DARK NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WORLD OF
THE DJINN
By Scott Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology (IHU)
© 2007
The concept that "we are not alone" is of
paramount importance to those interested in ufology and its allied disciplines,
even if the company they expect to find resides on planets far removed from
Earth—whether in other solar systems within the Milky Way or in other galaxies
such as Andromeda. Amateurs and scholars of "nuts-and-bolts
ufology"—as it is often called—have calculated the possible points of
origin for the supposedly extraterrestrial phenomenon that visits us so
assiduously; alternatively, they have envisioned a complete taxonomy of beings
worthy of a George Lucas film—short Greys, tall Blondes, imposing Reptilians,
and fearsome Insectoids—each the product of distinct celestial bodies.
However, since the earliest years of ufological inquiry, the
possibility has been entertained that our visitors may not hail from such
distant locales, but are instead beings who share this great blue planet with
us. The writings of Robert Shaver suggested that a primordial race abandoned
our world due to the harmful effects of solar radiation, leaving behind the
negative and positive remnants of their species—the *deros* and *teros* of the
Shaverian chronicles—who inhabit the intraterrestrial realm. More serious
writers, such as Ivan T. Sanderson, wrote extensively about "uninvited
guests" dwelling on the ocean floor who went to great lengths to avoid
contact with *Homo sapiens*; other thinkers have situated our invisible
neighbors in the most remote reaches of the Amazon or on the Tibetan Plateau.
Yet, traditions of far greater antiquity suggest that we share our world with
beings of terrestrial—albeit non-human—origin... beings regarded by the legal
authorities of one-fifth of humanity as real entities that are, for the most
part, inimical to human beings. Several prominent authors in the fields of
ufology and the paranormal—such as Salvador Freixedo, Gordon Creighton, and
John Keel—have made mention of them in their works: they are none other than
the inexplicable Djinn.
“Made of Smokeless Fire”
Given the political climate currently affecting our world,
it feels somewhat risky to quote passages from a religious text that many
consider inimical to Western thought. The text in question is the Quran—the
Muslim Bible, so to speak—which provides us with the earliest information we
possess regarding these beings. They occupy an intermediate position within the
divine work of creation—situated halfway between the angels (spiritual beings)
and humanity (beings “of clay,” as our own religious texts remind us). The Djinn
possess a nature distinct from both; for, as indicated in the Quranic chapter
dedicated to these entities, they were created from smoke and fire.
To this day, Islamic scholars maintain the existence of
these beings. And while devotees of Islam are forbidden from believing in
ghosts or engaging in divinatory practices, belief in the Djinn is, in fact, a
religious commandment.
The term "Djinn" appears 29 times in the Quran—not
counting the *sura* (or chapter) titled "Surah Al-Djinn," which
abounds with specific details regarding our hidden neighbors. These beings
inhabit a world invisible to human eyes; they are capable of "eating,
drinking, and procreating" just like humans, and—much like us—they come in
both good and evil varieties (in this specific context, those Djinn who have
embraced Islam are considered "good"). Although they are by no means
immortal, they are credited with prodigious longevity; indeed, some scholars
assert that there are Djinn alive today who were already living when Muhammad
first began preaching in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Another Quranic
teaching states: "Verily, We created humanity from clay and soft mud, and
the Djinn from smokeless fire." (Qur. 15:26-27). The scholar Ibn Abbas
states that two millennia before the creation of Adam and Eve, the Djinn
already inhabited our planet, although their tenancy was characterized by
corruption and warfare. Regiments of angels sent by Allah battled against these
beings made of fire, vanquishing them and banishing them to certain islands.
Unlike the Judeo-Christian tradition, it was not until that moment that the
Creator decided to undertake the creation of the human race.
For reasons left unexplained, these invisible and
intelligent beings can only manifest themselves to us by assuming repulsive
forms—specifically snakes and black dogs, much like the Black Shuck of the
British Isles—though, as we shall see later, they are also capable of mimicking
humans. Muhammad established the existence of three classes of Djinn: those
that move through the air; those that manifest as snakes and dogs; and those
that exist in a specific location but possess the gift of traveling from one
place to another.
