Interdimensional UFO hypothesis: Difference between revisions
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The '''interdimensional hypothesis''' ('''IDH''' or '''IH''' — also called the '''extradimensional hypothesis''' or '''EDH''') of [[unidentified flying object]]s (UFOs) and related events, advanced by [[Jacques Vallee]], holds that these phenomena are visitations from other realities (or dimensions) that coexist separately alongside our own. It is an alternative to the [[extraterrestrial hypothesis]] (ETH).<ref name=Gates>{{cite book|title=Alien Intrusion|author=Gary Bates|pages=84–87,114–115,157–160,164|publisher=New Leaf Publishing Group|date=2005|isbn=0890514356|isbn13=9780890514351}}</ref><ref name=FW>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=[[Funk & Wagnalls]] New Encyclopedia|date=2006|publisher=World Almanac Education Group|article=History of UFOs|url=http://history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=57838&mini_id=57826}}</ref> |
The '''interdimensional hypothesis''' ('''IDH''' or '''IH''' — also called the '''extradimensional hypothesis''' or '''EDH''') of [[unidentified flying object]]s (UFOs) and related events, advanced by [[Jacques Vallee]], holds that these phenomena are visitations from other realities (or dimensions) that coexist separately alongside our own. It is an alternative to the [[extraterrestrial hypothesis]] (ETH).<ref name=Gates>{{cite book|title=Alien Intrusion|author=Gary Bates|pages=84–87,114–115,157–160,164|publisher=New Leaf Publishing Group|date=2005|isbn=0890514356|isbn13=9780890514351}}</ref><ref name=FW>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=[[Funk & Wagnalls]] New Encyclopedia|date=2006|publisher=World Almanac Education Group|article=History of UFOs|url=http://history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=57838&mini_id=57826}}</ref> |
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{{bquote|The UFO manifestations seem to be, by and large, merely minor variations of the age-old demonological phenomenon. Officialdom may feel that if we ignore them long enough, they will go away all together, taking their place with the vampire myths of the Middle Ages.|||[[John Keel]]|''Operation Trojan Horse'' (Illuminet Press, 1996), pp. 207}} |
{{bquote|The UFO manifestations seem to be, by and large, merely minor variations of the age-old demonological phenomenon. Officialdom may feel that if we ignore them long enough, they will go away all together, taking their place with the vampire myths of the Middle Ages.|||[[John Keel]]|''Operation Trojan Horse'' (Illuminet Press, 1996), pp. 207}} |
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The abandonment of the ETH in favour of the IDH began in the 1960s. [[J. Allen Hynek]] began to change his mind on the subject in the 1970s, as is evident from ''The Edge of Reality'', which he co-edited (see [[#Further reading|further reading]], and see also Jacobs in further reading). Vallee's change of stance can be seen in ''Messengers of Deception'' and in a series of books that he wrote throughout the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name=Dick /> |
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| ⚫ | UFO propulsionists began to abandon the ETH in favour of the IDH in the 1970s, because of the failure of anyone to develop a working anti-gravity hypothesis that could result in the duplication of the (reported) movements of UFOs by terrestrial machines. The IDH avoids such problems by effectively side-stepping them. It is not necessary to deduce a propulsion method for UFOs under the assumptions of the IDH, because the IDH holds that UFOs are not spacecraft from other parts of the universe, but rather devices that travel between different realities.<ref>{{cite book|title=Anti-Gravity and the Unified Field|author=[[David Hatcher Childress]]|publisher=Adventures Unlimited Press|date=1990|isnb=0932813100|isbn13=9780932813107|pages=134}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | UFO propulsionists in particular began to abandon the ETH in favour of the IDH in the 1970s, because of the failure of anyone to develop a working anti-gravity hypothesis that could result in the duplication of the (reported) movements of UFOs by terrestrial machines. The IDH avoids such problems by effectively side-stepping them. It is not necessary to deduce a propulsion method for UFOs under the assumptions of the IDH, because the IDH holds that UFOs are not spacecraft from other parts of the universe, but rather devices that travel between different realities.<ref>{{cite book|title=Anti-Gravity and the Unified Field|author=[[David Hatcher Childress]]|publisher=Adventures Unlimited Press|date=1990|isnb=0932813100|isbn13=9780932813107|pages=134}}</ref> |
