UFO Con #1

First day of UFO CON Santa Clara.

I met quite a few interesting people. Most of them have a view of the world that is definitely not to be found at your average party or church social. That isn’t necessarily bad, or even all that unusual, if you think about it: I’ve met any number of “Christians” with views that are at least of wacky and divorced from my version of reality as some of what I met there. Funny how you can walk around all day talking about angles and demons, or describing your conversations with dead people or non-material beings and nobody bats an eye, IF the name of that dead person is “Jesus,” or that being is “God.” Otherwise, you are ten different colors of crazy. That being said, some of the view I heard I have no trouble, if not dismissing completely, at least setting aside with a, “I can kind of see where this person is coming from, but they’ve taken this way too far for my taste.”

For example, there was one presenter who was very entertaining, but seemed to have no connection with any reality that I’m familiar with. I kept thinking that his stuff would make wonderful alternate-history fiction, but is way too paranoid for me to want to enter his world. Though there was a certain fascination with the way he wove his narrative, touching down, at times, on historical fact, but then soaring off into his own interpretations. I can see where he’s coming from, in a way, but I feel that he’s on a journey that doesn’t have much relevance for me.

I had my aura photographed. That was an interesting experience. It used a special camera that I have seen advertised in the internet, but it’s really expensive, and there doesn’t seem to be any details about how it works available. Judging from what I could see, it appears to be descended from Kirlian Photography. I was able to get a look at the auras of some other people, to compare with mine. Two people had auras that looked almost the same while others were very different. Mine was the only one that was markedly asymmetrical, which the operator told me had to do with the difference between the energy I was receiving and the energy I was putting out. Even though I told her almost nothing about myself, she said that the picture showed that I was taking in a tremendous amount, a good listener, and I was emitting almost pure healing energy. Nice to hear, anyway.

It is my feeling that all too many people there have “vision, through a glass, darkly.” There is a number that see things in a positive light, but I am saddened by all those who see nothing but a huge, dark, hopeless conspiracies in everything. I don’t agree with any of that, but this isn’t my first BBQ, so I see that these people draw some comfort from that, in their own way. I like to think I’m matured enough to not feel the need try and fix them and bring them around to a “saner” position. They will get what they need when the time comes. As I see it, might as well try and convince a Baptist that there is no such thing as Hell.

At one point during a presentation, I noticed the woman next to me making notes after certain comments by the speaking. Afterward, I offered her my card and told her what I did, and she said that she was looking for a hypnotherapist. We had a short, but interesting, conversation and she seemed interested enough that I expect to hear from her soon. I also spread my cards to anyone else that seemed involved with “experiencers,” as they are now called. That’s a new term for me, though it seems to have been in use for at least twenty years. Just another sign, I suppose, of just how little of what goes on in this community filters out into the rest of the world. You would think that an epidemic of people suffering debilitating trauma would produce some ripple in the media. Does it really matter if they believe the cause is “abduction,” or “contact,” rather than IUDs in Afganistain? Suffering is suffering, why should they be ignored?