Honeycombs and Higher Dimensions
This entry is the third of a three-part series inspired by a particular event which transpired at the mysterious and infamous Skinwalker Ranch. I encourage you to read at least the second part, “The Rabbit Hole That Never Ends” before jumping into part three. I will do my best to reference back to the first piece, “Fastwalkers or Shit-Talkers” as needed but I will primarily be building on the themes I highlighted in part two.
Standard Disclaimer
Before we go any further I would like to make sure you understand I am under no illusions about my qualifications (or lack thereof) to discuss the matters I intend to discuss. I read a lot of weird shit. I consider myself to be open-minded but skeptical. Depending on who you are, after reading this piece, you will likely disagree with either the former or latter part of the previous statement. I hope you will dialogue with me about this post. If there is something that you disagree with enough to post about, I will ask you to be specific. I associate with many people and no two agree on every point. However, if you’re someone who makes a habit of mocking others or their work because you disagree with their theories about UFOs, ghosts, cryptids etc. then you need to re-examine your approach to life online (and probably offline too).
Getting All Caught Up
On the day after I finished “The Rabbit Hole That Never Ends”, Facebook user Kevin Hart posed a question in the “Skinwalker Ranch” Facebook Group.
Kevin Hart:
“Have any researchers documented “glitch in the matrix” types of events at the ranch? I’m curious to know if this paranormal phenomena also occurs here and if there is any correlation with other paranormal phenomena.”
This naturally caught my attention. After all, I had just finished and posted (to that group and others) part two of my series about a DIA scientist’s experience with a moving/changing non-orientable Euclidean surface.
When I wrote part one, I was operating under the assumption that the shape James Lacatski saw was a Mobius strip, which seemed to be the consensus at the time. Joe Murgia was the first (to my knowledge) to post a detailed synopsis of the episode and you should definitely bookmark his site because it’s an invaluable repository of information.
My writing of part two had been partially prompted by George Knapp’s recent interview with Bob Bigelow offering new details of that particular episode which weren’t previously in the public domain and seemed to deviate slightly from other accounts:
Bob Bigelow (recounting what Lacatski told him):
“It was rotating… it was tubular… …there was a rock group that had an album called tubular bells… …that’s what’s on the cover apparently… and he said “That’s the closest thing I can come to as to what the structure of this looked like.””
To make a long story very short, I didn’t break any news, but may have identified which shape it was that Lacatski saw, or at least something very similar to it: The Klein Bottle
I argued it was easy to imagine someone seeing a Klein Bottle and comparing it to the album art for tubular bells. I also stated that from my perspective, the specific shape itself wasn’t the most important take-away:
“It seems to me that even with Bigelow’s new details, the exact shape of what James Lacatski saw is still somewhat of a mystery. Its nature on the other hand… its characteristics… its properties… are not. I pointed out in part one of my take on this story that a significant property of the Möbius strip (perhaps even its defining property) is its non-orientability.”
“The mobius strip is the simplest non-orientable surface.”
On the concept of orientability:
“In mathematics, orientability is a property of surfaces in Euclidean space that measures whether it is possible to make a consistent choice of surface normal vector at every point.”
Even though we weren’t dealing with a Mobius strip anymore, looking at various pictures of Mobius strips seemed to help drive home the concept of “non-orientability”
“What is there to notice? None of them look the same. There isn’t a common/regular/normal/right way to orient a mobius strip.”
“I think this thing — whatever it is — was conveying to “JL” that he couldn’t hope to understand it. It can’t be oriented. It can’t be observed according to a set of observed characteristics. There isn’t a common/regular/normal/right way to conceive of… whatever this is.”
New Details From Brandon Fugal About Glitches in the Matrix
Brandon Fugal, the current owner of Skinwalker Ranch, chimed in to answer Hart’s question and in the process revealed a new (but similar) episode which had never been shared before in the public domain (those who visit the ranch sign NDA’s):
I jumped in and linked my article, asking Mr. Fugal if he might be able to share more details. He responded. Here is our exchange:
I never thought I would be discussing my long-winded think-piece about Skinwalker Ranch with the owner of Skinwalker Ranch, but Mr. Fugal is very kind and generally engages with people who are polite… and sometimes even with people who are not so polite. Full disclosure… I like him because he took the time to read my article and is spending a fortune trying to find out what is going on there. So, as of this writing… I won’t tolerate any besmirching of Mr. Fugal on my social media feeds — even if one disagrees with him politically, philosophically, religiously, or otherwise.
But let’s not belabor the point any further… Mr. Fugal shared important new information about an apparition in the same general area of the ranch as James Lacatski’s.
Brandon Fugal:
“One of the more recent events involved a member of our legal team observing a honeycomb/grid-like structure suspended in the air for a few seconds….”
Fugal expresses his opinion later that he believes this to be some sort of “glitch”, where something which is usually hidden is revealed, perhaps unintentionally. He doesn’t think this is a form of communication meant for a specific person. At this point, we don’t know either way. But again I am left with a familiar take-away:
Even if the particular topology varies from experience to experience, the properties of these apparitions remain the same. They are disorienting… moving and changing… confusing and confounding. This, in my view, constitutes a meaningful pattern.
Just as I did on my last hunch in part two, I searched for “4D honeycomb” to see what wikipedia would give me. The first thing I found was the 24-cell honeycomb:
“In four-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the 24-cell honeycomb, or icositetrachoric honeycomb is a regular space-filling tessellation (or honeycomb) of 4-dimensional Euclidean space by regular 24-cells. It can be represented by Schläfli symbol {3,4,3,3}.
The dual tessellation by regular 16-cell honeycomb has Schläfli symbol {3,3,4,3}. Together with the tesseractic honeycomb (or 4-cubic honeycomb) these are the only regular tessellations of Euclidean 4-space.”
One of the first things we find is that the 24-Cell Honeycomb represents four-dimensional euclidean geometry and is “tesseractic”. In fact, further down we find even more connections between the 24-Cell Honeycomb and the tesseract. In a certain sense — a mathematical sense that I don’t completely understand — it seems to represent a unique composition of tesseracts:
“The vertex figure of the 24-cell honeycomb is a tesseract (4-dimensional cube).”
