Posts Tagged ‘ufo’
5 items.
Have you ever seen a UFO? Interview #13
December 23rd, 2008 |Posted In: Art, Have you ever seen a UFO?
The individual asked to remain anonymous so fake names are used.
Idyllopus Press: Have you ever seen a UFO?
Interviewee: Yes.
Idyllopus Press: Yes…
Interviewee: As in unidentified…
Idyllopus Press: Right.
Interviewee: I don’t claim it to be anything but…
Idyllopus Press: Just unidentified.
Interviewee: I wish I could claim it to be…
Idyllopus Press: Where was this?
Interviewee: Chattanooga. Tennessee. Ooltewah, to be exact.
Idyllopus Press: This was how many years ago? What year?
Interviewee: Uhm, Jennie was, I think she was sixteen.
Idyllopus Press: And what time of year?
Interviewee: I don’t know.
Idyllopus Press: You don’t remember the time of year.
Interviewee: No. It wasn’t the dead of winter.
Idyllopus Press: And what year was this?
Interviewee: Around ’92.
Idyllopus Press: So, what happened?
Interviewee: I realized it had been a long time since I had gone up and said good-night to her, because she was a big girl, y’know…
Idyllopus Press: What time of night was this?
Interviewee: It’s possible she was younger, fourteen, I don’t remember. And uhm it was around ten, ten-thirty, something like that, and I went and I sat on her bed, facing her, which is, so the window was behind me. What was I saying to her, I don’t know. I was trying to be sweet and nice, y’know, she was a good girl, that kind of thing, and then all of a sudden she JUMPS…
Idyllopus Press: So, she saw it first.
Interviewee: She saw it first. She jumped and shot over to the window. Well, it takes me a little bit to see, to turn around, what is going on, and she said, “Mom! It’s a UFO!” And I, I turn around and go over there and it’s starting to go away. Later on, this is many years later I’m talking to Jennie on the phone and I was sort of retelling the story and she said, “Mom, when I saw it, it was hovering.” In other words, it had come to a stand still. I don’t know whether she saw it moving first, then come to a stand still. But, anyway, so I went over there and it started to move away, and for it to be moving away, it had to be hovering, because it was so close. I mean, it was, and I can’t even tell you really whether it was moving away because I remember it as static outside the window.
Idyllopus Press: How large was it?
Interviewee: Large. But how large?
Idyllopus Press: Can you compare it to something?
Interviewee: Probably the size of two widths of a car. At least.
Idyllopus Press: Two widths, not two lengths.
Interviewee: Yeah, I’m trying to guess. I would say more than the length of a car, for sure.
Idyllopus Press: It was right outside the window.
Interviewee: Right outside the window. I mean, like, are we in fairyland and where are the neighbors? How come they’re not all out in the street, going, “There! There!”
Idyllopus Press: What did it look like?
Interviewee: OK, it was unusual in that the dome was on the bottom. And I saw holes, lights, OK.
Idyllopus Press: Were these around the top and the bottom or just around the bottom?
Interviewee: There was nothing on the top that I could see.
Idyllopus Press: There was just the dome on the bottom. Were they multi-colored lights?
Interviewee: Red and white, that I remember. There might have been one blue, but that’s foggy with me. There were definitely a couple of red lights and white lights.
Idyllopus Press: Were they placed pellmell or in a pattern?
Interviewee: No pattern.
Idyllopus Press: No circular pattern…
Interviewee: Oh, yeah, you could tell it was circular, the dome shape.
Idyllopus Press: No, I meant the lights.
Interviewee: Oh, the lights. You could reach out and tell whether they were GE or not. I’m serious. Those were light bulbs!
Idyllopus Press: They were light bulbs? They looked like…
Interviewee: Well, they looked like…they looked like a hole and must have been a light in there, almost like you could unscrew it.
Idyllopus Press: Wow, it was that close.
Interviewee: It was that close, yeah.
Idyllopus Press: Were they static? Were they blinking? A steady illumination?
Interviewee: No, a steady illumination. Like a light bulb.
Idyllopus Press: How bright were they?
Interviewee: Bright.
Idyllopus Press: Very bright?
Interviewee: Yes. Not to blind you or anything.
Idyllopus Press: So not as bright as a police light?
Interviewee: No, not to turn away, no. There were black holes there, too. Years later when I was telling some guy this, he said, “Well, that could have been where they had a camera, port holes.”
Idyllopus Press: Uh-hum.
Interviewee: Or where they were able to look at you.
Idyllopus Press: So you’re thinking more this was a government thing than…?
Interviewee: I had no clue.
Idyllopus Press: What was going through your mind when you saw it? Were you thinking government, alien, what?
Interviewee: I didn’t have time to think of anything like that. I was trying to observe it, and thinking this was the weirdest thing that ever happened to me, and so glad Jennie was there.
Idyllopus Press: So it was hovering outside your second story window.
Interviewee: Yes. And, OK, it was after it sort of moved away, and then went to the left, and I watched it. Jennie was dashing downstairs as fast as she could to get George and I stayed there because I wanted to know what it was doing.
Idyllopus Press: So, when you say it’s moving left do you mean it’s going out to the street, going down…
Interviewee: It’s higher now and moving in a straight line to the left. And it keeps going and it keeps going until it disappears.
Idyllopus Press: Did it disappear down the street or did it go off over the houses?
Interviewee: Well, it was out over the houses, but barely. It sort of went down the street, just like…
Idyllopus Press: How fast?
Interviewee: We had houses on both sides and trees on both sides so the safest path was going down the street.
Idyllopus Press: How fast did it go?
Interviewee: Not very fast. It didn’t zoom away, no.
Idyllopus Press: Relative to the speed of a car, how fast would you say it went?
Interviewee: Well, since it was gliding through the air it didn’t seem like it was zooming. I guess probably about maybe forty, maybe fifty miles an hour.
Idyllopus Press: Slowly moving through the neighborhood.
Interviewee: Right. That seems fast for a car but for something like that it would be slow.
Idyllopus Press: Was it a stable glide? Did it shimmmer at all?
Interviewee: No, a stable glide. Stable.
Idyllopus Press: Very stable.
Interviewee: Very stable. And then it seemed to go down a little bit as it moved out, where I couldn’t see any more, and I thought, hmmm, that’s funny, because the planes that I saw, the small planes, that would go over went that same path, and that’s when I thought, ah-hah…
Idyllopus Press: There was a landing field nearby?
Interviewee: It’s been so long, I don’t know. But I used to assume the airport was over that direction, somehow. Because the landing path was to sort of go that way and to go down. And this was going the same way. I told George, a week or so ago, that if it was now, I’m used to jumping in my car and chasing a helium balloon, I love to do that, or go see a sunset in a better place, but now, ten-thirty at night, I don’t care, if you don’t get in a car, I am and I’m going over there.
Idyllopus Press: Some people might say you’d seen a balloon of some sort and you just didn’t know it.
Interviewee: A balloon? Well, those people have never seen a balloon then. (Laughs.)
Idyllopus Press: Some people would say you saw Venus and didn’t know it.
Interviewee: Those people weren’t there and those people haven’t even seen a balloon.
Idyllopus Press: So, Jennie had gone downstairs and did George get back up in time to see it…
Interviewee: No.
Idyllopus Press: It was fast enough that by the time he got up there it was gone.
Interviewee: He didn’t care. He was downstairs still reading his paper, I think.
Idyllopus Press: Oh, OK.
Interviewee: Or watching TV. No big deal.
Idyllopus Press: So, how long would you say this transpired? How many minutes?
Interviewee: Oh, not long. Not long. Because it started moving away as soon as I came to the window. It was starting to go away. The funny feeling is when that guy said, “Well, that’s where they were able to look out or had a camera,” I was…but why our house? Why us? Why didn’t they move over across the street and look in the window?
Idyllopus Press: It was just your window.
Interviewee: What were they doing at Jennie’s window looking in? Who do you know, Jennie? (Laughs.)
