The Awakening

Unexpected Psychic Emergence and the UFO Encounter Phenomenon

©2002 (UPDATED 2008) by Craig R. Lang MS, CHt

   

Summary

Many close encounter experiencers describe how they have acquired increased psychic abilities and become more “metaphysically aware” as a result of their encounters.  Researcher case files, as well as much of the literature, describe the phenomenon of psychic/spiritual awakening as being extremely common among UFO abductees.  Yet, the UFO phenomenon appears to be just one possible initiator of such a transition.  Many persons, whose psychic talents have been awakened in other ways, seem to have increased sightings of UFOs and other unexplained phenomena.  While many abductees who describe frightening experiences suggest that they are initiated along a psychic/spiritual path by their encounters, contactees seem to be brought to their encounters as a result of this path, and generally report more positive experiences.  Thus the UFO experience appears to be one of many possible phenomena with a multi-faceted relationship to spiritual/psychic emergence – at once cause, effect, and in parallel.

 

 

 

Introduction

A few years ago, I had the privilege of working with a close encounter experiencer whom I will refer to as “Evelyn”.  This woman had been struggling for several years with the emotional effects of a series of close encounter experiences.  They had struck terror in her heart, and she had developed major phobias as a result of them.  In addition, she had begun to experience intrusive paranormal effects in her life and that of her family.  Watches and clocks would not work.  Electronics around her would cease to function.

 

Several months later, another experiencer, whom I will refer to as “Amy”, also approached me to do hypnotherapy work with her.  She was also dealing with an issue related to close encounters, but apparently quite dissimilar to Evelyn’s.  While Evelyn was struggling with the fear engendered by the intrusion of the phenomenon into her private life, Amy was attempting to come to terms with an unwanted gift.  This took the form of a sudden, involuntary, unexpected psychic awakening, apparently as a result of her encounters. 

 

While these two experiencers seemed to have very different relationships with the phenomenon, they had one thing in common.  Both were attempting to come to terms with an apparent side effect of the close encounter phenomenon which I refer to as Unexpected Awakening.  I have noted that nearly all experiencers describe this effect.  I have also noted that, like other aspects of close encounters, its relationship with the UFO phenomenon is full of mystery. 

 

In this article, let’s examine some aspects of psychic awakening and see how it is - and is not - related to the UFO and close encounter phenomenon.  What we can learn from this effect?  Is psychic awakening a result of the close encounter phenomenon?  Might these two phenomena occur together in some sort of lockstep relationship?  Or is the psychic awakening aspect of the UFO phenomenon simply part of the greater psychic/spiritual emergence phenomenon, often described in the literature?[i]  Let’s read on and find out…

 

What is an Awakening?

This effect, which I will refer to in this article as the Awakening phenomenon, is described by nearly all abductees.  Cases of this sudden personal transformation fill my files as well as those of many other researchers.  So just what seems to be happening to those experiencers who describe this phenomenon?  What is a psychic/spiritual Awakening? 

 

The answer to this question may be quite different for different people.  However, broadly speaking, the effects seem to fall into two categories.  The first is the unexpected onset/enhancement of psychic abilities.  Precognition, spontaneous telepathy, clairvoyance, and many other psychic experiences seem to be commonplace.  In addition, many experiencers simply report a greater sense of mental awareness.  As one experiencer told me “I feel psychic”. 

 

Another aspect of the Awakening phenomenon is a sudden change in spiritual and social outlook.  Many experiencers I have interviewed describe how their viewpoints – especially on environmental topics - suddenly switched from being largely unconcerned to being very much concerned.  At the same time, the religious-spiritual views of many experiencers seem to become much deeper.  Frequently they adopt an entirely new viewpoint – often eastern or mystical in nature.  This new spiritual dimension in their lives seems to take on a very personal tone.  Many of them now practice meditation or have a regular spiritual practice which is deeply heart-felt.  Many report being more empathetic and often describe, in the words of one abductee, “becoming closer to God”.

 

I often observe experiencers associate the religious/spiritual change in their lives with the sudden emergence of their psychic abilities, and also, frequently with the emerging memories of their encounters.  The result can be a massive transformation of their professional, social, spiritual, mental, and psychological foundation – “the Awakening”.

 

Fear and Paranormal Fallout

When I first began working with Evelyn[ii], I was struck by the depth of the impact which the close encounter phenomenon had had on her life.  She had experienced several terrifying close encounters in which classic gray entities had floated her from her bed and taken her into their domain (presumably a UFO).  As a result of these events, she had developed phobias which included nervousness at being alone in her house at night.  She had also developed simultaneous fear of, and obsession with, the night sky – as well as with any literature on the UFO phenomenon. 

