User:Feoffer/sandbox Final Event

Final Events: Demonic UFOs, Alien Abductions, the Government, and the Afterlife is a 2010 pseudohistory book by Nick Redfern. The book tells a story of the "Collins Elite", a high-level group of US policymakers who grow to believe UFOs are demonic rather than extraterrestrial. In the text, the author is explicit that the contents are not demonstrably factual.

Despite its origin, the term "Collins Elite" would go on to be incorporated into both popular culture and UFO conspiracy folklore.

Background
Final Events draws upon UFO conspiracy lore, in which elements within the United States government learn of the existence of UFOs and hide this fact from the global populace. That lore was popularized in works like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969),  Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and The X-Files (1991-2002).

In the 2005 biography Sex and Rockets, author John Carter discusses folkore connecting UFOs to 1940s rocket chemist Jack Parsons, a follower of occult guru Aleister Crowley. Crowleyite Kenneth Grant pointed to Parson's "Babalon Working" occult ritual "just prior to the wave of unexplained aerial phenomena now recalled as the ‘Great Flying Saucer Flap.’" and argued "Parsons opened a door and something flew in." Occult author Francis X. King opines that Parsons felt flying saucers "would play a part in converting the world to Crowleyanity." Parson's former partner, Marjorie Cameron, became obsessed with flying saucers which she interpreted as the result of "elemental powers." Discordian author "Adam GoRightly" similarly connected UFOs to Parson's occult rituals.

Plot synopsis
I cannot tell how the truth may be; I say the tale as ‘twas said to me

In the framing story, the author explains how he came to learn of the Collin Elite, while the majority of the book is dedicated to summarizing historical narrative of uncertain origin and veracity.

According to the text, in 1991, Anglican Priest and leading UFOlogist Ray Boeche is contacted by two physicists from the Department of Defense. Two men, both Christians, reveal to Boeche that although the Department of Defense has been engaged in an "obsessive effort" to contact "nonhuman entities", the physicists had become convinced the entities were demonic and should not be communicated with.

In the book, cryptozoologist Nick Redfern learns of the collaboration and makes inquiries with the Air Force. Redfern is contacted by a man in his 80s, identifying himself as "Richard Duke", who claims to be a former member of the CIA and "the last surviving member of the original Collins Elite".

In the text, Redfern conveys a narrative but is careful never to vouch for its truthfulness; He quotes poet Walter Scott: "I cannot tell how the truth may be; I say the tale as ‘twas said to me".

Occultist Jack Parsons claims he "opened the door" for Flying Discs
According to the text, in 1947, civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold kicks off a wave of UFO sightings when he reports "flying saucers" over the skies of Washington State. Days later, the Roswell Army Air Field announces the recovery of a "flying disc" which is later covered up as a balloon.

The military consults Jack Parsons, a rocket engineer who had founded the Jet Propulsion Lab. Parsons, a former Marxist and a follower of British occultist Aleister Crowley, is the leader of the Crowleyite Agape Lodge which contemporary authorities describe as "a religious cult believed to advocate sexual perversion". Parsons has ties to both Kenneth Arnold and Roswell.

When questioned by Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Parsons concedes that "it was not down to chance that he knew Arnold, or that he had a tangential link to the town of Roswell" and offers the explanation that occult rituals he conducted in the summer of 1947 had "opened the door" for the UFOs.

Killing of Jack Parsons triggers a second wave of Flying Discs?
According to the text, in 1950, at the height of McCarthyism, Jack Parsons is reported to the FBI for having illegally removed classified documents from the Hughes Aircraft Company. Parsons confesses to having removed the documents, returns them, and claims he was going to use the documents to obtain employment in Israel. Parsons is placed under surveillance and Parson's top secret clearance is revoked on January 7, 1952.

In response to the loss of his security clearance, Parsons plans to leave the country with an eye towards resettling in the newly-formed State of Israel, where he hoped to restart his rocketry career.

