• AP Magazine

    An alternative way to explore and explain the mysteries of our world. "Published since 1985, online since 2001."

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Encounters with the Unknown



Personal Reflections and Experiences of a UFO Nature

With Laura Cyr






UFO’s were not a part of my reality growing up. I can’t remember the subject ever being discussed. I saw the usual old black and white horror movies like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” but I lumped that in the same category as zombies. I remember my mom telling me about Orson Wells and the radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” and how some people jumped out of buildings to escape being captured by the Martians. Being a Virgo I am pretty logical so I thought the people were pretty dumb to jump when it was just a made-up story. Later, when I actually heard the original broadcast, I recognized how well executed the story was but still shook my head as to how fearful, gullible and hopeless people had to be to actually kill themselves.

The only UFO movie that made an impact on me was “The Day The Earth Stood Still” I was only about 5 years old when it came to the movie theatres but even at that age I recognized the TRUTH behind the story and I wanted so much to be the woman that fell in love with Klaatu and went into space with him. (At least that is the way I remembered it)

I loved the night and the stars. I still wish on stars. The idea that people were out there was something I just accepted as fact. Knowing that “they” seem to keep track of families, I think there is a good possibility that I was visited growing up because I am sure that at least two of my three children were visited. My youngest daughter, Kamela, had nightmares of lying on a table and a “camera” is looking at her. Once she dreamed of riding her horse in the big pasture and a UFO came out of Mt Rainier and hit her with a light as she was galloping away from it. When Kamela was about twenty she and her husband, Pat, came down with a bad case of food poisoning. During the night a round black object nearly as big as the bedroom came into the room and hovered above the bed. A bright white light came out of the bottom of the “UFO” and scanned her body several times. In the morning Kamela and Pat were fine. Kamela told Pat what happened but he did not believe her.

When my son was about 3 or 4 he had nightmares about “a color crayon man.” One day we saw a clown and Vern called him the color crayon man. Suddenly it made sense, children often are visited by aliens disguised as something non-threatening-like a clown. After all, every one loves clowns—Right? WRONG! I am not particularly fond of clowns either. Vern was exposed to the idea of UFO’s at a very early age. I would ask him what he and other kids thought about UFO’s and aliens. He never wanted to talk about it but did tell me that “everybody knows about it.”

A couple of years ago my oldest grandson, Raziel-who was about 3, had a very interesting experience. It made such an impression on him that he wanted me to make a drawing of it so he would remember. First he had me draw a picture of my car. Then he told me to draw a picture of the moon. Then he told me there was a scary ghost—he liked the movie “Caspar the Friendly Ghost. He said there were ropes hanging down from the moon and the happy ghosts were going up and down the ropes. So I drew a happy faced ghost on a line halfway between the moon and the ground. Raziel held onto that picture all day long. After dark we came to my house. There was a bright full moon and Raziel was standing behind the car and holding the paper above his head and looking at the moon. I asked him what he was doing and he said, “I wanted the moon to know that I didn’t forget.” I still have that picture on my fridge door.

I was about 33 when UFO’s became a big part of my life. I was working for the post office in Auburn, WA as a window clerk. When I was sorting through the junk mail I found a New Age magazine/catalog put out by Dick Sutphen and his Valley of the Sun publishing company. It had a lot of interesting articles on past life regression, paranormal subjects, meditation, yoga—you name it and it was in there. I was like a kid in a candy store. Everything appealed to me and I struck up a “pen pal” acquaintance with 3 people listed in the Pen Pal Wanted column. Two of the people lived in Texas and one, Marian Hartill, lived a few hours away near Seaside, Oregon.

Marian and Don Hartill became good friends and I visited them many times over the next several years. They introduced me to a whole new world of the unknown, the spiritual, channeling and UFO’s. They were particularly fond of “The Ashtar Command” and I went with them to California to see a lady speak who channeled Ashtar. I Loved the message of Hope and Love Ashtar delivered.

Soon I discovered a lady named Diane Tessman who put out (and still puts out) a newsletter called “The Star Network Heartline.” Diane LOVES animals and currently lives in Iowa on a 10 acre sanctuary for stray and feral dogs and cats. Diane channels a future incarnation of herself named TIBUS. For the past 30 years she has supported herself and her vast menagerie of animal friends by counseling and writing books with Tibus. I liked Diane because her messages were always positive and encouraging.

