Thursday, September 4, 2014


The UFO Phenomenon, Absurdity and the Alien Existentialist Mirror

An interview with Eric Ruiz, Ph.D. – September 1, 2014
All rights reserved – Author contact: ruiz.ufos@gmail.com

Abstract:
The UFO phenomenon is difficult to study scientifically: despite a lot of empirical evidence, there is no logical explanation or established theory to support it. Nevertheless, UFOs appear intelligent and purposeful – they exhibit extraordinary performances and capabilities. Therefore, one or several intelligences of unknown origins must be behind the phenomenon.
This superior but stealthy intelligence is mostly uncooperative: it jams all scientific attempts to understand it. However, alien intelligence is not hostile given its level of technology and the ease with which it could harm mankind. In this context, the discretion of the phenomenon is probably more for the protection of our civilization than a dark conspiracy against humans.
Yet, the more one studies the phenomenon, the more absurd it appears, hence the proposition that absurdity may be precisely what alien communication is about. Since neither science nor religion can make sense of the UFO phenomenon, an attempt is made to explain it with the help of psychology, philosophy and literature. A meaningful analogy is drawn between the UFO phenomenon and The Theater of the Absurd, leading to existentialist questions and answers.


Question: Hello Eric, could you briefly introduce yourself?
Eric Ruiz: Certainly, I hold a Ph.D. in Operations Research. My main job is to teach statistics and quantitative research methods at several business schools, mostly in Paris. I have also published several scholarly articles in refereed journals.

Q: When did you start investigating the UFO phenomenon?
E.R.: I started quite early, when I was about ten years of age. My father was a physics teacher with a passion for astronomy: he joined the Société d’Astronomie Populaire of the city of Toulouse in the late 1970’s and he quickly got in touch with the newly created GEPAN, the French organization in charge of investigating UFO phenomena (known today as GEIPAN). When it started, GEPAN was looking for volunteer investigators. I went with my dad as he interviewed several witnesses of UFO sightings – we discovered quickly that there was something real and deep behind the phenomenon.

Q: Any particular case that comes to your mind?
E.R.: Yes, one case was particularly striking. I vividly remember going to a safari hunter’s house filled with various trophies and other artifacts. The place made a strong impression on me. The witness described in detail how, when he was on a hunting trip on an island of the Zaire River, a huge, whitish, shiny object flew silently over him and his crew. It was night time; the circular object was about one hundred yards wide and hovering upstream at a speed of maybe 20 mph. My dad and I could tell that this man’s life had been changed forever. In fact, he wasn’t so much interested in telling us about what he had seen, he wasn’t bragging, he was truly looking for answers. Had anybody else seen the same object he saw on that night? Could we explain what he saw? Visibly, my dad – a physicist – could not offer any help.

Q: What about the other cases?
E.R.: There were quite a lot, more than I would have imagined. I remember one particular young woman who had been followed and chased by a UFO while driving her little green car on a small country road and how scared she had been. There was no abduction involved. Again, I discovered that witnesses were more looking for answers than trying to convince us of anything – they didn’t have a clue about what had happened to them. Could we help them? Could science offer a relief? The answer was clearly no. I soon discovered that a real UFO investigator always ends up with more questions than answers. This is true with any kind of research, but even more so with the UFO phenomenon.

Q: You are talking about research and science; could you tell us more about your scientific background?
E.R.: I hold a Ph.D. in Operations Research, which is a discipline that deals with the application of advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions. Employing techniques such as mathematical modeling or statistical analysis, Operations Research arrives at optimal or near-optimal solutions to complex decision-making problems. I have also taught research methodology and epistemology courses at different business schools and universities.

Q: How does your scientific background help you deal with the UFO phenomenon?
E.R.: Well, the first thing a good scientist should do is to define precisely the object he wishes to study. The typical scientific approach is the following: based on a review of the literature and empirical evidence, an object of study is precisely defined and one or several hypotheses are derived. These hypotheses are then tested by different means, preferably an experiment. Either the hypotheses are confirmed, in which case the theory underlying the hypotheses is supported, or the hypotheses are not confirmed and the theory is not supported (or sometimes proven wrong).
Thus, there are four questions to answer before the scientific method becomes possible:
1- What is the object of study, also called “unit of analysis”?
2- What is the underlying theory?
3- What are the hypotheses?
4- How do we test hypotheses in a satisfying manner?

