As our society begins to host dinner-table conversations around the reality of non-human intelligences co-occupying our space here on and around planet Earth, certain assumptions are inevitably being applied before even a single word is spoken. On previous episodes of this podcast we’ve discussed how the notion that these beings are extraterrestrials, that is to say – “space aliens” – has been one of the most frequent assumptions applied.

Even today, that continues to be the case, because the other origin hypotheses that had been floated; namely interdimensional, extradimensional/celestial, cryptoterrestrial, ultraterrestrial, extratempestrial, etc, are really only being bandied about within the dedicated ufological community. We (those who are part of that community, that is) know, of course, that it is the data themselves that lead people to these other possibilities; but Joe and Jane Public just are not there yet. They’re still parsing along the lines of the headline grabbing: “we’re not alone, and they’re here!”

As it turns out, though, that pre-assigned notion as to origins is just one of a whole host of assumptions regularly being applied to this matter of the UFO Phenomenon. And again, for those of us intimately familiar with this topic, we know full well that the many of the other assumptions being applied are equally as either questionable, or fully outdated, in light of the decades–and many would argue, even centuries or even millennia-long–data at our disposal.

While those who’ve been in this field the longest–the true “lifers”–if you will, are no doubt cheering the entrance of mainstream academia into the mix in recent years, I would caution that this segment of our society is bringing its own set of pre-existing assumptions to the table as well.

And, again, some of those assumptions just don’t play well with this data. And in our race for conventional recognition, we should be careful to not sell the process short, because academia, too, will have its understanding stretched (to say the very least) by the nature of this data.

This same is true for religious adherents of one form or another. The fact that this data does seem to include what we might call “spiritual overtones” often leads this religiously-affiliated segment of our civilization to the conclusion that this puts the UFO Phenomenon data firmly in their worldview camp, leading them to gleefully proclaim that this shows that they’ve been “right all along”. In both these cases (for those academically and/or religiously inclined), the problem arises in their assumption that the interpretive grid they have at their disposal is generally sufficient to make sense of this anomalous data, and that all they need to do now is slot various data points into various categories of pre-agreed meaning.

Simply put, that will not work. I tend to agree with Peter Levenda’s contention here, suggesting that what this data really asks us to do is consider our reality models from the perspective of the Phenomenon, and not the other way around. The question then becomes: as we do this, just how far afield will this take us? And what elements of our various pre-existing conceptual models will be left standing when we’re done?

And what alternatives might we tentatively put in their place? And these are precisely the issues we’ll seek to engage with in this, the 108th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

As we speak, both within ufology and within the segments of the political and public spheres that are beginning to wrestle with this enigmatic topic, we are seeing ongoing debate about how much the intelligences behind what we colloquially refer to as “the Phenomenon” should be framed as a threat–or at least a “potential threat”–or not. Some argue “better safe than sorry”, in lobbying for an approach that assumes this is a threat until proven otherwise.

As we delved into in the last episode of Point of Convergence, much of that particular argument leans on the notion that we have pretty much zero understanding as to the intent of these non-conventional others. But, as I pointed out in that episode, the wealth of experiencer testimony at our disposal would suggest otherwise, for within that extensive body of data we see consistent messages provided by these non-human others to the human beings who have interacted with them.

But even beyond this particular matter, which is already controversial because it ventures into questions around what kind of data should be considered “legitimate” and “trustworthy” or not, the lore we just referenced goes well beyond offering potential answers to the question of whether or not this amounts to a threat or not, even touching on ultimate matters such as the nature of reality, and even an alternate history regarding human origins.

What is perhaps most challenging of all to our secular, and still largely physicalist (that is to say reductionistic materialist) Western civilization, is notions that arise in the experiencer data that speak to what might best be called “spirituality”. This challenges our typical conceptions because most see this entire matter as involving technology and a potential clash of space-faring civilizations, not one delving into ultimate meaning and the evolution of souls. And yet, that is indeed where this body of data goes, which perhaps only adds fuel to the fire, in terms of why this lore is not taken as legitimate by the powers-that-be.

