Aliens as Demons

Several researchers within the field of ufology have noted the strong parallels between modern alien abduction narratives and the tales of demons, devil, witches, and little people from earlier centuries. Is there a connection between the two phenomena? Could they even be describing the same thing, simply interpreted through a different frame of reference?

The Paraphysical Approach to UFOs

Jacques Vallée is one of the most distinguished researchers ever to have worked in the area of ufology. He is something of a Renaissance Man, having made eminent contributions to fields as diverse as astronomy, computer science, and even finance. If you have seen the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, you will probably remember the character of the Frenchman, Lacombe, who oversees the whole alien-contact project. That character was based on Jacques Vallée.

Vallée, and other researchers like John Keel, have looked deeply into the UFO phenomenon and concluded, without question, that there is some substance behind it; that the reports of sightings, and of contact with aliens, are not mere deluded imaginings. But they are troubled by some aspects of the reports in UFO literature. Some things just don’t seem to make sense, they point out.

Why would aliens with super-advanced technology need to perform crude physical examinations? Would they not have detection devices that could tell them all they needed to know more simply? How can aliens instantly disappear or even pass through walls as recounted in some encounter reports? Surely even an advanced extra-terrestrial race would be subject to the constraints of reality to a much greater extent, despite their superior technology? This has led some of these researchers to explore what they call a paraphysical, or parapsychological explanation of UFOs. According to this approach, the encounter experiences are real in some form, not merely hallucinatory, but the view that the beings behind it all are no more than visitors from outer space is seen as too simple.

Aliens as Demons

Folklore contains many legends of contact with “little people.” For much of the medieval period, those suspected of contacting demons or The Devil were castigated as witches, and punished brutally, often being burnt at the stake. Typically, these unfortunates would be subjected to torture and a confession of some sort would be wrung out of them. There are marked similarities between some of these witchcraft confessions and contemporary reports of contact with aliens through the abduction experience. The sexual aspect of the encounters is strongly to the fore in both cases. Witchcraft accounts abound in tales of women having forbidden unions with demons or even The Devil; likewise, abduction narratives often feature similar themes.

Given that these parallels exist, how should we interpret them? Is it simply a case of ET contact being wrongly perceived, according to the belief system present at the time, as in the Ancient Astronauts theory which holds that early space travellers were hailed as Gods by some primitive human cultures?

It is, of course, possible that neither the earlier demons nor the modern alien contacts are real. They may simply be the product of disturbed imaginations, and the similarities in the narratives may be the result of them having been concocted (consciously or otherwise) to answer some deep need in the human psyche.

Uncomfortable as it may be for those of a modern secular outlook to contemplate, it is also possible that the original medieval interpretation was the valid one. Perhaps there really are demons; they have been preying upon humanity for aeons; and it is we moderns who misinterpret them as spacemen thanks to our technology-obsessed culture.

Jim Sparks, a UFO abductee, claims that the beings who kidnapped him were mischievous and manipulative. They would attempt to play mind games, claiming, at various times, to be angels or demons or extra-terrestrials, whichever was most likely to have the desired psychological effect on their victim .

Conclusion

The “paraphysical” approach to the UFO phenomenon is perhaps the most intriguing of all. In answer to the question of whether UFOs exist, it says “Yes, but...” dismissing both the psychological explanation and the conventional Extra-Terrestrial hypothesis as too simple, and suggesting instead a much deeper mystery.