Why is it that some of us humans are so arrogantly confident about the difference between what is potentially true and what is too ridiculous to even consider? It seems that the higher the education level, in fact, the more arrogance becomes tied to this type of belief system. Challenges to accepted theories are therefore almost never considered by the very minds best qualified to do so.

Of course this is a well-documented problem in the study of UFOs and Extraterrestrial Intelligences, but what I find particularly frustrating is the narrow-mindedness of colleagues in other "New Paradigm" areas. Since we cover a wide range of subjects on 21st Century Radio (www.21stCenturyRadio.com), I have repeatedly "butted heads" with experts in fields of humanistic psychology, consciousness, the paranormal, alternative health, etc. who draw the line at the possibility for a physical reality of UFOs and ETs. This idea is simply beyond the pale of serious scientific investigation for these devoted researchers, practitioners, authors and teachers of mysteries. They try to disassociate themselves as far as possible from any attention focused on UFOs and beings from other parts of the cosmos, be they physical, semi-physical, metaphysical, other dimensional, parallel universe, or time travelers, no matter what.

Compounding this ignorance is their feeling that it's not necessary to do any research in the UFO/ET area because there's nothing substantial to study. This argument is particularly embarrassing to hear because had they done even a superficial amount of homework, they would inevitably have discovered over 3,000 pages of research gathered through the Freedom of Information Act from NASA, NSA, DIA, CIA, U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy, which document the UFO sightings by and ET encounters with reliable government and military agents whose ability to discern and identify unknown craft is beyond question. Needless to say, these documents also prove that Americans have been lied to repeatedly about the existence of these craft and beings.

Ever since the 1952 UFO flap over Washington DC and the resulting dictum of The Robertson Panel to 'debunk at all costs', the policy of "ridicule" was sanctioned at the highest government levels. This program has been so successful that it has permeated the college and university system to the point that the consideration of UFOs is enough to destroy a career.

Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove, Ph.D. risked his first class academic reputation recently by publishing a most significant book about one Ted Owens who claimed psychokinetic powers given to him by space intelligences. Mishlove is an accomplished radio and television interviewer and one of the most erudite and articulate personalities in the media. He is host of the weekly, national public television interview series Thinking Allowed as well as the daily Wisdom Radio Program, Virtual U. In this capacity, he has interviewed hundreds of leading thinkers in the areas of philosophy, psychology, health, science and spirituality. He is the author of an encyclopedic volume of consciousness studies, The Roots of Consciousness, and he holds the only doctoral diploma in "Parapsychology" to be awarded by an accredited American university (University of California, Berkeley). A revision of his doctoral dissertation, Psi Development Systems, was released in 1988 as a Ballantine paperback, evaluating methods purported to train psychic abilities. Currently Mishlove is director of the Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to helping create a world in which all people are encouraged to cultivate their inner, intuitive resources. He is also a past vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, and a past-president of the California Society for Psychical Study.

The educated circles in which Dr. Mishlove has traveled for the past several decades, his colleagues and teachers are the exact types of erudite academics I described earlier who have a real hang-up with the study of Ufology. Though they might be able to accept his study of Ted Owens as a subject with alleged psychokinetic abilities, it was Owens' claimed association with ETs that made them very nervous. It was against their advice and better judgment that Mishlove forged ahead and completed The PK Man: A True Story of Mind Over Matter published last year by Hampton Roads with a foreword by Dr. John Mack, M.D. (1-800-766-8009 or www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1571741836/hierco0f)

As described on the book jacket: "A brilliant, if not difficult, man Owens claimed he was a psychokinetic master with powers that allowed him to move matter with his mind, control the weather, and cause civil unrest. Even more outrageous, Owens said he had acquired his powers, and directions for its use, from his contact with extraterrestrial entities. Was Owens sadly delusional or was he one of the most powerful psychics in the history of paranormal research? In his new book The PK Man: A True Story of Mind-Over Matter, author Jeffrey Mishlove, Ph.D. uncovers the startling and even shocking story of the life and times of Ted Owens."

