High strange—ET research meets Monroe training
Angelia Sheer has been investigating the UFO mystery for 35+ years. She founded Parasheer Research and is the current State Director/Chief Field Investigator and STAR Team Leader for MUFON (the Mutual UFO Network) of Tennessee. Angelia was named MUFON 2019 Field Investigator of the Year.
Angelia just released her first book, "UFO Encounters: How High Strange Events Transform Human Perception."
A graduate of multiple Monroe programs, Angelia incorporates her Monroe training into her UFO research. She agreed to share her story with us.
My witnesses were experiencing profound state changes, ... many of their reports were startlingly similar to the experiences we all shared during Monroe audio supported exercises.
For all of my witnesses:
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” – Albert Einstein
I remember years ago discovering the books of Robert A. Monroe and from the first moment, I was hooked. I planned my first trip and as soon as I entered the Nancy Penn Center, I knew that I was home. Those first few programs were filled with wonder, self-discovery and new friendships that have lasted to this day. What followed in the coming years as I participated in over 13 programs, with the latter being the Starlines programs, impacted my life in ways that I am still discovering.
As a long-time meditator and experiencer of out-of-body states, my training at Monroe began as a very personal adventure. With every program, my meditations and awareness would advance by leaps and bounds. I noticed cognitive gains, emotional resolutions, definitive perceptual changes, and just an overall higher degree of functioning. Also, my understanding of the altered states that I had been experiencing since childhood began to take on greater global and contextual implications in relation to what others were experiencing also.
Now … from a very young age, I have been fascinated with the possibility of other life in the universe. When I was young I went missing one evening and scared my poor parents to death. I was found safe and sound a distance from the house on a hill staring at the sky. When asked what in the world I was doing, I calmly answered, “Waiting for my real parents to come pick me up!” From that moment and as far back as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with the study of extraterrestrial life and the possible implications of its discovery on each of us as individuals and our world at large.
My father was a professor of biology who also enjoyed the early study of UFOs and supported my curiosity with training in the sciences. He, unfortunately, passed away at a very young age, so I took over his research in my early 20s and I have been doing true “boots on the ground” research ever since. At this point, I have probably interviewed over 2,800 witnesses and things don’t seem to be slowing down a bit.
Until years later, both of these lines of study occupied very separate categories in my life. It was probably in my early 30s that I began to see some very profound patterns emerge in my research. I would like to share an excerpt from my new book’s introduction, as I feel it conveys that connection very succinctly.
From “UFO Encounters: How High Strange Events Transform Human Perception”—
“Over the years, UFO research has been mainly focused on the external phenomena at hand using the current scientific models. The sightings, the abductions, the radar echoes, physical traces, photos, videos and a search for that perfect piece of evidence were our holy grail. It didn’t really seem to dawn on many researchers that our understanding of science is in no way complete and that there are other very valid methods of inquiry that may reveal to us a different interpretation of reality altogether. Did anyone stop to think that even in the midst of so much evidence and credible witnesses, the “proof” seems to always elude us? When you ask the wrong questions, no matter how sound those questions may be, the answers never come.
In the very early years of my research, I started out just like all the other researchers of that time, nuts and bolts research. “Just the facts, please,” kind of inquiry and don’t bother me with all that strange stuff! But, problems begin to arise with this approach. No matter how hard I tried to keep my research “pure,” anomalous experiences continued to arise in very high percentages of my cases. These “anomalies” were persistent, were reported across the board and no matter what kind of scientific inquiry I threw at them, they just wouldn’t go away.
A single case changed the way I viewed and then investigated the UFO mystery forever. The case involved a group of people star-watching on a beach. There were about 14 individuals within about 25 feet of each other. At some point, about four of those people witnessed a pretty amazing UFO sighting. When questioned alone, they all described the same thing. They were articulate and in agreement about the shape, lights and sound. What was extraordinary was the fact that the other 10 witnesses saw and heard nothing. No matter how hard the small group tried to point out the object the others just could not see it.