Idyllopus Press: Peter Pan. (Laughs.)
Interviewee: Then three months later, I’m down the stairs, with George…
Idyllopus Press: Just a minute. Could you tell, was it metallic? What kind of material…?
Interviewee: I don’t know.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Interviewee: No, I don’t think there would have been any way to tell that because there would have had to be light resting on it.
Idyllopus Press: Was the dome resting under a spherical or saucer like object or did you just notice the dome?
Interviewee: Just the dome, which was so weird to me because I always thought if I saw one, from pictures, if there was any dome at all it would be on top so that legs could come down. But then a dome, I suppose…also those little holes could be where…
Idyllopus Press: Spokes…
Interviewee: Where spokes could come out. That was really different I thought. What is this? This isn’t what a spaceship is supposed to be. But after I saw that pattern, where it went, and it didn’t streak off into nowhere, I bet anything this was a manmade thing, here. I would like to believe it was from outer space, that would be much more fun. Anyway, then about three months later, George and I are turning off the lights to go to bed, it’s about eleven o’clock. And we turn out the last light, OK, and I hear this hover…
Idyllopus Press: Did you hear anything before? The first time?
Interviewee: I don’t know. I can’t answer that clearly, but all I know is when I heard that noise I knew instantly what it was, so it’s possible my brain did hear this and there’s so much to take in…and the fact Jennie was flying, she was just so, she didn’t stay at the window more than a second and was running.
Idyllopus Press: Someone might say why didn’t you get a photo of it?
Interviewee: Are you kidding? It’s moving away and I’m going to go run for my camera? I’ve learned since then that when you’re trying to take one of a sunset and run to get the camera, it’s not there any more.
Idyllopus Press: The moment’s passed.
Interviewee: Not the way you saw it anyway. What you wanted to capture. The best part. No, I would have lost everything. And, as it is, Jennie is foggy on some of it because she ran away. Darn! (Laughs.) So, anyway, turn off the light and I instantly know what that has to be. I run to the front window…
Idyllopus Press: Was this the first story?
Interviewee: The first story, yes. And it would be approximately under where her window was. A little bit to the middle of the house, her room was, and this was just a little bit to the right of the house. I look up in the sky and this thing is going slowly this way, same thing.
Idyllopus Press: Same flight pattern?
Interviewee: No, it went across the way. This way.
Idyllopus Press: I’m just trying to establish…the tape recorder can’t see that…
Interviewee: Oh, I see.
Idyllopus Press: When you had seen it before, what direction had it gone? North, south, east, west?
Interviewee: I can only say it went to the left. This time it moved off to the front, straight ahead.
Idyllopus Press: Before, it had gone to the left, and this time it was going straight ahead…
Interviewee: Straight ahead from me. And if you say straight ahead is north then what’s to my left, I don’t know, I get messed up on directions.
Idyllopus Press: West.
Interviewee: Right. And it seemed a little bit higher this time. But then, I’m lower, too.
Idyllopus Press: That’s right, you’re now on the first floor.
Interviewee: So would you say it was next to or above the house?
Idyllopus Press: Above the house, and it would have had to have been hovering because for me to get to the front of the house from the back, where I was turning off that lamp, it had to have been sitting right over our house. And it wasn’t moving. You can hear an airplane moving. This was just sitting there, hovering, on our house. Then it was going off that way. And because of the trees, which are high, I lost view of it. But a difference was this time all the lights were white, nothing red.
Idyllopus Press: Before, it was red and white lights and this time all the lights were white. How many lights would you say, if you could take a guess?
Interviewee: Hmmm.
Idyllopus Press: That you could see, that were observable.
Interviewee: I’d have to draw a picture to guess, because of the black holes, too. I’d say probably under twenty lights. Maybe under fifteen even, because they were fairly good size, and they were evenly spaced. It was just that with the red and the white they weren’t in a pattern…
Idyllopus Press: If you could compare the lights to the size of a car headlight…
Interviewee: Smaller.
Idyllopus Press: They appeared smaller from where you were standing?
Interviewee: A car light would have appeared lighter and larger from where I was standing so they were smaller. More the shape of a regular light bulb.
Idyllopus Press: Wow. But that’s pretty far away though, isn’t it. You’re talking about above a house.
Interviewee: Yes, but the first time I saw it was in front of the hosue.
Idyllopus Press: Right. Right in front of you.
Interviewee: And for me to see the lights in that dome shape, it was the same craft. Or the same kind of craft, I mean. You see?
Idyllopus Press: So was it a remote-controlled craft?
Interviewee: Oh, no. I don’t think so. I think there was somebody inside it.
Idyllopus Press: You think there was somebody inside it?
Interviewee: Oh, yeah.
Idyllopus Press: It was that large?
Interviewee: Oh, yes. At least two people.
Idyllopus Press: OK, I wasn’t…
Interviewee: Oh, yes. Two even. Depending on what’s inside. What it needs to carry it. I have no idea. Whatever it was was different from what we know. You would think it would take a large machine to hold it up…
Idyllopus Press: The impression I was getting from it being the length of a car and two car widths, I was thinking of a dome that was smaller where it wouldn’t be large enough to have anyone inside of it. But, obviously, you’re talking about something that you saw was large enough to carry individuals…
Interviewee: It was possible for one person to be in there for sure. One. I’d never thought of it as being perhaps remote. But remote from where? That’s a lot of control for it to come that close to a house and not hit it, when you think about it, I didn’t even think about it until this minute. It would have been so easy for it to crash and that it would have to be manned from inside for it to have that much control. For it to be right in front of your window and not crash through it. And then how come it goes away the minute we see it? I mean, it’s just weird.
Idyllopus Press: And the second time you saw it you didn’t notice it stopping next to or over any other houses?
Interviewee: No, it just went away. It seems like it targeted our house. Is that ego or what? (Laughs.) That’s where I lose my whole audience. Just my house. (Laughs.)
Idyllopus Press: And you never saw it again.
Interviewee: No, and I feel so rejected. (Laughs.)
Idyllopus Press: (Laughs)
Interviewee: Like maybe I’m not measuring up, not doing the right thing anymore.
Idyllopus Press: Not interesting enough! (Laughs.)
Interview conducted November 2008
”Comment
Have you ever seen a UFO? Interview #11
August 19th, 2008 |Posted In: Art, Have you ever seen a UFO?
Idyllopus Press: OK, we’re recording now. Have you ever seen a UFO?
Software Developer: I have.
Idyllopus Press: You have? Really? Tell me about it.
Software Developer: I don’t remember too much other than it was at high school, during the day time, over the high school…
Idyllopus Press: This was in Augusta, Georgia.
Software Developer: Yes. I saw a sort of a silver elongated thing, sort of in the distance, flying not over the school but past the school. It didn’t look like a plane but it may have been.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Software Developer: I couldn’t identify it.
Idyllopus Press: OK. So this was in the afternoon?
Software Developer: Yes, in the afternoon.
Idyllopus Press: Did it just track out of sight, you watched it slowly going out of sight?
Software Developer: I followed it for about a minute or so and then lost interest.
Idyllopus Press (laughing): Ok. That was some spectacular UFO sighting, hmmm? Very. It really held your attention there. The aliens weren’t too exciting.
(Laughter.)
Software Developer: Or I wasn’t too exciting to them.
Idyllopus Press: They weren’t too worried about you, were they?
Software Developer: They weren’t in the mood for an abudction that day.
Idyllopus Press: And they didn’t feel like they had to run off quickly when you saw them. What year was this?
Software Developer: 1976 to 1978, somewhere in there.
Idyllopus Press: Do you know anybody who’s seen a UFO?
Software Developer: Yes.
Idyllopus Press: Who?
Software Developer: My mother and my sister saw one in Chattanooga. Which….they didn’t know what it was…now, they didn’t say it was from outer space…
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Software Developer: The thought was it was some sort of military aircraft but it sure had a lot of flashing lights if it was.
