Copy and pasted it on a google doc so I wouldnt loose it

Update #3 appears at the bottom.
Due to numerous disparaging comments by multiple individuals, I have reposted my article.
Heckling does not change what occurred. People need to know these truths, especially those who have experienced the same. They need to know they are sane, that such things are indeed being perpetrated, and the perpetrators use shame to silence them and protect their activities.
I write to encourage them not to listen to disparaging people who speak without knowledge.
February 10, 2024
I am Joseph Cafariello, a Canadian citizen and ex-member of the Canadian military. Of sound mind, not on medication, not a drug user, not a marijuana smoker, not an alcohol drinker, with no mental disorders.
I recently posted to this Liberty subreddit experiences of harassment by Vancouver's police and fire departments (Vancouver, BC, Canada). I’m the fellow who was repeatedly ordered by police to stay out of Vancouver’s Stanley Park, and was continually harassed whenever I visited the park (which I do every second day on my early morning walks).
Immediately following that post, they changed some of the techniques they use in my case. They were either informed of my post or found it themselves, seeing as my internet activity, and phone activity for that matter, are under continuous surveillance (plenty of proof which I will not include here to avoid running off-topic).
In this post, I would like to shed some light on other harassment which is still ongoing, since it occurs in private, away from potential observers. It involves the Canadian and US militaries.
Havana Syndrome
In 2016, numerous employees of the Canadian and US embassies in Havana, Cuba, started experiencing head injuries ranging from mild headaches to concussions. It happened in their sleep, and came to be called Havana Syndrome.
Wikipedia explains (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana\_syndrome):
“Havana syndrome is a cluster of idiopathic symptoms experienced mostly abroad by U.S. government officials and military personnel. The symptoms range in severity from pain and ringing in the ears to cognitive dysfunction and were first reported in 2016 by U.S. and Canadian embassy staff in Havana, Cuba. Beginning in 2017, more people, including U.S. intelligence and military personnel and their families, reported having these symptoms in other places, such as China, India, Europe, and Washington, D.C. The U.S. Department of State, Department of Defense, and other federal entities have called the events "Anomalous Health Incidents" (AHI). Of over a thousand purported cases, the majority of US investigative bodies found only a few dozen cases to be suspicious.”
Ladies and gentlemen, I can tell you exactly what happens, because I have been experiencing this since I first joined the Canadian military back in 2002, and am still experiencing these “torments” (as I call them) to this day, already 3 years after leaving the military.
I go to bed. In about 15 minutes, just as I am on the cusp of falling asleep, a hear and feel a heavy thud reverberate and ultimately strike my skull. My body releases a sharp burst of adrenalin, my heart starts racing, and my blood’s circulation speeds up significantly. Depending on the severity of the blow, it can take me anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to fall asleep again. Though there have been times I could not return to sleep for more than 2 hours.
A strong headache is felt immediately, and lasts for hours. There have been times when my heart felt like it was going to burst, having been startled as such.
The pulse to the head sometimes reverberates through the wall and my bed’s headboard. I distinctly feel as though I have been hit on the top of my skull. At other times, it feels as though the pulse has come through the air, striking the side of my skull.
This is not a sleep disorder, for it does not occur regularly. At times, my sleep is disturbed in this manner 3 or 4 days in a row. At other times, there is no disturbance for up to a week. But they never let me go more than a week without such interruptions to my sleep.
Neither is it sleep apnea, as I do not awaken gasping for breath. The pounding headaches, sudden release of adrenaline, and heart palpitations I experience are caused by external impacts of sound waves or air bursts.
Sonic Weapons
How these pulses are produced is not easy to identify. As Wikipedia explains:
“Once the story became public, various U.S. government representatives attributed the incidents to attacks by unidentified foreign actors, and various U.S. officials blamed the reported symptoms on a variety of unidentified and unknown technologies, including ultrasound and microwave weapons.”
Sonic weapons have been in use for many years by militaries, and by police in crowd control. As Wikipedia explains (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic\_weapon):
“Some sonic weapons make a focused beam of sound or of ultrasound; others produce an area field of sound. As of 2023 military and police forces make some limited use of sonic weapons.”
(Do not believe the 2023 timeline. The Canadian military has been using these weapons since the early 2000’s at the latest.)
Wikipedia continues:
“Extremely high-power sound waves can disrupt or destroy the eardrums of a target and cause severe pain or disorientation. This is usually sufficient to incapacitate a person. Less powerful sound waves can cause humans to experience nausea or discomfort.”