 

Also, at about the time of her encounters, her outlook abruptly changed from that of the “average” person who was largely unconcerned with the outside world, to that of being more environmentally aware, socially concerned, and spiritually oriented.  During this same time, she and her family also experienced a number of paranormal and metaphysical anomalies.  Balls of light, UFO ground traces, creature sightings, electrical sensitivity, clocks that would randomly gain or lose time, numerous UFO sightings, and the list went on…

 

As we commenced our hypnotherapy work and began to resolve the fear factor we found that the phenomenon had apparently awakened within her a deep mystical awareness.  The potential for this awareness seemed to have always been there, but had been suppressed for much of her life.  As we explored her interactions with the phenomenon, it became apparent that it had been life long (she indicated that it had actually been over many lifetimes).  Yet only now had she become consciously aware of her encounters. 

 

Today, Evelyn has finished her teaching degree and is avidly pursuing interests in metaphysical and historical studies.  She is now free of the fear factor and comfortable with the memories of her encounters.  She views her relationship with the phenomenon as life altering and, on the balance, very positive.  For Evelyn, it appears that the fear-engendering abduction events might have been the “kick” that drove her to come to terms with what had in-fact been a long-standing relationship – her Awakening.

 

Amy – Unexpected Psychic Gifts

Amy had felt overwhelmed at the time we first began our work.  A few years earlier, she had experienced a powerful, dream-like experience which seemed very much to be a close encounter (though with few of the classic elements).  In the days subsequent to this experience, she discovered that she had become very psychic.  There was no escape from this new sense.  It seemed to perpetually bombard her awareness.  It was as if she had been blind from birth, only to suddenly gain her vision late in life.  Her life experience up to that point had not prepared her for this gift.

 

In addition to the sudden awakening of psychic abilities, she was also experiencing episodes of spontaneous invisibility – times in which she apparently became invisible to those around her[iii].  Her new-found psychic and paranormal talents were unpredictable and uncontrollable, a frightening influence in her life. 

 

Initially, as we began therapy, the goal was to somehow control these manifestations.  We quickly realized that the more we tried to “master” them, the more resistance we got.  Clearly, control and containment was not the answer.  So we decided “Why not just go with it” - accept and embrace them?

 

I suggested to her a couple of books on psychic development – most prominently the book “You are Psychic” by Peter Sanders.  This book contains a number of excellent techniques and experiences to help its readers develop their psychic skills.  In a followup conversation a few months later, she informed me that she had begun organizing a psychic development group, based upon Sanders’ book.  By embracing her psychic gifts, she appears to have been able to integrate them into her life in a meaningful way.

 

Were Amy’s new-found psychic abilities the result of a classic UFO abduction?  Amy had few other indications to suggest that she was a classic UFO abductee.  Additionally, Amy had been involved in meditation and other spiritual studies for years, which suggests that perhaps she had simply reached a new stage in her path – one which she perhaps did not expect.  Yet her Awakening did begin with her UFO-like dream experience.  Perhaps the UFO dream was part of the overall experience, or perhaps it, too was an effect of her awakening.

 

Perceivers and Experiencers

As I continued to conduct research into the close encounter phenomenon, it became clear that this Awakening effect often occurred at critical times in the experiencer’s life.  In addition, it nearly always coincided with their emerging memories of UFO experiences.  What did this timing mean?  This still is not clear to me.  However, as I continued to interview other people who had experienced this sudden emergence, I discovered a surprise…

 

Before I had begun my study and practice of hypnotherapy, I had interviewed many experiencers of paranormal events.  Most of them described paranormal anomalies, psychic experiences, and other strange events in their lives.  Many had had multiple UFO sightings.  As a result of their accounts, and based upon the writings of other UFO researchers[iv], I had hypothesized that these witnesses were probably UFO abductees.  However as we later explored the experiences of some of them (often in deep hypnotic trance), I noted that sometimes we were completely unable to find instances of UFO abductions.[v]  While they had indeed experienced the Awakening effects, the initiator did not seem to be UFOlogical.

 

There is much literature to indicate that unexpected psychic/spiritual emergence is a very common result of profound life-altering events[vi] [vii].  Events such as illness or trauma, near-death experiences, deep meditative trance – all seem to be possible initiators of an Awakening.  While the descriptions of each of these experiences can be very different, the effects are often similar.  Many of these people subsequently seem to develop the ability to see UFO’s and anomalies in situations where others around them often do not.  Thus, I will refer to the UFO-seeing persons as “perceivers”.

 

“Rosalie” a Life Time of Wonders

An example of a perceiver, who has had many UFO and anomaly sightings, apparently as part of a lifetime of paranormal sensitivity, is a woman I will refer to as “Rosalie”.  Rosalie is a pleasant, caring, and very intelligent senior citizen who lives in a senior apartment building in rural Minnesota.