Idyllopus Press: Have you ever dreamt about UFOs?
Software Developer: No, I’ve never dreamt about UFOs.
Idyllopus Press: Now, the second question is what is the most interesting synchronicity you’ve ever experienced?
Software Developer: Most interesting. I mean I have synchronicities but none of them really are interesting.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Software Developer: Where I’d think of a song I hadn’t heard in years and later on in the morning I would hear it.
Idyllopus Press: I know that happens a lot to some people. I’ve had that happen.
Software Developer: I’ve had that happen on quite a few occasions.
Idyllopus Press: Can you think of a specific song?
Software Developer: No.
Idyllopus Press: I can’t either.
Software Developer: And there was an odd synchronicity the other day. Let me think. You might want to turn that off while I think. (Indicates the recorder.)
Idyllopus Press: No that’s all right, I’ve got plenty of battery and memory here.
Software Developer: It might run out. Oh, OK. I’ve been thinking about doing a website.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Software Developer: And the theme of the website would be green living.
Idyllopus Press: Oh, green living? All right.
Software Developer: Yeah. That sort of thing. Ever since I started riding the bus to work, I would, I’ve been thinking more of, you know, being departed from the use of fossil fuels…
Idyllopus Press: All right.
Software Developer: So I’ve been thinking about what website. So I thought of a website name the other day and, oddly enough, that evening, my wife came up with the same name for the website.
Idyllopus Press: That’s cool, I like that. That’s a good synchronicity.
Software Developer: I’m trying to think of what the name was. It’s…maybe by the end of…
Idyllopus Press: Well, you don’t have to give it. You don’t want anyone to steal it in the first place, you want to keep it a secret…
Software Developer: Well, I found out that someone had already taken it.
Idyllopus Press: Oh. OK.
Software Developer: Probably in India or something like that.
Idyllopus Press: You can’t remember what it was?
Software Developer: I’ll probably remember it by the end of the interview.
Idyllopus Press: That was a good synchronicity. We do a lot of that kind of thing around our household.
Software Developer: That was just the other day though and I thought it was so weird we both independently came up with the same name.
Idyllopus Press: The third question is if you have a story to tell, your story, unlikely that anyone else would have that story to tell, what would it be?
Software Developer: I wouldn’t say unlikely.
H.o.p.: The third question!
H.o.p. sings the first few notes of Beethoven’s Fifth.
Software Developer: Uhm. This was an interesting thing that happened to my wife and I when we were living up in Woodstock, Georgia. We were driving…we were on our way home one night from Alpharetta, and we saw a falling star but it was actually a meteorite that hit a field probably…probably 200 feet away. I mean it was just spectacular. If we could do it all over again I wish we had stopped the car and I’d just scoured the field but it was at night. But I thought that was an interesting moment. I don’t think too many people would have encountered that…
Idyllopus Press: So close…
Software Developer: When they were with someone.
Idyllopus Press: Interesting as long as it doesn’t plunge through your car.
Software Developer: No.
Idyllopus Press: Ok, well thank you.
Have you ever seen a UFO? Interview #10
August 18th, 2008 |Posted In: Art, Have you ever seen a UFO?
Interview with a nurse and mother of three children. We did the interview surrounded by swirling, twirling children. Imagine sounds of rambunctious play (i.e. constant screaming, mostly joyful) in the background.
Idyllopus Press: I think we’re recording now. OK, I ask three questions. And the first question is, have you ever seen a UFO?
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: Yes, I have.
Idyllopus Press: You have seen a UFO? Tell me about it.
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: Well, when I was about ten years old I was with some friends and we were walking down the street and I looked up in the sky and there was…these lights that were like flickering and none of us could determine what it was and it lasted probably for about a couple of minutes then they just, it just went off. And we always wondered what it was because it didn’t make any sound, we couldn’t hear anything. There is an airport kind of nearby but there weren’t any plane sounds, no engine sounds to it at all, all we saw were flickering lights and they kind of zipped out of the sky.
Idyllopus Press: So it didn’t disappear, it just zipped out of the sky.
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: Yeah.
Idyllopus Press: In what direction?
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: I don’t know. I mean…
Idyllopus Press: To the side? Up?
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: Up. It was…
Idyllopus Press: Was it really fast?
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: It went really fast. It went really fast. And that’s the last I saw of it. Y’know, I told my parents about it and I don’t know I don’t remember if there was anything in the paper about it, if anyone else noticed it, but my friends noticed it. We were together.
Idyllopus Press: This was in Florida?
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: Yes, this was in Florida, in the Tampa Bay area.
Idyllopus Press: Tampa Bay area. And anything else after that?
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: No. Nothing else after that.
Idyllopus Press: Do you know anyone who’s seen a UFO?
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: Yes, I do. There was a man that lived in our town in Florida…
Idyllopus Press: So, same place in Florida?
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: Same place in Florida, but he was with the military and I don’t remember what his role was but he did something like he knew about the people that flew the jets and they would see things and he saw some things too, but this was all out west like the Salt Flats where they were doing testing of planes and testing of stuff but he said he definitely believed in them because he had seen things that he couldn’t…there’s no way you could say well that’s another plane or that’s a weather balloon or whatever, and he really believed. He was a really intelligent man that was in the military and…he talked about some of his experiences to my parents, not really to me, but I knew that…it was kind of an unusual thing to meet somebody who was older that was older who actually believed there were such things as that.
Idyllopus Press: Second question. What is the most unusual synchronicity you’ve ever experienced?
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: Kind of describe what…
Idyllopus Press: A coincidence.
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: I’m trying to think of something. I remember…I mean…I remember coming back from being in Eastern Europe and at the airport in Germany and I ran into a girl I went to college with, we were getting on the same plane to come back to Atlanta and I hadn’t seen her in like ten years. So that was kind of neat, you know. I’d always kind of wondered what had ever happened to her. And, actually, she had a big job in the former Soviet Georgia, now the independent country of Georgia, and she worked under the Secretary of Health for the entire country and was a consultant to them through the Carter Center. But, uhm, that’s one of the things you never expect to have happen, to meet someone you know from Atlanta in Germany.
Idyllopus Press: You know, that’s the most common reply so far on coincidences.
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: Really?
Idyllopus Press: Yeah, meeting someone again in an unexpected place, years distant.
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: Yeah, that’s the one thing I can really think of like that.
Idyllopus Press: And the third question is a totally wide open one. Usually I ask if you have a story to tell, that nobody else could tell, what would be that story? Or a story you’d like to tell.
Blue Jean Skirt Woman: I think it would be about our youngest girl. My husband and I knew we were going to adopt again, and we thought we’d adopt another baby, we knew we’d adopt from China again, and then, uhm, this woman comes onto the list, a normal member of the list I’m on for the orphanage, and she describes this little girl that’s like three years old that had been on a waiting child list for a really long time, talking about how beautiful she was and…I thought…because those situations come up often on the site where they talk about a child from the same orphanage or something, and so I heard it and everything and I thought I’ll pray for this little girl, that she finds a family.
And like two months go by and it’s like every morning and every night when I go to bed, God was telling me to inquire more about her, and so I went to my husband and asked if I could request her file and so we did and once I read it I felt like we were supposed to adopt her but I was questioning because I was wondering, being older and having the problems she had would there be other problems as well? And I said, Lord, I just don’t know that I have what it takes to be a parent to her. And he said to me, she’s my daughter first, you just go the direction I’m sending you and I will give you whatever you need to be the mother of this child. And my husband was hesitant, worrying about what other medical problems there might be, complications, because of her age too, being so close in age to our oldest daughter. But it was like the Lord just kept telling me. And my husband said, “But he hasn’t told me anything,” and I said, “I know and we aren’t going to do anything unless both of us agree on it.” So he made a list of questions that he wanted the Chinese government to answer through their central adoption area. And they gave us an update and answered his questions and it wasn’t five hours after that report came through that he’s like, “Where do we sign up.”
