PH: I
have a whole section with guest essays and the question I want to ask
you is, do you see a difference in the exopolitics movement in the last
two years? Since you were one of the initiators of this movement, do you
see any forward action, any progress?
MS: I think there’s
a significant shift in the general perception of exopolitics, especially
among researchers. I believe that what has happened is that previously,
people didn’t understand what exopolitics was. They operated
under a certain caricature of exopolitics, somehow making presumptions
about the reality of extraterrestrial life and the unnecessary nature of
doing further empirical studies to validate those sorts of claims about
extraterrestrial life.
I think
what’s happened is that people now see that those doing the exopolitics
field are still very interested in collecting data and analyzing the
evidence, and finding what is the most persuasive. But I believe that
what has been most remarkable has been that there is now an
understanding that we ought to look at the public policy implications of
all of the data concerning extraterrestrial life and UFO sightings.
That the old
school of ufology operated under the assumption that if we are to make
any progress, that we’ve got to collect more data that is credible, that
is rigorous, that supports the research goal that UFOs are real and that
this is something that deserves rigorous scientific study. I think what
happened is that there has been a public shift, and even among
researchers now, they are much more likely to start asking the public
policy questions, so that way, rather than waiting until we have
incontrovertible proof that UFOs are real and that there’s a government
cover up, people are now beginning to ask about the public policy
implications. That’s a very good sign.
I think it’s
happening also at an official level. I think what happened with the
Japanese Prime Minister in 2007 was very significant, because both the
Japanese Foreign Minister and the Cabinet Secretary of Japan, both said
that they personally believed in UFOs and the reality of
extraterrestrial life. But what was really significant was that they
actually made a policy statement.
They actually
said that if extraterrestrial life appeared in Japanese skies in
advanced vehicles, that they would not order the Japanese defense
forces to engage with the visitors, if the visitors only displayed
peaceful intent. That was very significant because it basically was
telling us that you have a public policy stance that provided
extraterrestrial life shows no hostile intent and is peaceful when it
shows up in the air space of a major world government, there will be no
hostile action against that.
This is very
different to standing orders for UFOs in the American military, where
any UFO or any object that shows intelligent flight control is first
asked to identify itself and to land at the nearest air facility,
directed by any jets that encounter it. If that aircraft or that UFO
doesn’t comply, then it could be shot down.
So the
Japanese actually have come up with a policy giving us an insight
into the way in which major governments will deal with extraterrestrial
life appearing over the air space of major countries.
So I think
that’s been a really important shift in the way in which exopolitics is
perceived, among researchers, the general public, and also the major
governments, and I imagine that this will continue to change as more and
more people now want to ask the who, why, where questions rather than,
is it real? Rather than asking whether the UFO phenomenon is real,
people are wanting to know who are they, where do they come from, why
are they here, and what do we do?
Those are all
policy questions, and those are the questions people are interested in,
which is why exopolitics has become so popular and why it genuinely has
become an international movement. And I imagine that in the years ahead,
we’re going to see exopolitics really take off with some first-rate
researchers and scholars supporting exopolitics research.
Those who,
why, where questions are really the most important ones and more
interesting to people than the very basic one of is it
real?
PH: Does this also conversely polarize a lot of the
UFO community?
MS: Definitely. The UFO community is
divided quite strongly between those that argue for what they perceive
to be a rigorous scientific analysis of UFO data, and here we’re talking
largely of sighting data, using the empirical evidence gained through
photographs, visual sightings, individual testimonies, radar tracking,
any kind of physical trace marks left.
Those people
believe that this is a scientific enterprise and therefore you need to
have a scientific mindset to understand this phenomenon and get to the
truth. So you have those that typically come from a hard science
background, including engineers, astronomers, physicists, doctors,
people who have some hands-on experience with physical phenomena, those
people wanting to have the empirical methodology used. In contrast,
others want to look at the public policy implications, at the
whistleblower testimonies, or the contactee testimonies, those who claim
to have had first hand experience with extraterrestrial craft or
extraterrestrial beings themselves.
There is a
lot of research being done on those individuals, and there’s a different
methodology. It’s kind of a social science methodology. This means
you’re going to have two competing camps, one that wants a strict,
rigorous scientific approach that uses empirical methodologies and
quantitative analysis, and the other a more flexible set of research
methodologies using qualitative analysis, which is more suited to
understanding what it is that the individuals have experienced, either
as contactees, as experiencers, or as whistleblowers.
I think that
kind of research divide will continue to grow into a very significant
divide between the old guard of researchers and this new wave of
exopolitics researchers.
PH: Do you see this new wave, this new humanities
wave, as almost a new renaissance of research, and a new renaissance
for the planet as far as embracing the fact, and it is a fact, that we
may have cosmic cousins?
