5. Carl Jung on UFOs

A riposte to our earlier episode on how the UFO phenomenon is best understood as the faeries of old viewed through a modern lens. Aliens are not faeries, they are portents.

Carl Jung wrote a book about UFOs that functions well as an application of his broader theoretical work. When we observe a phenomenon, he argues, we apply the myths and narratives from our collective unconscious, so what narratives are we applying when we see a light in the sky?

UFOs are a mass rumour, and they’re an end of days rumour. We’ve seen these before - portents in the heavens, signs in the sky, one epoch ends and a new era is born. The star above Bethlehem, Halley’s Comet before the Battle of Hastings. Can it be a coincidence that UFOs in their moderm form begin to appear just after WWII, often around military sites at the beginning of the cold war? This is a new epoch, a new metaphysical era, one with nuclear weapons that could destroy the whole planet.

We also talk about tulpas.