Many years ago I wrote to Diane asking for a reading. I was so dirt poor I couldn’t afford the $75 fee but I had an absolutely perfect malachite necklace which I sent asking if she’d accept that as the fee. On Easter Sunday she sat down to channel for me and instead of Tibus MY GUARDIAN/GUIDE came through. She wrote that out of the hundreds of readings she had done this was only the third time that Tibus stepped back and let the readers guide take over. I still have the letter—it changed my life.

My guardian’s name is Talli and he lives on a ship. We are each half of a whole. We are seldom on Earth at the same time because one of us needs to be in the Higher Realms to look ahead and warn or guide the other through difficult times. So far it seems to be working out well for me. I was told that if I wanted I could have more direct contact with Talli through automatic writing. I tried that for about a year but I wasn’t satisfied with the results—it seemed like so much “wishful thinking” on my part AND I also realized that automatic writing has the potential of great harm to yourself when you open yourself to “Spirit.” There are many imposters and tricksters that will imitate and invade your body given half a chance. I would like to share with you an unforgettable event that happened to me many years ago. It was about 1986 and Tibus had channeled through Diane that the Federation wanted to beam love and light into the Earth Mother to help her heal from the eons of war, hate, greed and the totally unbalanced way mankind has acted for the last several thousand years. The Problem was this: The envelope of darkness incasing the Earth is so thick that they couldn’t penetrate the blanket of darkness effectively. The Federation asked that all Light Workers on a certain day at a specific time find a place on the Earth were they could lie down for one hour and reach UP to the Federation. With our reaching up and their reaching down we could create a conduit to transfer Love and Light into the Earth successfully.

I was visiting a friend, Tom Omann, who lives in Halfway, Oregon. I had met Tom at a UFO meeting a year or so before so he was very understanding of what I was attempting to do. At the correct date and time we were at a campground near the Imnaha River in the Wallowa wilderness. There was only one other campsite in use so I had all the privacy I needed. Tom kept my son occupied while I took my crystals, blanket and alarm clock and walked out into a tall grass meadow. I found the place that seemed right. I prayed and asked Talli for help and placed my crystals the way that seemed good and lay down between them. It was a cool and very gray day. There was not a hint of blue sky anywhere. I closed my eyes and visualized the ships above our atmosphere and myself on the earth. In my minds eye I imagined myself as a transfer point in this healing work. I was covered by a blanket and soon fell into a light sleep state. When the alarm went off I opened my eyes. Directly above me there was a Huge Perfectly Round Opening in the gray clouds. It looked as if someone had cut a hole through the clouds with a biscuit cutter. The sky was a brilliant blue. I was still a bit groggy as I picked up my things and walked back to the campsite. When I got there I said to Tom, “I guess it is going to clear up. I saw some blue sky.” I turned around to look behind me and the blue opening was gone. I think I did some Good Work that day.

The biggest UFO influence in my life came about by the way of Aileen Garoutte (at the time she was married to Dan Edwards) and the UFOCCI—which stood for UFO Contact Center International. Aileen and Dan were conducting meetings in the Seattle area for people who had been contacted or abducted by UFO’s. Many people had experiences but had no family or friends who either believed them or wanted to talk about it. Some people were even committed to mental institutions because those closest to them thought they were crazy. UFOCCI was a safe place to be and meet with like-minded people. Aileen and Dan also offered hypnosis in order to try and figure out what REALLY happened. At one time UFOCCI had 68 chapters worldwide and several in the United States. That is how I met Brent Raynes.

For many years UFOCCI had a yearly gathering called JORPAH (means “Cosmic Gathering” from Greta Woodrew’s book On A Slide Of Light) usually over Labor Day weekend. Speakers came from all over the world and it was very interesting-to say the least. I didn’t get to hear the first hand account of most speakers because I volunteered to entertain and watch the children but the speakers were video taped so I still benefitted from the talks. The most interesting person I met was an elderly man named Stan Johnson (since passed on) who had been a lumber jack in Sherwood, Oregon. He had on going face to face encounters with Bigfoot. These Bigfoot were connected with UFO’s and they took him to a meeting on another world where many races of beings were meeting. Stan says Bigfoot have inhabited Earth far longer than the human race but they are Very Sensitive to man made pollution and can’t exist here much longer. They wanted Stan to be their ambassador to the world. I remember Stan being interviewed by Art Bell once on Coast to Coast. When Stan mentioned Bigfoot and UFO’s in the same breath Art went over the edge and terminated the interview. I was very surprised at Art’s rude behavior and narrow mindedness.