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IDH itself has in turn been a causative factor of [[UFO religion]].<ref name=Gates /> |
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IDH itself has in turn been a causative factor of [[UFO religion]].<ref name=Gates /> Vallee himself observed that the ETH is an integral part of [[New Age]] philosophy, stating that:<ref name=Dick>{{cite book|title=The Biological Universe|author=[[Steven J. Dick]]|pages=313–320|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1999|isbn=052166361X|isbn13=9780521663618}}</ref> |
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{{bquote|To the New Age idealists, the announcement that aliens are here would bring the culmination of many decades of dreams. It would validate all their group meditations on mountain-tops, the loving hopes, the prayers for peace. It would give all of us something to worship at a time when the leaders of our traditional religions have made fools of themselves, at a time when the younger generation has very few heroes it can look up to.|||Jaques Vallee|''Revelations: Alien Contact and Human Deception'', New York 1991, pp. 251–252<ref name=Dick />}} |
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However, the adoption of the IDH by UFOlogists such as Vallee and Hynek has carried UFOlogy further away from the realm of accepted scentific thought, into areas that most scientists consider to be pseudoscience. Moving from a hypothesis that the scientific community had not accepted to one that not even falsifiable, and not subject to [[empiricism|empirical]] confirmation, did not impress scientists.<ref name=Dick /> |
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== Footnotes == |
== Footnotes == |
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==References== |
==References== |
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<references /> |
<references /> |
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== Further reading == |
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* {{cite conference|author=David Jacobs|title=J. Allen Hynek and the Problem of UFOs|booktitle=History of Science Society Meeting, Washington D.C.|date=December 1992|pages=16}} |
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* {{cite book|title=The Edge of Reality: A Progress Report on Unidentified Flying Objects|location=Chicago|publisher=Henry Regnery|date=1975|editor=J. Allen Hynek and Jacques Valllee}} |
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* {{cite book|title=Messengers of Deception: UFO Contacts and Cults|location=New York|publisher=Bantam Books|date=1980|author=Jacques Vallee}} |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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{{UFOs}} |
{{UFOs}} |
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Revision as of 15:38, 24 January 2009
An editor has nominated this article for deletion. You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion, which will decide whether or not to retain it. |
The interdimensional hypothesis (IDH or IH — also called the extradimensional hypothesis or EDH) of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and related events, advanced by Jacques Vallee, holds that these phenomena are visitations from other realities (or dimensions) that coexist separately alongside our own. It is an alternative to the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH).[1][2]
The IDH also holds that UFOs are a modern manifestation of a phenomenon that has occurred throughout recorded human history, that has in prior ages been ascribed to mythological or supernatural creatures.[2]
Unlike ETH, the IDH is not falsifiable. It is not possible to determine its truth by experiment or by observation, because there is no way to detect the alternative realities that it presupposes. Thus IDH is not a scientific hypothesis, subject to testing and experiment, but a belief system, which is evaluated by UFOlogists solely on the basis of how well it fits.[1]
Although ETH is still the predominant explanation of UFOs amongst those who believe in them1, as ETH has become more amenable to falsifiability by observation, with the advancement of science, so more UFOlogists have abandoned it in favour of IDH. One such UFOlogist is Brad Steiger, who wrote that "we are dealing with a multidimensional paraphysical phenomenon that is largely indigenous to planet Earth". Other UFOlogists, such as Ankerberg and Weldon have commented upon the disparity between the ETH and the acounts that people have made of UFO encounters:[1]
… how credible is it to think that literally thousands of extraterrestrials would fly millions or billions of light-years simple to teach New Age philosophy, deny Christianitt, and support the occult […] ?
