What if Aliens Are Already Here?
The interdimensional UFO hypothesis, the Mothman Prophecies, and David Grusch
According to a 2021 Gallup poll, roughly 41% of Americans say they believe at least some so-called “unidentified flying objects,” or UFOs, are alien spacecraft, while 50% say they think all such sightings can be explained by human activity or natural phenomenon. (A baffling-to-me 9% have “no opinion.” Don’t give a shit, won’t even guess.)
This is the usual binary: UFOs are spacecraft from light-years away, or they are top-secret military aircraft/weird clouds/weather balloons.
But there is a third theory, not nearly as popular: what if UFOs are both alien and terrestrial, among us but rarely seen?
In a June interview with NewsNation following his coming-out story in The Debrief, alleged UFO whistleblower David Grusch said the following (among many other things):
“We know there are extra dimensions due to high-energy particle collisions, etc., and there’s a theoretical framework to explain that… It could be that this is not necessarily extraterrestrial and actually that it’s coming from a higher-dimensional physical space that might be co-located right here,” he said.
This part of the story hasn’t garnered as much interest as Grusch’s general claim that the U.S. government has and is rebuilding alien spacecraft (which is fair), except among the Reddit UFO community, which fights about this and other details every other day. Some users are keen to point out that Grusch’s remarks, if atypical, are not new: they’re just an echo of the interdimensional UFO hypothesis pioneered in 1947 by an occultist named Meade Layne and popularized in the 1960s.
I am HUMILIATED to admit this theory is (kind of) news to me, which just goes to show how infrequently it surfaces in UFO documentaries and TV shows, of which I’ve consumed 700.
I am now reading The Mothman Prophecies, a “TRUE STORY” that was originally published in 1975 and later became a so-so 2002 Richard Gere movie. The book is a hoot! Its author, John Keel, was a journalist/ufologist with a sense of humor (rare), if also real derision for most mainstream UFO believers, despite the many batshit-crazy things he presents as obvious truth in his books, like:
The flying saucer/extraterrestrial visitants are not real in the sense that a 747 airliner is real. They are transmogrifications of energy under the control of some unknown extradimensional intelligence. This intelligence controls important events by manipulating specific human beings through the phenomenon of mystical illumination. Our religions are based upon our longtime awareness of this intelligence and our struggle to reduce it to humanly acceptable terms. (pg. 60)
Or:
“UFOs, hairy monsters, and Motormen all appear to have the ability to ferret out human females during their menstrual period.” (pg. 136)
As many other modern readers have noted/will continue to note, the book is very much of its era; it seems not-coincidental that Keel’s mysterious “Men in Black” (a term he invented) are described as having “Oriental-looking” features. (In reading some background about the history of this term, I learned that the term “Asian American” was coined by activists Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee in response to the derogatory term “Oriental” in 1968; The Mothman Prophecies largely covers events between 1966-1967.) All women referenced in the book are described in terms of their perceived attractiveness (“vivacious blond lady,” “a shapely housewife,” etc.).
The Mothman Prophecies is not a forward-thinking treatise in many respects, but I do find something compelling in the interdimensional hypothesis itself, along with its apparent resurgence. According to Keel, the modern flying saucer is but one representation of an enduring human tendency to see the unexplainable, and categorize it according to current cultural beliefs. In his view, angels, vampires, fairies, black dogs, and UFOs are just different manifestations of the same unnamed phenomenon; whatever it is, it can change form to suit its needs and ours. Keel calls them ultraterrestrials. He died in 2009, and this obituary makes me wish I could have followed him around for a week or two. What a character!
I find the interdimensional hypothesis — in which aliens aren’t far-away visitors but instead all around us — both spooky and sort of romantic, so different from our modern insistence on UFOs/UAPs as a militarized threat. Let’s suppose someone really did tell David Grusch that UFOs come from another dimension on Earth, and he isn’t just making this up for the hell of it: why would they have told him that, then let him tell us?
Per The Guardian (emphasis added):
…It looks like Grusch followed Pentagon protocol in publishing this information, meaning that the Department of Defence approved the information he would pass on to the press, which is something the department only does if the information is not classified. If Grusch is telling the truth, surely this information would be classified, [historian Greg] Eghigian says, and the department would not have allowed him to go on the record.
That hypothetical hearing can’t come soon enough!
In other news…
This lady found an excuse to get off that plane and ran with it. We’ve all been there!
xo,
Katie
We recently watched “Hellier” on Amazon Prime (thank you for the recommendation, Tom DeLonge) - the first two episodes were actually pretty great but things went downhill. I mention it because it goes very deep on Mothman Prophecies as well as...goblins, which I was not expecting. You’re inspiring to read the MP book, now!
Welcome to the Keelian school of high strangeness! If you like Mothman, check out his book "Operation Trojan Horse". If you thought his takes on reality were strange in Mothman, your mind is going to be blown!