Manifestations of the encounter phenomenon
The manifestations of the encounter phenomenon are the differing forms in which the underlying encounter phenomenon is reported to appear across cultures and historical eras — recorded in earlier ages as fairies, angels, demons, and religious apparitions, and in the modern age as the occupants of UFOs. Jacques Vallée argued in Passport to Magonia (1969) that these are one continuous phenomenon whose secondary characteristics change to suit the culture that meets it while the underlying reality does not — the same phenomenon wearing different masks across time. This concerns how the phenomenon is perceived and described, and is distinct from the cross-cultural identity question of whether two named beings or deities are one and the same. No mainstream verification exists.
See also
- Close encounter
- Cross-cultural identity
- Interdimensional hypothesis
- Ultraterrestrials
- Metatheories of the UFO phenomenon