So are UFOs just a form of schizophrenia?

You heard me, I'm now claiming (though really not) that UFO sightings are just a new form of unmapped, mild, schizophrenia, that exists in all humans because.... well, if I'm gonna lie might as well make it fancy... because we've dedicated a too large part of our life as a species looking at the sky hoping there's something else.

My explanation is as good as anyone else's. It applies to all humans, meaning all humans have the potential to see a UFO, or should I say, hallucinate a UFO?

I'm bored, what can I say.... except....

Take me on.

Sorry, but somebody already beat you to it, and didn't fare so well.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I've seen a couple of UFOs, but i'm not claiming that they are some kind of spaceship or time travel device. I'm claiming that i have no earthly idea what they were.

The one I remember best was at night. It was a bright light in the sky, brighter than any of the stars. I'm not sure when it appeared, but it was moving sooooo slow, it took about an hour to get across the sky. I've seen airplane lights before, from both up close and far away, and this was too bright and moving too slow to be that. There wasn't any kind of audible noise except for a slight breeze rustling the leaves, so this tells me that it had a very quite engine, was very far away, or didn't make any noise at all.

Both of my grandparents saw it as well, and we were outside for about fifteen minutes looking at it, after that we would periodically check to see where it was. Neither one of them knew what it was, and they've lived in that area for a long time (over 40 years). The police chief of the town that they live in (not the current one, but one of the past years) was out on a county road one night, him and another officer. They say that they saw a saucer shaped object come down nearly on top of them, it had bright purple lights that surrounded their car and even went into the fields next to the road.

Main Entry: schizo·phre·nia
Pronunciation: "skit-s&-'frE-nE-&
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin
1 : a psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact with the environment,
by noticeable deterioration in the level of functioning in everyday life, and by disintegration of personality expressed as disorder of feeling,
thought (as delusions),
perception (as hallucinations), and behavior -- called also dementia praecox -- compare PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA
2 : contradictory or antagonistic qualities or attitudes
- schizo·phren·ic /-'fre-nik/ adjective or noun
- schizo·phren·i·cal·ly /-ni-k(&-)lE/ adverb

Courtesy of Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

I don't see how any of us could be schizophrenic, (i don't know about the cops, but they were good people when they were there, my grandparents knew them. It's a fairly small town where most people know each other.) seeing as we don't show any signs of what was defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Yeah sure, some people that see "flying saucers" or "aliens" are schizo, but that doesn't mean the majority is.

My therapist says I'm crazy but the voices in my head think he's an idiot.

I would say that this would fall under the category of either someone lieing about an encounter or (as I think you're implying) someone having a full blown visual hallucination and of course all people having and sharing a fairly similar schizophrenic episode including delusions and hallucinaitons.

This I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) is a function of the brain as opposed to an emotional or shared mental/emotional disorder.

If so I would think that mri's of ufo experiencers could be taken to determine if their brains are acting a certain way.

Whatever part of the brain responsible for interpreting how the eye sees and what it sees would most likely be affected in some way and could be compared.

If they all share similar brain disorders it would most likely show up on a scan of some sort.

Though considering your bored I doubt you believe this yourself.

And now the voices in my head are telling me to put on some coffee and warm up som pie.

Spiderj

Ugh, okay fine, you win.




No seriously, I've seen a UFO too, and this thread was merely a product of boredom. I hoped to inspire some nice discussion but I guess, as you so elegantly pointed out, I've been beat to it.

If you'd like to read about my UFO experience(s?), read this thread from top to bottom. It has some very nice cloaking information. www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by Drexon
Ugh, okay fine, you win.

No seriously, I've seen a UFO too, and this thread was merely a product of boredom. I hoped to inspire some nice discussion but I guess, as you so elegantly pointed out, I've been beat to it.

If you'd like to read about my UFO experience(s?), read this thread from top to bottom. It has some very nice cloaking information. www.abovetopsecret.com...

I was bored too, that's the only reason I looked for that other thread. That and I also didn't want you to receive the thrashing that GreatTech did. I know that this was more a joke type thing to you, but sometimes people around here can be touchy.

