D. W. Pasulka is a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. She has written several books, including American Cosmic and Heaven Can Wait. Dr. Pasulka's research spans Catholic history to modern day reports of UAPs and UFOs.
"Encounters is a ground-breaking, multi-layered look at aspects of
the UFO phenomenon that are rarely explored with such clarity,
sophistication and insight. While the study of UFO evidence has
captivated the world for decades, Encounters ventures further,
diving into the enigmatic realms of the mystery that lie at the
heart of this phenomenon, and which have touched the lives of so
many people. Through profiles of unusual, gifted individuals with
much to teach us, we learn how scientists and technologists are
motivated to explore profound questions about the nature of
consciousness as a result of their own connections to non-human
intelligence. I highly recommend this book."
--Leslie Kean, investigative reporter and author of UFOs: Generals,
Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record "Diana Pasulka
takes us galaxies beyond her essential American Cosmic, with
Encounters. Here she delves into the patterns of creation, visions
of Saint Michael, the protector of children, to synchronicity and
the wide variety of interactions humans have with nonhuman
intelligences. This is a deeply moving meditation on consciousness
and all that we do not know about the mystery we exist within. One
of the great recent books on the subject, sure to fascinate those
interested in both spiritual and alien encounters. Simply
breathtaking in its scope and the depth of its feeling."
--Josh Boone, director of The Fault in Our Stars and X-Men: The New
Mutants, creator of The Stand
"Diana Pasulka has applied her prodigious academic skills to the
generally dismissed subjects of UFOs and close encounters, and the
result is astonishing and revelatory. The present will greet this
book with wary surprise; the future will call it a masterwork."
--Whitley Strieber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of
Communion "The next essential chapter in the UFO mystery. A
compelling page-turner that confronts the elephant in the room on
UFOs. That, on the evidence, the key to this intriguing mystery is
least likely to be that these strange objects are just mere
super-advanced craft from a technologically superior non-human
intelligence. In Encounters, Pasulka coaxes her fascinating UFO
experiencers to reveal a frequent preternatural high-strangeness
associated with their sighting events; the woo behind these events
is an uncomfortable feature not commonly emphasized, indeed often
overlooked. Her thesis is that maybe the very thing being ignored
is the key. Why, she asks, do so many great thinkers and creatives
credit their ground-breaking ideas to dreams and downloads? Is the
phenomenon an organic uber AI seeding human consciousness with
transcending ideas and UFO 'craft' just but one manifestation of a
broader enigma? Underlying all indigenous knowledge systems is this
idea of pan-psychism, a sentient environment. She questions if the
notion of an organic internet explains the aboriginal dreamtime,
even God. The most intriguing question she poses is whether
humanity's intimacy with technology is making us all blind to what
we once were and are truly capable of being."
--Ross Coulthart, author of In Plain Sight: An Investigation into
UFOs and Impossible Science
"We are schooled by D.W. Pasulka in two seemingly contradictory
truths: the UFO phenomenon is riven with disinformation and
distortion, and the UFO phenomenon is real. Pasulka also explains
why it is the experiencers of nonhuman or superhuman intelligence
who count, and why the study of religion has the most to say about
their altered states and cosmic realizations. Encounters is a model
of where we should go from here--into a future beyond our present
understandings of the natural and the supernatural, of religion and
science. That is the past. This is the future."
--Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of The Superhumanities: Historical
Precedents, Moral Objections, New Realities "In Encounters, Dr. D.
W. Pasulka continues a deeply profound journey to unravel the UFO
mystery and place an empathetic microscope on those who have
experienced it. Invisible hands continue to weave an uncharted path
for Pasulka as she navigates a maze of government involvement with
the UFO topic and the narrative painted between the gaps of
uncertainty, while also exploring a very human lens through the
scientists, researchers, and experiencers who truly shape the UFO
interpretation. While the goal may appear to be a crossing of these
paths, Pasulka eloquently proves that sometimes the journey is far
more important than the final destination."
--Ryan Sprague, author and podcaster, Somewhere in the Skies "Diana
Pasulka brings to the incomplete study of unidentified phenomena
the missing parts that make it tick: a subtle, caring way to
transcend the rough political and military turmoil that has long
disfigured the research; and a formal framework for the spiritual
reinterpretation of what the witnesses say. Her book is a staircase
to the top level."
--Jacques Vallee, author, scientist, and venture capitalist "In
Encounters, Dr. Pasulka offers us a mind-expanding view of what
'contact' means. She explores the role of the paranormal, the
invisible and the spiritual as integral parts of the UFO contact
experience. She also explores the role of technology and AI as a
new form of contact through her fascinating profiles of scientists
and innovators. After reading this deeply insightful book, if you
aren't surprised by what she reveals, you haven't been paying
attention."
--Rizwan Virk, founder of Play Labs @ MIT and author of The
Simulation Hypothesis and Wisdom of a Yogi
"If American Cosmic took readers to super-secret crash sites in the
desert and off-limits vaults of the Vatican, D. W. Pasulka's new
book Encounters takes them on a more inward journey--not ETs in
metal ships (although those do hover in the background) but alleged
interactions with nonhuman intelligence through dreams,
synchronicities, and inspiration. Pasulka's unique brand of erudite
but also highly personal ufology humanizes her subject in a way
that few other writers nowadays approach. Her cast of characters
includes members of the scientific and technological elite, many of
whom believe they have interacted with, or continuously interact
with, the UFO Phenomenon. Some of her informants work on the
forefront of fields like AI and space medicine that are poised to
take our own species in new directions in coming years. Like
Jacques Vallee at his best, Pasulka is a curious and sympathetic
guide to her subjects' dreamtimes, speculations, and spiritual
landscapes."
--Eric Wargo, author of Time Loops and Precognitive Dreamwork and
the Long Self
"Diana Pasulka shifts the paradigm on what contact with nonhuman
intelligences can mean and the social impacts it can have. She
offers us a subtle, sensitive, and deeply knowledgeable depiction
of the lives and worlds of people who have had experiences
associated with UFOs. Particularly intriguing is the way she weaves
Plato's Allegory of the Cave throughout her narrative to illuminate
various facets of the UFO phenomenon and speak to the esoteric
knowledges at the core of contact with nonhuman intelligences.
Pasulka shows us how the experiencers may be more relevant to our
potential technological and spiritual futures than we have
realized."
--Hussein Ali Agrama, PhD., Associate Professor of Anthropology at
the University of Chicago Praise for American Cosmic:
"[Pasulka] approaches UFO believers with an open mind in her
irresistible debut . . . [and] gives wonderful, entertaining
insight into the curious study of UFOs." -- Publishers Weekly "A
thought-provoking book about religion today." --Booklist
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