So it was like all through that God was just confirming in me, you know, even with my husband having not been on the same page with me at that time, it was like God saying you move forward, you just keep going forward, and I will make things happen. And I think that’s the one thing that it’s taught me thought that situation because she’s just the most amazing child…it just taught me that when God provides an opportunity for you you have the choice of accepting that opportunity or rejecting that opportunity, but if you accept, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy but he’s going to give you the strength and everything you need to do the job that he’s placed before you to do, and you get that blessing of knowing that, the blessing that God has given you by giving you a child that…she’s such an incredible blessing, just like our other children are to us, but to think what if we had said no, I can’t even imagine what her life would be like or what our lives would be like today if we had decided it was a leap of faith we weren’t willing to take.
Idyllopus Press: She’s beautiful. Thank you.
The below is an interview, via a chat client, with Brother Arvin Hill.
Idyllopus Press: Soooo…you want to jump right into it?
Brother Arvin: Ready.
Idyllopus Press: The first question is always…have you ever seen a UFO?
Brother Arvin: Yes. On two separate occasions. Once as a child and once as an adult.
Idyllopus Press: Tell me about the first. (That’s great, two instances.)
Brother Arvin: I was eleven or twelve years old. I believe it was sixth grade.
Brother Arvin: It was about 7:45 a.m. Beautiful spring morning. Clear skies. A family down the street was going to give me a ride to school. Sometimes I walked, but for whatever reason, I didn’t that day….
Idyllopus Press: Was this in Texas?
Brother Arvin: Yes. Mesquite, Texas. A suburb of Dallas.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Brother Arvin: My neighbors were one of those chaotic families. Three kids and a loud, obnoxious mother. I went into their house and waited for them to finish getting ready for school. Probably five minutes or so…
Brother Arvin: Then we all exited the house and began piling into the car. So there were at least four kids, a couple younger than me; one my own age. And as we were about to get into the car, for some reason, I looked up. The street ran east / west. I looked to the east, which was in the direction of the school, and there in the sky was this large spherical metallic object.
Brother Arvin: At first, I thought it was the moon.
Brother Arvin: I pointed at it and said (to anyone who would listen) “What is that?”
Brother Arvin: And I remember the kids’ mother looking over her shoulder – remember, we’re loading up into the car – and very quickly returning attention to the task at hand, which was getting us all to school. It was as though it didn’t really register with her.
Idyllopus Press: Interesting.
Brother Arvin: None of the kids were the least bit interested.
Brother Arvin: And I was still thinking, “Can that be the moon?” I knew about UFO’s, but it didn’t really occur to me that it was a UFO.
Brother Arvin: I just didn’t know.
Brother Arvin: But I was SO curious. I kept thinking about it, and watching it. And it was perfectly still. Silent.
Idyllopus Press: You’re the only one watching it…
Brother Arvin: That’s right.
Brother Arvin: The size was impressive.
Brother Arvin: Let’s see if I can give you an idea.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Idyllopus Press: And how high up might you say it was?
Brother Arvin: I really have no idea.
Brother Arvin: But if I was to extend my arm and make a fist, I’d say it was probably about 25% the size of fist.
Brother Arvin: That’s pretty big.
Idyllopus Press: And it was certainly large enough for you to see it as having a metallic kind of sheen.
Brother Arvin: It looked to be higher than the altitude that we usually saw planes flying.
Idyllopus Press: Did it stay up there? Was it in one position or moving?
Brother Arvin: Love Field was nearby. At that time, you could see the Dallas skyline from certain vantage points in my neighborhood.
Brother Arvin: It was perfectly still.
Idyllopus Press: So how did this resolve? Did it disappear from sight as you guys drove away from it?
Brother Arvin: I got stuck in the middle of the car, so I couldn’t see out the window well. But the second we arrived at the school – I’d say about 5-7 minutes – I got out and looked up. At the time, I was still wondering if it was the moon, but I had my doubts. It was pretty luminous, really mostly white.
Idyllopus Press: I’ve got this image in my head of a kind of Twilight Zone or David Lynchian thing where the camera follows little Arvin looking out the car window up at the sky at this object and all else oblivious.
Idyllopus Press: Twilight Zone or…not of…
Idyllopus Press: But you were sitting in the middle of the car so there goes that.
Brother Arvin: Well, it was driving me crazy on the way to school. Mostly because nobody else was interested. They weren’t the brightest kids on earth.
Idyllopus Press: So it was still there in the sky when you arrived at school?
Brother Arvin: And so when I exited the car, I looked up and what do I see? The same object, only smaller – about 3/4 to 1/2 the size as when I first saw it. It had changed position, but I still could not really detect movement. I would have had to just stand there for a few minutes, I think, in order to see it move. So, it was a slow departure.
Idyllopus Press: What year was this?
Brother Arvin: 1974 or 1975.
Idyllopus Press: If someone said to you, “It was a weather balloon”, what would you say?
Brother Arvin: Well, that was always the explanation back then. But, no, this was spherical. And my impression was that it was very large.
Idyllopus Press: OK. Because that’s what most people would say. “Weather balloon.” But you saw it was spherical and very large.
Brother Arvin: That’s right.
Idyllopus Press: When did you realize, “UFO!”
Brother Arvin: Also, when I scanned the sky before I had to go into the school building, I saw the moon.
Brother Arvin: And it was the moon.
Idyllopus Press: Where was the moon in relationship to it, do you remember?
Brother Arvin: Actually, I think I got a fact wrong earlier.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Brother Arvin: It wasn’t in the eastern sky, it was in the western sky.
Brother Arvin: I think so, anyway.
Idyllopus Press: When you say it was spherical, do you mean you saw it as globular, that it had a sense of dimension?
Brother Arvin: I don’t know understand. It was like a white ball in mid-air.
Idyllopus Press: Yes, that’s what I mean.
Brother Arvin: Right.
Idyllopus Press: What were your feelings after having seen it? Anything different from before?
Brother Arvin: The way I recall it, the moon was easterly; the object was in the western sky.
Brother Arvin: But I could see both of them!
Brother Arvin: And that’s when I thought UFO!
Idyllopus Press: Did you tell anyone?
Idyllopus Press: At school, I mean. And then at home.
Brother Arvin: I’m not certain. I seem to recall telling a friend of mine, Randy.
Idyllopus Press: So it’s not something you felt compelled to talk about.
Brother Arvin: But I was disenchanted with the one adult I tried to get to look at the damn thing.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Brother Arvin: And she ignored it.
Idyllopus Press: So others might probably ignore it if she did, you assumed.
Brother Arvin: Yes. Actually – and I do remember this – I figured if I said anything, other people would just say “It’s a weather balloon, dummy.” And I knew it wasn’t.
Idyllopus Press: Did it instill in you a sense of curiosity about these things or was that already there?
Brother Arvin: It was already there, but only as one of many interests. I was never obsessive about it. I loved things that were space-related, science-related.
Idyllopus Press: So let’s leap ahead–how many years?–to your second UFO sighting.
Brother Arvin: Wow. Let me count ‘em up.
Brother Arvin: Thirty years.
Idyllopus Press: Again, in Texas?
Brother Arvin: Yes.
Brother Arvin: Northeastern Denton County.
Idyllopus Press: It wasn’t that long ago.
Brother Arvin: No, it wasn’t. I believe it was 2005.
Idyllopus Press: Time of year?
Brother Arvin: I’m pretty sure it was early January.
Brother Arvin: This was a night sighting.
Idyllopus Press: Eager to hear about it.
Brother Arvin: Okay. My sister-in-law (my wife’s sister) and her two kids had moved in with us.
Brother Arvin: And she wasn’t working at the time. It was late. Around 12:30 a.m. or so. My sister-in-law is a night owl and so am I. She went outside on the back patio to smoke a cigarette. I went with her just to chat. The sky was clear. No moon.