The users of these technologies must also be using thermal detection equipment to monitor the target’s sleep. As I mentioned, I most often feel these blows the moment I am falling asleep. Body temperature drops when we sleep, and brain activity slows. Heat-detection equipment is likely being used to identify the point at which the target is falling asleep.
Why they prefer to strike at the start of someone’s sleep as opposed to the middle of their sleep, I do not know. Perhaps their intent is to deprive the body of early sleep, limiting the amount of deep sleep available to the person before their alarm rings in the morning.
Ordinary Hammers
Not all such “torments” (as I call them) are caused by high-tech equipment. I have heard and felt distinct hammer strikes running along the 2x4 beams inside my walls. These strikes can be a single hard strike, or several strikes in a row. It is definitely caused by a person with a hammer because the intervals between strikes are equidistant in time; that is, the time spacing between strikes is not random and does not change from strike to strike, but is constant between strikes, exactly as when someone is hammering. And no, it is not someone hanging pictures at 1:30 am, multiple times a week, for years.
On one occasion, when I was standing at my kitchen sink, I felt the floor-board directly under my feet pulse so sharply it felt like a brick had struck the soles of my feet. In this case, my military neighbour likely used a hammer to strike the floorboard on his side of the wall. It is the only plausible explanation.
Surveillance
This leads to surveillance of one’s activities at home. I have plenty of proofs of that. They seem insignificant on an individual basis. But when you put them all together, they present a clear picture of home surveillance.
My laptop computer’s lid cracked one night, at the bottom left corner of the screen. The next day at work, I heard my military supervisor relate to another co-worker that the night before, his laptop computer’s lid cracked at the bottom left corner. I swear to the Lord in Heaven, I am being truthful.
I tested my suspicion of being surveilled. At home one night, I blurted out-loud, “VW Passat. What an ugly sounding word, ‘Passat’”, I said. A few days later, my military colleagues at work started playing a card game at lunch, invented by one of them. The name he gave his game was “Passat”, and when he spoke it, he looked at me for a reaction. If you ever contact the Halifax military base, ask for the Claims Department and ask them if they are still playing Passat.
On another occasion, at a time when I frequented the gym every second day for a few years, I suspected my van had been fitted with a listening device. I suspected so because a number of things I had spoken with people about on my phone while in my van (nothing illegal) were repeated by people at the gym in conversations among themselves. Too many times, parts of other people's conversations matched parts of conversations I had had with others while I was in my van.
I already knew my phone was being tapped, but I also suspected my van was bugged. So one evening while driving in my van, I blurted out-loud a number of things I said I hated. "I hate (this or that)"; "I hate it when...". One of them was, "I hate when people chew gum with their mouths open." I then vocalized an exaggerated gnawing sound, "Gnaw. Gnaw. Gnaw."
The very next time I went to the gym, 2 days later, while I was at an exercise, a fellow sat at an exercise directly behind me. And sure enough, he started chewing with his mouth open, vocalizing that gnawing sound, "Gnaw. Gnaw. Gnaw." I didn't look behind at him, because I knew what was going on, and I wanted to avoid playing into his hand. So he repeated himself again and again until I was done and moved to a different station. Now, honestly, who chews gum at the gym? You can't. Or you run the risk of choking for the heavy breathing, not to mention when laying down on benches. And with precisely the same exaggerated vocalized gnawing sound I had made in my van just 2 days prior.
Their whole intent is to let you know you are being surveilled. They want you to know, as both a warning and a provocation. They want you to say something, to launch accusations, which they would readily deny, making you look paranoid. If you react too strongly, they could even have you diagnosed with some kind of disorder, and put you on medication, which further plays into their hand. (More regarding medications in the last section of this post.)
This is why, as I mentioned in my previous post, they would park their cars shining their high beams on me as I walked past them during my morning walk. And why on some occasions, a group of 3 or 4 would exit their cars and stand on my path just as I approached, forcing me to go around them. They would then remain standing on the path until my return trip through, and after I had passed by the second time, then would then return to their cars - making it absolutely clear I was their interest.
Their intent is not only to make me aware, but also to present themselves in close proximity to me, within easy reach, in the hope I would confront them, resulting in an altercation that could land me in a lot of hot water - 4 witnesses against me, all pleading innocence.
Again, it is all designed to make you look bad, and to warrant some kind of legal measure against you - preferably a medical diagnosis, discrediting you in everything you say about them. If they can't refute your claims, their only remaining option is to discredit you. That's what all of these tricks are designed to accomplish. Who would believe anything you say, once you have been diagnosed with a disorder?
