Sky People (37 page)

When Stephens and Catherwood set out to explore Central America and Mexico in 1839, the idea that an advanced civilization had created great cities hidden in the jungles was considered extreme by the academic world. Up until the day they left, they were discouraged in their endeavor, as many of their colleagues considered their planned expedition madness.

The public, however, was fascinated by the suggestion, so that when Stephens and Catherwood returned to New York City with stories of their exploration, their book
Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan
was an overnight sensation. Their follow-up book,
Incidents of Travel in Yucatan
, chronicled their second trip and was equally praised.

When I began my journey, many of my friends discouraged me from following my dream. Drug trafficking had skyrocketed dramatically over the years, and violence had increased among the military and insurgent groups. Even the idea of a woman setting out on such an adventure was a folly to many of my colleagues and friends. Fortunately, I planned my trip carefully and engaged experienced drivers, guides, and interpreters. In fact, the approval and support of my drivers and guides proved to be a major asset in my venture.

That is not to say that I did not find myself in uncomfortable situations at one time or another, but that was not the norm. There was a time in the state of Vera Cruz, Mexico, where we were stopped by hooded
federales
. A machine gun mounted on a flatbed truck was pointed directly at me as I was ordered to exit the vehicle while it was searched for drugs. On another occasion I was surrounded by hooded, machine-gun-carrying
federales
in a hotel as I exited my room. Two of the police officers,
concerned for my safety, escorted me to a private area until the police action was completed. It was rumored that a drug cartel kingpin had been cornered on the hotel rooftop.

There were many times during the trips that my driver and I were stopped, searched, and questioned by the military. In all of the time I spent in Mesoamerica, which would amount to approximately two years total, I never once feared for my life. I was treated with both kindness and respect by the military. With each encounter, they voiced concern for my safety and repeatedly cautioned me to be careful. So unlike Stephens and Catherwood, I managed to freely explore the countries without arrest.

I came to appreciate the culture and the indigenous people as unique to this Earth. I was able to spend time in places without time constraints experienced by many travelers and researchers. Often when I established a base in a small village or hotel, people came to me with stories. They heard rumors of my work and wanted to verify that I was indeed collecting stories about UFOs. This occurred more often in Mexico than in the other countries I traveled. The more often I returned to a community, the more open the people became.

As I complete this book, there is one resounding fact that haunted me throughout my journey among the Maya: The Maya say that when they reached Mesoamerica, they brought their knowledge with them. This fact sets the Maya apart from other indigenous groups. A closer examination reveals that nowhere in the ancient stories of the Maya is there a declaration that they learned the secrets of civilization on Earth. They have no myths of great teachers or individuals who taught them how to live. They have no legends of gods coming from the west or the east, or from any other direction. So when the Spaniards arrived, the Maya did not welcome them with open arms. Instead they kept out of sight and hid in the jungle when the Spaniards came near them.

Unlike the Aztecs and other indigenous groups, the Maya clearly did not regard the Spaniards as “gods.” I spoke with one elder Maya who told me the Maya did not view the Spaniards as
technologically advanced. “We knew technologically advanced civilizations. We came from one. The Spaniards were not superior to us.” To me, this statement speaks volumes and bolsters my view that the Maya were not assisted by aliens from space; they were the space travelers.

There is more that we do not know about the Maya than we know. We know they came to Mesoamerica in 3113
BCE,
but it was not the starting point of their history, only their date of arrival in the region. Perhaps one day their true origin will be discovered. I, for one, consider myself fortunate to have walked where the ancients walked, to have followed in the footsteps of Stephens and Catherwood, and to have spent time with the indigenous people of today who still use and practice the knowledge of those who came long ago to Central America and Mexico. Even today, much of the ancient Maya kingdom remains unexplored. In the Chiapas, the Usumacinta River flows past innumerable jungle-hidden cities that no archaeologist has yet uncovered. In the Yucatan Peninsula a myriad of overgrown temples, which I have personally observed, are unexcavated. The mountain highlands of Honduras and Guatemala are dotted with mounds and half-exposed structures. Like Stephens and Catherwood, there will be others who will examine these unknown cities and their secrets, in an attempt to learn more about the mysterious Maya. The lure of the unknown is irresistible.

During the course of my research, I walked among the indigenous people of Mesoamerica, shared their meals, joined family gatherings, participated in traditional ceremonies, shared events of merriment and misfortune, celebrated births, mourned the deceased, and listened to stories, both ancient and contemporary, about Sky Gods, Sky People, space travelers, aliens, and UFOs. I listened to encounters in which the individuals experienced rashes, unexplained marks, pregnancies and lost fetuses, and even healings. Some of the participants were left with a range of emotions, including fear, anger, awe, and wonder.

Others looked upon their experiences as normal, if not expected. One university-educated Maya historian told me, “Many of our elders say we are the Sky People. The world does
not understand how the poor Maya subsistence farmer is the descendant of a highly intellectual, scientific society that built these ancient cities. They do not understand that all it takes is one cataclysmic event to change the course of history. Perhaps it was a killer hurricane, a tsunami, a meteor, a drought; but when such an event strikes and the familiar no longer exists, the only thing that matters is how to survive and take care of your family. That is the story of the Maya. We have been surviving ever since we arrived on planet Earth. We have survived invasion, wars, hurricanes, and volcanoes. We will survive the white man’s theories. The important thing is, we know who we are.”