Brother Arvin: Stars were bright. And she’s smoking her cigarette. We’re both standing a few feet from the back porch. And I looked up – it was one of those nights where you can imagine that you’re looking at the end of the universe.
Idyllopus Press: A lot of stars? Not a lot of light pollution?
Brother Arvin: Not a lot. To the south, it’s less clear because there’s a small highway a few miles in that direction.
Brother Arvin: I was looking to the north. And I told L., my sister-in-law, “I’ll bet we can see some satellites out here tonight.”
Brother Arvin: And we talked about satellites for a while. I had learned how to see them while camping in East Texas.
Brother Arvin: So that’s what I was looking for.
Idyllopus Press: Right. You’re experienced in looking for satellites. You know one when you see it.
Brother Arvin: I feel reasonably comfortable saying I can spot a satellite.
Brother Arvin: I’ve not studied them or anything.
Idyllopus Press: 
Idyllopus Press: Damn, I hate smiley faces.
Brother Arvin: Ha!
Brother Arvin: So, I detect some movement in the northern sky. It was very faint. Slow. At first, I could only see it peripherally.
Brother Arvin: In other words, if I tried to look *directly* at it, it was undetectable.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Brother Arvin: But by looking slightly away from it, it was plain as day. Still faint, but easy to identify.
Brother Arvin: And I said to L., “There’s one right there.”
Idyllopus Press: A light that you weren’t able to see straight on.
Brother Arvin: Correct. Not at first, anyway.
Brother Arvin: It looked much higher than the satellites I’d seen.
Brother Arvin: And it was slower.
Brother Arvin: And L. looked up – she wears glasses and I didn’t think she’d be able to see it because there were so many stars out that night and it was it so faint.
Brother Arvin: It took about a minute of me guiding her to it. Like me, if she couldn’t see it if she tried to look directly at it. But she finally did see it.
Brother Arvin: This is where it got strange.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Brother Arvin: Suddenly, there were two.
Idyllopus Press: When you finally got her to see it, there were by then two…all of a sudden…at that point?
Brother Arvin: We watched the one for about thirty seconds before the second one appeared.
Brother Arvin: And I said “Wow, that’s strange.” I’ve never seen two satellites right next to each other.
Brother Arvin: Less than a minute after we both saw the second one, a third one appeared.
Brother Arvin: And then a fourth.
Idyllopus Press: You said they were moving slowly…toward you? In another direction?
Brother Arvin: I first saw it due north. It was moving – very smoothly and with the same illumination – in an east/southeast direction.
Brother Arvin: And I said “I have no idea what these things are, but they aren’t satellites.”
Brother Arvin: They kept multiplying right in front of our eyes.
Idyllopus Press: There were more?
Brother Arvin: Yes.
Idyllopus Press: How many??
Brother Arvin: It was as if the lead UFO was laying eggs. We counted thirteen.
Brother Arvin: They were all the same size.
Idyllopus Press: I was about to ask if they were materializing independently or if they were separating off from as if a parent light.
Idyllopus Press: So you’re saying that the lights were appearing to come out of the lead light?
Brother Arvin: Correct.
Idyllopus Press: Wow.
Idyllopus Press: Any kind of formation?
Brother Arvin: I feel strange just talking about it!
Brother Arvin: They were very clearly all staying together, more or less in a loose linear formation.
Brother Arvin: All the same speed and orientation.
Brother Arvin: And I felt this rush of excitement and awe and I couldn’t believe I had the good fortune to have a witness.
Idyllopus Press: I bet.
Brother Arvin: Especially after the first experience. Stupid grown-ups.
Idyllopus Press: Only now you’re the grown-up.
Brother Arvin: Technically.
Brother Arvin: They continued in the same direction throughout, and we watched them fade.
Idyllopus Press: How long did this take from beginning to end?
Brother Arvin: My best estimate is six or seven minutes.
Brother Arvin: Because of the altitude – and I’m certain they were very, very high – they had to be moving extremely fast.
Idyllopus Press: Oh, they were that high.
Brother Arvin: Yes.
Brother Arvin: They were not in the atmosphere.
Idyllopus Press: Right.
Brother Arvin: We came back into the house in shock.
Brother Arvin: I was thrilled.
Brother Arvin: I hadn’t thought about UFOs in a long time.
Idyllopus Press: OK, you weren’t out there at night, in general, looking for them. Satellites maybe, but not UFOs.
Brother Arvin: Correct.
Brother Arvin: It was the last thing I expected to see.
Brother Arvin: Two days later, we heard there were mass sightings in Mexico.
Idyllopus Press: OK. I bet those are on one of the UFO websites so a date could be hazarded possibly.
Brother Arvin: Yeah, I’m sure.
Idyllopus Press: What did this last sighting leave you with? Anything other than a sense of awe?
Brother Arvin: Yes, but it took a while germinate.
Idyllopus Press: Can you clarify this?
Idyllopus Press: Expand a little on it?
Brother Arvin: Well, I hate not knowing things. Hate it. I cannot stand being teased with eternal mysteries.
Idyllopus Press: There are so many.
Brother Arvin: Yes, there are.
Idyllopus Press: Even things which appear not to be.
Brother Arvin: EXACTLY.
Brother Arvin: So here’s the deal…
Brother Arvin: I told my wife about it and she was intrigued, and we talked about the Mexico sightings that were reported very shortly after the sighting, and then I pushed it right outta my mind.
Idyllopus Press: Funny that it exited your mind like that. Did the first sighting do the same?
Brother Arvin: Well, it’s not difficult to do. I’ve believed in extraterrestrial life for a long time.
Brother Arvin: So, it was like confirmation of something I already believed.
Brother Arvin: Especially the second time.
Idyllopus Press: OK. And then you get on with other things and concerns and it didn’t keep a strong signal against daily life.
Idyllopus Press: Kind of.
Brother Arvin: Right. Even when the mass sightings in Stephenville were going on earlier this spring, I paid very little attention to any of it.
Brother Arvin: I never went to any UFO sites or anything. Hell, the only thing I was hearing about it was on the local news. And I thought, “Cool.” And moved on.
Brother Arvin: (websites, I mean)
Idyllopus Press: Right.
Brother Arvin: I think I’m living on a UFO site. We all are.
Brother Arvin: Since I was on dial-up so many years, I hadn’t seen all the videos on YouTube.
Idyllopus Press: I’ve only seen a few UFO videos on the internet, actually. There was something in England, I think…and the Phoenix lights.
Brother Arvin: The water is awfully muddy in terms of what people see, what they think they see, what they want to see, the hoaxes, the crazies…
Idyllopus Press: Oh yeah.
Brother Arvin: And that’s one of the reasons I never got into any of that online.
Brother Arvin: I was in politics & current events mode. Which, as it turns out, is just as muddy as the UFO material.
Idyllopus Press: Yes, but with malice.
Brother Arvin: Exactly. And there’s quite a bit of malice in UFO circles, as well. The hoaxes piss me off. Some of it falls in the realm of the juvenile prank; others, I’m reasonably sure, are darker in origin. Disinformation and the like.
Idyllopus Press: You know, I was thinking about it while you were writing, and there is a lot of malice there as well. I confess I used to read a UFO newsgroup when I first came on the internet, ten years ago, and the UFO newsgroup would get kind of wild. But then it tends to be somewhat that way with newsgroups.
Brother Arvin: So it wasn’t until the last month that I started poking around in the UFO material online. And I did that because a guy I befriended directed me to Project Camelot and some interviews on YouTube with Bob Dean.
Idyllopus Press: I’ve not seen those.
Brother Arvin: They’re fascinating.
Idyllopus Press: I’ll look them up.
Brother Arvin: Do. I think it’s broken into 8 parts on YouTube.
Brother Arvin: I think the people who discuss these things openly, and people who have dedicated much of their lives to finding out what the truth is, are pretty courageous folks.
