People

Carl Jung

Carl Jung was a psychologist and mystic who wrote about UFOs as a psychological and mythological phenomenon, corresponded with physicist Wolfgang Pauli on the mystery of the fine structure constant, and developed concepts including synchronicity and amplificatory interpretation later drawn upon by UFO researchers.

Collective unconscious · Synchronicity · Amplificatory interpretation · Psychologist and mystic

Carl Jung, described as a psychologist and mystic, entered into a correspondence with physicist Wolfgang Pauli after the apparently arbitrary value of the fine structure constant led Pauli to seek an explanation for its origin.¹ According to The Fourth Mind, the constant’s value troubled Pauli enough that he initiated the exchange himself, in search of an explanation that might lie in the mysteries of the spirit.² Jung separately observed that contemporary physics had revealed so many scientific truths that appeared miraculous that the Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) phenomenon could easily be regarded and believed in as a physicist’s miracle.³

Jung wrote about UFOs directly as a phenomenon of myth and legend. He called it a “living myth” and a “universal mass rumor” reserved for an enlightened, rationalist age,⁴ and wrote that the modern phenomenon of flying saucers offered “a golden opportunity of seeing how a legend is formed."⁵ American Cosmic also records that Jung called the UFO a “technological angel."⁶

Jung’s approach to the subject began, he said, by denying that there was a real UFO, since the apparent impossibility of a UFO report suggested to common sense that the most likely explanation lay in a psychic disturbance.⁷ He wrote that a person who prides himself on sound common sense would feel distinctly affronted by reports of UFOs,⁸ and recognised that no sensible person would admit to belief in them.⁹ Even so, he argued that psychologists conscious of their responsibilities should not be dissuaded from critically examining a mass phenomenon of this kind.¹⁰ Diana Walsh Pasulka has written that Jung’s point was not that the UFO was actually impossible, only that it was apparently so, and that his aim was to move study of the phenomenon into the realm of the psyche.¹¹ To describe the process by which an individual or group makes sense of an unfamiliar object - whether an aerial phenomenon or an image encountered in dreams or visions - Jung introduced the concept of amplificatory interpretation.¹²

Jung also wrote that, despite Americans’ camera-mindedness, few authentic photographs of UFOs seemed to exist even though many had reportedly been observed for hours at close quarters,¹³ and recounted knowing of someone who witnessed a UFO in Guatemala together with hundreds of other people, had a camera to hand, but forgot to photograph it during a daytime sighting that lasted about an hour.¹⁴ Writing decades later, Pasulka suggested that the work of Tyler D. and James Master would spawn rumours of the kind Jung described - shoots or hints of information that others interpret and spin into stories and narratives that constitute the UFO narrative and, ultimately, religion.¹⁵ She concluded that such cultural narratives about the UFO phenomenon form through processes anticipated by Jung’s concept of amplificatory interpretation.¹⁶

American Cosmic describes Jung’s concept of synchronicity (Jungian concept) as the coming together of inner and outer events that are not causally linked but are very meaningful to the person experiencing them.¹⁷ David Stinnett has said he does not regard synchronicity as remarkable, holding that if one is doing things correctly, synchronicity is simply how the world functions - quoting Jung’s observation that “synchronicity is an ever present reality for those with eyes to see."¹⁸ Julia Mossbridge has likewise defined synchronicity in the Jungian sense as things that appear completely disconnected but come to have great meaning when put together.¹⁹ Jung also proposed the idea of the collective unconscious, a field in which all people share.²⁰ Whitley Strieber has argued, however, that Jung’s theory of archetypes does not explain the universality of animal portraiture found in the Stone Age.²¹

Other researchers have drawn on Jung’s framework in discussing specific cases. Douglass Price-Williams has said that certain scorpion-like entities reported in UFO encounters should be understood as tellurian, “chthonic” beings, in terms he attributes to Jung.²² Jacques Vallée has suggested that the mechanism behind UFO apparitions may be a possible invariant across all cultures, and has questioned whether it constitutes a psychic technology whose applications know few limitations in space and time.²³

References (23)

