The Haunted Universe [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

This is an extremely open-minded, thoughtful, well-researched book. Enjoy it.

Unlike one of the worst reviews I've ever read on Amazon (the first one here unless it is hopefully been deleted), this book does not give any insights into why the author was killed by a random act of madness. That reviewer says more about herself or himself than the author of this great book.

This is the only book I have read by Scott Rogo however his research is well done. He gets plenty of mention among those who are familiar with his work and his many contributions to the field of parapsychology. I highly recommend Rogo's work for the bookshelf.

I picked up this book to read because I had recently learned that there is a journalist looking for clues in the murder of D. Scott Rogo and I suggested to her that there might be any clues as to who might have wanted him dead in his writings. Was he writing anything that might be considered threatening to any agency or organization? That was the question in my mind as I began to read.

Rogo starts off telling us how conservative he is and how he has learned how the mind can deceive. Too bad he doesn't apply this principle to himself. But, I will come to that.

Rogo writes that, "To date, parapsychologists have only been concerned with the study of two groups of phenomena: extrasensory perception and psychokinesis."

The whole field of UFOs is just churning with unbelievable psychic phenomena that includes apparitions, poltergeists, PK, ESP of various kinds including telepathy, clairaudience, clairvoyance, and so on. The UFO researcher who is not also well-versed in the field of parapsychology is actually only playing with half a deck. (See my own book: The Secret History of the World and How to Get Out Alive)

At the same time, there are many paranormal events associated with alleged "religious" phenomena, and there is an intersection there, too, of UFOs!!

Rogo points out that only a few writers have ever written about all of these things together and other than rather dry and boring experiments that are repetitious and not very useful, today's respectable parapsychologists would rather jump off a cliff than discuss such things as the Fatima miracles, UFOs, and so on. From an outcast group that has only recently managed to acquire some respectability, parapsychologists have become even more rigid than any other group of academicians.

Rogo covers the "multiple realities" ideas in a casual, anecdotal way and presents some interesting cases that raise very important questions about teleportation of both objects and human beings. Of course, his conclusion is that it is all being done by the minds of the victims. I used to entertain such ideas myself (under the influence of parapsychology, I should add.)

Rogo tells us quite assertively: "It is my own belief that if these accounts of mysterious transportations of objects and the human body are genuine, they represent some form of poltergeist activity."

He then goes on to discuss hyperdimensional realities as a sort of "transportation system".

"What I'm suggesting is that all of these oddities represent a transportation system. And like any other system, things are bound to go wrong every once in a while!

"The concept of instantly transporting objects and people via teleportation through some sort of "hyper-dimension" is certainly not mere science fiction. Strange disappearances and psychic phenomena indicate the reality of apportation, and it is a concept that has intrigued scientists and world governments alike."

Rogo then writes a rather odd paragraph:

"There are a number of people who have some acquaintance with our field and who come up with intriguing though totally irrational delusions that our military and government are secretly conducting experiments into the paranormal or are nefariously covering up strange discoveries. I'm not what one would call a paranoid-tripper, but my skepticism did become a little shaky as the result of an encounter reported with relish by Ivan Sanderson. Sanderson was once talking to Pentagon officials about UFOs, as part of a regular briefing session. Although the conversation was not top secret, it was obviously confidential. Sanderson, who was always a gutsy sort of person, decided to stretch the conversation as far as he could and asked the officials if he could talk to any scientists experimenting with "teleportation." Why e thought such experiments were going on is somewhat of a mystery itself, but even he was shocked at the response; all hell broke loose. One top official screamed, "We don't mention that subject." He asserted that he didn't know anything about it, yet another official paradoxically concluded, "Anyhow, we don't call it teleportation anymore; we call it ITF." For the uninitiated, ITF stand for Instantaneous TransFerence. So obviously something was up!"

Too bad Rogo didn't follow that line of thinking - or, conversely, maybe he unfortunately did follow it later and that's why he was killed. In any event, most of the rest of this book is his attempt to "paranormalize" just about anything strange that ever happens on the planet... it's all about ESP and PK to one extent or another. There is, to his mind, no phenomenon that cannot be explained in these terms. And boy, does he do some backflips to do it!

His next subject is so called "Forteana" such as mysterious falls of different objects and objects found in "impossible places." As he points out (and again, I've experienced this myself), those interested in Fortean phenomena do not seem to be very knowledgeable about psychic phenomena just as those that research UFOs are similarly ignorant of psychic phenomena and the religious phenomena connection to UFOs and vice versa and so on.

And again, his solution for the problem of strange rains of frogs, blood, flesh, metal, cylinders, peas, beans, "angel hair," and whatever else is... poltergeist activity. (Keep in mind that his definition of "poltergeist" is basically PK that is being uncontrollably manifested by some human in the vicinity.)

Regarding OOPARTS (out of place artifacts), Rogo quotes Ivan Sanderson's three possible explanations: 1) ancient, advanced civilization; 2) teleportation; 3) ancient ET visits left them there.

Rogo smugly tells us that Sanderson easily disposed of hypothesis #1 "on the basis of inherent improbability" (!) and Rogo doesn't like the "ancient ET visitors" theory, but doesn't give us any rationale for dismissing it, and turns instead to hypothesis #2 and expands it to... you guessed it, "poltergeist type activity."

Rogo then begins to cover religious "miracles" as poltergeist activity, (manifested by groups, also, such as the Fatima miracles).

