A few years ago it would have been almost impossible to seriously discuss something like the esoteric intervention theory. You would immediately be associated with the cultists and the lunatic fringe. But today the situation within ufology is somewhat different. The writings of Vallee, Keel and others have opened up new vistas, new possibilities and to a large extent changed the ideological trends in ufology. In his latest book "Messengers of Deception", Jacques Vallee presents several theories to account for the obvious strangeness of UFO phenomena. One of these is the esoteric intervention theory (1): "Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that one or several groups of men had in fact learned to control some physical processes by means that ordinary experience would call 'Magical' ...Suppose it had developed a way to project scenes at a distance, to control and amplify psychokinetic abilities of human subjects, or to create entities similar to the 'tulpas' of Tibetan folklore... The persons controlling such a 'psychotronic technology' might even have already archieved contact with other forms of consciousness, and might know the real nature of UFOs, or they might try to convince others that they do".

This theory or myth, with minor variations, has been a constant feature in occult and mystical literature throughout the ages. It resembles, and has much of the archetypal qualities of the master concept in modern theosophy or the mystical romanticism of Shangri-La in James Hiltons novel Lost Horizon. In this article I wish to present some literary sources anent this theory. Actually I got the original inspiration for this study from John Keel. In his magazine Anomaly (2) he mentioned a book called The Ultimate Frontier by Eklal Kueshana (pseudonym for Richard Kieninger). This autobiography by Mr Kleninger describes how early in life he was contacted by a secret brotherhood and given the mission of starting a community, based on the "lemurian philosophy". This community, called Stelle, is now flourishing in Illinois.

According to this source there are seven "Lesser Brotherhoods" in the world all working together (3): "The Brotherhoods...each maintains a physical headquarters hidden within a mountain retreat. They remain far removed from the interference of men and the machinations of civilization. In short, there is no way to identify them or to find them". The flying saucers used by these ancient brotherhoods is described thus (4): "The ones which are from this planet are sauces-shaped of generally trapezoidal cross-section with three hemispherical engine pods on the underside. They were first developed by man on this planet about 20.000 years ago and have been used by members of the Lesser Brotherhoods continuously since that time".

This information somewhat startled me as here was a clear description of the classic Adamski-type saucer. Through personal correspondence I learned that Mr Kieninger (5) "has heard of Adamski...(but) is not at all familiar with his experiences". Regarding the brotherhoods retreats the implications are that because of their combined use of highly developed technology and psychic powers they can keep their retreats secret from unwelcome intruders. "... there are isolated places in the world which are safe from detection, and the Brothers know where those places are".

Several ufologists maintain that part of the phenomenon could be staged by a group with the aim to change our concepts of reality and thereby our consciousness. Vallee advances the theory of a control system, a way to condition our social behavior. It is interesting to note that the same was said regarding the spiritistic phenomena a century ago. The theosophist Charles Leadbeater claims in his book "The Astral Plane" to have met such a group. They have their headquarters on the American continent and have existed since Atlantean times, according to Leadbeater (6): " The Chiefs of the Lodge, though they have always kept themselves and their society in the background, have nevertheless done what they could from time to time to assist the progress of truth in the world. Nearly a century ago, in despair at the rampant materialism which seemed to be stifling all spirituality i Europe and America, they determind to make an attempt to combat it by somewhat novel methods - in point of fact to offer opportunities by which any reasonable man could acquire absolute proof of that life apart from the physical body which it was the tendency of science to deny. The phenomena exhibited were not in themselves new... but their definite organization - their production as it were to order - these were features distinctly new to the modern world. The movement which they thus set on foot gradually grew into the vast fabric of modern spiritualism...".

A similar view is held by the theosophical writher Dane Rudhyar, who in "Occult Preparations for a new age" compares spiritualism and ufology (7): "Both movements represent an attempt at expanding consciousness and human contacts, and it will be interesting to see whether, after 1975, the occult 'messenger' announced by H.P.B (Blavatsky) will use the UFO concept to gain public notice, and soon after also show that the usual interpretation given to flying saucers and space-people is not the correct one". As Vallee ringly points out in "The Edge of Reality" (8): "There is no occult school that has a tradition of UFOs". Many of them speaks of airvehicles used by earlier civilizations but nothing is mentioned of a high technology in secret groups living in our time. As far as I am aware the only exception is the teaching of Stelle but their material was not published until after the beginning of the UFO era.

