Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact - Above Top Secret

On November 6, 1957, twelve-year-old Everett Clark, of Dante, Tennessee, opened the door to lethis dog Frisky out. As he did so, he saw a peculiar object in a field a hundred yards or so from thehouse. He thought he was dreaming and went back inside. When he called the dog twenty minuteslater, he found the object was still there, and Frisky was standing near it, along with several dogsfrom the neighborhood. Also near the object were two men and two women in ordinary clothing.One of the men made several attempts to catch Frisky, and later another dog, but had to give up forfear of being bitten. Everett saw the strange people, who talked between them "like German soldiershe had seen in movies," walk right into the wall of the object, which then took off straight upwithout sound. It was oblong and of "no particular color."In another of the tantalizing coincidences with which UFO researchers are now becoming familiar,on the same day another attempt to steal a dog was made, this time in Everittstown, New Jersey.The name of the town in the second case is almost identical to that of the witness in the first.While the Clark case had taken place at 6:30 A.M., it was at dusk that John Trasco went outside tofeed his dog and saw a brilliant egg-shaped object hovering in front of his barn. In his path he met abeing three feet tall "with putty-colored face and large frog-like eyes," who said in broken English:"We are peaceful people, we only want your dog."The strange being was told in no uncertain terms to go back where he belonged. He ran away, andhis machine was seen to take off straight up some moments later. Mrs. Trasco is said to haveobserved the object itself from the house, but not the entity. She is also quoted as saying that whenher husband tried to grab the creature, he got some green powder on his wrist, but that it washed off.The next day he noticed the same powder under his fingernails. The ufonaut has been dressed in agreen suit with shiny buttons, a green tam-o'-shanter-like cap, and gloves with a shiny object at thetip of each.Whether the creatures come down in flying saucers or musical baskets, whether they come out ofthe sea or the rock, is irrelevant. What is relevant is what they say and do: the trace each leaves inthe human witness who is the only tangible vehicle of the story. This behavior presents us with asample of situations and human reactions that trigger our interest, our concern, our laughter. JoeSimonton's pancake story is cute; the tales of fairy food are intriguing but difficult to trace; the ringsand the nests are real, but the feeling they inspire is more romantic than scientific. Then there is thestrange beings' desire to get hold of terrestrial flora and fauna. The stories quoted in this connectionverge on the ludicrous. But to pursue the investigation further leads to horror. This is a facet of thephenomenon we can no longer ignore.Perhaps I have succeeded in evoking a new awareness of a parallel between the rumors of today andthe beliefs held by our ancestors, beliefs of stupendous fights with mysterious supermen, of ringswhere magic lingered, of dwarfish races haunting the land. In this chapter, I have limited theargument to the mere juxtaposition of modern and older beliefs. The faint suspicion of a giantmystery, much larger than our current preoccupation with life on other planets, much deeper thanmere reports of zigzagging lights – perhaps we should try to understand what these tales, thesemyths, these legends are doing to us. What images are they designed to convey? What hidden needsare they fulfilling? If this is a fabrication, why should it be so absurd? Are there precedents inhistory? Could imagination be a stronger force, to shape the actions of men, than its expression indogma, in political structures, in established churches, in armies? If so, could this force be used? Isit being used? Is there a science of deception at work here on a grand scale, or could the humanmind generate its own phantoms, in a formidable, collective creation mythology?"Man's imagination, like every known power, works by fixed laws." These words by Hartland,written in 1891, offer a clue. Yes, there is a deep undercurrent to be discovered and mapped behindthese seemingly absurd stories. Emerging sections of the underlying pattern have been discoveredand mapped in ages past by long-dead scholars. Today we have the unique opportunity to witnessthe reappearance of this current, out in the open – colored, naturally, with our new human biases,our preoccupation with science, our longing for the promised land of other planets.A new mythology was needed to bridge the stupendous gap beyond the meaningless present. Theyare providing it. But who are they? Real beings, or the ghosts of our own dreams? They spoke to us