According to the narrative, the personnel involved in handling the Parsons matter served as the nucleus for a group that would later become the "Collin Elite". Duke recalls: "the thing that connected everyone was we were all on the investigation of Parsons taking the papers from Hughes."

On June 17, the day before his departure, Parsons is killed at his home in an explosion that is later ruled accidental. In the weeks after Parsons is killed, Washington, D.C. experiences a massive wave of UFO sightings and there is "a sudden upsurge in UFO activity across the United States — the likes of which had never, ever been seen before". While mainstream elements in the military assume the UFOs are the result of extraterrestrial visitors, many in the Collins Elite become convinced the wave is the result of Parson's death.

"Collins Elite" forms to probe demonic origins of Flying Discs
According to the text, "no more than about a week after Parsons got killed", about 15 people who had been involved in the Parsons case are invited to fly to attend a meeting at the Pentagon. There, they receive an offer to relocate with families to D.C. in order to conduct a study on whether flying disks "had devil beginnings".

The group is kept secret from lawmakers, as Pentagon officials "knew the hammer was going to come down on all this if Congress found out good U.S. dollars were being used to pay for [a study of] demonology and flying saucers." The term "Collins" stems a participant who came from Collins, New York.

Elite unmask Contactees as 'front' for Satanists
According to the text, in the 1953, contactee George Adamski and writer Desmond Leslie publish Flying Saucers Have Landed which relays that our "space brothers" are concerned about nuclear bomb tests. The duo also reports that the aliens worship a "Creator of All", but that "we on Earth know very little about this Creator ... our understanding is shallow." In 1954, Adamski's asssociate George Hunt Williamson publishes The Saucers Speak which details alleged short-wave radio communications with friendly saucer pilots with names like "Kadar" and "Affa" who warn about the dangers of nuclear explosions.

It is revealed that Leslie was an avid occultist and follower of Crowley, while Williamson's conversations were conducted not over short-wave radio but through an ouija board. These revelations lead the final few members of the team who still had doubts to finally conclude that the contactee movement is occult, not extraterrestrial, in nature.

Elite uncover a demonic disinformation campaign
According to the text, in 1954, housewife Frances Swan begins receiving messages via automatic writing from "Affa", who was mentioned in Williamson's ouija board session. Like others, Swan relays that the aliens have concerns about nuclear explosions, which disrupt the magnetic field that surrounds the earth, and are attempting to repair "fault lines" in the Pacific Ocean in which are in danger of breaking.

Instructed by "Affa" to contact the Navy, she reaches out to her next door neighbor, Admiral Herbert Knowles, requesting his assistance in sending a message to the Secretary of Defense. Knowles, who it turns out had handled a piece of flying disk debris two years prior, assists Swan in delivering a message to the government. Knowles will go on to serve in the National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena, a non-profit civilian UFOlogy group.

Collins Elite interpret these events as demonic forces attempting to influence US policymakers, concluding that Swan was specifically "chosen by demonic forces who carefully anticipated she would contact [Admiral] Knowles".

On July 9, 1959, members of the Collins Elite are disturbed to learn that a member of Naval Intelligence has used Swan's techniques to successfully summon a flying saucer.

Counterintelligence: from "Contactees" to "Abductees"
According to book's narrative, on September 21, 1961, Betty Hill reports a UFO sighting to the Air Force, leading an investigators from the Air Force and NICAP to interview the Hills.

On November 23, 1962, Air Force officer Ben Swett is a guest speaker at the Church; When the Hills discuss their sighting, Swett suggests they see a psychiatrist. On March 3, 1963, the Hills first share their sighting with a group at their Unitarian church, and Swett visits a second time, referring them to a hypnotherapist. During hypnotherapy sessions, Barney Hill relays a story of forcible abduction and anal penetration by aliens with unusual eyes.

