The Aviary, The Aquarium, And Eschatology Essays - Ufologists

The Aviary, the Aquarium, and Eschatology by Vince Johnson Eschatology: 1: The branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of mankind. 2: A belief concerning death, the end of the world, or the ultimate destiny of mankind; specifically any of the various Christian doctrines concerning the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, or the Last Judgement. As more than a casual observer of contemporary ufology, I've recently become aware of a what could be a significant new twist in popular perception about UFOs. For many, UFOs are not the manifestation of extraterrestrial intelligence, but instead, are a metaphysical phenomena -- a manifestation of spiritual entities. Many abductees/contactees are now characterizing their "unusual personal experiences" in a religious or metaphysical context. As an unabashed secular humanist, I am skeptical of these claims. But there are several aspects of the metaphysical interpretation of the UFO phenomenon that should be considered before rejecting it out of hand. Admittedly, a lot of what follows is based on rumor, hearsay and circumstantial evidence. Much is derived from numerous phone calls from Dan Smith, whose religious beliefs regarding the UFO phenomenon have induced a messianic zeal to "spread the Word." These calls have provided a flurry of information on what I have previously termed "fringe" beliefs, as well as providing the names and backgrounds of the birds who comprise the Aviary. According to Dan, who undoubtedly is privy to a wealth of accurate, though not widely known UFO information, this data is being released through him due to the grave concern by high government officials about impending metaphysical catastrophe - the eschaton, or the end of the world. Mr. Smith first came to my attention after the "Aquarium Conspiracy" article (see inset) was disseminated to computer bulletin board systems in the Spring of '93. In this article, Smith and Rosemary Ellen Guiley, directors of the Center for North American Crop Circle Studies, warned of an "eschatological emergency, "the reaction of various organizations--both inside and outside the government, and their attempt to establish a network of spiritually advanced individuals, the "Aquarium," to assist the Aviary in dealing with this crisis. The "Aquarium Conspiracy" by Dan Smith and Rosemary Ellen Guiley "In the beginning there was eschatology--the branch of theology dealing with the end times. Dan, having spent many years first studying physics and then metaphysics, came to the conclusion that the scientists have been looking at the world upside down. Mind, not matter, is the foundation for all realities. Moreover, the materialist paradigm was in danger of imminent collapse, being subverted on the inside by its own contradictions, and on the outside by the growing body of evidence for the paranormal. Creating and maintaining a reality is no easy game. It requires a lot of magic, and a lot of conscious critters like ourselves who are pretty good at collective self-deception. Fortunately-- or perhaps unfortunately--our particular reality game has about reached its natural conclusion, and we are waking up to the fact that mind and matter are not separate. We are undergoing an exciting but stressful revolution in our collective consciousness. This revolution, or global spiritual emergency, will bring upheavals and overloads in our global consciousness that will impact the material Earth for better or worse, and may quickly get out of control. We also will be opening up to other realities that will be impacting us as well. Our present very tidy sense of reality and its boundaries is due to become much more fluid and permeable. Every spiritual tradition takes very seriously its prophesies about the end of the world, but for the first time we are seeing these prophesies turning into believable predictions of earth and reality changes. That is how Dan fell from physics into eschatology. After experiencing numerous slammed doors among his former scientific colleagues, he decided that the most logical place to find fellow eschatologists would be in various intelligence agencies and among investigators of the paranormal. Dan next addressed how to communicate about the eschaton. Even a small hint that the government is worried about the end of the world might start a chain reaction of panic, which could possibly serve as a trigger for the eschaton. On the other hand, people inside the government might be wanting to set up a kind of civil defense network vis a vis the eschaton, and so they would be looking for people on the outside who could much more freely network among the general public. An important link in the communication chain is what has become known as