Extra-Planetary Experiences
By Thomas Streicher
Books by Thomas Streicher
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Extra-Planetary Experiences
US - UK - CA
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Please join us in welcoming, for July 2012 Author of the Month, researcher and writer Thomas Streicher, who has written on human extra-planetary experiences. Thomas James Streicher, Ph.D., a student of Dr. John Mack, earned his doctorate in psychology from Saybrook University. The founder and director of Divine Spark, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people through free meals and other means to activate the divine spark within each of them, he lives in Nevada City, California.
http://www.thomasstreicher.com
PodCast:
Extra-Planetary Experiences UFO Encounters 28.mp3
Since prehistoric times all cultures report encounters with strange
beings and crafts from the sky as well as stories of extra-planetary
experiences--that is, travel to other planets, moons, and stars. In
the case of modern accounts, these benevolent alien-human
interactions bear striking resemblance to one another, even among
people with no knowledge of other alien-human claims. And all
experiences marked a spiritual turning point in the person’s
life, providing a loss of the fear of death, enhanced spiritual
insights, a connection to cosmic consciousness, or increased
motivation to be of service to humanity.
As a child, I did not believe in the Bible or the biblical “God,”
although my parents wanted me to, I just couldn’t relate to it.
Obviously a great narrative, the Bible ended up being stored in the
fiction section of my bookcase. How could one story be everybody’s
reality? What about my story and those of others? My parents sent me
to parochial schools and even had me live with a priest during one of
my summer vacations, hoping that someday I might join the Jesuit
order and be saved. But by the age of twelve, although neither an
agnostic nor an atheist, I had already gone astray. At that time, I
had saw and felt what many people might consider to be the “heavenly
realms.” And the creation story of the Bible just didn’t
line up with what I was experiencing. The Church was proselytizing
that life originated on Earth, that Earth was the center of the
universe, and there were no such beings as extraterrestrials. I was
interacting with beings from other worlds that seemed much more
advanced then anything here in this world, but I kept it a secret in
fear of being criticized and ostracized from society.
Now that I am an adult and could not care less what other people
think of me, I have more to contribute to the world than I did when I
was younger. There is absolutely no reason not to assume that highly
intelligent life forms from other planets exist, with an intellect
far superior to that of humans, and that those life-forms are with us
today. No matter how fiercely both dogmatic religion and science want
to convince us of who we are, we ourselves are the only ones who can
truly answer this question. As we stare out into the abyss of the
evening sky, the abyss stares back, reminding us that the Earth is
really not that special or ancient as many would have us believe.
Earth, in fact, is a relatively new planet in comparison to the
ageless universe. We no longer have to rely on the dogmas of religion
and science to answer the question of who we are. We just sometimes
need to be reminded that we are a significant part of everything. We
are all connected. This connection offers us the ability to tap into
the limitless mind or consciousness of the universe to find the
answers.
I do not believe in a lifeless universe, although many of my
teachers wanted me to make that assumption. I have always maintained
an innate sense of there being other intelligent life in the
universe. Even when the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence) concluded their program with “no contact,”
I thought how ridiculous it was to assume that, simply because ET’s
have not answered our radio transmissions, we are truly alone, even
though some people would prefer it that way. I no longer supported
what the scientific establishment had to offer in this area, for I
thought they had sold out to consensus reality. Also, I do not
believe in the big bang theory, where something supposedly came out
of nothing, or in Darwinian evolutionary theory, where we supposedly
evolved out of the organic soup brewing on the Earths surface,
although I support the theory of evolution. Of course, ETs could have
evolved elsewhere. Call me a bad student…..or maybe a good
student with bad teachers? Most of my teachers were persuaded to
accept consensus reality, or whatever dominant worldview teachings
had to offer, in exchange for a good paycheck. There is plenty of
financial gain in supporting the status quo. My view is different,
because my experiences are different, and I will not be swayed into
adopting popular opinion, not even for social approval or financial
gain.
I do not believe that life originated here on this planet and that
we are the superior beings of the universe, although many of my
teachers tried to convince me so. Just think of how convenient it
would be to consider ourselves the “masters of the universe”
where we can take anything at will! This is a problem today, as we
continue to kill or own species and everything else on the planet.
How could life have originated here with what we now know of planet
formation? Scientists tell us that the Earth is 4.6 billion years
old, but the universe is older than old, with no conceivable age or
boundaries; moreover, it includes a limitless number of other
planets, suns, moons, and stars. I believe that life is everywhere,
even sometimes we can’t see it, not only on this planet but on
others that are much older than our own. Also, I am not suggesting
that I am the only one who knows what is going on.
