I have heard people who merely saw a UFO up close describing themselves as experiencers. That's rather lame IMO.
Most people who call themselves experiencers have been abducted or have been visited by some "being(s)." Some have had what might be called a paranormal experience related to the UFO/UAP phenomenon.
Are these events real or imagined or a mixture of both? That is certainly a valid question, one which many of the "experiencers" themselves ask.
There is also what is called a "hitchhiker effect" where, for example, people who have seen a UFO/UAP have some kind of paranormal experiences follow them home and even plague their families and neighbors.
As an aside, for a long time, people who are "authorities" on this topic wanted to avoid what is referred to as the "woo" (i.e., the paranormal angle of this stuff). Now, many of those same people are declaring that the "woo" is the foundation of the UFO/UAP issue. In fact, UFOs may be nothing more than contrivances presented just to confuse humans.
The bottom line of the entire issue is that no one can seriously say that they have any frikken idea what is going on...just that there is a very real phenomenon appearing to our naval vessels, over our nuclear missile silos, to civilians around the world. And all this is happening with greater and greater frequency.
Good comments and summary, Rooster.
I do have my own “way out there” hypothesis about “the nature of the universe” that I have not seen anywhere.
Hang on to your seat belt:
If the universe/multiverse is “fractal” then it is similar “above and below”.
One of the astounding things that could mean has to do with the nature of information.
When an author writes a book they “create” characters and situations and activities (plot).
What if we are in fact characters in some advanced being’s “book”.
They could choose to give us as much or as little free will as they like.
But—this is the really cool part.
Perhaps the definition of “consciousness” is that conscious entities (which includes “us”) can write their own books—which means that we can in turn create our own universes, our own characters, our own “plots”.
And—if we make them conscious they can do the same—and their characters can do the same.....
That would fit the McKenna definition of “stranger than we can imagine”....
;-)