Reader Comments

Paths to Contact: True Stories from The Contact Underground

A.K. (email):

These accounts are just great. People were so vivid in what they describe. The accounts are so personal and really reflect how deep and heartfelt the experiences were. I had trouble putting it down.

Pamela Plauche (Amazon.com):

Absolutely wonderful! It was very informative and I would recommend it to everyone! It is very well written and the information from each person was priceless!

Bright Garlick (ETLetsTalk.org):

Jeff Becker has mentioned the release of his book Paths to Contact . I bought the book on Kindle and read it all last night. I wanted to say “Well done Jeff on putting together a brilliant book on the contact movement !”.

This book is sure to be a bench mark which highlights the beginning of the contact movement. The 23 stories from individual contactees (across the contact spectrum) come from all ages and all walks of life. The stories are honest and encouraging and give you a wide cross section of how people make contact and what contact means to each of them. Steven Greer is the common thread running through much of the book, and even though I don’t use his CE5 protocols myself, I do acknowledge that he has largely single handedly kick started interest in human initiated contact and for that he deserves credit.

But books like this also play a critical catalytic role and I commend Jeff for a heartfelt effort well done. Jeff’s own chapter is deeply honest and compelling. The book comes to a close with a chapter by Kosta, which is also deeply honest and compelling. And even though my own conscious contact seems to have started before many of the contributors to this book, I feel like I am on the same wavelength and have grown up with the same deep yearning to connect with our cosmic family.

The stories in Paths to Contact clearly demonstrate that contact comes in many different forms – not just face to face or lights in the sky ! They also show that our ET friends are benevolent and as interested in us as we are in them.

The contact movement has started and one day history will recognize that this book was the first to give voice to the movement.

Great work Jeff and thank you to all those wonderful people who contributed their stories.

Debbie Hughes (facebook: The CE-5 Initiative):

I very enthusiastically read Paths to Contact several months ago (December) and since then I keep thinking about the stories the authors shared over and over again. In every chapter there was something that resonated with me in a deep way, got my heart pumping and totally caught my attention! The experiences these people shared in this book have affected me in a very personal way. Often I am in the middle of something routine in my day and out of the blue I start thinking of some detail I read in this book. Since reading this, I have met Christopher Cornacchio and on the very first night we became acquainted he told me about how he wrote his chapter and very graciously answered all my questions!

I recommend this book to someone who has just thought about ET contact a couple of times to those who have had deep, frequent and extensive contact. There is such a wide variety of contact experiences shared in the chapters of this book that by the end, there will be no doubt in your mind that you too will want to explore your own connections to other life in the universe!

auntkate (ETLetsTalk.org):

Thank you sooooo very much for your book, Paths To Contact. I’m reading it and am having a hard time putting it down and am already re-reading much of it as there is so much to absorb regarding everyone’s journeys towards Contact and Disclosure. I’m so grateful to have found out about it and deeply appreciate all that went into its publication. There’s so much to grow into with regards to overcoming deep-rooted conditioning, letting go of cultural biases and opening ourselves up to being intergalactic citizens. I know I will be sharing this book with many people, as it is a great companion to the CSETI/Disclosure work and Greer’s books. More comments later, but this much for now. Again, a great discovery and a welcome companion on The Journey to collaboration with ETs. Thank you.

Tina Schmidt (Amazon.com):

This is an amazing book edited by Jeff Becker. The book is full of pages and pages of research and discovery through the testimonies of many people, ranging from artists to postal servicers, biologists, pilots, and people from every day life. The book is a straight forward writing by each of the witnesses and Experiencers who have encountered the UFO and Extra Terrestrial phenomenon.

I like the honest writings of this book. The Editor, Jeff Becker, does not have an agenda or a particular point of view to sell. We read the book through the eyes of each individual as their own experience unfolds before them – and the reader sees it through the eyes of the individual. The book reveals how some individuals came about their experiences and it helps the reader to understand that there is no one cut and dried perfect way to make contact. It does help the reader understand that there are many “how to” possibilities and each person is unique, therefore, their own contact experience comes about in a unique way. What most of the Contactees and Experiencers have in common is a kind of inner awakening which comes to them through their experiences.

I actually discovered Mr. Becker through youtube when I was asking questions about how he was able to video tape the UFO’s. Later, I rediscovered him through the CSETI program. In speaking with Jeff, I found him to be an honest and humble down to earth individual, a man who makes you feel comfortable in talking with him even for the first time. He is not an attention hog and does not flaunt his influence and experience around like so many “authorities” in the UFO community. He is extremely extremely bright (a computer programmer) and yet very kind and approachable. The book is extremely well written with a whopping 422 pages of material, including a glossary of terms with definitions and descriptions of subjects that is common to the UFO community. Included in this book are the many different websites and links to help you make your way through the UFO community. There are a couple of blank pages in the back for you to make your own notes. You cannot tell by the cover how thick this book is but it is very thick for a paper back. It will provide much information, eye opening reading and lots of digesting to do on the part of the reader. An excellent book of research and testimony by any good measure.

