Human-Aliens – Close Encounters of the Third Kind in Our Every Day World

MN MUFON Investigation Coordinator

(March 2002 Minnesota MUFON Journal)

One of the strangest aspects of the UFO and close encounter phenomenon is the report of encounters with entities who appear nearly human, but which have some distinguishing features that place them squarely in the domain of the encounter phenomenon. Events such as these are often reported by close encounter experiencers. They also often have an unusual emotional or psychic component to them that places them out of the domain of the every-day occurrence. However, rather than being an abduction, or other event which occurs in the domain of the phenomenon (i.e. aboard a UFO), these events occur in our normal every-day domain. Included in this strange class of events are encounters with “men in black” and on-the-street encounters with what can only be described as “human aliens”.

During interviews with a number of experiencers, accounts of encounters have surfaced, in which the experiencer was confronted by a person whom she recognized as non-human. One case in particular, which illustrates the strangeness of this class of events, is that of an experiencer I will call “Janice”. Janice and a friend were browsing at a large shopping mall in the Twin Cities area and had stopped to look at a kiosk in a well traveled area. Janice looked up from the kiosk to suddenly notice a strange couple standing in front of them. The couple had features that suggested a racial origin not familiar to her. She also noted that the eyes seemed to be solid black. Janice has a rather high degree of psychic sensitivity, and she felt a powerful sense of fear that seemed to emanate from these strangers[i]. It was a sense that Janice could only describe as being “behind enemy lines”.

This strange couple simply stood there for a few seconds, apparently observing them. Janice brought them to her friend’s attention, but her friend did not seem to sense the same strangeness about them. The mysterious couple then walked away, melting into the crowd. Two more times that day, while still at the mall, Janice noted them. She sensed that the strangers seemed to be observing them. Then the strangers would again melt away into the crowd and disappear. Once Janice and her friend had left the mall, they no longer encountered these strangers, and have not seen them since.

Who were these strangers? What caused Janice to have the powerful impression of them, while at the same time her friend did not? What was the motive of this strange couple? Janice was certain that they were somehow related to her encounters. But what (if any) was their relationship to the close-encounters which had dogged Janice all her life? This, like most other aspects of the phenomenon, remains shrouded in mystery and ambiguity.

Another fascinating case is that of an experiencer I will call “Carl”. Carl and his girlfriend had gone to see a movie one Saturday afternoon. While they watched the movie playing on the screen, Carl noticed in his left peripheral vision that a strange looking man had entered the theater, walked down the aisle, and was now standing at the end of their row of seats. The man wore an overcoat and a hat that in such a way as to largely conceal his features. Clearly visible, but still strangely ambiguous, were his eyes. These seemed to add to the air of strangeness and menace about him. Rather than sitting down, the man simply stood there and stared at them. Both Carl and his girlfriend felt a powerful sense of fear associated with this stranger, and his unsettling stare.

While Carl attempted to return his attention to the movie screen, his girlfriend felt herself becoming more and more unnerved, eventually hiding her face in Carl’s arm. For a few moments longer they tried to ignore the stranger. But finally, at her urging, Carl turned his attention back to the location where the man had stood – but now the man was gone.

Carl stood up and looked around the theater. The man was nowhere in sight. Carl ran out into the lobby, which was nearly deserted. He even looked out on the street, but the stranger was nowhere to be seen. Puzzled, Carl returned to the movie and the two of them spent the remainder of the film wondering about this strange intruder into their lives.

When describing human-alien encounters, one case which vaults to the foreground, is that of an experiencer I will refer to as “Paul”. On the surface, Paul’s case initially appears to be a classic UFO abduction. However, on closer inspection, a human who was a central to Paul’s life, appeared to be a key to the phenomenon - at the very core of the encounter. Paul described this person as his “mentor” [my paraphrase -CL]. She had very strange eyes and facial features, and seemed to have a deep telepathic rapport with Paul. She was also deeply involved in the occult, and seemed to have an ongoing communion with strange “magicians” who would appear to her.

In this particular event, the “mentor” showed up and instructed Paul to come with her. Paul found himself instantly following her lead. He was taken in her car to a nearby town, and there was escorted to what seemed to him to be a “church basement”. However, the church basement seemed to be unearthly – round, white, and featureless. At its center were several medical examining tables, typical of what many UFO abductees describe.

Also in the room with Paul and his “Mentor” were several small grays. The grays conferred with one another and then with the mentor. They informed her that it was not yet Paul’s time. There was a “discussion” between them, which Paul could understand, even though it was not verbal, in which the grays appeared to be chastising her for bringing Paul at this time. The grays then gave Paul a cursory medical examination, and sent the two of them home again.

Who was this “mentor?” On investigation, we found that much of Paul’s account seems to correspond to physically real events and places. There is much to suggest that people in Paul’s account also actually exist. So what actually happened to Paul? Where was this “church basement”? And who was this “mentor”. Was she actually an integral part of the close encounter phenomenon – a human alien?

So, what is going on here? Who or what are these “human-aliens”? Are they physically real? Or might there be other ways of understanding them? One hypothesis advanced by David Jacobs in his book “The Threat”, is that they are indeed physically real. Dr. Jacobs suggests that they are in fact, the late-stage products of the breeding/hybridization project which seems to be associated with UFO abductions. He also suggests that they are being assimilated into human society, for less than benevolent purposes. On occasion, human-aliens which reside in the realm of the phenomenon will go on “away missions”, which Jacobs refers to as “Independent Hybrid Actions”.

Another class of hypotheses suggests that the degree of physical reality of these beings may be other than absolute. This hypothesis draws on Jungian psychology to build a case that human-entity encounters are somehow manifest from a deeper metaphysical reality. On occasion these entities can manifest, possibly mediated by the experiencer’s own consciousness. Unfortunately, we do not yet have the means to test this hypothesis. We find that it offers a considerably less concrete, if far more comforting view than that of Dr. Jacobs.

In the end, we are left with a number of strange reports, ambiguous descriptions, and unprovable theories. As our understanding grows, it may one day become possible to understand these human-aliens. However, like so many other aspects of the encounter phenomenon, in the present day, they present us with riddle, hidden within a mystery, packaged within an enigma. They take their place in the theater of the strange that is the close encounter phenomenon.