Course Description

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This 8 week course will introduce the phenomenological method as a tool for studying UAP.  The course will begin by introducing phenomenology as conceived by founding figure Edmund Husserl. Next, we will transition to differentiating mythical or cultural UFOs from the phenomenal UAP. We will then study different types of UAP encounters: from seeing nocturnal lights, to encounters with perceived entities and different dimensions of reality. We will use Husserl’s method of bracketing to suspend assumptions and preconceptions about what appears. We will then use eidetic reduction to ask what the unique and essential components make the phenomenon or the experience unique from all other kinds of phenomena or experiences. We will use Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception to study the emotions, bodily sensations, and responses of experiencers. Last, we will use Sartre’s phenomenology to understand the role of human value and meaning that is ascribed to the experiences. We will examine close encounters of the first through fifth kinds, as well as draw comparisons and contrasts with other classifications of extraordinary encounters. The course will feature literature from philosophers Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, and Sartre as well as leading UAP researchers such as Jacques Vallee, John E. Mack, Thomas Bullard, Kenneth Ring, Peter Gutilla, and Michael E. Zimmerman.