Interdimensional UFO hypothesis
The interdimensional hypothesis is a proposal that unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings are the result of experiencing other "dimensions" that coexist separately alongside our own[1] in contrast with either the extraterrestrial hypothesis that suggests UFO sightings are caused by visitations from outside the Earth or the psychosocial hypothesis that argues UFO sightings are best explained as psychological or social phenomenon.
The hypothesis has been advanced by ufologists such as Meade Layne,[2] John Keel,[3] J. Allen Hynek, and Jacques Vallée.[4][1] Proponents of the interdimensional hypothesis argue that UFOs are a modern manifestation of a phenomenon that has occurred throughout recorded human history, which in prior ages were ascribed to mythological or supernatural creatures.[5]
Jeffrey J. Kripal, Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, writes: "this interdimensional reading, long a staple of Spiritualism through the famous 'fourth dimension', would have a very long life within ufology and is still very much with us today".[6]
History[edit]
Pre-modern history[edit]
Concepts similar to ”other dimensions” exist amongst various religious and mystical traditions, such as Islamic mysticism known as Sufism. In this tradition, the concept al-ghayb refers to the hidden, unseen, and invisible, and encompasses a range of important phenomena in Islam and in the everyday lives of Muslims.[7] Within this mystical tradition, there is a concept of a hidden multilayered reality or world known as 'ālam al-mithāl, or “the world of similitude” which is considered to be an intermediary realm between the physical world (‘ālam al-shahada) and the purely spiritual world (‘ālam al-malakut). It is believed within this dominion exists everything unseen including intelligent non-human entities, known in Islam as jinn and angels.
In popular culture[edit]
The 2008 action-adventure film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull utilizes the interdimensional hypothesis and describes ancient aliens not flying into space but into ”the space between the spaces".[20][21]
The 2014 movie Interstellar employs a mix of the interdimensional and the time-traveler hypotheses. The bulk-beings[22] who built the tesseract inside the supermassive black hole Gargantua are later revealed to be future humans who have evolved to exist in five dimensions.