by David Graham

Brad, you’ve been researching and writing about UFOs for several years now, and while your books and articles have remained pretty much at the objective level, I’m sure you have formed some opinions of your own concerning this whole mysterious matter.

Brad Steiger: Well, yes, it would be all but impossible to be objective to such a degree that one would never form his own conclusions.

Okay, then, to what do you attribute the sudden upsurge in activity? I’m referring to the heavy flap we have had since last October.

First of all, there is no sudden upsurge in UFO sightings. The UFO phenomenon has remained stable for years. Although it is true that the current flap is the most publicized since 1966, the UFO has by no means been absent from the scene.

How true. What do you think has caused the lethargy on the part of the nation’s wire services, radio, and television the past few years?

Well, as you know, small-town papers maintain good coverage of UFO activity, and publications like Saga, True, and Male carry occasional articles and stories of saucer activity, but the wire services and media went through a period of dormancy. They must have interpreted Dr. Condon’s University of Colorado report to mean that since a group of disinterested academic investigators had decreed that the phenomenon posed no security threat to the government, and that there was no way to make money from the UFOs, they should simply ignore the many thousands of reports that their bureau chiefs must have been filing.

Speaking of the Condon Report, wasn’t it Condon who said that any science teacher who discussed UFOs in class should be horsewhipped?

It certainly was. UFO researchers have always been cast in the role of kooks, crackpots, and cranks. Now, after Condon, they were made to feel that their actions were somehow undermining the morals, mental health, and social welfare of the entire nation.

Our book started out with the UFO report based on the claims of the two Mississippi fishermen who said they were taken aboard a flying saucer. Do you think they were telling the truth?

You worked in country music for some time, Dave, and I’m sure you will recall the Johnny Cash hit called “What is Truth?” I could answer by saying that these men told the truth as they knew it. Their experience, after all, is hardly unique in the annals of UFO research, as there are many well-known cases of people claiming to have been aboard spacecraft and having submitted to medical examinations of one kind or another. Many readers may recall the well-publicized cases of Betty and Barney Hill, Antonio Villas-Boas, and others, but those of us who have spent years in the research field are aware of dozens of other such instances that never reached the front pages.

You do believe that something is taking place – something more than simple imagination or hallucination?

Oh, yes, I have to say that I am convinced that some kind of interaction with some unknown intelligence is taking place. I have listened to too many sane and sober men and women as they related such experiences – men and women who have nothing to gain by making such claims, and, in many cases, a great deal to lose. Yes, some external force or intelligence has interacted with these people in an effort to learn more about them or to communicate certain concepts to Homo sapiens.

How can investigators check out the claims of people who say they have been aboard a spaceship or have made contact with the ufonauts?

Lie detectors and hypnosis are generally valid, but we have to realize that it is possible to beat a lie-detector test if you’re cool enough. Hypnosis is by no means infallible, either. You know yourself that one problem with hypnosis is that the person being hypnotized often tries to please the hypnotist, to give the answers he subconsciously thinks are expected of him. No, there is no infallible means of determining truth, but the lie detector and hypnosis are somewhat accurate.

What about an out-and-out hoax?

Let’s suppose that the incident of the UFO crew examining the two Mississippi fishermen is a hoax, but not a hoax schemed up by the two men. I mean, it could have been a hoax perpetuated by the aliens aboard the UFO. Or, better yet, let us suppose that the UFO is itself the intelligence, that it has the ability to influence the mind telepathically, and to project what appear to be three-dimensional images to the percipients of UFO activity. In other words, there are no spacecrafts, no flying saucer occupants, there are only these glowing globs of pure intelligence that permit each percipient to view them in a manner that would be most acceptable to him.

Would that account for the variety of descriptions given by different people?

Certainly. That may be why some percipients report a confrontation with beautiful longhaired space brothers, while others tell of bug-eyed monsters or small, astronaut-type occupants. It may all depend on the preconceptions of the percipient concerning alien life forms. You can see why there must be some three-dimensional image to which the percipient can relate. How many people do you know that could communicate with a glowing glob of pure intelligence?

Not many. Whether the UFO occupants are physical or pure intelligence, as you have posed, there is, nonetheless, a mountain of evidence that something, or someone, is making contact with people right here on Earth. What interest could these intelligences have in us?

That question may be extremely difficult to answer. It may have all sorts of subtle and eerie ramifications. I have become convinced that between the UFOs and mankind, there is a kind of symbiotic relationship. I think that they need us as much as we need them. The mystery is why this mutual need exists at all, and what our role is in it. I lean toward the theory that the UFOs come from some other space-time continuum, and are not extraterrestrial. These intelligences occasionally intrude upon our reality. They may envision themselves as our companions, our guardians, or even our keepers.

Our “Keepers?”

Yes, there is that possibility. To further answer the question about these beings having an interest in man, consider these three possibilities:

1) As our companions, they coexist with us here, and are naturally interested in what we are up to in our human endeavors.

2) As our guardians, they wish to protect and watch over us.

3) As our keepers, they wish to check up on the herds to see which ones are ready for advancement, graduation, or, God forbid, for market.