If experiencer lore stretches our expectations regarding what the UFO Phenomenon is even ultimately about, in what precise ways does it do so? And how do these elements in particular make our contemporary meaning-making machine uncomfortable? And how might the ignoring of those elements, simply because they are unexpected and inconvenient, potentially create a scenario where we miss the forest for the proverbial trees? These are precisely the issues we’ll seek to gain clarity around in this, the 107th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

Even as our modern mainstream society begins to grapple with the notion that non-human intelligences of a sophisticated nature are in our midst, piloting remarkably unconventional, and beyond next-gen technological craft, there is still a key component of this cultural conversation that is missing: and that is the consideration of the testimony of those who’ve apparently already encountered these very intelligences. Now, if one were unfamiliar with experiencer lore, one might conclude that we have almost zero understanding as to the intent of these various non-human others. In fact, this is basically what some, otherwise well-meaning, pro-disclosure advocates, have publicly stated – that we have no idea as to why they’re here, or what they want.

But if and when one does pay attention to said experiencer lore, it quickly becomes evident that nothing could be further from the truth. Now, does that mean that we should take everything said in these circles at face value. Certainly not. We still want to apply standard witness credibility criteria to these statements. And we also want to look for the aspects of the testimony that represent the greatest consensus. But to ignore this testimony altogether is not only unwise – after all, wouldn’t we want to hear what has been reportedly said to those who’ve interacted with these beings? – but it’s also inaccurate/inauthentic, because it lets those new to the conversation believe that this is a complete unknown, which only adds to fear states that are already driving far too much of our contemporary societal dialogue.

When one does pay attention to experiencer testimony, it becomes clear that these beings have been speaking pretty pointedly to some very specific issues. One element that is brought up frequently is that we as a species have lost touch with our connection to the planet, and even more overarchingly, to the larger cosmic community of which we are all a part. Furthermore, not only is that disconnect unfortunate, but it is also highly consequential, because it is that misunderstanding that is giving rise to the very existential threats we are now facing as a collective.

But beyond even these clearly and regularly stated messages, part of the communication also frequently touches on how we’ve lost touch with our most essential nature: a nature that stretches beyond the parameters of this one individual lifetime. In fact, it’s made clear by many of these non-conventional beings that this loss of context is driving us into a kind of individual and collective madness, one where we let pursuits like materialism become the orienting principle of our lives, even when that dogged pursuit begins to devolve into disease in our collective consciousness, reflected in, among other things, ecological disaster and frayed human mental health.

Of course, much of this speaks to the notion of “journeys of souls” and even of “soul contracts”. And, if that’s the case, what does this say of the nature of these beings? Are they “spiritual” figures, or “biological ones”, just like us? Of course, that false dichotomy is at the very heart of our present conundrum. Just who are these beings? And how does their very nature, and even their technology, tend to collapse our present paradigm? And how does the potential of that very collapse serve as the seed for a new way of being; one that restores the relationships we’ve so deeply fallen out of alignment with? These are the ultimate matters, both technological and metaphysical in nature, that we’ll seek to engage with in this, the 106th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

Beginning with the revelations that arose in a now famous 2017 New York Times article titled “Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program”, and further brought to light with the allegations made by former military insiders like Luis Elizondo and David Grusch, the general public is being slowly acclimated to a reality that those of us who are part of this community have long known to be the case: non-human intelligences and their technological marvels have been (and continue to be) in our very midst.

Still, for those of us who regularly dive deep into these murky (but often exhilarating) waters, we know that these revelations – as startling as they are to the average Joe and Jane on the street – are really just the beginning. And that’s because, simply put, there are numerous elements of human experience that simply don’t play well with the prevailing paradigm that rules in Western civilization – at least at present. These elements include out of body experiences, near death experiences, psi phenomena, synchronicity, contact with supposed deceased loved ones, and time slippages. And that’s just for starters.

Not only do these elements that have historically been forced to the fringes of polite conversation stretch the mainstream’s understanding of what’s possible, they also call into question the very maps we’ve so confidently crafted to make sense of what’s real altogether. For instance, when it comes to the matter of dealing with sophisticated, apparently non-human intelligences (ie. aliens), not only do we have the matter of the DoD allegedly housing the recovered craft and even the cadavers of non-human life forms – life forms that are decidedly biological, just like us – also on the table are the credible accounts of a host of other kind of non-conventional encounters.

