A Guide to the Close Encounters Types w/Real Life Examples
“Close Encounters” is a term often brought up in conversations regarding UFO sightings and abduction stories. Two kinds of close encounters are used as titles for a couple relatively popular – though unrelated – movies. “Close encounters of the fourth kind” implies that there are more kinds of encounters. What are they? And has anyone ever experienced these encounters with extraterrestrials?
Close Encounters
The list of close encounters was first developed by famed ufologist J. Allen Hynek in his book The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry. Although he originally had only three encounter types listed, two more have since been added. The classification list was created to act as a guide for categorizing the mass amounts of civilian and military UFO experiences Hynek and his team were researching.
Close Encounters of the First Kind
The first kind is a typical UFO or UAP sighting restricted to a range of 500 feet away or less, though this distance restriction is not typically enforced. A popular example of a Close Encounter of the First Kind would be the Phoenix Lights event of 1997. During this mass sighting, numerous people across Arizona and Nevada witnessed a triangular-shaped arrangement of five lights passing from Nevada, through Phoenix, then on to Tucson from 8:00 to 8:45 pm on March 13th, 1997. The same shape was also reported hovering over the city of Phoenix two hours later by more witnesses.
Close Encounters of the Second Kind
A close encounter of the second kind is a UFO or UAP sighting that includes physical evidence of any kind. This can be physical effects on the viewer, technological malfunctions, burn marks, measurable radiation levels, etc. An extremely popular example is the three videos released by the Pentagon showing UAPs performing incredible maneuvers around military vehicles. The physical evidence provided by these sightings is not only the videos themselves but also the radar interference experienced by the military personnel involved. Known as the FLIR, GIMBAL, and GOFAST videos, these sightings became a global phenomenon and still have not been explained.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
As the plot of the 1977 movie suggests, a close encounter of the third kind describes an event in which a suspected extraterrestrial biological entity is witnessed. The 1955 Sutton Farm Incident is an interesting example of this type of encounter. During this event, a Kentucky family was harassed for hours on end by short, metallic-colored creatures immediately following a UFO sighting by one of the sons.
Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind
The first encounter type to have been added after Hynek’s publication, the fourth kind refers to a slightly more complicated occurrence. Defined by the creator Jacques Vallee as “cases when witnesses experienced a transformation of their sense of reality,” fourth kind encounters are usually abduction stories, but can also include psychic events in which one is in contact with extraterrestrial beings. A very well-known close encounter of the fourth kind is the story of Travis Walton, a logger who was abducted in front of his crewmates. Walton spent an extended amount of time aboard the extraterrestrial vehicle and was later returned. Walton himself believes that he was exposed to harmful radiation due to his close proximity to the craft and that his abduction was an effort to cure him.
Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind
A much more recent phenomenon, close encounters of the fifth kind (also known as CE5) are human-initiated attempts at communication with extraterrestrial beings. Created by Dr. Steven Greer, the CE5 protocols lead you through a meditation sequence in which you open yourself up to contact with beings from other worlds or dimensions.
Conclusion
The close encounters list is a useful tool for categorizing UFO sightings and extraterrestrial encounters. Countless of these events have occurred throughout history, though none have been proven and many are questionable. All are worth investigating.
