Interactions with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and Non-Human Intelligences

Research on contact experiences (CEs) linked to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) remains largely unexplored due to the scientific community’s reluctance, driven by fear of ridicule, limited interest, and the stigma of “ufology.” Most studies focus on personality, cultural, and theoretical factors to formulate conclusions (e.g., psychological, physiological, atmospheric, extraterrestrial, or intra-dimensional explanations), but no empirically confirmed evidence explains the mechanisms governing UAP or CEs. Existing theories on the alien abduction phenomenon remain tenuous due to the lack of concrete empirical validation. For this paper, the preferred term, interactions with non-human intelligences (INHIs), will be used instead of the term alien abduction phenomena.

Given that CEs are personal, extraordinary experiences, some studies have sought to capture their essence to better understand the nature of the phenomenon. As a result, reported alien abduction narratives have been attributed to false memory syndrome or sleep paralysis, but experimental research remains scarce. Consequently, this paper aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the CEs impact and influence on the spiritual and behavioral transformations among individuals across three studies; 1) The Dr. Edgar Mitchell Foundation for Research into Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Experiences (FREE); 2) The Phoenix Lights Experiencer Study (PLES); and The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) Experiencer Survey.

Consciousness and Features of Interaction With Non-Human Intelligences

Encounters with UAP and non-human intelligences (NHIs) often induce ontological shock, challenging witnesses’ perceptions of reality and reshaping their philosophical and personal worldviews. When non-human intelligences are seen, they are often reported as humanoid “grey aliens” with large black eyes and oversized heads or as glowing orbs or energy forms in bright blue or white light. Witnesses describe being transported through solid structures into advanced craft, often resembling laboratories with curved walls, instrument panels, and high-tech consoles. Some reports include interactions with “hybrid” beings, adding further complexity to these extraordinary experiences (Davis et al., 2018; Maden et al., 2018; Scalpone et al., 2024).

Encounters with UAP and non-human intelligences (NHIs) often induce ontological shock, challenging witnesses' perceptions of reality and reshaping their philosophical and personal worldviews.

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Distinguishing between a UAP sighting and an interaction with NHI can be difficult, since witnesses often report a “strong bond or sense of connection” to a UAP craft or object sighted in the sky or near them on the ground, frequently accompanied by telepathic communication or sensing someone “as a presence.”

Experiencers frequently report expanded awareness, heightened curiosity, and shifts in life perspectives (Davis et al., 2018). Common after-effects include:

Increased empathy, compassion, and feelings of interconnectedness;
Development of reported psychic abilities;
Altered states of consciousness;
Greater ecological sensitivity and reduced materialism;
Decreased religious interest but a stronger inclination toward spirituality.

These findings suggest that interactions with UAP and NHI leave a lasting imprint on individuals, reshaping their philosophical outlook and influencing their psychological and emotional well-being.

Harvard psychiatrist and UAP researcher, John Mack (1994), asserted that UAP and NHI encounters were not imaginary but tangible, otherworldly experiences. Mack (1994) conducted interviews with over 300 individuals who reported INHIs and found that ninety percent of participants experienced profound, lasting personal transformations. Encounters often conveyed messages encouraging humanity to transform its consciousness, foster spiritual growth, and realign its relationship with Earth and one another. Many experiencers also reported “ego death,” a phenomenon associated with deep psychological and spiritual change (Mack, 1994).

Mack (1994) concluded that reported INHIs were authentic accounts from credible individuals who showed no signs of delusion or motive for fabrication. His research challenged conventional paradigms, suggesting that these encounters have a real and significant impact on human perception and consciousness.

The intelligence behind both UAP and NHI phenomena appears to engage deeply with the human subconscious, often eluding conventional detection methods. Witnesses frequently describe vivid mental projections akin to computer-like imagery, accompanied by intense emotional responses ranging from profound spiritual awe to overwhelming fear. Manifestations take various forms, including lights in the sky, NHIs appearing in homes, and surreal abduction experiences involving seemingly nonsensical medical procedures. This phenomenon blurs the boundary between objective reality and subjective perception, merging tangible physical effects such as electromagnetic disturbances and physical traces and marks on the body with deeply personal psychological experiences. It also challenges traditional scientific frameworks, necessitating new interdisciplinary approaches to fully comprehend its nature.

UAP appear to align with physicist David Bohm’s (2002) theory of two interconnected orders: the explicate order, which represents physical reality governed by locality and causality, and the implicate order, a deeper, non-local mental universe linked through quantum entanglement. Bohm’s (2002) model suggests a unified reality where consciousness, matter, and energy are fundamentally connected, providing a potential framework for understanding interactions with UAP-NHIs.