Q: What are your answers to these four essential questions concerning the UFO phenomenon?
E.R.: My overall answer is very clear: the UFO phenomenon is NOT a scientific one. Consider question 1, the unit of analysis. What is a UFO? It is a Unidentified Flying Object. However, by definition, an object of investigation must be identified. If it is unidentified, then it cannot be investigated. Also, a UFO is unidentified by who? Depending on the witnesses, we may have something perfectly identified or completely unidentified. Thus, there is a subjective element at the root of the phenomenon itself – this is not scientific.
Now, what about abductions, are they a part of the UFO phenomenon? Why, or why not? You can see that defining a precise object of study here is very difficult, if not impossible. The UFO phenomenon is fuzzy. But this is only the beginning.
Consider questions 2, 3 and 4: what are the possible underlying theories? Could it be planet Venus, some sunlight reflections from birds, extra-terrestrial visitors, time travelers, ancient gods? We have too many competing theories and this is not encouraging. Also, what kind of hypotheses can be derived from such theories and how can they be tested? How do you perform an experiment possibly involving unwilling aliens or time travelers? Let’s now suppose that wild birds are responsible for some sightings, can we conclude that all UFOs are wild birds?
To me, the UFO phenomenon is therefore not of a scientific nature, but this doesn’t mean that science doesn’t work or that the UFO phenomenon does not exist. Quite the contrary.

Q: Could you please elaborate a little more on this somewhat paradoxical statement?
E.R.: Yes. To put it differently, what we call the scientific approach is really two things: empiricism and rationalism. Knowledge via empiricism involves gaining knowledge through objective observation and the experiences of our senses. Empiricism alone is not enough, however. Empiricism represents a collection of facts. Right now, concerning the UFO phenomenon, we have nothing more than a long list of observations or facts. But for these facts to be useful, we need to organize them, think about them, draw meaning from them, and use them to make predictions. In other words, we need to use rationalism together with empiricism to make sure that we are being logical about the observations that we make. This is what science does. With the UFO phenomenon, there is a huge discrepancy between the data we have obtained and our ability to make sense of them with logic; this can only mean two things:
1- We aren’t smart enough to understand the data.
2- We are purposely being misled.

Q: There is another possible explanation: there may be no logic behind the UFO phenomenon because the UFO phenomenon does not exist. You said you can’t really define it, so how can you be sure that it does exist?
E.R.:  Good question. What I said was that the UFO phenomenon cannot be defined precisely enough for scientific measurement or hypotheses testing by means of experiments, but some useful definitions of the phenomenon do exist. They are simply not scientific. This is not a criticism; this is just a fact. Consider an undercover journalist trying to infiltrate the mafia: would you say that his approach is scientific? No. Does that mean that his work and testimony are of no value? Again, no. The journalist may be incapable of measuring the “mafia construct” precisely, yet this does not mean that the mafia does not exist. Mafia killers are real and the journalist’s job is dangerous. Similarly, I can give you some definitions of the UFO phenomenon if you wish, but I wouldn’t call them “scientific”. Again, I don’t see this as a problem. This is a problem only if you don’t understand what science does and what it doesn’t do.

Q: Are there any good definitions of the UFO phenomenon then?
E.R.: Yes, several, and some of them are more or less objective, but I don’t consider any of them scientific because there aren’t any sound theories backing them up. Science requires both facts and theory: there is no validated UFO theory today and probably never will be. It does not mean that human intelligence cannot apprehend the UFO phenomenon or that UFOs do not exist, just that the UFO phenomenon does not meet the more exacting standards of scientific research.

