that it's about to explode. He, better than Kaidō, knows the state he's in.
Luffy

I will conquer pant the seas. But not with pant you. I'll do it with my crew, because I pant am the man who's going to be pant the「Pirate King」❕❕❕
I'm not done yet, Kaidō!! Take this!!

Kaidō

I'll end this just like first time. I'll appreciate it if you survive, Mugiwara.
「Raimei Hakke」❕❕

尾田栄一郎
Worried about his captain, Chopper can't help but hesitate when he sees Luffy receive such a blow. A couple of seconds distracted from his own fight that allow Jack to hit him too. Unable to breathe for a moment, his「Guard point」activates on instinct before hitting the floor. As though he weren't in the middle of a fight of his own at all, Chopper's gaze lingers on Luffy.
Chopper to himself

(Luffy is in serious danger. He could die at any moment just from his previous state alone. I need to help him right now! But this guy is a monster. Nagisa and me have landed countless hits on him already and he's still fresh like a rose. Moreover, he's only used his full animal form? Why? His movements are so limited in that body... I need to step up my game.)

Jack

You're making it too easy now, reindeer! I hope you know how to swim.

Charging towards Chopper, Jack prepares to send him flying with his trunk, when...
Nagisa

「Sechigarai Kazaha (Hard windblade)」❕❕

As the monk runs, he imbues his legs in「Ryūō」and makes a small leap while tilting his body making it spin horizontally. He locks his legs split open with「Tekkai」and builds a vortex of wind that's then released through「Rankyaku」as a turbulent and sharp buzz saw's blade. Jack pays it no mind and soon regrets it when it cuts his fur, skin and flesh half way to completely severing his trunk off his face.
Jack stifles a cry of pain but he's stopped in his tracks. Very close to him, now Chopper looks at the bleeding mammoth as he swallows something.
Chopper desperate

「Monster point」❕❕

skxviii
Frozen by surprise, Jack finds himself before a true monster of his same size bellowing inches away from his face. Immediately after, Chopper unleashes onto him a savage beating like none anyone in the Beast pirates has ever seen. For the first time in his life, Jack is completely overpowered in a fight. And to top it off...
Nagisa

「Tetsu Reiki (Iron aura)」

Alex Flores
Condensing his「Ryūō」to the limit through「Tekkai」, Nagisa gives physical form to his「haki」in the shape of light armor, then proceeds to assist Chopper. Between the two, they pummel every inch of Jack's body. Grabbing the huge mammoth by a rear leg, Chopper crashes him to the ground repeatedly from side to side. However, thanks to his incredible sturdiness, after one of the hits, Jack manages to quickly roll on his side to break free from Chopper's hold. He gets up and charges against the monsterized reindeer.
尾田栄一郎
Jack to himself

(Where did this monster come from?? If I don't take him out right now, it's going to be very hard to handle. His degree of savagery is insane and doesn't let me take care of the monk, and he's dangerous too!)

Chopper accepts the challenge. He gets on all fours and meets Jack's tusks with his antlers. He's initially pushed back by the mammoth's momentum but soon both get to a violent stalemate.
Chopper

(How can he have so much strength left in him after all the damage he's sustained?? I need to break free from this lock and do something. He has the advantage now because I can't see him in this position. Also, the effect of the「Rumble balls」is going to wear off any moment now!)

Chopper transforms into his small-sized「Brain point」as he rolls towards jack between his legs and lies below him.
Chopper to himself

(「Scope」)

With the resistance suddenly gone, the mammoth advances a few steps before his tusks pierce the ground and get stuck.
Jack

Dammit!
(Where did he go?? I can't see him!)

As he tries to unpin his tusks from the roof, Nagisa, walking in the air above him, takes aim.
Nagisa

I'll help with that.
「Tetchū-hō (Iron pillar cannon)」❕❕

Using「Soru」to fall over Jack like a meteor, Nagisa uses「Shigan」with all his leg to stomp on Jack's right tusk, crushing it as well as the skull's roof and throwing a perfectly cylindrical column of bone down at the Grand Hall.
Under the mammoth's belly, Chopper notices something.
Chopper

YES!! This is why he's only fighting in this form! He's gots a large scar through his chest that's still healing. He didn't want to expose his weak spot and this form gives it the best protection.
I'm coming, Luffy.
「Tsunogan (Antler pistol)」❕❕❕

Chopper transforms back into「Monster point」at the same time he thrusts his antlers towards Jack's chest impaling him through his previous wound, driving his sharp antlers into Jack's chest and lifting him as Chopper stands and roars. But his instinct has Chopper quickly leave his unconscious opponent on the floor, fall back and adopt a defensive stance.
尾田栄一郎
Kaidō very angry

THAT'S ENOUGH!!
「Bolo Breath」❕❕

The scorching wind sends Chopper flying out of the skull.
Luffy shouting at Nagisa

You! pant Chopper will drown if pant if he falls in the water. pant Help him!!

Nagisa immediately goes after Chopper.
Kaidō

Not so fast!
「Raimei Hakke」❕❕

Changing back to his hybrid form, Kaidō is about to hit Nagisa but...
Luffy

「Niku Niku no Kanketsusen (Meat-Meat geyser)」❕❕

尾田栄一郎
Luffy

Your fight pant is with me, Kaidō!

(🎧 recommended: Torn apart)
Kaidō watches as Nagisa safely escapes out of sight and then whips Luffy with his tail, having him trundle through the ground, hitting every rock in the way. Full of wrath, Kaidō goes after Luffy.
Kaidō yelling

You're going to regret what you just did, Mugiwara!!

Luffy struggling to get up

You won't harm any pant of my friends again, pant Kaidō!!
「Niku Niku no Kabuto (Meat-Meat helm)」❕❕

尾田栄一郎
Luffy puts in this fight everything he's got left. But it's not enough, because he's up against the strongest creature in the world. And he made this creature furious.
Kaidō sends Luffy down once more. This time, the Mugiwara can't help but roll on the ground crying in pain as he's skull has cracked open on the inside. Having just come out of a coma and without his devil fruit powers, regardless of how optimistic he wanted to be, Luffy was already at a huge disadvantage no matter his opponent.
尾田栄一郎
Luffy to himself

(This hurts! This hurts like hell!!
So... this is what it's like not being made of rubber. This is what Usopp has to face every time. This is what he knows will happen to him if anything goes slightly wrong at any turn.
I had no idea... And yet he's never let us down, not once. Maybe I owe him an a...)

Kaidō

It's a pity, Mugiwara. We both wasted our second chances. Your body is done for and I'm not in the mood to babysit you any more.
Now, die.
「Ragnarok」❕❕

Kaidō jumps on Luffy, striking down with his club imbued in his powerful「haki」.
Luffy to himself

(It doesn't move! My body doesn't move!! Dammit, move! MOVE!!)