Bohm (2002) proposed that advanced intelligence could manipulate reality through “quantum technology,” enabling non-local exchanges of information with human consciousness. This mechanism implies that NHIs may transmit information encoded at the molecular level of the brain, regardless of spatial distance. In this view, quantum entanglement, guided by intentionality, acts as an advanced form of information transfer, seamlessly bridging consciousness and matter across vast scales – an instant and effective communication system.

Astrophysicist Massimo Teodorani (2004), while studying the Hessdalen Lights, in Hessdalen, Norway, observed behavior suggesting that the UAP actively resisted measurement, seemingly attempting to communicate with his subconscious mind. Decades earlier, physicist Harley Rutledge (2003) documented similar research experiences with this phenomenon in Kansas, noting that the strange lights appeared to synchronize with his thoughts and act with purposeful intent. What is especially interesting is that both researchers independently concluded that the phenomenon interacts on a deeply personal and psychological level. In other words, they studied the same light phenomenon and made the same conclusions decades and many miles apart.

What is especially interesting is that both researchers independently concluded that the phenomenon interacts on a deeply personal and psychological level.

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This synchronicity, along with the ability of such phenomena to produce vivid, hypnagogic images, may explain why UAP encounters often trigger profound personal transformations. These observations suggest an intelligence capable of directly engaging with human consciousness, shaping perception, and fostering psychological and spiritual growth.

The Dr. Edgar Mitchell Foundation for Research Into Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Experiences (FREE) and Studies of Reported Interactions With UAP and Non-Human Intelligences

Astronaut and engineer Dr. Edgar Mitchell, known for his role as Apollo 14’s Lunar Module pilot and as the sixth person to walk on the moon, founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the Dr. Edgar Mitchell Foundation for Research into Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Experiences (FREE) (Davis et al., 2018). Between 2016 and 2018, FREE conducted a groundbreaking survey with 3,256 participants who reported contact experiences with NHIs, with or without UAP involvement Davis et al., 2018). As members of FREE, we explored the physical, psychological, perceptual and paranormal dimensions of non-hypnotic recall of INHIs, contributing significant insights into the multifaceted nature of the phenomena, as follows:

Contact experiences encompass a wide range of physical, psychological, perceptual, and paranormal events, often resulting in profound psychological changes and shifts in consciousness;
The majority (approximately seventy-five percent) of individuals who report UAP interactions describe them as non-physical in nature, characterized by psychic and symbolic attributes rather than conventional alien abduction scenarios;
These experiences may unfold through telepathy, out-of-body states, or in a “matrix-like” reality, while some involve physical interactions, such as being aboard a craft;
Interaction with NHIs typically occurs through sensing, visualizing, or direct communication, yet only occasionally coincides with a UAP sighting;
Findings indicate that 60% to 75% of participants reported non-physical contact, including telepathic communication, sensations of expanded consciousness, and perceptions of a holographic or hyperdimensional reality during their INHI;
About 80% of those who experienced INHIs did not want these contacts to cease and most described their encounters as having a positive impact on their lives, highlighting the transformative effects on their philosophical outlook and personal growth (Davis et al., 2018).

Moreover, the FREE study revealed that subjects often experienced profound shifts in their perception of time, cognition, and reality during their CE. Approximately 65% of participants reported a sensation of detachment from their physical bodies, with their consciousness seeming to become independent of their physical form. Around 70% described a sense of expanded consciousness in the presence of NHIs, leading to significant changes in their perceptions, emotions, and attitudes (Davis et al., 2018).

For the 1,184 individuals who reported communication with NHIs in the study, about 80% percent believed these beings had the ability to travel across dimensions or time, including both past and future (Davis et al., 2018). Most participants also described receiving deeply comforting and transformative messages. Specifically, 67% percent received “reassuring messages,” 49% percent received “spiritual messages,” and 60% percent reported receiving messages about “Love or Oneness” (Davis et al., 2018). These findings underscore the profound spiritual nature of NHI encounters, suggesting that these experiences may catalyze lasting shifts in consciousness and personal perspective (Davis et al., 2018).

The study also revealed that the content and intention of these communications frequently focused on guiding humanity toward positive change (Davis et al., 2018). The assumed intelligence behind these messages expressed concern over preventing self-destruction, particularly through nuclear war, and emphasized three key goals (Davis et al., 2018):

Encouraging the preservation of life and biological material on Earth;
Promoting ecological appreciation and advocating for more empathetic, loving behavior toward others and the planet;
Supporting individual spiritual growth and fostering a deeper connection with the divine and one’s higher self.

