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More than half of American adults and more than seventy-five percent of young Americans believe in intelligent extraterrestrial life. This level of belief rivals that of belief in God. American Cosmic examines the mechanisms at work behind the thriving belief system in extraterrestrial life, a system that is changing and even supplanting traditional religions. Over the course of a six-year ethnographic study, D.W. Pasulka interviewed successful and influential scientists, professionals, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who believe in extraterrestrial intelligence, thereby disproving the common misconception that only fringe members of society believe in UFOs. She argues that widespread belief in aliens is due to a number of factors including their ubiquity in modern media like The X-Files, which can influence memory, and the believability lent to that media by the search for planets that might support life. American Cosmic explores the intriguing question of how people interpret unexplainable experiences, and argues that the media is replacing religion as a cultural authority that offers believers answers about non-human intelligent life.
More than half of American adults and more than seventy-five percent of young Americans believe in intelligent extraterrestrial life. This level of belief rivals that of belief in God. American Cosmic examines the mechanisms at work behind the thriving belief system in extraterrestrial life, a system that is changing and even supplanting traditional religions. Over the course of a six-year ethnographic study, D.W. Pasulka interviewed successful and influential scientists, professionals, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who believe in extraterrestrial intelligence, thereby disproving the common misconception that only fringe members of society believe in UFOs. She argues that widespread belief in aliens is due to a number of factors including their ubiquity in modern media like The X-Files, which can influence memory, and the believability lent to that media by the search for planets that might support life. American Cosmic explores the intriguing question of how people interpret unexplainable experiences, and argues that the media is replacing religion as a cultural authority that offers believers answers about non-human intelligent life.
Believing in Bits advances the idea that religious beliefs and practices have become inextricably linked to the functioning of digital media. How did we come to associate things such as mindreading and spirit communications with the functioning of digital technologies? How does the internet�s capacity to facilitate the proliferation of beliefs blur the boundaries between what is considered fiction and fact? Addressing these and similar questions, the volume challenges and redefines established understandings of digital media and culture by employing the notions of belief, religion, and the supernatural.
"Provides an introduction to a vast array of scholarly perspectives on emergent technologies and biotechnologies used to modify or augment the capabilities of human beings"--
A journey through the attempts artists, scientists, and tinkerers have made to imagine and communicate with the otherworldly using various technologies, from cameras to radiowaves. Strange Frequencies takes readers on an extraordinary narrative and historical journey to discover how people have used technology in an effort to search for our own immortality. Bebergal builds his own ghostly gadgets to reach the other side, too, and follows the path of famous inventors, engineers, seekers, and seers who attempted to answer life's ultimate mysteries. He finds that not only are technological innovations potent metaphors keeping our spiritual explorations alive, but literal tools through which to experiment the boundaries of the physical world and our own psyches. Peter takes the reader alongside as he explores: the legend of the golem and the strange history of automata; a photographer who is trying to capture the physical manifestation of spirits; a homemaker who has recorded voicemails from the dead; a stage magician who combines magic and technology to alter his audience's consciousness; and more.
About 8,000 people live in rural Topanga Canyon in the Topanga State Park. And for over 50 years, they have become witnesses to UFO visitations on a scale that rivals Hudson Valley in New York. In UFO's Over Topanga Canyon, Preston Dennett reveals the history of UFOs and this peaceful valley. The experiences of people range from seeing lights in the sky and alien craft that move in ways no Earthly vehicle could do, to full-on encounters with creatures not of this planet. Like the darkest "X-Files," these meetings turn to terror as people are abducted and returned, only to find a section of their lives, an entire period of time, has been wiped out. What happened during this missing time? What are these aliens trying to accomplish? Why is this happening just minutes from a major metropolitan area? If you want to find out what is going on and move deeper into the real-life mysteries of aliens, you must read UFO's Over Topanga Canyon.--from the Publisher.
Without question, this is a classic by one of the most exciting new authors in the UFO field today. After reading it, your view of reality will never be the same.The owl has held a place of reverence and mystique throughout history. And as strange as this might seem, owls are also showing up in conjunction with the UFO experience.Mike Clelland has collected a wealth of first-hand accounts in which owls manifest in the highly charged moments that surround alien contact. There is a strangeness to these accounts that defy simple explanations. This book explores implications that go far beyond what more conservative researchers would dare consider.But the owl connection encompasses more than the UFO experience. It also includes profound synchronicities, ancient archetypes, dreams, shamanistic experiences, personal transformation, and death. From the mythic legends of our ancient past to the first-hand accounts of the UFO abductee, owls are playing some vital role.This is also a deeply personal story. It is an odyssey of self-discovery as the author grapples with his own owl and UFO encounters. What plays out is a story of transformation with the owl at the heart of this journey.
Few issues apply universally to people as poignantly as death and dying. All religions address concerns with death from the handling of human remains, to defining death, to suggesting what happens after life. The Routledge Companion to Death and Dying provides readers with an overview of the study of death and dying. Questions of death, mortality, and more recently of end-of-life care, have long been important ones and scholars from a range of fields have approached the topic in a number of ways. Comprising over fifty-two chapters from a team of international contributors, the companion covers: funerary and mourning practices; concepts of the afterlife; psychical issues associated with death...
Thoughtful, critical essays representing a range of differing, even conflicting, alternative viewpoints on UFOs and related phenomena.
The case of Eduard "Billy" Meier has gained worldwide attention for his claims of being in "on-going contact" with aliens from the star cluster known as the Pleiades. Purported to be the most documented UFO account of all time, Meier''s files consist of 1,000 photographs and 12 motion picture films of the visiting spacecraft. Through thousands of pages of "contact notes," Meier claims to have "passed on" the wisdom and advanced technical knowledge from his conversations with these aliens, designed to help guide our evolution. In addition, he alleges that 40 independent eyewitnesses have also seen the alien ships and observed Meier''s contacts with them. The aliens also "left" numerous "landing tracks" in the ground, and gave Meier various rock, metal, mineral, and crystal samples as "proof" of their visitations.Author Kal Korff conducted the most thorough examination ever into the case of Billy Meier and all its alleged evidence, and reveals here how a Swiss farmer hatched and continues to maintain the most elaborate UFO hoax in history.