Oh Wow: What's Going On Up There?

Guest columnist Owen Wislon joins the Ill & Odd crew to share new insights on unknown and wondrous creatures, strange locations, myths, legends and all manners of things that make you say, "Oh wow!"

Hey everybody! I’m back and boy, do I have a doozy to talk about today.

I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this, let's be honest, but I gotta say the research department here has an archive of truly weird shit for me to pick and choose from that has kept me intrigued so far. Now I don’t have time to go through it all and find subjects that match my interests per say, but what I do have is their intern Tim who recites a giant list to me as I meditate. His monotonous, dour voice is like white noise so, you know, two birds and whatnot as I get my chakras up. Today’s topic felt right and I definitely felt a pop for this one.

UFOs.

Now before you even start, I know what you may be saying. Owen, have you been dipping back into the ol' medicine? No, and I resent you even thinking that. In fact I haven’t touched peyote ever since Woody Harreslon big-timed me and blocked me after True Detective season one. Dick.

The truth is, I’ve always been fascinated by the possibility of little ET’s flying around out there but have mostly kept it to myself. I didn’t want to get pegged in Hollywood as one of those guys. Pretty soon you’re doing nonstop direct-to-video releases for Redbox and you end up dead facedown in the desert near Reno after a convention signing autographs for twenty bucks.

What seems to have changed in the past few years is the stigma. The stigma is gone entirely from talking about these little guys and I’m here for it.

I think my interest in UFOs (UAPs?) and extraterrestrials really stemmed from meeting and working with Wes Anderslon. Now I love him more than Luke, but he is a strange, strange dude. It’s probably the same thing for people who hang around cows a lot. I don’t know, maybe you never look at a burger the same again. Like you can’t not remember talking to a cow when you were buzzed one night strolling out in a field and now whenever you see a burger, you eat it, but feel a little bit off about it. Oh by the way, fun fact about Wes, he was actually the inspiration for Taika and Jermaine's What We Do in the Shadows due to his bone structure, dead eyes, and overall vibe.

I digress. I bring UFOs up now because apparently there are massive amounts of hearings currently/recently taking place within Congress. It seems like whistleblower after whistleblower is coming forward with stories of their firsthand encounters, dustups with the government around the topic, or with some other unexplained phenomenon.

It’s wild to see how mainstream the coverage is now. Google "UFOs" and topic after topic pops up from the major networks. This isn’t from small independent blogs, this seems to be real, seems to be more frequent, and also is freaking me out if I am honest.

Further Reading: David Grush UFO whistleblower claims

That’s just one rabbit hole to trip down, as much of the recent testimony has surrounded David Grusch (retired Air Force Officer). It’s almost too much to comb through without getting all worked up. Some of the stuff seems like baloney, the amateur videos anyway that someone with some editing skills they picked up at UCLA could manufacture. People who seem overeager to share, I’m just not buying.

But there have been plenty of videos I’ve seen that I believe. Air Force jets unable to keep up with or track fast-moving targets that don’t maneuver in any way humans could replicate. There are now so many folks coming forward that it’s starting to feel like the weight of the truth is going to push this thing over a ledge sooner or later. MAN, this is wild.

I, for one, am leaning on the optimistic side of what if could mean to finally get confirmation of ETs. Maybe we could get our shit together on Earth and work with each other to you know, stop killing each other and generally being what I classify as "bad hangs".

Picture, is, related.

I’m not going to be a big downer like some folks who think Aliens would come down here and be a bunch of assholes. What’s really in it for them? Why in a boundless universe where if they do have the technology to bend space and time would they fuck with us? I think the earth has enough assholes already (see above) more would just seem cruel.

I think it’s worth taking a look into yourself. And if you don’t buy into it still, hell I don’t blame you pal.

Not thinking about it may be a way to cope with the anxiety that comes with the unknown. I myself had to go lay down after reading the script for Loki for example. I had no clue what was going on and, full disclosure, I definitely needed an edible after that experience alone.

I’ll be keeping an eye on these green and gray folks from the sky and I’m going to put my faith in the fact that it’ll work out. Hell, life’s too short for all the negative energy anyway. Plus think on the brightside, if ET’s are real and chill, they’re probably toking some sweet astral spice like in Dune. Think of the outfits you’d get to wear without judgment! Just people being people with space drugs and dope threads. That’s Cap.