If you took the time to read my last post “The Rabbit Hole That Never Ends” you will understand the significance of the tesseract. It is (as far as I know) the simplest example of four-dimensional Euclidean geometry. It seemed important enough to me to use as the main image for the piece. But you really do need to see it moving to understand its 4th dimensional properties:
The 24-Cell Honeycomb was just the first example I found but there are many four-dimensional “honeycomb/grid-like” structures to be found on the internet. I private messaged Mr. Fugal on Facebook to see if I might be able to communicate directly with the person who had the experience. My idea was to present them with various representations of honeycomb/grid-like structures in order to see if a more concrete identification might be made:
“Like a lineup on Law and Order SVU, but this time the perp is an extradimensional non-human precognitive intelligence…”
It’s a wonder I haven’t heard back.
Even if a comprehensive lineup could be compiled and presented to the member of Mr. Fugal’s legal team, it’s probably naive to expect them to positively identify what they saw. Depending on the type of law they practice, this individual would be aware that lineups are not always a reliable way of identifying a suspect. If the witness saw something traumatic or disorienting, the testimony becomes even less useful.
Non-moving representations of 24-cell honeycombs or even simpler honeycomb/grid-like structures are disorienting. If they were translucent… if they were moving and shifting as they were in Lacatski’s encounter… you could understand the confusion. Even simpler structures such as the 16-cell honeycomb would be nearly impossible for someone who isn’t an expert in such structures to positively identify:
But it’s important to remember that these still representations aren’t really doing them any justice. They would need to be moving/shifting/morphing (I think) to grasp what they are in-so-much as is possible from our 3rd dimensional perspective. I looked for gifs of four-dimensional honeycombs, and this is what I found:
Clarifications and Credit Where Credit is Due
Those of you who are familiar with the literature (and I feel like an asshole just typing that phrase) and choose to continue reading will know that I am in no way covering brand new ground in this piece… but I may be making a few new connections. The connections between seemingly disparate phenomena throughout history have been thoroughly explored by pioneers in the field. “High-strangeness” cases are a specialty of Jacques Vallee and John Keel… who I would say are kindred spirits (perhaps literally in the case of Mr. Keel who died in 2009). I do my best to avoid “shaming” people for not having read something that I think is significant, but in this case I must insist. If you are interested in UFOs, you simply must read them. I was inspired to write the following passage in part one of this series by contemplating the non-orientable nature of the Mobius strip… but also by the approaches of Vallee and Keel:
“Labels are generally helpful. As children, we learn to label before we learn to describe. I believe our brains do a similar thing when we think about the phenomenon today. In a certain sense, the characteristics we expect to observe, come from the label, rather than the other way around. When our primary objective is to determine a label, we are more likely to ignore or dismiss observations which make labeling more difficult. It is extremely tempting to commit to a narrative which will give us ultimate understanding of the phenomenon. We may find clues in occult rituals, ancient books, forgotten religions, and cave drawings. But it is unlikely that focusing on any one framework will lead to more clarity. If we want to properly describe a Mobius strip, we need to look at it from as many angles as possible. Patterns shouldn’t be dismissed, but they also shouldn’t serve as criteria by which we determine legitimacy.”
I felt the need to reprint this passage because what I am doing (or rather what I am about to do) may lead some readers to assume that I am advocating for a one-size-fits-all “solution” to what the broader UFO community has coined “The Phenomenon”. I am not. I will not. What I will be doing is drawing some broad conclusions based on presumptions. I am going to speculate. But I want you to know that from my perspective, I am doing so having examined the “The Phenomenon” from many (but certainly not all) angles. As I have stated clearly in past articles… I believe strategic speculation is valuable… perhaps even crucial to the scientific method:
“I argue the root cause of strife within the community lies not in our speculation, but in what we do with it. We all speculate. Perhaps our speculation is grounded in skeptical concepts we selectively deploy like Occam’s razor. But no matter our method, the result is generally the same: We reach conclusions which support a narrative we already believed to be true. So the key issue then is not speculation. It is certainty. Certainty is what causes division and strife: certainty that aliens walk among us, certainty that the government is responsible, certainty that the whole subject is better left to psychologists, certainty that our own logic is sound and reliable.
I argue that speculation can (and should) be a good thing. It is borne out of curiosity and hope that answers are out there if one knows where to look (and what to ask). There are many who rightfully call for a more scientific approach to the phenomenon. I argue that speculation is essential for just such an approach. Scientists speculate regularly. What are hypotheses if not informed speculation about questions for which we don’t have answers? The key is in the testing. Scientists, if their aim is an earnest pursuit of the truth, test their speculation and let the data guide their conclusions. We in the UFO community tend to welcome scientists into our fellowship with open arms. What frustrates us are scientists who are too certain about this subject to “ask the question” with any seriousness. Again, the issues we face have much more to do with certainty than with speculation.”
Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud
I have led us down a long and convoluted path. In part one, I explored Mobius strips, suggesting apparitions of them have been appearing throughout history. I highlighted the concept of non-orientability and explored the possibility that the infamous James Lacatski experience represented an intentional form of communication (possibly shit-talk).
In part two, I incorporated the newly revealed details about Lacatski’s experience from Bob Bigelow into my theory. I followed a series of small synchronicities to (possibly) identify the actual shape Lacatski saw — The Klein Bottle… which also happened to be a four-dimensional version of a Mobius strip. I concluded that piece by doubling down on my communication theory and getting a bit spiritual/existential by suggesting there was meaning to be found in the meaningless. From Part Two:
“On some level I feel that even if my general hypothesis is wrong, and the event at Skinwalker ranch had nothing to do with communication (whether it be shit-talk, self-identification, or just the natural and (un)expected byproduct of 3D people attempting to comprehend 4th dimensional objects) there is some deeper meaning here. For me, falling down this rabbit hole wasn’t about finding a set-in-stone truth. Sometimes by pondering the meaningless you stumble upon hints… little clues about ultimate reality. In this case, I am encouraged to expand my cosmology to include extra dimensions and our interactions with the beings who may inhabit them.”
In recent days, I have made new connections, had new synchronicities, and I believe I can now articulate just where these “hints and clues” may be leading us (intentionally or not). I want to state my hypothesis clearly. I want to say the quiet part out loud:
I believe this particular phenomena, in this particular area of Skinwalker ranch, is a sign that at least one intelligence there is accessing (and perhaps inhabits) another dimension.