Kaidō's club crushes Luffy and shatters all the ground nearby. Their fight is finished.
尾田栄一郎

つづく

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Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment or ask whatever you want to share. All feedback is welcome!

← Previous half Index Next chapter →

If you don't know where you are, this is a fanfic alternative story for the Wano arc. Look for more context at the main post.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Short summary (Careful! Spoil yourself at your own convenience by removing the cover.)
Zoro has some encounters on his way up to the roof. Tashigi joins the fight against Who's Who. Samanosuke arrives at the capital to save his brother Akimanosuke, but Sergeant Murasaki and Shutenmaru are after him. Faust brings Hawkins bad news but ends up being decisive against Who's Who. Luffy fights Kaidō while Chopper and Nagisa fight Jack.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

第 963 + 54i 話 『Pirate Luffy vs. Yonkō Kaidō』

A corridor leading out of Kaidō's Mansion, Skull dome 

Looking for the roof, Zoro follows the path in front of him until he reaches the door at the end and crosses it to go out to...
尾田栄一郎
A balcony. A scorching hot balcony out of the skull dome to an ablaze area.
Zoro

What the hell? Is this the dragon's doing? Luffy!! Chopper!! Where are you?

Within the flames, a black shadow appears.
Sanji

What're you doing here, marimo?? To the roof! You have to go to the ROOF!!

Zoro annoyed

Isn't the roof in the upper part??

Sanji

Obviously! What's your point??

Zoro

I climbed up the stairs and they led me here.

Sanji

Well, try some other way because this is not the roof. Take the stairs again. And this time, don't leave them until they end.

Zoro

I didn't left them!

King casually joining the conversation

The stairs will take you to the roof, but they make a weird turn at this floor and it's easy to end up here without noticing you ever left them. But if you go back through the corridor, you'll see them just fine.

Zoro surprised

Oh! Thank you.

King

You're welcome.

Zoro

See, cook? It wasn't my fault! Anyway, do you need some help before I go? This guy is definitely dangerous.

Sanji

Hey, don't underestimate me, marimo. I've got this barbecue under control. But if what you want is to prove yourself in the kitchen, while I make sure the roast is well done, why don't you go up there and make some dragon sashimi?
If it's good, I'll tell you how to open the Sunny's fridge.

Zoro grinning as he returns to the corridor

It's a deal.

尾田栄一郎
King

Can we continue now?

​
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Kaidō's office 

The Occult pirates are still fighting Who's Who and his minions. Although losing too many dolls for his taste, Hawkins is doing fine, his men, however are struggling against Nyki and Fargield. But the situation is soon changing as Sylvia and Catelyn start to surreptitiously attack each other while pretending to go for Hawkins.
Who's Who euphoric

HUHUHUHUHU This is the most fun I've had in a long while!! I can beat him again and again, tear off his body to my heart's content and he keeps getting back up again. It's the perfect pastime!
finally noticing Hm❓ Sylph, Cate, what the hell are you doing??

Once Who's Who has noticed, Sylvia and Catelyn stop pretending and openly engage in a fierce fight between the two.
Who's Who confused

Hey! What's with the catfight? Knock it off.
。。。
angry I SAID STOP!!

The feline pirate jumps at them and threatens them with one of his claws each to their necks. The women suddenly stop as if getting out of a trance.
https://preview.redd.it/28c5l4ykeo2d1.jpg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51f151e1ef1f9453584c4e49eed98232bbe28b13
Who's Who

What's your problem??

Sylvia

She's my problem! She's getting in my way all the time.

Catelyn

What?? It's you who's getting in my way! You always do! A mere four millions a higher bounty than mine and you always go around flaunting yourself in front of him like you were superior to me!! I hate you!

Sylvia

HA! Is that why you're always so eager to prove yourself and act as though everything were a competition?? Because you're jealous and insecure? I can't stand you!!

As words can't contain the hatred against each other, the two women start fighting again. Who's Who can't believe his eyes.
Who's Who

Where the hell does this come from all of a sudden?? You've always been best friends for as long as I can remember.

In a corner, sitting with Felicia and eating cookies, Mouseman raises his voice.
Mouseman

One can never be too sure, and there could be some truth to their words deep down, but... I believe the cause is Hawkins' ability. Something about that card he used.

Hawkins with a satisfied smile

That's right.「The Lovers Reversed」can stir conflict and cause betrayal among loved ones. I hoped to turn them both against you. Who would have known their stronger bond is with eachother... In any case, it proved useful and I'll take what I can.

Mouseman speaking with his mouth full

See? I told you.
Felicia, do you have any more of these cookies? They're delicious!

Felicia pleased

Only a few. Here. I'm glad you like them. Do you want some tea too?
I'll bake some more tomorrow.

Mouseman

Yes, tea would be great, Felicia. Thanks.

Hawkins to himself

(Tomorrow... Right! The end. Everything is supposed to end before tomorrow and I still need to figure out a way out of that nonsense!!)

Vusama's cry brings Hawkins back from his own thoughts.
Vusama

Kalfu!!

The cook of the Occult pirates goes down with his throat slit open. Before him, Fargield's claw drips with blood.
Hawkins

Kalfu!!
(Impossible!! We haven't yet opened the safe, but we're guaranteed to steal the fruit in it and Kalfu is the only one of us that can touch the kairōseki the safe is made of. Have we gone down a bad path by accident???)
What're you doing, Vusama?? I told you to stay in light spots no matter what!!

Vusama

That's the problem, captain! We were in the brightest spot and it suddenly turned pitch black!!

Hawkins

That's impossible! It always shifts gradually. Stay focused!

Vusama

I know, captain. And I'm telling you, it changed in an instant! I've never seen this in my whole life.

Vusama's「Sasa Sasa no Mi」allows him to assess the convenience of being in a place. He sees the safer spots in bright light and the riskier ones as dark.
At that moment, the door opens and Zoro enters.
Zoro

What's going on in here? Where's Kaidō??

Quite close to him, Fargield lunges aiming for Zoro's throat as he just did with Kalfu. Seeing Who's Who, Zoro immediately draws his Sandai Kitetsu.
Zoro

You!

Although he remains calm, his anger against Who's Who is so strong that the simple act of drawing the katana sends out a flying slash that goes through Fargield and beyond, reaching the door of the huge safe and splitting it in half.
Hawkins

(Bingo. That answers why there were more than one probable combinations. It was going to be open like this anyway.)
Vusama! What's wrong??

Down on the floor, Vusama shakes in front of Zoro's arrival.
Vusama terrified

This man's dangerous, captain!! The darkness emanates from him. It's so strong that there are no light spots left in the room right now!!

Zoro confused

What're you talking about?

Hawkins to himself

(It must be true. Even I can perceive a demonic aura from him. Could he be the cause of the fate I foresaw?)