Correspondence with Wolfgang Pauli over the mystery of the fine structure constant's origin
“What is so mysterious about it is that it appears to be an arbitrary number, which led the great physicist Wolfgang Pauli into a correspondence with psychologist and mystic Carl Jung, about the mystery of its origin.”
The Fourth Mind ch15:9729-9938
Pauli initiated the exchange, perhaps seeking an answer in the mysteries of the spirit
“Unlike the other constants, though, there is no clear reason that it is this particular number, which troubled the twentieth-century physicist Wolfgang Pauli so much that he initiated a correspondence with the mystical psychologist Carl Jung in order to attempt to find something, perhaps in the mysteries of the spirit, that would explain it.”
The Fourth Mind ch27:4390-4730
Contemporary physics' miraculous truths make UFOs believable as a physicist's miracle
“He nods in this direction, noting that contemporary physics has revealed so many scientific truths that appear miraculous that “UFOs can easily be regarded and believed in as a physicists’ miracle.””
American Cosmic ch3:24677-24866
UFOs called a 'living myth' and 'universal mass rumor'
“For him, they were not just a rumor or just a myth, but a *living myth.* He also called it a *universal mass rumor*, which, he said, was “reserved for our enlightened, rationalist age.””
American Cosmic ch3:21422-21602
Flying saucers as an opportunity to see how a legend is formed
“Carl Jung put it well. Referring to the modern phenomenon of flying saucers, he wrote, "We have here a golden opportunity of seeing how a legend is formed."”
American Cosmic char:27985-28133
The UFO called a technological angel
“Carl Jung called the UFO a technological angel.”
American Cosmic char:5946-5987
Method began by denying a real UFO, pointing to psychic disturbance
“That method was predicated on first denying that there was a real UFO. “The apparent impossibility of the UFO report suggests to common sense that the most likely explanation lies in a psychic disturbance.””
American Cosmic ch3:23349-23542
Common sense would feel affronted by UFO reports
““Every man who prides himself on his sound common sense will feel distinctly affronted” by reports of UFOs, he wrote.”
American Cosmic ch3:22994-23104
No sensible person would admit to belief in UFOs
“thus brilliantly preserving the potential believers' credibility and sidestepping the issue recognized by Jung: that no sensible person would admit to belief in UFOs”
American Cosmic ch4:14316-14477
Psychologists should not be dissuaded from examining the mass phenomenon
““Psychologists who are conscious of their responsibilities should not be dissuaded from critically examining a mass phenomenon like UFOs.””
American Cosmic ch3:23147-23278
Pasulka: Jung's point was that the UFO was apparently, not actually, impossible
“Jung wrote that the UFO was *apparently* impossible. He didn’t say it *was* impossible. His point was not necessarily to dismiss its objective reality, but to move the study of it into the realm of the psyche, his field of expertise.”
American Cosmic ch3:24204-24427
Introduction of the concept of amplificatory interpretation
“At this point Jung introduced his concept of “amplificatory interpretation.” By this he meant a process that an individual or a group engages in when confronted by an unknown object, in this case an aerial object. This also applies to objects in dreams or visions.”
American Cosmic ch3:23633-23889
Few authentic UFO photographs despite America's camera-mindedness
“Considering the notorious camera-mindedness of Americans, it is surprising how few “authentic” photos of UFOs seem to exist, especially as many of them are said to have been observed for several hours at relatively close quarters.”
American Cosmic ch3:21621-21842
Guatemala sighting anecdote: witness forgot to photograph
“I myself happen to know someone who saw a UFO with hundreds of other people in Guatemala. He had his camera with him, but in the excitement he completely forgot to take a photo, although it was daytime and the UFO remained visible for an hour.”
American Cosmic ch3:21852-22090
Pasulka on rumours spawned by Tyler D. and James Master's work
“I assumed that their work would spawn rumors, as Jung calls them—shoots of information or just hints of information that others would then interpret and spin into stories and narratives that would then constitute the UFO narrative, story, and, ultimately, religion.”
American Cosmic ch3:48509-48765
Cultural UFO narratives formed through amplificatory interpretation
“The cultural narratives were formed through processes anticipated by Jung with his concept of amplificatory interpretation.”
American Cosmic ch3:53053-53161
Definition of synchronicity as meaningful, non-causal coincidence
“Synchronicity, as defined by Carl Jung, is the coming together of inner and outer events that are not causally linked but are very meaningful to those who have the experience.”
American Cosmic ch3:40162-40326
Stinnett quotes Jung: synchronicity is an ever-present reality
“I took it to clarify his position, that synchronicity is not such a big deal, and in fact, if you’re doing things correctly, it is how the world functions: “Synchronicity is an ever present reality for those with eyes to see.””
American Cosmic ch3:46518-46739
Mossbridge's Jungian-sense definition of synchronicity
“synchronicity is here defined in the Jungian sense of things that seem to appear completely disconnected, but end up having great meaning when put together.”
Non Human Intelligence, GATE Program and Psi Ability with Dr. Julia Mossbridge | ep. 99 02:16:21.7-02:16:31.4
Proposal of the collective unconscious
“Carl Jung has proposed the idea of the collective unconscious, which, if it exists, must be a kind of field in which we all share.”
The Fourth Mind ch18:8558-8682
Strieber: archetype theory does not explain Stone Age animal portraiture
“but not the universality of animal portraiture that existed in the Stone Age”
The Fourth Mind ch26:20277-20350
Price-Williams: scorpion creatures as tellurian, chthonic beings
“He adds: "These creatures would thus be tellurian beings, 'chthonic' as Jung would have said."”
THE INVISIBLE COLLEGE: What a Group of Scientists Has Discovered About UFO Influences on the Human Race ch14:12434-12522
Vallée: UFO apparition mechanism as a possible cross-cultural invariant
“Is the mechanism of UFO apparitions, then, an invariant in all cultures? Are we faced here with something more than a projection of Jung's archetypal images, a psychic technology whose applications know few if any limitations in space and in time? I see no better hypothesis at this point of our knowledge of UFO phenomena.”
THE INVISIBLE COLLEGE: What a Group of Scientists Has Discovered About UFO Influences on the Human Race ch14:26311-26624

Carl Jung

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