I was fortunate enough to interview Tonnies just a few months before his passing and he shared with me a wealth of fascinating data on his thoughts, suspicions and conclusions. Let’s see what he had to say: “After devouring countless books on the UFO controversy and the paranormal, I began to acknowledge that the extraterrestrial hypothesis suffered some tantalizing flaws. In short, the ‘aliens’ seemed more like surreal caricatures of ourselves than beings possessing the god-like technology one might plausibly expect from interstellar visitors. Like [UFO researcher] Jacques Vallee, I came to the realization that the extraterrestrial hypothesis isn’t strange enough to encompass the entirety of occupant cases. But if we’re dealing with humanoid beings that evolved here on earth, some of the problems vanish.”
(Nick Redfern)
Mac Tonnies, who focused on the Cryptoterrestrials and his "home-grown" theory for our "aliens"
Tonnies continued: “I envision the cryptoterrestrials engaged in a process of subterfuge, bending our belief systems to their own ends. And I suggest that this has been occurring, in form or another, for an extraordinarily long time. I think there’s a good deal of folkloric and mythological evidence pointing in this direction, and I find it most interesting that so many descriptions of ostensible ‘aliens’ seem to reflect staged events designed to misdirect witnesses and muddle their perceptions. During the course of his research into the Cryptoterrestrial theory, Tonnies spent a great deal of time addressing the matter of alien abductions. For those who aren’t fully aware of the nature of the phenomenon, a bit of background data is required.
Regardless of whether people believe or don’t believe in the reality of the alien abduction phenomenon, there is no doubt that the vast majority of people have heard of it. It was, however, a phenomenon that was pretty much unknown until September 19, 1961. Yes, there were a few, earlier cases, but, for the most part, they were not publicized until after September 19. So, what, exactly is so significant about that particular date? The answer is that it was the date of a now-historic UFO event which occurred to a married couple from New Hampshire. They were Betty and Barney Hill. At the time in question, the Hills were driving home from a vacation in Canada, when the journey suddenly took on strange and unearthly proportions. It was on a dark stretch of road that the Hills caught sight of a curious light in the sky; it even seemed to be monitoring or shadowing them. They watched it for a while, and then something really strange happened: the Hills became confused, experienced a sense of missing time – of several hours, no less – and after getting home suffered from weird and traumatic dreams; they were dreams which suggested they may have been taken on-board the craft and even experimented on by weird-looking, humanoid figures. In no time at all, the dreams became definitive nightmares. Something had to be done. And, it was.
When things got really bad for the Hills, and the nightmares and stress began to overwhelm them (Barney, for example, developed stomach ulcers), they sought help; it was a very good idea, as that same help led to answers for what happened on that mystery-filled drive back to New Hampshire. They were put in touch with a neurologist and psychiatrist who operated out of Boston, Massachusetts, named Benjamin Simon. Clearly aware that the Hills were in deep states of anxiety, he elected to subject them to regressive hypnosis – with the permission of Betty and Barney, of course. What followed next can only be described as incredible. Both husband and wife told near-identical stories of being taken from their vehicle, onto what can only be described as an unidentified flying object, and subjected to a series of medical procedures – most of which were very intrusive and stressful. Frightening, even. The encounter went on for roughly two hours. So detailed were the memories of Betty and Barney that the time Benjamin Simon worked with the Hills went on for months.
Such was the phenomenal reaction to the story of Betty and Barney Hill, it prompted author John Fuller to write a book on the subject, titled The Interrupted Journey – an appropriate title, indeed – and which was published in 1966. Since then, the alien abduction phenomenon has grown and grown and spread like wildfire. We may never know for sure how many people believe they may have been kidnapped and experimented on by black-eyed, dwarfish beings from far away galaxies. After all, not everyone wants publicity – and particularly so not publicity of a very controversial type. In that sense, there may be as many silent abductees as there are publicly visible ones. To demonstrate the sheer level of experiences on record, though, it is worth noting that after Whitley Strieber’s 1987 alien abduction-themed book, Communion, was published Strieber and his late wife, Anne received letters from the public in no less than six figures. Other books, such as Budd Hopkins’ Missing Time and Dr. John Mack’s Passport to the Cosmos, have added to the controversy and given it more publicity.