Q: So, what is your definition of the UFO phenomenon?
E.R.: I can offer several definitions. I really like the French system developed by the GEIPAN and based on the notion of UAP or Unidentified Aerospace Phenomenon. UAP cases are classified under four categories:
1- UAP A: phenomena that were thought to be unidentified by the original witnesses but which are in fact clearly identified (i.e. balloon, plane, star).
2- UAP B: phenomena that were thought to be unidentified but which are probably identified, even if there are still some doubts.
3- UAP C: phenomena that lack accuracy – it is difficult or impossible to know what the witnesses saw.
4- UAP D: the testimony is precise and reliable but no conventional explanation is possible (i.e. phenomena that fly at speeds of 20,000 mph or above, which can accelerate almost instantly, which go up and down or turn at right angles without apparently slowing down).
UAP D is what we generally mean by UFO. Such cases are not uncommon (5% of all UAPs): witnesses are often civilian or military pilots and radar evidence sometimes confirms what they see.

Q: Any other definition that you like?
E.R.: I like the definition given by the late J. Allen Hynek, who introduced the idea of close encounters. When a person sees a UFO within 500 feet, it’s an encounter of the 1st kind. When an encounter with a UFO in the sky or on the ground leaves evidence behind (i.e. leaves scorch marks on the ground or stops vehicles) it is of the 2nd kind. When an encounter is with visible occupants inside the UFO, it is of the 3rd kind. Close encounters of the 3rd kind can further be divided into 4 sub-categories (A, B, C and D).

Q: What about occurrences such as bedtime visitors, cattle mutilation, crop circles or men in black? Would you include them in the UFO phenomenon?
E.R.: Crop circles are so easy to make that there is no need to link them to the UFO phenomenon... This is not to say that no UFO ever made a crop circle but I don’t find this topic interesting or meaningful. Men in black stories belong to the UFO folklore, and as such are interesting to analyze, even if they are now outdated. On the other hand, I do believe that there is a significant correlation between cattle mutilation and the UFO phenomenon. I also find the evolution of bedtime visitors’ stories interesting. Maybe we will have a chance to discuss all these issues later.

Q: According to a 2012 National Geographic survey, 77 percent of all Americans “believe there are signs that aliens have visited Earth”. In your opinion, what are the elements that make most people think that the UFO phenomenon is real and worth investigating?
E.R.: Besides the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of reliable witnesses across the world, pictures, videos, radar evidence and material proofs, there are a few more things that probably convince them that the phenomenon is real.
First, earthlike planets are everywhere in the universe: it was calculated recently that there are approximately 10,000 billion of billions of planets similar to the Earth in our universe! This number is staggering; it is equivalent to the number of water drops in all the oceans of our planet. New planets around nearby stars are discovered almost daily. So our universe is probably teeming with life, and life ultimately leads to intelligence.
Second, since ancient times, written and pictorial representations suggest a very long cohabitation between humanity and the UFO phenomenon (i.e. vimanas, Ezekiel’s wheels).
Last but not least, massive UFO cover-ups by the US and other governments have been demonstrated: this is not paranoia (i.e. Freedom of Information Act). Such important cover-ups imply that there is something crucial to hide.

Q: And this something crucial is?
E.R.: One or several alien intelligences of unknown origins: most likely from another planet in our galaxy but they could also come from another galaxy, another universe, another dimension, another time, or a combination of these.

Q: What makes you think that there is an intelligence involved?
E.R.: Mostly, the flying devices detected demonstrate extraordinary performances and capabilities, well beyond our technical means. The following maneuvers have been observed: supersonic speed without bang or shock wave, silent levitation, deceleration or acceleration at lightning speed, incredibly high rate of climb, apparent lack of inertia, zigzags, right angle or acute angle turns, instant change or reversal of direction without braking.
Features also include: rotation of the device about its center, dead leaf descent, shape shifting, division of an object, fusion of two or more objects, apparent volume increase or decrease, temporary invisibility, very bright and “otherworldly” lights or beams.
Additionally, UFO behaviors occasionally appear purposeful: repeated flights over sensitive military installations and nuclear sites, intimidation against military aircrafts, witnesses’ paralysis, etc.