In the November, 1947 issue of Fantastic Stories an article - "Son of the Sun" - appeared (9) which is related to the above problem. Although it was published before the contectee era it contains much that was later told by Adamski, Menger, Fry and others. The article begins: "We are already here,among you. Some of us have always been here, with you, yet apart from you, watching, and occasionally guided you whenever the opportunity arose. Now, however, our numbers have been increased in preparation for a further step in the development of your planet...Some of you have seen our 'advanced guard' already. You have met us often in the streets of your cities, and you have not noticed us. But when we flash through your skies in the ancient traditional vehicles you are amazed..."

The lack of an occult tradition of UFOs could possibly be answered by another quotation (10): "If we chose to remain invisible, we could do so, easily, and, in fact, we have done so almost without exception for hundreds o f years. But you must become accustomed to our shapes in your skies, for one day they will be familiar, friendly and reassuring sights." As noted before the description of the saucers used by the lesser brotherhoods according to Richard Kieninger were exact replicas of the Adamski saucer. Could the Adamski, Menger and other contacts have been psychological tests from the brotherhoods? May the Venus origin have been given as a front to cover their real hiding place?

There are indications pointing in this direction in "From Outer Space" by Howard Menger (11): "Let us assume that there is on this planet a group of scientifically minded and spiritually dedicated men and woman who are working to accomplish this great task ( a cultural renaissance - HB) ... To continue their work and remain effective, they must of necessity remain behind the scenes. However, they can, in the interest of humanity in general, send out hints as to what will take place in the near future. Perhaps they send out scouts to make personal contacts for the specific reason of determining the reactions of everyday people. Perhaps it is done as a 'smoke-screen' to temporarily keep secret the real work... There are perhaps, many bases of operation already established on, under and above this earth which prepare to meet this coming challenge..."

Although Menger claims that Venus, Mars and Saturn are the source from which saucers come he also has something to say anent esoteric brotherhoods (12): "There are also space craft, though of inferior design, which are built by people of this planet. These people are in communication with people from other planets. They are people who possess a high spiritual understanding and have reached an awareness of natural law; therefore they have been entrusted with information enabling them to construct such craft."

From the above few quotations we can clearly see that the esoteric intervention theory is not new but simply a variation of an age old belief. During this study I have uncovered many other sources with a possible relevance to this theory, but many of these sources are so closely interwoven with the inner earth theory that I have refrained from presenting them here. What is the value of this type of study? It is of course very easy to criticize comparisons like this. By mixing ufological and occult sources you can find support for just any wild idea. Trying to explain one unknown with another unknown must be considered the ultimate of speculation. But the complexity of the UFO enigma forces us to try every avenue of approach. We should leave no stone unturned. A source study like this has its value in clarifying an alternative explanation model.

References

1.Vallee, Jacques. Messengers of Deception. Berkely, CA : And/Or Press, 1979, p 205-206.

2. Keel, John. Anomalies. Anomaly, No. 5, Oct 1970, p 72.

3. Kueshanna, Eklal. The Ultimate Frontier. Chicago, Ill. : The Stelle Group, 1970 ( 1st ed. 1963), pp. 51-52.

4. Kieninger, Richard. Observations 1. Chicago, Ill. : The Stelle group, 1971, pp. 1-2.

5. Personal correspondence, June 4, 1979 and Nov. 12, 1979.

6. Leadbeater, C W. The Astral Plane. Adyar, India : The Theosophical Publishing House, 7th ed. 1970 (1st ed. 1895), pp. 143-144.

7. Rudhyar, Dane. Occult Preparations for a New Age. Wheaton, Ill. : The Theosophical Publishing House, 1975, p. 44.

8. Hynek, J Allen and Vallee, Jacques. The Edge of Reality. Chicago, Ill. : Henry Regnery Co. , 1975, p. 145.

9. Blade, Alexander. Son of the Sun. Reprinted in Flying Saucer Rewiew, Vol. 4:6, Nov. - Dec. 1958, pp. 24-25.

10. Ibid.

11. Menger, Howard. From Outer Space. New York, N.Y. : Pyramid Books, 1967, p. 7.

12. Ibid. p. 153.

Håkan Blomqvist

(Published in AFU nyhetsblad/newsletter, no. 19, april/sept. 1980)