It is well worth the price and you will certainly gain much by the mass amount of content, not to mention the additional websites and listings in the back of the book. A must-have for anyone looking into the UFO Extra Terrestrial experience, or even if you are an “advanced” Contactee or Experiencer like myself. I would highly recommend it for your collection!

Lorna Smythe (email):

This book is a priceless gift of “we are not alone” for us earth-bound beings, along with its equally important purpose of enlightening others regarding humanity’s connection with our “star family.” I would love to converse with these folks and to hug each one of them!

Marilyn Brannon (facebook – Paths To Contact):

Even though I have a chapter in the book I have to say I have been so impressed and excited when reading the others, as I have found many things I wish I had said and can really relate to what others are saying! I haven’t read all the chapters yet, but guys this is really good!

Paul Kirsch (amazon.com):

You’ve probably never heard of this book. Neither had I till it was given to me by one of the contributors. But, in my estimation, it is an important book with far reaching cultural implications.

In overview, the book, edited by Jeff Becker, is a collection of first hand accounts of people who report having contacted extra-terrestrial or extra-dimensional beings via the deliberate, human initiated techniques, known as CE-5 (close encounter level 5), or HICE (Human Initiated Contact Experience) first pioneered by Dr. Steven Greer and earlier, in Peru, by the less well known Sixto Paz Wells. This book describes how things have advanced in recent years.

There are numerous reasons that set this book apart from other experiencer narratives. The book breaks new ground on perhaps five fronts which I elaborate below.

First it assembles recent voices, both young and old, from various strata of society in one text who are all interested in the same basic concept: deliberate, conscious, alien contact, or “CE-5” / “HICE” in UFO parlance. [Historically, the term “CE” was first delineated by Hynek for CE 1 to 3 (1: sighting; 2: physical effects; 3: beings seen), and Valle with 4 categories of (close encounter; maneuver; fly-by and anomaly). Dr. Steven Greer added CE-5]. This effort is as opposed to random, passively initiated UFO/alien encounters, which make up the predominance of UFO literature and lore. These voices presented in Jeff Becker’s book, are part of a growing movement of small groups of like-minded individuals worldwide who are attempting to contact extraterrestrial or extra-dimensional beings utilizing the contact protocols developed by Sixto Paz Wells (virtually unknown by North American UFO groups- but well known in South America) and by Dr. Greer. The latter articulated the steps as: applied meditation, remote viewing and coherent thought sequencing or remote vectoring. (In lay language, I interpret these protocols as: stilling the mind and limiting the internal dialogue, keeping one’s mind open to images and impressions that may suggest other forms of consciousness, and then bringing or vectoring them in by the visualization of our solar system, earth and the immediate surroundings of where the practitioners are located). The book describes the results of these practices.

Second, all of the contributors write from the absolute conviction of the reality of human-initiated contact. There is a sincere, not-angry-yet-weary-from-repeating-it critical response to skeptics. Even a counter dismissal that is not of the eye-rolling perspective of, “-You just don’t get it!” but of a more kind, patient, well thought out form of expression, completely aware of the standard arguments of the skeptics and completely willing to provide serenely-delivered counter arguments.

Here is just one example of the excellent prose illustrating this point:

“First of all, to the skeptics, I would like to state for the record that I have considered the null hypothesis. Yes, it’s possible that there is no special significance to these events [he is referring to shining a flashlight at a distant light that returns the signal in the same pattern with precise timing as his own flashlight fades out]. Ordinary humans could have engineered the mystery lights. That they had gotten past the locked gate was certainly not impossible, but what would have been the motivation? To climb through rattlesnake land for a prank seemed rather unlikely […] They had to be very well equipped. All this so they (whoever they might be) could then mock our light work and play games signaling at us? It just didn’t make sense.” (Joseph Burkes, M.D.)

It is as though the underlying theme that ties together each of the narratives of this book is: believe what you will – this is our experience, we cannot deny its existence, we cannot deny its importance, over time this view will inevitably spread and prevail, not as a religious dogma, but as a simple truth and reality. The broader consciousness of the world population will eventually wake up to this fact, with the ubiquity of something like the Internet, civil rights for minorities or climate change. A result of this contact is wonder, inspiration and the move away from scarcity consciousness. In my mind, this fait accompli stance has to be seen as remarkable. This is a done deal. Broad contact is inevitable.

