Under The Gaze of The Watchers

Under the Gaze of The Watchers
By Scott Corrales



I saw Watchers in my vision, a dream vision,
and behold two of them argued about me [...]
and they were engaged in a great quarrel con-
cerning me. I asked them: "You, why do you
argue thus about me?" They answered and said
to me: "We have been made masters and rule over
the sons of men." And they said to me: "Which
of us do you choose?...

The preceding is a fragment from "The Testament of Amram", a document written in Aramaic that forms part of the Qumran scrolls, more commonly known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. The entire fragment, which takes up some eight patchy paragraphs, relates a story told by Moses' father, Amram, to his children, concerning the burden of choice: whether to serve the evil Watcher Melkiresha, a viper-faced demon, or his counterpart, the Watcher Melchizedek, who is ruler of the "Sons of Light."

Much has been made over the last few decades of the link between the role played by the biblical Watchers and that played by UFOs and their occupants, as well as the phenomena associated with them. This order of nonhuman beings, which fell from grace on account of their transgressions with "the daughters of men," are at the core of a current controversy. The viper-eyed Melkiresha, allegorical though it may be, is strangely reminiscent of some of the more reptilian UFO entities that have been reported in a number of encounters. The Watchers, either as described in the Bible or by the Tibetan monks who discussed the topic with the Russian artist/mystic Nicholas Roerich (whose paintings of Asian hill-forts are often referred to in the writings of H.P. Lovecraft), are in essence a race of beings which have always lived in the skies and lord over humanity, reveling in intermarriage with humans. The biblical Noah, for example, was the offspring of a Watcher.

Are the Watchers Among Us?

In November of 1991, Monica María Ortega, a young Colombian woman, told her story of a nocturnal sexual encounter with an alleged "alien" which could have well been one of the Watchers on a nationally syndicated TV show. Far from being one of the current crop of "Greys", her nonhuman lover was more in step with the traditional "sky people", "elementals", or other creatures who have interacted with humans on a biological level in traditions that span the globe.

Ms. Ortega was twelve years old at the time and living in New York City when this tall, blond, green-eyed entity suddenly materialized in her bedroom. "At first, I saw two lights. I felt a presence, and naturally felt scared. One light was red in color and the other was green," she recalled. The lights told her not fear for her safety. As she began to fall asleep, in spite of the luminous globes' presence, she felt caresses and kisses all over her body as her nightclothes were removed. "I felt something spread my legs open and a sharp pain soon after. I woke up, terrified, and saw a being in a tight-fitting outfit in bed with me. His eyes were so green that it made dizzy to look at them. I found him very handsome, was attracted to him and fell in love."

Monica's lover and his silent companion (never manifested itself in human form) told her that they traveled around the world. Curiosity, they advised her, was the motivation for their sexual contacts.

In 1987, Monica had her third contact with the Watchers. After two years, she had moved back to Colombia, and was overjoyed at seeing her otherworldly lover again. At the end of their encounter, Monica expressed a desire to go with him to "his world", but the being turned her down. 19 years old at the time of the interview, the young woman had still not had sex with a human male. "They have the advantage," she explained, meaning the Watchers, "of not making you pregnant."

In the Land of the Watchers

The mystical figure of Apollonius of Tyana--sorcerer, philosopher and indefatigable traveler--visited a place, according to the chronicles, known as the City of the Gods, whose inhabitants allegedly "lived on the earth, yet outside it at the same time." Said parallel universe or dimension was located in the Himalayas, and as Apollonius and his guide, Damis, would near their destination, the more unreal the landscape became. Apollonius' larger-than-life adventures include teleportation away from the court of the Emperor Domitian in A.D 96 and other occult phenomena. Could these skills have been learned in the City of the Gods? Considering Apollonius' stature in ancient history, could he himself have been a Watcher?

Metal disks have been reported in the skies over the Himalayas for centuries. These have been considered manifestations of The Watchers by the lamas of Tibet and Nepal, "a sign of Shamballah," the subterranean (or extradimensional) land ruled by a higher order of beings who visit our world in gleaming metallic vehicles. Foremost among Shamballah's denizens is the "Rigden-Jye-Po," the "King of the World", who is identified with the leader of the Sons of Light mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Book of Enoch

To the dismay of those who expect hard-boiled facts every time, the vast majority of the literature concerning the Watchers lies in mythology and in religious documents such as the Old Testament. In the book of the same name, we have Enoch taken to heaven to intercede on behalf of the fallen Watchers with the angels of the highest heavens. The appeal is turned down: for having taught the secrets of nature to human females, and worse yet, for having conceived children with human females (the giant Nephilim), the two hundred spirits involved are condemned to never again regain their lofty status. We are given the names of the ringleaders of this heavenly conspiracy, and one of them, in particular, does more than ring a bell to a ufologically-minded ear: Semyaz. While phonetic similarity proves nothing, it is unusual that the leader of the alleged "Pleiadans" visiting Billy Meier at his Swiss retreat should call herself Semjase. Meier's claims have been at the center of a number of disputes, mainly accusations of fraud concerning the fantastic UFO photographs that he circulated.

What evidence suggests that the Watchers mentioned by the ancient religious chronicles and the entities that accompany the UFO phenomenon are one and the same? A careful examination of certain contemporary cases, along with some outstanding ancient ones, can leave no doubt as to the conflict between the fallen Watchers (the 200 which descended in the ancient Middle East, led by Semyaz/Semjase), the "Forces of Good", and hapless mortal humans, stuck squarely in the middle.

Benign, malevolent, or both?