Aileen currently lives in the 4 Corners area of Colorado where she was surprised to find there is an interest in UFO’s. Aileen (pen name P. Uriel) also has a blog that comes out on Thursdays and Sundays called UFOs et al. Aileen’s blog is one email I NEVER miss reading. It is FASCINATING and covers anything you can think of in the paranormal world. I urge you to type in http://thechurchofufology.blogspot.com OR UFOs et al and see for yourself. If you read Alternate Perceptions you’ll find many things to appreciate at “the church of ufology.”

While attending the local UFOCCI meetings in Federal Way, WA I met two students from Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. Christopher Bader was a sociology major that wanted to write a thesis that proved UFOs are real in a very unusual way. Chris Bader wanted to talk to people who exhibited symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder related to encounters with UFOs. Chris said PTSD only occurs when people have actually experienced something. You can not get it by reading about it, thinking about it or seeing a UFO movie. I was one of three people from our group chosen for the study. I kept in touch with Chris and many years later when he was a professor of Sociology at Baylor University (he now teaches at Chapman University in Orange, CA) he asked me if it would be OK if my case was included in a book he and two other men were writing called PARANORMAL AMERICA. I happily agreed and in the book there are about 8 pages about my experience that was uncovered through hypnosis.

This is how it happened: I was working at the post office in Auburn, WA. I lived on a small farm about a quarter mile back from the road and most of the year it was dark when I arrived home after work. I have always loved being outside at night-especially in the country where everything is so still and soothing. Suddenly I became terrified to be outside in the dark. I would park my car as close to the steps as possible and then rush up the stairs, with my head tucked down and my heart pounding and get into the house as quickly as possible. I felt safe once inside the house. This went on for at least a month before I asked myself one night, “What are you afraid of?” This frightened little girl’s voice said, “I’m Afraid THEY will see me.” Immediately I KNEW who THEY were and I thought, “Now that is really stupid. ”THEY” have the technology to see inside the house if they want.”

Not long after this Aileen told us there was a woman hypnotherapist in Seattle who was willing to do free regressions for people who had been abducted. Her 18 year old daughter had recently been abducted and she had regressed her and helped relieve the trauma she was suffering. Three of us from the UFOCCI group went together to meet Debbie Rabold in her Seattle home. Michael and Vicki Norman, husband and wife, volunteered to be regressed first. The husband was easily regressed but the wife could not be hypnotized. This was my first experience with hypnosis so I had no idea what to expect. I sat in a very comfortable overstuffed recliner. Debbie placed an extremely soft wool blanket over all of me and tucked it in around the sides. My arms were resting on the arms of the chair as I closed my eyes and relaxed. Then Debbie started talking to me and “programming” my fingers to respond to what I experienced in regression. She would say several times something like, “If the answer is YES this finger” and she would lightly touch a finger. The other two options were NO and I Don’t Want To Talk About It. I was very warm, relaxed and aware that noises I normally would not pay attention to seemed louder. I heard a car passing by on the street and Debbie’s daughter coming downstairs and closing the bathroom door.

Debbie was very careful in the way she worded her sentence so she was allowing my memories to come up naturally. Fortunately this was tape recorded so I would remember it later. She asked me to remember a time when something unusual happened. The picture that formed was driving at night along the shore of Lake Tapps. I was actually reliving the feelings and seeing through my eyes what was happening. A few hundred yards in front of me I saw two orange lights which I kept staring at. Debbie asked me what I was seeing. I told her that there was a car coming toward me. The road along Lake Tapps has several gentle curves with dairy farms on the left and the lake on the right. I kept looking at the lights but they seemed a little odd—they didn’t move and the color wasn’t right. I ended up pulling off the road and turning off the engine. I could hear the frogs croaking to my right and in the corner of an alfalfa field there was a small UFO that I described as being “shaped like a Skittle.” This craft was hovering about a foot above the field with the two orange lights below the craft. A long rectangular door was open with a yellowish light pouring out and lighting the ground. On either side of the open doorway stood a being about 5 feet tall who was very thin and bronze colored. I described them as having heads “shaped like light bulbs.” It seemed as if I was watching a movie and I was describing to Debbie what I was seeing, thinking and feeling. I got out of the car and closed the door. I started walking across the two lane road and suddenly I could HEAR Debbie’s thoughts. She was wondering if I was in my physical body. I turned around to look at the car and my physical body was slumped over the steering wheel with my head resting on my arms like I was asleep. I told this to Debbie and she was surprised I had heard her thoughts because she had not verbally asked me this.