(Nick Redfern)
Alien abduction might be different to what we think it is
As for what may be behind the abductions, certainly the most controversial and widespread belief is that alien entities are engaged in a massive, covert program to create what may amount to untold numbers of untold alien-human hybrids. Some researchers and abductees believe the outcome of the rise of the hybrids will be a positive one: the dawning of a new world, filled with prosperity and peace. Dr. David Jacobs, though, in his books, The Threat and Walking Among Us, concludes that the hybrid issue is downright dangerous, and that we are being infiltrated by aliens who, bit by bit, are infiltrating us with one goal in mind: complete control. That many abductees believe they have been implanted with devices that have an unclear agenda, adds weight to the theory that the alien abduction issue is a threat to both national security and the people of Earth. But, what if there was a far more down to earth explanation for the alien abduction phenomenon? That question brings us back to Mac Tonnies:
“I regard the alleged ‘hybridization program’ with skepticism. How sure are we that these interlopers are extraterrestrial? It seems more sensible to assume that the so-called aliens are human, at least in some respects. Indeed, descriptions of intercourse with aliens fly in the face of exobiological thought. If the cryptoterrestrial population is genetically impoverished, as I assume it is, then it might rely on a harvest of human genes to augment its dwindling gene-pool. It would be more advantageous to have us believe we’re dealing with omnipotent extraterrestrials rather than a fallible sister species. The ET-UFO mythos may be due, in part, to a long-running and most successful disinformation campaign.” Tonnies then turned his attention to the claims of Antonio Villas Boas, a Brazilian lawyer who claimed that, in 1957, as a young man and while living on his family’s farm at the time, he was abducted onto a UFO and had sex with a surprisingly hot-looking space-babe. Tonnies said of Villas-Boas’ story:
“After intercourse, the big-eyed succubus that seduced Antonio Villas-Boas pointed skyward, implying a cosmic origin. But the mere fact that she appeared thoroughly female, and, moreover, attractive, belies an unearthly explanation. Further, one could argue that the clinical environment he encountered aboard the landed ‘spacecraft’ was deliberately engineered to reinforce his conviction that he was dealing with extraterrestrials. “If cryptoterrestrials are using humans to improve their genetic stock, it stands to reason they’ve seen at least a few of our saucer movies. As consummate anthropologists, they likely know what we expect of ‘real’ extraterrestrials and can satisfy our preconceptions with a magician’s skill. Their desire for our continued survival, if only for the sake of our genetic material, may have played a substantial role in helping us to avoid extinction during the Cold War, when the UFO phenomenon evolved in our skies; much to the consternation of officialdom.” It is indeed a fact that in the early to late 1950s, countless people across the planet claimed close encounters with very human-looking aliens, who demanded we lay down our atomic weapons, lest we turn our planet into a radioactive wasteland, all but bereft of life.
Of course, this begs an important question: why would aliens from a planet in a star-system who-knows-how-many light-years away, even care about what might happen – of a cataclysmic nature – on our world? Well, a good argument can be made that they wouldn’t care. Why should they? But, if, as Tonnies suspected and suggested, the ‘aliens’ are really Cryptotererstrials from right here, then their fears that we might destroy the Earth become far more understandable: they are forced to share the planet with the most violent and destructive species on the entire planet: us, the human race. Tonnies says of what became known as “the Space Brothers”: “Commentators regularly assume that all the Contactees [a term for those who claimed encounters with human-like aliens, chiefly in the 1950s] were lying or else delusional. But if we’re experiencing a staged reality, some of the beings encountered by the Contactees might have been real and the common messages of universal brotherhood could have been a sincere attempt to curb our destructive tendencies. The extraterrestrial guise would have served as a prudent disguise, neatly misdirecting our attention and leading us to ask the wrong questions; which we’re still asking with no substantial results.”
When, in 2008, Tonnies began to talk and write publicly about the Cryptotererstrial theory, he got mixed responses from UFO researchers, as Tonnies himself admitted to me: “The cryptoterrestrial theory has met with mixed reactions. Some seem to think that I’m onto something. Most UFO researchers are, at best, extremely skeptical. Others think I’m parroting John Keel’s ‘superspectrum’ [Keel was the author of the acclaimed 1975 book, The Mothman Prophecies], a variation on the ‘parallel worlds’ theme that in turn shares memes with Jacques Vallee’s ‘multiverse.’ Both ideas suggest that we somehow occupy dimensional space with our ‘alien’ visitors, doing away with the need for extraterrestrial spacecraft while helping explain the sense of absurdity that accompanies many UFO and occupant sightings. Keel and Vallee have both ventured essentially ‘occult’ ideas in cosmological terms; both the ‘superspectrum’ and the ‘multiverse’ require a revision of our understanding of the way reality itself works. But the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis is grounded in a more familiar context.”
Tonnies expanded: “I’m not suggesting unseen dimensions or the need for ufonauts to ‘downshift’ to our level of consciousness. Rather, I’m asking if it’s feasible that the alleged aliens that occupy historical and contemporary mythology are flesh-and-blood human-like creatures that live right here on Earth. Not another version of Earth in some parallel Cosmos, but on Earth. While I can’t automatically exclude the UFO phenomenon’s ‘paranormal’ aspects, I can attempt to explain them in technological terms. For example, I see no damning theoretical reason why ‘telepathy’ and ‘dematerialization’ can’t ultimately be explained by appealing to cybernetics, nano-technology and other fields generally excluded from ufological discourse.” He concluded: “The cryptoterrestrial hypothesis manages to alienate champions of the extraterrestrial hypothesis and those who support a more esoteric, ‘inter-dimensional’ explanation. It offers no clear-cut reconciliation. It does, however, wield explanatory potential lacking in both camps.” Echoing Tonnies’ words were those of long-time UFO investigator, Timothy Green Beckley, who has his own tale of the Cryptoterrestrial kind to share: “Some people might suggest that because the Space-Brothers look so much like us that they could be from somewhere right here on Earth – an ancient race, maybe. There are a lot of cultural legends about advanced beings living underground: UFOs coming out of the oceans, lakes, caverns. The whole hollow-Earth thing is a little hard for me; but the caverns theory I can take.
