In re-reading Jung's book - FLYING SAUCERS: A MODERN MYTH OF THINGS SEEN IN THE SKIES [Bolligen Series, Princeton University Press, 1978] - for this excursion, I was taken aback by this in the Editorial Note by W.M. [vii]:
"As early as 1946 Jung had begun to collect data on unidentified flying objects... he read virtually every book on the subject,"
And Jung wrote [Page 131]... "in spite of the interest I have taken in the subject since about 1946 "...
What (extensive?) material was there in 1946, about flying saucers? The Swedish "ghost rockets" and what else?
Jung refers to UFOs as a "rumour" and deals essentially with "the psychic aspect of the phenomenon" writing that "they [Ufos] are to be regarded as SYMBOLS representing, in visual form, some thought that was not thought consciously.... The visible form, however, expresses the meaning of the unconscious content only approximately... the meaning has to be completed by amplificatory interpretation. "[Page 19]
"... [one] must think of such images not as forms inherent in the psyche but as existing somewhere in extra-psychic, metaphysical space, or else ad historical facts." [ibid]
He writes that "The alternative hypothesis that Ufos are something psychic that is endowed with certain physical properties seems even less probable, fro where should such a thing come from?" [Page 110]
And... "there is a... possibility: that Ufos are real material of an unknown nature, presumably coming from outer space "... [ibid]
"The possibility of a purely psychological explanation [of Ufos] is illusory, for a large number of observations point to a natural phenomenon or even a physical one". [Page 132]
"The "disks"... show signs of intelligent guidance such as would suggest quasi-human pilots." [ibid]
Interestingly, Jung offers this about contactee Orfeo Angelucci, whose tale Jung presents "in toto":
"Angelucci has described in the greatest detail the mystic experience associated with a Ufo vision... The story is so na"ive and clear that... it could be regarded as a unique document that sheds a great deal of light on the genesis and assimilation of Ufo mythology." [Page 117]
On Page 107 (in the paperback edition I'm using here) Jung writes:
"Professor [Donald] Menzel, has not succeeded, despite all his efforts, in offering a satisfying scientific explanation of even one authentic Ufo report." [Page 107]
... "even if Ufos are physically real, the corresponding psychic projections are not exactly caused but are occasioned by them". [ibid]
And for some of us who think some UFO reports are hallucinatory is this:
"In the individual, too, such phenomena as abnormal convictions, illusions, etc., only occur when he is suffering from psychic dissociation..." [Page 13]
Jung got much of his Ufo information from the work of Captain Ed Ruppelt and his [Jung's] association with Donald Keyhoe, and the Lorenzens (APRO) somewhat, with whom he was misinterpreted as a "flying saucer believer," a position he disavowed.
Jung's absolute position about flying saucers and Ufos [sic] was:
"SOMETHING IS SEEN, BUT IT ISN'T KNOWN WHAT" [Page 136] which he reiterated several times in his book and writings on the subject.
Jungs treats UFOs as archetypal symbols (the mandala) and products of psychical projections, skirting their reality as material objects.
His view, as I understand it, doesn't allow for UFOs to be created, "in situ "or actually, by psychic projection, but he comes close to saying that:
"I have found it impossible to determine even approximately the nature of these [Ufo] observations. So far only one thing is certain; it is not just a rumour, something is seen. What is seen may individual cases be a subjective vision (or hallucination), or, in the case of several observers seeing it simultaneously, a collective one". [Page 131]
"Something material could be seen, or something psychic could be seen. Both are realities, but of different kinds." [Page 136]
And for CDA and a few others, Jung closes with this:
"If it is true that the AAF [American Air Force] or the Government withholds telltale facts, then one can only say that this is the most unpsychological and stupid policy one could invent. Nothing helps rumours nd panics more than ignorance. It is self-evident that the public ought to be told the truth, because ULTIMATELY IT WILL NEVERTHELESS COME TO THE LIGHT OF DAY". [Bold italics are mine]
And for Lance Moody and a few others:
"The press seems to enjoy lies more than the truth." [In a letter to Donald Keyhoe. Page 138]
"N.B. I'LL BE PROVIDING, NEXT UP, WHAT THE TITLE OF THIS POSTING PROMISES."
0 comments:
Post a Comment