Who's Who looking at Zoro in satisfaction

Huhuhu... What a nice surprise. Do you want to resume what we started the other day?

Hawkins

(Survival chances for my crew if these two start fighting now.)

1. Me: 0.7%
2. Faust: 1.1%
3. Kalfu: 0%
4. Vusama: 0.2%
5. Tokoloshe: 0%

(No way.)
Roronoa Zoro! Aren't you looking for Kaidō? You need to take the stairs up to the roof.

Zoro annoyed

Oh, really?? It's the third time I've been told that already and they keep taking me somewhere else!

Hawkins

(So, the rumours about the Pirate hunter's bad sense of direction are true after all... But climbing stairs? Really?? Any way...「Arcana」)

1. 「Two of Wands」
2. 「Eight of Wands」
3. 「Nine of Swords」
4. 「Four of Pentacles」
5. 「Knight of Pentacles」

「Two of Wands Upright」

pretty-useful.co
The card flies towards Zoro and enters his body.
Zoro

Hey! What did you...?

Hawkins interrupting

This will help you make the right choices. You will find the roof now. Go and don't waste time!
(Perfect. Now the room will light up again, he'll distract Kaidō for a while and when he dies, hopefully our fate will be brighter as well.)

Zoro pointing the Sandai Kitetsu at Who's Who

After Kaidō, it'll be your turn.

Who's Who

HUHUHUHUHUHUHU After Kaidō. Sure... HUHUHU

Zoro sheathes his katana, turns around to leave the office when he bumps into someone.
https://preview.redd.it/7z73po6teo2d1.png?width=563&format=png&auto=webp&s=798a8ded808988f86a94edbdc2abb8f6b77ebf13
Zoro surprised

You!!

Tashigi serious

Roronoa!

Zoro

How are y...? How did you get here?? What did you come for??

Tashigi

I only answer to Vice-Admiral Smoker, not to you.

Zoro

What about the bubble that came out of the jar?

Tashigi

I don't know. I buried the old man and then your friend took me away. What about it?

Zoro

Oh. Nothing.

Tashigi tries to enter the office, but Zoro grabs her arm and stops her.
Zoro

Did you come for him? Turn back. He's too strong.

Tashigi grabbing Zoro's arm as well

He killed an innocent man in front of me just to steal a sword. It's my duty to recover the stolen sword and bring him to Justice!
Now, let me go, Roronoa. Or do I need to remind you that you too carry a blade that's not yours?

Zoro troubled looking at his Wadō Ichimonji

Again with that!?
Look, I'm trying to warn you. If you fight him, you're only going to die.

Tashigi looking in Zoro's eyes as though she could see his soul at their bottom

Would that stop you from doing what you think is right?

Zoro doesn't reply.
Tashigi taking Zoro's hand off her

Then I'll fight and die serving Justice if I must!

Zoro lets her go and the two are on their way.
​
∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺∺

Yūfu river, at the edge of Kombu 

Sergeant Murasaki and his disciple Shutenmaru close in to the capital, running with the wind.
Shutenmaru

Sensei, I'm wondering... That grudge of yours with shogun Orochi... Isn't he dead already? I mean, shouldn't you be celebrating? Why are we chasing that monster?

Murasaki with a sour voice

Celebrating?

​

25 years ago, servants' quarters, Nori castle, the Flower Capital 

Orochi and his great grandmother Higurashi were having dinner.
Higurashi

Read them. Read the documents carefully, memorize them and then put them somewhere safe. They're not essential, but will surely save us a lot of trouble.

Orochi looking at the documents

But they're fake, right?

Higurashi

Of course they're fake! But they have the shogun's seal and that's what matters. You are now the rightful heir to the throne of Wano, Orochi!

Orochi

Wow, that's great! So, now we wait and when the shogun kicks the bucket we won't have to hide anymore.

Higurashi surprised

Wait?? Nikyokyokyo!! Oh, my sweet Orochi... how naive. No, now we don't wait. Kaidō's troops are already outside, ready to act.

Orochi

What? But what are we supposed to...

Higurashi

Don't trouble yourself with that, my boy. Stick to what I told you and leave the rest to me.

​
At the kitchen, finishing his dinner, Sergeant Murasaki was about to return to his duties.
Nate Ford

Oniwabanshu Commander "Sergeant" MURASAKI Greatest ninja in Wano Personal bodyguard of shogun Sukiyaki 

Murasaki

Thanks for the meal, Kuchina-san!! It was delicious!

The shogun himself suddenly entered.
Sukiyaki

Here you are, Murasaki-san.

Murasaki kneeling ashamed

Oh, excuse me, Sukiyaki-sama! Have I been late? I'm so so sorr...

Sukiyaki

You weren't late, Murasaki-san. But please come with me now.

Murasaki relieved

Yes, Sukiyaki-sama.

Sukiyaki

Wait.

With his right hand, Sukiyaki reaches for Murasaki's cheek and brushes his beard.
Sukiyaki

Hehe, I know the night is long, Murasaki, but don't carry your snacks like that any more.

Murasaki dying of embarrassment

No, Sukiyaki-sama. Forgive me, Sukiyaki-sama.

The two went to the castle's dungeon and stopped in front of a cell.
Sukiyaki

Murasaki-san, bring me the prisoner. I want to speak with him.

Murasaki

This one? He's just a petty thief that...

Sukiyaki interrupting

Fetch him.

As soon as Murasaki entered the cell, Sukiyaki turned around and left without a word.
Murasaki puzzled

Sukiyaki-sama?? Wha...? Wait.

But Murasaki couldn't get out of the cell. The door was open, yet the air in front of it was hard as glass and heavy like a mountain. Clueless, Murasaki tried to get out of there with increasingly brutish methods as his patience ran out, but to no avail.
Soon, the rest of the Oniwabanshu as well as many castle guards saw Sergeant Murasaki dragging around the palace the dead bodies of the shogun and his wife, cursing them and painting the walls red with their blood. Only then, Higurashi returned to the dungeon to hide in the cell next to Murasaki's with her son, Semimaru and finally release the shogun's bodyguard.
尾田栄一郎

Kurozumi clan 黒炭 茅蜩 (KUROZUMI HIGURASHI) Orochi's great grandmother 悪魔の実: Mane Mane no Mi (paramecia) 

When Murasaki got out of the cell, the rest of the Oniwabanshu already had him surrounded. Accused of regicide and without a chance to prove his innocence, the most loyal servant of shogun Sukiyaki could only escape.
​

Currently... 

Murasaki

With my own subordinates hot on my heels, coming for my head, my own disciples... I could only manage to go home, take my daughter Mai with me and hide in the mountains. My wife, my brother, my nephews, my father and my mother were all slaughtered in front of the castle next morning for everyone to see. My name forever tainted as the assassin of the shogun.
I won't let a single Kurozumi escape my vengeance.