Truth be told, there is a considerable body of data pointing to encounters with beings that are better described as ethereal, though – importantly – no less “real”. These beings are described by people from different walks of life in such consistent ways that they seem to claim just as much “real” and independent existence as we do. Other life forms that people encounter are perhaps better described as quasi-physical, and still others seem to navigate between these different domains like we might move between different rooms of a house.

Furthermore, human beings sometimes find themselves acting outside of their own bodies – and even outside of this 3D “physical” construct altogether – interacting with alien beings of various sorts and sometimes even with their own supposedly deceased loved ones in the process. The beings encountered also seem capable of moving human consciousness in ways that sometimes include the physical body, and other times do not. In short, what’s being highlighted here is the untenable nature of the physicalist paradigm altogether.

But all this being the case, how are we to proceed? If our modern maps have been exposed as – at best – approximations reflecting only one tiny corner of a much more expansive territory, how are we to make our way forward? And how can we reconcile the seemingly illusory boundaries between the living and the dead, sleep and waking states, and physical and ethereal realms? This all amounts to some pretty ambitious inquiry. But these are exactly the matters that we’ll seek to engage with in this the 104th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

When we take the time to look back at the history of the UFO phenomenon in popular culture, perhaps no book has had an impact greater than Whitley Strieber’s groundbreaking 1987 work Communion. This was a book that, on the one hand, caught the world by surprise, depicting shocking, discombobulating encounters with beings of a decidedly otherworldly nature, despite the fact that the experiences seemed to be happening – at least partially – very much in physical reality, and were experienced not just by Strieber, but also by his family and by guests to his cabin in upstate New York.

While shocking in its claims, one can easily make the argument that the reason the book had such an impact on popular culture is related to the fact that so many people resonated with the material within, and – even more pointedly – with the now iconic cover of the book, depicting what has since become known as the quintessential “grey alien”. The being depicted on the cover of Communion was not only provocative, but also – to many thousands of people around the world – strangely familiar. Of course, the question that inevitably arises from this fact is: why?

Were these memory fragments suggestive of a reality where untold numbers of human beings were being abducted in a similar manner to Strieber? And, if so, what did this mean of the nature of the apparently extensive enterprise these beings were in the midst of conducting? Perplexingly, while elements of the encounters seemed to be happening in something like an alternate state of consciousness or in an alternate, ethereal realm, other elements, involving medical examinations and the extraction of reproductive, genetic material, seemed suggestive of a much more “down to earth” purpose, perhaps involving the hybridization program that has become such a lynch pin of our contemporary understanding of the Phenomenon.

These questions were of paramount importance in 1987 when this book was first unleashed upon the world. Since then, the significance of the material has only become even more pressing – as many of the future visions experiencers like Strieber had then have seemingly come to pass, suggesting we are even closer to some consequential turning point in human history; a moment these beings spoke so pointedly about. Because, to be clear, the encounters did involve warnings; warnings that seem particularly prescient in light of how things have unfolded in human civilization since the time of Strieber’s initial encounters.

And, importantly, the messages have not stopped being communicated. Even during a recent series of conversations I had with Mike Masters, chief proponent of the so-called Extratempestrial Hypothesis – the notion that some of these beings are our very own descendants from some future point in humanity’s evolutionary trajectory – additional elements became clear, aided by synchronistic events suggesting these overarching intelligences are not only able to defy our understanding of physics, but sometimes even able to orchestrate an ordering of the very events of our lives.

But to what end? And in preparation for what? Who are these beings, and how are their efforts to not only interact with us, but to chart a new evolutionary path forward, related to the events arising in our midst even as we speak; events that threaten our very place on the planet as we have known it? These are just a few of the questions we’ll seek to engage with in this, the 103rd episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

Those familiar with ufological lore, and especially how it ties into our deep religious history, will tell you that UFOs have been around for as long as we have, and perhaps even longer. Indeed, it has long been acknowledged that the assumed non-human intelligences behind these manifestations may be responsible not only for the inspiration and direction of our most foundational meaning-making models – that is to say, our religious traditions – but also for our very origin as a species.

