Tucker Carlson raised some eyebrows recently with certain comments on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience. Tucker claimed that he believed UFOs were a “spiritual” or “supernatural” phenomenon. This provoked a choir of media jeers and sneers over these supposedly “ridiculous” statements. What the talking heads failed to realize is that Tucker was simply restating the Jacques Vallee thesis but in a crude and watered-down way.
Any of my more attentive readers will be well familiar with that name. In the second half of the 20th century, Jacque Vallee pioneered a new methodology for researching and contextualizing UFOs, which he introduced to the public in his book Passport to Magonia. The novelty of his approach was that he flipped the ‘Ancient Astronauts’ hypothesis on its head. While television shows such as “Ancient Aliens” view anomalous historical phenomena through the lens of modern UFO mythology, Valle views UAP encounters through the lens of folklore and ancient myth. In the words of Jeffrey Kripal, “Why read ancient religious texts through the prism of the UFO as ultra-modern machine? Why not read modern UFO encounters through the prism of ancient religious texts, that is, as discarnate souls, modern gods or revelation events.” (Kripal 2016).
Last summer I released several articles in which I employed Vallee’s approach to UFO encounters but through a strictly Biblical framework, inspired in part by Professor Diana Pasulka. Due to my recent obsession with the legends of Agartha, Shambhala, and inner earth, I have decided to take a fresh approach to UFO’s through the prism of this particular mythological complex. Our approach will utilize the works of writers such as Roerich, Sant-Yves, Serrano, Evola, and Guenon, while also engaging directly with folklore and mythology. In this, I will attempt to trace a new genealogy of the UFO as a phenomenon. I would recommend first reading my last three articles entitled “Between Xanadu and Shambhala” before continuing. (I would also like to reemphasize my great debt to the scholar Joscelyn Godwin, whose work has guided me through this all).
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Comprehensive histories of modern UFO encounters usually begin with the infamous Kenneth Arnold sighting. On June 24, 1947, a private pilot observed a chain of glittering objects flying over Mt Ranier at speeds around 12,000 miles an hour. This report began the post-war UFO mania that continues today. But I propose a different candidate to single out as the first modern UFO sighting, an event that will allow us to reframe the entire phenomenon and explore uncharted waters.
August 5, 1927. Nicholas Roerich, the famous painter, adventurer, and peace activist, witnessed an anomalous event in the Kukunor district during his expedition to Tibet:
(Roerich- Altai Himmalaya)
And in his book “Shambhala,” he gives a longer explanation.
If you have been following my Shambhala article series (which I will continue in the coming weeks) then many of these names will already be familiar. As Godwin explains in Arktos:
In the Roerich’s books, Rigden-Jyepo is the prophesied Lord of the New Era of Shambhala, who is currently preparing an invincible army. He is the “Ruler of the World,” and none less than Maitreya, the Last Avatar who brings the Kali Yuga to an end and opens the new Krita or Satya Yuga.
Twenty years before the Kenneth Arnold sighting and the development of the modern UFO mythos, Roerich had an experience with a UFO that he explicitly linked to Shambhala. This is extraordinary, as the modern UFO myth will eventually incorporate subterranean realms and inner earth into its narratives. To return to the Tucker interview, Carlson dwelled on the fact that certain UFOs were reported to inexplicably descend and emerge from bodies of water, implying some connection with passages within the earth or at the bottom of the sea. This should be justification enough to highlight Roerich’s sighting as the first of the modern era.
The Lama who linked the UFO to Shambhala and Rigden Jyepo also hints at another now-established aspect of the modern UFO mythos. The eschatological element. UFO enthusiasts of all stripes tend to associate UFO phenomenon with the eschaton— whether flying saucers are recognized as harbingers of a final apocalypse or vanguards of a new age, the eschatological dimension is almost always touched upon in UFO mania. Followers of Seraphim Rose go so far as to incorporate UFOs into the Christian revelation, perceiving the anomalies as angelic or demonic agents at the precipice of Armageddon.
Now that we have established sufficient justification to center Roerichs encounter as the first of the modern era, let us continue with the rest of the passage.
Immediately after describing the UFO, he explains the story of a black stone, implying a link between this stone and the airborne entity he witnessed. The man at the campfire describes it as an object of great power, that wanders the earth in the possession of great conquerors, and its movement precipitates world historical events. Just like the UFO, he links the stone to the Rigden Jyepo and Shambhala, claiming the stone radiates auspicious energy, which “penetrates all oceans and mountains.”
But the most extraordinary part of the passage is the claim that this stone of Shambhala is the same stone of Wolfram von Eschebach’s romance Parzival, aka The Holy Grail. AND it is said to be the Philosophers Stone of Paracelsus and the Western Alchemical tradition.
If you read my UFO investigations from last summer, you will recall that by drawing upon the academic work of Dr Diana Walsh Pasulka I highlighted an alchemical element at the heart of the UFO phenomenon. And to see this link in one of the very first modern UFO encounters is nothing short of astonishing. More on that later.
The Polish writer and explorer Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski also speaks of a legendary black stone in his book Beasts, Gods, and Men.
When the secretary had closed the chest, the Bogdo ordered him to summon his favorite Maramba, whom he directed to read some pages from an ancient book lying on the table. The Lama began to read monotonously.
“When Gushi Khan, the Chief of all the Olets or Kalmucks, finished the war with the ‘Red Caps’ in Tibet, he carried out with him the miraculous ‘black stone’ sent to the Dalai Lama by the ‘King of the World.’ Gushi Khan wanted to create in Western Mongolia the capital of the Yellow Faith; but the Olets at that time were at war with the Manchu Emperors for the throne of China and suffered one defeat after another. The last Khan of the Olets, Amursana, ran away into Russia but before his escape sent to Urga the sacred ‘black stone.’ While it remained in Urga so that the Living Buddha could bless the people with it, disease and misfortune never touched the Mongolians and their cattle. About one hundred years ago, however, some one stole the sacred stone and since then Buddhists have vainly sought it throughout the whole world. With its disappearance the Mongol people began gradually to die.”
And again:
“The former Bogdo Khans told fortunes only by the use of the ‘black stone,’” said the Maramba. “On the surface of the stone appeared Tibetan inscriptions which the Bogdo read and thus learned the lot of whole nations.”
When the Maramba spoke of the black stone with the Tibetan legends appearing on it, I at once recalled that it was possible. In southeastern Urianhai, in Ulan Taiga, I came across a place where black slate was decomposing. All the pieces of this slate were covered with a special white lichen, which formed very complicated designs, reminding me of a Venetian lace pattern or whole pages of mysterious runes. When the slate was wet, these designs disappeared; and then, as they were dried, the patterns came out again.
Here we have two independent sources for this mysterious black stone in a central Asian context by two different European explorers— Ossendowski and Roerich. In both cases, they are linked to the same figure, the man Roerich calls Rigden Jyepo and whom Ossendowski refers to as The King of the World.
As mentioned earlier, Roerich’s sources equate the Black Stone with the Lapis Exilis or Grail Stone of Parzival. The tale of the Holy Grail, which was Christianised to describe the chalice of the Last Supper, is thought to have originally emerged from pre-Christian european folk beliefs or Near Eastern mystery cults. In most of the Grail legends, the object is linked to a strange figure known as the Fisher King. And as we shall see, this Fisher King has strange parallels to its eastern counterparts.