I learned a new term the other night watching ABC’s “The Outsiders”. It is called, “High Strangeness”. This term is used to describe those individuals who have been abducted by aliens, or “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind”. If you are starting to hear the soundtrack of the X-Files playing in your mind, have no fear; this information had the same effect on me too.
Alien abduction has to be one of the most terrifying thoughts to me. Aliens in general pretty much give me the willies, especially after watching M. Night Shyamalan’s “Signs”. And to think that this small group of people – those of “High Strangeness” - have actually lived through the experience and can share it with all of us simply boggles the mind. If I were an alien and was commissioned to come to Earth, abduct humans, run tests, and experiments on their bodies, I’m not sure I’d want to leave any evidence of my existence behind. I mean, if aliens are such intelligent life forms, certainly they’ve seen “Independence Day”, and they know how powerful we humans can be once provoked (spoken like a true skeptic).
Silly as it sounds, there are those out there that buy into this. They truly believe they have been poked and prodded by otherworldly beings. They live ostracized by the public because of their wacky beliefs and predictable testimonies. More than the good laugh this “provocative” news story gave me, it also made me feel kind of sad for these men and women. Whether it be an out-of-control active imagination or series of delusions, these people are living a very lonely and isolated existence. I want to shake them and say, “Yes, the truth IS out there! But you’re not going to find it in a camcorder shot of a blinking light in the sky.” I wish I could convince them that they will indeed find the truth when they get their heads out of the clouds and start dealing with the gigantic void in their lives that they’ve been filling with garbage.
One woman in this story shared that there has been something deep down in her heart that has always known, and been searching for, a higher power or intelligence. Then she had her “alien encounter”, and now she believes she has found that intelligent life form she innately knew existed. I wanted to stand up and scream at the television set. “Did you know we all share this innate longing to find a higher power? This is actually a God-given intuition we have drawing us to find God.” Unfortunately, there are so many that fall for a counterfeit “god”, and walk in blindness to the truth. As much as I want to chalk all those of “High Strangeness” up as a bunch of crazies, conviction tells me that they are sadly deceived. As a follower of Christ, I am commissioned to be a light in the darkness. My prayer is that, while I really do believe much of the alien hullabaloo to be whacky and ridiculous, I would still be a light, shining brightly on the path of truth. I may never get the opportunity to talk, listen and share with these misguided individuals, but for those around me, I hope my light never dims. I pray that I may shine brighter and higher than any bobbing UFO zipping through this vast universe.