MS: I believe it is a
renaissance. I really like the title of your first book, Connecting the Dots. I
think that really is what people want to do. They want to connect the
dots. But they’re not really interested in doing a really rigorous,
empirical analysis of one dot and just staking everything on that one
dot. People now want to connect the dots.
They want to
know what it is that makes this phenomenon such a challenge to unravel
and so people are willing to put energy into understanding the bigger
picture, and I think that’s where you get this renaissance
emerging. Because when people open up to the bigger picture, what they
find is that there’s an intersection between science, philosophy,
politics, religion, humanitarianism, higher consciousness, that all of
these things come together.
And this is
what people are looking for, they want to connect the dots. They want to
find significance in what it is that this phenomenon represents. Once
they do that, once they connect the dots and they see the patterns, I
think it does represent a new renaissance because you can’t walk away
from this field once you’ve opened yourself up to it, and not be really
affected at a spiritual, personal, emotional, and intellectual level.
We are being
visited by beings from other star
systems and even other galaxies, who are able to move through
time and space, who are able to move through different dimensional
realities, who are much closer to that entity that many people identify
as the supreme life force, whether you call it God, or Brahman,
or Allah. Whatever name you give it, there is this spiritual force or
dynamic in the universe that the extraterrestrial question helps us
better understand.
I think it is
a renaissance and people are embracing this, and I think it’s
unstoppable.
PH: Brilliantly said, Michael. From your point of
view, do you think other countries will fall into line with this type of
renaissance before the United States does?
MS: I think
many other countries, for various reasons, are more open to this
phenomenon. Maybe because they have less vested interest in the status
quo as it is, in terms of these military industrial complexes that
are driven by oil reserves, that sustain a hidden infrastructure of
black projects dealing with
ETs and extraterrestrial
technologies.
I think many
other countries are less tied in to that, whether we’re talking about
major countries in terms of population like India, China, Brazil,
Indonesia. All of those countries really don’t have as much invested in
the status quo. I think that they would stand to benefit the most from
disclosure, because being countries that have very large populations,
they would have incredible benefits from having these new technologies
come on line where they are freed from a dependence on oil reserves,
fossil fuel, and that they are able to generate sufficient energy to
meet the needs of the population.
So that would
lead to these countries having great benefits and I think that they also
historically are countries that are able to understand the flow, the
tides, of human society and culture. These countries, China, Brazil,
Indonesia, I think that they are more capable of understanding the big
picture in terms of this linkage between science, technology, religion,
spirituality, politics, finance, and culture.
We really are
on the verge of a new renaissance, and I think the solution or the
answer is not going to come from countries like Britain or the United
States, that are really tied into the present power structure, but
countries outside who are less tied in and are more open to this
phenomenon.
PH: If the reader is interested in following this line
and looking into exopolitics as an academic discipline, as we’ve been
discussing it, do you have any suggestions for them, any advice that you
could give the reader?
MS: I think the best thing for
anyone who wants to better understand this phenomenon is to do a systematic study of the exopolitics
field. Of course, all of us, when we get drawn into this
field, we begin to do some reading, and we’re kind of drawn by our
interests and people we meet, so reading is pretty haphazard and kind of
wanders all over the place depending on what we’re exposed to and what
are the topical issues.
That’s fine,
because that’s the way a reader’s interest and enthusiasm remains high;
but I would say for those that really see themselves as playing a
leading role in the future, that if they would see themselves as being
teachers for the rest of humanity, or being ambassadors to the stars, or
wanting to write books on what this means for humanity in general, I
would recommend that they do a more systematic study, where they really
understand the whole field.
There is now
an exopolitics certification training program which is available. You’re
part of that program, Paola, and so you know the benefit that provides
for students who enroll, who are given systematic exposure to some of
the leading whistleblowers, experiencers, and the important literature
when it comes to understanding the big picture concerning
exopolitics.
So I would
definitely recommend that they become involved in one of the online
courses. I would also recommend that they become active in a local
organization, setting up an exopolitics research group or study group
using people in your local environment. You could meet and study the
online papers concerning exopolitics, or study exopolitics books.
There’s a lot of material out in the public, and it’s important that
people begin to coordinate and discuss this, so that they can educate
themselves. Finally, I would recommend that people become active.
You become
active by writing letters to the editors of your local newspaper;
promoting an exopolitical perspective; you write letters to your
parliament or congress and ask why there are no studies being conducted
on the exopolitical issues. You can get the politicians moving on these
issues as well.
There are a
number of things people can do to move the whole exopolitical platform
forward and to become more of a help in this renaissance that’s coming
our way.