That being the case, some might find it a stretch to believe that the times we find ourselves in now are somehow unique when it comes to this enigmatic topic: Yes, they’re here, but they always have been, directing affairs mostly in shadow – à la something like Jacques Vallee’s control system hypothesis – so what would be different about now? – or so the thinking goes.

While that’s an understandable perspective to have, and while we should always be on the lookout for bias in our contemporary reading of history, there is indeed compelling evidence to suggest that what we’re seeing with this Phenomenon since the turn of the millennium – and especially over the last few years or so – is indeed worthy of note, suggesting that we may very well be heading towards some crescendo point, where our very relationship to this Phenomenon, and, for that matter, to reality itself, fundamentally changes.

The evidence for this notion arises not just in the increased activity of alien intelligences in our midst – though we have indeed seen a rise in reported accounts of sightings and engagements with the craft apparently piloted by these so-called NHI of late – but also via reports from experiencers, those uniquely tuned into these various alien groups, who have seen visions of imminent changes that speak to the coming of a foundationally different world.

While even these two data points – the increased sightings/interactions and sense from experiencers that something is coming – might not be enough to convince many, these are not the only elements we need to reckon with here. Just as important in this equation is the rising tide of challenges our civilization is presently facing; challenges so daunting that they threaten our very existence.

These matters include climate change, geopolitical conflict rife with ever more catastrophic weapons of mass destruction, and the sudden rise of artificial intelligence. All three of these are particularly troublesome because they are being met by a center of gravity of consciousness still driven by fear, scarcity and what our most ancient and enduring spiritual traditions – not to mention many of these Others – call “the illusion of separation”.

Those familiar with ufological lore will also know that the trajectory we’re presently on as a human, earth-based civilization, is precisely the one that these various non-human (and non-conventionally-human) intelligences have long warned us about. Their historic concern about our ever more technological focus, unmoored from an accompanying increase in our level of consciousness, is central to the messages delivered to humankind via the experiencers we’ve already discussed. Suddenly those warnings and prognostications, going back decades, seem strikingly prescient.

That said, we know that timing is particularly challenging to predict and parse out when it comes to these otherworldly admonitions. And thus, the question still remains: just how pressing are these issues, and just how close are we to some fundamental transformation of life as we have thus far known it? Furthermore, how might the very real march towards official disclosure we’ve seen of late be informed by all of this? These are the very thorny – yet crucial – matters we’ll seek to gain clarity around in this, the 98th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

Over the last 12 months or so, those associated with ufology have seen their excitement level around the matter of official disclosure reach a fevered pitch. Much of the optimism has been tied to the remarkable specificity of the language included in the Schumer amendment, which makes clear not only that sophisticated, non-human intelligences in our midst exist, but that various elements of the military industrial complex have constructed elaborate schemes to study this phenomenon while shielding this consequential reality not just from the American people, but also from Congress and the rest of government.

While much of that amendment was eventually gutted before being passed into law, in many ways the proverbial train has nevertheless left the station. There is just too much momentum heading into 2024 for this progress to reverse course. It may take longer than some within ufology would prefer, but this march towards an official acknowledgement of the reality of this phenomenon – and the various unconventional intelligences behind it – seems unstoppable at this point.

While this particular matter of when disclosure will actually happen has been front and center in the ufological dialogue over the last year, what has been discussed much less regularly is the matter of what will actually be disclosed. Many of us obsessed with this topic have been so focused on crossing this one particular threshold — yes, this is real, and yes, so are they – that we’ve spent far less time pondering what might be disclosed, or commented upon, beyond this initial civilization-changing acknowledgement.

Truth be told, this is precisely where the challenge really arises for the powers that be. And, frankly, that’s because they really have no clear understanding of where this all leads. Yes, it’s real. Yes, it’s been present in our midst – even if in stealthy manner – for perhaps as long as we’ve been around as a species. But as to its ultimate nature, and how it changes our understanding of fundamental reality, that’s a matter of ongoing contention and confusion – even for the insiders who’ve spent decades studying this, with the highest security clearances available.

For those who take the most overarching view – considering not just the more contemporary manifestation and interpretation of this Phenomenon, but also ways that deep human history seems to point to interactions stretching back millenia – even if described in terms and frames much less familiar and comfortable to modern ears – it’s clear that these other intelligences have not only been with us all along, likely shaping our development across time in the process, but likely were responsible for our very seeding upon this blue pearl of a planet to begin with.