Clearly, we are continually being told by authority figures who we
are suppose to be, to the point that we are forced to question our
own antiquity and our place in the universe. Nonetheless, I am the
expert concerning my own life. As we eventually acknowledge the
existence of life beyond Earth, we must also acknowledge that our
science, religions, belief systems, and entire worldview are no
longer adequate or acceptable. This is reason enough to cause panic
in the masses. I think the process will unfold slowly and will
proceed for those who are ready and available to see it. As we
acknowledge extraterrestrial life, we are really answering the
ageless questions about ourselves and who we are in the deepest sense
of the cosmos. If extraterrestrial life were demonstrated tomorrow,
do you think most people’s self-image would change?
Birthing the Extra-Planetary Experience (XPE)
In March of 2003, I presented my first dissertation proposal, which
I had titled: “Self-reports of People Who believe Themselves to
Have Had Experiences on Other Planets,” to students and
scholars at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto,
California. At that time, many people at the school were unaware and
skeptical of the content and validity of this topic. Even a leading
psychologist and scientist there said to me privately, “There
are no damn aliens.” Another psychologist accused me of
misinterpreting Carl Jung’s work concerning the veridicality of
UFOs and extraterrestrials. Thus, for me, researching this topic
turned into an underground activity during which I met privately with
extraterrestrial researchers and experiencers across the U.S. and
Europe.
Believing in the possibility of extra-planetary experiences was a
huge and painful stretch for most, if not all, of my listeners at the
Institute. With this in mind, I approached my audience from an
anecdotal, historical, and qualitative stance. I felt bold and
daring, as I surrounded myself with the historical accounts of such
people as Orfeo Angelucci, George Adamski, Elizabeth Klarer, Claude
Vorilhon, Woodrow Derenberger, Michael Desmarquet, T. Lobsang Rampa,
and Eduardo “Billy” Meirer, and their reports of alleged
visits to other planets. I also collected historical records from the
Sumerian Scriptures and Vedic Texts, along with other reality
expanding experiences such as alien abduction experiences (AAEs),
near death experiences (NDEs), and out-of-body experiences (OBEs).
The audience appeared entranced, seemingly astonished by the amount
of evidence I was presenting to them. I acknowledged my intent to
further seek, confirm and explore this phenomenon through a
qualitative study based on questionnaires and interviews. Many
questions and answers remained, but the uphill battle had gained
momentum and the revolution had begun, as I was granted approval to
pursue the research.
Next I struggled to assemble a dissertation committee. The school had
no one qualified as an expert on my topic, and most of the prominent
professors had no experience or didn’t want to get involved
with such a controversial area of research. So I had to look
elsewhere for an expert in the field, which was not easy. With luck
and perseverance, I was able to sign on the prominent Harvard
professor Dr. John Mack, a leading extraterrestrial researcher. Then
tragedy struck less than six months later, as Dr. Mack was involved
in a fatal accident in London, England. Following the death of my
main dissertation committee member, The Institute of Transpersonal
Psychology withdrew its support for my dissertation and ended my
research. You might imagine how upset I was. I then decided to
withdraw from the school and try to find another credited institution
that would help me complete my research.
Books by Thomas Streicher
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Extra-Planetary Experiences
US - UK - CA
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After a couple of years in a tailspin, I decided to stop being
intimidated by mainstream science or consensus reality. Every part of
my body and mind was telling me to continue on and complete my
research. But how? Schools were turning me down, convinced that my
research was not valuable because it did not fit into the status quo.
So I decided to dig deeper within myself for the answers to this
dilemma. In the course of this journey, one evening before entering
my sleep and dream state, I asked for clarity concerning who to
contact next. Awakening with the answer to my question, I approached
Dr. Stanley Krippner with the Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, now Saybrook University, in San Francisco. It was a
perfect fit, and I was on my way. It would still take me two years to
finish, for I had to meet all the new school requirements, which
alone took a full year.
My research was finally finished in 2010. I received my Ph.D. with a
dissertation titled: “Interviews with people who report having had experiences on other planets, moons, and stars.” I was grateful
for the opportunity to bring this information forward in a scholarly
manner and proud to have accomplished it after the obstacles that had
been in my way. Toward the conclusion of the dissertation, I
suggested that, in order to help legitimize this experience so the
topic can be discussed without prejudice, the term “Extra-Planetary
Experience (XPE)” might be added to join the lexicon of NDE,
OBE, and AAE as a descriptor of extraordinary human experiences. And
bingo! The birth of the extra-planetary Experience (XPE) had come about.
As my thoughts shifted to a larger audience, I wanted to restructure
the dissertation into a more reader-friendly version for the wider
world to enjoy. With a new book and title in mind, I revisited the
dissertation to make it more attractive to people with no knowledge
of the topic as well as to experts in the field. After some help from
professional editors, such as Rosemary Coffey, and the staff at Inner
Traditions/Bear & Company, the result is my new book title “The
Extra-Planetary Experience; Alien-Human Contact and the Expansion of
Consciousness.”
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