SUBJECT: THE PSYCHIC PROJECTION THEORY                       FILE: UFO2757






    From UFOs and the Limits of Science by Ronald D. Storey c.1981
    
    Reproduced for educational purposes.
    
    The Psychic Projection Theory 
    
    The  Psychic Projection Theory represents a modern school of thought in  
    UFO  circles,  which like the Ultraterrestial Theory,  developed  as  a 
    reaction  to  the  Extraterrestial Hypothesis.  The  theory  was  first 
    outlined  by Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman in the mid-1970s,  based on 
    Carl Jung's concept of the collective unconscious. 
    
    The authors, however, have gone beyond Jungian psychology and postulate 
    that the collective inconscious can psychically project material forms, 
    represented in modern times by the UFO, and that "...the UFO phenomanon 
    has absorbed many of the ancient archetypal forms in which human beings 
    have  traditionally  needed to believe and which they  have  sought  to 
    complete their world. 
    
    Clark  and  Coleman  saa  a danger in the  modern  world  of  science's 
    disrupting man's close bond nature,  to mysticism, and to the elements,  
    bringing him to "the brink of catastrophe." The message they see in the 
    UFO  myth  is that the collective unconscious "...too  long  repressed, 
    will burst free,  overwhelm the world,  and usher in an era of madness, 
    superstition,  and terror - with all the sociopolitical accounterments;  
    war, anarchy fascism,"  and that "...when the unconscious can no longer  
    be  contained,   its  liberated  contents will  destroy  all  that  the 
    conscious  mind  has produced;  the fruits of science  and  technology, 
    civilized order,  and the very process of reason itself.  Under the new 
    imbalance a spiritual dark age will blanket the earth." 
    
    UFOs, then, are merely "planetary poltergeists," which are generated by 
    the "psychic energy" of the collective unconscious (and sometimes by an 
    individual unconscious), as were fairies, flying saucer "spacemen," and 
    apparitions  of  the  Virign  Mary.  In  some  respects,   The  Psychic 
    Projection  Theory  relies  on  the  same  kinds  of  evidence  as  the 
    Ultraterrestial  Theory,  and it is sometimes difficult to  distinguish 
    between the writings of authorities in the two schools. 
    
    The Psychic projection Theory would have to depend,  at the very least,  
    on both the reality of Jung's collective unconscious and the reality of 
    extrasensory  perception (ESP).  Jung's writings have had wide  popular 
    appeal,   but  experimental work has failed to demonstrate  empiracally 
    that  man possesses a collective unconscious.  Future research may shed 
    more light on the validity of Jung's theory. 
    
    ESP  research is a continuing and active area of research  by  numerous 
    psychologists,  biologists, and physicists. A very bitter and emotional  
    debate  has ensued over the years concerning the validity of ESP.  Some 
    believe that the whole subject is nonsense and should not be given  any  
    serious  consideration.   Others  claim  that  ESP  effects  have  been 
    conclusively  demonstrated in repeated laboratory experiments and  that 
    efforts  should be directed more toward understanding the effects  than 
    toward attempting to convince the skeptics. 
    
    Until the matter is resolved, the Psychic Projection Theory must remain 
    as  simply  a  fascinating idea.  Even if  ESP  effects  (precognition, 
    telepathy,   telekinesis,   etc.)  were ultimately demonstrated  to  be 
    authentic  phenomena,  bringing parapsychology into the  mainstream  of 
    "normal"   science,   there has been no indication that  such  "psychic 
    energy"  could actually materialize (i.e.,  project)  objects,  whether 
    they be fairies or flying saucers. 
    



**********************************************
* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
**********************************************