I'm the owl guy
If you Google UFOs and owls, my name is the first thing that comes up. So, if someone out there has had an experience that involves both UFOs and owls, and they want to research it, they're going to find me. At this point there are also a handful of presentations that I’ve given at conferences and some are posted on Youtube. These videos are me at a podium talking about my owl research. Because of all this, I’m now known as the owl guy. I’ve used the blog to put out a request for folks to contact me and share their own owl experiences. What’s happened is that I’m getting a steady flow of really amazing owl stories from people who need to share their experiences.
The way all this owl stuff emerged traces back to my own experiences with owls. I've simply made it a point that anyone I talk to, whether it’s a researcher or an experiencer, I will ask this one question: have you ever had any odd owl experiences? It’s not one hundred percent of the people, but a surprising amount will have an odd story to tell. I've been publicly asking that same question on my site, during my interviews and at conferences.
A lot of amazing owl stories have been arriving in my email inbox. Presently, it is about one a day. I have made the effort to get back to each one of these people, but sometimes it can be hard to keep up. Before I can reply in any meaningful way, there are new owl stories accumulating. These are from sincere people who are confused and uneasy about what has happened to them. So I’ve been collecting, documenting and archiving these owl events in relation to UFOs. I feel less like a researcher, and more like a folklorist. I deeply appreciate that people are reaching out to me with their stories, and I take this responsibility seriously.
I didn’t choose to study owls. They chose me. When I turned my attention to this research I figured I would collect some interesting anecdotes, type up an article and be done with it. That was the genesis of the essay posted online in the summer of 2013. I had no idea that for the next few years my life would be consumed by this focused avenue of inquiry.
Friedrich Nietzsche said, “When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”
Owls are an almost insignificant part of the UFO enigma, but within that tiny fractal is an allegory for the overall phenomenon. I am staggered by the volume of fascinating stories I’ve heard involving owls. It is far beyond anything I expected. What is presenting itself to me is so powerful that I can’t help but wonder if I was somehow chosen to archive these reports and turn them into a book. Yes, that sounds presumptuous, but that’s how it feels.
—Excerpt from The Messengers, page 22
