A Close Encounter of the Third Kind with Love.
CONTACT NETWORK HISTORY PROJECT
Joseph Burkes MD 2018, edited 2021
It has been said that consciousness is the “golden thread” that ties us to UFO intelligences. If the ET hypothesis is correct, and UFOs are an extraterrestrial manifestation, then it is obvious that we are going to be very different from beings/intelligences responsible for flying saucers. After all, we don’t share a common history, language or biological evolution, but what both humans and alleged ETs share, as conscious intelligent beings have in common, is that we are awake and are aware of this wakefulness.
Perhaps we can share states of being that come from that clear quiet place that we call consciousness itself. For those of us who have met the “visitors” face to face, there exists the possibility of sharing a sense of peace and even joy. Although it may sound corny, as this narrative suggests we may also be able to communicate with, and share love.
“COMING OUT” OF THE UFO CLOSET
In 1992, I joined a network of UFO investigators that were part Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind (CE-5) Initiative. We were engaged in what I like to call Human. Initiated Contact Events (HICE). Following some rudimentary protocols, we repeatedly went out into the field at night in an attempt to attract Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) to our research sites. My initial enthusiastic support for network’s contact efforts led me to a rather daring action. Some would call it foolish. I decided to set up an information booth about the CE-5 Initiative at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting. In 1992, it was held in Washington DC. My medical group partner Dr. David Gordon accompanied me. He had also volunteered to participate in our Los Angeles CE-5 Initiative Working Group.
The APHA’s annual meeting draws about 10,000 health professionals whose political views are more to the left than mainstream medicine’s. The American Public Health Association(APHA) has historically championed the health rights of women, ethnic minorities and workers. During the first few years of my medical career, I had actively participated in the Occupational Health and Safety section of the APHA. In 1979 I was co-founder of the Los Angeles Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, a coalition of health care and legal professionals that endeavored through education and advocacy to make workplaces safer.
WORKING THE CROWD
At a beautiful new convention center in the nation’s capital, under a royal blue banner embroidered with the slogan “One Universe, One People!”, David and I “worked” the conference participants. A small TV monitor played dramatic footage of UFOs, while I called out to passersbys, “Would you like to see a UFO video?” Apparently quite a few did; over 250 nurses, doctors and administrators watched the film clips and chatted with us during the 3-day conference. About forty signed up for more information. The bravest shared their personal stories of sightings and other contact events.
A CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE THIRD KIND WITH LOVE
A PhD professor of nursing gave the most impressive report to me. From her convention badge I identified her as a faculty member from a major university. She watched the videos for a few minutes and then allowed me to interview her about her personal contact experience.
Some seven years before, she reportedly had a Close Encounter of the Third Kind. After nightfall while camping with her fiancée, her tent was filled with a very bright light. All around the campsite she could hear footsteps. Apparently from prior encounters she immediately realized that she was having a contact experience. The professor reported not being able to move but was fully awake. She could not stir her friend that was sound asleep beside her. One humanoid stuck his head into the tent. By her description, the being was the typical so-called “Gray,” big head with wrap-around eyes. My nursing colleague told me that she was happily excited and frightened at the same time.
The being quickly retreated, but she could see his shadow and those of several other similar beings on the walls of her tent that were illuminated by the flickering light of the campfire. She told me that she sent out the thought, “I love you.” In a flash she felt a forceful burst of electric type energy. The sensation surged through her body from the top of her head down to the tip of her toes. The non-human beings left her campsite, and the encounter was over.
There on the exhibit floor, under the bright lights with hundreds of booths and thousands of participants around us, she had described the experience simply, matter of fact, with just a touch of amazement. I was a perfect stranger to her, and yet she was willing to share her recollections of an intimate contact with what she believed were non-humans.
I described to her the ambitious goals of the CE-5 Initiative. She listened politely but chose not to sign up for more information. After all, she was a professor at a major university and the notoriety of being a contact experiencer might cause her considerable professional harm. She wished me well in my campaign and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.
About the author: Joseph Burkes MD volunteered as a Working Group Coordinator for the CE-5 Initiative from 1992 till 1998. He continued to study the flying saucer phenomenon working with the Peruvian based contact network now called Rahma and more recently as a medical consultant for the Foundation for Research into ET and Extraordinary Experiences, (FREE). He is co-author of the book “Paths to Contact” edited by Jeff Becker. Preston Dennett and Dr. Burkes are co-authors of a chapter that deals with UFO medical healings in FREE’s 2018 compendium, “Beyond UFOs.” Dr Burkes has a submitted a chapter to the compendium “A Greater Reality” to be published in 2022 by the Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) Joseph Burkes MD retired from the Southern California Permanente Medical Group after thirty years of service in 2008. He is a board-certified internal medicine physician and is licensed to practice in California.
