Harvard's Ufologist
Wednesday March 12, 2008 8:43 AM
In the hallowed halls of the most Ivy of the Ivy Leagues, John Mack, MD, uses his knowledge and credentials to research that most spurned of research areas: UFO visitation.
A professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and founder of the Center for Psychology and Social Change and the John E. Mack Institute, Mack has authored a number of books including Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters. His early research focused on dreams and nightmares, teen suicide, the psychological basis of the Cold War, ecological crises, and the nuclear arms race. But in 1992, Mack helped lead the Abduction Study Conference at MIT, a major scientific meeting on aliens and alien meetings. In 1993 he made his new research focus formal by founding the Program for Extraordinary Experience Research (PEER).
Through PEER, Mack researched an expanded notion of reality. Experiences happen, his team believed, that may not fit our set notions of reality, yet they're very real in their effects on people's lives. His team worked with peoples from around the world who had encountered unknown species, and Mack was impressed with consistencies from story to story, the power of emotion associated with these experiences, and the presence of self-doubt. His team has also looked extensively into history, finding a pattern of reported abductions stretching back to the dominance of Native Americans. The team explores the physical possibility of abduction, noting many "experiencers" return with cuts, lesions, and other marks, and they look at the important psychological aspect of abduction experiences.
While Mack has probably experienced some reputational hits and criticism for his ventures, he is most excited by inviting others from multiple disciplines (physicians, psychologists, historians, theologians, policy wonks, and more) to work together on this research. He views it as a mystery, a big communal puzzle, through which open, intelligent people can potentially find some meaning and insight.
