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 Piercing the Veil Sheryl Gottschall Rights to all articles are held by the authors and permission to reprint must be sought from ACUFOS. There is no doubt that people view the UFO phenomenon in many different ways. This is because we all have a different perception of what is happening with the phenomenon created by a matchless viewpoint which has developed over a lifetime and drives our personal perception of events. Although we have our own world view we can, at times, view events from other people’s perspectives, usually when we are unemotionally attached to our personal view creating the freedom to explore other ideas. For example, studies have been done on “maverick” scientists and how they are willing to go out on a limb to explore unorthodox views, while their mainstream counterparts are challenged to do the same. The studies have shown that “mavericks” have an indifference to obstacles, high levels of confidence to the point of arrogance, question the wisdom of accepted beliefs and have a long-term commitment. Other studies have shown that all maverick scientists have one point very strongly in common, that being, when they look at the world from a different perspective it doesn’t collapse their world. Not everyone has this ability and we can see why when we acknowledge that different people have varying degrees of confidence, a limited willingness to question the status quo and often view obstacles as a thorn in their side rather than a challenge to overcome. Putting aside our personal perception of events allows us to see a viewpoint of an experience or event other than our own. We can also be free to stand back and look at the bigger picture. This way we can explore the dynamics surrounding many viewpoints. The realization that we humans operate from different ways of looking at events offers tremendous potential in our understanding of what we are observing, in this case the UFO phenomenon. The different perceptions we can have can be categorized into five perceptual positions giving us five different ways of viewing the UFO phenomenon. The first perceptual position is simply how we look at the phenomenon through our own eyes, from our own viewpoint. This perception is viewed through a total self-referencing system which includes everything about who we are, our emotions, intellect, life experiences, values and spiritual beliefs. We simply view the UFO phenomenon and interpret it with no external influence, only our own personal history. We do not take into account anyone else’s view but merely see it from our own standpoint. The second position is when we look at the phenomenon through someone else’s eyes or stand in their shoes. This can happen when we read a book, listen to a speaker or interview someone who has a sighting or close encounter experience. For a while we push aside our own view and imagine how an event or experience would look, feel and sound from the other person’s viewpoint. In this way we can “try on” the experience or knowledge without having to actually “buy it”. When we enter the third perceptual position we can distance ourselves from the first and second positions and become an independent observer. From here we can analyze objectively putting aside our own and other’s interpretations of the phenomenon. In this way we can ask the question “How would the UFO event/phenomenon/story look to someone totally uninvolved?” Perhaps the general public could be used as an example here. We can gain great clarity when we view things from this position. To move to the fourth position of perception we look at ourselves, others, and the phenomenon itself and see the dynamics involved around the original stimulus and the response to it while still remaining detached from it. From this position we may find ourselves asking the question “What is really going on here?” If we go beyond this, we springboard to a fifth position of perception which may be referred to as a universal perceptual position. This provides the widest and largest-level perspective of all. We can stand back and ask ourselves “What is the bigger picture?” or “How does the UFO phenomenon fit into the universal picture?” From this view we can take on multiple perceptions of the phenomenon and move between them. Doing so increases our flexibility of consciousness so that we don’t get stuck in any one position. I must point out here that none of these positions are superior to each other. They are all equally valuable. How well we move between these different perceptual positions will depend on our flexibility of mind and our willingness to explore other viewpoints. As instructive as it may be to understand that there are different positions from which we can view the UFO phenomenon, it is even more helpful to identify when we are stuck in any one of these positions which may be retarding our understanding of it. Should we become stuck in the first perceptual position we will only ever see the UFO phenomenon from our own perspective, becoming insular to any other viewpoints which may help in providing us with a greater truth. We may hold onto a self-serving illusion while dismissing the facts eg. all aliens are good therefore abduction experiences are for our higher good, or, all contactee experiences are really abduction experiences in disguise therefore we are under attack. Neither may be true, but we’ll never find out as long as we hold fast to a particular view that we have invested ourselves in. If we become stuck in the second perceptual position we are constantly over-influenced by other’s perspectives, continuously renouncing our own ideas for someone else’s. We can become prey to fanatics and cults or only follow the commonly held view in the UFO community instead of searching for what may be real or true. If we see a UFO or experience a close encounter we may dismiss it to take on board the notion that only people with mental health problems have this happen to them rather than believe our own eyes. Again we open ourselves to another’s view rather than the truth of our own experience. When we become stuck in the third position we may merely remain observers of the UFO phenomenon dutifully recording all the “facts” without endeavouring to derive meaning from them. Although this approach has the makings of a good researcher our research results may be static and our understanding of the UFO phenomenon remains “dry”. If we are hijacked by the fourth perceptual position we may only ever look at the phenomenon without taking into account the human response to it and how that might impact on the phenomenon. As we have now discovered in quantum mechanics, what we are observing is affected by our observation. If we remain in isolation in the fifth perceptual position we may become ungrounded in our understanding of the UFO phenomenon not dealing with the details we discover to ensure they hang together in a cohesive way. We may develop lofty ideals and notions that prevent us dealing with the facts. Sometimes our ability to perceive things from out of our own eyes (first position) out of the eyes of another (second position) from an observer position (third position) from a dynamical position (fourth position) and from a universal viewpoint (fifth position) may also become misaligned. Although each of these perceptual positions can operate as separate “parts” it is of greater value if we can move between them utilizing each as necessary. As the multi-layered UFO phenomenon throws before us it’s many challenges, developing this ability may help us greatly in overcoming them. Problems also occur when parts of ourselves react from different perceptual positions. When that happens we can end up working against ourselves. We may want to know the truth about the UFO phenomenon but may have invested heavily emotionally and intellectually in a particular train of thought on which we have built our opinions of the phenomenon. We can see this emerging in the published works of many well known UFO researchers today. Doing a quick reversal of opinion is not an easy task particularly when one has built up a following, and Colin Andrews change of opinion on crop circles is a good example of this. When we bring all our perspectives together and create a holistic framework we attain congruence and clarity while enriching and broadening our perspectives. We take on a willingness to look at all the aspects of the UFO phenomenon which gives us a fuller awareness of all it’s complexities. This is indeed a challenge but one worth the effort. Back to Articles Index  |
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