Spring Break
The abduction of Raymond Shearer
By: Aaron Sakulich
Issue date: 6/1/07 Section: Ed-Op
Originally published: 6/1/07 at 3:39 AM EST
Last update: 6/1/07 at 3:39 AM EST
Originally published: 6/1/07 at 3:39 AM EST
Last update: 6/1/07 at 3:39 AM EST
During the 1970s, a (pardon my harsh tone) nutcase named Erich von Daniken came up with what he called the ancient astronaut theory: that earth's ancestors had actually been space aliens forced to flee to this world after some sort of catastrophe. Or that the monsters and gods of legend had really been space aliens. Or that human beings had gotten all of their technology and culture from space monsters. Von Daniken sort of bounced around a lot, but the point is, in the 1970s, everyone and their grandmother had heard of the ancient astronaut theory and were beginning to associate space aliens with ancient cultures. If you wanted to associate aliens with ancient culture, what better group to compare them to than the earth's most ancient people, the Egyptians?
The blue jumpsuits are also reminiscent of the Andreasson case, which received a great deal of attention since she claimed that the aliens that contacted her were devout Christians. It was also made into a book which came out in 1978, ten years after her supposed abduction. What's weird about this is that blue overalls are rare in reports of alien fashion, yet his aliens match those of a book that came out that same year. Hmm.
Shearer said that, upon leaving his car, he was met by both the captain and some sort of guard standing by the entrance. The captain wanted Shearer to come aboard, but the guard was very much against it and argued with him. I can't say I've ever heard of a case wherein space aliens bothered with a guard: usually they just let people wander around their ship however they want a la Travis Walton. In the classic 1956 film Forbidden Planet, however, a space ship lands on Altair IV, and the first thing the captain does is put a guard on the entrance hatch. I remember this very specifically, because it seemed like a good idea that I'd never seen anyone else do.
Shearer's recollection of what the space aliens told him about their ship is now laughably outdated. According to him, it worked by using gravity: on earth, they could lock onto another planet and be pulled towards it, then lock onto earth and return. They also said something about our not understanding the true nature of time. These technobabble notes are surely a throwback to the Contactee movement of the 1950s: for instance, in his 1953 book The Flying Saucers Have Landed, George Adamski quotes reliable witnesses who tell him that UFOs are powered by static electricity, jet engines, power inherent in Mercury, "Fohatic Energy," music from a "Celestial Symphony," so on and so forth. In that day, you weren't anything if you didn't come up with a good sounding technobabble explanation for how the UFO that kidnapped you works. The idea that UFOs run on some sort of gravity drive goes back to the 1890s and early sci-fi writings by the likes of H.G. Wells.
The blue jumpsuits are also reminiscent of the Andreasson case, which received a great deal of attention since she claimed that the aliens that contacted her were devout Christians. It was also made into a book which came out in 1978, ten years after her supposed abduction. What's weird about this is that blue overalls are rare in reports of alien fashion, yet his aliens match those of a book that came out that same year. Hmm.
Shearer said that, upon leaving his car, he was met by both the captain and some sort of guard standing by the entrance. The captain wanted Shearer to come aboard, but the guard was very much against it and argued with him. I can't say I've ever heard of a case wherein space aliens bothered with a guard: usually they just let people wander around their ship however they want a la Travis Walton. In the classic 1956 film Forbidden Planet, however, a space ship lands on Altair IV, and the first thing the captain does is put a guard on the entrance hatch. I remember this very specifically, because it seemed like a good idea that I'd never seen anyone else do.
Shearer's recollection of what the space aliens told him about their ship is now laughably outdated. According to him, it worked by using gravity: on earth, they could lock onto another planet and be pulled towards it, then lock onto earth and return. They also said something about our not understanding the true nature of time. These technobabble notes are surely a throwback to the Contactee movement of the 1950s: for instance, in his 1953 book The Flying Saucers Have Landed, George Adamski quotes reliable witnesses who tell him that UFOs are powered by static electricity, jet engines, power inherent in Mercury, "Fohatic Energy," music from a "Celestial Symphony," so on and so forth. In that day, you weren't anything if you didn't come up with a good sounding technobabble explanation for how the UFO that kidnapped you works. The idea that UFOs run on some sort of gravity drive goes back to the 1890s and early sci-fi writings by the likes of H.G. Wells.
Husain
posted 6/01/07 @ 5:45 PM EST
I Think too that shearer's story was doctored from old movies ( good research). My personal view about aliens and the related story is , if they exist and have such technological advancement , why would they contact or abduct any earthly beings , they would have better ways to find out earthly secrets , assuming they are technically more advanced than us. (Continued…)