Q: What would you like to say to skeptics and debunkers?
E.R.: I would like to tell them that empiricism is the key to science: debunkers are not skeptics; they are against empiricism, like the priests who refused to look into Galileo’s telescope. The rejection of empirical evidence is the most unscientific approach of all.
As I briefly explained before, science is both empiricism and logic or theory. The main problem with the UFO phenomenon is not the lack of factual evidence, which is plentiful, but rather the lack of theory. This is why there is no UFO science. But the absence of science doesn’t mean a lack of evidence.
I have made the point that there is no logic behind the UFO phenomenon for two possible reasons:
1- We aren’t smart enough to understand the data.
2- We are purposely being misled.

Q: What do you mean by “being misled”, is there some kind of conspiracy?
E.R.: No, not really a conspiracy in the sense that something is done against us, but there is a good amount of secrecy behind the phenomenon.

Q: Are you referring to the idea that UFOs and aliens do not get involved more openly because they would destroy the human spirit, our civilization?
E.R.: Yes, this is a very important concept: aliens could destroy our civilization by simply making themselves known publicly. This is the main reason behind the massive government cover-ups. If the aliens really wanted to make themselves known, our governments couldn’t stop them. Therefore, our governments just copy the aliens when they keep everything hidden and undercover: they want to protect the population. I believe that if the alien contact with us was more straightforward, some major misunderstandings would occur immediately, even if the contact was completely neutral. Please read the short conversation below to understand what I mean:
Aliens: Hello mankind, what’s up?
Mankind’s essential question: You are good creatures, right; you came here to help us?
Aliens: What do you mean?
Army general: We want better weapons so that we can crush our enemies.
Aliens: Well, we don’t do that, we don’t give weapons, killing others is wrong.
Army general: But we only do it in self-defense.
Aliens: Sorry, we can’t help you with this.
Scientist: Can you give us the secret of infinite energy or space travel?
Aliens: We could, but you wouldn’t understand them and you would harm yourself and others in the process. So we certainly won’t do that.
Socialist: Are you going to help us solve the problem of poverty and world hunger?
Aliens: This problem is due to your mismanagement of resources, to your inability to share things, and to your exponential birth rate. You also have fatal genetic defects. We are sorry, we won’t help you.
Religious person: Do you believe in God, what is your religion?
Aliens: No, we don’t have any believes because we know everything there is to know. We never die. To you, we are like gods. What you call God is just an invention due to your inability to comprehend the world around you, coupled with your fear of dying.
Average person: I don’t want to die, I want to leave forever, do you have the technology to save us?
Aliens: We could make you immortal if we thought it was worth it but there are more than 7 billion humans alive already. Given your exponential reproductive rate, the Earth couldn’t stand it. Moreover, as explained before, we think that you have some fundamental genetic flaws. We would need to seriously alter your DNA and you wouldn’t like it.
Mankind: What can you do for us then?
Aliens: Nothing, really, we just thought saying hello would be nice.
Army general: These ugly creatures are not with us, yet they are so powerful. We must assume that they are against us, just to be safe, and prepare for war!
Scientist: We thought we were so smart but we now realize how far from greatness we indeed are. Those alien creatures have ridiculed us. Whatever we do, we will always be far behind. What is the purpose of our science then? Aliens must leave the Earth immediately!
Socialist: They refuse to help us solve our dire problems and blame it all on us. They are not Marxists, they are not our brothers from outer space, and therefore they must be vicious capitalists or fascists!
Religious person: These evil creatures want to convince us that there is no God. They were sent by the devil himself. We must fight them off at all cost to save our souls!
Average person: What? These aliens have the power to make us immortal but won’t? They despise us, this is not acceptable! Why did they come here in the first place? To insult us? Maybe they want to steal from us or kill us?!

Q: Do you really think that the human reaction to their neutral but polite attitude would be one of rejection and aggression?
E.R.: Yes, aliens are communicating with us at the exact level they should. If they get more directly involved in our affairs, it may ultimately mean drastically changing our DNA or wiping out the human race altogether. That wouldn’t be very ethical, even if we are not the best of species. If they don’t get more involved but simply introduce themselves publicly, extremely aggressive and negative reactions from mankind can be expected. We are not ready to face our true place in the universe: we can’t deal healthily and happily with such an inferiority complex. Most people do believe that God looks after them because they are so special and important, that they will live forever. What if our true place in the universe is much closer to the animals we slaughter to feed ourselves than to aliens? Would we forgive them for letting us know the truth? Or would we rather shoot the messenger? By not making closer contact, they protect our fragile ego and our frail civilization.