There are plenty more examples. But who would really believe them? I’ll save them for the future.
Home Invasion
Both during and after my military service, I have had my apartments entered without any signs of break-ins. How? Lock-picking and duplicate keys. Indications? Missing objects; ie: money, phone adaptor, etc. Nothing major. Just something to make us understand we are being watched, and to make us understand what they can do.
But it is always something small, something for which you would be ridiculed for divulging.
Two more examples: I found my razor, which I always lay-down razor-end to the wall, turned around, razor-end toward me. Also, in one of my house slippers I found a small shoe sticker on the up-side of the heel. I had those slipper for years, and never had any shoe stickers on them. Yet there it was, clearly visible on the top surface of my slipper, not the bottom. Could I have stepped on a shoe sticker when barefoot in my apartment, only to have the sticker transfer itself to my slipper when I wore it? How many shoe stickers do you have laying around your apartment that you can accidentally step onto?
If I had stepped onto a sticker in my apartment and had it stick to my heel, that means the sticky side was up against my skin. This means the sticker would have had to flip upside down such that the sticky side would then be down, allowing the sticker to stick to the slipper. Do you really think that happened? That sticker was not there when I left my apartment, but it was there when I returned. And it was the wrong sticker, wrong brand, wrong size.
Again, what is their intent? To make someone look ridiculous so no one will believe them should they speak of other more sensitive things.
Staged Incidents
The above incidents clearly point to coordinated and staged events (at my work, my home, on my walks, etc). This is so frequently met with incredulity. "But that would require coordination on the part of so many people," the public dismisses. "They wouldn't do that."
Oh yes they would, and they have, as explained in https://fightgangstalking.com/. Note the documented cases involving the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, Canada's equivalent to the US' CIA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP, Canada's national police force) in the second quote, which were reported in national newspapers.
From https://fightgangstalking.com/:
“Disruption operations often involve tactics which are illegal, but difficult to prove. These tactics include – but are not limited to – overt surveillance (stalking), slander, blacklisting, “mobbing” (intense, organized harassment in the workplace), “black bag jobs” [home invasions], abusive phone calls, computer hacking, framing, threats, blackmail, vandalism, “street theater” (staged physical and verbal interactions with minions of the people who orchestrate the stalking), harassment by noises, and other forms of bullying. Many of these tactics were used by the FBI during its illegal COINTELPRO operations, as documented by stolen official documents and subsequent Congressional investigations.
"Although the general public is mostly unfamiliar with the practice, references to “disruption” operations – described as such – do occasionally appear in the news media, even though that fact would apparently be news to the editors of The New York Times. In May 2006, for example, an article in The Globe and Mail, a Canadian national newspaper, reported that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) used “Diffuse and Disrupt” tactics against suspects for whom they lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute. A criminal defense attorney stated that many of her clients complained of harassment by authorities, although they were never arrested."
She can add me to that list too.
For the Benefit of Others
The experiences I have recounted here seem so trivial, so insignificant, they make you look ridiculous if you talk about them. But if we don’t talk about such things, no one will ever know about them. Other people have experienced the same, and are forced to endure such torments in silence. They need encouragement to talk about their own experiences, and so I write about mine in the hope they will talk about theirs, even if I do look ridiculous. The perpetrators are more ridiculous for doing them.
I remember a military colleague being hauled away by military police one morning, as she was struggling and having a violent fit. A fellow on her floor told me she was throwing chairs at her walls screaming, “Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!”. When he mentioned that, I knew exactly what they had done to her. She was considered unruly, and was being watched intently. They wanted her out, and that is how they accomplished it. Through wall tapping and sleep deprivation, they push you to the breaking point. And when you finally lose control and do something rash, they pounce on you, and you’re out. Now she has a criminal record, considered a criminal when in reality she was a victim. Welcome to the Canadian military, and other militaries besides, I am sure.
There are dozens upon dozens of experiences I could present. But who will really read them? Worse still, who will really believe them? I overheard my military supervisor in Halifax whisper to another, “Do you think he knows?”, after I had mentioned one of the many “coincidences” I experienced, but with a tone of my being aware it was not a mere coincidence. As I turned my face to my computer screen, I whispered under my breath, but still loud enough for him to hear, “Yes, (rank) (name), I know.” A few minutes later, as he walked past my desk, he leaned in by my ear and whispered, “We’re just trying to help you.” I should have pressed him for answers right then and there, but you just don’t know how much trouble you can get into when making such accusations in the military. So I let it go. But I will never forget.