​

Outskirts of the Flower capital, Kombu 

尾田栄一郎
As the capital celebrates Himatsuri, Samanosuke is about to arrive.
Sōketsu in Samanosuke's mind

One last effort. We're almost there.

Samanosuke out of breath

How pant How are we going to take pant Aki-chan to safety?
I can't go on. I don't have pant any strength left...

Sōketsu

We won't go anywhere. That'll be your home.

Samanosuke

No! pant It's not safe.
The city isn't pant safe for Aki. We need to take him pant to Kurama...

Sōketsu

It's not safe now, but we'll make it. Just give me the blood of a couple hundred more people and the citizens will learn their place! We'll rule through real fear and they will miss the times when your soft father was in charge! His softness let your mother die, young master. We won't make the same mistakes.

Abz-J-Harding
Samanosuke

No! pant pant
I'm not my father! I won't harm pant the people pant of this country.

Sōketsu

There is no other way, young master. If I don't get more blood, I won't be able to sustain your life longer. We have to...

Samanosuke interrupting

Then, pant feast on mine, Sōketsu.

Sōketsu

Young master, no!!

Samanosuke takes the blade in his hands and plunges it in his own belly. Soaked in Samanosuke's blood, the blade emits a loud wail as its power increases. (🎧 recommended: Ghost Love Score)
Sōketsu

You are his heir, young master. I won't let you die.
「Genma Ōgi: Yoru no Shinkō (Rising of the night)」

​
At the heart of the city, Akimanosuke runs back into the shogun's castle through his secret door. Mai goes after him chased, in turn, by Kanjūrō's monsters of ink.
Mai as she fends off the monsters

Disgusting yōkai, leave me alone!! And you, runt, you can't hide from me. I know all your little tricks!

At the pond, Kanjūrō takes Momonosuke in his arms.
尾田栄一郎
Kanjūrō

You shouldn't have done that, Shinobu. If anything happens to Akimanosuke-sama, I'll come for you.

Momonosuke struggles to break free.
Shinobu

Get away from Momonosuke-sama, traitor!!

Suddenly, the ground starts shaking, the buildings too.
Momonosuke to himself

(What's this? It's not like the other tremors from before. What is this feeling of anxiety I'm having all of a sudden?)

Soon, the whole city is in a deep shadow despite the full moon and clear sky. Not long after, the city starts to shapeshift. The buildings grow taller, their wooden walls turn to stone, the streets become crooked, narrower and darker. Panic and chaos ensue among the citizens no longer celebrating. The large pond becomes an open sewer and several towers sprout from the castle, each one larger than the previous. Full of chimneys and belltowers the new city emerges from the shadows looking like it came straight out of a horror novel.
Abz-J-Harding
Atop the new tower on the eastern gates of the city, Samanosuke watches.
Sōketsu in Samanosuke's mind

This will be our new home.

Samanosuke

Let's find pant Aki-chan.

Screeching, the crow-monster flaps his wings and flies towards the castle. Inside it, Mai has managed to capture Akimanosuke amidst the horrific transmutation of the building.
Mai frightened by the surreal event

What the hell is going on?? What is this sorcery??

She breaks out through a window only to find herself face to face with a nightmare.
Abz-J-Harding
Scared to death by the horrifying creature in front of her and disoriented by the unrecognizable landscape, Mai loses her balance and falls off the roof. With her life at risk, she forsakes Akimanosuke to save herself. Samanosuke is about to dive to catch his younger brother when...
Murasaki

Die, you horrendous creature!
「Supreme-jutsu: Deadly shuriken stream of endless suffering」❕❕

The old ninja appears throwing shurikens at Samanosuke in fast succession. They cut his feathers, tear his skin and pierce his body. Overwhelmed by the ferocious attack, Samanosuke falls down. Closer to the ground, Akimanosuke is also about to hit the floor when...
尾田栄一郎
Kanjūrō catches him mounted atop a crane he painted into being.
Aki very scared

Thank you, stranger-san. May I know who you are?

Kanjūrō

A distant relative and your bodyguard for the night, Akimanosuke-sama. By the way, you wouldn't have any idea about what just happened to... the whole city, would you?

Before Aki can reply, a gust of wind comes and beheads the crane. As they fall, Shutenmaru waits for them on the ground with a surprised look.
Shutenmaru

That crane was way softer than usual. How strange...

Kanjūrō angry

You're Ashura's boy, aren't you? What're you doing here??

Shutenmaru puzzled

I am, yes. Although currently I'm here at the behest of my sensei. Something about the kid or... ¿kids? There are two kids with you, sensei only spoke about one. Hm... now this is confusing.

Momonosuke

Aki, run! Let's find somewhere to hide!

Kanjūrō

No! Stay here. You're just making everything worse. I can't protect you if you leave!

Momonosuke as they leave

Many things aren't right tonight. Sorry for doubting you, Kanjūrō. Bye.

尾田栄一郎
Shutenmaru tries to chase them but Kanjūrō stops him. After some struggling, Kanjūrō manages to paint Shutenmaru's eyes in black, blinding him. Panicking at the sudden loss of sight, Shutenmaru doesn't notice the giant crow-like monster falling over him. With better things to do than to figure out what the monster is, Kanjūrō leaves as well in search of Aki and Momo. As the city turned into a dark labyrinth, he starts painting streetlamps everywhere he goes to mark the places he's already searched. The people that encounter him, who were celebrating until a while ago, look at him with fear. Some start to say he's the return of「The Great Sorcerer」and run away from him.
Searching for Aki too but through different streets, Mai asks the citizens at the same time she tells them Aki is the son of the shogun. Soon, the information spreads and mobs start searching for Aki too with torches and pitchforks in their hands. A Kurozumi child loose on the streets in a night without guards is a dream to many oppressed citizens. Here and there, people recognize Aki wherever him and Momonosuke go. People call them out, point fingers at them, they realize they're in trouble.
Kanjūrō's experience is quite the opposite, afraid, people get away when they see him. He pays no mind to that as he's only interested in finding the boys, but he does notice when people who escaped from him suddenly get past him still crying in fear. He turns his head to find out the reason.
Abz-J-Harding
Slowly and unsteadily, Samanosuke walks the streets with his long beak dripping fresh blood.
Samanosuke to himself

(No! I don't want to harm the innocent...)

Sōketsu in Samanosuke's mind

Do they look innocent to you? They tried to kill you!
Plus, we need it. We're too weak, but just this much should do the trick for now.
Wait, young master! Who's this man before us? It's strange...

尾田栄一郎
Kanjūrō summons his monsters of ink to fight the strange creature in front of him.
Kanjūrō

It's that monster again!