Replication of scientific findings is critical for building confidence in the results of these studies. In the context of UAP-INHI research, besides the comprehensive and large population-based FREE study, only two smaller survey-based studies have been conducted: 1) The 2018 Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) Experiencer Survey (Marden et al., 2018); and 2) The 2024 Phoenix Lights Experiencer Study (PLES) (Scalpone et al., 2024).

Comparison of the FREE and PLES Studies

The PLES study (N = 117) confirmed several aspects of the FREE study, including: the generally positive reactions to INHI contacts, changes in attitudes following encounters with UAP craft or NHI, and the occurrence of paranormal phenomena (Scalpone et al., 2024). Overall, both studies shared several key similarities in their findings, despite some differences in the degree of effect sizes. Notable parallels between the two studies include the following:

The PLES results indicated that a slight majority (54%) of participants reported their experience had a “slightly or highly positive” impact on their lives, which was lower than the FREE study (>75%).
About half of the PLES participants reported seeing or interacting with a NHI (extraterrestrial, ghost, spirit, or Light Being), though all but one of these interactions were at a different time from their encounter with the Phoenix Lights. This result aligned with one-half to two-thirds of the FREE study participants who reported similar experiences.
Similar to the FREE study, less than a quarter of the PLES participants reported having conscious memories (without hypnosis) of being aboard a UAP craft. Over one-third of the PLES participants felt a “strong bond” or “sense of connection” to orbs or lights during their event, mirroring a comparable result in the FREE study.
Forty-two percent of the PLES participants reported direct contact with an NHI, with over three-quarters describing themselves as “wide awake and moving” during the experience, with 71% saying this contact was “very real or “hyper real, engaging all the “senses”, and eighty five percent indicating they could recall most or all the details of this contact without hypnosis. This outcome aligns with the majority of the FREE study participants who also reported conscious recall of their UAP and INHI encounters. In fact, a common description by the FREE subjects was that their INHI felt “as real as interactions with family members” (Davis et al., 2018).
Both the PLES and FREE studies found that more than two-thirds of participants experienced paranormal phenomena, such as ghosts, orbs, and electrical malfunctions, along with an increase in intuition or psychic abilities (Davis et al., 2018; Scalpone et al., 2024). These findings are consistent with Kenneth Ring’s conclusion (Ring, 1993) that experiencers become “encounter prone personalities,” with lowered thresholds for perceiving paranormal phenomena.
A key conclusion from the PLES and FREE studies was that participants’ changed attitudes toward their sense of self and connection with a higher power following their experience, which was related to a more positive outlook on life. In fact, the PLES study actually correlated with an accepted measure (Lyubomirky & Lepper, 1999) of subjective happiness.

These similarities further reinforce the transformative and often profound nature of INHIs, suggesting consistent psychological and perceptual effects across the two study populations.

Comparison of the FREE, PLES, and MUFON Studies

The PLES and FREE findings align with the results from the MUFON study (N = 510) (Marden 2018), suggesting broader support for the transformative effects linked to UAP-INHIs, further strengthening the evidence for the profound impact of these phenomena on individuals’ lives (Davis et al., 2018). A significant finding among the three studies, for example, was the trend toward spiritual development in those who interacted with the phenomenon.

A significant finding among the three studies, for example, was the trend toward spiritual development in those who interacted with the phenomenon.

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More specifically, the majority of subjects in each study reported an increased interest in life beyond the physical, the sacred meaning of life, and a heightened sense of spirituality. In general, many expressed becoming more empathic, psychic/intuitive, and less focused on aggression, materialism, and negativity. Additionally, there was a noticeable trend toward advocating for the preservation of the planet, reflecting greater environmental concern.

Regarding the physical appearance of NHIs, the studies showed fairly consistent patterns except for the PLES results. The most commonly reported beings in the FREE and MUFON studies were the “greys,” followed by tall whites and hybrid beings. More specifically, the most frequently encountered forms in the FREE study were the short grey beings (67%) and human-looking beings (64%), followed next in frequency with energy beings (55%) and spirit-like forms (50%). In contrast, the PLES study showed a higher incidence of spirit forms or ghost-like beings (25%), followed by the greys (17%), energy beings, orbs, and light beings (15%). In contrast, human-looking entities were reported much less frequently (8%) in the PLES than in the MUFON and FREE studies (over 60%).