Concern regarding these beings who share our world persists
to this day, with websites posting legal opinions (fatwas) from various Quranic
scholars regarding inquiries related to the Djinn. It comes as no surprise that
one of the most frequently asked questions concerns the possibility of humans
marrying these beings and having offspring. A strange preoccupation—though
perhaps not so strange if we examine the following cases.
Forbidden Loves
During one of his television appearances in the United
States in the 1990s (*El Show de Cristina*, 1991), the thinker and
parapsychologist Salvador Freixedo posited that the interest in "the
generational, the generative, and the genital"—an interest that emerged
from the phenomenon of alleged extraterrestrial abductions at the time—bore a
close relationship to historical accounts of other beings who have engaged intimately
with humans—at least within the realm of myth and legend—such as sylphs,
undines, nymphs, and other creatures known by various names in legends across
the globe.
In early 2007, paranormal researcher and author Brad Steiger
returned with a new book, *Shadow World: True Encounters With Beings from the
Darkside* (San Antonio, TX: Anomalist Press, 2007), in which he revisited
previously unpublished cases involving clearly extra-human beings seeking
emotional and physical union with humans. One of the most intriguing cases
Steiger recounts in his work is that of Kent Grondhal, a young American of
Scandinavian descent who was attending the University of Iowa when he decided
to hop in his car for a drive through the countryside, hoping that the
scenery—endless cornfields and small villages—might help take his mind off his
academic worries. Before long, he passed through a tiny hamlet comprising just
a few houses, a general store, and a gas station—a place where a traditional
Swedish dance festival happened to be taking place.
Immensely proud of his cultural heritage, young Grondhal
decided to park his vehicle and join in the festivities. But just as he was
about to do so, a hulking man with intimidating blue eyes blocked his
path—apparently intent on landing a punch for no reason whatsoever. At that
moment, another man—tall and smiling—stepped in and introduced himself as Erik
Hagen. When Grondhal introduced himself in turn, Hagen immediately asked if his
family hailed from a certain specific place; upon receiving an affirmative
answer, he embraced Kent as if he were a long-lost relative. The student then
went on to meet the other partygoers. “They spoke with such a thick
Scandinavian accent,” Grondhal noted, “that it was as if they had just arrived
straight from Sweden itself.”
It wasn't long before the student’s gaze settled upon Kari
Rogeness, a charming blonde who claimed to live right there in the
village—whereas the others had merely gathered for an annual reunion. Although
the young woman had initially seemed receptive to his interest, as the hours
wore on, she began to grow somewhat reticent—especially whenever Grondhal asked
if it might be possible to see her again. At the end of the evening, the
student returned to the university with the image of Kari etched in his mind.
He immediately looked up her name in the phone book—but found nothing. No one
by that name existed.
Days later, upon entering a restaurant, he ran into Erik
Hagen and his entire entourage—the very same guests from the countryside party.
Kari Rogeness, however, was conspicuously absent. Hagen approached the student
to tell him that, much as his friends had taken a liking to him, he needed to
put Kari out of his mind completely, as any future together was simply out of
the question. “We are connected to you people—but not in the way you understand
it,” the smiling Hagen told him. “There are some among us who harbor resentment
toward your kind because we were here first, and at times we feel supplanted by
you. But listen to me, young Grondhal, for we hold sincere affection for you.
We ask that you stop searching for Kari. What you hope for can never come to
pass.”
As described by Steiger, the student was about to reply when
the waitress informed him that his order was ready. In the brief seconds he was
distracted attending to her, Hagen and his entourage had already exited through
the door. When he attempted to follow them, he could see no sign of them
anywhere.
“Three years later, during a visit to New York to see a
friend,” the author writes, “Kent Grondhal is certain he saw Kari Rogness and
Erik Hagen walking through Times Square while he was riding in a taxi.” When he
caught their attention from the window, the pair stared back at him before
disappearing into the lobby of a movie theater. “I cannot help but wonder how
many Eriks and Karis—and other ‘relatives’ of ours—wander among us, blending
into the crowd, concealing their true identities and purposes.”