In today’s episode we’ll be taking a deep dive into the ways one can make a very solid case for the notion that ancient encounters with so-called “gods” were ultimately part of the very same enterprise as the more modern UFO/UAP and alien abduction/hybridization enigma. How has framing, and a poor understanding of the different cultural contexts that have tried to make sense of these phenomena over time, obscured the underlying truth of these reality-shaking revelations? These are the very daring, daunting, and highly disruptive matters we’ll be exploring in this, the 95th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

As our civilization continues to skate at the very edge of a new era of widespread public disclosure around the so-called UFO Phenomenon, there still exists a striking incongruence between what is being discussed in government and media, and what is understood to be the nature of the entire enterprise for those colloquially known as “experiencers”. At the public level, we are finally approaching a moment of reckoning around the fact that technology exists – and has existed – for decades if not centuries, if not since the dawn of humankind – that performs maneuvers we simply don’t understand – let alone are ready to replicate.

Of course, along with acknowledgement of this seemingly “otherworldly” technology, we are finally seeing mention of the supposed pilots of these said craft in the form of recovered “biologics”. That, of course, inevitably leads to questions of both where – and when – these so-called “pilots” are from. But even here politicians and the mainstream media are very careful to not fully land on the notion that “aliens are real”. There is a strange socio-psychological game being played here, where polite society still keeps this idea enough to the fringes that it doesn’t disturb our everyday routines.

Again, on the other hand, for experiencers, this part of the enterprise couldn’t be any more real. The interaction with the beings associated with this next-gen technology is actually the most central aspect of the matter. And while the public conversation is just beginning to approach the matter of their being one – or at most – a few – different kinds of intelligent entities to grapple with, what the body of the experiencer testimony over time makes clear is that the diversity of the various kinds of non-human and non-conventionally human intelligences in our midst is almost as extensive as the various craft that have been observed over time. That is to say, while the quintessential “grey alien” is a figure almost any modern human will recognize, that form is just the beginning of a dizzying array of many, many forms.

In today’s episode that point will be made paramount, as we explore a variety of encounters with beings described as blue humans, reptilians, and insectoids. And to be clear, rather than being a one-off, these encounters are also numerous, suggesting that these are distinct beings, beyond the greys, who also have been carrying on a relationship with human beings throughout time as well – that is to say, in addition to the more commonly perceived “greys”. But who and what are these beings? And are these forms permanent, or merely part of a shifting guise employed to communicate certain information to human beings at different times? These are the perplexing but intriguing matters we’ll seek to engage with, in this, the 94th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

Anyone alive in the modern era is entitled to look at the startling conflux of transformational variables currently arising in our midst, and conclude that this is a time of truly unparalleled change; change so all-encompassing that it is virtually guaranteed that the world a decade from now will prove fundamentally different from the one we’re in now, and even more contrastingly different than the one any of us were born into.

The UFO Phenomenon, an ever-present specter in our midst, is a key element in this transformational stew. At this point not only is new information coming to light on a yearly basis pertaining to this topic, but even on a monthly – and sometimes even weekly – basis. That is to say, while the modern UFO Phenomenon traces its origins back 80 years or so – existing mostly in the fringes of polite society for that entire time – we are now in an era where it feels like at any moment this reality of mysterious others and their bewitching tech will be fully “mainstreamed”.

Of course, once we cross this threshold, a key collective moment of contemplation awaits us: one that presents overarchingly profound questions about not just who they are, but who we are. And at that point our entire civilization must endure a moment of deep, reflective reckoning; a reckoning that acknowledges that almost nothing we’ve confidently believed about our reality is quite what it has seemed. If nothing else, this dawning realization will help us see that we’ve been living in some version of the Truman Show – where what we’ve thought was real was more like a stage play.

Even as we face this comprehensive re-contextualization around our origins and our place in the Cosmos, we are seeing our own civilization approach an apex moment, referred to some as the Singularity, where spiraling technological growth becomes not only irreversible, but so all-encompassing that it constitutionally changes what it means to be human. The sudden rise of artificial intelligence over the course of the last 12 months is front and center in this discussion.

