The Visitors: Close Encounters, Alien Agendas, and Being Human

Whitley Strieber and the Cabin

Whitley Strieber is a friend. He is the well-known author of Communion, and most recently, the subject of a new documentary SHOCK DOCS: THE VISITORS which debuts on the Travel Channel and Discover+ on Monday, September 5 at 9 pm ET/PT in which he describes his experience being abducted from his cabin in Upstate New York is 1985. While I have been to his cabin and have had my own experiences there that I discuss in the documentary, that’s not where my story with the Visitors begins. My first memories are at the foot of my grandmother’s bed occur when I am 4 or 5 years old.

Strange and Unusual Runs in the Family

In my family, the strange and unusual were commonplace. Just part of life. It was not discussed or analyzed. What people call paranormal was an accepted part of my upbringing. My Grandmother occasionally saw her dead brother Mack, and my father and grandfather, both veterans, told incredible tales of mysterious events and synchronicities. Grandma had True dreams, meaning that she often dreamed about things that would then happen. My dad was a mortician. My mother’s family had come from Romania. I didn’t know that real ghosts, dream prophesies, and potent meaningful coincidences weren’t part of everyone’s life. It’s just what was.

So, when I started seeing the Visitors, I was more curious than frightened. I was frightened, yes, but after asking my grandfather about one of the visitations, he asked me if the creature seemed threatening. To which I replied, “no”. He suggested it might be one of the little people and that I ask it for its name next time I see one. Much later in life, I learned through myth and fairy tales that knowing one’s true name is very powerful.

I was about 7 years old when I asked for a name. It told me in my mind, the way it communicated and showed me pictures, the letters F-A-R-B. And the message was that this ‘name’ was what he was not. I didn’t understand, but I remembered it clearly. The bedside visits stopped for about 5 years. When I was 13 years old, a freshman in high school and taking my first biology class, the teacher wrote the categories “fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds” on the board and I remembered the name. I felt a rush of adrenaline and got a nosebleed. Through the years, my encounters with the Visitors often held clues that, when I least expected it, would come back around. My ongoing experience, though sometimes frightening, has given me wonder and understanding, and the immense intimacy of direct contact.

The Alien Agenda

When we talk about UFOs, non-human beings, and alien encounters (whether those aliens are from the stars or from another dimensional reality), it is typical for us to feel fearful or to assume the worst. We may fret over what agenda these Beings have. However, evidence indicates that they have been visiting us, choosing individuals, and abducting/examining us for thousands of years. We have stories in nearly every culture, from Egypt and Sumeria to Greece and Japan about sky gods that came and lived among us. Native Americans and other Indigenous people talk of star people and of life on earth being seeded by the Star People. This conversation isn’t going away, so let’s push beyond our fears.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be cautious. I’m not saying that people haven’t had terrible, life-altering experiences.

There are many encounters, thousands of them, that get no air time because those involved are not terrified by what they experienced. Some have been informed, healed of terrible illnesses, received awakened psychic abilities, saved from death, enlightened, shown the other side, given innovative ideas and solutions to human problems. Some have seen their deceased loved ones or were transported to family members who were many miles away. The majority of those tales fall through the cracks because they are not sensational enough. Don’t discount them!

I have met the dead. I have had true dreams. I have touched the hand of a Visitor while fully awake. What I have learned from the Visitors is far greater than my fear.

What We Can Learn From the Visitors

We humans are far more than we imagine ourselves to be.

Meanwhile, we inflict suffering on ourselves by denying that we are inextricably and firmly woven within the fabric of a natural world that is much larger than our day-to-day realities. We are neither separate nor superior. The majority of our news and movies reinforce our fears. We are young, and like toddlers fighting over a prized red block, we battle for power rather than allow ourselves to belong to the inevitable.

There is wonder, beauty, and magic in the world around us and within us. What we put our attention toward grows with purpose. I’m no Pollyanna. I was born and raised in NY and I know how human society works and I’ve seen plenty to be afraid of. However, my strange and unusual experiences make me glad to be alive and part of this human adventure. I invite you, as you explore the idea of UFO and alien encounters, to look farther and deeper than the fear. There are tremendous gifts possible through our relationship with the Visitors.