Additionally, if we are to propose that this ‘high strangeness’ is a phenomenon (single) rather than a phenomena (plural), we would need to somehow show a link beyond observations of cold cases. Which we cannot do for reasons we have discussed earlier in this book. Most strange, was the encounters were with all manner of differing people/beings, some human, some looking less than human (some claiming to be from Mars and other places), and all traveling in ships that the experiencer has no accounting for. The technology and vehicles reported were a bizarre mix of crude blimp like airships that had the ability to accelerate and move beyond what was understandable at that time. Keep in mind, that in 1896-97 the American people had no functional working airships, let alone ones that could perform what was being reported. We would not take to the skies in planes for another decade. From 1896-1897, the wave of airships intensified with reports coming across various states. The mysterious airship wave of the late 19th century acted very similar to a typical ‘UFO’ wave, albeit instead of silver metallic discs there were clunky wooden blimp type airships. The most recent and talked-about example is Professor Avi Loeb and his colleagues at The Galileo Project. Even though I feel encouraged by Professor Loeb's project, and believe some fruitful results can come out of , the project, it is still predicated on physicalism. And as we will see in section 2, physicalism has its constraints in explaining the high strangeness of the UFO phenomenon. Of course, The Galileo Project does not focus on the high strangeness aspect, so it can still yield interesting results of UFOs’ physical and technological aspects. (Maybe also of the high strangeness aspect, who knows?).

Both Keel and Jacques Vallée both make use of the late 19th century UFO wave to point to the ‘high strangeness’ that is associated with the phenomena. Theories of ‘high strangeness’ incorporate all of the weird and illogical paranormal incidents and associated phenomena that is tied to UFOs.Last, I am certain that the various high strangeness events and experiences demonstrate that humanity still has a lot to learn about reality’s fundamental nature.

In early October I had finished reading the book Operation Trojan Horse, by American author and researcher John Keel – who also wrote the influential Mothman Prophecies book. Very interestingly, Keel advocated against the theory that UFOs were extra-terrestrial in origin (the popular opinion in the 50s and 60s), and instead, promoted the literature of that time that these objects were ‘para-physical’ in nature, that they push through the visible light spectrum and vibrate at a higher frequency. His work in parts was very thought provoking, however in no means does he approach with a sceptical methodology. Additionally, I didn’t care too much for his overly certain conclusions based on data that wasn’t repeatable and from a dataset which was highly questionable. Having said that, I did find his theories fascinating as a hypothetical argument. It was Keel who introduced the ‘ Ultra-Terrestrials’ (UFOs are intelligences from Earth) as a mainstream concept, as most famously suggested that the case reports followed a subtle sequential pattern, and that pattern didn’t advocate extra-terrestrials coming from another planet. Apparently, there is a research paper by Doctor Hal Puthoff on ‘Ultra-Terrestrials’, but finding it has been almost impossible. My generalization is that science is based on the metaphysical assumption called physicalism. Henceforth, I will equate physicalism with materialism. The former is a more recent term for the latter (there are historical differences, but they are not relevant for our purposes). Even the most mundane tasks or environment can become surreal if unexplainable events are claimed; this could be as simple as spirits lingering in a home or poltergeists causing items to levitate. Such inexplicable phenomenon reveals both how vast and peculiar the world of unexplainable phenomena can be. High Strangeness in the Esoteric

Hairy hominids and lake monsters!

Let us start by investigating the general version of physicalism. In its slogan form, physicalism is the thesis that everything is physical. The general idea is that the universe (or “nature” or the “natural world”) and everything in it (atoms, chairs, planets, thoughts, sensations, etc.) conform to a certain condition: the condition of being physical. A physicalist will not deny that there are items or phenomena in the actual world that do not appear physical: items or phenomena of social, psychological, moral, or mathematical nature. Nevertheless, a physicalist will insist that such items and phenomena are physical or, at a minimum, bear an important relation to the physical. Every human being has metaphysical assumptions about the nature of reality, time, causation, what is possible or impossible, and so on. Those metaphysical assumptions have a strong influence on our worldview in general and even on more particular topics such as economics or history (“the invisible hand” or “historical materialism”). Since our metaphysical assumptions are usually implicit, unarticulated, and can drive us to torture and kill each other (the “Holy Inquisition”), making them explicit and articulated is essential. That is why I, in the introduction, said that a greater awareness of your own metaphysical assumptions can facilitate an approach of open-mindedness and curiosity rather than a narrow-minded one. Probably not, because science cannot answer the condition question (question a) above): what is the condition, being physical, that everything satisfies or bears a relation to? That is probably the more important question to understand than the completeness question (we will explore the condition question in the subsection “Notion of qualia…”). In philosophy and science, it is the completeness question that, so far, has got most of the attention. The questions are distinct — 1. and 2., and a) and b) — but also related since you need to first have an answer to 1. and a) before you can answer 2. and b). Thus, the answer to if physicalism is true presupposes we can say something about what it is for a thing/phenomenon to be physical. So for me, this is why ‘high strangeness’ is so important, it changes the dynamic of the origin mystery.