First off, don’t shoot the messenger. I am only speaking from my own personal perspective and there are certain aspects of the anomaly that would rock my world. I’m not overtly religious, but I would say that I am spiritual in the belief of a soul and the potential of a higher power. That being said, I would never be so presumptuous as to say I know exactly what that is. To paraphrase Socrates, “The only thing I know is that I don’t know anything” lol. I believe that with religion, much like the UFO phenomenon, I try to keep an open mind and would not be surprised to find that out of all the things disclosed, that the truth either falls right in the middle or is so out of our realm of understanding, that our minds can’t begin to scratch the surface of what it is. Yet one thing I have noticed is that a lot of people on this sub are dead set on finding out the truth of this controversial topic, no matter what that may be. To those people, I respect your desire for transparency. But I had a compelling conversation with a friend of mine, with an interesting take on the double edged sword of revelations that could accompany disclosure.
This friend happens to work in the Army and is stationed in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (I have a home in Isabela, Puerto Rico that is about 15 min. away from the base where they are stationed), and I try to stay skeptical by taking anything they or anyone tell me on the subject of UFO’s, the supernatural or anything paranormal in general. I think it’s important to keep an open mind, but as someone who works as a journalist, I was taught in journalism school to always vet sources, but follow ledes without allowing a juicy topic to seduce me into ignoring the search for remarkable evidence to confirm equally remarkable claims. What I appreciate about having conversations with someone like this friend in particular, is that they don’t have the habit to embellish facts or statements, information or experiences for the sake of entertaining themselves, others or act as if they have an inside track into something they don’t. Anyone who is around as many people in the military as I have, understands that the higher they are on the food chain, the more disciplined in saying things that A) Are sensitive information (Especially based on their clearance and the preservation of their reputation) B) Add to stigmas that have become less career damaging, based on certain actions which have recently been made by particular government branches.
To start, I will touch on my experiences from visiting Puerto Rico since childhood up until purchasing my vacation home there a few years ago. Puerto Rico is a very beautiful, but weird and mystical place. A lot of things happen there that cannot be explained, and if you talk to lifelong residents of the island, most of them (If not all, at least the ones I have spoken to like family, friends and random people I come across) have stories of inexplicable encounters, sightings, etc. that they’ve experienced. What makes it so compelling, is that I have heard the same stories of creatures, cryptids, sightings, UFO’s/UAP’s, close encounters with humanoids from people who haven’t even crossed each other’s paths. Also, there is this weird nonchalance with fantastic things that have almost become universally accepted by those who are residents of the island. Puerto Rico’s location is smack dab in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. There’s a reason that this part of the Caribbean has such a rich lore when it comes to the unexplained. My home is literally on the beach in Isabela, which to people who are familiar with deep sea topography, is a fascinating area to study. The Puerto Rican trench is revered along with the Mariana Trench as one of the deepest and most mysterious parts of the ocean. In the world of UFO’s, UAP’s and USO’s, only the area around Catalina Island has had such a rich history of anomalous activity. The Puerto Rican trench is right off of our shore. So some of the things I have seen going in and coming out of its depths, I cannot explain. Before I get the obligatory, “Why did I not take any video?!”, I can say that while that is a legitimate question, many people who have seen some of these things can vouch that it happens so fast that you don’t have time to react. I am also on the beach at night collecting sea glass, star gazing as waves crash into me and I have lost phones, keys, a wallet and more just looking at the stars. So when you get smashed by a wave into rocks at night and almost get swept out to the dark abyss, you tend to be more careful to protect your life and (Less importantly) belongings. There are other perils that I won’t bore you with (One word “Mother Nature”). Here is what I have seen:
1) A boomerang shaped craft about the size of a football field fly over my head at insane speed with sparks enveloping it. I say sparks because that’s the best way I can describe it. But it was more crazy than that. It looked like plasma was coming off of this thing.
2) Glowing blue/green orbs flying in and out of the ocean and lights making parts of the ocean illuminate eerily bright located far from shore. Doing this with no ship or sign of any vessel that could be a power source.
3) During an insane lightning storm, I caught a glimpse of a diamond shaped craft that looked like it got struck by lightning and disappeared in the flash of an eye
4) What I can only describe as a skin walker or a crackhead run across a dark road with jungle on both sides and gallop across the front of my car (About 15 feet away) and leap about five feet into the air, from a four legged stance into thick brush
So let me get to my friend. We are having margaritas at our local spot and the conversation of things I’ve seen comes up. He just listens and says statements to the effect like “Interesting, yeah there are a lot of weird things that people see here”. I ask him what he has seen living out here and he responds by saying “I’ve seen some stuff, everyone does”. Very general, to the point and I get the impression that he wants to talk about something else. Before I am about to change the topic, I had to ask one more question. I asked that being part of the military and being a born, bred Puerto Rican islander, was he desensitized to unexplained things him or other people have seen. Then I finish my inquiry with asking about other Puerto Ricans in the military and their stance on strange phenomena they’ve experienced, things they’ve heard, etc. (Obviously, I wanted to ask about any military stuff he knows, but he was uncomfortable and that was telling. Plus, he’s so by the book that he wasn’t going to give me anything juicy).
He interrupted my diarrhea of the mouth by stating this, “Look, there are a lot of things that can’t be explained. You’re smart enough to pick up on what’s going on around you, what you’ve seen and what doesn’t make sense. There is a difference between seeing something weird and not knowing what it is, and the feeling you experience when you genuinely know you’re witnessing something that is rare. And I don’t mean Haley’s Comet rare. Just so we can move on, and I am not trying to be rude, but no one knows what some of these things we can’t explain are. We just speculate based on our understanding of the natural world. I believe that people deserve transparency and if you want an answer to something that doesn’t compromise innocent lives, then you should know. But people tend to think they can handle things they can’t. Drive drunk and they get a DWI, cheat on your spouse and then you lose your family. Control is something you think you have until it’s gone. Information is a double edged sword, people think they want to know… It is their right, but they don’t. That’s just my opinion”.
Obviously I am paraphrasing some of the verbiage, because I would not record someone or expose them off of the record, let alone a friend. But when you are in my line of work, you become very good at listening and remembering the crucial details of a conversation or interview that you are invested in. The conversation to say the least left me jarred. It was the perfect example of saying everything without saying nothing as far as the point that was being made. If the government said “Aliens exist”, would that be enough info, or if there was wayyy more info that completely changed my perspective on all that I knew about religion, my place in the universe, loved one’s dead or alive, the purpose of life, etc.
Would that be information that I would really want to know, or would I regret it once it was revealed to me. Has our curiosity and the edging of slow drip information/disclosure given us the illusion that we can handle any revelation thrown our way?
TL;DR Had a talk with my military buddy with high clearances and a decorated rank about the anomalous stuff that he, other Puerto Ricans and myself have seen living on the island made me say to myself, “Do I really want to know everything?”. If the government said “Aliens exist”, would that be enough info, or would my gluttonous curiosity condemn me to a prison of my thoughts. How much info do you think would A) Satisfy you B) Could you take before your sanity was compromised
submitted by /u/rickebones
[link] [comments]