Of course, in addition to us approaching this moment of widespread acknowledgement of these Others in our midst, happening just as we approach an apparent technological point of no return, there is also the matter of the increased engagement by some of these Others with modern humanity. And of course this raises a couple of intriguing questions:

1.) Is the government shift towards disclosure happening because they recognize that if they don’t get “ahead of the curve” – in terms of embarking on some plan of controlled disclosure – that the matter will be taken out of their hands altogether, resulting in what some have called “catastrophic disclosure” – speaking to its potentially devastatingly destabilizing impact on human civilization?

2.) Are groups of these Others ramping up their engagement with humanity precisely because the point of no return we are presently approaching at break-neck speed is so consequential that they have determined that letting us pass that threshold of our own accord is simply not tenable – primarily because they perhaps see that – without intervention – that unaided crossing would inevitably ensure our own demise?

These questions are simultaneously as profound as they are perplexing – arousing excitement in some, and trepidation in others, and they are precisely the matters we’ll be diving head on into, in this, the 93rd episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

Without question, 2023 has been a banner year in the decades-long endeavor to bring disclosure about the reality of the so-called UFO Phenomenon to public awareness. Ever since the mid 20th century there has been a dedicated push by a relatively small but growing contingent of die-hards to finally get the U.S. government to admit what it knows about these beings from “elsewhere”; beings who have apparently been at work in our civilization in very substantive albeit clandestine ways. Based on the political machinations that began churning soon after the dawn of the startling allegations brought forward by a former insider named David Grusch, that push seemed to finally be paying dividends.

That said, of late the startling progress seen earlier in the summer seems to have slowed. So much so, in fact, that some have begun to wonder aloud, with chagrin, if perhaps the historic secrecy/disinformation machine – which has been pushing back in its own dedicated way ever since these revelations came to light – might once again be about to turn this apparently irreversible progress into yet another mirage.

While on the one hand, such a feat seems more like wizardry – after all, how could these revelations not at the very least lead to a deep and broad congressional investigation? – it does indeed seem as if our society is carrying on with the same old, same old, in regards to what tends to garner public attention. Now that we’re just over a year away from a hotly contested federal election, perhaps not surprisingly the vast majority of public and media focus has turned to that epic showdown; one being seeded by near civil-war like stratifications within the national fabric.

The question now arising is this: can this push for disclosure hope to gain enough steam, and make enough noise, to be heard amongst this rising national clamor leading up to an historic moment in late 2024? At least, that’s the question some are asking; chiefly those concerned this might all come down to a monumental run of bad luck around timing.

From another point of view, however – one that I personally think is more robustly informed by the full scope of the matters in play here – these issues are not separable; and certainly not coincidental. I would argue that the what, when, and how of these matters again comes down – at least in part – to the clandestine actions of those mysterious actors; ones who seem to be both everywhere and everywhen, except for when you expressly go looking for them.

Is this seeming overarching orchestration humbling to our collective sense of agency, and even to our species’ perspective on planetary sovereignty? Certainly. Does it suggest that disclosure – however one defines that term – simply isn’t something that humanity alone can muster up enough momentum to bring to bear – at least, not at our current stage of development? Yes, without question. I think history makes this matter crystal clear.

Truth be told, I would argue that it is only by opening the aperture to its widest setting possible; and by taking the proverbial 30,000 foot view, that we have any hope of wrapping our understanding around the sheer scope and scale of this civilization-shaping and civilization-shaking topic. For these intelligences are not new on the block. Nor are they merely visiting tourists from a neighboring star system. Rather, they are the very puppet-masters who have shaped the very course – and perhaps even origin – of our species. With that perspective in mind, one realizes it is almost preposterous to talk about disclosure happening now, or later, without the express intent, or, at the very least, the acquiescence, of these archetypal archons.

Questions we should be asking include the following: What do they want in the midst of all of this? What is their overarching agenda? Is it singular or plural? Are they singular or plural? If they’ve shaped our history – to one degree or another – what do they intend for our future? And what role are they playing as the figures on the chessboard seemingly move about of their own volition? Considering the subject of disclosure from this much more panoptic vantage point is exactly the approach we will be taking in this particular discussion, as we aim to make sense of these intriguing yet imposing matters, in this, the 89th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.