With the little strength left in him, Samanosuke flaps his wings, now with more holes than feathers, to escape and watch for Akimanosuke from some tower's roof. Quickly he finds that most streets have mobs advancing to the open sewers and finds Aki with another boy at the center not knowing where to escape.
Abz-J-Harding
Overwhelmed by the dramatic turn of events, Aki and Momo don't know what to do.
Momonosuke shocked

It was true. People from all around the city, people who know Aki and I've seen smiling at him, praising him and thanking him, they're coming for his life as soon as they were told he's a Kurozumi.
What am I going to do???

Among the mob, Sergeant Murasaki and his daughter Mai witness silently how their justice materializes. But Samanosuke arrives. Clumsily, the mortally sick and heavily wounded crow lands a few steps behind Momo and Aki. The sudden arrival startles both kids at first. Terror freezes Aki in place but Momonosuke instantly has a hunch.
Momonosuke

I know you!

Akimanosuke

What? What're you saying, Momo?

Momonosuke

I saw you once. At the palace. You're the「Witching-hour boy」, right? You're his elder brother.

Samanosuke almost voiceless

That's pant right...
Aki-chan, pant It's me.

Impatient, Sergeant Murasaki rallies the mob.
Murasaki taking someone's pitchfork in his hands and shouting

The kids and the monster are the sons of the shogun!! BURN THEM! Burn the Kurozumi!!
leaping 「Supreme-jutsu: Deadly spear of divine justice」❕❕

He throws the pitchfork at Aki with incredible strength and speed as the mob runs towards them with their torches held high. Samanosuke covers both kids with his body. The pitchfork gets through one wing and pierces Samanosuke's heart. Under the cover of his black feathers, Akimanosuke's face is splattered in blood.
Aki completely shaken

What's this, oni-chan?? What's going on??

Samanosuke

(This is like what happened to mom... Dad was right. There's no other way...)
Aki-chan pant I'm sorry for pant not being there for you pant more. I wish pant things had been pant different. I wish we had pant more time.

Aki

Oni-chan, why are you saying this??

Samanosuke to Momonosuke

Boy... please pant look after him. pant Protect him when I'm pant gone.

Momonosuke nodding

I will.

Samanosuke

Aki, when pant this is over, pant take my sword pant with you. But now, pant cover your ears.
Sōketsu... (Lend me your power one last time. This is the end for me.)

Sōketsu in Samanosuke's mind

Thank you, young master. It's been an honour.

Abz-J-Harding
Samanosuke

「Genma: pant Seishinbyō (Psychosis)」

Samanosuke shrieks as loud as he can. All of those who hear his voice are immediately driven crazy and start fighting among themselves like zombies. As Samanosuke's dead body falls over Momo and Aki and turns human again, his screeching is soon replaced by Aki's heartbreaking cry as he realizes his borther's demise.
​
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment or ask whatever you want to share. All feedback is welcome!

← Previous chapter Index Second half →

Let me start by saying that I have reached the maximum level of connection with all the structures, I have collected all the memory chips, I would like to complete this trophy but I am stuck at 103 equipment, I've tried to build each rig at a time, but I feel like I'm missing something... Looking at the photos of my rig, can anyone tell me if I'm missing anything?

​
https://preview.redd.it/49ym4oc1fq1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2ec4ce5a6ca857ffc68ea58417e0b3a3b51c9e8
Are you in need of a versatile and reliable knife for your outdoor adventures? Look no further than the Cold Steel Oss Knife! In this article, we'll take a closer look at the features, benefits, and reviews of this popular blade. Get ready to discover why the Oss Knife is a top choice for those seeking the ultimate knife for their outdoor pursuits.

The Top 19 Best Cold Steel Oss Knife

1. Classic Cold Steel Tanto Point Boot Knife - Embrace the might of the Cold Steel Kobun, a lightweight and resilient Tanto styled boot knife with an AUS-8A blade, Kraton handle, and Kydex sheath, perfect for soldier-like adventures.
2. Compact and lightweight Cold Steel Peace Maker II knife - Experience exceptional versatility and comfort with the Cold Steel Peace Maker II - a discreetly carried, lightweight belt knife suitable for hunting, fishing, and self-defense.
3. Slim and Effective Steel Surveillance Knife for Self-Defense - Cold Steel Secret Edge 11SDT Knife: A slim, featherweight, and highly effective neck knife, inspired by the ancient Scottish skean dhu, with a flat-ground AUS 8A stainless blade and secure-ex sheath for reliable retention and swift access.
4. Cold Steel FGX Cat Tanto: Sleek and Impervious Serrated Knife - The Cold Steel FGX Cat Tanto, a stealthy and durable addition to the Nightshade series, offers a lightweight, versatile solution for self-defense and survival situations, making it a must-have for those seeking ultimate protection.
5. VG-1 San Mai 3 Stainless Steel Cold Steel Oss Hunting Knife with Kray-Ex Handle - Experience unparalleled performance and durability with the Cold Steel Master Hunter - the ultimate American-made hunting knife, praised by top hunters worldwide.
6. Highly Durable Cold Steel Bushman Knife for Survival Needs - Experience unparalleled strength and versatility with the Cold Steel Bushman Knife, an expertly crafted survival tool with a 10.1 oz steel blade and customizable handle options for ultimate efficiency and reach.
7. Cold Steel Trench Hawk Trainer - Practical, Durable, and Safe Tomahawk Training - Experience realistic Tomahawk training with Cold Steel's Trench Hawk Trainer - offering exact size, weight and feel, while prioritizing safety with durable synthetic materials.
8. Versatile Full-tang Stainless Steel Cold Steel Oss Knife - Experience unmatched durability and versatility with the Cold Steel FX65RZR Razor Tek, perfect for your next wilderness adventure.
9. Lightweight Miniature Cold Steel Super Edge Knife - A tiny yet mighty blade, the Cold Steel Super Edge combines a rugged design, versatile functions, and comfort to create the ultimate all-in-one knife without weighing you down.
10. Cold Steel Commercial Series 10" Chef's Knife for Durability and Versatility - Experience the versatile and professional Cold Steel Commercial Series 10" Chef's Knife, constructed with German 4116 Steel for ease of re-sharpening, and featuring a durable Zy-Ex core handle with a comfortable, non-slip Kray-Ex exterior.
11. Heavy-Duty, Comfortable Cold Steel Kitchen Knife - Carve your way to culinary perfection with the Cold Steel Kitchen Classics Chef Knife, featuring a precision-ground 4116 German stainless steel blade and an ergonomic Kray-Ex handle for unmatched grip and performance.
12. Cold Steel OSS Knife: Efficient Field Tool with Japanese AUS8A Stainless Steel Blade - The Cold Steel 39LSSS OSI Tactical Gear is a perfectly balanced, ultra-sharp single-edged knife capable of handling any field task with a thin, hollow ground Japanese AUS 8A Stainless Steel blade – all packaged in a Secure-Ex sheath for added safety.
13. Commercial-Grade Butcher Knife from Cold Steel - Unleash the power of the Cold Steel Commercial Series Butcher Knife, perfect for commercial and professional use with its razor-sharp German 4116 steel and comfortable handles for durability and ease of grip.
14. Cold Steel Oss Scimitar Knife for Commercial Uses - Experience versatile and reliable performance with the Cold Steel Commercial Series Scimitar Knife, crafted from premium cryo-quenched German 4116 Steel and featuring comfortable non-slip handles for unparalleled grip and durability.
15. Cold Steel Urban Pal: Lightweight Urban Survival Knife for Security in Today's World - Survive and thrive in the urban jungle with the Cold Steel Urban Pal, featuring a strong AUS-8A stainless steel blade, Kraton handle for optimal grip, and Secure-Ex molded sheath, perfect for self-defense or everyday carry.
16. Tactical Drop-Forged Tomahawk Knife - Cold Steel War Hawk - Cold Steel War Hawk - a tactical and military-grade 19in overall fighting hawk, combining strength and historical design elements for efficient obstacle breaching and cutting.
17. Cold Steel Oss Reversible Tanto Knife with Secure-Ex Sheath - Unlock unyielding strength and convenience with the Cold Steel 40A Click N Cut, a versatile utility knife perfect for tough cutting tasks and priced reasonably for long-lasting usage.
18. Cold Steel All Terrain Chopper: Versatile Bushcraft Machete with Tough Steel Construction and Comfortable Carry Sheath - The Cold Steel All Terrain Chopper w/Sheath offers a multitude of survival and bushcraft capabilities, thanks to its sharp blade and point and tough full-tang steel construction.
19. Premium Six Steak Knife Set by Cold Steel Kitchen Classics - Elevate your culinary experience with the Cold Steel - Kitchen Classics, featuring six ice-tempered, precision-ground steak knives in a stylish Oak countertop stand, providing comfort and superior cutting performance.