Thus concludes the story of the young student, as shared
with us by Brad Steiger.
The simplest answer is always the correct one. Young Kari
felt pestered by Grondhal’s attention and did everything in her power to avoid
him. Erik Hagen—her kinsman, guardian, or lover—politely asked the student to
keep his distance. Case closed. Nevertheless—if the words spoken by Hagen in
the restaurant constitute a faithful quotation—we are faced with a curious
instance: “There are some among us who harbor a grudge against your kind
because we were here first, and at times we feel supplanted by you.” This sounds
like a characterization of the condition of the Djinn, in accordance with the
views expressed by Ibn Abbas.
Islamic authorities acknowledge the possibility of unions
between humans and Djinn, though they deem such unions undesirable;
furthermore, they note that the legal compendium (Sharia) offers no irrefutable
statutes on the subject, leading some to opine that a union between humans and Djinn
would be lawful, while others maintain the contrary. One of the voices raised
against such unions is that of Al-Khateeb Al-Shirbini, who posits that there
are two classes of marital restrictions: perpetual and non-perpetual. Matrimony
between humans and Djinn falls under the category of perpetual restrictions.
Ibn Abidin, a Hanafi scholar, points out that marital restrictions are specific
in nature, and that a man may not unite himself with another man, with a
hermaphrodite, with a polytheistic woman, with a close female relative... or
with a female Djinn.
Other jurists are not quite so categorical. Al-Hasan Al-Basri
maintained that a union between humans and Djinn was lawful, “provided that
there were witnesses” to the event. Imam Al-Suyuti, citing earlier authorities,
affirmed the validity of marriage between our own species and that of our
enigmatic neighbors. Let us examine what Ibn-Unus states in his treatise,
*Sharh Al-Wajeiz*: “If such a union were deemed licit, would the man possess
the authority to compel his Djinn wife to remain within the home? (bearing in
mind that the Djinn are known to have a propensity for traveling vast
distances). Let us suppose the man finds it distasteful to see his wife in any
form other than the human one; would this grant him the right to forbid her
from manifesting in other guises? Furthermore, would the standard conditions
required for any other marital contract be fulfilled? For instance, is the
approval of the prospective wife’s Djinn guardian a prerequisite? Would their
marriage be considered valid under the laws of the Djinn? Suppose the husband
observes his wife having assumed a form distinct from the one he recognizes,
yet she insists upon her identity; would he be capable of believing her and
engaging in conjugal relations with her? Would he be obligated to provide her
with the sustenance consumed by the Djinn—such as bones and similar items?”
Debates concerning this subject—specifically, carnal
relations between our own species and beings that, to the Western world, “do
not exist”—are extensive and wide-ranging within Islamic jurisprudence, with
arguments advanced both for and against. The ultimate consensus appears to be
that marriage between a human male and a female Djinn is frowned upon for the
following reason: the possibility—however remote (given that such a union is
generally considered to be sterile)—of producing offspring that is half-human
and half-Djinn. “A group of Yemenis once wrote to Imam Malik, stating: ‘A male Djinn
has appeared before us seeking to take a young human woman as his wife,
claiming that his intention in this matter is to follow the path of the righteous.’
Imam Malik replied: ‘I perceive nothing inherently wrong with this; however, I
am concerned about exposing this woman to a situation in which she might be
asked about her husband and be compelled to answer that he is a male Djinn.
Such a circumstance could lead to moral corruption among the Muslim
community.’” It would be interesting to draft a letter to these scholars of
Islam and ask for their opinion regarding the alleged hybridization between
humans—allegedly “abducted by UFOs”—and the large-headed beings who crew
them...
Do They Want to Be Like Us?
