by Dan Geib
With the growing Media presence of aliens and UFOs, one begins to ponder the question, "Are we being conditioned, prepared if you will, for some new revelation of the existence of ET in our world, or, as with everything else, is it just good ole capitalism at work?"
Well, let's see. The last time I was in a Meijers Super Store, I couldn't miss all the alien apparel available. Alien t-shirts, alien coffee mugs -- I even have a guitar pick with an alien on it. I'm still waiting for alien smiley faces and a bumper sticker that says, "Have you hugged an alien today?" Odds are, I won't wait long.
At this level I am tempted to say that the onslaught of TV & Media coverage is just a marketing gimmick to reach deep into the pockets of those caught up in the trendy fad of believing in UFOs.
But several things have happened, beyond the NASA Announcement of "Life on Mars" and the overwhelming amount of UFO video footage available, that at least tempt me to consider the alternatives.
1. Disney rocks my parents' world!
For those of you unfamiliar with the Disney Video, a quick summary is required. The Disney video is a 1 hour program, endorsed by Michael Eisner, the CEO of Walt Disney, and billed as a commercial for the new attraction "Alien ("ExtraTERRORestrial") Encounters"at Orlando, Florida's Disney World. The video spends no more than 3 minutes on the attraction and the rest is dedicated to point blank, in your face, UFOs are REAL and the Government has been lying.
A more detailed analysis can be found at UFO Folklore inside of "Want to see a UFO?" If you have never seen this video, you should.
I had my parents watch the Disney film. My parents are in their late '70s, early '80s. As it began, my mom was quite relaxed, comfortable -- you know, real nice Disney program. But they then proceeded to go into the whole deal, and I could tell my mother was getting very upset. She started smoking a lot and was visibly in distress. This is very unusual for Disney to be scaring our moms, isn't it?
HOWEVER! By the time it was over, she had calmed down. She almost had a look of peace about her. She turned to me and said, "Well, the Bible never said that God only made us." I was just floored. Do you see what happened? She fought an internal war between her beliefs and the perceived reality unfolding before her. And it was good ole Walt Disney and Friends that were doing it. But she won her war and managed to have her existence accept the notion and still have peace in her life.
Conditioning or commercialism? Hmmmm.
2. Aliens at the grade school
Among other things in my life, I am a proud single parent of a great 8 year old boy. He accepts the idea that there may be neighbors in the stars and his exposure to it from me is very, very limited. So one day he comes home from school with a great big grin on his face and says, "Dad, read my story that I wrote in school today. Everyone really liked it, even my teacher!"
Well, how could I refuse? I must admit that there was a moment of deafening silence when I was done. It was quite a story. And yes, I'll share it with you now.
And to think that I saw it on West Garden lane.
It really wasn't children walking I saw,
but it was aliens meditating through the sky,
Now this is really becoming a story.
It wasn't really a bus I saw, it was a huge alien ship
abducting me. I can't wait to tell my friends!
Well I declare! What's a parent to do? But with the current frenzy of alien marketing, is it any wonder? For anyone who might consider this an overstatement, consider the following.
3. I have a book that I ordered from my son's second grade book club. It's called UFO Kids, Real Kids, Spellbinding Tales, by Allen Zullo. It states up front that the stories are taken directly from files of experts who investigate UFO encounters and that the names have been changed to protect everyone's privacy. In second grade. Can you believe it? The cover shows two kids fleeing for their lives in a boat from an onrushing UFO while the preface continues to drive the question, "Are we alone ?"
Conditioning or commercialism ? Hmmmm.
That really does seem to be the question. Well, which is it? I don't know, but it does cause a moment to wonder. Are we really not alone? Is all this marketing flurry also a subtle conditioning?
The "facts" of aliens and the TV shows that they are being associated with have become more accepted in public discussion -- something that years ago would have been severely ridiculed. There are more good videos of flying machines than you can shake a you know what at! If there isn't a conditioning process going on, it's really too bad, because it seems to be working just fine.
Me, I'm waiting for my bumper sticker and smiley face!
Original file name: .CNI - Aliens in the '90s !
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