“I remember once incident, 1970s, where I was lecturing and a gentleman – a professor at the college where I was lecturing – came up to me and told this story about how he was driving outside of a town in Michigan. It was rather late at night, and he saw these lights in the woods. He pulled over, and there was no other traffic coming in either direction; but there was already another car parked at the side of the road. “He described seeing some sort of ship in the distance – a UFO. A group of human-like aliens got out, walked to the car, which was a Cadillac, or something like that. He watched them and could see they looked human. They just got in the car and drove off. But then, a couple of weeks later, he sees one of the same guys in a supermarket. These reports sound far-fetched; but there’s so many of them of what seem to be aliens being able to move among us. But, if they’re really from here, that might explain it.” Now, we get to the issue of a U.S. Government cover-up concerning the Cryptoterrestrials.
(Nick Redfern)
The Roswell crash site. Mac Tonnies theorized that it was Cryptoterrestrials, and not aliens, that came down
While Mac Tonnies’ admittedly intriguing theory was simply that – a theory – there is an even more intriguing aspect to this story, one which comes from a former employee of the U.S. Government. He writes under the pen-name of E.A. Guest. His real name, however, is Walter Bosley, who served in both the U.S Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He has revealed a startling story told to him by his father, who was also a respected figure within the U.S. military. In the 1950s, Bosley’s father worked on various projects that would ultimately have a significant bearing upon the manned space-program, including “training pilots in altitude chambers” and “flight medicine training.” At one point in his career, Bosley’s father was ordered to attend a briefing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. It was a briefing on none other than the legendary UFO crash outside of Roswell, New Mexico in early July 1947. Despite what UFO researchers – and a sizeable amount of the public think – Bosley says his father told him that nothing of an extraterrestrial nature crashed at Roswell on that fateful – and, for the crew, fatal – day. In Bosley Jr.’s very own words: “According to my father, these vehicles came from inside the planet. The civilization…exists in a vast, underground system of caverns and tunnels beneath the southwest and is human.”
“Occasionally, they come and go, emerging in their vehicles and occasionally they crash. They are human in appearance, so much so that they can move among us with ease [and] with just a little effort. If you get a close look, you’d notice something odd, but not if the person just passed you on the street.” Significantly, Walter Bosley says: “I believe that the ET hypothesis has been used by the ‘aliens’ themselves, because it is most readily embraced by people who have had encounters with them.” Bosley’s words bring us back to Mac Tonnies, and his theories on the conspiracy-filled Roswell affair of July 1947. In his 2009 book, The Cryptoterrestrials, Tonnies speculated on the possibility that the Roswell craft was balloon-like and built, flown, and disastrously crashed, by ancient humanoids that lurk in the depths of the planet. Controversial? Yes. But he made some interesting observations on this possibility. In Tonnies’ own words:
“The device that crashed near Roswell in the summer of 1947, whatever it was, featured properties at least superficially like the high-altitude balloon trains ultimately cited as an explanation by the Air Force. Debunkers have, of course, seized on the lack of revealingly ‘high-tech’ components found among the debris to dismiss the possibility that the crash was anything but a case of misidentification; not even Major Jesse Marcel, the intelligence officer who advocated an ET origin for the unusual foil and structural beams, mentioned anything remotely resembling an engine or power-plant.” Tonnies continued, in a fashion that emphasized the Cryptoterrestrials may not be as scientifically and technologically advanced as they might prefer us to think they are: “The cryptoterrestrial hypothesis offers a speculative alternative: maybe the Roswell device wasn’t high-tech. It could indeed have been a balloon-borne surveillance device brought down in a storm, but it doesn’t logically follow that is was one of our own. Upon happening across such a troubling find, the Air Force’s excessive secrecy begins to make sense.”
Regardless of what you, me, or indeed any number of the well-known Roswell researchers/authors – such as Bill Moore, Kevin Randle, Stan Friedman, or Don Schmitt – might think or conclude, the fact is that Tonnies’ Cryptoterrestrial theory is probably the only one that allows for the Roswell crash site to have been comprised of very unusual, non-Homo-sapiens, but, at the same time, incredibly simplistic technology. The alien theory should, of course, require highly advanced technology to have been recovered – yet, we hear very little on this matter, aside from talk of fields full of foil-like material with curious properties. Accounts of the military coming across alien-created “power-plants” and “engines” – as Tonnies described them – are curiously absent from the Roswell affair. It’s that aforementioned foil and not much else. Perhaps, Tonnies was indeed on the right track when it came to Roswell. Maybe, Walter Bosley, who still pursues the story, is still on the right track. And, just perhaps, it was the Roswell affair that – quite out of the blue – led the U.S. military to realize, to both its amazement and its fear, that we are not the only species of human on the planet. And, in the process, a huge cover-up was initiated to ensure that the world never gets to know the true story of Roswell’s Cryptoterrestrials. If you buy into it, all.
Mysterious Lights Hover Over Las Vegas Valley: A Closer Look at the Phenomenon
