The Sociology of UFOlogy – an inquiry with Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove

Sociology of UFOlogy

For decades people have been curious and investigated UFOs in myriad ways. What is the sociology of UFOlogy today? In the late 80s Tim Beckley introduced New Age and Alien Agenda gatherings around the country. The International UFO Congress began in Tucson in 1991 with Ret. Col. Wendelle Stevens, Jim Diletosso and Ken Liljegren’s team as support.

I’ll digress for a moment. My first experiences with non-human intelligence was in 1962, advancing to something different in 1965 which was apparently the ‘normal’ type of contact in the Midwest in the 50s and 60s, the orange cigar-shaped cloud. During that same period, UFOs were apparently shutting down ICBM silos around the globe with exquisite showmanship.

Curious and investigative, I continued my quest to know, not just what, how this kinda stuff happens. I love the high strangeness. What makes it tick? I had a lot of questions, numerous events and some experiences I still wonder about today. I had deep conversations with a lot of folks; experts, researchers and experiencers across the gamut.

Making a Few Friends in the Fray

I got to know Jim and Wendelle over the years. Jim and I became friends and later he recommended me as manager for The Prophets Conference (1997). It gave me an opportunity to have conversations that are extremely rare, up close and personal without interruption. Some of the folks who were there: Dr. Edgar Mitchell, Dr. Steven Greer, Jose Arguelles, David Icke, Linda Molten-Howe, Stanton Friedman, Zacharia Sitchen and 2 dozen more. I got to know many prominent folks in the field of UFOlogy many years ago, with friendships still today.

2010 began by assuming responsibility for a UFO discussion group in the Phoenix valley. We met in a community room of a local fire station. Our guest speakers included Claude Swanson, Travis Walton, Alejandro Rojas and more. We also had meditation experiments using music that produced some varied and amazing personal experiences, all of a contact nature. There were about 35 people in the room. Afterward, one elderly woman reported seeing massive ET machinery surrounding the group and ‘working’ on each person.

From 2010 to 2014 I was a vendor at the IUFOC, having moved to Ft. McDowell in Arizona. In 2013 we debuted UFOlogyPRSS.com at the International UFO Congress, with over 100 blogs from around the world in one place, up-to-the-moment material. It rose the bar for UFOlogy-based websites. It was our virtual model of folks getting along even if they had opposing views. We’ve also got a number of authors featured; podcasts and radio shows, too.

Sociology of Ufology

Meanwhile, UFOlogy in general seems to be challenged. Experiencers are on one side and the nuts and bolts scientists on the other with conspiratorialists scattered about in each camp. Dr. Mishlove and I take a frank and open look at what the Sociology of UFOlogy is today. Although challenges do exist, there seems to be a call for change. What that will be remains to be seen.

Here’s how Dr. Mishlove framed the interview, “Here he [Zen] speaks as a participant-observer sharing his reflections on the current community of interest centering on UFO phenomena. He describes his disillusionment with a nexus of individuals focusing on the notions of the Ashtar Command and the Galactic Federation. He describes various fears associated with the very idea of alien life forms. However, he suggests that we presently have no actual evidence that there is a reason to be fearful of UFO activity.”

In the ‘contact’ scenarios, experiencers have to deal with seemingly incredulous events and still continue with some kind of ‘normal’ life. Whether individual or family needs, the daily functional activity still needs doing. There is something else going on, though, as shows like this don’t happen if the conversation isn’t necessary, imho.

Forward Momentum

Our hopes were to address common concerns and explore a little of what else is happening. I was a willing participant in spite of my trepidation. Talking about the Ashtar Command and Galactic Federation, however real and true they may be, is not the kind of talk that garners credibility normally. There’s evidence they do exist dating back to 1952 with George Van Tassel.

Although we discussed the potential confusion with deities, there is still more confusion around the topic. George Van Tassel met Robert Short, who took on the ‘Ashtar Command’ label, used it for contrary purposes and wasn’t connected to the ‘source’ like George. I met Bob in the late 1980s and didn’t feel he had a good connection, if any, talking nonsense about conspiracy theories interwoven with an Ashtar Command that would somehow take action against the cabal. The latter was infectious and unfortunately obfuscates the truth still, imho.

Jeffrey made a delicate subject easy to discuss. We had a nice mind flight. Perhaps you’ll consider sharing this article and video.

More importantly share New Thinking Allowed. Thanks in advance.

My wife asked me to include this interview from January of 2013. She said it spoke to her in ways nothing else had. She’s Russian-born and trained pianist as well as a 3HO Kundalini Yoga teacher. She has a compelling argument…

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One thought on “The Sociology of UFOlogy – an inquiry with Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove

  1. Pingback: Ufology PReSS Blog - Exopolitics, Contact and Consciousness

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