One of the most intriguing cases involving clearly non-human
beings—yet ones that adopt the form of our own species for unknown purposes—is
also associated with manifestations of the extremely rare Men in Black (MIB),
who, at one time, occupied a distinct category of study within the field of
ufology. Most people interested in this phenomenon will recall that one of the
best-documented cases of this type occurred in 1976, when American psychiatrist
Herbert Hopkins received a visit from a mysterious figure dressed in a black
suit and wearing a derby hat. The enigmatic visitor’s face was covered in white
makeup, and he wore lipstick on his lips. The figure asked several questions
regarding a UFO case the professional was investigating (the Stephens case,
Maine, 1975) and then proceeded to make a penny vanish from the open palm of a
stunned Hopkins, causing it to completely dematerialize. The stranger warned
him: “Neither you nor anyone else on this plane—not planet—will ever see that
coin again.”
Well then: on September 24, 1976—following this unsettling
visit from the Man in Black—an equally unsettling couple appeared at the home of John
and Maureen Hopkins—the son and daughter-in-law of the psychologist
investigating the UFO case. The physical description of both individuals,
combined with their utter and complete ignorance of American society at the
time, led the young Hopkins couple to suspect that there was something strange
about their visitors. The man wore clothing seemingly plucked straight out of a
1950s catalog—though the garments themselves were perfectly new, practically
brand-new (similar details appear in other cases involving Men in Black). The
woman was even more striking due to her bizarre physical build—a distended
abdomen and breasts that appeared to protrude directly from her ribs—and the
way she wobbled as she walked, as if her legs did not fit correctly into her
pelvis. The exchanges between these two figures resembled a painfully memorized
script rather than the sort of conversation one would expect from a couple.
John Hopkins answered a few questions regarding his father,
the UFO case in question, and other matters. However, the strange man seemed
far more interested in other topics: “The man and his female companion were
taken aback when John explained that he and his wife carried out most of their
activities together. While asking questions, the man groped his companion,
asking John if he was doing it correctly” (Schwarz, p. 248). Shortly
thereafter, the visitor began pestering Maureen with indiscreet questions,
inquiring about “her body’s physical contours” and asking if she had any nude
photographs of herself she could show him. After a while, the female declared
that it was time to leave, and something even stranger occurred: “Her companion
stood up, yet made no move to head for the exit. The woman told him several
times that she wanted to go, finally pleading with John Hopkins: ‘Would you be
so kind as to move him? I cannot do it myself’—as if she were incapable of, or
simply did not know how to, walk around her motionless partner to reach the
door.
The rational explanation for this curious event from thirty
years ago is perfectly reasonable. In rural areas of North America—as in any
other part of the world—tragic cases of mental impairment and physical
abnormalities occur due to poor nutrition or incest. Living in isolated
communities—almost invariably under the sway of a self-proclaimed
preacher—there are individuals who remain completely oblivious to the era in
which they live or to customary social norms. It is entirely plausible that
“Bill Post” (the name given by the strange man) and his companion belonged to
one of these groups.
Nevertheless, the possibility that they were, in fact,
intelligent creatures merely mimicking human beings remains deeply unsettling.
“Bill Post’s” interest in viewing photographs of the young Mrs. Hopkins in the
nude—along with his earlier groping of his own companion—underscores these
beings’ determination to pass themselves off as humans by slavishly copying the
details of intimate behavior, which they find utterly fascinating. The fact
that the companion of “Mr. ...[if the] "Post" did not know how to
walk around—this strange immobility also suggests a lack of familiarity with
the human body, as if these were human beings attempting to walk while clad in
medieval armor.
Strange Yankees from the forests of New England, or
creatures fascinated by the "generational, genitive, and genital"
aspects noted by Freixedo? We leave the decision to the reader.
Animals and Technology of the Djinn
Islamic literature indicates that the Djinn possess animals,
and that it is permissible to feed them both human and animal excrement (with
the consequent prohibition against humans consuming excrement—as if such a
prohibition were even necessary). However, descriptions of these beings are
lacking, and scholars simply offer the explanation that "such is the will
of Allah."
It falls to us to speculate on whether the creatures with
glowing eyes reported in cryptozoology—certain Bigfoot-like species, the
Chupacabras, monstrous birds, etc.—might correspond to these animals of the Djinn.
This is despite the fact that we have observed them feeding on blood and
carrion rather than fecal matter—though, then again, who really knows?