It is rather grim to consider, as Charles Fort suggested, that we may be “property.” At this moment in space and time, we know so little of this great mystery.

That third choice is a bit mind-boggling and frightening, to say the least. Do you agree with the estimate that ninety percent of the UFOs can be explained as either natural phenomena or such scientific instruments as weather balloons, aircraft and the like?

I suspect that well over 90% might be so explained. The thing I have observed about the objects I consider to be UFOs is that the objects did not come from anywhere, they were just simply and suddenly there. When your coauthor, Glenn McWane, and I were investigating the phenomenon of the scorched circles that appeared in farm fields, we were told that the appearance of UFOs over this one farm was so common and so regular that the farmers could set their watches by them. We were told to return at a certain time that night and see for ourselves. We came, and we saw the UFOs. They were right on schedule.

Now, interestingly enough, just minutes before the first UFO appeared, a mail plane came into view. We watched as the craft made its way across the night sky. My point is that the airplane came from some discernible point in time and space, and we were able to observe it going somewhere until it passed from our range of sight. The UFO, on the other hand, appeared in the night sky from somewhere outside our range of sight. It was just suddenly there!

It proceeded at quite a good rate of speed for quite some distance across the sky, and then it disappeared. It gave the appearance of something going in and out of the sky through invisible doorways. Within a few minutes, another UFO appeared in the same manner; but this one progressed across the entire sky, at a rate of speed I can only estimate to be about three times that of a jet.

Assuming that there are physical alien spacecraft observing Earth, which planet might they come from, or could they be from different planets?

Astronomers and other scientists who are supposed to know about these things say there are 250 billion suns in our Milky Way galaxy. In addition to that brain-boggling number in our own galaxy, these same learned men estimate that there are billions of other galaxies in the universe with, it is to be supposed, their own potential of 250 billion suns. They go on to state that as many as half of these stars have planets at what would be the proper distance from a nearby sun to create and sustain biological life forms.

To say that there could not be advanced, alien lifeforms on any number of these millions of planets would be the height of Homo sapien arrogance. To say that Earth rates so much interplanetary traffic from other worlds and other galaxies seems to be taxing the maximum power of the laws of coincidence. That is why I tend to believe that the things we call UFOs are other dimensional intelligences that share our turf with us, and who have been with us since Year One and before.

What about UFO bases on Earth? If they do exist, where are they?

You know, I’m always hearing about UFO bases on our planet from certain contactees – those men and women who claim to be privy to intelligent communications with the alleged occupants of alleged spacecraft. I have even been invited to a number of those bases, but thus far, I have not accepted their kind invitations. Brazil is often mentioned as harboring inland bases. There is supposed to be a base off the shore of lower Argentina. According to several reports, there is a dandy one on the bottom of the sea in that nasty area known as the Bermuda Triangle.

Are these claims real or just the product of hallucination or a hoax?

I’m afraid I don’t put much credence in these claims, but it is interesting to note that a wide variety of contactees in widely separated parts of the world have named the same locations. I don’t think too many of these people could have had contact with one another, so what we have here may either be another strange coincidence, or the truth.

Could UFOs really be secret weapons of some government?

If any nation on Earth had such a marvelous device of such incredible maneuverability, I don’t believe they would have been secret very long. With the pattern that Homo sapiens have set over the centuries, I greatly fear that if any terrestrial nation possessed such technology, everyone else would be speaking that nation’s language.

Would you hazard a guess at how long the UFOs have been observing us?

I think they have been observing and interacting with us since our earliest beginnings. They may even have participated in our creation.

Some areas seem to have a greater intensity of UFO activity.

The Mississippi Valley is constantly a flap area, and you will recall that most of the U.S. flaps originate in this area, and then fan out. New Jersey is heavy with sightings, and the Gulf States consistently make UFO reports, as do Oregon, Washington State, Ohio, West Virginia, and Illinois. John Keel theorizes that there are window areas in these states – locations that somehow are easier for UFOs to pop in and out of. I suspect that he may be right. These same areas seem to be heaviest in their reports of monsters, strange creatures, UFO occupants, and other bizarre phenomena as well.

What kind of terrain seems to attract UFOs?

One often reads of the UFOs’ attraction to high-voltage lines. There are allegations that they do a bit of kilowatt kidnapping in order to replenish their energy reserves. Some say they draw a certain amount of energy from watery areas, while others say that as living creatures, the occupants need an occasional drink of water. It is difficult to try to outthink the UFO phenomena, but I really don’t think they are attracted to one area more than another. In fact, they may periodically favor one area over another just to throw us off the track of their true purpose for being here.

We’ve heard the term UFO “nests.” What does this refer to?

Such nests, or “crop circles,” are matted-down areas in fields, where it appears that some large circular object has settled down and flattened the flora and fauna. Some people try to explain them as the work of “wind devils” and other atmospheric tricks of nature, but they do truly appear to have supported some object that is not indigenous to the areas where they are found. As with the scorched areas left by UFOs, if they are themselves living things, maybe they take nourishment by converting the vegetation into a form of energy, for their more efficient functioning.

