I never thought I would be reporting this kind of experience. And part of me wishes I did not
have to. I recall a cartoon in a magazine when I was a teen. It
showed a man alone wagging his finger at a flying saucer in the sky
and saying, ' Darn you UFO, now everyone will think I'm crazy.' Well,
that has now happened to me; only , thank God, it is me and my adult
son Brent who 'saw' these nighttime numinous objects in the sky. We
continue to be somewhat reeling from the experience. It gives us
much to talk about.
Very Similar to what we
saw June 16, 2012,
|
Below is a letter, somewhat edited, that I wrote the morning after to several friends. This
kind of experience is unique in that no matter where you go in your
mind trying to rationalize and explain, whether physically or
psychologically, you always wind up knowing you simply 'do not know'
what this mesmerizing experience is; what caused it, what is its
physical and psychological nature, what meaning should be learned
from it. You know you are stuck with a mystery but one that has a
strong but unexplainable effect on your mind and heart.
I had thought I've had enough of
direct 'numinous' experience in my life. But now my oldest son Brent,
we live together, and I have somewhat of a secret that we do not know
what to do with. Saturday night, June 16, 2012 just at the ending of dusk Brent
came running to my room calling me to, “go look out front." I
was expecting to see some animal, a possum or owl etc, but he pointed
up. We starred amazed at beautiful round orange lights that were
passing right over us. They seemed to be perfect circles of amber
light and not as high as most small airplanes that pass over. They
had a somewhat grainy texture but fully symmetrical. Maybe a
slightly darker center, like a nucleus. I also noticed a faint
dotted line circle around each one like a halo effect.
They certainly
would fit the Jungian description of mandalas, a symbol he found
across all time and cultures depicting wholeness, completion, even a
symbol representing the inexhaustible meaning of God. They were
moving at a steady even speed from the SW to NE and tended to come
in two's. Brent was more focused on the end of their path where
they started to look clumped up and either disappearing or their
lights going out. I think the former. I kept looking at the new
arrivals. I would see new ones, they would first appear and then
would pass out of view behind a high tree and then come back into
view as they paraded right in front of us. There was total silence. It was experienced as a Holy moment.
We estimate there were more than twenty of them and we viewed them
for more than five minutes before it ended.
Taken By Brent June 16, 2012. Why Different Shape Than We Saw? |
Though quite mesmerized I was not
alarmed for I was thinking , 'This will be on TV tonight and be the
talk of the area." But after it ended I turned the radio on. We have a station in this
town, and there was nothing. We began to realize that we likely had
no one to confirm our story. Thank God we have each other's
verification. Brent said that was the reason he took his gaze off
them long enough to come in to tell me. So this is initially Brent's
experience, not mine. I have mentioned it to a few: my pastor,
chaplain colleagues , some old friends and my children. I can say
that such a thing never quite leaves the mind. It has an
unexplainable effect that I would assume is some kind of elevation of
consciousness but there are no words to explain it. It leaves me
with a conviction, which I had already carried for decades, there
are vastly higher levels of consciousness and kinds of intelligence that we
humans have yet to experience. It makes even the most valued
religious beliefs suspect of being only part or the beginning of a
much larger story.
Pic By Others Which Look Similar To Brent's Above |
This 'seeing' was different than my
'visions' of 1985 for there I would have guessed that no one else
would see what I was seeing. I think those were more on the pattern
of how Saul's visions are reported in Acts where none of his
companions saw the vision or heard the voice that Saul experienced. But I
felt sure that anyone who would have been present with us would have seen what we saw. And Brent and I report seeing the same thing. From a
psychological point I can't rule out that it was our mutual
projection, not a tangible or physical object. We've looked at
explanations for similar things via the internet that have been seen
by many and photographed. Some attribute it to 'Chinese Lamps',
lighted paper balloons that some send up at weddings etc. Others to
some kind of secret government defense experiments. These do not at
all strike home as reasonable explanations to Brent or me.But we have no way of knowing if our government is involved. I'm not drawn to conspiracy theories regarding these incidents for they are usually ways trying to know more than can be known.
I can't deny the strong impact, that is
not explainable in words, this has on me but it is not
comparable to the disorientation and emotional effect I experienced
from the 'visions'( for lack of better word) I had beginning in August '85. I guess because those phenomena were much more personal, though predominantly archetypal,
than these objects which seemed impersonal and totally collective.
Also I was in a desperate situation physically and psychologically
when the shocking 'visions' of '85 came. And the visions lasted for many months and
only gradually ceased. I was quite completely and continuously
absorbed in them and always expecting another moment by moment.
Ordinary life was very difficult, nearly impossible, to maintain. For most of this time I was managing to teach Jr High science and reported nothing of it to my students or their parents. I knew it would be too upsetting.
But there was something soft, gentle and friendly about these lights in the sky and
they did not generate fear, just wonder and amazement. I can see how
such an experience would cause one without previous 'visions' etc to
question every orthodox meaning of life and God that they ever had.