Brother Arvin: I was stunned when I saw that you were interviewing people about UFOs. Because I hadn’t been in the blogosphere for a while and I’ve been immersed in this stuff for the last month.
Idyllopus Press: Ha!
Brother Arvin: Yeah. I knew you had an appreciation of sci-fi, but I’d not seen you ever mention UFO’s.
Idyllopus Press: I had thought about doing it and had then decided I wouldn’t, then was lying there one night thinking I would do it, and H.o.p. had climbed into bed with us, was fast asleep between us, and as I rehearsed in my head, “Have you seen a UFO?” he spoke in his sleep and said, “They have found the aliens.”
Brother Arvin: I think he’s half-right.
Idyllopus Press: So I decided I should do this.
Idyllopus Press: Yeah, I have my own UFO sighting, of course.
Brother Arvin: I was hoping so.
Idyllopus Press: So you were saying…what did you carry away from this last one…what finally germinated?
Brother Arvin: Well, listening to Bob Dean last month and then hitting the MUFON site and UFOCASEBOOK.COM and looking at photographs and even analyzing them in PhotoShop, I started to feel driven to find *something* other than “Boy, there sure are a lot of UFOs out there.”
Brother Arvin: And what really did it was the painting of “The Baptism of Jesus Christ” from the 18th century.
Idyllopus Press: Boy, you have been into it the past month or so. Analyzing photos in Photoshop…
Brother Arvin: Uh-huh.
Idyllopus Press: You’re going to tell me about it! I may have seen it.
Brother Arvin: I read “Chariots of the Gods” when I was a kid. That was the only UFO book I ever read. So I was familiar with the idea that they’ve always been here.
Idyllopus Press: If it’s one of these paintings that some say show a UFO as interpreted through religion.
Idyllopus Press: I’ve seen some that really are pretty bizarre.
Brother Arvin: As have I.
Brother Arvin: And this is where things get REALLY weird.
Idyllopus Press: You probably read “Chariots” after your first UFO sighting?
Brother Arvin: You know what? I had read it a year before my first sighting. Fifth grade.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Brother Arvin: I’m pretty sure. It was definitely before the sighting. But never did I expect to see one.
Brother Arvin: So, the whole Christianity / UFO thing started drawing me in.
Brother Arvin: I’ve always been fascinated by Christianity, but was never a believer in church dogma.
Idyllopus Press: You’ve perhaps read the gnostics.
Brother Arvin: No, I haven’t. I’m actually not very well read.
Idyllopus Press: It’s better, sometimes, to read about reading about the gnostics, rather than to read them. Depends on who you read.
Brother Arvin: The whole metaphysical aspects of Christianity were always intriguing. I thought “All of these accounts cannot be entirely false.”
Brother Arvin: And, yet, I felt like a moron for even entertaining the thought.
Idyllopus Press: You mean perhaps as pertaining to mystics and their experiences?
Brother Arvin: I’ve always been suspicious of scientific dogma and reductionism.
Brother Arvin: And, yet, that is the prevailing belief system.
Brother Arvin: Here, anyway.
Idyllopus Press: Well, it can be sometimes a kissin’ cousin of religious literalism.
Brother Arvin: Exactly.
Brother Arvin: And I’ve long believed that of both ends of the spectrum as being debilitating for humankind.
Idyllopus Press: Right.
Brother Arvin: Lemme try that again. Fundamentalism sucks.
Brother Arvin: Scientific, religious or otherwise.
Brother Arvin: Then I started reading the www.bibleufo.com website.
Idyllopus Press: Haven’t seen that one.
Brother Arvin: Well, buckle up.
Brother Arvin: The research is astounding.
Brother Arvin: I knew there were biblical references to UFOs. I was only familiar with Ezekiel – the fiery wheel within a wheel and all that jazz. I’d forgotten about it.
Brother Arvin: I might as well just come right out and say it: I believe what I’ve read there.
Idyllopus Press: And that is…in general…
Brother Arvin: Well. I’ve read probably 75% of what’s there.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Idyllopus Press: Oh…I see…not as “in summation” but you believe what you have read there.
Brother Arvin: I never ever ever thought I would believe in anything that might be called “biblical prophecy.”
Brother Arvin: In the sense that church describes it, I don’t.
Brother Arvin: But what the church describes and what the bible says are two entirely different things.
Brother Arvin: I mean, really, I know a lot of people who call themselves Christians who rely solely upon whatever their Chuch-based consensus reality dictates.
Idyllopus Press: It takes an awfully damned long time to try to think through things on your own.
Brother Arvin: Yes, it does. And it’s not (usually) easy to say “Man, did I ever have all THAT wrong.”
Brother Arvin: Yet, this time, I have zero trouble saying “Okay, I just didn’t get it.”
Brother Arvin: There are other influences that kind of led me to the path I’m on now. It’s very complex.
Idyllopus Press: The bible is a big book and even though it’s been manhandled and chopped up quite a bit, it’s a big enough book to encompass a number of belief systems…but literalism, I don’t think, is one of them. Though literalism became the glue.
Brother Arvin: That’s pretty much what I thought, too. I considered the bible primarily one big fat metaphor.
Idyllopus Press: And when I say “a number of belief systems”, I think of them in terms of essentially complementary, even if unrecognized as being so.
Brother Arvin: Yeah, I always thought of myself as (sort of) a Unitarian.
Brother Arvin: Many paths to the same mountain top.
Idyllopus Press: Yes.
Brother Arvin: I still believe that, but I can tell you that I now believe the bible is considerably more factually correct – and literal – than I ever thought, or thought I would think.
Brother Arvin: You are the first person I’ve expressed this to besides my wife.
Brother Arvin: And she’s just as blown away as I am.
Idyllopus Press: So this is something very new to you. And what has so blown you both away? In as few words as possible, what do you think the relationship between UFOs aliens and religion is?
Idyllopus Press: In as few words as possible…just to get to the very meat of the matter…though that’s difficult, I know.
Brother Arvin: For one thing, I no longer believe – as I did for many years – that God is simply a “system”. I believe early civilization was directly interfacing with intelligent life from somewhere other than Earth.
Brother Arvin: And I believe Jesus existed. And I believe he’s coming back. And I STILL can’t believe I am saying these things.
Idyllopus Press: So you think god is not a concoction of the human imagination, an attempt to give order to this world, but instead has something to do with extraterrestrial life?
Brother Arvin: That is exactly correct.
Idyllopus Press: Have you read P. K. Dick?
Brother Arvin: I still want nothing to do with churches or any religious community. No, I haven’t read P.K. Dick.
Brother Arvin: Should I?
Idyllopus Press: Yes.
Idyllopus Press: P.K. went through some very interesting experiences and wrote extensively in them.
Brother Arvin: To the list, he goes…
Idyllopus Press: To the top would be a good place.
Brother Arvin: Ha! So noted.
Idyllopus Press: I think he ought to be read in company with some of Robert Anton Wilson’s books.
Brother Arvin: I’ve actually always wanted to get around to RAW.
Idyllopus Press: In particular, the Cosmic Trigger books.
Brother Arvin: I’ve noted the suggestion.
Idyllopus Press: And Terrence McKenna wrote a very impressive book as well that fits right in with all this.
Brother Arvin: McKenna, I’m fairly familiar with. In large part because of my lifelong interest in hallucinogens.
Brother Arvin: I haven’t actually read any of his books, but I’ve read many excerpts and interviews.
Idyllopus Press: This particular book covers experiences he had in South America…and his brother as well. “True Hallucinations”.
Brother Arvin: I’m not totally unfamiliar with the DMT/Harmaline experience.
Idyllopus Press: The centerpiece of them all is how profoundly distracting it is when archetypes step right up and talk to you.
Idyllopus Press: They are all covering the same territory.
Brother Arvin: Yes, archetytpes. I always held Jung in high esteem.
Idyllopus Press: Which is always why my second question to people is what is the most interesting coincidence they’ve ever experienced.
