Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind

Or When the Alien Is a Human

“There will always be a reason why you meet people. Either you need them to change your life or you’re the one that will change theirs.” – Madeline Sheehan

“Borrowing a term from ufology, Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind refers to direct communication between humans and aliens.

Here are the stories of the ‘aliens’ I met during my travels—strange encounters with wandering souls.

1

“Can I Follow You?”

Taipei, Taiwan

“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.” – William Arthur Ward

It was the end of the day, after visiting the Longshan temple. The area was busy, with people chatting in front of the temple. As I walked among them, I noticed this girl, and she noticed me. There was something different about her, something intriguing.

Nostalgia

I continued walking, sensing that I was being followed. When I stopped, I saw her. ‘Can I follow you?’ she asked. It might sound like a pick-up line, but soon after, she spoke the saddest words someone can say: ‘I want to suicide.’ She was seeing things—flashes of light. And aliens. Her name is Wushi.

I tried to lift her spirits, and she started smiling. ‘I am not sick,’ she said. She was looking for an escape from her own world, a lonely and painful one…

Longshan Temple, Taipei

‘Where do you live?’ I asked. She only pointed in the direction where she and her family lived. We started walking, chatting a bit in English. At times, she would suddenly switch to Chinese. ‘Pam, pam, pam,’ she would say, shooting at imaginary targets.

“Are we there yet?” I asked after walking on the same road for a very long time. She would just point in the direction, which was always forward.

“I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.” – Thomas Merton

“Pam, pam, pam”—four hours on the road, it was already night, and I no longer knew where I was.

Wushi was happy. She would keep walking forever. What would we find at the end of the road?

The hardest part is saying goodbye. “Can I follow you?’” Wushi asked, with tears in her eyes…

“Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

2

The Sleeping Beauty in the Forest

Banff, Canada

Four days in beautiful Banff and the Rocky Mountains! While trekking alone through a forest, I stumbled upon a tall girl with long hair who seemed like a fairy of the woods. She was from Switzerland, and her name was Isabel.

Portrait of a girl

Her story is crazy. She comes from a rich family; her father is a lawyer in Bern. At her father’s insistence, she attended law school but quit after two years and started taking drugs. She ran away from home and lived in abandoned houses without money.

“You can find everything you need in a garbage can.”

I was shocked! She just jumped into a garbage container and started looking through its contents. “Hey, I found a good banana!”

Walking down the streets of Banff, filled with tourists, Isabel would pick up all the cigarette butts she could find, much to my embarrassment. “I’ll buy you a pack of cigarettes,” I said. “No, I don’t need it,” she replied.

The craziness of our world

Isabel was sleeping in a sleeping bag outside in the forest, near Banff. She met a truck driver who promised to take her to her next destination in the morning.

“Let’s go for a beer!” To my surprise, Isabel insisted on paying for her own beer.

In the end, she seemed to reconcile with her family. She stopped taking drugs and became interested in learning about naturopathic medicine.

“We all exist in our own personal reality of craziness.” –  Alejandro Jodorowsky

3

The Alien with Red Eyes

Pokhara, Nepal

What a trip to Nepal! So many adventures! Pokhara is a dream destination between the Phewa Lake and Annapurna.

One morning, while strolling around the lake on a country road, I encountered what I thought was my first alien—a man with incredibly red eyes! He stopped, and I stopped. He didn’t speak, but he smiled and pointed to a nearby house. I followed him.

Graffiti

In the house, there were six men and one woman. “These are my brothers,” he said. A lot of brothers, I thought. The woman was cooking and served me grilled meat. It was good. Then I was invited to the flat roof of the house, where I met the “dealer.”

The “dealer” introduced me to the purest marijuana, right from the Himalayas. I tried a joint out of curiosity and to avoid disappointing the host, and I was happy! But not so happy that I wanted to buy a whole bag of “herbs,” despite the dealer’s insistence.

Now I know where the red-eyed alien came from!

Pokhara marijuana bar

“Whatever is not commonly seen is condemned as alien.” – Iris Chang

4

The Hypnotist from Varanasi

Varanasi, India

Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India, is a place unlike any other. It feels like being on another planet. Day and night, Varanasi is alive along the Ganges Rive.

It was here that I met my first Sadhu, a holy man—or perhaps not so holy. At that moment, I was the alien!

Sadhu, Varanasi

I approached the Sadhu who was sitting in the yoga “Lotus” posture, ready to receive a blessing, when another “holy” man appeared with very bright, piercing green eyes.

He stared at me with a cold, cobra-like gaze and handed me an amulet. “Repeat after me,” he said: “Om – janga – banga – tanka – … – tuba – om – ganga – banga – two hundred dollars.”

It didn’t work! I wasn’t hypnotized into paying two hundred dollars, perhaps because I was alert in unfamiliar territory. But it was a good show!

“It’s time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I’d much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure.” – Ernie Harwell