 | | According to Jaakko Närvä’s doctoral thesis UFO
experiences are modern folk stories. | |
According to a researcher, UFO sightings are mostly explained as religious experiences, reports the tabloid Iltasanomat. “Seeing UFOs is mostly religion and only a very small bit of something else, declares Jaakko Närvä’s doctoral thesis 'Ufologia ja ufokokemukset uskonnollisina ilmiöinä – Teoreettinen tutkimus' (Ufology and UFO experiences as religious phenomena – a theoretical study), which will be examined at the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Arts on Saturday 13 December. The thesis states that in terms of religious history, ufology and UFO experiences can be explained as a modern continuation of folk beliefs, among other things. According to Närvä, numerous and significant similarities between UFO experiences in particular and folk belief material can be provided, for example with regards to traditional fairy and shamanistic material. Psychologically, UFO sightings can be explained as the combined effects of various misinterpretations and cognitive psychological actors. Strong UFO experiences such as UFO abductions can be explained as hallucination, sleep paralysis, fantasy tendencies and false memories. What about group experiences? In the thesis they are explained as in-group suggestion as well as social pressure and guilt towards revealing the fictiousness of the story. According to Närvä, UFO religiosity is an international, widespread and significant phenomenon, which can give hints of future religiosity, for example.” Iltasanomat 5th December 2008
Nasa - AFP Photo |