Extra-Dimensional Implications
In Part Two, I shared a portion of Lue Elizondo’s recent interview with Andy McGrillen regarding Mr. Elizondo’s past “mankinds” statement. I found the whole exchange be highly illuminating and worth reposting here:
From Luis Elizondo:
“We live in a three dimensional world where time is a function of the fourth dimension if you will… And we experience time linearly… It’s a linear process. But we now know in the quantum that time — well first of all we know that time because of the work of Einstein and others that space and time are joined together. We know that spacetime is flexible. It’s called relativity. We see it around massive objects all the time… not just earth but the sun, black holes. So… the linear universe that we experience uh… to some degree really isn’t…”
“When you look at the notion of the future people would define the future as those events which have not yet happened, and the past is defined as events that have already happened. And when you look at that construct then the present must be a moment in spacetime, probably measured in Planck time- a very infinitesimally small… moment of space time where the future is transitioning into the past. It’s not a point in time… It’s a process… It’s an event that’s occurring… So the way to think about that in lay terms is think of a cigarette or a cigar. The parts of the cigar that have already burned… the ash… is the past. That part of the cigarette or the cigar that has not yet burned is the future. And the cherry… that moment of ignition… that spark of where the future is being consumed and becoming the past… that is the present. We as human beings, we live at that moment. All of our hopes, our fears, our memories, love, hate, good, bad, all that is an expression of an experience that occurs at an infinitesimally small moment of spacetime… like i said probably measured in Planck time… That is how we experience the present. But what if there were… things… that had the ability to experience where the present was a much bigger cherry… if you will. A much bigger transition where more elements of the future and the past are experienced… as in the present. Uh… and can do that also physically, right. So it’s not just an idea it’s uh… What if there were species out there that experience the universe with an extra level of dimension. And so you and I are having this conversation now with your audience… and we’re having this conversation right here and right now. But if i were to have the ability to have this conversation right here but five minutes ago, or five minutes from now, we would never meet. We would be like two ships passing in the night. Is it possible that maybe some of these things… some of these UAP have the ability that we experience them when they are right here, right now… and every other time we don’t because we’re not intersecting… with that extra-dimensional space of time? You know when you look at that cigarette or cigar burning… you’ll notice that it never burns evenly. When you look at it up close and you can kind of remove a layer from the burn… we realize that there are portions of the future… portions of the cigar… that haven’t burned yet… uh behind portions of the cigar that already has burned. It’s not an even burn. There’s an overlap. And quantum theory is beginning to show some of the models for that. So I know I’m going in a very long-winded and roundabout way to answer your question about “mankinds” but I guess my answer to that is… it’s limitless… [my emphasis]”
I think it would actually be difficult to overemphasize just how limitless (from our perspective) 4th dimensional capabilities might be. I don’t think we can, in this reality, conceive of all of the possibilities… but this video does a good job of giving a basic introduction. I posted this video in part two, but I’m posting it here again because I feel it’s required to get where we’re going. Even if you’ve already seen it… watch it again:
It is likely that our corporeal bodies just wouldn’t work for life in the 4th dimension (let alone higher dimensions). They would be cumbersome… inconvenient… useless really. In all likelihood, beings who inhabit the 4th dimension would be energetic. Think about the capabilities explored in the video:
Teleportation, passing through walls, telepathic communication, time manipulation… These would seem like impossibilities in our current reality. And yet… Do normal and healthy people not report these experiences on a regular basis?
Remote viewers (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it) are able to access information and accurately describe the details of structures, beings and events with no helpful hints or clues whatsoever. The distance and time-frame (past/present/future) don’t seem to matter. Near death experiencers, with zero measurable brain activity, are seemingly able to travel outside of their bodies to watch their own surgeries only to return and describe the details accurately. In some instances, they have traveled instantly to far-off places, bringing back details of events that could not have been known to anyone who wasn’t there observing them unfold at the time.
This in NO WAY fully encompasses the wide range of experiences reported by near death experiencers. And in case you were wondering, the data seems to indicate that NDE’s occur with LESS frequency when MORE drugs are given to patients (which is to say they’re inversely proportional… look I just want to sound smart okay?). NDE’s aren’t restricted to hospitals or hospice facilities. Not everyone sees a “ghost” in their lifetime but if they do, it will most likely be right after someone close to them has died — in many instances before they’ve even found out said person has passed away.
If you are unfamiliar with or extremely skeptical of these kinds of phenomena, I would direct you towards Leslie Kean’s book “Surviving Death”. The recent Netflix docuseries based on her work left much to be desired (in my opinion), but the book is absolutely worth a read. Her book “UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record” reignited my passion for the UFO subject when it came out, and her latest has had a similar effect. I read it twice in a row. Broadly speaking, “Surviving Death” explores survival theory — the concept that some part of us — our consciousness — continues on after we die. If survival theory is true, it would imply non-local consciousness: the concept that your consciousness/essence/personality/spirit/soul… isn’t tied to your brain or body (even though it may be right now… mostly).
Much like near death experiencers and ghosts, UFO abductees are routinely levitated and floated through walls, ceilings, doors, and other seemingly solid objects. Sometimes this seems to be a “physical” experience where the person is actually observed to be missing during their encounter. Other times, abductees report being taken while witnesses have observed their physical bodies in the place where they should have been at the time. Abduction experiences aren’t limited to those who are sleeping, or even those who are stationary. One of the most famous cases… one that very well may have sparked the UFO abduction “wave”… happened while a couple were on a road trip. In my opinion (and I’m aware it’s not only my opinion), what happened to Betty and Barney Hill wasn’t something new… it was just the first reported instance to be widely publicized and studied. It was the label that was new. Not the experience.
Those who have encountered the various iterations of Fairy Folk (“The Fae”) report similar experiences to UFO contactees. One that sticks out prominently to me is time-distortion: where an experience which seemed to take hours or days actually occurred in 15 minutes. Or the opposite effect: where an experience which seemed to take only half an hour actually occurred over the course of many hours (The Hill’s case famously involved “missing time”). The Fairy Folk also have unlimited supplies of food, which they can apparently manifest at will. An oft discussed issue with the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis is that the craft wouldn’t have enough space to store food or water. This has led some to declare that (at least some) of the UFOnauts aren’t in fact biological at all. But perhaps many of the UFOnauts, much like the Fae, can manifest whatever food, water or supplies are needed at will. UFOs which seem small from the exterior are often found to be much larger by experiencers who find themselves inside, often with multiple sections and large groups hard at work doing various things. Many UFOs don’t have doors or openings, the occupants walk right through them. UFOs and their occupants can sometimes seem to “blink” into and out of existence in an instant.