Should anyone reading this ever decide to launch some kind of inquiry, I can mention names of over 100 people to contact, including military personnel, family members, neighbours, building managers, and others who have been contacted by military personnel with false narratives about me. They flash their ID’s and other credentials, and people believe anything they say. They turn family, friends, co-workers and neighbours against you, even recruiting their participation. Your acquaintances not only participate, but actually feel justified and emboldened playing tricks on you. It isn't their fault, though; they have been misled. I would reference them solely for corroboration.
As a final thought, here are explanations of two military programs in which certain persons (sometimes military, sometimes civilian) are kept under constant surveillance, and are in some cases subjected to conditioning in an attempt to turn them into what is called a “sleeper agent”. Almost all of the tactics presented below have been experience by me, including constant surveillance (ie: my previous post here regarding being harassed on my morning walks) and sleep deprivation (as per the top portion of this post, which other military members in Cuba and elsewhere around the world have also experienced).
Pentagon’s Signature Reduction Program
See Newsweek’s article: https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-inside-militarys-secret-undercover-army-1591881
Some excerpts from that Newsweek article, plus more background information on the Pentagon’s Signature Reduction Program, can be found here: https://fightgangstalking.com/
“The largest undercover force the world has ever known is the one created by the Pentagon over the past decade. Some 60,000 people now belong to this secret army, many working under masked identities and in low profile, all part of a broad program called “signature reduction.” The force, more than ten times the size of the clandestine elements of the CIA, carries out domestic and foreign assignments, both in military uniforms and under civilian cover, in real life and online, sometimes hiding in private businesses and consultancies, some of them household name companies.
“…a little-known sector of the American military, but also a completely unregulated practice. No one knows the program’s total size, and the explosion of signature reduction has never been examined for its impact on military policies and culture. Congress has never held a hearing on the subject. And yet the military developing this gigantic clandestine force challenges U.S. laws, the Geneva Conventions, the code of military conduct and basic accountability.
“…The signature reduction effort engages some 130 private companies to administer the new clandestine world. Dozens of little known and secret government organizations support the program, doling out classified contracts and overseeing publicly unacknowledged operations.
"Federal spy agencies are using Americans to spy on their fellow citizens – the same approach to governance famously employed by communist East Germany."
How to Develop a Hypnotic Sleeper Agent
By Dantalion Jones / Masters of Mind Control
The following “was” on the web, but has been removed. Surprise, surprise. But I saved its web files to my computer years ago, knowing that sooner or later it would be removed. I made a jpeg image of the web page as it once appeared, attached here.
Note that I have experienced almost all of the tactics described below, including the stalking I mentioned in my previous post here (regular walks in the park), the sleep deprivation noted at the top of this post, and the surveillance and intrusions described here as well.
Quoting the now-removed webpage: “How to Develop a Hypnotic Sleeper Agent” (from here to end of post):
Amid all the conspiracy theories one of the most feared is that there exist "sleeper agents" in our society who are programmed to come into service when they are triggered by a phone call or key word.
These alleged sleeper agents don't even know they are programmed to become saboteurs, soldiers, suicide bomber, etc because of the thoroughness of their programming. They are the feared "Manchurian Candidate" that the movies portray.
The question is "Are they real?"
If they are true sleeper agents there is no way of telling until they are activated. One can however theorize exactly how they are made.
Indoctrination
Using indoctrination a person can be made to embrace a religious or philosophical belief that would make becoming a sleeper agent possible.
This would be a person so committed to an ideal they would be willing to wait patiently as a member of society until they are called into action. These people would know their mission and consciously hold it secret while interacting with the rest of society.
Conditioning
Conditioning is a repetitive process where the desired responses are enforced and rewarded and unwanted responses are punished. This can be done consciously as part of training drill and it can be done subconsciously using hypnosis or drugs to create amnesia.
Hypnosis
It has been demonstrated that hypnosis can create "amnesia walls" in which the subject has no conscious memory of what happened in the hypnosis session. It has further been demonstrated that hypnosis can give post hypnotic instruction to be carried out automatically in the waking state without the subject knowing it or questioning the behavior.
What follows is conjecture and theory based on testimonials of people who were alleged to be sleeper agents and soldiers.
Continuous Supervisions
Continuous supervision doesn't mean that the subject is cut off completely from society. It means that they are constantly overseen and every aspect of their lives are managed (without their knowledge or consent) to support their hypnotic programming.