 

I had the privilege of interviewing her and her family and learned that Rosalie had many strange memories that stretched back as far as the 1920’s.  These included paranormal events, anomalies, and UFO sightings.  We first suspected that she might be an abductee.  However as we conducted several hypnotic regressions, we found none of the classic abduction accounts.  Yet, while under hypnosis, she described in great detail, many encounters with the extraordinary. 

 

She described how, as a child, she played with elves in the woods near her house.  She described seeing helicopters during the early 1940s, although machines matching her description did not exist until many years later.  She described balls of light and a host of mysterious psychic perceptions.  Yet we found no UFO abductions, per se.  Thus Rosalie is someone whom I would regard as a perceiver.  While she has had a few UFO sightings, they appeared to be in some way secondary to her overall Awakening.

 

“Anne” – A Spectacular Sighting

Another perceiver whom I was privileged to interview extensively was a woman whom I will refer to as “Anne”.  Anne is a woman in her early 40’s who lives in Minneapolis.  She has a long history of interest in eastern spirituality and metaphysics, meditates regularly, and has had numerous mystical experiences.  Over many years, Anne has steadily developed a high degree of psychic ability.  And like Rosalie, few of her experiences have directly involved the UFO phenomenon.  While she has become steadily more “awakened”, this has been a gradual growth process.

 

While Anne has had few actual UFO events in her life, she was witness to one very spectacular sighting, which occurred during a power outage one summer night in 1995 in Minneapolis.  When the lights went out, Anne stepped to the window to look out onto the street below.  Many people had stepped out onto the sidewalk and street, and were standing about, chatting, and joking – waiting for the power to come back on.  When Anne looked out the window, to her surprise, she observed an extremely large UFO hovering only a few hundred feet above the building tops, only a few blocks away from her building.  The object was positioned in such a way that everyone should have seen it.  Yet Anne seemed to be the only one aware of it.

 

Many such cases exist in my files, and those of other researchers, in which a few apparently-sensitive witnesses are able to discern the presence of a UFO, while others might not see it.  In many of these cases, the witness had previously experienced the awakening phenomenon to a high degree.  However, only a few of these perceivers actually seem to be abductees.  Rather they seem to experience the UFO phenomenon primarily because their heightened sensitivity somehow allows them to perceive it.

 

Contactees:  Already Awakened UFO Experiencers?

In yet another group we find the contactees.[viii]  Far more involved in the phenomenon than perceivers, contactees generally describe close encounters in which they are very much voluntary participants.  In most cases, these events seem to be positive in nature, involving extraordinary but generally benevolent entities.  The contact experience tends to further enhance the psychic/spiritual path of the experiencer and of others.  Also, along with the overt contact experiences, contactees frequently describe communication that is apparently channeled in nature – suggesting greatly increased psychic/paranormal perception[ix].

 

Since their experiences are largely positive in nature, few contactees have sought hypnotherapy.  Thus, I have generally not been a party to exploration of their experiences at the deep subconscious level.  Yet as a MUFON researcher and field investigator, I have interviewed many contactees who live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.  Most have indicated that contact was simply part of a long path of metaphysical growth and exploration.  They tell me, nearly unanimously, that their path has led them to be more sensitive to the extraordinary, and thus eventually to contact.  Thus, in this case their UFO-related events seem to be effects, rather than causes of their Awakening.

 

Conclusion

From the cases offered here and from many others in my files, as well as from much of the literature, it appears that the UFO phenomenon is one of many possible initiators of unexpected psychic/spiritual awakening.  Many find that the abrupt and frightening experiences of UFO abduction force them to begin the path of awakening.  However, we also find that many other important life episodes, largely unrelated to the UFO phenomenon, can have the potential to initiate a person down this same road.

 

Furthermore, many perceivers of the extraordinary tend to be more prone to UFO sightings.  In many cases, they are not UFO abductees, but simply sensitive bystanders or “perceivers”. They seem to be able to see and experience anomalous objects that the “unawakened” do not perceive.  For still others, close encounter experiences may be a result of – rather than the initiator of – a path of psychic/metaphysical awakening.  Generally contactees, they report mostly positive experiences with benevolent entities.

 

So, what is the relationship of the UFO phenomenon to that of psychic awakening?  After our examination, we find the relationship to be as ambiguous as every other aspect of the UFO phenomenon.  Sometimes awakening is the cause, sometimes the effect.  In still other cases the two seem to occur in parallel, occurring together in almost a lockstep manner.  They seem to be related, yet the relationship is not clearly defined.  Like most other aspects of UFO and anomaly research, the phenomenon of Unexpected Awakening is a mystery that beckons us down that long winding path, which in the end leads us to still more mystery.

 

 

NEW!!!: Check out my new article, Hypnotherapy for Unexpected Psychic Awakening, describing hypnotic strategies to help with sudden psychic awakening.

 

---