I felt as if I was in a physical body as I ducked to slip between the strands of the barbed wire fence. As I neared the “scout craft” one of the beings pointed to the inside and said what sounded like SHAZMA. I took it this meant “Get on.” I stepped up into the craft and sat on a bench that followed the curve of the wall. The beings said nothing to me and turned their backs to me. They were standing in front of a small shelf about waist high. One touched something and the wall in front of them turned clear and I could see the field below us retreating for a brief moment and then we were through a heavy cloud layer and within a few moments we were at the Mother Ship. There was no sense of motion during this time—except that created by watching the ground move away from me. When the door opened I saw a young, blond haired,

blue eyed man who seemed VERY HAPPY to see me. He was saying, “Welcome, Welcome.” He was dressed in a shiny silver uniform and the front of the uniform covering the chest reminded me of the old cavalry shirts which had a V shaped button down flap. There were no buttons on this flap but the material was ribbed in the horizontal way. Debbie asked me if this man was Talli and I said No, he was a good friend and the “captain of the night shift.” I had to laugh because he was so full of energy and bounced around “like a big Great Dane puppy.”

He said he had something special to show me but first things first so we walked down the pewter gray hallway until we came to an unmarked door. The hallways have no visible lighting and seem to run around the exterior of the ship. It seems I am a frequent visitor to this ship and seemed to know that the lighting is dimmer at night to mimic a day/night cycle. The walls and ceilings join together in a slight curve.

We came to a doorway that opened into a large brightly lit room with many small round tables. Everyone in this room was human looking with many shades of hair coloring. This was the human off duty recreation area. (There are 3 separate races of beings on the ships crew) A few people turned their heads to see who came in and some said, “Hi, Saleetha.” I was later told that was NOT my name but a title—similar to “Hi, Doc.” The most unusual thing about this room was the color. The carpeting, walls and ceilings were the most wonderful shade of deep rose red. The walls were covered with material that hung in swags like Austrian valance. We sat at a table and right away someone brought me tall glass resembling a bud vase with an emerald green liquid in it. There were tiny flecks of gold floating in the Prell colored liquid. I was hungrily slurping down the drink , licking my lips and making very satisfied mmmmmmmmm sounds. People were laughing at me because I CRAVE this drink and it is the same every time I come on board. Debbie asked me what it tasted like and I had to think for a moment. I was so surprised that its taste was simply sugar water. I later found out that I am given this drink each time I’m on board because it contains everything I need to replenish the vitamins and minerals my body needs to stay healthy. I was also brought a patty that looked like a chicken fried steak without the gravy. I was later told it is a complete protein made from vegetables.

When I was done eating the captain took me to a small room where I would do my schooling. This was the REASON I had been brought aboard. It seems my schooling is normally scheduled during my sleeping hours but I had stayed late at a girlfriends house so they came and picked me up. After all, schedules are schedules. This room is very small, maybe 10’ X 10’. In this room there was a chair that looked very much like one you lay in when visiting the dentist. There was an adjustable black cone shaped devise attached to the chair by a flexible arm. The only other thing in the room was a black shelf very similar to what was in the scout craft. This was a computer.

The captain stood outside in the hallway while I went to the computer and typed in what I wanted to learn and the “degree of intensity” I wanted fed into my mind. (At this time in my life I knew NOTHING about computers and did not use or own one) Debbie asked what I was learning about and how intense a lesson I had chosen. I told her I was learning about NATURAL medicines, such as sun, clean water, fresh air, exercise etc and how they heal the body. I ALWAYS am cautious about the degree of learning fed to me. I climbed into the form fitting chair and adjusted the cone so it was only about 4 inches from my right temple and then just closed my eyes and totally relaxed. I may have drifted into a light sleep state but when the lesson was done I knew it and was instantly awake and refreshed.

