THE BOUNDARIES OF ORTHODOXY: A FOLKLORIC LOOK AT THE UFO PHENOMENON

This dissertation utilizes as its operative term, the UFO Phenomenon. This term represents the full spectrum of human interaction with unorthodox entities clearly not of the realm of the conventional sensory orientation to experience, entities referred to as spiritual and characterized by spontaneous movement, spontaneous capacity to produce images independent of sense perception, and autonomous and sovereign control over these images. The acronym UFO in popular usage equals flying saucer, that is, hardware of an extraterrestrial technology. Flying saucers constitute but the latest frame of reference which our mechanistic, scientific milieu uses as a descriptive and explanatory term. The UFO Phenomenon is a multi-linked chain of various structural frames of reference that different cultures have utilized to describe and analyze their experiences with spiritual entities. This dissertation has as its major proposition a hypothesis called the Differentiated Experiential Continuum. The continuum emphasizes its interconnectedness and all-embracing features. The differentiated indicates that one can still distinguish the various structural frames of reference from each other. The experiential means of or pertaining to human experience. The UFO Phenomenon is approached here from within the framework of descriptive phenomenology, systematically organizing parallels among the human interactions with spiritual entities, from the beginnings of recorded history to the present. Focus lies here with what people believe they have experienced, how they interpret their experience, and what happens to them as a result of their experience. It is argued that UFOs are paraphysical, that is, multiple presence phenomena sometimes involving psychological and psychic features. Data coming from folkloric, scientific, popular UFO literature and the author\u27s own fieldwork is examined and interpreted predominately from folkloric perspectives, although historical, psychological, scientific and paranormal paradigms are also used