by Anastasia Wasko and Jacob W. Glazier
There are few phenomena so intimately intertwined with the human experience as UFOs, UAP, and nonhuman intelligence. The appearance of crafts in the sky inspires awe or induces fear. The emergence of parapsychological faculties post contact shifts an individual’s understanding of reality. And on a sociological level, the emergent cognitive dissonance and worldview shift that is necessary for humanity to integrate inner and outer-worldly sentience dissolves interpretations of the structure of reality as described by material science (Roberts, 2023).
Perhaps UAP are the inroad to a post-materialist science (Beauregard et al, 2020), a gatekeeper phenomenon that will lead to a better understanding of physical reality. The way the phenomenon has been classified has shifted in recent years within the Western perspective. Terms such as “saucers” and “flying object” have been switched to the more innocuous “unidentified anomalous phenomena” (Ammon, 2024). The field of anomalistics, an umbrella term, encompasses the scientific investigation of anomalies (such as UAP as well as parapsychological or cryptozoological topics and more) at large. This discipline offers an opportunity to unlock the gate before crossing over by continuing to update our knowledge based on evolving research and human experience.
Understanding the phenomenology of perception (how we perceive, lose a sense of self, establish a point of view in time-space, and consciousness) can also unlock the gate. Writer and researcher Eric Ouellet (2011) applies an analytical framework toward UAP experiences called pragmatic information. This framework is how he determined, from a descriptive standpoint, that both recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis and the 1952 UFO wave share similar patterns. Such a model, based on work by Walter von Lucadou in Germany, is modeled on systems theory and quantum physics (Ouellett, 2011). Simply put, through the merging of reported experience and empirical data (here from observations of crafts), we can begin to see and establish connections within the greater ecosystem of the human and world. The approach draws connections, and UAP reveal how the collective handles social psi, the way beliefs and attitudes around paranormal phenomena are interpreted and shaped by people.
Maybe the answer lies within us – as we delve into the more finite and hidden worlds of material reality, we dive deeper into the mind and inner workings of experience.
If we consider the experience of alien encounters from a purely psychological or philosophical perspective, there is no need to amass evidence of sightings, nor wade through the conspiracy theories and governmental intervention that plague the UAP and UFO narratives. Maybe the answer lies within us – as we delve into the more finite and hidden worlds of material reality, we dive deeper into the mind and inner workings of experience. Experiencers, those who report contact with UAP, “have a different psychological profile from non-experiencers in that they show higher levels of belief in and experience of the paranormal, self-reported paranormal abilities, tendency to hallucinate, absorption, dissociativity, and incidence of sleep paralysis” (French et al., 2008, p. 1391). While Carl Jung (1959/1978) delved into UFOs as externalized components of the psyche, Roberto Assagioli (1965/2000) acknowledged that they might represent internalized ones as different parts of human potential and consciousness itself. Assagioli worked with cross-cultural images (ascent, descent, expansion, awakening, light, enlightenment, fire, empowerment, love, wisdom, path, pilgrimage, transmutation, new birth, regeneration, liberation, resurrection) that activated spiritual energies and emotions. These images didn’t always appear solely in the dream life of his clients; Assagioli advocated the theory that these images might activate higher consciousness and spiritual development (Schaub & Schaub, 2025).
Romano (2006) surveyed the demographic attributes of UAP experiencers, noting that to be assigned to the alien abduction experiencer (AAE) category, the individual had to report being taken on board a UFO or to a clearly alien environment. Both AAEs and visitees had conscious memories of the events – these memories may, or may not, have been enhanced through hypnosis or alternative consciousness work. Individuals who reported abductions during dreams, past lives, or other altered states of consciousness fell into two distinct groups. One group included those who claimed actual extraterrestrial interactions during these altered states (psychic AAEs), while the other group included those who simply dreamed about being abducted, without interpreting the experience as real (possible AAEs) (Romano, 2006).
UAP and their related experiences clearly suggest that the typical hard and fast distinction between consciousness and the material world is much more permeable than assumed. One might wonder: Have UAP opened the gates to our own psychic and psychological development? This is a question worth careful reflection, especially given that there is little consensus on the nature of consciousness (Kuhn, 2024) – let alone the nature of UAP.
Have UAP opened the gates to our own psychic and psychological development?