Dr. Mishlove has discussed this book on 21st Century Radio twice now, and I admit to being in awe of his objectivity and ability to encapsulate what must have been a most difficult assignment, even for Jeffrey whose background and accomplishments prepared him well for the task. Before this book was in print, Mishlove passed on an early draft to the skeptical sociologist, Professor Marcello Truzzi, of Eastern Michigan University. Dr. Truzzi is regarded by many of us to be an honest skeptic (a rare combo!). Predictably, Dr. Truzzi was not the first who urged Mishlove to rethink the entire project. As Mishlove quoted him on page 134 of The PK Man:

"I think the book could do you professional damage... it... makes you look enormously credulous. Over and over, Owens relates facts that simply stand unchecked and doubtful. My general impression from what you do tell me is that Owens was a prankster early on, worked as a psychic counselor, hypnotist, hustler and probably was familiar with the techniques of deception in this area."

Mishlove is a careful thinker, however, and answered these allegations on the next page: "Never once did an interviewee contradict Owens' account regarding any material facts. Some, of course, would refuse to confirm Owens' interpretation of these facts, such as James Harder who would not interpret a strange light in the sky as a UFO.

"Many facts in the Owens case still stand unchecked. I have used them for purposes of context, not for purposes of evidential proof. Other demonstrations are sufficiently documented to carry some evidential weight.

"I have no reason whatsoever to think that Owens engaged in deception. That he had many psychological problems and character defects I would not dispute. He would, for example, try to take credit for a wide range of events that he did not specifically predict. I think that he deceived himself in this regard. But there is no inkling of evidence to support the conventional skeptical theory that Owens engaged in outright deception. In fact, I feel comfortable using the same phrase most often mouthed by skeptics that there is not one shred of evidence supporting their hypothesis that Owens, for all his many human faults and frailties, engaged in deception!"

During my second interview with Dr. Mishlove I asked him if he had had any response to his book from his parapsychology colleagues. He related the feedback from one of his old professors, the highly respected parapsychologist, Dr. Charlie Tart, for whom he has the highest respect. "He saw the book," says Mishlove, "and he said, you know, this just stretches the boggle threshold."

Ridicule, giggles and boggles are much the same, in my opinion. They can exhibit ignorance, but they can also mask arrogance. At this point, I would very much like to ask Professor Charles Tart how much he has read in the fields of UFO/ET research, especially the FOIA-released information concerning the duplicity exhibited by the CIA, DIA, NASA, NSA, US Air Force, Army and Navy? I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't studied this field adequately to determine what the "boggle threshold" really is, after all.

Dr. Bruce Maccabee summarizes for us in The UFO/FBI Connection how the "boggle threshold" was deliberately set by our leaders back in 1952:

"Even though they were not "real" the saucers were a danger.... An enemy could use an existing saucer flap or create one with balloons or some other devices in order to swamp the communications channels with sightings reports while using the objects as decoys for the actual attacking aircraft. To reduce the danger, the [CIA-convened Robertson] panel recommended stripping the saucers of their special status and starting a program of education and "debunking" or explaining, so the general public would be better able to identify normal aerial objects and phenomena. Once the subject had been sufficiently debunked, the general public would believe that all the sightings had been explained and so there would be less interest in reporting." (p. 256 Maccabee's The UFO FBI Connection, Llewellyn, to order, call 1-800-THE-MOON or www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567184936/hierco0f) What saddens me most is that this highly successful debunking program has kept even those with minds open to the vast possibilities of the human experience, from considering the vast possibilities of the cosmic experience.

Mishlove's work, The PK Man: A True Story of Mind Over Matter is a landmark publication. I have appreciated Mishlove's scholarship, sensitivity and dedication for years. He concludes that the redeeming value of Ted Owens' experiences, including the dark aspects, is that they point to powers of psychic ability potentially available to many of us. Thank you Brother Jeffrey!

Truly amazing when you consider that ridicule and the "giggle" factor can have such an adverse effect on the serious study of perhaps the most important discovery of this or any millennium that we are not alone in the universe and never have been. From that moment on UFOs were to be debunked at all costs. UFOs were a matter of national security (regardless of whether they existed or not!) and Truth and facts were not an issue.

©2001 Hieronimus & Co., Inc., First printed at www.destinationspace.net