Are these experiences, as Jung (and others) have suggested… projections from our collective unconscious? I won’t pretend here to fully understand Jung’s theories so feel free to expose me as an overconfident and uninformed asshole if I am misrepresenting his ideas. I think Patrick Harpur accomplished a cogent summation in “Daemonic Reality” but I haven’t read enough on Jung to know for sure. It’s a blind spot for me. But even assuming Jung’s theories are much more nuanced than I’ve stated here, they don’t add up.
We don’t get 4-way confirmation on projections from the collective unconscious. Projections from the collective unconscious shouldn’t leave physical traces behind or harm those who get too close.
Again… think back to that video (that you really should have watched more than once). Think back to Elizondo’s comments. Think back to all of the weird experiences that brave, observant and wise men and women have shared and pondered over for thousands of years? Do these not seem like 4th (or higher) dimensional experiences to you? The patterns are there for us to see (literally in the case of those who visit Skinwalker Ranch), if only we’ll pay attention.
Perhaps there is meaning in the meaningless after all
How Come I’ve Never Seen A Fourth Dimensional Being?
As I suggested in the section above, it is likely that 4th dimensional beings are “energetic” in nature. They’re energy… plain and simple (just kidding… none of this simple). Middle school students learn about the concept of energy using a spectrum:
One thing to notice about this spectrum is just how small the “visible light” section is. Though it is relatively small, this particular rendering doesn’t adequately convey just how limited our perception is when it comes to “seeing” energy (and perhaps “energetic” beings). I like Gary Schwartz’s analogy much better. From his book “The Sacred Promise”:
“…with the naked eye, we see only the tiniest fraction of the spectrum of all light frequencies in the Universe. Imagine the full electromagnetic spectrum to be the height of the Empire State Building, or 1,454 feet tall. The portion of what we could see would be much tinier than a layer of paint, or less than one billionth of the known frequencies of light in the Universe.” (pg. 194)
I plan on referencing Schwartz’s research in a possible follow-up to this series (Will it ever end?)… and also probably a stand-alone series. It’s absolutely fascinating. But my point here is that from an “energetic” perspective we are, for all intents-and-purposes, blind. So if 4th (or higher) dimensional beings exist, they could in fact be “right under people’s noses” as Bob Bigelow suggested in his recent interview with George Knapp:
And again… not to sound like a broken record here, but even if you could see anything from the fourth dimension you wouldn’t know it had a fourth dimension at all… and thus wouldn’t be able to fully grasp or perceive what you were seeing — just like a second dimensional “being” wouldn’t be able to fully grasp the third dimension of a stapler.
Could they be “among us”, “right under our noses” or even passing right through us? Yes, yes, and yes. We wouldn’t know and there wouldn’t be a damned thing we could do about it.
Transmogrification for Dummies
The first time I can remember hearing the term “transmogrification” was while reading the various works of John Keel. But first it’s probably best to know what the term means outside of Fortean/UFO/High-Strangeness studies. From Merriam-Webster.com:
“To change or alter greatly and often with grotesque or humorous effect”
Keel added extra layers of meaning to the original term, building a rough framework for understanding “the phenomenon”. He wrote a detailed article in 1969 in the November issue of “Flying Saucer Review” breaking down his understanding of the complex process. It’s called “The Principle of Transmogrification” and you can access and read it on scribd if you have an account. But you can also find a shorter (and perhaps sweeter) summation of his theory in “Operation Trojan Horse”. To Keel, 99% of the UFO sightings, close encounters with otherworldly entities and high-strangeness cases he studied represented this sort of changing or alteration:
“These “illusion-prone spirits” are responsible for nearly all of the UFO appearances and manipulations. The flying saucers do not come from some Buck Rogers-type civilization on some distant planet. They are our next-door neighbors, part of another space-time continuum where life, matter, and energy are radically different from ours. Ancient Man knew this and recognized it. The Biblical texts employed the word sheol, which meant invisible world. Somehow, the translators turned this into “hell” and gave it an entirely different meaning.
After spending more than a decade investigating and researching the UFO phenomenon, an engineer named Bryant Reeve published this statement in 1965: “…We began to see that vehicles in outer space were not really the important thing. They were merely an indication of something vastly greater, or earthman’s awakening to a tremendous new awareness.”” [My Emphasis] (Operation Trojan Horse pg. 317)
Could four-dimensional Euclidean geometry be another indication of something vastly greater? Could it be that these next-door neighbors — these inhabitants of a place “where life, matter, and energy are radically different from ours” come from the 4th dimension?
More patterns found in the historical high-strangeness data compiled by Keel:
“In psychic phenomena and demonology we find that seemingly solid physical objects are materialized and dematerialized or apported. There are many baffling cases of houses which appeared and disappeared mysteriously. In religious demonic possession, well documented by attending priests and doctors, the victims regurgitated impossible quantities of stones and even sharp steel bodies. Some victims have even levitated to the ceiling and had to be forcibly tied to their beds to keep from floating away.” [My Emphasis] (Operation Trojan Horse pg. 325)
Appearing and disappearing houses you say? How about appearing and disappearing skyscrapers? From Jeremy Corbell’s Excellent Documentary “Hunt for the Skinwalker”:
It is also worth noting that you can find much more information about “apports” in part four of the aforementioned book by Leslie Kean, “Surviving Death”. I won’t go into more detail here but chapter 22 “From Object Movements to Materialized Hands” is particularly enlightening. Again, as is generally the rule with books and movies… the book is far superior to the docuseries (so don’t let that dissuade you from giving it a read). I will be sharing more quotes from the book later in this piece, so if you’re a Leslie Kean fan and you’re still awake… stay tuned.
