When strange and sophisticated aerial vehicles were first spotted buzzing in and around our skies in a series of flaps during the period of the 1940s, many assumed these represented the visitation of an extraterrestrial species. The beyond next-gen characteristics of these advanced craft – where they could travel at incredible rates of speed, hover in place, and make 90 degree turns on a dime – suggested to most that these could not logically be the property of any known nation-state actor. The technological prowess of these so-called unidentified flying objects was simply too advanced to be of terrestrial origin.

It is therefore not surprising that the seemingly logical conclusion that many came to was that these simply must be visitors from beyond our planet. At first, when the barrenness of the planets of our own solar system was not yet fully realized, many assumed these to be visiting Martians or Venusians. And then as our surveying of the planets of our own solar neighborhood showed them to be lifeless, ufologists and the public alike began to wonder from which extra-solar source these beings were coming from. But again, the assumption was still that these must be visitors from “outer space”. After all, that seemed to be the only frontier we had yet to explore.

Since those early days of the flying saucer phenomenon, other – and to most, more exotic – hypotheses have arisen, suggesting these Others may be interdimensional in nature, or perhaps even time-traveling humans from our future. Some researchers suggest both extraterrestrials and interdimensionals may be in the mix.

In the course of that conversation, again, the assumption has been that these must be something non-terrestrial in nature, because the sophistication of the craft themselves suggest no known nation-state actor could have developed such beyond next-gen technology. However, there is one key assumption being made here: and that is that it is only the known nation-state actors: The United States, Russia, etc, that could possibly even get close to this level of technological prowess.

The pertinent question to ask here is: is that a fair assumption to make? Is it only nation-state actors that we need to account for? Or is it possible that some other human group, not usually accounted for, could actually be responsible for the design and development of these UFOs – or at least some of them?

Perhaps to many people’s surprise, there is a rather daunting amount of historical evidence suggesting the possibility that these craft – or again – at least some of them – could actually be the property of a rogue group of scientifically-oriented techno-military elites that may have broken off from conventional society sometime during the middle part of the 20th century, not long after, we should note, the first series of sightings of disk-like craft.

But what is the nature of this evidence? And does it get even close to passing muster in terms of suggesting that a truly sequestered society might exist, in our very midst? Is it possible that some of the beyond next-gen vehicles that have been spotted in our skies might actually be of terrestrial origin, after all – even if that terrestrial origin is of a non-conventional nature – one that exists beyond the scope of our nation-state global system? These are the very questions we’ll seek to engage with in this, the 64th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

For those of us intimately familiar with the details of the UFO Phenomenon, it has been exciting to see both our elected officials, some of them anyway, and the public at large, some of it anyway, finally beginning to take the entire matter seriously. To us, the notion that the human race is not only not the only truly intelligence species in the cosmic neighborhood, but perhaps playing second fiddle to intelligences so advanced that they run circles around both our most state of the art aircraft, and, seemingly, around our very ability to perceive and discern the reality around us, should be the story of the century.

Add in the fact that a close and exhaustive reading of our distant lore suggests that human beings may have been interacting with these intelligences since, basically, the very beginning of the beginning, and that perhaps the very meaning models we look to to make sense of the world – here I speak of our religious traditions – may have been spawned by these very Others, that this quickly becomes not just the story of the century, but of all time. Who wouldn’t want to delve into the very depths of this subject – investigating every nook and cranny?

Well, as I say, while the public and our elected officials have a long way to go in really becoming familiar with the nuanced history of this topic, the conversation has begun – undoubtedly so, largely spurned by revelations that emerged in 2017, and have been rolling out at a fairly stead clip ever since.

This past week marks another important milestone in that march towards growing public awareness that, one hopes, might lead – eventually – to the disclosure many of us have been waiting for. Here I speak of the publication of the book In Plain Sight: An investigation into UFOs and impossible science by award-winning, veteran investigative Australian journalist, Ross Coulthart. In the line of books by American journalists such as Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal, this book seeks to take a nuanced, historically-rich discussion about the UFO Phenomenon right to the town square of public conversation.

While there may have been more books written about UFOs and alien contact than grains of sands on your local beach, this new release by Coulthart is special because it has the opportunity to reach a much more mainstream audience – not the least of which includes Coulthart’s professional colleagues in the, up until now, notoriously dismissive field of journalism. In other words, this book has the potential to take a subject that has been gaining steam over the last few years, and elevate it into the stratosphere of public conversation. And that is something to be excited about, to be sure.

Furthermore, what gives this book even more teeth, one might say, is that Ross Coulthart has done his homework. He’s taken years to carefully, meticulously craft a book that not only accurately depicts UFO events throughout the course of history, including events from his native Australia that many American audiences will have never heard about, but he has done so with a depth of penetrating analysis that makes apparent to even a naive reader, just how shocking, preposterous and disturbing the government treatment and coverup of this essential topic has been over the course of the last eight decades or so.

Not shying from delving into even the most controversial but compelling aspects of the history of this topic – including crashed AND landed retrievals of apparently alien vehicles and their non-human pilots – Coulthart has put together an exemplary read that has the potential to serve the cause of pushing this rock of confirmation and eventually perhaps disclosure, over that proverbial hill. Coulthart himself finishes his book by claiming we may seemingly be at the cusp of a public revelation that has the potential to change the world. Ross Coulthart’s stellar new book, In Plain Sight: An investigation into UFOs and impossible science and the shocking events from our shared history it uncovers, are the topic of this, the 32nd episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.