In the MUFON study, approximately one-quarter of the participants reported they did not want their abduction/ET CEs to end, while another quarter expressed mixed feelings, wanting the experience to end at times but also desiring its continuation (Marden et al., 2018). Interestingly, less than 20% of the MUFON participants reported experiencing highly negative contact, including recurring visits to a “dreadful environment” where they were physically and sexually abused. Thus, while the majority of the MUFON participants viewed their experiences positively or were conflicted about them, a notable minority (about 20%) encountered distressing experiences. This result is consistent with a similar percentage (approximately 20%) of negative INHI outcomes reported from each of the FREE and PLES study groups.

More specifically, over three-quarters of participants in the FREE study (N = 1,805) and the majority of subjects in the PLES (55%) and MUFON (52%) studies viewed their UAP-INHIs experiences positively. In fact, the majority of those experiencing INHIs in the PLES and MUFON studies described a level of helpful, positive impact, and in the MUFON study, were honored and touched by the gracious and spiritually rich nature of their INHIs (Marden et al., 2018).

Closing Remarks

While most UAP studies have focused on the psychological profile of abductees/contactees, the few studies (FREE, PLES, and MUFON) that have examined the essence and impact of the CE revealed similar positive behavioral transformations in the majority of participants as a direct outcome of their INHI experiences.

The results from the three UAP/INHI studies suggest, on face value, that an apparent intelligence or force seems to take control of individuals, inducing altered behavior patterns, telepathic communication, and shifts in space-time perception, among other complex effects during a CE. In some cases, people also report receiving messages containing personal guidance, religious-spiritual insights, or scientific/technological knowledge. Such experiences may have contributed to the positive behavioral transformations reported in these studies. Given that the population groups were not screened for psychosis is an admitted weakness of these studies. However, the fairly large number of study participants in each study should mitigate any significant impact that the few outlier subjects would have on the overall group results.

Regardless of the actual nature of the phenomenon, INHIs have led individuals to a stronger belief in a universal supreme being, the existence of the soul, and an understanding that higher-dimensional realities are filled with beauty, love, and spiritual truth. This shift toward greater spirituality, interconnectedness, and ecological responsibility underscores the transformative impact these encounters have on most individuals, fostering deep changes in their worldviews.

Given this context, the overarching questions remain as to how and why one’s personal and philosophical insights and beliefs represent the reported greater understanding and true perspective of one’s self and life following INHIs. Despite the nature of reported interactions with NHIs, the only thing that can be said with certainty is that the reported CEs, which encompass a diverse range of psychological, physiological, and paranormal attributes, cannot be easily rationalized or scientifically validated but are perceived as real and generally positive by most who experience them.

Research into UAP-INHIs challenges fundamental beliefs and has the potential to reshape humanity’s understanding of the universe and its place within it. This pursuit of truth remains one of civilization’s greatest enigmas. However, existing scientific and psychological frameworks struggle to account for the complexity and often surreal nature of these encounters.

The subjective nature of UAP-INHI experiences frequently suggests a connection with consciousness, an enigmatic concept that continues to spark debate across multiple disciplines. Consequently, research exploring the semantic, linguistic, psychological, and thematic dimensions of these encounters in greater detail is essential.

If NHIs are indeed visiting Earth, whether from another galaxy, our future, or as undetected native beings, they clearly possess technologies and abilities far beyond human understanding. These advanced capabilities may allow them to achieve interstellar travel, evade radar detection, disappear without leaving physical traces, and communicate telepathically, often conveying ecological and spiritual messages.

The stark contrast between the vivid, personal accounts of UAP-INHI witnesses and the absence of corroborating physical evidence poses a significant challenge to established scientific paradigms. As a result, studying this phenomenon may require the development of new scientific principles and methodologies. However, researchers face a key obstacle; that is, UAP-INHI experiences and their transformative after-effects occur spontaneously, making them inherently unpredictable and difficult to analyze under controlled conditions.

Consequently, a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach is essential, integrating insights from diverse fields such as physics, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, quantum physics, and consciousness studies, among others. This collaborative framework, though currently underdeveloped, is critically necessary and could provide both the theoretical and practical tools required to study and better understand this enigmatic and thought-provoking phenomenon.

References

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Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137–155. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006824100041

Mack, J. (1994). Passport to the cosmos: Human transformation and alien encounters. Crown Publishers.

Marden, K., Donderi, D., Melton, M., Upson, R., Lang, C., & Stoner, D. (2018). MUFON experiencer survey: What it tells us about contact and the implications for humanity’s future. MUFON Television. https://www.mufontelevision.com/video/kathleen-marden-the-mufon-experiencer-survey-what-it-tells-us-about-contact-and-the-implications-for-humanitys-future/

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Teodorani, M. (2004). A long-term scientific survey of the Hessdalen phenomenon. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 18(2), 217-251.