More from Keel on Transmogrification:
“Ufologists have constructed elaborate theories about flying saucer propulsion and antigravity. But we cannot exclude the possibility that these wondrous “machines” are made of the same stuff as our disappearing houses, and they don’t fly — they levitate. They are merely temporary intrusions into our reality or space-time continuum, momentary manipulations of electromagnetic energy. When they “lower their frequencies” (as the contactees put it) and enter a solid state, they can leave impressions on the ground. But to enter that state, they need atoms from our world — parts of an airplane, an auto, or blood and matter from an animal or human being. Or, in some cases, they need to drain off energy from the human percipients or from power lines and automobile engines. This may seem like a fantastic concept, but we have wasted twenty years trying to simplify all this, trying to find a more mundane explanation. The fact is, all of the evidence supports our fantastic concepts more readily than it supports the notion that we are receiving visitors from Mars or Aenstria.” (Operation Trojan Horse pg. 325)
Anyone who has spent time on Skinwalker Ranch, read the book, watched the documentary, or even a single episode of the new television show, knows that battery drains and equipment failure happen seemingly every day. This is also not an uncommon phenomenon for “ghost hunters” or “paranormal investigators” to encounter during their investigations of allegedly haunted areas. In paranormal circles there are many theories built around the idea of energy being needed to manifest different sorts of events.
“Cold spots” are routinely detected in areas where paranormal activity is said to occur. Trance and physical mediums report feeling drained of energy after their sessions. There have been many cases of clear EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) and audible disembodied voices expressing the need for more energy… or the intent to consume someone’s energy. For more along those lines I suggest taking a listen to the Astonishing Legends podcast’s four-part series on the infamous Sallie House. In general, that podcast is amazing and I very rarely hear anyone mentioning it in UFO circles. They have plenty of UFO content, but as I hope you now realize, we can’t understand these mysteries without diving head first into a variety of material… which is what they’re all about.
Even though Keel was sure the majority of UFO and other high-strangeness experiences could be accounted for through the transmogrification process he described, he hedged (the great ones always hedge):
“However, it would be very dangerous for us to exclude the possibility that a very small residue of sightings may be very real. Most scientists agree that there is a chance that there may be billions of inhabitable planets within our own galaxy, and there is always a chance that living beings from those planets might have visited us in the past, are visiting us now, or are planning to visit us in the future. To regard all UFO sightings as illusions, hallucinations, or paraphysical manifestations would expose us to a potentially volatile situation-an invasion from another world.” (Operation Trojan Horse pg. 324–325)
Let’s Talk Metamaterials
Much like Keel, Jacques Vallee’s research has highlighted the various and seemingly evolving nature of high-strangeness cases over time. Vallee’s analysis of the data would seem to also indicate that more often than not, high-strangeness phenomena constitute manifestations… intended to elicit a specific response in the experiencer. But unlike Keel, Vallee didn’t find the physical evidence from UFOs and other encounters to be so uncompelling. I would say, (and I certainly can’t speak for him) that as time has gone on he has become much more open to the idea that at least some of the physical evidence represents advanced technology — And for good reason — He has come into possession of many “fragments” from alleged UFOs which are very much tangible — whose properties are interesting to say the least. If there is a civilian who “has the goods” when it comes to actual UFO materials it’s Jacques Vallee.
In “The Phenomenon”, the recent (and predictably excellent) documentary produced by James Fox , there was a short but incredibly compelling segment featuring Jacques Vallee’s fragments and what their composition may represent. Gary Nolan (of Nolan Lab at Stanford University) has been working to analyze the fragments in Vallee’s possession using advanced techniques (and extremely rare and expensive equipment) at the nanoscale. It is important to note that Dr. Nolan is a respected scientist in his field. He would not involve himself in any sort of “pseudo-science” but he is bold enough to do serious research in areas that might seem taboo to other researchers. Here is a clip from “The Phenomenon” where Dr. Nolan and Jacques Vallee (who also happens to have a PhD as well) explain their analysis of the fragments and the extraordinary implications:
They also published a fairly short presentation summing up their findings (in 2017). The presentation is fascinating and absolutely worth a look. But these are far from the only alleged “meta-materials” recovered from UFOs. Keith Basterfield, who is without a doubt one of the most thorough researchers on this topic that I know of, has compiled a recent list of known fragments and notes that odd isotopic ratios (like those described by Nolan and Vallee) are a pattern.
Probably the most well-known fragments in UFO circles are “Art’s Parts”. These samples originally came into the possession of the late, great, Art Bell. At some point, legendary and controversial researcher Linda Moulton Howe took custody of the samples and sent them for analysis. The results, while hotly contested by skeptics… detailed the kind of seemingly impossible nano-engineering described by Nolan and Vallee in their fragments.
Eventually, at least one sample from “Art’s Parts” came into the possession of ToTheStarsAcademy (TTSA), a seemingly loose collaboration of individuals whose aim is to bring greater attention to the UFO/UAP topic, facilitate research and development, and produce entertainment (some fictional, some supposedly not-so-fictional). Many in the UFO field cringe when they hear the acronym “TTSA” because it’s founder and CEO, Tom DeLonge, has made some big claims in the past without providing sufficient evidence to back them up.
In my opinion, it would probably be a mistake to dismiss this group… or what they have to say regarding the alleged “meta-materials” in their possession. After all, they were able to secure a CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement) with the US Army to study the unique properties of these fragments — presumably with the intent to capitalize on any potential reverse-engineering opportunities. Here is a description from TTSA’s website of some of the unique properties of the samples from “Art’s Parts”:
“The material is clearly engineered with distinct layers of MgZn and Bi at structured thicknesses only microns thick. There is no precedent for this structured combination of materials. It is unclear what fabrication processes allow this combination of materials to form an integrated structural component. Theoretical analysis shows that the material acts as a waveguide for terahertz (THz) frequencies. Those wavelengths normally would not propagate through this geometry. One side of the sample appears to be tooled, having a defined contour. There has been an extensive amount of testing on the material, the true purpose or function of the material remains unknown.”
I highly recommend checking out a relatively recent piece by the always two-steps ahead Danny Silva (@silvarecord) that sums up what we know about meta-materials. It has quotes from Gary Nolan, Hal Puthoff, and even the much maligned Tom DeLonge. The general consensus seems to be that some of these materials are engineered… and not by us — Not by human hands.
In July of 2020, the New York Times published yet another UFO story. Some in the UFO community scoffed at the release, throwing cold water on the story and insisting that it revealed nothing of significance. I couldn’t agree less. Check out this quote (which is still in the story) from former Senator Harry Reid:
“After looking into this, I came to the conclusion that there were reports — some were substantive, some not so substantive — that there were actual materials that the government and the private sector had in their possession…” [My Emphasis]
After the story came out, the Senator seemed to walk back his statement slightly… indicating the journalists may have misinterpreted or even misquoted him. It was a confusing situation, especially after the statements he made during his appearance in the aforementioned documentary produced by James Fox “The Phenomenon”.