Idyllopus Press: Coincidences and archetypally charged experiences tend to go hand in hand.
Idyllopus Press: They flutter around each other like butterflies.
Brother Arvin: That’s a tough one, because I don’t really believe in coincidence. I’ve had prophetic dreams.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Brother Arvin: Alright. Here are the two strangest ones: First up…
Idyllopus Press: I mean really what is discussed as being apparently coincidence…by the way.
Brother Arvin: Gotcha.
Idyllopus Press: The books I’m referring you to are hinged together with coincidences.
Brother Arvin: I see.
Idyllopus Press: Now, you were saying…I didn’t mean to interrupt.
Brother Arvin: I was in the USAF for one hitch and worked on directly on the flight line as a structural repair technician.
Brother Arvin: One night, I had a dream that I was standing in the shop – the sheet metal shop where I worked every day – and was looking out the window toward the flight line.
Brother Arvin: And the recon plane – and RC-135 that was, shall we say, very special – could not lower the front landing wheel.
Brother Arvin: And it was pretty scary in the dream, very tense.
Brother Arvin: No one knew what to do. It was a hydraulics problem.
Brother Arvin: The hand crank – the emergency manual crank – wasn’t working, either. And that would be highly unusual.
Brother Arvin: Anyway, it was a short dream.
Brother Arvin: I woke up feeling very anxious.
Idyllopus Press: You woke up feeling perhaps it wasn’t just an ordinary dream? Not one caused by a tough piece of beef being digested…as Scrooge would say.
Brother Arvin: Exactly.
Brother Arvin: I knew by then to pay attention to dreams involving planes because I had two when I was a little kid, and both times, there were plane crashes within 24-48 hours each time.
Brother Arvin: I know that sounds unbelievable.
Idyllopus Press: No, I believe you. I had the same happen to me once.
Idyllopus Press: I’m not skeptical at all.
Brother Arvin: That’s a relief.
Brother Arvin: I think I know why I have these dreams, but I’ll get to that in a minute.
Idyllopus Press: I mean once concerning a plane. I’m quite acquainted with dreams or something like dreams playing out in real life. Marty can attest to that.
Brother Arvin: Awesome.
Idyllopus Press: I’ll be interested to hear why you think you have them.
Brother Arvin: Yeah, it’s weird.
Brother Arvin: Anyhoo, I drove to the base and walked into the sheet metal shop and everyone was standing at the window that overlooked the flight line.
Brother Arvin: Everyone looked very concerned and I asked what was wrong. My shop chief said the RC-135, the exact one I dreamed about couldn’t get the nose gear down.
Brother Arvin: I almost fainted.
Brother Arvin: It was the same plane. We only had two RC’s, and *lots* of other KC-135′s. But we knew the RC’s by their tail numbers, of course. So that’s how I knew it was the same plane. This was a specific plane, which I was aware of while I was dreaming it.
Brother Arvin: The manual crank was locked up, too.
Brother Arvin: The plane actually had to be refueled because of it.
Brother Arvin: In flight, I mean.
Idyllopus Press: Had it been in flight already while you were asleep or afterward?
Brother Arvin: Yes, it would have been in flight. But not in distress. I think the actual event followed the dream event by probably three or four hours.
Brother Arvin: It didn’t crash in my dream, and it didn’t crash in reality. They finally got the crank working.
Brother Arvin: But it took them a long time. They were almost ready to crash-land it.
Idyllopus Press: Considering this and the dreams you had during childhood, did you, have you, ever feared dreaming?
Brother Arvin: No, I’ve always loved dreaming.
Brother Arvin: Probably three years later, I had another one. Equally strange, if not more so because I didn’t have a connection (that I’m aware of) to it.
Brother Arvin: I’d been out of the military, was working as a claims adjuster. I dreamed I was on board a passenger plane, seated by the wing.
Idyllopus Press: More planes!
Brother Arvin: Yes. We were descending. It was foggy.
Brother Arvin: There was a thump, like you often feel when landing, and everything was in slow motion as I looked out over the wing. Wildflowers and grass were pouring over the wing.
Brother Arvin: I woke up. Terrified.
Brother Arvin: It was awfully real.
Brother Arvin: Laura woke up and I told her what I’d dreamed.
Brother Arvin: And I calmed down and went back to sleep. I really don’t have *nightmares* very frequently. I mean, it’s very rare.
Brother Arvin: I went back to sleep, no dreams that I can recall. Probably slept another hour before the alarm went off.
Brother Arvin: I turned on NPR and the first story I heard was about a plane that overshot a runway – I’m pretty sure it was in Madrid, but I’m not absolutely certain – in fog.
Brother Arvin: As I remember it now, I believe it killed everyone on board.
Brother Arvin: I didn’t really examine the details. I knew that was what I was dreaming about.
Brother Arvin: When something is part of your nature, and you know it is, “evidence” and “proof” are pretty meaningless.
Idyllopus Press: You were confident.
Brother Arvin: Perfectly.
Idyllopus Press: I should relate to you my plane story, but it would be too long here.
Brother Arvin: I’d love to hear it sometime!
Idyllopus Press: Interesting that your experiences key in around flight. You said you felt you know why this was?
Brother Arvin: Oh, yes! I forgot that part.
Idyllopus Press: Or did you mean why you have the dreams in the first place?
Brother Arvin: Well, I don’t know *why* exactly, but there is a connection that I find, well, a part of the whole phenomenon.
Idyllopus Press: OK.
Brother Arvin: And it is this: March 1, 1962, is my birthday.
Brother Arvin: An American Airlines plane crashed in the Atlantic that day after taking off from Idlewild Airport in New York.
Brother Arvin: I found that out a few years ago. And, strangely enough, I was watching Mad Men on television tonight, and they referred to that crash.
Brother Arvin: It killed something like three hundred people or something like that. I forget.
Brother Arvin: I can’t explain why I think this transcends “coincidence” but it is somehow related.
Brother Arvin: I’ve been having dreams – intermittently – about plane crashes since I was really young. Like six or seven.
Brother Arvin: And I don’t ever recall having one that lacked a relationship with an actual event.
Idyllopus Press: Now, that’s interesting. Not one that didn’t correlate with a real event.
Brother Arvin: No. When I dream of an airplane – well, let’s just say that if I trust my instincts.
Brother Arvin: I wouldn’t *ever* consider boarding a plane after such a dream.
Idyllopus Press: Do you think there’s any connection between your…hmmm…receptivity to these dreams and your having witnessed UFOs twice?
Brother Arvin: I never even considered it.
Brother Arvin: I don’t now. It isn’t impossible.
Brother Arvin: Funny, though. I’ve never had a UFO dream.
Idyllopus Press: Really? Never?
Brother Arvin: Nope.
Idyllopus Press: Do you feel in your sightings of the UFOs that they are extrapersonal or is there a deeper connection?
Brother Arvin: I’m not sure I understand what you mean. I don’t get the sense that I’m any different from any other observer of UFO’s.
Brother Arvin: I have an open mind. I’m observant.
Idyllopus Press: What I mean is that so many times observers describe themselves as looking at, say, just the right moment.
Brother Arvin: I subscribe to Jung’s concept of synchronicity.
Idyllopus Press: That’s rather what I was asking about.
Brother Arvin: Gotcha.
Brother Arvin: That gets into an area I can’t really speculate too much upon.
Brother Arvin: I’ve already copped to not believing in coincidence, at least not as most people understand it.
Brother Arvin: I’m not entirely comfortable with ideas about predestination – and, yet, there is an order to all systems even if we can’t comprehend it.
Idyllopus Press: So you are saying that when you looked up at the right time to see the UFOs there may be more going on than your simply looking up at the right time?
Brother Arvin: Yes. There may be.
Idyllopus Press: I need to ask this now. Before I forget. How do you want to be identified in this? As Arvin?
Brother Arvin: Yeah, what the hell.
Brother Arvin: I’m not embarrassed or reluctant to share any of this with anyone.