Q: What about the intelligence involved, do you think it cannot communicate with us because it is too superior?
E.R.: As I just said, the alien intelligence doesn’t communicate openly with us mostly because it wants to protect us; at the very least it wants to maintain its neutral relationship with us. But no, I don’t believe that aliens don’t communicate directly with us because we are too inferior. It is not because we are like ants to them, as I have read somewhere.
Still, I do believe that this alien intelligence is superior, vastly superior to ours; it may also be an artificial intelligence, qualitatively different from ours. However, we humans are not like ants. Our means of communication are abstract: language, mathematics, arts. Intelligence is precisely about abstraction, about the ability to deal with complexity, and we humans possess the basics of intelligence and communication. Aliens could easily use our major means of communication if they wanted to. Basically, they have chosen more hidden paths, mostly to avoid open conflict, and ultimately to protect us.

Q: So according to you, aliens are benevolent creatures?
E.R.: Given how destructive the human species is and compared to us – I have to say yes. They could wipe us all out if they wanted to. Maybe they are just waiting for us to do so! More seriously, I view aliens as neutral creatures. They are not Santa Klaus or Mother Theresa – they have their own agenda – and their exact purpose must be investigated.

Q: Indeed, UFOs are not angels or devils in disguise… But are there any links between UFOs and the occult, religion, or spirituality?
E.R.: You have to understand that the UFO phenomenon is very intelligent, fuzzy, stealthy and uncooperative. This is why we have a lot of data without explanation. But empirical evidence without proper explanation can easily lead to irrational thoughts and behaviors. This is what you get when you jam science and rationalism. The consequence on the population may be a regression to a lower level of mental functioning such as magic, shamanism or religion, and here lies the real danger.

Q: What do you mean by “lower level of mental functioning”?
E.R.: Magic, shamanism and religion are respectively about wishful thinking, false associations and irrational believes, whereas science is about true facts and logic. The UFO phenomenon is extraordinary and it cannot be explained by modern science. Most people assume that if it is not about science, then it must be about the occult, religion, or spirituality. Hence the current classification of UFO books on library shelves. But this is not adequate because magic, shamanism and religion are not answers: they are archaic lies that our ancestors found useful in a world they could not understand. It is time to move up, not down.

Q: Do you believe that more science is the solution then?
E.R.: No. I have already explained why it is impossible to use experimental science to investigate the UFO phenomenon. Personally, being a statistician specialized in data mining, my first idea would be to establish a massive database and look for significant patterns. In the past, this approach has helped establish some very significant findings, in particular non-random UFO occurrences. Statistics has already contributed – perhaps equally with radar evidence – to the notion that the UFO phenomenon is real.
The main problem with statistics, however, is that it doesn’t explain what is actually going on. It can tell you whether there is a deviation from randomness, but not the reason for this deviation. In other words, it doesn’t give you the logic behind the phenomenon, or the smoking gun, or anything worthwhile.
This is why, in the end, trying to establish ever more complex databases will lead us nowhere. The intelligence involved controls almost all the inputs, possibly even the ones we think it doesn’t (like the remains of possible UFO crashes). You can always accumulate more data and try to find a pattern, but it won’t work because this is not what the alien intelligence wants us to do. In fact, the alien intelligence jams our pattern recognition system on purpose. So, the database approach will lead us nowhere or to something false. Perhaps this jamming process has been ongoing for centuries. Who do you think is smarter: us or them? I’d bet on the aliens any time.
I also read occasionally that the military may have reverse engineered UFOs. What a joke! What is the likelihood that a chimp may reverse engineer the cell phone he stole from an anthropologist?

Q: No science, no religion, is there really nothing we can do to understand this phenomenon?
E.R.: Well, we may turn to psychology, philosophy and literature to find some keys. That’s all there is left and this is where we should look right now. That’s what I did when I found that the two previous approaches – science and religion – would take me nowhere. After all, alien communication may not be impossible to fathom if the proper tools are used. We may not be able to outsmart them, but we may be able to learn from them, if we try hard and listen carefully...