Although "scientific" ufology cringes at the mention of any angelic/demonic involvement, the recent spate of abduction cases engulfing the world provides cases that could be seen within such a context. Abduction researcher Barbara Bartholic has singled out a case in which a youth faced what he at first took to be a "Nordic" type male alien, who reverted into a reptilian form, assaulting the unsuspecting young man and leaving furrows across his back. While this sobering incident is presented in the light of the shape-shifting ability of a particular alien race, it is strongly reminiscent of texts of a religious nature which state that demons can sometimes appear as "angels of light", which is what the tall, blond alien visitors have been associated with.

The dichotomy over whether the Watchers are benign or evil has been approached with the same caution reserved for the "good angel/bad angel" case. As in the fragment from the "Book of Amram", we can see the existence of two very different kinds of Watcher. Certain yogis, for instance, believe that the Dark Angels who lost the conflict against their benevolent counterparts have been confined to certain dimensions; Renaissance authors wrote of the nine-day long fall of the vanquished angels into Hell, based upon Greek legends of the casting of the Cyclops into Tartaros--so distant that an anvil would take nine days to hit bottom. Could there possibly be any connection between the negative order of beings and the allegedly extraterrestrial visitors we are entertaining today?

In 1947, one Señor C.A.V. encountered strange amoeba-like beings in the desert outside Lima, Perú, who took him aboard their landed vehicle. When the conversation between the stunned C.A.V. and his nonhuman hosts turned to matters spiritual, they replied mockingly to his question about their belief in God, stating: "We are like Gods." Either the beings had a very high opinion of themselves, or they ranked among the fallen Watchers. German theologian Kurt Koch mentions that while in the Kwa Sizabantu mission station in South Africa, a woman approached him to confess a strange encounter in the Namib Desert with a robot-crewed UFO. In the course of a telepathic conversation with the mechanical aliens, one of them declared: "God is not going to answer your prayers anyway. But we can fulfill your wishes."

More stories abound with regard to the benevolent Watchers, both in antiquity and in the present. A truly bewildering case of Watcher intervention into human life is submitted by Spanish UFO researcher Salvador Freixedo in his book Ellos: Los dueños invisibles de este mundo: When a brush fire broke out on the estate of Colombian journalist Inés de Montaña, farmhands ran to and fro trying to create firebreaks in the middle of the night. Enormous tongues of flame lapped at the black skies while the journalist and her trusted housekeeper, Jovita Caicedo, looked on in sheer terror. The old wooden farmhouse from which they beheld the breeze was about to be incinerated in a matter of minutes, when "a helicopter of light," as de Montaña
describes it, swooped in from the western sky. The coruscant light came closer, as low as the tops of the coconut palms, leaving a wake like a comet's tail in its path. It then began to emit a blast of intense cold, which had the effect of extinguishing the raging fire, dousing them as effectively as would have tons of water.
Montaña's incredible story was devoted an entire page in the newspaper for which she worked. "What you have read is the truth, supported by the testimony of four people who felt the effects of a strange phenomenon, and by the fact that in over thirty years, no one has been able to say that there has been fantasy, fiction or deceit in the thousands of words I've written." she stated.

Frank Smythe, a mountain climber ascending one of the Himalayan peaks, allegedly observed a "pulsating tea kettle" which seemed to be monitoring his progress. Smythe noted that before seeing it, he'd had the sensation of someone benignly watching his efforts.

It has been suggested that what we are seeing is "police activity" of a sort on the behalf of the positive Watchers, as they go about their appointed rounds, fending off the attacks of the renegade contingent. While some may find this hard to accept, some confirmation can be found in events which took place in Spain during a very heavy period of UFO activity in that country in the early 1980's: while residents of the town of Isla Cristina, on Spain's southern coast, were plagued by UFOs, giant non-human creatures thrashing across the tidal swamps, and a host of hair-raising and disturbing phenomena, María Echague, another resident, witnessed two tall, slender, white-haired figures which appeared to move in unison some 40 meters from where she stood. Amazed by the odd beauty and synchronicity of movement displayed by the beings, Ms. Echague found herself thinking "¿Que sois?" (What are you?). The beings turned in unison to show her the raised thumb, index and middle fingers of their right hands (a classic esoteric gesture, symbolizing the triumph of spirit over matter) and mentally replied: "We are teachers," before disappearing.

The Watchers continue to stage spectaculars for the benefit of those whom they contact and the spellbound followers of these "modern prophets" as well: Augusta de Almeidda, a contactee from the Philippines, was advised by her "alien brothers" that an aerial display of their majesty would take place over an arena on June 12, 1992. 400 onlookers witnessed golden, sphere-and cigar-shaped vehicles of varied geometry over the stadium at 8:05 p.m. that evening.

Conclusion

While all this talk of supernatural Watchers, "Sons of God" who mated with human females at the dawn of time, and who were cast out from their lofty position by divine powers annoys the believer in extraterrestrial visitors (or even ancient astronauts, in this case). It would be both unrealistic and unwise to discount the strong paranormal component exists in the UFO phenomenon, which has been thoroughly discussed by a number of authors, as well as the belief in a primeval struggle between good and evil factions that is at the root of many different mythologies (the clash between Ormuz and Ahriman in Zoroastrianism, that between Ouranos and the Cyclops in Greek myth, and the struggle between Bacaab-Quiché and Tohil in the Mayan cosmology). As Amram cautioned his children in his testament: "I leave you my books in testimony, that you might be warned by them..."

[This article originally appeared in Fate Magazine, 2000]