This was a revelation, to say the least. It dawned on me that there was “Something” very different about this small group of witnesses that enabled them to “see.” And, bordering on obsession, I was determined to find out what that “something” was. So, being young and poor and without the resources to purchase fancy equipment for research, I did have a steady stream of witnesses that I could study at close range and for long periods of time.
As the years passed, and the number of witnesses that I had interviewed increased, other paranormal and high strange events continued to be reported among my UFO witnesses. And … it just would not go away. This trend has held for 35 years of research, especially with my witnesses who had reported continuing sightings and/or interactions with the phenomena. Furthermore, I found that many other so-called “serious researchers” would edit out those experiences or just discard the whole case.
They ended up categorizing those cases under various mental disorders, hallucinations, hoaxes and in many instances, knew there was really something going on but did not want to risk ridicule for including events that did not fit neatly into our current paradigms.
My research just did not lend itself to these explanations and I refused to leave out pertinent information just because it might ruffle some people’s feathers. I found high percentages of my cases were told by sane, stable, grounded, productive, articulate and integrated individuals. They were hesitant to come forward or even give their names, wanted no notoriety or attention, were afraid of being labeled “crazy” and just wanted someone to hear their stories and actually believe them. And, the cases just kept piling up. So, 35 years later, my research has brought me to these conclusions:
1) UFO Sightings, Entity Interactions, Cryptid Sightings and Paranormal events were happening way too often within the general research to be ignored or discarded. This includes cross-over events. (Events that report multiple types of high strange encounters i.e. UFO sightings that include orbs, cryptids and other paranormal interactions. (My definition of Paranormal: Any event, encounter or sighting that does not fit the standard, current scientific model).
2) A very high percentage of witnesses had valid credibility and portrayed no characteristics of emotional or mental aberrations.
3) Some very strange things were being reported on a regular basis, with consistent content throughout investigated events, regardless of cultural factors, sex or upbringing.
4) There were repeatable patterns, common denominators and high strangeness events arising in a very high percentage of cases being reported.
5) Witnesses reported “sensitivities” from birth or developed said “sensitivities” after experiencing a UFO encounter or other paranormal Event.
6) Previously, there had been much investigation into the events themselves but very little research had been done in studying the witnesses themselves.
7) And the most important: Individuals encountering this phenomenon were forever changed. Witnesses that did not go into denial and stayed the course experienced incredible transformative events. They displayed increased psychic/intuitive abilities, intellectual gains, cognitive increases, and overall general increased levels of maturity.”
Many “negative” encounters began to change into vehicles of radical transformation; witnesses discovered that they were not passive bystanders, but powerful individuals in themselves who could navigate some pretty extraordinary circumstances.
And—with these conclusions within my UFO research, it dawned on me that these were the very same changes that I had experienced working with the Monroe programs. My witnesses were experiencing profound state changes, whether self-induced or externally motivated (i.e.: affected by ET contact or other external sources), many of their reports were startlingly similar to the experiences we all shared during Monroe audio supported exercises.
Just as Monroe training comes with greater and greater degrees of subtle awareness, many of my witnesses began to understand their relationship to the phenomena and were able to make startling changes in the way they engaged their “high strange events.”
This profound understanding radically changed my research methods and has allowed me to help witnesses over the years integrate their truly extraordinary experiences in very empowering ways. By helping my witnesses understand their own abilities in relation to their UFO events, I was able to help alleviate a “victim” mentality and return choice and power to their lives.
Just as Monroe training comes with greater and greater degrees of subtle awareness, many of my witnesses began to understand their relationship to the phenomena and were able to make startling changes in the way they engaged their “high strange events.” Many “negative” encounters began to change into vehicles of radical transformation; witnesses discovered that they were not passive bystanders, but powerful individuals in themselves who could navigate some pretty extraordinary circumstances. Just as I’m reminded of how Bob Monroe did in his early years by continuing his brave explorations!
As always, my gratitude to Bob Monroe’s tenacity in search of the truth, the staff and all of the incredible individuals I have met over the years still carry me forward to this day. I write this piece today in quarantine as our world struggles with a great challenge but I look forward with great anticipation to gathering again and hope to see many of you at future programs.
If you have had a sighting or other high strange event, Angelia would love to hear from you. [email protected]