Psychosocial hypothesis
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In ufology, the psychosocial or psychocultural hypothesis, colloquially abbreviated PSH or PCH, argues that at least some UFO reports are best explained by psychological or social means. It is often contrasted with the better known extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH), and is particularly popular among UFO researchers in the United Kingdom, such as David Clarke, Hilary Evans, the editors of Magonia magazine, and many of the contributors to Fortean Times magazine. It is also popular in France since the publication in 1977 of a book written by Michel Monnerie[1], Et si les ovnis n'existaient pas? (What if ufos do not exist?).
UFOlogists claim that the psychocultural hypothesis is occasionally confused with aggressive anti-ETH debunking, but that there is an important difference in that the PCH researcher sees UFOs as an interesting subject that is worthy of serious study, even if it is approached in a skeptical (i.e. non-credulous) way.[2]
The psychocultural hypothesis is not a single, all-encompassing explanation of the UFO phenomenon, but explains different cases in different ways, all centering in some way on human behavior[citation needed]. Examples of PCH explanations are wishful thinking, hallucinations, hoaxes and misidentification of mundane objects[citation needed]. Because of its emphasis on human behavior, it attempts to explain why such a phenomenon is interpreted the way it has been, sometimes through pre-existing motifs and memetic selection[citation needed].
One of the arguments in favor of the psychocultural hypothesis compared with less mainstream interpretations (e.g. interdimensional "tricksters" or extraterrestrial visitors) is that the latter lie outside the body of knowledge currently accepted by science whereas the PCH does not (cf. Occam's razor).
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[edit] The paradox of science fiction UFOs
Several authors underline the fact that the science-fiction magazines, stories, etc., curiously predate the UFO phenomena. Bertrand Méheust, a French sociologist, in his 1978 book Science-fiction et soucoupes volantes (Science-Fiction and flying saucers)[3], shows that almost every aspect of the UFO phenomena can be located in pulp magazines of the beginning of the 20th century, well before the beginning of the UFO phenomena in 1947 (Kenneth Arnold sighting).
In the same vein, in his article The truth is: They never were saucers[4], Robert Sheaffer underlines the fact that just after the Kenneth Arnold case, most witnesses described UFOs as saucer shaped, which agrees with the "flying saucer" reports in the media coverage of the event, but disagrees with what Arnold himself reported seeing. In fact, Arnold described the objects as "flying boomerangs." Sheaffer argues that this type of phenomenon demonstrates the importance of the culture in UFO narratives.
[edit] Mass hysteria
Some authors have argued that the UFO phenomena shows aspects of a mass hysteria, especially during UFO Waves. The French psychiatrist George Heuyer wrote this hypothesis in 1954 in a note to the Bulletin de l’Académie Nationale de Médecine[5].
[edit] History of the PSH
With his essay 'Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies (1958), Carl Gustav Jung[6] can be seen as one of the founding father of the PSH. On the other hand, because of his use of the concept of synchronicity in this book, he is also one of the founding father of paranormal explanations of the UFO phenomena.
[edit] References
- ^ Monnerie, M. (1977). Et si les ovnis n’existaient pas ? Paris : Les Humanoïdes Associés.
- ^ "Ritual Debunker Abuse", the Hierophant, Fortean Times issue 216 (November 2006), page 13.
- ^ Méheust, B. (1978). Science-fiction et soucoupes volantes - Une réalité mythico-physique, Paris: Mercure de France
- ^ The Truth is: They never were saucers
- ^ Heuyer, G. (1954). Note sur les psychoses collectives. Bulletin de l’Académie Nationale de Médecine, 138, 29-30, 487-490.
- ^ Jung, Carl Gustav (1958). Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies.
[edit] External links
- UFO's: The Psychocultural Hypothesis - By Steven Novella
- UFO (unidentified flying object) in the Skeptic's Dictionary
[edit] Further reading
- Clark, Jerome (1998), The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, Visible Ink, ISBN 1-57859-029-9
- Nigel Watson (2009). The Alien Deception: An Exploration of the Alien Abduction Phenomenon. UK: Youwriteon.com. pp. 338. ISBN 1849230773.
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