Psychologist Berthold Schwarz, a scholar of the UFO phenomenon from a
psychiatric perspective, noted in his analysis of a UFO sighting and encounter
with hairy beings in Greensburg, Pennsylvania (USA) in 1973, that the beings'
intense red eyes—one adult specimen and one apparently juvenile one which,
judging by the sketches produced by witnesses, bore a greater resemblance to a
werewolf than to the ape-like creatures associated with Bigfoot—"suggested
the possibility that their origin lay in a world of total darkness."
(Schwarz, Berthold E., *UFO Dynamics*. Moore Haven, Florida: Rainbow Books,
1983). Could this world of darkness—which has figured so prominently in Western
religions—be the reality assigned to the Djinn? If so, it is hardly surprising
that they might wish to visit ours from time to time.
Contemporary scholars have taken an interest in the
potential technology available within the obscure realm of the Djinn. Charles
Upton, author of *The System of Antichrist* (NY: Sophia Perennis, 2001),
addresses an aspect that some might consider delusional—or, at the very least,
worthy of a *Conan the Barbarian* novel: the possibility that the Djinn possess
technology, whether of their own devising or stolen from humans.
Before turning to Upton’s thoughts on the matter, it is
worth noting that others have briefly speculated along these lines—perhaps
inspired by medieval engravings depicting "Hell" in all its terror,
teeming with demons tormenting the impious with a variety of implements:
torture wheels, long needles, hooks, and other objects whose precise functions
remain unclear. The logical assumption, of course, would be that the medieval
or Renaissance artist simply placed into the hands of the underworld’s masters
the very same tools available to any torturer of the Holy Brotherhood...
Upton, however, argues to the contrary, drawing upon the
writings of the Orthodox priest Seraphim Rose—who passed away in 1982—and who
asserted that the UFO phenomenon, for instance, was nothing more than
"demons doing what demons have always done." Their craft, he argued,
are the product of a "demonic" technology that originates in the
subtle realm yet impacts the physical realm: "It is clear that the
manifestations of today’s flying saucers fall squarely within the scope of the
technology available to demons. Indeed, there is no other explanation that
accounts for them so effectively." “The manifold demonic deceptions
appearing in the literature of the [Orthodox Church] have been adapted into the
myth of the spatial—and nothing more.” (Upton, p. 334, citing Rose). The late
Orthodox priest maintained that UFOs are “both physical craft and psychic
devices.”
Upton links the Orthodox priest’s assertions to his own
research on the Djinn: “[...] And this aligns precisely with folklore regarding
the Djinn throughout the world: they are capable of affecting the physical
plane, yet incapable of maintaining a stable presence within it. I sometimes
wonder whether our computer technology—which has always struck me as being, to
some extent, inspired by the Djinn—might represent a means for them to
construct vehicles for themselves that are stable within our world, given the
fact that the Djinn and UFOs appear capable of interacting with electromagnetic
energy.”
Is Upton, then, an adherent of the 19th-century “Luddites”
who advocated for the destruction of the Industrial Revolution’s infernal
machinery? His words seem to suggest as much; yet he would be neither the first
nor the only person to suspect that the digital realm—epitomized by the World
Wide Web, the Internet—has acquired an intelligence of its own, or has fallen
under the control of some extra-human agency. In 1997, researcher Steve Mizrach
addressed this very subject in his paper “Ghost in the Machine: Haitian Voudoun
and the Matrix” (Crash Collusion No. 8, Austin, TX), noting that the new
generation of programmers was awestruck by the algorithms they employed to
write their code—algorithms that “seemed to possess a life of their own, owing
to their unexpected, emergent properties and their reactions to external
stimuli... Indeed, many robotics technicians are frequently baffled by the
almost ‘lifelike’ responses of their creations—responses that resemble animal
or human reactions rather than those strictly dictated by their control
algorithms.” Terence Sejnowski, a neuroscientist at the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute, does not rule out the possibility that the Internet may have
acquired a consciousness of its own (The World Question Center,
http://www.edge.org/q2006/q06_8.html). However, this takes us too far afield
from the question of the Djinn and their technology.