— The Facts on UFOs and Other Supernatural Phenomena, pp. 13[1], in Ankerberg and Weldon
UFOlogist John Keel observes:[1]
The UFO manifestations seem to be, by and large, merely minor variations of the age-old demonological phenomenon. Officialdom may feel that if we ignore them long enough, they will go away all together, taking their place with the vampire myths of the Middle Ages.
— Operation Trojan Horse (Illuminet Press, 1996), pp. 207, in John Keel
The abandonment of the ETH in favour of the IDH began in the 1960s. J. Allen Hynek began to change his mind on the subject in the 1970s, as is evident from The Edge of Reality, which he co-edited (see further reading, and see also Jacobs in further reading). Vallee's change of stance can be seen in Messengers of Deception and in a series of books that he wrote throughout the 1980s and 1990s.[3]
UFO propulsionists in particular began to abandon the ETH in favour of the IDH in the 1970s, because of the failure of anyone to develop a working anti-gravity hypothesis that could result in the duplication of the (reported) movements of UFOs by terrestrial machines. The IDH avoids such problems by effectively side-stepping them. It is not necessary to deduce a propulsion method for UFOs under the assumptions of the IDH, because the IDH holds that UFOs are not spacecraft from other parts of the universe, but rather devices that travel between different realities.[4]
IDH itself has in turn been a causative factor of UFO religion.[1] Vallee himself observed that the ETH is an integral part of New Age philosophy, stating that:[3]
To the New Age idealists, the announcement that aliens are here would bring the culmination of many decades of dreams. It would validate all their group meditations on mountain-tops, the loving hopes, the prayers for peace. It would give all of us something to worship at a time when the leaders of our traditional religions have made fools of themselves, at a time when the younger generation has very few heroes it can look up to.
— Revelations: Alien Contact and Human Deception, New York 1991, pp. 251–252[3], in Jaques Vallee
However, the adoption of the IDH by UFOlogists such as Vallee and Hynek has carried UFOlogy further away from the realm of accepted scentific thought, into areas that most scientists consider to be pseudoscience. Moving from a hypothesis that the scientific community had not accepted to one that not even falsifiable, and not subject to empirical confirmation, did not impress scientists.[3]
Footnotes
- ^1 Vallee himself observed that the proponents of the ETH viewpoint (amongst UFO believers) were greatly resistant to the IDH:[1]
I also discovered that I could expect no cooperation from most of the UFO believers, who were willing to help me only to the extent that my conclusions would support their preconceived idea that UFOs are extraterrestrial visitors to the Earth.
— Confrontations: A Scientist's Search for Alien Contact (Ballantinye Books, 1991) pp. 14, in Jacques Vallee
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Gary Bates (2005). Alien Intrusion. New Leaf Publishing Group. pp. 84–87, 114–115, 157–160, 164. ISBN 0890514356.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|isbn13=ignored (help) - ^ a b "History of UFOs". [[Funk & Wagnalls]] New Encyclopedia. World Almanac Education Group. 2006.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ a b c d Steven J. Dick (1999). The Biological Universe. Cambridge University Press. pp. 313–320. ISBN 052166361X.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|isbn13=ignored (help) - ^ David Hatcher Childress (1990). Anti-Gravity and the Unified Field. Adventures Unlimited Press. p. 134.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|isbn13=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|isnb=ignored (|isbn=suggested) (help)
Further reading
- David Jacobs (December 1992). "J. Allen Hynek and the Problem of UFOs". History of Science Society Meeting, Washington D.C. p. 16.
{{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter|booktitle=ignored (|book-title=suggested) (help) - J. Allen Hynek and Jacques Valllee, ed. (1975). The Edge of Reality: A Progress Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. Chicago: Henry Regnery.
- Jacques Vallee (1980). Messengers of Deception: UFO Contacts and Cults. New York: Bantam Books.