From an article covering Reid’s statements in the Huffington Post:
““Why the federal government all these years has covered up, put brake pads on everything, stopped it, I think it’s very, very bad for our country,” Reid said in the new documentary “The Phenomenon” from director James Fox.
“Are you saying that there’s some evidence that still hasn’t seen the light of day?” asked Fox.
“I’m saying most of it hasn’t seen the light of day,” Reid replied.” [My Emphasis]
If you’re still unconvinced the government is in possession of alleged UFO fragments, or is even interested in their study… you should probably check out this latest piece of news from researcher Anthony Bragalia who finally received an answer to a FOIA request submitted three years ago (which actually isn’t that long in FOIA-time). From the article covering the response:
“The original 2017 FOIA request made to the DIA asks for the physical descriptions, properties and composition of UFO/UAP material held by the government and its contractor. The request is unambiguous in its meaning. It refers to UFO/UAP material and “physical debris recovered by personnel of the Department of Defense as residue, flotsam, shot-off material or crashed UAPs or unidentified flying objects…”
“In their reply, the DIA amazingly agrees that it has documents responsive to my request on recovered UFO debris and its analysis, the program under which it was administered, AATIP (the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program), and that their defense contractor (Bigelow Aerospace in Las Vegas, Nevada) has stored the material. They also provide some reports related to the possible applications of the studied material.”
I won’t go into any further detail because that’s not really the purpose of what I’m trying to do with this piece. There is much relevant material to digest in the articles and resources I have linked within this section and you should absolutely take some time to visit them and have a look for yourself. The bottom line is this:
The US government is in possession of engineered and/or manufactured materials with anomalous properties. These materials allegedly came from UFOs, and are currently impossible for humans (or any group of beings bound to this solar system) to create.
Our Reality, Our Rules
Keel suggested that sometimes The Ultraterrestrials (as he came to refer to them) use atoms to manifest physical objects and leave physical traces. Based on the fact that we have UFO fragments from as early as the 50’s available to hold and examine today, it is fair to say that Keel may have overstated the “temporary” nature of these “intrusions into our space-time continuum”. Perhaps these “momentary manipulations of electromagnetic energy” aren’t so momentary after all. Even if most UFOs vanish without a trace, some leave materials behind — and those materials — while extraordinary — aren’t temporary or illusory. Though they may seem magical, they have been intentionally manufactured to do extraordinary things in THIS dimension.
It is not my intention to suggest that Keel was wrong about his theory of transmogrification. Quite the opposite, in fact. I don’t see any other alternative. My purpose is to highlight an important factor that shouldn’t be overlooked:
When higher dimensional beings manifest physical objects in our dimension… they have to play by our rules.
Now let’s not overstate the point. This wouldn’t limit them to using naturally occurring materials from this planet, this solar system, or even this universe. They wouldn’t need to stick to the periodic table, isotopic ratios or combinations of materials which are considered possible within our current paradigm.
But these physical manifestations have to WORK while they’re here. Even if what they do seems impossible… it is.
UFOs are many times reported as having no seams, bolts, or rivets at all… further suggesting a higher dimensional source. 4th dimensional beings wouldn’t need to create objects with nuts or bolts. They wouldn’t need a team of welders or advanced 3D printing technology. As Dr. Nolan suggests… the materials are engineered at the atomic level. This may seem impossible to us… but it would be elementary for higher dimensional beings. Perhaps this explains why Hal Puthoff and Eric Davis are so interested in projects involving self-organizing plasmas where “transmutations” from one element to another can apparently occur.
Still though, I find it ironic that adherents to Keel’s theory of transmogrification mostly scoff at “nuts-and-bolts” research. After all, wouldn’t “nuts-and-bolts” researchers just be looking into the traces left behind by the very manifestations Keel hypothesized? Wherever they come from, we should absolutely be studying these materials — simply because they work.
Even if the materials are unavailable to us or impossible for us to create, we should make every attempt to understand why and how they do what they do in so much as is possible within our present paradigms — and then shift our paradigms.
Glitches, Mistakes, or Art?
Skinwalker Ranch represents the perfect laboratory for studying the mechanisms by which higher dimensional beings interact with us here in our present reality. And I would argue (as in all likelihood would Keel) that the entire scope of what goes on there could be explained in terms of transmogrification. This is convenient, because the ranch (and apparently the greater Uinta Basin) is a place where essentially every form of high-strangeness can be found: UFOs, poltergeists, instantaneous and precise cattle mutilations, disembodied voices, translucent predators, featureless humanoids crawling through tunnels of light suspended in the air, velociraptors in trees, hounds in trench coats, blue balls of light that strike terror in humans and vaporize dogs, bullet-proof dire wolves and of course… four-dimensional non-orientable Euclidean surfaces.
Seemingly anything is possible at Skinwalker Ranch…
If you’re still reading, you’ll remember that Brandon Fugal was of the opinion that what his legal team member saw was something akin to a “glitch in the matrix”. Something which is usually hidden was revealed. The term “glitch” implies a mistake. As it turns out… mistakes aren’t all that uncommon on SkinWalker Ranch (or at other places and times of high-strangeness). My last post provided a jumping-off-point for an interesting conversation with Ryan Skinner (@SkinwalkerRyan) over Facebook messenger about this particular topic.