Now, as it happens, I agree with Rogo on his explanations for quite a few of the examples he uses: "Bleeding religious objects are in themselves not miraculous. They are not caused by the will of God superseding physical laws. Instead we can better understand them as psychic effects. [...] Additional evidence that what we call miracles are actually collective psychic projections can be witness by anyone willing to travel to Naples to see 'the Miracle of St. Januarius. [...]

The miracle was first reported in the fourteenth century, and it is hard to believe that it could have been perpetrated by so many different clergymen over a period of 500 years! ... Some psychic field is affecting the blood which regulates when it liquefies and when it hardens. On the other hand, another likely explanation could be that the act of veneration and celebration by the crowds of the devout projects a collective psychic force that acts on the vial [of blood]."

Rogo takes us through a few more fascinating cases and generally does a pretty good job of explaining them, and then marches on to UFOs that have often been associated with religious mania. This is where the weakness in his arguments begin to show.

Because, certainly the hyperdimensional explanation is the correct one, but it is not that everything is "created" by the minds (PK) of the humans involved, but rather that their emotional energies may be being used by "something on the other side of that curtain" as a portal by which to enter this reality.

Rogo writes: "People in an emotional and religious frame of mind are likely to create almost anything. There seems to be a definite relationship between these lights and crowd activities."

This proposal fails because it is clear that it is not the crowd that is creating, but rather the crowd is being used.

There are way too many contradictory arguments and illogical leaps of assumption to list them all, but I do want to mention one as an example.

As noted above, Rogo announced at the beginning that he was conservative and the reason was that he knew how the mind could be deceived. Well, he goes along debunking just about everybody's experiences as them being deceived by their minds, even when there is physical evidence! The physical evidence is, of course, to Rogo merely evidence of PK! But, when Rogo or one of his personal friends has a strange experience, all of a sudden, it is quite real and valid and nobody is being deceived!

First he describes the experience of his friend, Raymond Bayless who tells a story about coming home when he was a boy.

"In 1938 I experienced an unusual and frightening adventure along with my brother. Our family was living in Denver. We had arrived home one evening only to find no one there. I remained downstairs after entering the house, while my brother went upstairs. At this time, I suddenly realized that something hideous and evil was in the house. There was no logical reason for my receiving this impression, it was a totally spontaneous impression. This impression was so forceful and disturbing that I could not help but run out the back door to escape outside. As I ran, I almost collided with my brother. He was bolting downstairs and was also heading for the door! Outside at last, we compared notes. To my surprise, my brother told me that while upstairs he had been overpowered by the horrible feelings that there was something evil in the house. he, too, had had the urge to run from the house in order to escape from it. Even to this day, I have no explanation to account for this strange experience. Suffice it to say that no normal explanation can account for the fact that both my brother and myself ha identical impressions while in different parts of the house. " (Raymond Bayless quoted by Rogo)

Now, what does Rogo do with this after 138 pages of debunking everything that ever happened to everyone else as being PK that manifests out of subconscious conflicts? Well, he sets about confirming that this is evidence for the existence of EVIL!!!

"I think we have to conclude that Raymond Bayless actually did confront something evil, something from which he knew he must escape. This loathsome thing was only ephemeral, however. When the Bayless brothers ventured to reenter the house later that evening, its atmosphere was perfectly normal."

He then goes on to tell his own similar story after which he concludes:

"Never in my life have I ever had a similar experience. Nor can it be argued that I merely "suggested" the reaction because I knew the house was haunted. That explanation is sheer nonsense since I had lived in the house for two years without ever experiencing anything like that before. ... Sometimes this type of evil does not invade or seek to possess some weak mortal, but instead permeates an entire area. The evil becomes affixed to a certain location in space, just as a haunting does."

Now, notice how easily he dismisses the idea that HE might be suggestible! And yet, that is exactly what he says about virtually everyone else when the issue of UFOs are involved, no matter what the other circumstances, the evidence, testimony of multiple witnesses, etc. (You should read what he does with the Pascagoula case and Travis Walton!)

It is this last bit that actually exposed Rogo to me as one who "prestidigitates" the data. Notice his mention of the idea of evil being able to "haunt" a specific area.

Rogo describes an experience that John Keel wrote about where he realized that there are "zones of negative energy" and then he goes on to a most interesting reference to the work of Tom Lethbridge. He then compares it to Keel's, and, by default, his own and recounts a couple more examples to bolster his point.

Earlier in his book, Rogo talks about a religious relic that had strange properties. His explanation was:

"In this respect the object is acting like a miniature haunted house. A haunting is set up when a tragedy and the strong emotions accompanying it contaminate a house, church, or other structure. These emotions somehow are ingrained into the structure and periodically cause the scenes of the disaster to replay themselves. Apparitions are seen, footsteps are heard, and phantom dramas are reenacted. It is as though a motion picture of the events had been projected onto the atmosphere. Sometimes these residues even have physical side effects. I once stayed in a haunted house during which time the bed in which I slept was shaken every night for about a week."

Two important points to note about the above paragraph: first of all, Rogo excuses himself from the definitely poltergeistic type activity of the bed in which he was sleeping. It had nothing to do with HIM! But more important, what he writes reveals that he knew a lot more about the Lethbridge ideas than he let on.

So why did he twist an obvious scientific conclusion that negative energies could be manifestations of electrical energies, or even recordings into some hocus pocus about evil?

I guess we'll never know. But having discovered this twist in Rogo's thinking, put together with his other illogical assumptions and leaps, I don't think I trust much of what he writes at all.

Have to give him two stars for trying, but he loses points for obfuscation of evidence and subjective thinking.