Q: Have you personally observed UFOs or been abducted? Do you have a special connection with aliens?
E.R.: No, I have never seen a real UFO with my own eyes and I have never been abducted. Maybe I should emphasize here that I was not chosen by extraterrestrials either: I am in no way their messenger! I have no special aptitudes. I am just a curious human being looking for answers.

Q: What about techniques such as channeling, remote viewing or hypnosis?
E.R.: There is no scientific evidence that channeling or remote viewing works, not at all. Such “techniques” have nothing scientific – I consider them to be pseudosciences. With the UFO phenomenon we have empirical evidence but no theory. In the case of channeling and remote viewing we have neither empirical evidence nor theory. Thus, channeling and remote viewing belong to the realms of magic and shamanism, and as such are regressions to lower levels of mental functioning.

Q: What about hypnosis?
E.R.: Hypnosis is not a science either, but as a technique there is some encouraging empirical evidence. I would like to talk more about it when we discuss abduction cases and bedtime visitors, if we have the chance.

Q: What about stories of aliens harvesting human DNA and creating alien-human hybrids?
E.R.: We humans don’t fully understand DNA. The code from which all life on Earth comes from hasn’t been decoded yet. Definitely, we have identified the different letters in the DNA alphabet, and even some words in it, but we have not mastered DNA’s syntax. You can bet the alien intelligence has decoded our entire DNA a long time ago. It can make DNA “projections” and produce almost any creature it wishes at will. Why produce a human being then? Why not produce instead a super tiger or a super dolphin or a super octopus or whatever? I have a hard time to believe that human beings in their current form are close to any kind of perfection…  Also, aliens’ life form may be based on something entirely different from DNA, possibly not compatible with ours, and much more powerful anyway.
So fabricating human-alien hybrids cannot be the aliens’ true purpose. Aliens may have us believe that this is what they do; nevertheless this is not what they are actually doing.

Q: You mentioned something about alien communication; can you tell us more please?
E.R.: It is false to assume that aliens do not communicate with us. True, they do not use our common communication means, such as language or mathematics, and they do not go through our official channels, such as the government or the media. Nonetheless they are communicating with us. The UFO phenomenon can be elusive and stealthy; however, it can also be very spectacular. That’s how we know it exists.

Q: How would you qualify alien communication?
E.R.: I would qualify alien communication as highly symbolic. A symbol is something that separates and brings together – it is the union of two opposites. According to Carl Gustav Jung, the symbol reveals a binary model based on the tension of opposites: male/female, day/night, black/white, zero/infinity.
For Jung, “mental energy” is precisely based on this tension between opposites. Symbols can be found in all cultures since the very beginning of mankind. In Chinese philosophy, for example, the Yin Yang symbol is represented by two white and black S shapes intertwined inside a circle.

Q: Can you give us some examples of symbolic communication with respect to the UFO phenomenon?
E.R.: There are many. Let me give you the main ones. First, the phenomenon constantly oscillates between stealth and ostentation. Alien knowledge and intelligence may have no limit, yet and in total contrast, aliens are silent. Also, we know nothing about their intentions: UFOs represent hope and terror. Hope, insofar as everyone hopes for a better world; UFOs then represent the bearers of good news. They are like the modern version of Christ. UFOs can also be terrifying; they show the destructive force that is inside each of us. They then become the modern version of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse...
I have studied in depth the symbolic dimensions of UFO shapes, alien forms, abductions, cattle mutilations, and men in black – among others – in my paper titled “Alien symbolic communication and mental energy amplification.”

Q: Yes, I have read this paper in detail – it is a very important and groundbreaking article which, by the way, convinced me to interview you. Apparently, since then, you have done some more advanced research involving literature and philosophy…
E.R.: Indeed, I have found some quite interesting elements that I would like to share with you and our readers.

TO READ THE FULL INTERVIEW OF ERIC RUIZ  GO TO THE FOLLOWING LINK:
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