If you’re interested in Skinwalker Ranch and active in any of the associated facebook groups or twitter conversations you are probably already aware of who he is. He lives nearby the ranch and describes himself as a friend to people who work there and a member of the advisory team. I asked his permission to share our conversation here, because I know that those who are associated with the ranch are required to sign NDA’s. He agreed on the condition that I make it clear that what he is sharing is based on his own experiences “immediately around the ranch” and conversations he has had with local witnesses. He also wanted me to explicitly state he is not revealing internal Adamantium conversations (I assume Adamantium refers to the SWR advisory team). With all of that out of the way here are a few of our exchanges which I feel are relevant to scope of this piece (my messages are in purple and his responses are in grey):
Though these experiences happened near the ranch, they would seem to track with some of the “mistakes” that have been reported on Skinwalker Ranch proper, like the infamous story of the bullet-proof disappearing dire wolf. There is a thorough telling of the event from THE definitive book on Skinwalker Ranch “Hunt for the Skinwalker” by Colm Kelleher and George Knapp. If you haven’t read it, I’m not really sure what you’re doing here. Order the book. You owe it to yourself. But just to cut you a break, here’s a clip of George Knapp describing the episode from a lecture. The video is cued up to begin at the beginning of his description but you should view the whole thing when you get the time. Even if you’ve read the book it will help to refresh your memory… plus George Knapp is just fun to listen to:
If someone or something wanted to convince the ranch’s new residents to leave by scaring them off with a wolf, they might want to make sure it bleeds when it’s shot. Even if it is extinct… some blood would have been a nice touch for authenticity. Also the vanishing footprints bit is pretty bush league… especially for higher dimensional beings.
Perhaps this particular episode wasn’t a mistake at all, but an improvement — proof that higher dimensional beings can even use the mechanism of transmogrification to improve on biology — to build a better wolf.
Another phenomenon that comes to mind from outside the ranch are the many reports of apparitions which are off in some subtle way. Apparitions of loved ones which appear in bedrooms to comfort the grief-stricken can often give off the distinct impression they aren’t who they appear to be. Mediums channeling familiar spirits who consistently retrieve accurate information are sometimes caught in elaborate lies which would require them to have inaccessible information — things which the medium would have no way of knowing (let us not forget that mediumship existed long before the internet). Perhaps you will have heard of the concept of the doppelganger or the fetch.
And of course there are all of the absurdities of high-strangeness cases that the metaphysically inclined reference on a constant basis: Airships with anchors before the age of manned-flight, nonsensical questions, alien visitors with bland pancakes, and robotic clowns who live in disappearing shacks. Perhaps these are true mistakes — higher dimensional beings trying their best to interact with us, using concepts and manifestations they imagine we’ll understand. Perhaps, as Jacques Vallee is inclined to believe, they represent a control system meant to modify our thoughts, beliefs and behavior. But how can we even begin to speculate about just what exactly is going on here?
In my view, the only way to begin is to ponder how we 3rd dimensional beings “use” the lower dimensions. What do we do with the 2nd dimension? How do we interact with it? What do we use it for? Broadly speaking… We use it to make our mark. We use it to make art.
What may be a laboratory for studying higher dimensional transmogrification for us may in fact be an elaborate art installation or an art gallery for the Ultraterrestrials themselves.
And now for a really odd personal anecdote to drive home the point:
If you’ve ever spent any time in a college town… the kind of college town that has house shows and coffee shops that stay open 24 hours… you will be familiar with performance art. I once attended shitty house shows at a place we called “The Majestic Dwelling of Doom” down by the train tracks in the college town where I still happen to live. It was an interesting scene to say the least. The music was always fairly terrible and there was no air conditioning. Everyone rode their bikes there so it had a very distinct “hipster stink” that just comes with the territory in places like that.
One day a performance artist from Germany came into town and showed up at “The Majestic Dwelling of Doom”. He made farting noises with his lips on a transparent piece of glass — much the same way my two year old does whenever he gets the chance — with a contact microphone attached to it. The microphone was attached to a utility belt around his waist made of guitar pedals to add weird noises and modulation.
Eventually, another performance artist local to the area showed up to the show and made his way to the front row… yelling loudly and picking fights (he was not drunk… this was widely known to be his shtick) with random people in the crowd. Eventually the German performance artist started breaking the glass plate and eating bits of it on stage. He even broke a portion of it off on the local performance artist’s head. Not to be outdone, the local performance artist went outside and laid down on the train tracks across the street… prompting a call to the police. It was the last straw… “The Majestic Dwelling of Doom” was dead.
Art is not always beautiful. It’s meant to evoke emotion. It can be grotesque and humorous. It can be confounding and disorienting. It can be nostalgic. It can be subtle or bold… quiet or loud… safe or dangerous. If you were a higher dimensional being, you would probably not be burdened by a 9–5 job. You probably wouldn’t have a mortgage or utility bills. You wouldn’t need to worry about which clothes to wear, what car to drive, where your next meal is coming from or even that pesky headache that just won’t go away. You could see anything you wanted to see instantly… be wherever or whatever you wanted to be instantly. So what exactly would you spend your time doing?
If you can’t tell by now… I’m really just riffing. I have no meaningful way to know exactly what it is that is going on at Skinwalker Ranch, if higher dimensional beings exist, or if the process of transmogrification is the key to understanding metamaterials. But I have one last idea to share before I get all spiritual again and call it a week.
I Have Good News and Bad News
The good news is that we can probably already access the fourth dimension (or something like it). If there is any truth whatsoever to remote viewing, mediumship, or near death experiences… It’s probably an indication there is some part of our consciousness which is accessing unseen realms (which is how I like to refer to higher dimensions) and exploiting some of the capabilities inherent to those realities. Now… there aren’t many people who are consistent with these things. There are levels to this. The best mediums and remote viewers are about 85% accurate. But there is a good deal of data that has been gathered in laboratory settings under strict controls to support that these phenomena (in some cases) are real.
The bad news is that there seems to be a “filter” in place which prevents us from achieving greater access so to unseen realms. Many believe that this filter prevents us from readily and intentionally accessing our subconscious… which seems to be more connected to psi-abilities than the conscious mind is. Some are naturally more gifted at accessing the subconscious than others. Children are seemingly able to perceive the unseen more readily than adults can — not to mention the ability of some to recall past lives with undeniable accuracy. Mainstream psychologists would attribute the weird things children see and experience to overactive imaginations. But (bringing it all back here) it’s important to remember that the 4th dimension is, in a certain sense, imaginal.
“4D, meaning the 4 common dimensions, is an important idea in physics referring to three-dimensional space (3D), which adds the dimension of time to the spatial dimensions of length, width, and depth. In geometry, the fourth dimension is related to the other three dimensions by imagining another direction through space; just as the dimension of depth can be added to a square to create a cube, the fourth dimension can be added to a cube to create a tesseract.” [My Emphasis]
At some point, the potential for most of us to “see the unseen” fades away. Perhaps as the brain develops, the part which houses “the filter” also develops and makes it more difficult to pull ourselves away from the constant noise and distractions of the conscious mind. If “the filter” is a biological construct in the brain, then perhaps it will one day be feasible to “switch” it off and on with various frequencies.