Peace,

Pancho

*V* No hard feelings, fellow schizophrenics.

Satellites.
They are the most common "silent, just above star-sized, bright objects that move slowly across the sky".

Believe me, when those guys do their business, they leave no evidence at all. No saucers, no lights, no crop circles.
Everything that you see on those tapes and sensational videos is a product of just another subculture. Just like punk rock and Tamagochis.

Schizophrenia? More like weather baloons and avaricious "witnesses", supported by even more avaricious media companies.

[edit on by The_Guy]

[edit on 27-11-2006 by The_Guy]

why do ignorant people call the believers mentally challenged? i think its the other way around, i think when u dont have the ability to see beyond your own little box you have the mental problems, they hold on to every lie they hear, they say we look to the sky and hope something is out there and thats a lie, some people look to the sky knowing that the universe is filled with life and some creatures out there are so superior to humans that they know how to build space craft and explore the universe and of course they found this primitive little planet called earth

In terms of calling believers mentally challanged,

that term is deragatory.

Carl Sagan said a really cool thing when he was asked about the existence of aliens, how he felt in his gut. He replied that he tried not to think with his gut, that it really was ok, to wait untill all the evidence was in before making a decision.

With regard to schizophrenia, that mental disorder has a number of special symptoms that must occur in a patient before diagnosis can be made, for example flat affect, avolition, and so on. What you are suggesting is "disturbed perceptions" or visual hallucinations, that would be the sighting of the ufo. If the person told you that they were abducted and experimented on, that would be considered disturbed cognition, or delusion.

Hallucination and delusions occur in many kinds of psychotic disorders and even can result from physical problems like a heart attack. So your use of the word scizophrenic does not fit. That disorder involves a constellation of other symptoms besides disturbed perceptions and cognitions.

Originally posted by Drexon
I'm now claiming (though really not) that UFO sightings are just a new form of unmapped, mild, schizophrenia, that exists in all humans

Hope you're not serious about this...
Alien spaceships is flying around in our skyes every day and there's nothing weird about it, it's only weird for the peoples who makes it weird, and then they start claming stuff like this because they can't handle it...

so i guess the 30 percent of the US that believe in ufos must have borderline schizophrenia and that poll was done in 2002 its more now for sure
that poll was done on scientificamerican.com

no i dont think so like i said you people who dont have common sense have the mental problems not the other way around

No more a form of schizophrenia than the paranoia that the government is out to get you. j/k

But on a more serious note,

I don't really know if that is the case really. I guess in some instances yes, it is possible.

But I think it is more wishful thinking than anything else. There are a lot of people I believe, that wish that there were more to life than what we have been told. It is a very big place, outer space. And through countless theatrical productions "Contact". "Close Encounters...", etc., etc. It instills in certain individuals that it may be possible for other forms of life to exist beyond what we have here on earth.

I used to wholeheartedly believe, but sorry to say I don't have as much faith or belief as I used to.

And Trewth, we spoke about that yesterday. It's one thing to joke once, but to repeatedly say the same sort of things???

[edit on 11/28/2006 by Mechanic 32]

mechanic, its ashamed people like you exist to haunt us like a very ugly ghost, i dont know what your problem is but you ought to go fix it and leave us alone, you know that respected people throughout history have reported that aliens exist and are present but unfortunately all you can talk about is hollywood movies i mean come on man get a life

I thought I killed this thread yesterday by my last post. Of course this was a joke, a mere experiment to entertain me for the moment.

Now if you'll excuse me, Star Trek is on.

There have now been so many radar confirmed,seperate group witnessed sightings that its obvious to all but the most bone headed cynic there must be some element of truth to this subject.
(Hallucinations do not turn up on radar.)
Many objects captured and plotted on radar seemingly defy the known laws of aerodynamics.
Objects have been corellated travelling at incredible speeds,execute right angle turns and display truly unprecedented aerial manouverability and flight characteristics.
In 1989 the United States government released documents that stated "UFOs are seemingly intelligently controlled craft that display technologies far beyond that of man made devices"
Other counties such as Mexico,Belgium,Japan,India and China all take this subject extremely seriously and have admitted "UFOs routinely penetrate our airspace"
To attempt to explain this subject away as schizophrenia seems a little naive or misinformed.
Regards Karl

Originally posted by Drexon
.... well, if I'm gonna lie might as well make it fancy...