Simply because the 'quality' of this kind of experience is so much
more effective at convincing one that 'there is truly something far
more to reality than we are ordinarily aware of.' This captures the experiential meaning of the theological and psychological description of 'the
numinous.' It creates a general sense of 'belief' by direct
experience that neither seeks or needs any other 'proof.' Since my previous
experience had already led me to such questionings of much orthodox
belief, which I have wrestled with for decades, this 'sight' did not
have that troubling effect on me. But to experience something
'other' that few people report having any direct experience of
has a strong unexplainable, not always comfortable, effect on a person. And it adds to the
personal problem that likely some such stories of UFO's are
fabricated or have been reported by people who are not in other
things reliable or not of a healthy and 'sound' of mind.
I am aware that Brent has questioned
orthodox and standard explanations of the 'other' since he was very
young. I have heard him say, “I'm open to any sign of there being
'something more', but that is what it would take for me to be
seriously convinced there is something more than the mystery of the wonders we
already observe.' I asked him the next day if this was troubling
him and he said, " Not really. I had always welcomed some kind of evidence
there is something other beyond and now I am confronted that there
is. I can't deny this." To him, and I think to me also, they
were definitely at some level real physical objects. His only
question is are they explainable by standard categories or not? So
we both seem to be OK but I know it stays quite central in my
thinking and likely in his.
In the past I've read Jung's paper on
the psychological meaning of UFO phenomena. I did not get the idea he
had had such an experience but he took them very seriously,
especially the psychological meaning as living symbol, but also as likely somewhat physical
realities. I have now read again his booklet Flying Saucers, The
Psychological Meaning Of Objects In The Sky. 1957. We may know little more now than when he wrote this though I
think the number and frequency of reported sightings has continually
increased. All of this book is not easy reading. I would in fact
suggest a person read the final few headings first for there he
speaks in terms that most of us would more easily follow and identify with.
I gave a spiritual talk entitled
'Recalling Our Transformations' to a Senior Day church group, three days after this 'sighting', in the town I first preached and taught
school 45 years ago. It was quite emotional for me. As I stood there
giving them my prepared talk I wondered, 'What would they think of my
'visions' of 1985 and even of the orange sky lights of three days ago?' I did
share these 'lights' experience with one very old friend there. He
received it graciously and but not seem to want a full description
etc.
Brent did take one picture that evening which is in this post. The picture,
which we do not think is a movement blur for the stars are crisp in
the background, does not show it as a circle but more a crooked worm
like shape? Also in this post is included a photograph that others
submitted which look similar to the view we saw.
I'm aware that having
such an experience easily makes one 'not want' it to have a standard
explanation. But I am also aware that our reasoned explanations can
just as easily rationalize it as something totally explainable when
it really isn't. So one is caught in a bind of what they even 'want' to be
the truth about it. I can only say I have a hard time presently
believing it is something explainable by 'normal' standards. It left
us both feeling we had been 'visited'
Should any of you have had such
experience or know of someone you think it might be good for me to
contact with this kind of information I would appreciate it. I am not
looking for anyone who is just 'interested' or who 'has a UFO hobby'
but someone who is more credentialed and with some real experience in
the area. Such a person with some Jungian awareness would be welcome also. Meanwhile I will just live with this and keep
tabs with my son. Best Wishes, Jim Hibbett
5 comments:
Jim, did you know the Chinese Lantern Festival has been taking place at the Missouri Botanical Garden in StL? I believe it started in early June and will close in August. The theme this year is "Art by Day, Magic by Night". I have no idea if they planned to send up the kind of lantern you referred to, but it's something you may want to explore.
Did you ever see the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind? The lights you saw seem similar to some of the spaceships in that movie. I love that film, not just for the physical encounter, but for the positive feeling and the pull the humans felt for the aliens.
Seen the same orange lights in the sky over Montreal Canada last night around 10:45 pm EST. First three in a triangular shape and four fallowing. freaked me out.
I saw them too, exactly how you described it. It was around 10-10:15 pm, Saturday. My husband saw them and called me. They were coming in groups or one after another from horizon from NW going toward SE (I live in northern NJ). They were definetely not chinese lanterns - after they dissapeared there was a barely seen track left, something similar that can be seen after supersonic jets but less visible, one wide track for all of them. It was obvious their fly is controlled with steady speed and direction. I looked all over the interner and found that people in different places and even countries have seen very similar events so it cannot be some kind of military objects relocation either. And you described the feeling they gave exactly - you just feel it's something from out there although you're trying to find a "human origin" explanation to that. Now I look at night sky almost every day - that strange feeling just don't leave you. I don't try to talk to other people about this, I know you have to see it yourself to beleive it. I never could beleive it before ...
On August 24,2012 , our family of 9 people witnessed 7 orange lights following each other, comng from the direction of the ocean and veering off to the north(over Hampton, NH). They were not orbs, but more of a chevron shape with a red light as well. My first thought upon seeing the first one was thta it was a plane on fire, but it wasn't falling. There was no noise from these objects. My daughter called Pease Airforce base to see if they had anything scheduled but they didn't. She reported what we were all watching. We could not find anything in the local news, but googling it we found all the other sightings listed by people that had seen the same thing for months now, not only locally but around the world.
My wife, son and myself saw these same orange orbs come across the night time sky around 9pm on October 12, 2012. My wife was covering some flowers with blankets from the cold and came into the house calling us to look up into the sky. They looked very similar to the first picture you posted on your site. They came out of the eastern sky and sailed silently right above our heads when they all of a sudden flickered out. I have never seen anything like it before. Probably some kind of explanation, but I haven't figured it out yet.
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