This would include:
• Repeated reinforcement of all hypnotic conditioning.
• Handlers. Handlers are people who help maintain the subjects environment to maintain all the programming. They can play the role of family, friends, lovers, psychologists, coaches or any roll the subject perceives as supportive. The truth is the handlers are their to support the successful fulfillment of the programming and not the subject as a person.
• Minimal sleep so that the mind/brain does not process all the sleeper conditioning during sleep.
• Creating constant environmental challenges like unemployment or poverty. This gives the subject something other than their programming to focus on.
• Frequent hospitalization. This gives overt opportunity to sedate the subject for conditioning. If the subject has a history of hospitalizations for mental disturbances all the better. No one will take them seriously.
Joseph Cafariello
PS... Today is the second day after this post (February 12, 2024). A garbage truck just slammed into my parked car.
PPS... I finish writing this post because I am satisfied with its shape and content; not because of what happened to my car.
It is similar to when you are reaching for your coat, and someone tells you, "Take your coat." Since you have to take your coat, your brain tells you it's ok to obey them, and you comply. They just created an instance where they led you, and you followed them. And your brain accepted it.
It's a technique the military uses all the time. It trains you to accept instructions from that person or group. Done enough times, you become comfortable obeying them.
I just say, "I take my coat because I choose to, not because you tell me to." It's important to make that clear, to block the conditioning and affirm our self-governance; not just to them, but to ourselves as well. Now our brain realizes we took our coat by our own choice; we are still in command.
So too, I say regarding today's event. "Thanks for the warning, but I had already finished writing my post. I finished by my own choosing."
UPDATES 1 & 2: February 26 & March 07, 2024:
My apartment was once again entered while I was out. Either a key was used or the lock was picked. This may or may not have included assistance from building staff. Home invasions are included in the list of their techniques noted above, referred to as "black bag jobs".
All tenants on my floor received new fridges a couple of weeks ago. I removed the tape securing the bins inside my new fridge, and also removed all styrofoam pads from the corners of the glass shelves when I repositioned them.
The person(s) who have been invading my living space on a regular basis have struck again. As you can see in the photo below, the styrofoam pads on the corners of my fridge's shelves were restored when I was out of my apartment. I had removed all pads when I repositioned the shelves. Yet now they are back.
It is a tactic used to undermine our observational awareness in an attempt to make us second-guess and doubt ourselves. The aim is to cause people to feel less sure not only of the things we have done, but also feel less sure of the things others have done. They want us to question the accuracy of our observations and memory.
The idea is to train you to dismiss any anomalies you may observe as being your own misperception of things. Once they convince you not to trust your own judgement, they are free to do whatever they want to you, and you will simply accept it without questioning.
UPDATE 3: May 18, 2024:
Confrontations with individuals keep occurring, at times potentially violent. Following are just 3 such encounters as of late.
1 - Kick-boxer in the park:
As I parked my car in one of the parking lots in Vancouver's Stanley Park one night, another vehicle drove up behind me and parked several spots away. A tall man exited that vehicle, and walked hastily along the path I always walk, down some steps to the water's sea wall path. I took my time and followed my usual walk, also down the steps down to the sea wall. The man knew my routine, and was in a hurry to get ahead of me.
As I walked along the sea wall, I saw the same man sitting on a bench, playing a loud religious sermon in a foreign language on a device I did not clearly see. As I walked past him, he called out to me to stop and chat. I ignored him and continued walking past. He rose and started walking behind me.
I opened my umbrella, turned, and walked past him the other way, returning to the stairs back to the parking lot. He also turned and continued following me. I started running. He also started running. I ran up the steps, as did he.
Being taller than I am, his legs are longer than mine, and he quickly caught up to me on a grassy patch at the top of the steps. I turned to him and asked, "Why are you following me?" He did not reply, but stood profile to me, the same stance a kick-boxer uses when ready to kick someone. He was tall, thin, and in excellent physical shape as you would see in a kick-boxer.
He did not speak at all, but was just waiting for me to make a move. I turned, entered my vehicle and left. The encounter continued with a chase through the park in our cars. Yes, that is correct. He chased me out of the park in his car.
2 - Told to keep quiet:
The perpetrators need to operate with as little detection as possible, and they repeatedly warn their subjects to keep their mouths shut about their experiences.
