Aliens could already be walking among us.
They may be hiding in volcanoes or deep beneath the ocean. Or perhaps they’re ‘Earth adjacent’, living on the Moon.
Welcome to the world of ‘cryptoterrestrials’, the bizarre theory where intelligent beings could be hiding in plain sight.
A new paper by Harvard University’s Human Flourishing programme defines these aliens as ‘intelligent beings concealed in stealth here on Earth (e.g. underground) and/or its near environs (e.g., the Moon)’.
And these beings may be responsible for the unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), or UFOs, spotted by people around the world.
Cryptoterrestrials fall into many different subtypes, including human cryptoterrestrials, who are technologically advanced human civilisations that were destroyed long ago, such as by floods, but continue to exist in remnant form.
The study authors provide one example in which Professor Albert Einstein’s assistant Dr Shirley Wright, claimed that she and the famous physicist were invited to meet the ‘biological entities’ that were recovered from the famous Roswell crash in 1947.
Dr Wright said, almost 50 years later in 1993, that the entities were ‘just humans, but an advanced form’.
The researchers suggest there could also be non-human forms, known as theropod cryptoterrestrials, which are technologically advanced non-human civilisations that could have evolved from species like dinosaurs.
They could also be former extraterrestrials, aliens who travelled to Earth from elsewhere in the universe and concealed themselves among us.
The Harvard researchers have also suggested a fourth category of ‘magical cryptoterrestrials’, which are entities more like ‘earthbound angels’, and are known by European names of fairies, elves and nymphs.
Even though these categories may seem out-of-this-world, the team argues that these beings could be responsible for some of the unexplained phenomena that has happened here on Earth, such as UAP.
They note that places such as Popocatépetl volcano in central Mexico and California’s Mount Shasta are UFO hotspots, and could be where highly-intelligent beings have migrated underground. Rather than UAP being drawn to these areas, they are actually from there.
It is also underground that they suggest a new dinosaur-based species could hide. The researchers said that it is possible for aspects of biological evolution on this planet to have been entirely lost to time. They suggest that scientists who have studied the structure of dinosaurs with larger brains argue there is a possibility the dinosaurs could have evolved into an upright reptilian-like figure they dubbed as ‘dinosauroid.’
This species could have migrated underground after surviving the mass extinction event 65 million years ago and continued to evolve.
The researchers write that although there is ‘no direct or generally accepted evidence’ of such beings, there are many legends and a ‘surprisingly extensive body of reports exists alleging encounters’ with them.
They also delve into how some in the field believe the Moon may be a cryptoterrestrial base, or even a completely artificial non-human intelligence (NHI) construction, with aliens living there on ‘lunar bases’.
The researchers note that theorists say this information has been suppressed by Nasa.
For the fourth theory, that aliens are actually nymphs or fairies, the researchers commented that those terms used were created at a time before rapid scientific advancement.
Therefore, the individuals who may have interacted with our ancestors as ‘magical beings’ could have been extraterrestrials.
However, given how wild the theories, it’s worth noting the researchers themselves call the cryptoterrestrials theory unlikely, but not impossible.
They also wrote that they consider this theory 10 times more likely than before conducting their research – but still nine times more unlikely than likely.
They wrote: ‘Although this idea is likely to be regarded sceptically by most scientists, such are the nature of some UAP that we argue this possibility should not be summarily dismissed, and instead deserves genuine consideration in a spirit of epistemic humility and openness.’
The study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Philosophy and Cosmology, is currently available as a preprint.
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