Idyllopus Press: I’m not going to ask you the third question because you’ve already gone into all this in considerable detail.
Brother Arvin: I forgot what the third question was.
Brother Arvin: (I read the other interviews you’ve done. Cool!)
Idyllopus Press: I usually ask what story the person might like to tell.
Brother Arvin: Ha!
Brother Arvin: Yeah, those are among my best.
Idyllopus Press: Ah!
Idyllopus Press: Well, do you have one you want to tell?
Brother Arvin: Oh, I guess not. My wrist is kinda sore.
Idyllopus Press: And it’s getting late. Like I said…you’ve given a lot of detail. What an interview! Thank you!
Brother Arvin: You’re so welcome!
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: OK, the first question is always “Have you ever seen a UFO?”
DAMIEN: Yes, definitely.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: You have! OK! Tell me about it.
Look! Look! I’ve got a UFO sighting!
DAMIEN: I was probably about 12, 13, 14, somewhere in there, and I literally saw a flying saucer.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: It was a saucer.
H.O.P.: Ooooo!
DAMIEN: It was very low and it had lights that were spinning around the perimeter of it. And it sat above a house across the street and I got a good five second glimpse at it before it just disappeared.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: It just disappeared or it took off?
DAMIEN: It took off. It was a flash of light and it was gone.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: A flash of light and it was gone. In the flash of light did it disappear or did it go in any particular direction?
DAMIEN: It went in a direction. It went up and away and then it was gone.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: In just that fast? (Snaps fingers.)
DAMIEN: And I was terrified after I saw it because it was so vivid. And I was also pretty young and I really didn’t know what to make of it. And I knew about UFO’s and this really just confirmed…what I’d seen.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: How large would you say it was?
DAMIEN: It was big. It was bigger than a house. But it was far up in the sky.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: How far up in the sky was it?
DAMIEN: Hundreds of feet. But it was above the house down the block and across the street from me.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: What color was it? Was it at night time?
DAMIEN: Yeah, but it had white lights around the outside, almost head light size, probably…every five feet apart, around the perimeter of it. And it was real narrow. Almost a saucer.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: You’re the first person I’ve interviewed who’s seen a UFO.
DAMIEN: I’ve another one, too, but I’m not so sure about this one, but…
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: What attracted you to look outside?
DAMIEN: You know, I have no idea, that’s probably what was so strange about it.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: So you just went to the window and…
DAMIEN: Yeah.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: And what time was it?
DAMIEN: It was night time. Maybe nine o’clock.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Had you been asleep?
DAMIEN: No. It was just a regular day. I’d probably been out playing with some friends, or something, and, yeah, I just happened to look out the window and it was right there.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: So it was early enough that there was other activity going on around…
DAMIEN: Maybe so. I wasn’t in bed yet and I was still pretty young so it was definitely before midnight, so I’d say nine or ten o’clock.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: That is interesting.
H.O.P.: Oooo, oooo, oooo! First guy with a cool UFO sighting!
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Do you have a question you’d like to ask, H.O.P.?
H.O.P.: Okay, first, what color were the lights?
DAMIEN: They were white. The second one I saw was really strange and, I mean, it could have been some sort of air craft but it was such a strange shape. It was six red lights that were in a straight line. They were linear. It wasn’t like any type of airplane. It was like a definitive six dots and it was moving across the sky, and it was flying real low. It wasn’t making noise like a helicopter or an airplane. It was silent. But it was really strange.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: So you just saw it passing…
DAMIEN: Yeah, this row of six lights and I’ve never seen a configuration like that in an air craft.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Did you observe any kind of outline shape?
DAMIEN: No.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Where was the first sighting?
DAMIEN: They were both in the same place, it was just outside of Detroit, Michigan, and there was a construction site across the street where they were building new condos at the time and we used to go over there…
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: The first or the second…
DAMIEN: Yeah, this is the second and we used to go over there and play in the dirt.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: And how old were you at the time of the second sighting.
DAMIEN: It was like in a couple of days of each other.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Oh, okay, so a paired sighting.
DAMIEN: It was.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Interesting.
DAMIEN: Wild.
(After we’d turned off the recorder, Damien noted that about six weeks later a UFO of the same description was reported on the news, it having been seen in Ontario, perhaps around the London area. I asked what year and it was perhaps 1986. Somewhere around 1993-1996.)
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Did it make you a sky watcher?
DAMIEN: Oh, definitely.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Do you go down to Fernbank to look at the sky, or do you have a telescope…?
DAMIEN: Well, I really like hiking and camping and some of my best experiences have been out west because you actually seem like you’re closer to the sky, the stars seem closer, all the constellations, plus you’re away from the city and you can see more without ambient lighting.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: I’ve heard that out at the Grand Canyon is the best place.
DAMIEN: Yeah, Grand Canyon’s beautiful, I’ve been there at night. Yeah, anywhere out west is very cool and I’ve been to like the planetarium in Chicago to see their humongous telescope.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: OK, the second question is always “What is your most interesting coincidence”?
DAMIEN: Oh. That’s a tough question.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: That’s what everybody says. If you want you can have a chance to think about it a bit…
DAMIEN: I know I can think of something more interesting but one that just happened recently to me that was pretty strange. I was fishing in Lake Allatoona and using what they call Silver Shad.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: What is a Silver Shad?
DAMIEN: It looks like a small minnow with two hooks on the bottom. Made of plastic, and it rattles. And I’d been fishing all day and was with Bill Sheffield, didn’t catch anything, and I broke my line off on the way back in. So, I tied off another lure, we finished our little loop around, totally other side of the lake, I snag something, I reel it in, it’s a rod and a pole with the exact same lure that I’d just lost on it.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: That’s funny.
DAMIEN: Isn’t that interesting? But it’s a funny coincidence.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: That’s a good story. And the third question…
H.O.P. sings the first few notes of Beethoven’s Fifth.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: And the third question is just what is a story you’d perhaps like to tell. Just a little piece of history that comes to mind.
DAMIEN: A little piece of history. Man, this is hard. That’s a good question. Pertaining to anything?
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Pertaining to anything. Just what comes to mind.
DAMIEN: I’m brainwashed with music.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Oh, yeah. Of course. Well, I get all kinds of stories. I have gotten stories of entrepreneurship and banking practices.
DAMIEN: I don’t know. I just got back from vacation, actually. I should have some kind of history about something.
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: OK, let’s skip that and do another one. What is your earliest childhood memory?
H.O.P.: Ooooo! The fourth question?!
DAMIEN: My earliest childhood memory. One that I always seem to remember, and I was real young, just like that set of eyes that looks out, not realizing much else, I was obviously an infant, but we had this gigantic Alaskan Malamute, looked like a Husky, it was an 80 to 95 pound dog named Valentine…
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: She would have been like a monster to you.
DAMIEN: Oh, yeah, just humongous, covered in fur, and I remember just laying on my back and this dog would come over and roll me over with its nose, just push me over, and I couldn’t do anything at the time, I was just a baby, I’d flop over. It’d come over and look at me and nose me back over. I was too small to speak or to even get up on my own, I just remember this huge dog looking at me and I was just a set of eyes looking at him wondering, “What’s he going to do?”
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Did you have any feelings about it? Were you scared or did you trust the animal?
DAMIEN: Yeah, I trusted him. And I remember mom saying that they didn’t trust him. It ended up being OK but they were real nervous at first, this gigantic dog sizing me up. I had him for years. He was a sweet dog.
H.O.P.: Was it a he or a she?
DAMIEN: She. Valentine. My dad gave him to my mom on Valentine’s Day.
(Not a typo. I had to check that again. Valentine was identified as a she.)
IDYLLOPUS PRESS: Well, great. Thank you. You’re the first person I’ve talked to who’s seen a UFO.
H.O.P.: Great! Now, time for the ending theme.
H.o.p. sings a closing theme and gives a round of applause.
