“It is my ‘informed speculation’ that some of our ancestors, at various times and places, or perhaps even commonly… had contact with something we would reasonably think of as a nonhuman intelligence of incredible sophistication.

I do not necessarily believe these encounters had to do with beings somewhat like us in spacecraft. The reason is that I have had such an encounter; and although nothing would have been easier than miscasting it in this light, I was lucky enough not to do so. It did not require spacecraft. Or aliens. Or anything like that. And that’s part of why I trust it.

But I certainly could have decided that this is what was happening to me, or what I was involved with, and had I done so, the character of the experience (and my mind) would definitely have changed to mimic my decision. I would then have become the agent of my description, a fate almost as bad as being made into a cartoon of oneself.

This last part is perhaps the most important. We become the agents of what we decide such experiences are and mean, and this changes the structure of our minds and intelligence.

Considering how poorly equipped we are to understand these phenomenon, it is astonishing how certain and declarative many people are of their delusions regarding them.”

— an anonymous informant