UFO's & Mormon spiritual experiences on NPR...

[_Thexriddle]

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-a ... n-standing

[_honorentheos]

Thanks for sharing this, xriddle! I heard it yesterday on the radio and agree it is very worth while. I suspect both believers as well as critics will find it interesting.

The main topic of the correspondent's piece is centered around her exploration of a "sign" of God's presence and reality in her life that she finds herself questioning and the decades-long belief of one of the men involved in the now-famous "fire-in-the-sky" UFO event in Snowflake, Arizona. I found it very interesting and am glad to have the link to it so accessible here.

[_Blixa]

I'll try to remember to snag this for my iPod tonight. I've never succumbed to the charms of Elna Baker, I must say...

[_honorentheos]

I feel bad, Blixa, because I DO listen to "This American Life" often because I have NPR on in the car as well as at home. When you asked about it in chat the other night, the name, "This American Life" sounded familiar, but other than knowing it was an NPR program I couldn't think of a particular piece I had listened to. And the correspondents names didn't ring a bell for me, either. I'm bad with names like that...

[_Blixa]

I feel bad, Blixa, because I DO listen to "This American Life" often because I have NPR on in the car as well as at home. When you asked about it in chat the other night, the name, "This American Life" sounded familiar, but other than knowing it was an NPR program I couldn't think of a particular piece I had listened to. And the correspondents names didn't ring a bell for me, either. I'm bad with names like that...

Oh no problem. It was just idle chit chat...

[_Ray A]

and the decades-long belief of one of the men involved in the now-famous "fire-in-the-sky" UFO event in Snowflake, Arizona. I found it very interesting and am glad to have the link to it so accessible here.

Elna Baker is funny.

I'd like to read more about the man involved (obviously not Travis Walton?) in "Fire in the Sky", but there seems to be little in the link.

In any case, excerpts from the book Fire in the Sky:

I went back to church for a while. But rather than finding spiritual answers there, I encountered a microcosm of my situation within the wider community. So again I was on my own. As vast and mysterious as the cosmos is, ultimate religious truth lies far above any of this -- or the world in which it happened. I am not saying the event lies outside of religious considerations, but that it's just one more element within the grand scheme of things. That which encompasses and supersedes everything, must naturally do so to truly everything. People too often make exclusively religious interpretations of things of this nature. I suppose this has a lot to do with their previous orientation to life in general. I did a lot of very deep searching in the religious area, but my earlier outlook had emphasized more of a scientific or philosophical approach. So that's the kind of sense I tried to make of this experience to a great extent.

Popular wisdom has it that denial is not a good coping strategy; but as a temporary measure it worked for me. I pushed the experience and its aftermath into the background. I boxed it up, put it aside and went on with my life. As time went on, I pulled things out of that box one at a time, dealing with them at my own pace. Eventually I worked up to returning to work in the woods. I spent a lot of time alone, laboring under the sun with ax or chainsaw in hand. The work itself didn't demand a lot of concentration, so my mind was free to ponder and reflect, accept and adjust......

One of the strategies I use most to get a handle on complex matters is to step outside myself and the situation mentally, then try to take an objective overview. When I do this concerning everything involving the UFO incident, I continually think I have arrived, that I can finally see it for itself without distortion by personal referents. I do this only to find I need to step back again. And again. Each time seeing more, realizing a wider perspective, but each time coming to sense the existence of a larger frame of reference.

Travis Walton

[_Blixa]

It's a bit o/t, but I notice the next wikileaks dump is supposed to contain UFO-related material, Ray. Just a head's up.

[_Ray A]

It's a bit o/t, but I notice the next wikileaks dump is supposed to contain UFO-related material, Ray. Just a head's up.

Thanks Blixa, I did read about that, and the latest I have is this:

BREAKING: WIKILEAKS SAYS THEY FOUND UFO MATERIAL ...ABOUT TO BE RELEASED.

It's inevitable that what has been described as the "cosmic watergate" will eventually be busted.

Here's hoping sooner rather than later.

[_EAllusion]

I know not that long ago it was revealed that the US government blew millions in research to defend itself against psychics. That's a scandalous waste of money. I'd like to think that the UFO-related stuff on the way is similar, but I think it probably is more likely internal communications treating UFO phenomena as if it were real. The US, after all, spent millions of dollars defending itself against Russian psychics, so that would be a step up.