People have gone to great lengths to have mystical experiences in the unseen realm… Performing elaborate occult rituals to open portals in basements and desolate national parks (looking at you Jack Parsons). Taking (supposedly) hallucinogenic drugs to expand one’s consciousness by going on trips, viewing “sacred geometry”, and having interactions with beings on the other side. And then there’s the “god helmet” which supposedly enhances one’s ability to access their subconscious and all of the psi-weirdness that comes with it.
If physical mediumship has any truth to it whatsoever and apports are indeed something which certain humans can manifest, then perhaps transmogrifications of a more advanced nature aren’t completely out of the question. Maybe one day we too will be able to engineer at the isotopic level.
Of course it’s also possible that “the filter” serves a very specific evolutionary purpose. It would be difficult to attend to our biological and third dimensional needs if we were being constantly bombarded by the vast possibilities of realities we aren’t ready for yet. Perhaps a safer bet is to meditate and silence the mind. Just as there is meaning to be found in the meaningless… there is wisdom to be found in silence.
Wisdom From A Modern Day Mystic
During the time I’ve spent writing this piece, I have been compelled to listen to the album Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens. I consider Stevens to be a modern day mystic of sorts. His lyrics are often mysterious and intensely personal. Like many mystics, he has experienced a lot of suffering in his life and it is clear from his music that this suffering has changed him.
This particular album is written from a place of grief. There are several songs on the album concerning the death of his mother, with whom he had a very complicated relationship. To be honest with you, I can’t listen to the whole thing through without getting a bit emotional myself. But, as with all good art, the lyrics will mean different things to different people. The title track, “Death With Dignity” has been stuck in my head and strikes me as particularly significant and meaningful. I am going to post a video below with the full album, and I encourage you to listen to the first track even if the style isn’t your thing:
The Lyrics from “Death With Dignity”:
Spirit of my silence I can hear you, but I’m afraid to be near you
And I don’t know where to begin
And I don’t know where to begin
Somewhere in the desert there’s a forest, and an acre before us
But I don’t know where to begin
But I don’t know where to begin
Again I lost my strength completely, oh be near me tired old mare
With the wind in your hair
Amethyst and flowers on the table, is it real or a fable?
Well I suppose a friend is a friend
And we all know how this will end
Chimney swift that finds me be my keeper, silhouette of the cedar
What is that song you sing for the dead
What is that song you sing for the dead
I see the signal searchlight strike me, in the window of my room
Well I got nothing to prove
Well I got nothing to prove
I forgive you mother I can hear you, and I long to be near you
But every road leads to an end
Yes every road leads to an end
Your apparition passes through me, in the willows and five red hens
You’ll never see us again
You’ll never see us again
I won’t tell you what those lyrics should mean for you. But as I grieve for someone I’ve lost, I am reminded that even if we are in some sort of “lower dimension”… a matrix with glitches and all… our matrix matters. The grief — that uncertainty that comes from wondering if you’ll ever see someone again, is probably something that a higher dimensional being could never understand. There’s a certain beauty to the absurd and grotesque. There is meaning in the suffering. There are things to be learned and experienced in this realm that probably can’t be learned and experienced in the unseen realms. It is possible that while we envy the Ultraterrestrials… they envy us.
“We as human beings, we live at that moment. All of our hopes, our fears, our memories, love, hate, good, bad, all that is an expression of an experience that occurs at an infinitesimally small moment of spacetime…” -Luis Elizondo
Life in the third dimension is a crazy thing. We’re here one moment and gone the next. Who I am right now is not who I will be tomorrow, and neither are you. In a sense, we are already four-dimensional beings. We do our best to stay the same but change is inevitable.
We can’t control what happens next. We don’t know what happens today or tomorrow or ten years from now. That’s probably the point.
I am once again reminded of Spanish Mystic, John of the Cross (1542–1591) and his Poem “Stanzas Concerning an Ecstasy Experienced in High Contemplation”. If you’re not a believer in God, then change the nouns to make it more meaningful for you. The final stanza sums up for me what is a universal reality, that uncertainty is more of a blessing than a curse:
“And if you should want to hear: This highest knowledge lies / In the loftiest sense / Of the essence of God / This is a work of His mercy / To leave one without understanding / Transcending all knowledge.”
Is this not our reality? Do we not all find ourselves in places of unknowing? We think all of the answers are waiting for us in the unseen realm… but perhaps John of the Cross was right. Maybe we are already in the place where the highest knowledge lies.
I would like to thank Jacques Vallee, John Keel (RIP), George Knapp, Art Bell (RIP), Leslie Kean, Brandon Fugal, Lue Elizondo, James Fox, Jeremy Corbell, Sufjan Stevens, and John of the Cross (RIP)… for existing and creating compelling things for me to read, watch, listen to, and contemplate. I also want to shout out all of the crazy people on #UFOTwitter who put up with my bad jokes, terrible memes, toxic takes, and general ass-hattery on a daily basis. Specifically… @TheUfoJoe, @SilvaRecord, @devgru1980, @PostDisclosure, @lucio_linae, @ufoartwork, @LyndaRVA_UAP, @mesolithicguy, @Julesofthwood, @EngagingThe, @caseforinfinity, @TheZignal, @TheProjectUnity, @BobMcGwier_N4HY, @ufouapam, @AFSUnidentified, @IWANTTOKNOWUK, @ExoAcademian, @UFOTORONTO and all of the rest of you who I interact with on a regular basis. If I left you off this list I assure you it wasn’t intentional. I’m just tired, have a terrible memory, and have a difficult time remembering all of your handles. Several of you are content creators and I have done my best to link and share you work as often as I can. If you find a place where I have neglected to do so, or misrepresented something please let me know and I will remedy it in short order.
I hope this post (and this series) will create some food for thought, reignite ongoing conversations, or at the very least inspire some of you to support the many content creators I have referenced. For most of us, the weird strangers on the internet are the only outlet we have for discussing the confounding subjects we find ourselves obsessed with. No one is figuring all of this out on their own. We need each other. Let’s act like it.
And in case anyone was wondering — there will be a part four. I’m not done with Skinwalker Ranch. And it’s not done with me. Not even close.