According to the Collins Elite, the Hills were chosen because of their proximity to Knowles and Swan -- the Hills lived just miles away. Though Knowles would go on to interact with the Hills, Swan would never agree to meet them, believing the Hills "met the wrong ones—the evil ones, the ones of wrong vibrations. Hers are different types, who are kind, loving, concerned for all; who give her messages of brotherhood and the Kingdom of God".

A 'demon' finally confesses to the Extraterrestrial Deception
According to the text, in 1966, the CIA begins "Operation Often", to "explore the world of black magic", and on January 31, 1970, a member the Collins Elite briefs Offer agents on the possible link between UFOs and black magic.

In 1972, the Collins Elite learn from Often agents that Crowleyite Sybil Leek spontaneously opined that flying saucers are linked to the occult. Though the Collins Elite are "overwhelmingly appalled by the idea of consulting with a woman to whom Aleister Crowley read his poetry", they participate in future meetings between Often agents and Leek. In one session, Leek 'channels' a demonic entity who relays that "the world was being fooled into believing that aliens were among us, when, in reality, the forces of the Prince of Darkness himself were readying and steadying themselves for the final confrontation with the powers of good." Leek's demon further claims the Earth is "a farm and nothing else", and that "energy derived from the souls of the Human Race and indeed from every living creature on the planet was being harvested as a means to feed the minions of Satan".

Abductee surveillance, 'Black Helicopters', and follow-up 'military abductions'
According to the text, in the 1980s, the Collins Elite continues to secretly study certain abductees, monitoring their calls, intercepting their letters, and engaging in covert in-person surveillance. By the summer of 1982, members of the group realize that some abductees are reporting "harassment from low-flying, black unmarked helicopters, interrogation by senior military personnel, and ... kidnappings" where abductees were taken to vast, underground installations and shown "black-eyed, diminutive aliens and human military personnel working together".

Shocked to learn that they are not alone in surveilling abductees, members of the Collins Elite begin an investigation to determine why "another group had access to military helicopters, underground installations, and much more, while their project had no access to such near-unlimited resources".

In 1982, Reagan orders a study into the abduction phenomenon, several White House officials are briefed by a member of the Collins Elite on the demonic theory and "warned of the importance of not being seduced by the satanic deception." The Reagan administration agrees to further increase the budget and scope of the Collins Elite. The Collins Elite ultimately conclude that alien abductions have no basis in physical reality.

With their expanded powers, the Collins Elite are finally capable of conducting a military-wide investigation to determine identity of the top secret group within the military that seemed to be responsible for the surveillance of countless abductees".  When their investigation fails to find evidence of such a group within the military, the group conclude that the soldiers and black helicopters are really  "sophisticated imagery generated by demons and fallen-angels".

Collins Elite reaches out to friendly ufologists and media
According to the text, in 1991, Anglican Priest and leading UFOlogist Ray Boeche is contacted by two physicists from the Department of Defense. Two men, both Christians, reveal to Boeche that although the Department of Defense has been engaged in an "obsessive effort" to contact "nonhuman entities", the physicists had become convinced the entities were demonic and should not be communicated with.

In 1994, journalist Linda Morton Howe receives a message from the Collins Elite via Ray Boeche. The message warns that "our misguided program directors cling to the false belief that we can control or manipulate the [Non-Human Entities], when in actuality, the reverse is occurring—we are the ones being manipulated and deceived"

According to the tale, in 2009, a former member of the Collins Elite relays that elements in the government have considered "enforcing a planned, strict Christian doctrine on the entire American population", perhaps by projecting images of Jesus across the skies of North America. In the closing pages of the narrative, the former member reassures the author: "I don’t want you to think the satellites are ready and up there ... It was just an idea discussed around a table—notes, presentations, Power-Point, whatever".

In popular culture and folklore
The "Collins Elite" mythos of a link between demons and UFOs was incorporated into numerous works, such as the 2016 vampire novel Empire of Blood. By 2021, it was reported that elements within UFOlogy believed an "organized cabal in the Pentagon actively suppressed UFO work because it feared UFOs were demons and that researching them might provoke Satan."