Third it introduces what may be a second wave or second generation of contact workers. The basic broad ranging premise first established by Wells, Greer and others is now more mature, better connected, more confident, less combative, wiser, more informed. It is also international, calm and compassionate at all levels, as well as focused.

Fourth it discusses some potentially positive outcomes that are apparently not uncommon. For example, Kosta Makreas writes of his being healed of his asthma.

“[some] ETs take a particular interest in you as an individual, and in that context, a group that does medical work, healing work, cured my asthma. I don’t say this lightly. I’ve had it since I was four years old. It was very extreme. [now] I’ve flung out my inhaler and haven’t had to use it despite all the triggers I get. I could call it a miracle or I could call it the application of a superior spiritual science that humans can some day partake of […]. Others have mentioned healing experiences in the reports I get every month.”

Over and over, the interpretations are positive:

“I decided to jump right in to the CTS meditation and played the recordings. Within ten minutes of listening to this, a craft that had been on standby near a round hilltop 800 meters off to my left began to flare up as a golden light. It swelled and faded, only to blink back on again. We were all thrilled at how close it was and in a place where there were obviously no roads.” – Greg Sullivan

One could say that these outcomes and this strictly positive experiential evidence comes from a group selected by the editor for this perspective and that there may be others with not-so-positive experiences, communicating with social amplifiers of negative interpretations of the experience. Nevertheless, it is encouraging to read these positive reports. It provides balance to the negative pronouncements – and it may just be that if one expects positive outcomes they become self-fulfilling.

Makreas also describes how the social network he has developed has brought meaning to his life, and provided him with positive feedback. It has given him a sense of an expanding and rising consciousness, although he acknowledges it will take time:

“Honestly, I wish it were yesterday because that would be a great state for humanity. I do know as our group continues to open contact, we’re helping with that kind of dream. “ -Makreas

This inevitable and positive vision is repeated by others:

As we continue to move closer to open contact with the advanced civilization visiting the earth our individual and group actions hold great promise for effecting change. Recognizing the importance of our actions where all ascribe to a positive vision in relation to the context they are occurring in will be the guiding light that leads us fully out of one paradigm and into another. On the other side the ETs, celestial beings and other unseen forces supporting us at this time have shown that they are ready and willing to respond to our efforts at creating a dialogue […]
– Greg Sullivan

Fifth, aspects of fear related to the process are discussed candidly. The contributors suggest that fear may come from people not ready for a radical new of way of thinking. Fear then explains why the process is going so slowly toward a critical mass. The writers consider that doing the CE-5 protocols with others whom you trust may mitigate these fears. Paradoxically, many people, particularly those who are otherwise UFO enthusiasts, are afraid of actually having the experience and this prevents it from happening to them.

Todd Michael writes: “I’ve simply seen two many instances myself where fear gripped people to the point where they weren’t able to be contacted or share the participant’s contacts. People can talk a good game, but when things heat up, they change their tune.” – Michael

Some other speculations on fear relate to cultural artifacts such as Hollywood movies that may exploit fear imagery and which may be manipulated by earth bound elites. (I am personally not so convinced of this as Spielberg’s original movies portrayed ET as vulnerable or spectacular and the Star Trek series portrayed both good and bad ETs – some of whom the human characters worked with seamlessly and some who waged conflict with humans). Of note, various contributors to the book emphasize that the fear reaction may also be in reverse – the ETs may be afraid of some of the more hostile aspects of our society and limit contact with us because of their own fears.

In summary, Paths to Contact communicates a number of fresh points: it brings together diverse voices in the CE-5 / HICE initiative; it describes how it is a growing movement where skeptical arguments fly in the face of undeniable first hand accounts that others can verify for themselves; it describes how there could be positive outcomes; and it describes how fear reactions may be a result of existing biases, world views, expectations and cultural conditioning. The ETs themselves may be afraid of us.

I admit I am a CE-1 guy interested in the subject, and friends with a number of CE-5 / HICE folks. I haven’t had much experience with the CE-5 protocols. What I have done, did not achieve success although I think going to the right locales and being with the right people may have yielded a different result. While, inertia, money, lack of access to contact groups and other commitments have held me back, I recognize what they are saying is important and believe what they are saying is honest. The skepticism and search for more prosaic answers by the contributors themselves leaves us with a mystery, or, dare I say it myself, acceptance that other forms of consciousness exist around us.

I found this book engrossing and a compulsive read. Minor critiques relate to a number of spelling and grammatical errors. This book may some day be recognized as a landmark book that charted new territory.