Kimberly Engels on the UFO as Threshold: Embodiment, Consciousness, and Ethical Interconnection
Kimberly Engels presents a UFO image as a symbol of the inseparability of embodiment and consciousness, arguing that close encounters and related altered states have been ontologically transformative and invite a rethinking of reality and humanity’s place within it. She links her personal and scholarly interest in anomalous experiences to troubling revelations about some members of the consciousness studies community allied with Jeffrey Epstein, emphasizing that moral failings in pursuit of “enlightenment” cannot be ignored. Engels critiques both ends of the Cartesian spectrum—reductionist physicalism and the elevation of consciousness to a realm divorced from the body—arguing that neither account captures the lived texture of extraordinary experiences or their ethical implications. She cautions against spiritual bypassing, where transcendence leads to neglect of embodied life, harm, or ego inflation, noting that a true transformation must be reflected in how one speaks, acts, and relates to others. The UFO is described as an in-between phenomenon: physically observable and demonstrably impactful, yet also pointing toward a wider, participatory reality that integrates mind and matter rather than dissolving one into the other. Accordingly, expanded consciousness should be measured by ethical outcomes—how experiences reshape daily conduct, power, attentiveness to vulnerability, and responsibility toward the Earth and non-human life. Thus, the UFO becomes a threshold for a new worldview and ethic of interconnection, requiring a continual, lived commitment to accountability and embodied care. The central question remains who individuals are and who society will become in light of these encounters, with the answer needing to be demonstrated through ongoing, everyday action.
Source: substack.com
