NOTES FROM THE CONTACT UNDERGROUND

The UFO “Code of Silence” and Why Breaking this Taboo is So Important for the future of Terrestrial Civilization.

Joseph Burkes MD 2018, edited 2021

OMERTA: a code of silence practiced by the Mafia; a refusal to give evidence to the police about illegal activities.

I grew up in the lower Westside of Manhattan in the 1950s. Little Italy was a neighborhood near Washington Square Park. I played there as a child. Long before Francis Coppola’s blockbuster 1973 hit movie “The Godfather” was produced, I was aware of the Mafia’s presence as part of “life in the big city.”

Fast-forward thirty years to the early 1990s. I was partner in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group that works for the Kaiser Health Plan. I lived in West Los Angeles California with my wife and our two children.

A RADICAL UFO RESEARCH PROJECT

After reading about UFOs for a year I decided to get involved in an investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. I volunteered to be a Working Group Coordinator for a UFO research project called the CE-5 (Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind) Initiative. This involved going to UFO hot spots and using powerful lights and thought projection in an attempt to attract UFOs to our research sites.

My credentials as a fellow MD helped me recruit two of my medical partners, “Dr. Dave Gordon and his wife Dr. Eve Gordon. Dave was interested in UFOs since childhood, but he hadn’t given the subject much attention in years. As did I, he suddenly developed a passionate interest in the UFO subject in 1991.

A REMARKABLE SURVEY AT A MEDICAL CENTER

Dave was a highly respected physician in the Department of Family Medicine, so much so, that when he proposed to do a survey about UFO sightings among his patients, his departmental chief supported the proposal. During subsequent months he interviewed over six hundred patients and medical center workers about UFO sightings. The survey included doctors and other health professionals as well.

His results matched large national surveys that showed about 10 percent of the population claim to have had a UFO sighting. In five percent of those he interviewed, the objects were close enough to discern actual shapes of what appeared to be anomalous craft and not merely some strange lights in the night sky.

MEMORIES OF ENCOUNTERS WITH NON-HUMAN BEINGS

One percent of survey responders, about ten people in Dr. Gordon’s sample, described having memories of extremely strange encounters with non-human beings that most identified as “aliens.” Some of the encounters however were viewed as “angelic” and a few were so strange that they defied any category.

What made David’s survey robust is that he knew the personal and medical history of almost all those surveyed, People with alcoholism, or other mental infirmities were eliminated from the study. Dr. Gordon could easily do this screening task because he was the personal physician of most of the responders. Others who were not his patients were highly productive health workers at the medical center.

When it comes to UFO surveys, self-styled debunkers often ask questions like, “How many of those who saw flying saucers also had sightings of Elvis Presley’s ghost?” The clear suggestion is that only “crackpots” see and believe in UFOs. Dr. Dave Gordon’s screening procedure answers this objection making his study of unique importance.

THE STRENGTH OF THE CODE OF SILENCE

One response to the survey gives us a peek into the power of the societal taboo against people sharing their UFO contact experiences. A middle-aged female patient presented to Doctor Gordon’s clinic. She spoke Armenian, not English. Her son served as translator. After the medical evaluation, David mentioned that he had a personal interest in UFOs that was separate from the care he was giving her. He explained that he wanted to ask a few questions about any possible UFO sightings she might have had.

Instead of getting a quick reply to his question, Dr. Daniel witnessed a prolonged animated discussion in Armenian between mother and son. When the translator finally “came up for air”, he explained in English that some twenty years before when they were living in Turkey, both he and his mother had dramatic separate sighting of what appeared to be the exact same unidentified flying object. Both came to the same conclusion that what they had witnessed was clearly not from this planet. Nevertheless, neither had ever dared to mention to the other what they had seen separately.

What might we learn from this anecdote? I suggest that this account is a measure of the powerful taboo that prevents witnesses from speaking out about their close encounters. The bond of a mother to her child is one of the strongest that we can experience. Nevertheless, this closeness for some people is insufficient to overcome the flying saucer taboo, the UFO code of silence.

WHY THE COVER-UP?

Despite some recent openness on this subject, flying saucers from my point of view are clearly something that the authorities don’t want us to discuss seriously. Hollywood nonstop produces alien movies, and as long as the subject is portrayed within the realm of fantasy, the taboo doesn’t apply. In my judgment, what may turn out to be an extraterrestrial or interdimensional presence is perceived as a fundamental challenge to all terrestrial power elites. This includes military, political and most importantly economic sectors of the ruling classes.

The massive campaign of denial concerning the importance of the phenomenon and the ridicule of witnesses, reflect in part the ways in which dominant political/economic groups enforce their collective will. This is not a conspiracy theory. It is merely the way in which powerful groups at the top maintain the status quo. And to a great extent they have succeeded in keeping a partial lid on the situation. Despite the apparent wishes of our rulers however, flying saucers refuse to go away. New sightings and other contact experiences are being reported all the time.

PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLATING THE CODE

The success of this social “gag order” requires penalties if the taboo is broken. For breaking the Mafia’s “vow of silence” known as Omerta, the consequences can be very serious indeed. The Mafia kills to enforce its taboo against informing on them to the police. In the flying saucer field, such severe penalties need not be used.

Contact experiencers and all those that express themselves passionately on this subject, don’t fear for their lives. Instead, they might face discipline at work, as in the case of professional pilot sightings, or loss of the respect of family members and co-workers that results from challenging this taboo. Understandably many witnesses censor themselves. They are afraid to talk about it. This is what apparently happened in the case of the Armenian mother and son described in Dr. Gordon’s research project.

A NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENT?

How can supporters of UFO truth oppose this odious “vow of silence,” our special version of Omerta imposed by “the powers that be?” It is a kind of act of self-censorship that is practiced each time one chooses to limit UFO discussions to a “small circle of friends.”

I believe that the solution to this problem will depend in large part on the success of UFO truth activists to get the word out. Responsible public educational programs about the flying saucers are being conducted by only a few groups. Over time, these efforts may translate into the creation of a new social movement, one that declares UFOs are important because they just might hold the key to solutions for the environmental crisis related to greenhouse gases.

This might come about if flying saucer propulsion technology could be safely shared with Earth civilization. This of course is a big “if.” I suspect that our acquiring such technology will only occur after a series of important steps are taken by Earth civilization. This would include establishing an enduring world peace based on environmental and social justice. A necessary component of this transformation would be not only outlawing weapons of mass destruction, but also a comprehensive disarmament process leading towards the total abolishment of war. If humanity has been able to eliminate ritual human sacrifice and most forms of chattel slavery, then a world without war is also a conceivable goal.

An additional important factor is that the flying saucer phenomenon should not be framed exclusively within the extraterrestrial hypothesis. Although this explanation is certainly the most popular one, it has been challenged by important researchers including Dr. Jacques Vallee and John Keel. The ability of the flying saucer intelligences to manipulate spacetime, be totally telepathic and employ illusory mechanisms of contact that I call the Virtual Experience Model, together suggest that the phenomenon is far more complex than what has been described in the popular imagination as “ET visitations.” Despite uncertainty about what the agents responsible for flying saucers are, their willingness to interfere with nuclear weapons systems, the numerous accounts of UFO associated medical healings and the positive spiritual transformations described by experiencers, all suggest to me that flying saucer intelligences are having a positive impact. It is conceivable that they might even be willing to assist in the establishment of world peace by facilitating a spiritual transformation within humanity.

CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING FOLLOWED BY POLITICAL ORGANIZING

As a former peace and social justice activist from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, I understand that a struggle to lay the foundation for such a radical social movement will depend on decisions made by countless individuals. We will have to renounce the UFO “code of silence.“ Speaking out is the first step. This is often called “consciousness raising.” Creating well-funded democratically organized groups that link the flying saucer phenomenon to possible solutions to the seemingly unsurmountable challenges facing humanity in my opinion will be an important next step.

The struggle to achieve these radical goals can only start when ordinary people in large numbers start to seriously speak out about UFOs at every reasonable opportunity. Organizations to guide this process will not be easy to create. Most initial attempts will likely fail. But those false starts will provide the organizational experience required for future successes.

I am proposing that those who feel passionately about this subject should create diverse networks of activists that will work in coalitions. These organizations could organize a massive public educational campaign on the importance of UFOs, not for personal knowledge alone or as a challenge to the scientific establishment, but rather for the health and welfare of our planet.

To accomplish this lofty goal, the campaign will need to continuously draw in new talent. The enthusiastic participation of young people is especially important. This is because, in my judgment, this vital struggle will likely go on for many decades, if not for centuries.

To start this process, I ask each person that finds this message compelling to discuss ways that activists can form democratically organized groups to start building the new kind of social movement that is outlined above. The specific steps we take to involve others are like planting seeds that someday might blossom into a broad social awareness of how truly important this subject is for the future of humanity.

About the author: Joseph Burkes MD is a Board -Certified Internal Medicine physician. He retired from the Southern California Permanente Group after 30 years of service in 2008. During the 1960s through the 1980s he was a volunteer peace and social justice activist working with Physicians for Social Responsibility, The United Farm Workers Union and pro-labor coalitions that were part of the occupational health and safety movement.

Dr. Burkes volunteered as a Working Group Coordinator for the Close Encounters of the 5th Initiative from 1992 till 1998. He has continued to study the flying saucer phenomenon working with the Foundation for Research into Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Experiences (FREE) and the Peruvian contact network now called Rahma. Joseph Burkes MD is co-author of the book “Paths to Contact” edited by Jeff Becker. He also has co-authored a chapter on UAP associated medical healings with researcher Preston Dennett in the FREE compendium “Beyond UFOs” edited by Rey Hernandez. He has submitted a chapter for publication in a compendium of essays being published by CCRI, The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute. The book titled “A Greater Reality” is scheduled for publication in late 2021.