The door opened and the captain was waiting for me. NOW he could show me his Big Surprise. I followed him until we came onto The Bridge. I think they refer to it as “The Well.” This room has one curved wall that follows the outside contour of the ship. The room is 3 or 4 stories tall and the smooth, black curved wall is a computer. The crew sit is straight backed chairs that just seem to hang in air in front of the wall. When we walked onto the floor of the well only 4 or 5 people were on duty because this was the night/rest cycle.

On the ground floor near the doorway was a desk shaped table. The captain was proudly telling me about the newest updates made to the system and using terminology that meant absolutely nothing to me. Still, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh because he was so excited about all the new possibilities. I was happy for him.

When he was done explaining he said he wanted me to come with him because he had one more surprise for me. Opposite the computer wall there was 3 levels of floor with what looked like black wrought iron fence. This was an inspector’s gallery where people from that level of the ship could come stand and watch what was happening on the bridge. On either end of the fence was an empty space that was in fact an elevator. We walked into the open space and very slowly rose up until we came to the third floor where we just stepped off to the gallery floor.

We stood for a few minutes looking at the people working on the wall. Then, remembering turning and seeing myself in the car, I thought, “I wonder what I look like.” My awareness seemed to be standing in air in front of the fence and I saw myself standing next to the captain. I was shocked and pleased at what I saw. I was a young, slender woman with long yellow blond hair that hung loose all the way to my hips. I was dressed in the same silver uniform as the captain. It seems that part of me is a member of the ships crew. I also realized that each body has a “finer body”.

I followed the captain a short way and entered his bedroom. I was very nervous about being alone with him here and wondered if I should leave. The room was a total MESS. The bed was unmade and there were clothes thrown about everywhere. His back was turned to me and he was digging through drawers, throwing clothes right and left. He reminded me of a dog digging in the garden. He seemed a little frustrated because he couldn’t find what he was looking for. With a look of triumph he turned to me with a necklace in his hand. The necklace was 5 oval stones (they looked like Larimar) set in a silver crescent. Hanging from the bottom of the crescent were many tiny diamond shapes that fluttered and tinkled when he held the necklace up. I was told the necklace was for me because I had now reached a stage in my development where I was able to consciously work with them. He put the necklace on me and stepped back and smiled. Suddenly we both realized I had to leave NOW!! I had been on the ship longer than normal and I had to get back to my body in the car. Debbie asked me how long I had been gone and I said about a half hour. We hurried to the docking port of the scout craft and the same two beings were there but they were not happy! It seems they were on overtime waiting for me and they would rather be elsewhere. Debbie asked me who they were and I replied in a very condescending manner that they “are Just helpers.” Then I started laughing because I could read their thoughts and realized they felt exactly the same way about us “human types.” In a flash we were down in the alfalfa field and I was on the ground. I didn’t even have time to turn around before they were gone and through the cloud layer. They were in a Big Hurry.

I walked across the field, climbed through the fence and opened the car door. I slid into a very cool and clammy feeling body. The thought crossed my mind that this must be what it feels like to get into a rubbery wet suit. Soon I woke up, turned the heat on and drove home. My daughter and son were already in bed and I never looked at the clock so I was totally unaware that I had a missing time event. When I came out of the hypnosis session I said to Debbie, “I don’t know if that was true or not. It seems like I just made it up.” She said, “No. Everything you said was true—your hands confirmed all of it.” While I was describing things I would feel my hand involuntarily twitching but I hadn’t really paid attention to it.

After the regression I felt compelled to go home and drew 6 pictures of what I saw under hypnosis. I drew a picture of 1) the scout craft hovering in the field with the two beings standing by the door. I drew 2) a picture of the captain, 3) the food I ate in the R&R room, 4) the room where I took my training, 5) the area of the bridge with people on chairs floating in air and myself in the silver suit standing next to the captain and 6) the necklace that was given to me.

When Chris came to my home to interview and video tape what happened to me I showed him the pictures and gave them to him to use with his thesis. He still has the pictures and I think he said he framed one of them. I think one of them is in the book PARANORMAL AMERICA.

Soon after this I stopped being so fearful about being outside at night. At this time I was still doing automatic writing with Talli and I asked if I should be doing something else to prepare for what I need to do in some future time. He said I should stay with the post office because it was a good job that supported my family. He assured me that I knew everything I needed to know and I would remember it when the time was right.


Thursday, March 28, 2024