When Luis Elizondo made the bold and life changing decision to leave his career within the U.S. military and intelligence community by resigning from his role spearheading AATIP – The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program – it wasn’t because he wanted a change in scenario or a change in direction. No, on the contrary, he has repeatedly stated that the decision to leave his position was the hardest one he’s ever made, one that he wouldn’t have made if he had seen any other legitimate way forward. Furthermore, he has repeatedly asserted that his decision to resign was brought about by his desire – first and foremost – to serve his country.

In the end it became apparent to Elizondo that the intelligence he was trying to deliver up his chain of command was being brickwalled before it could get to where it needed to. In short, there were people above him who not only had no interest in seeing the intelligence gathered being delivered to the top of the chain, where it could be – as Elizondo had hoped – acted upon – but there were individuals who had apparently decided that the investigation shouldn’t be happening at all; that to investigate the matter of these unidentified aerial phenomena – aka UFOs – was, in itself, a foolhardy and ill-advised endeavor.

Of course this begs the question: why? Why was there a contingent within the US military intelligence apparatus that not only wanted to halt someone like Elizondo from delivering intel to his superiors, but who had seemingly already decided – a priori – that an investigation into UFOs was not only ill advised, but – more significantly – actually a dangerous endeavor to even pursue?

According to Elizondo, this group’s objection was based solely on religious grounds. When he had been told in no uncertain terms that the best course of action was to drop the matter altogether, Eliziodo wondered if perhaps that’s because these vehicles were top secret next-gen U.S. craft after all. When he asked if this was the case, he was told, no, that’s not what was meant. He was then told that if he had read his Bible recently, he would already know what they were.

In short, these individuals within Elizondo’s chain of command believed the intelligence behind UAPs/UFOs was actually demonic in nature. And not in some abstract – these are bad news – kind of way. No, these individuals seemed to believe that these intelligences were in fact the very demons they believed the Bible laid bare as the evil minions of Satan, dark and deceptive nefarious entities who’s only true aim was to corrupt and lead humanity away from a reliance on and relationship with the “one true God”.

Now, to be sure, a predetermined position rooted in religious fundamentalism was central to this group’s thinking. Had there been no Christian fundamentalists in positions of power, this notion likely wouldn’t have gotten off the ground to begin with. But, as it turns out, the conclusions this group of government and military insiders had come to was not solely based on pre-existing religious conviction. Rather, events that had taken place earlier in the 20th century, events such as those tied to the first ever modern sighting of UFOs by Kenneth Arnold, and of the purported crash of an alien craft along with the alleged recovery of alien life forms at Roswell, New Mexico, were central to this group’s conclusions.

Put succinctly, this group – who came to be known as the Collins Elite – believed that occultic practices foolishly pursued by human beings in the early to mid 20th century had opened a kind of portal to an alternate dimension; a netherworld that was home to these dark and deceptive intelligences. And that now these demonic forces were laying siege to humanity under the ruse of a visitation from extraterrestrials piloting sophisticated spacecraft.

But what were the actual, specific historical events that had led to the Collins Elite to these rather startling conclusions? And how was it that the personal convictions of these religious fundamentalists went so far as to influence, and some might even say, shape, much of the unofficial response of the U.S. government to the UFO Phenomenon? These are the very matters we’ll seek to understand in this, the 49th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

In 2017 the New York Times dropped a bombshell article detailing a secret government UFO program that included footage of newly categorized “UAP” – unidentified aerial phenomena. That article, published by a mainstream, industry-leading publication like the Times inspired other publications and news outlets all over the world to follow suit. The ensuing drama resulted in a new wave of public and political interest in the topic of UFOs that has vaulted this field to new heights in the public sphere.

Still, as groundbreaking as that article and its contents were, it turns out that numerous errors also squeaked through. In addition, the article opened up many intriguing questions that were never fully answered. At least, until now. This past week saw the publication of a trailblazing new book titled Skinwalkers at the Pentagon that is garnering considerable attention – for numerous reasons, not the least of which is because it sets the record straight on many of the details that the Times article ultimately got wrong.

But serving as much more than a correction of the historical record, this new book, penned by James Lacatski, Colm Kelleher, & George Knapp, sheds wholly new light on a secret program, titled the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (or AAWSAP), whose paradigm-changing findings were ultimately delivered to the DIA – the Defense Intelligence Agency, at the culmination of its research.

As it turns out, the program Lacatski and Kelleher spearheaded between 2008 and 2010 covered a broad swath of phenomena that included, but went well beyond sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena – aka UFOs. Other matters investigated included psychic effects, the colloquially deemed “hitchhiker phenomenon”, poltergeist activity, and the documented physiological effects on human beings of contact with these various mysterious phenomena.

No doubt the contents of this book will shock many. And without question, many from the mainstream – both scientists and journalists alike – will balk at much of this material, because it brings the question of the primacy of consciousness and controversial matters such as sophisticated, non-human intelligence into the fore.

But of course, this kind of material is perfectly suited to a podcast such as this one. And so this is precisely the terrain we plan to traverse in this, the 43rd episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.

In recent months former Department of Defense employee Luis Elizondo, who ran the Pentagon’s UFO program, known as AATIP, or The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, has made comments pinpointing experiences where senior Department of Defense officials attempted to shut down further investigation into UFOs, or, as they have been rebranded in government circles, “unidentified aerial phenomenon”, simply for reasons that amount to a prejudice stemming from religious fundamentalism. And unfortunately, this is far from the first time such incidents have reportedly occurred.

As unnerving as it is that taxpayer-run programs are being started and stopped based merely on the biases of religious extremists placed deep within the hierarchy of our government, this perspective that seeks to draw conclusions even before finishing the task of gathering data, connecting dots that arise from that process, and considering various hypotheses, is actually common-place – not only within the hallowed halls of government – but within the greater American society as well.

In fact, this is one of the greatest challenges our society faces when – as will almost certainly be the case as increasingly clear revelations regarding the presence of a non-human intelligence in our midst emerge – we are forced to reckon with this reality as a nation and, speaking more generally, a civilization.

When one considers various reactions to the revelation that apparently non-human intelligences are in our midst, and perhaps have been for a very long time, one thing seems clear: the very same data points that lead some observers to conclude that we are being visited by an extraterrestrial alien race, lead others to believe we are falling prey to the actions of demonic entities whose only aim is to deceive and ultimately draw us away from the one true God.

One group ponders the implications for our human future when faced with the startlingly sophisticated technology of a more advanced biological race, while the other fears for the salvation – and thus the very eternal souls – of countless billions, as a result of what they consider “The Great Deception”.

How did we get here? How do people — living in the very same nation, and within the very same era of history — draw such starkly different conclusions when faced with the very same data-set? And what does this say for our ability — as a collective — to deal with this revelation in the months and years ahead in a positive, constructive way?

Of course, matters become even more convoluted and complicated when research suggests that – perhaps – the events that spawned the creation of the very religions that have evolved to become the dominant meaning-making structures for a majority of the world’s population, may very well have been initiated by the very same sophisticated, non-human intelligences that we are trying to grapple with based on the evidence of contemporary encounters. In that sense, the entire question — regarding what constitutes our notion of ultimate reality – may have come full circle.

Depending on your point of view, this unique situation can be seen as an opportunity for the greatest transformation in the history of human civilization, or the revelation that has the potential to collapse our society into utter chaos. And perhaps it is both.

What do these revelations say about who we are, where we come from, and where we’re going? And how will we, as a collective, divided and currently subscribed to very different belief systems, rise to the challenge? These are the intriguing and perplexing questions we’ll attempt to address in this, the 20th episode of the Point of Convergence podcast.