(Sorry for the one liner)

"it's easier to fool people with a big lie, than with a small lie" -Adolf Hitler

Not really wanting to continue what appears to have been a joke thread, there appear to be some here who have little understanding or background around UFOlogy.

I posted this in another thread but it may be helpful to some of you to review this three-part article.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Part 3.


A little snip from Part 3

While evidence for alien technology remains elusive, there is experiential and experimental evidence to support claims of Extra Sensory Perception. During the remote viewing programs and AMP (Anomalous Mental Phenomena) studies, conducted essentially within the United States and Russia, a paranormal reality gained recognition through empirical analysis. Its potential applications sparked the interest of the Intelligence community and later the military establishments, specifically its implementation in gaining a superior edge in psychological warfare. The paranormal world, previously ascribed to the mystic, magician, charlatan or the lunatic as some might postulate, became integrated within the special programs labs, funded by Intelligence and Military bodies.

This wasn’t a first of course; Hitler’s interest in the paranormal to gain an edge in warfare is well documented. The fact that the Former Soviet Union followed closely on Nazi Germany’s tail, pre-dating American interest in the subject, is of considerable interest but no surprise when we take the Nazi and Communist atheistic paradigms into consideration, as opposed to a nation founded on Christian ideals, wherein paranormal interests are largely taboo.

America found herself caught with her proverbial pants down in respect to Russia’s AMP research. Word filtered through the Intel grapevine that there just might be something to this research and America went about setting up her own experimental projects.

In a CIA memo titled "INSTITUTES, LABORATORIES, AND CENTERS PERFORMING RESEARCH ON UNCONVENTIONAL BIOPHYSICS, PARAPSYCHOLOGY, AND PSYCHOPHYSICALOGY" released under the Freedom of Information Act, a number of Soviet scientists, physicists and subjects are listed, alongside their respective institutions and keywords, dates and/or research. The earliest date noted is 1920, with the key words ESP, Mental suggestion on dogs. Other Keywords, spanning dates from 1962, up to 1974, include: Telepathy, PK, clairvoyance, biomagnetism, kirlian, dermo-optics, Skin vision and subliminal perception.

In 1952, the Department of Defense was lectured on the possible usefulness of ESP in psychological warfare. Reports gathered through various bodies continued to build momentum. Then in 1961, the reports sparked the interest of the Chief of CIA’s Office of the Technical Service Division. Technical project officers contacted Stephen Abrams, then Director of the Parapsychology Laboratory at Oxford University, England. Abrams wrote a review paper in which he stated that ESP was demonstrated but not understood or controllable. It wasn’t until a decade later that a serious interest was taken, when Dr. Russell Targ and Dr. Harold Puthoff re-awakened CIA interest in parapsychological research.

In April, 1972, Dr. Targ met with CIA personnel from OSI (Office of Scientific Intelligence) and revealed that he had contacts with people who claimed to have witnessed and documented Soviet investigations into psychokinesis. Soviet films were made available to OSI for analysis. In turn, OSI contacted ORD (Office of Research and Development) who eventually sent an ORD Project Officer to visit Targ, who was now at SRI (Stanford Research Institute) to discuss research possibilities. Targ suggested that psychokinetic research could be conducted at SRI in conjunction with Dr. Puthoff.

Lab tests quickly followed. A subject, with reputed psychokinetic abilities, was discovered by Targ and Puthoff and taken to the physics department at SRI, where Dr. Hebbard had a shielded magnetometer set up for high energy particle experiments. The subject effectively disturbed the output signal and several other demonstrations of his mental abilities proved successful. The event was summarized and a report was sent to OSI and discussions were taken up with the OTS (Office of Technical Services).

And please, keep your tin-foil hat firmly in place!



Always,
Shawnna