During the 1960s and 70s, cases occurred that were largely
overlooked because they lacked the dramatic elements prescribed by
ufology—specifically, the sighting or landing of a craft, the pursuit of a
witness by non-humans, and the subsequent harassment of that witness by the
military. These cases, which bordered on the "Fortean," included
accounts of flying saucers stealing computer technology from Honeywell
warehouses and other computer manufacturing plants of that era. Other
witnesses, having been taken aboard these saucers, would later claim to have
observed human technology inside the craft. Were these technical components
stolen by the Djinn, or were they the result of efforts by the military or
political establishment to confuse witnesses of the anomalous?
If we entertain the possibility that the Djinn either
construct their own machinery or steal ours, might this serve to explain the
still-unsolved case files regarding the "phantom airships" that
caused such a sensation between 1896 and 1897? Or the phantom aircraft and
rockets sighted across Scandinavia in 1946? During the wave of phantom airship
sightings, it appeared as though pseudo-humans were amusing themselves by
mimicking humanity’s clumsy attempts to realize the long-cherished dream of
flight. The case files range from enormous airships worthy of Robur the
Conqueror to aircraft that flapped their wings in flight (according to John
Keel). As soon as the Wright Brothers, Santos-Dumont, and Blériot achieved
their breakthroughs, these flying contraptions ceased to appear.
Saucer Abductions and the Djinn
This brings us to the point we wished to address. We are
entirely at liberty to consider the phenomenon of abductions—perpetrated by
beings hailing from UFOs or other realities—as either a genuinely unsettling
reality or one of the most striking instances of mass psychosis in human
history. Some writers and researchers have attempted to examine this subject in
depth, asking themselves whether a truly alien and super-advanced civilization
would actually resort to the methods of study (or hybridization) employed by
the alleged "Greys," "Blonds," and "Reptilians"
that feature in contemporary accounts. One would expect a super-civilization to
manipulate genetics with far greater ease than our own, without the subject of
the experiment ever becoming aware of what had transpired. Yet, despite the
displays of technology (or pseudo-technology) that these abductors reveal to
their victims, their methods remain primitive, invasive, and even sadistic.
For our 21st-century civilization—immersed in digital
technology, deriving pleasure from Nintendo consoles and the passive
consumption of television programs—it is far easier to believe in technically
advanced visitors from another planet than in creatures whose existence we know
primarily through *The Thousand and One Nights*, even though virtually every
culture speaks of this other order of beings. The obsession with interbreeding
with human beings is a theme that surfaces even in our works of fantasy. A
classic example is the wizard Merlin (Myrddin) of Celtic tradition, the son of
a mortal woman and a being who, "though not evil, was far from
good"—a description that fits the *Djinn* perfectly. We have seen that the
Muslim tradition holds that Djinn are capable of easily changing their appearance,
assuming forms that are either pleasing or repulsive, depending on their needs.
This gift of mutability would seem to correspond to the "Grays" who
have become part of the UFO establishment. In many cases, witnesses claim to
have copulated with males or females deemed highly attractive by human
standards of beauty—only for these figures to ultimately reveal themselves as
macrocephalic dwarfs (one of whom, according to a single abductee, was wearing
a black wig). This gift—attributed to the Djinn and various other beings in
human mythology—has, inevitably, been "technologized" and described
as a "screen memory" that the Grays can superimpose over an
abductee's actual recollections.
Abductees also claim—sometimes under hypnosis, other times
while fully conscious—to have witnessed the fruit of this interspecies
mingling: beings that are half-human, half-"Gray"—frail and sickly
creatures. At times, they describe more developed entities: beings possessing
distinctively human features, yet bearing the enormous black eyes
characteristic of their extra-human lineage. Other abductees speak at length of
assistants who appear to be one hundred percent human, working side by side
with the Grays. Are these individuals part of a human "fifth column"
aiding the extra-humans, or are they simply beings who have assumed a pleasing
guise in order to put us at ease?