In this issue of Mindfield, the contributors center their analysis on UAP from a variety of perspectives with supplemental essays on history, healing, and intuition. Mike Cifone argues that UAP require an expanded epistemology – grounded in radical empiricism and non-dual metaphysics – that acknowledges experiential, psychophysical, and anomalous data as legitimate, even when they resist existing scientific frameworks. Bob Davis and Russ Scalpone explore how interactions with UAP and non-human intelligences (NHIs) affect individuals’ consciousness and worldview, often leading to lasting psychological, spiritual, and behavioral transformations. Jack Hunter investigates a series of anomalous UFO and apparition sightings in Wales, highlighting recurring patterns of luminous, geometric phenomena across centuries and suggesting they may reflect a blend of cultural storytelling, spiritual interpretation, and possibly real, unexplained experiences. Michael Jawer argues that UAP may exhibit signs of sentience or organic intelligence, behaving more like living beings than machines, with characteristics such as telepathic interaction, emotional resonance, and animal-like awareness. David Mitchell examines how exceptional human experiences related to UAP and parapsychology challenge conventional understandings of reality, emphasizing the cultural, psychological, and spiritual significance of these phenomena through the lens of the African sankofa principle, which encourages reclaiming forgotten knowledge to foster personal and collective transformation.
In addition to the issue’s theme of UAP, Claude Berghmans hypothesizes that energy healers enter a self-induced cognitive trance – an altered state of consciousness similar to shamanic trance – during the preparation phase before treatment, as part of a ritualized process involving meditation, visualization, and prayer to enhance receptivity and therapeutic effectiveness. Eberhard Bauer reflects on over fifty years at the Freiburg IGPP, detailing his formative experiences with founder Hans Bender, the evolution of parapsychological research, and the institute’s transformation from a modest operation into a well-funded, multidisciplinary research center. Drew Nwabuez relates her journey through pregnancy and postpartum opened a transformative portal into psi phenomena – such as intuition, telepathy, and spiritual visions – which were expressed and integrated through artwork featured in the essay. For the forty-fifth instalment of “Articles Relevant to Parapsychology in Journals of Various Fields,” Maurice van Luijtelaar and Renaud Evrard collected 231 articles that were taken from 204 different journals and one conference proceeding.
Together, these contributions invite readers to rethink the boundaries of reality and human potential. Whether through encounters with UAP or the mysteries of consciousness, this issue of Mindfield offers a compelling journey into the extraordinary dimensions of experience that continue to challenge and expand our understanding of the possible.
Ammon, D. (2024). Development, dissemination, and revision of good scientific practice for research on UAP. Limina: The Journal of UAP Studies, 1(1), 31–39. https://doi.org/10.59661/001c.92683
Assagioli, R. (2000). Psychosynthesis: A manual of principles and techniques. Thorsons. (Original work published 1965)
Beauregard, M., Schwartz, G. E., Dyer, N. L., & Woollacott, M. (Eds.). (2020). Expanding science: Visions of a post-materialist paradigm. AAPS Press.
French, C., Santomauro, J., Hamilton, V., Fox, R., & Thalbourne, M. A. (2008). Psychological aspects of the alien contact experience. Cortex, 44(10), 1387–1395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2007.11.011
Jung, C. G. (1978). Flying saucers: A modern myth of things seen in the skies (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1959)
Kuhn, R. L. (2024). A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explanations and implications. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 190, 28-169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2023.12.003
Ouellet, E. (2011, August). Marian apparitions at El-Zeitoun and social psi. Parasociology. https://parasociology.blogspot.com/2011/08/marian-apparitions-at-el-zeitoun-and.html
Ouellet, E. (2009). The 1952 UFO wave and Washington D.C.: A case study in parasociology (Part 2). Parasociology. https://parasociology.blogspot.com/2009/12/1952-ufo-wave-and-washington-dc-case_30.html
Roberts, J. (2023). Uncanny technology, trauma, and world collapse in Ariel Phenomenon. In J. W. Glazier (Ed.), Paranormal Ruptures: Critical Approaches to Exceptional Experience (pp. 219-248). Beyond the Fray Publishing.
Romano, K. (2006). A report on the demographics and beliefs of alien abduction experiencers. The Journal of UFO Studies, 9, 1–21.
Schaub, B., & Schaub, R. (2025). Already gone: Imagery and spiritual experience. Mindfield: The Bulletin of the Parapsychological Association, 16(3). https://mindfieldbulletin.org/already-gone-imagery-and-spiritual-experience/
In this issue of Mindfield, the contributors center their analysis on UAP from a variety of perspectives with supplemental essays on history, healing, and intuition. Mike Cifone argues that UAP require an expanded epistemology - grounded in radical empiricism and non-dual metaphysics - that acknowledges experiential, psychophysical, and anomalous data as legitimate, even when they …
by Anastasia Wasko and Jacob W. Glazier