Another Maya elder told me, “My grandfather told me that the Sky People came to Earth and stayed. They did not leave as some of the white men write. But catastrophe struck the great civilizations. We are what remain. We are the survivors. But be warned: All great civilizations collapse whether through war, famine, or a weather event. They all meet their end. Five thousand years from now a scientist may unearth the Statue of Liberty and speculate that she was the goddess of flame who brought fire to the world. I have seen your Statue of Liberty. I went to New York to the United Nations. You have many gods in New York City that the people will cling to if their world is destroyed, but like the Maya, many survivors will choose not to remember.”

Most likely, many forgotten civilizations have preceded us with their membership and attainments terminated by cataclysmic events. It may be that humanity’s origins and history lie in the oral traditions of indigenous people and that we are all space travelers.

One of the purposes of my journey was to search for any credence in the theories about the ancient Maya that have been made by others before me, particularly the ancient astronaut theory. As a result of the time I spent among the Maya, I unequivocally reject this theory, but that does not mean that I do not believe that the Sky People visited Mother Earth throughout time; it is just the opposite. Whereas scientists discarded indigenous legends and stories of so-called primitive people as stories of superstitious people, this author believes that something happened to
cause these legends to be created. In fact, I believe that the history of our Mother Earth, and that of our progenitors, has been recorded in legend, myth, and star lore, and that the indigenous people have a special connection with the stars.

I am also convinced that Sky People have visited Mother Earth and continue to do so and interact with the people of Earth. Originally, it appeared as though the visitors were ancestors as so many of the ancient and contemporary stories reveal. More recent stories indicate that perhaps the universe is becoming smaller and there are other entities visiting Earth that have no ancient connection with Earth or its people. Several of the stories I heard spoke of such events and brought warnings.

Since the 1940s the study of the UFO phenomenon has focused on the questions of whether UFOs are real, if their existence can be proven by the methods of traditional science, and whether or not people are being abducted by alien beings. Though these may be intriguing questions, I believe the most important truths lie in the extraordinary nature and power of the experiences of the individuals involved—in this case, the indigenous people of Mesoamerica. Their experiences should provide us with another dimension of reality, and what that means for the future of humanity. Instead of denouncing the subtle and elusive nature of the UFO phenomenon using an empirical approach, perhaps it is time we listen to those who experience these incidents.

Regardless of our position about the UFO phenomenon, I believe our interest in UFO encounters lies in the desire to recover the vital information and wisdom lost through turning away from traditional ways of knowing. In Vine Deloria’s book
Evolution, Creationism, and Other Modern Myths
, the Ogalala scholar presented the premise that science in general assumed superiority of thought over the collective memory of humans. The authority of truth once given to traditional wisdom was cast aside by the scientific community and regarded as myths and legends. If the evidence could not be explained scientifically, it was discarded. Today, if we listen to the stories of the indigenous people, both traditional and contemporary, we may find an ancient framework for those experiences that make them neither
bizarre nor shocking. Being non-judgmental and open to other possibilities may lead to discoveries we have not yet considered.

Throughout the book I have allowed the voices of the indigenous people to convey the fact that the Sky People or space travelers were them. Their ancient cities are all that remains of the remarkable civilizations that utilized the energies of their cities to reflect the universe and to harness the energies of the sky.

Today, there are those Maya who maintain the old ways and continue to communicate with the ancestors and travel in time and space. For many, whether through abject loss of memory brought on by environmental catastrophes, the Maya are vulnerable human beings like the rest of us, living from day to day and surviving. As I walked among the Maya I could not help but feel I was in the presence of people who had far greater understanding of the universe than even the most respected scientists, while at the same time recognizing that much of what they know belongs to them and them alone.

Along the way, I learned secrets that indigenous people know but keep private. As I ponder those secrets, buried in the world of the Maya people and passed from one generation to another, I am reminded of something Rigoberta Menchú, the Guatemalan K’iche’ Maya activist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient wrote in
I, Rigoberta Menchú:
“…I’m still keeping my Indian identity a secret. I’m still keeping what I think no one should know. Not even anthropologists or intellectuals, no matter how many books they have, can find out all our secrets.” Those secrets have been handed down for countless generations and define the people of Mesoamerica as indigenous.

As I interviewed the indigenous people of Mesoamerica who had personal encounters with UFOs and Sky People, I learned their traditional stories and their personal stories. I listened to their mysterious, mystical, spiritual experiences and otherworldly encounters and did not ask for evidence. Their testimony was all I needed to believe in their trustworthiness. I made no assumptions and made no judgments.

In many cases, I was reminded of similar stories I had heard over the years. Missing time, fake pregnancies, physical
examinations, abductions, and personal interaction with the Sky People were all stories that had been told by others. Among the people I met who told me their stories, I believe there is literal truth to the accounts. All the interviewees were remarkably sincere and had incredible stories to tell. Like other experiencers, some felt it was a violation and others thought it was the best thing that happened to them. But at its core, the stories that they told were pretty much the same. That consistency of people who do not know much about the phenomenon tell very similar stories to those who have been forthcoming with their encounters. Though not unique, the individuals I met had a sincerity about them that made their stories believable. It confirmed in my mind that something is definitely happening to the people of Earth, and the problem is not isolated, nor is it confined to one region of the planet.

At the conclusion of his exploration, Stephens insisted that the ruins he had investigated were those of a great, indigenous civilization born of an inherent genius apart from the influence of any other known group. I believe that Stephens’ conclusions were far more prophetic than he realized. In spending countless days and weeks with the Maya, I am convinced they came to Earth. “The space men were us” was an expression I heard repeatedly. From my research, I believe the Maya of today are the descendants of those who came to Planet Earth from another world. They were not “assisted” by alien astronauts; they
were
the ancient astronauts.