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Reviews

🔗Classic Cold Steel Tanto Point Boot Knife

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https://preview.redd.it/bfs3dmv1fq1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f692528d0f06b7b510feab444105a0dfc9f2ecf
As someone who often finds themselves in need of a reliable blade for everyday use, I've had the pleasure of testing out the Cold Steel Kobun. This lightweight Tanto styled boot knife is definitely a handy addition to have on hand. I was instantly impressed by its sharp, reinforced point that contrasts with the thin blades commonly found in other boots knives.
One feature that stood out to me was the Kobun's deeply checkered Kraton handle. It offers an excellent grip, making the knife more secure in the hand. The cross section of the handle is also surprisingly thin, while still providing enough thickness to resist turning or shifting.
Another notable aspect of the Kobun is that it comes complete with a Secure-Ex sheath. This sturdy sheath makes it easy to attach the knife securely to your belt, ensuring that it remains easily accessible whenever you need it.
However, there was one downside that I discovered while using the Kobun. The default clip that was included with the knife was quite weak and didn't hold up well to everyday wear. I had to replace it with a Blade-Tech brand Tek-Lok belt attachment in order to ensure a more secure and reliable attachment to my belt.
Overall, the Cold Steel Kobun has been a reliable and versatile companion during my everyday activities. I would highly recommend it to anyone in need of a durable and efficient boot knife for both personal and practical use.

🔗Compact and lightweight Cold Steel Peace Maker II knife

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https://preview.redd.it/r4cn4d62fq1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34066e36fe7248ac15437009b8f9ecc50971b805
I've been using the Cold Steel Peace Maker II for a few weeks now, and I must say, it's a game-changer. The knife is incredibly lightweight, making it perfect for daily carry. I've been using it for a variety of tasks, from opening boxes to trimming small branches, and it's handled every job with ease.
One of the standout features is the Scandi ground blade, which is incredibly easy to resharpen. The unique compound ground clip point provides a stiff distal tapered point capable of piercing thick targets without compromising precious cutting power.
The ergonomic handle design is another plus, with a thin, rectangular shape and subtle contouring. The palm swell and double quillon guard offer both comfort and protection. The knife also comes with a secure-ex sheath, which is cut and stab-resistant and impervious to the elements. The sheath attachment is sturdy and won't come loose, even during strenuous activities.
However, the blade does require frequent sharpening due to its soft steel composition. But considering the product's affordability, it's a small price to pay for the versatility and convenience it offers. The Peace Maker II is a reliable, multifunctional knife that's perfect for those who need a reliable and versatile cutting tool.

🔗Slim and Effective Steel Surveillance Knife for Self-Defense

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https://preview.redd.it/g1r2r6h2fq1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fdec35fb0b41a67b4a10a5ce1eab59421c92f5be
Recently, I've been trying out the Cold Steel Secret Edge 11SDT Knife, and let me tell you, it's been a game-changer. This sleek little thing, perfect for self-defense, fits conveniently under any clothing, making it the ideal secret weapon (if you can keep it that way! ). It's so lightweight, you'll barely notice the half-pound heft, and the 4-inch blade is sharp as a tack – if you're not paying close attention, the edges might leave you astounded, your friends and family, that is.
Now, we all know that sharpness can sometimes come at a cost - durability. However, this knife's AUS 8A stainless steel blade seems to handle it all, remaining steady even after some of my more intense activities. The flat ground design does wonders against whatever material it clashes with.
The Secret Edge also includes a Secure-Ex sheath, a reliable retention system that's quick to access and deploy without compromising safety—perfect for those urgent moments. And it's equipped with a thin, flat faux G-10 handle, ergonomic enough to stay put in your hand while preventing any slippage or rolling. The three-hole design and aggressively textured surface ensure a grip like no other.
However, there are a few minor things that I've picked up on:

1. The edge is only 3.5 inches long, despite the claim of a 3.5-inch blade length, which does diminish its cutting power.
2. The product's description said it has no weight, but it actually weighs 3.2 ounces. It might seem negligible, but it makes a difference, especially over long periods of wear.

Overall, the Cold Steel Secret Edge 11SDT Knife has been a remarkable addition to my daily life. Its unassuming appearance, while still offering reliable functionality, makes it a top choice for those in need of a tactful self-defense tool.

🔗Cold Steel FGX Cat Tanto: Sleek and Impervious Serrated Knife

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I remember the day I brought home my Cold Steel FGX Cat Tanto. The sleek black design and the promise of a lightweight yet durable knife piqued my curiosity. It was a perfect addition to my collection of self-defense tools, for those moments when you need to protect yourself and your loved ones.
The handle, made of Kraton, felt great in my hand, with its solid grip that remained unaffected by temperature and moisture. It was a great contrast to the Grivory blade finish, which made the knife look even more menacing. I loved how the tanto point blade shape gave a perfect balance between sharpness and durability.
However, it wasn't all roses. The Cold Steel FGX Cat Tanto felt a bit underwhelming when it came to cutting tasks. Its plastic blade just didn't have the same edge retention as a traditional steel blade, making it not ideal for more demanding tasks like cutting through thick materials.
Still, for the price and as a lightweight and corrosion-resistant self-defense tool, the Cold Steel FGX Cat Tanto has proven to be quite the handy piece. It's a unique addition to any collection, and it's been a great conversation starter among my friends and family.

