Given the proliferation in recent years of ufo/paranormal/dreamtime imagery in the media (VW's "Reverse Engineered From UFO's" ad comes glaringly to mind), do you feel that this is actually changing or affecting the phenomenon itself? Is the mass-media consciousness causing the UFO phenomenon to change the way it interfaces with us?
 
 

The icon of the 1990s is the head of an alien staring at you from a sticker on a car, from a computer screen, or from elsewhere in your daily life.  The images are everywhere, and anybody interested in life knows what they basically represent.  Do you think that is happenstance, savvy marketing, or a conspiracy of some sort?

It used to be that the concept of alien visitors was represented by what we now can rightfully call the classic "flying saucer" shape.  That icon, that manner of characterizing an unknown phenomenon, began shortly after the phenomenon's arrival to this place in 1947.  First, the interpretation was done with a couple of reporter-inspired, descriptive words: "flying saucers."  These words were quickly transposed into equally descriptive imagery first as simple line drawings for cartoons and then evolving extensively through the years into being finely detailed craft appearing in all manner of media.  Of course, that icon, in all of its guises, continues to be popular to this day.  But in the last couple of years it has been overshadowed by an upgrade.  And that is the almond-eyed alien images we find all around us.

The saucer-shaped icon represents our best guess in those very early days of the coming of the mysterious craft.  It was an attempt to classify a completely unknown, virtually unbelievable, apparition.  Some of you will need to be reminded that in 1947 talk of space flight was a far-off dream reserved for the readers of science-fiction (which was not considered a respectable genre at the time) and a few forward-thinking scientists and government officials.  The concept of extra-terrestrials was rarely considered.  The idea of them existing and coming here was a joke.  Remember, at that time we had not punctured the bubble of our atmospheric sheath with any object.  It would be nine years later before the Soviets orbited Sputnik. 

The evolution into the new icon is a further projection on that original guess, yet one admittedly anecdotal by any standards. Still, it is a more studied appraisal of the whole situation resulting from a virtually automatic distillation of decades of information, true or not, about the topic.

Each icon represents an important milestone in the advancement of human awareness toward the unknown that lies beyond our planet. The use of the alien visage is a quantum leap--to use an overused term--beyond the meaning implied in the old symbol which only suggests visitors.  The popularity of the alien head signifies that many individuals and groups in the world culture are now hip--an old word coming back into play--to what the UFO ships represent when we see them, what the occupants look like, and more importantly, what we surmise about their activities here. 

Succinctly, the world's hip culture, the movers and shakers of the masses, has spoken.  It knows what it knows and knows what it wants.  In simple words, it is what the people want even before they know they want it.  (This is a recognized but poorly understood phenomenon itself.)  The various media, which wish to engage the attention of these people, rush to fill the void.  Forget what formal society, meaning our sciences, governments, and institutions, have chosen to embrace or ignore.  This shifting to a higher level of attention if not preoccupation towards this topic comes directly from the instinctive interests of the common folk, not from any formal organization with committees, rules, and protocols. 

If the discussion were about purely human endeavors, putting a man on the Moon, inventing the atom bomb, or starting a war in Yugoslavia , then the formal aspects of our society, Science and particularly government would have their usual methods of control to guide us along where they wanted us to go.  But uninvited alien intervention?  That is a circumstance almost entirely out of their control.  They are threatened to the core by the inherent ramifications.  That is especially true for government.  An Earth government will never be able to exercise enough control over such a new, totally unknown influence into its sphere.  Its only real weapon is denial, putting the day of reckoning off as long as possible.  It is aided and abetted by the willing accomplice Science which is equally quick to recognize too that its stature in the world-- universe, actually--is not nearly as important as it would have for itself. 

So, what are we to make of this situation?

What we have been living in during the past half century is the time of creation for a fantastic, planet-wide myth about UFOs.  That is what makes the icons so appealing, their auras of mystery, coincides with our natural curiosity for the unknown.  The "flying saucer" name, the quintessential shape, and the subsequent alien head are idealizations of that myth. 

Many people assume that the word "myth" as applied to topics such as ghosts, sea monsters, or UFOs means that particular topic is entirely fictional. That is an extreme interpretation of the word and is incorrect when used in this context.

Myths are what we could call the common man's/woman's equivalent to what science calls anecdotal information within its own fields.  The similarities are that the common-sense system of the everyday person and the scientific-methodology system of the scientist both provide information about a phenomenon without absolute proof being in the offering.  For the latter, it could be a scientific observation with indicative evidence but yet lacking validation (and/or replicability).  For the former, it could mean we have only your word that you saw a UFO last night.  In either case, the larger question is not answered and the game, mystery, the quest, is continued, sometimes tarnished, sometimes further embroidered, from the latest bit of evidence or story.

