Flying Sausers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skyies

In reply to a questionnaire on "Unidentified Flying Objects" (UFOs) sent to him in 1957 by a man in Springfield, Illinois, Jung wrote: "The information at the disposition of the public is so scant that one just does not know enough to decide with certainty about the physical existence of Ufos. ... As it is questionable in how far Ufos are physical facts, it is indubitable that they are psychological facts. They have a definite and very meaningful psychology. I have made it the object of a psychological research, the results of which I have laid down in a little book that is soon to appear." (C. G. Jung: Letters, selected and edited by Gerhard Adler in collaboration with Aniela Jaffe, vol. 2, Princeton, 1975, p. 403.) Jung’s primary concern in Flying Saucers is not with the reality or unreality of Ufos but with their psychic aspect. Rather than speculate about their possible nature and extraterrestrial origin as alleged spacecraft, he asks what it may signify that these phenomena, whether real or imagined, are seen in such numbers just at a time when mankind is menaced as never before in history. The UFOs represent, in Jung’s phrase, "a modem myth."

"In the threatening situation of the world today, when people are beginning to see that everything is at stake, the projection-creating fantasy soars beyond the realm of earthly organizations and powers into the heavens, into interstellar space, where the rulers of human fate, the gods, once had their abode in the planets.... Even people who would never have thought that a religious problem could be a serious matter that concerned them personally are beginning to ask themselves fundamental questions. Under these circumstances it would not be at all surprising if those sections of the community who ask themselves nothing were visited by 'visions,' by a widespread myth seriously believed in by some and rejected as absurd by others."—C. G. Jung, in Flying Saucers

Jung's primary concern in Flying Saucers is not with the reality or unreality of UFOs but with their psychic aspect. Rather than speculate about their possible nature and extraterrestrial origin as alleged spacecraft, he asks what it may signify that these phenomena, whether real or imagined, are seen in such numbers just at a time when humankind is menaced as never before in history. The UFOs represent, in Jung's phrase, "a modern myth."

This is a special book that he did about the psychology and history of sightings of strange phenomena in the skies.

While Jung is known mainly for his theories on the nature of the unconscious mind, he did have an interest in the paranormal. In this essay, Jung applies his analytical skills to the UFO phenomenon. Rather than assuming that the modern prevalence of UFO sightings are due to extraterrestrial craft, Jung reserves judgment on their origin & connects UFOs with archetypal imagery, concluding that they have become a "living myth." This essay is intriguing in its methodology & implications as to the nature of UFOs & their relation to the human psyche. Translation of Ein moderner Mythus "From the collected works of C. G. Jung, volumes 10 and 18." Includes bibliographical references http://www.archive.org/details/flyingsaucersmod00jung