🔗VG-1 San Mai 3 Stainless Steel Cold Steel Oss Hunting Knife with Kray-Ex Handle

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As a reviewer who has tried the Cold Steel Master Hunter, I can confidently say that it has become my go-to knife for various outdoor activities. One of the features that stood out to me was the comfortable, deeply checkered Kraton grip, which allows for long-term use without any discomfort. The broad, thin blade with a distinct taper provides exceptional cutting ability, edge retention, and ease of resharpening.
However, one of the cons I encountered was the knife's tendency to be easily lost due to its minimalistic design. I also noticed that the blade occasionally required additional sharpening, despite its excellent edge retention. Nevertheless, the overall performance and durability of the Master Hunter make it a reliable and versatile tool for all your hunting needs.

🔗Highly Durable Cold Steel Bushman Knife for Survival Needs

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Recently, I had the pleasure of using the Cold Steel Bushman Knife and let me tell you, my experience was quite an adventure. This knife, with its 7-inch blade made of SK-5 high carbon steel, proved to be a reliable companion on my outdoor excursions.
One of the standout features was its hollow handle, which was surprisingly versatile. I was able to store a few essentials inside, and with the right handle extensions, I could reach impressive lengths for certain tasks. The knife's unique construction allowed for a seamless blend of blade and handle, which gave it a solid, reliable feel.
However, there was one drawback to my experience: the sheath. While the Secure-Ex sheath featured a Ferrocerium Fire Steel, which was convenient for starting fires, it had a few issues. The locking mechanism was less than secure, making it prone to accidental release. It also lacked a left-handed option, which could be a dealbreaker for some users.
Despite these minor setbacks, the Cold Steel Bushman Knife proved to be a sturdy and practical tool for various outdoor activities. With its strong blade and adaptable handle, it was a reliable ally on my adventures. While the sheath could use some improvements, the knife itself more than made up for it.

🔗Cold Steel Trench Hawk Trainer - Practical, Durable, and Safe Tomahawk Training

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When I got my hands on the Cold Steel Trench Hawk Trainer, I was immediately impressed by its size and weight. The synthetic material felt surprisingly sturdy and authentic, making it perfect for learning the ropes without the danger of injury.
Not to mention, it closely resembles the actual Trench Hawk, so every training session felt like a real-life scenario. However, the weight was noticeably lighter than the real deal, which might not be ideal for those looking for a more accurate experience.
Overall, the Trench Hawk Trainer provided a safe and effective way to hone my skills, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to up their training game.

🔗Versatile Full-tang Stainless Steel Cold Steel Oss Knife

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I recently tried out the Cold Steel Razor Tek, and I must say, it's a versatile and sturdy blade that has made quite an impact in my outdoor adventures. The 6.5" 5mm thick recurve blade is a powerful tool for those who need a reliable knife for larger tasks - it's perfect for chopping. The ergonomic and textured handle provides a comfortable grip that's suitable for any wilderness outing.
One feature that stood out to me is the secure-ex belt sheath, which holds the knife securely and makes it easy to access when needed. The 11.7 oz weight is manageable, allowing for long-term usage without causing fatigue. However, the knife's size and thickness might not be ideal for everyone, so it's essential to consider if it's suitable for your specific needs.
Overall, the Cold Steel Razor Tek is a well-crafted blade that would be an excellent addition to any outdoor enthusiast's arsenal. The 4116 stainless steel and the black Gfn handle make it a reliable and stylish choice. While it may not be the cheapest option on the market, the Razor Tek's quality and durability make it a worthwhile investment for those looking for a dependable cutting tool.

🔗Lightweight Miniature Cold Steel Super Edge Knife

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The Super Edge is the ultimate keychain companion for any adventurous spirit. With its sleek design and razor-sharp blade, this little powerhouse can take on any task thrown at it. Whether you're taming a wild zipper or cutting through a tough piece of rope, the Super Edge never disappoints.
Its lightweight construction and secure sheath make it a discreet and convenient carry option, ensuring you're prepared for any situation. While its diminutive size may fool some, never underestimate the capabilities of this impressive workhorse.
The Super Edge has proven itself as a reliable tool in the hands of users, earning its stellar reputation as one of the best keychain knives on the market.

🔗Cold Steel Commercial Series 10" Chef's Knife for Durability and Versatility

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I recently got my hands on the Cold Steel Commercial Series Chef's Knife, and I must say, it has been a game-changer in my daily life. The knife's razor-sharp cryo-quenched German 4116 steel not only makes cutting vegetables and meat a breeze but also re-sharpening is a breeze in the field.
The handle, featuring a stiff Zy-Ex core for durability and a non-slip Kray-Ex exterior, provides a comfortable grip for hours of use. This knife has become a staple in my kitchen, and I find myself reaching for it every time I need to chop anything.
However, one downside I've noticed is the build quality. The knife I received had a small gap between the handle and the blade, which might pose a hygiene problem when used for meat and fish. But overall, it's a fantastic kitchen knife for the price, and I highly recommend it for everyday use.

🔗Heavy-Duty, Comfortable Cold Steel Kitchen Knife

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The Cold Steel Kitchen Classics Chef Knife has been a lifesaver in my daily kitchen tasks. The 8-inch blade is incredibly sharp and holds its edge well, making it perfect for everything from slicing through tomatoes to chopping up a variety of fruits and veggies. The handle is also quite comfortable to grip, providing a secure and solid hold.
One of the highlights of this knife is its German 4116 stainless cryo-quenched material, which ensures the blade remains sharp and durable. I especially enjoyed the terrific stiff Zy-Ex core and the softer, deeply checkered Kray-Ex exterior handle for a non-slip grip. This knife has been my go-to in the kitchen, and I appreciate its reasonable price tag.
However, there was one downside: the grip started to peel and break after about two years of use. Nonetheless, this knife truly stands out for its superb sharpness, comfort, and durability.