One of the Roper polls done several years ago (in the early -70s) inquired about the percentage of the U.S. population that recognized the term "UFO."  The poll found that a whopping 92 per cent of all Americans knew the name.  The pollsters were so shocked by this figure that they felt it necessary to mention in their poll analysis report that never before in over forty years of poll-taking had they encountered such a large percentage of the population knowing the meaning of the target term.

For these people who know the term, that means they also had an underlying concept of the ramifications behind the term.  They may not have "believed" in UFOs as alien craft, but they were aware of that possibility even if they totally rejected it.  Let's look at that: 92 per cent of Americans knows the term and its various implications.  But they were not out in the streets tearing the social order to tatters either from abject fear or from an overwhelming desire for legitimate questions yet unanswered by the authorities.  Why?  The answer is that they have been given just enough information or understanding for the creation of the myth, but never enough evidence with which to incite themselves into (what is known in social science as)  mob (mass) action.

The mythological foundation is built indirect step by indirect step, carefully controlled so that not too much is revealed in any one incident.  One little teaser comes after another.  The pot is allowed to simmer, but never to boil.  Sighting after sighting occurs with little or nothing of substance changed between them except more and more of the Earth's populace gets the message first-hand.  This decades-long process is virtually painless for all cultures as they individually assimilate the basic myth into their respective concepts of the Universe. 

Additional myths, extraneous myths, are created as needed or as allowed to support, enhance, and flesh-out the original myth.  These particular myths, based upon little evidence, usually harbor the particular agenda of their creators. 

As mentioned, we see the alien myth in every aspect of our daily lives in what we read in the newspapers, watch on television, and see at the movies.  From these influences we learn, think, and talk about the myth.  Eventually, the myth becomes so heavy with information--still anecdotal evidence--and mere thought that it acquires form and substance.  It even becomes expected and predictable.  To many it becomes living reality, no longer a myth. 

Why would the process of contact be done this way?  For one thing, it is a completely natural process "controlled" by none other than the culture itself.  Second, and because of that, it simply is the right thing to do.  It is the normal, least disruptive method for transporting a world full of different cultures and societies from their respective views to entirely new understandings of the universe.  Such would be nothing less than we should expect from a meeting with a mature race.  Any argument to the contrary must label the visitors as insensitive and something less than benevolent.

There are two co-attendant and excellent reasons why this program has been introduced and has been allowed to work for over fifty years.  First, the aliens want us to be well grounded with some inkling about who they are before direct contact is made.  In that way the shock is greatly reduced.  They don't want us to see them as god-like entities coming to solve all of our problems.  They could easily achieve this goal if they wished.  They may have done as much in the past.

Second, our own governments recognize this fact-it may have taken them awhile--as working in their best interests too.  Some--especially, the U.S., the creme de la creme--will have more problems and conflicts getting used to the idea of superior aliens among us than would the average citizenry or the average Third World country.  One instant the U.S. is at the top of the heap, and, Voila!  At the flick of a speeding flying saucer we are reduced to being a Third World country.

A short-answer response to the question posed by ELFIS: The principle strategy which rules how much or how little of the UFO phenomena will be revealed to us is directly related to the natural response of people to that stimuli. It is a closed loop, human driven, but put into motion by the visitors. 

Neither government nor Science, or media attention is the driving force leading us to enlightenment.  They each may add varying degrees of impetus but what matters most are the natural and normal positions we all automatically construct from real-world exposure to that stimuli.  By promoting their own carefully crafted mythological existence, the visitors cause us to quicken our attitudes, beliefs, and opinions along the desired way.  Along the path we eventually would go anyway if left entirely to our own devices. 

Finally, one could argue strongly that the media, meaning the sources for imparting information to the masses, is an important element, perhaps even the driving force in the popularization of the UFO.  Certainly, it is the more important force outside the alien-to-human-to-alien interplay.  But media participation is nothing but a tangible display, an indication, of inherent public interest in that area.  Let me put that in a descriptive context everyone will understand.  Sex is the primary topic sought on the internet.  (UFOs are second). Interest in sex is not generated by the mere availability of the topic but by the underlying, personal, and pent-up demand almost everyone has for that topic.  That in turn causes its availability.  So, too, this explains the popularity of UFOs.  Oops!  Forgot to work jackalopes into this piece.  But you got the message by now didn't ya'll?