Encounters: Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligences: Explorations with UFOs, Dreams, Angels, AI and Other Dimensions

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 448 ratings

Price: 13.12

Last update: 06-02-2024


About this item

A revolution is underway. For the first time in human history, we are at the cusp of experiencing contact with nonhuman life-forms of all kinds due to technological innovations and research into the experiences of people at the forefront of this development.

In Encounters, author D.W. Pasulka takes listeners to the forefront of this revolution, sharing the work of experts across a spectrum of fields who are working to connect humanity with unknown life-forms.

Most of us have visions of nonhuman encounters that are shaped far more by Hollywood than they are informed by the current research. Encounters rewrites our visions of nonhuman species by featuring the work and stories of contemporary innovators who are rethinking our most basic assumptions about life and its manifestations beyond our experience.

The author of American Cosmic, D.W. Pasulka is a professor of religion at UNC, Wilmington; her work as a scholar has given her the tools to systematically examine data that exceeds rational categories—exactly the skillset needed to parse the world of UFOs, angels, AI, dreams, and other dimensions, which exist at the edges of human understanding. Encounters is a riveting exploration of the leading science of nonhuman life and a bold glimpse of the future of humanity in a universe where we are far from alone.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press Essentials.


Top reviews from the United States

Mike Fiorito
5.0 out of 5 stars Changing the paradigm
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2023
I have just finished reading Dr. Diana Pasulka’s Encounters. Since reading American Cosmic a few years ago, I have become a student of Dr. Paulka’s work. One thing I love about Encounters is the breath of subject matter research that went into thinking about and authoring this book. Dr. Pasulka is receptive to innovative ideas and relates subject matter outside of her field of religious studies to the UFO phenomenon. In one chapter, Dr. Pasulka writes about Dr. Whiteley, the Space Psychologist, who, among other things, has designed spaceship interiors for astronauts. Dr. Whiteley says that people who travel in space experience cognitive changes after their missions into space. The farther away someone travels from Earth, the more they can see the totality of the Earth and its inhabitants. This is called the “The Overview Effect.” As astronaut Russell Schweickart said, “when you go around the Earth in an hour and a half, you begin to realize that your identity is with that thing.” It simply changes the way you see yourself and the world. Dr. Whiteley is also working on research to train infants to “hear” the sounds of Earth: animals, insects, etc. Dr. Whiteley asks the question, “how can we expect animals to learn our language, when we don’t endeavor to learn theirs?” I have often listened to the twittering of birds and felt that there just might be physics put to patterns and melodies. But, in general, we do not stop to listen, or better, to understand. Some cultures have long listened to the language of nature, but in modern Western Civilization, some think that animals, trees, birds, and oceans have nothing to say to us.
Dr. Pasulka also writes about the work of philosopher Timothy Morton. Morton relates the idea of the UFO to the concept of “hyperobjects.” Hyperobjects are phenomena that are so large the human mind cannot really grasp it in its entirety. Think of something like ecology. We might understand the weather for a given day, or weather in various places, but the human mind can’t grasp the ecology as a single thing. Morton says that the encounter of the UFO is the human mind only experiencing a piece of a larger thing. We simply do not know what else it (in this case the UFO) relates to. What else is it a part of? Another system? Another dimension? Our own minds? The notion of hyperobjects is very provocative.
Dr. Pasulka then goes on to write about her work with Simone, who is a venture capitalist and computer scientist. Simone is extremely interested in the future of Artificial Intelligence and feels that, perhaps, Artificially Intelligent technology is future human beings reaching back to the present. To warn us. To study us. Simon strongly feels that AI should not be regulated and will flourish and develop technologies and tools that were never imagined.
The incorporation of lucid dreaming and its relationship to UFOs is also noteworthy and interesting. As someone who vividly dreams, journals, and uses dreams for writing projects, etc., I find this fascinating. Other cultures recognize dreams as gifts that come from another realm. They provide insights for everyday life and even ideas for problem solving. In Western Civilization, there are numerous accounts of scientists, musicians, and artists, who receive the solution to a problem, or a musical idea in dream. Paul McCartney said that he dreamt the song “Yesterday” and got up quickly to transcribe it. According to McCartney the song came completely intact in his dream.
Encounters is a wonderful, beautifully written, and well researched book. I look forward to reading Dr. Paulka’s future works.
Mike Fiorito, author of Mescalito Riding His White Horse (2023)
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024
Well written and fascinating.
Trevor L. Carter
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2023
There's not much new in this book for someone who has more than a passing interest in UFOs, in my opinioin. But, for those who are new to the phenomenon, it's an interesting read.
amvion
5.0 out of 5 stars A Stellar Journey into the Cosmic and the Divine
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2023
"Truth is the beginning of every good to the gods, and of every good to man." — Plato, Laws: Book V

From the very first page, "Encounters" by Diana Pasulka takes the reader on a journey through the ideas of various experiencers within the scientific and intelligence community that seamlessly blends the enigmatic allure of "space aliens" or "little green men" with profound spiritual inquiry. Following her acclaimed work "American Cosmic," Pasulka delves deeper into the phenomenon by introducing additional witnesses from her research, who subtly hint that what we perceive as extraterrestrial may be intricately linked to what ancients considered the divine.

"Encounters" does more than just challenge our preconceived notions; it offers a compelling argument that "space aliens" can serve as a modern introduction to the mystical, a concept that could resonate with the human quest - if you choose it - for connection to something greater than ourselves. The book is not only an intellectual delight but also a spiritual odyssey that encourages introspection and wonder.

While I found myself wishing for a deeper dive into Platonic philosophy—a realm where she could elevate the discourse—I must admit, there's a part of me that's relieved she didn't wade into Nietzschean waters too much. I just wished she would never mention that dudes name! Let's leave that old cynic to his grave, shall we? No need to summon the specter of Nietzsche when we're contemplating divine things!

5/5 - I highly recommend the book among others.

(The elusive key to the mystery is hidden within the classic tales of "The Phantom of the Opera," the enchanting "Sleeping Beauty" of 1959, or the mystical notes of Mozart's "The Magic Flute." The solution is simple yet profound—a kiss from a true love.)
Mark Kline
3.0 out of 5 stars A deeply frustrating book
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2024
The difference between D.W. Pasulka's first book, "American Cosmic," and this one seems to be that during the intervening years she became a true believer in the phenomenon (as Jacques Vallee would call it). This affects the quality of her interviews; the book is essentially a series of them, and they vary wildly in quality and content.

The basic structure, roughly, is that Dr. Pasulka interviews a person about their experiences--working as a space psychologist, or one of her students who has experienced demonic visitations since he was a child, or a gentleman who experienced a synchronistic vision of an American archbishop on the evening of his death--and then moves on to the next topic.

From a narrative perspective, this is frustrating; what are we, as readers, to conclude? There is no particular throughline; unlike "Passport to Magonia", where Jacques Vallee argued that UFO sightings are more universal than previously believed, the reader here is expected to wade through to find a thesis. It's made especially frustrating by Dr. Pasulka's frequent reminders that a lot of apparent UFO lore is gnostic, only to be passed down orally or experienced firsthand. Well: what if someone wrote it down and put it in... a book?

Thus Dr. Pasulka repeatedly hints at secret knowledge and fellowships--invisible colleges hidden throughout academia and the defense industry--but never draws back the curtain. That is her right, of course, but at some point the reader has to wonder whether any of this forbidden lore is actually worth knowing, or if it is just speculation buttressed by the fact that many of the people espousing it are scientists and intelligence community members, adding a frisson of excitement to the functional equivalent of my coworkers swapping ghost stories during a particularly slow night shift.

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