🔗Cold Steel OSS Knife: Efficient Field Tool with Japanese AUS8A Stainless Steel Blade

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I recently had the pleasure of using the Cold Steel 39LSSS OSI Tactical Gear during a few camping trips. This knife truly shines when it comes to cutting and slashing through tough materials. The blade's thin ultra-keen edge is a testament to its impressive performance.
One of the standout features of this knife is its Secure-Ex Sheath, which keeps it safely tucked away when not in use. The Japanese AUS 8A Stainless Steel blade lends a sense of durability and reliability, perfect for those who need a versatile and effective blade in their daily life.
However, there are a couple of minor drawbacks worth mentioning. The handle/guard is a bit flexible, which may not be ideal for heavy-duty tasks. Additionally, some users have found it a bit challenging to remove the knife from the Secure-Ex Sheath.
Despite these minor drawbacks, the Cold Steel 39LSSS OSI Tactical Gear has proven to be a reliable and effective companion on my camping trips. Its balance and heft make it a joy to use, and the Secure-Ex Sheath ensures that it's always ready for action. Overall, this is an impressive knife that's well worth considering for anyone in need of a reliable and versatile blade for various purposes.

🔗Commercial-Grade Butcher Knife from Cold Steel

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As a home chef, I've always been on the lookout for affordable yet high-quality knives. That's when I stumbled upon the Cold Steel Commercial Series Butcher Knife 8.0 in Blade. Impressed by the sharpness and durability of the blade upon first use, I knew that this knife could handle any heavy-duty task in my kitchen.
One of the features that stood out to me is the ergonomic design of the handle. The Zy-Ex core adds rigidity, while the softer, food-safe Kray-Ex exterior provides a comfortable, non-slip grip. After hours of chopping vegetables and cutting meat, my hand never felt tired or overwhelmed. This is truly a game-changer when it comes to kitchen knives.
However, the blade is quite heavy, which requires a certain level of force to wield effectively. For those with weaker hands or for tasks that don't require much pressure, this may be an issue. But, in my experience, the weight has been a welcome addition to the overall power of the knife.
When it comes to sharpening, the cryo-quenched German 4116 Steel holds an edge remarkably well. I've used it extensively without any significant blade degradation. The knives also do not rust easily, a crucial factor when dealing with raw meat or wet conditions.
Overall, the Cold Steel Commercial Series Butcher Knife 8.0 in Blade has proven to be a reliable addition to my kitchen arsenal. Its sharpness, durability, and robustness make it a worthwhile investment for both home cooks and professionals alike.

🔗Cold Steel Oss Scimitar Knife for Commercial Uses

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The Cold Steel Commercial Series Scimitar Knife has truly become an indispensable addition to my daily life, thanks to its remarkable design and unmatched quality. This Taiwanese-made knife is perfect for all sorts of tasks, from hunting and fishing to commercial kitchens and butcher shops. The 10-inch blade, made from premium cryo-quenched German 4116 Steel, is incredibly sharp and re-sharpenable.
Its durable handle, featuring a stiff Zy-Ex core and a comfortable non-slip grip made from Kray-Ex, is a game-changer for long hours of usage. The knife's satin finish gives it a sleek look, and its overall length of 15.25 inches offers ample reach for an array of applications.
My experience with this knife has been nothing short of fantastic, and I highly recommend it to anyone who values versatility, durability, and quality.

Buyer's Guide

The Cold Steel OSS Knife is a versatile, reliable, and durable option for outdoor enthusiasts, campers, and survivalists. Designed for various tasks, this versatile knife can be used for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities. In this buyer's guide, we will discuss the important features, considerations, and general advice about the Cold Steel OSS Knife and similar products.
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Key Features of the Cold Steel OSS Knife

• Durable and Lightweight Construction: The Cold Steel OSS Knife is made from high-quality materials like 1095 Steel and is designed to be lightweight and easy to handle.
• Versatile Design: The knife features a versatile design with a tanto tip that offers both cutting and piercing capabilities.
• Secure Locking Mechanism: The Cold Steel OSS Knife has a secure locking mechanism that ensures the blade remains safely in the handle.
• Ergonomic Handle: The knife's handle is designed to provide a comfortable grip, even when wet, and features contoured lines for optimal finger positioning.

Important Considerations When Choosing a Knife

• Purpose: Determine the primary use of the knife. This could include hunting, camping, fishing, or other outdoor activities.
• Blade Type: Different blade types offer various advantages. Tanto blades, like those found on the Cold Steel OSS Knife, combine cutting and piercing capabilities.
• Durability: Consider the knife's durability and the materials from which it is constructed.
• Weight: Consider the knife's weight and how it may affect its ease of use in various situations.
• Grip Comfort: The handle's design and comfort are essential for optimal performance and control.

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General Advice for Cold Steel OSS Knife Owners

Proper maintenance and care are essential for ensuring the longevity and performance of your Cold Steel OSS Knife. Always clean the blade after use and apply a protective coating to prevent corrosion. It is also recommended to sharpen the blade regularly for optimal performance.
The Cold Steel OSS Knife is a reliable and versatile option for outdoor enthusiasts looking for a durable and lightweight knife. By considering the key features and important considerations when choosing a knife, you can make an informed decision and find the perfect tool for your needs.

FAQ

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What is the Cold Steel Oss Knife?

The Cold Steel Oss Knife is a tactical knife designed for survival and self-defense situations. It is a sturdy, durable knife that features a full tang construction, making it suitable for heavy-duty tasks.

What materials are used in the construction of the Cold Steel Oss Knife?

The Cold Steel Oss Knife is made of high-quality materials, including a 6V14 stainless steel blade and Zytel handle. The blade is designed for excellent edge retention and resistance to corrosion, while the handle offers a comfortable grip and durability.
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What kind of blade does the Cold Steel Oss Knife have?

The Cold Steel Oss Knife features a spear-point blade, which offers a combination of strength and piercing power. The blade has a length of 5 inches and a thickness of 0.143 inches.

What is the handle of the Cold Steel Oss Knife made of?

The handle of the Cold Steel Oss Knife is made of Zytel, a high-performance thermoplastic that offers excellent grip and durability. The handle also features a finger guard and a lanyard hole for easy retention.

What is the weight of the Cold Steel Oss Knife?

The Cold Steel Oss Knife weighs approximately 7.2 ounces, making it a lightweight yet sturdy option for survival and self-defense situations.

Is the Cold Steel Oss Knife suitable for outdoor activities?

Yes, the Cold Steel Oss Knife is a versatile knife that is suitable for a wide range of outdoor activities, including camping, hunting, and hiking. Its durable construction and versatile blade make it a valuable tool for various survival situations.

What is the best way to maintain the Cold Steel Oss Knife?

To maintain the Cold Steel Oss Knife, it is recommended to clean it regularly after use and avoid storing it in a damp environment. Additionally, it should be periodically sharpened to ensure optimal performance.
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“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

A similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job, buzzed me on the 405 Freeway/
INTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

INTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

A similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job buzzed me on the 405 Freeway
Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

A Similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job, buzzed me on the 405 Freeway.
INTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

A similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job, buzzed me on the 405 Freeway
IINTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

A similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job, buzzed me on the 405 Freeway
INTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

A similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job buzzed me on the 405 Freeway .
INTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/