“In recent times, some abductees have recounted visits to a
chamber filled with fetuses floating in tanks, or have reported being handed
hybrid infants or children with whom they are expected to play or interact. If
the witness is transported by these beings, their destination is
otherworldly—though not necessarily another planet. A brief journey carries the
craft and its crew into a subterranean or submarine environment: an
'intraterrestrial' realm of great beauty, yet devoid of sunlight; or a
uniformly illuminated sky [...] often dark and desolate, bearing signs of ruin
and destruction.” (Bullard, Thos. “Abductions.” *The Encyclopedia of
Extraterrestrial Encounters*, Ed. Ronald Story. New York: 2001, p. 6). The
elves or sprites described by the Reverend Kirk in his work *The Secret
Commonwealth* claimed to be capable of destroying humanity with a single
stroke, yet they refrained from doing so “because they awaited Salvation.” A
thoroughly Christian sentiment, naturally. However, they could attain this
salvation or redemption only through humans—by merging with us to acquire that
which religious believers have termed “the soul”—a concept that would
undoubtedly elicit a scornful smile from the lips of skeptics. If we accept as
true the premise that alleged abductees have indeed witnessed and experienced
everything they have recounted to us, may we then surmise that—despite the
frailty of the resulting offspring and the intensive care they require—they now
possess a soul?
On the other hand, it is certainly intriguing that
ufologists have interpreted this amalgamation of species as something positive.
At the Human Potential Foundation conference held in Washington, D.C., in
1993—the theme of which was “The Encounter Between Cosmic Cultures”—a former
legal advisor to the National Research Council classified the hybrids of Grays
and humans as “the next species: *Homo alterios spatialis*.”
Many abductees insist that they have witnessed images of
humanity’s future on a planet utterly devastated by environmental crises,
pollution, or impacts from extraterrestrial bodies. These terrifying scenes
have been projected directly into the abductees' minds, or have formed part of
a kind of “theatrical performance” in which many abductees gaze intently at
what appears to be a screen displaying the future. The only ones capable of
surviving in this apocalyptic world will be the hybrids of humans and
Grays—beings perfectly acclimated to this terrible “new world.”
Charles Upton offers us a frankly terrifying
possibility—one, however, that will likely only convince the religiously
minded: “But if they are so intent on mesmerizing poor mortals with their
superior powers, to what can we attribute their apparent envy of our capacity
to inhabit physical bodies? Could it be that they are fully aware—even if we
ourselves have forgotten it—that the human form is the image of God, and that,
consequently, they do everything in their power to supplant it—primarily by
tempting us to deconstruct it, both physically and psychologically? If they—for
all their gifts—seem to desire to become human, even as they seek to make us
more like themselves, what does this reveal about their own self-assessment of
their condition? Perhaps they are simply attempting to avoid Hell.” (Upton,
*System of Antichrist*, p. 338).
In Summary
All of us living today—with a few exceptions—are products of
cinema, television, and fantasy and science fiction literature. We feel no
hesitation whatsoever in describing a device or situation as “worthy of *Star
Trek* or *Star Wars*.” Our primary frame of reference is technology—ranging
from the very first handheld calculator to the brand-new iPod® from Apple. If
we spot a strange light in the sky, or a disc-shaped craft in the middle of a
meadow, we do not hesitate to place it within a technological context—in this
case, as a spacecraft hailing from any of the planets, civilizations, or
galaxies that our reading and movie-going experiences have conjured in our
minds. Indeed, it is far more plausible and culturally acceptable to speak of
aliens, extraterrestrials, and the like than of elves, dDjinn, sylphs, and
undines—despite the existence of millennia-old traditions concerning these
beings and their relationship with our own species.
It is considered perfectly reasonable to imagine that an
extra-planetary culture dispatches its ships to abduct men and women—to harvest
their reproductive material against their will for the sake of humanity’s
future; to save another species that has lost its reproductive capacity;
because the members of said species are, in reality, the "Watchers"
of the Old Testament; or because their mission is to preserve life across all
inhabited planets. Yet, to consider that these beings might actually be the
neighbors we have always had—beings that inhabited our world long before the
emergence of humanity and that will likely remain here long after our
extinction—is deemed preposterous... or, at least, that is what we are told.