Are most UFOs seen in the daytime or at night?

Usually the early morning hours, when it’s still dark. They have been seen at all hours of the day, of course; but I believe most researchers rate the early morning hours, perhaps between two and four, as the most fruitful sighting time.

Assuming that alien beings from other dimensions or planets do exist, when are they going to initiate serious contact with us?

This is one of the greatest arguments against the UFOs’ bearing intelligent life from another planet in our solar system or from planets in some other galaxy. There are the hypotheses that they may be so far advanced that they cannot communicate with us, that they cannot interfere with our evolution, that they are waiting to adjust to our atmosphere, and so forth; but I believe that if these objects really were craft from some other planet, bearing lifeforms at least somewhat similar to our own, they would indeed land and ask to be taken to our leaders. Each year, the “hard” sightings total in the thousands. It seems difficult to conceive of one of millions of planets that harbor intelligent life finally making contact with intelligent lifeforms on another planet (Earth), and then being content to cruise above their heads and avoid overt contact.

Of course, one can let himself go with any number of somber and grim science-fiction imaginings about them soaring up there and sowing dread diseases that will kill us all, and biding their time waiting for us to drop dead. The UFOs that we see, in my opinion, are our neighbors right around the comer of some other plane of being. I believe that they contacted us eons ago.

In some prehistoric time, they may have been referred to as gods or sons of gods. In biblical times, they were probably thought of as angels, messengers of God. In the Middle Ages, our cultural ancestors may have thought of them as angels or devils, depending on the percipient. Remember that this was a period that concentrated upon man’s sufferings and temptations in a veil of tears. Throughout the ages in other parts of the world, they have appeared as masters, teachers, and supernatural guides.

In our own day, the average percipient might find it difficult to accept winged angels, but he will accept their appearance as shiny-suited space brothers. His own television set in his own living room assures him that astronauts really exist. If we can leap to the moon, the UFO contactee reasons, why couldn’t his beautiful space brother have jumped down from Alpha Centauri?

So, I believe that the UFO intelligences have contacted us on very subtle levels for centuries. We just cannot understand what their game is, although I think certain of us UFO researchers are getting some pretty good clues, and that is what, in large part, is explained in my forthcoming book, Mysteries of Time and Space.

Tell us what “Mysteries of Time and Space” is about.

Well, it would be hard to attempt to condense a 100,000-word book into a brief interview, but let me say that I believe that mankind is about to enter a dramatic period of transition – the period that the American Indians call the Great Purification. I believe there will be physical cataclysms attendant with this transitional period, but they will be as nothing compared to the psychological cataclysms experienced by those who have not prepared themselves for the coming changes in consciousness. I truly fear mass suicides, killings, and nervous breakdowns as the flimsy construct called “reality” falls apart.

I believe that the central purpose of this great mystery of things seen in the sky has been to lead mankind to the understanding that he can be so much more than a mere creature of conditioned reflex, biochemical compounds, and glandular responses – that he is progressing out of his old, physical limitations and into higher consciousness.

I believe that these other intelligences have been working through our inspired men and women of history to teach man that the world he agrees, through materialistic consensus, is the real world, is but one of a never-ending choice of possible reality constructs, and that each person is capable of influencing and changing that consensus and establishing a separate reality. It may be that we are the “missing link.” We may be a transitional species preparing to make a great evolutionary leap from physical to cosmic man.

Is it possible to predict the time and place where UFOs will appear?

As much as it is possible to predict the behavior of any phenomenon or independent intelligence. John Keel has done a great deal of statistical work, as have David Saunders at the University of Colorado and Ted Phillips of Missouri. Their analyses indicate that June and September are the months of heaviest activity. During the flap periods, Wednesdays and Saturdays seem to be the days of heaviest activity, and the sightings for the month usually come on around the 22nd.

If the UFOs come from other planets and galaxies, would the occupants be considerably more advanced technologically than we are?

I’m certain that somewhere in those billions of other galaxies, there are beings more advanced than we are in our technology and science, and also in their arts and humanities.

And what might they look like?

That question has been asked many times before, but if the day arrives when a craft from another planet lands, and beings emerge asking to be taken to our leaders, I suspect that they will look and function very much as we do. They will not be human beings, however, for we are the complex end-product of what Carl Sagan has called an “exquisitely complicated evolutionary pathway full of false starts and dead ends and statistical accidents.”

In other words, while the precise evolutionary details might not be the same, the head-on-top, feet-on-the-bottom structural sequence of anatomy would be quite similar. On the other hand, the aliens might look precisely as we do, if one subscribes to the theory that the Homo sapiens race was seeded here eons ago by an extraterrestrial race.

We do not, at this time, know the full truth to the mysterious flying saucer activity that may very well have had its beginnings in prehistoric times. But it does seem that things are happening faster now, with UFOs being witnessed by more and more people every day. It could well be that evasive truths are about to be brought to light as we enter what many refer to as the New Age – the much-vaunted Age of Aquarius.

Printed with the permission of New Saucerian Press