Nuggets from Occult Invasion—What Is Going On?

Some years ago, a leading attorney in a city in Florida where I was lecturing, having read some of my books and knowing the type of research I was doing, invited me to breakfast in order to ask me some questions. As soon as we had placed our orders, he launched into an interesting story:

“I was at this party the other night. Someone introduced me to Dr. _____ [he named a world-renowned nuclear physicist]. After some small talk, I asked him a silly question: ‘Where do you get these brilliant ideas that have made you so famous?’

“His reply really dumbfounded me: ‘Most of them come from the school I attend at night.’

‘You go to nightschool?’ I asked, not knowing whether to take him seriously.

‘Not exactly,’ he said. ‘It’s like this…sometimes after falling asleep at night I find myself…well…out of my body…I don’t know where…and usually in the company of some other scientists, where we’re taught advanced concepts by extraterrestrials of some sort…maybe spirit beings…I’m not sure.’”

The lawyer paused for a moment, watching me closely to see how I would react. I said nothing, so he continued. “Was this man drunk, or just pulling my leg? He seemed to be serious. I didn’t know how to react. It just blew my mind. What do you think? Have you heard of anything like this?”

I nodded. “You’d be surprised,” I told him, “how many medical doctors, scientists, writers, and inventors report similar experiences. The basic concepts for the Xerox photocopying patents came in a similar way. Richard Bach claims that his bestseller, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, was all dictated to him by a disembodied spirit. And there’s Napoleon Hill. Have you heard of him?”

“He wrote books about success and Positive Mental Attitude, I think. Is that the man?”

“Yes. His books have heavily influenced the whole concept of success/motivation training. Hill claimed to have learned his techniques from ‘The Venerable Brotherhood of Ancient India,’ a group of highly evolved Hindu Masters who supposedly lived centuries ago and can ‘disembody themselves and travel instantly to any place they choose.’ They claim to act as spiritual advisers to humans, whom they initiate into the use of their powers. And that’s just a sample.”