On another of my recent nightly walks, a man stood on the sidewalk ahead of me about half a block away, looked at me, and shouted into the sky at nobody, giving the appearance of being a homeless person shouting for no reason. He then started walking in my direction. I continued walking straight. As he passed me, he leaned into my face and shouted into my ear, "Shut the f_ck up!" I continued walking in my direction, and he resumed walking in his.
The idea is to make it seem as though he is just a deranged man wandering the streets at night, shouting at nothing, so that when he shouts at me, any observer would simply dismiss his actions. But in reality, he was sent to send me a message to stop publishing posts like this, which I had done many times on many sites, and continue to. They don't like it when we reveal their methods. But the truth must be known.
3 - You'll be sorry:
On another occasion, while returning from grocery shopping one afternoon, I walked past a man sitting by a storefront. He was clean-cut, wearing clean clothes, without any carts or wagons or any belongings of any kind. As I passed him, he asked me for some spare change. I replied, "I'm sorry," and continued walking past. He replied, "You will be."
There are numerous other experiences, like two seemingly unassociated men standing on the sea wall about 100 meters away from each other, each of them spitting just as I walked past each one.
There are too many experiences to mention. Looking at each experience individually, one would easily dismiss them as being unrelated and simply coincidental. But put them all together and a picture starts to form, like putting together the pieces of a puzzle.
As I hand you each piece of the puzzle one by one, you dismiss each piece, saying, "This could be anything." And you discard it. You keep discarding each piece as I hand it to you. By the end of it, you look down at the table and say, "You have nothing." That's because you looked at each piece as a separate item and threw it away. But if you leave the pieces on the table as I hand them to you and do not hastily discard them, you will see they form a clear picture when put all together.
We must look at all these events as a whole. Individually, each one could be anything. But when all of these experiences are put together and considered as a whole, they form an undeniable picture. Do not be quick to dismiss each piece. Leave the pieces on the table and look at the whole. The picture I present is sound. Remember, I have all the pieces; you do not. I see the picture more clearly than you do.
https://preview.redd.it/we31ymcsm91d1.jpg?width=966&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d56ac3dd3558a60d477ba9315104d1b66b139f8

Welcome to this special holiday episode of Mea Culpa. We’re going to get right to the main event… because our conversation is with one of the most articulate and effective Democratic statesmen working on Capitol Hill today, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin. Raskin has been serving as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. He also served in the Maryland State Senate from 2007 to 2016. Raskin is known as a great champion of civil rights and is proud of his left-of-center voting records saying, his “ambition is not to be in the political center, it is to be in the moral center.” To that end, Raskin was a Manager during Trump’s second Impeachment trial. He was also appointed to the House Special Select Committee on the January 6th attacks, after which he famously said in his closing statements, quote, “In a world of resurgent authoritarianism, racism, and antisemitism, let’s all hang tough for American democracy.” …I’m with Jamie. And today we will discuss everything from the fallout from the War in Gaza to the current state of Congress.

🐐 !! Quote’D & G.O.A.T.’D 🐐 Kidd's back at it again today! 👀 As we embrace today's theme, "Enduring Love," let's dive into a famous quote that echoes this timeless wisdom:
📜 Today's Enlightening Quote: "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." — Jane Austen Insight & Inspiration: "Why does this quote matter? Jane Austen's profound words resonate with our daily theme by emphasizing the power of expressing love and admiration openly. It’s a reminder that sharing our feelings can strengthen bonds and deepen our connections."
Action Plan: Acts of Kindness: Perform one act of kindness today, whether it’s helping a colleague, supporting a friend, or volunteering your time. Gratitude Journal: Write down three things you are grateful for in your relationships. Reflect on how these moments bring life and joy. Connection: Spend a few minutes in silence, contemplating how love influences your life and the lives of those around you.
🎨 Crazy Kidd’s Cultural Understanding! Check out our Crazy Kidd, dripped out reflecting early 19th-century British attire, hitting a contemplative pose. From the meticulously crafted background with motifs from Jane Austen's era to the cleverly selected props, every element Kidd incorporated is designed to capture the spirit of Jane Austen and bring a smile to your morning.
Join the Fun & Discussion: How will Jane Austen’s words inspire your actions today? Engage with us by sharing your thoughts and how you plan to apply these insights. Snap a picture of your day’s inspired moment and tag it with #QuoteTheGoat for a chance to be featured in our community spotlight!

QuoteTheGoat #DailyWisdom #CulturalInsight

https://preview.redd.it/wal0iwruj71d1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c31944874ef7583c3eb24327248ce2d36d25cf48

“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/