Miracle Visitors

Miracle Visitors by Ian Watson (1980 Granada/Panther paperback 256pp)

 

 

A couple of Months ago now I was watching an interview on YouTube with the Scottish Science Fiction writer Ken MacLeod. The discussion moved onto the topic of UFOs and MacLeod held up a copy of “Miracle Visitors” and recommended it to viewers as having an interesting take on the UFO phenomena. By some minor miracle I checked one of the local book websites and they had a copy available, soon it was in my hands.

I only recall having read one previous book by Ian Watson, that was a library copy of “The Fire Worm” about 30 years ago. That book mixed topics like Alchemy and child abuse and I recalled being somewhat disturbed by the time I had finished it.

“Miracle Visitors” starts as a pretty mild-mannered story. A young man, Michael, takes part in a university hypnosis experiment and once hypnotised recounts an apparent UFO abduction experience. Consciousness researcher John Deacon becomes intrigued by the boy’s story and its almost symbolic nature. He discusses the events with a multi-disciplinary Consciousness Research Group within the University and soon brings onboard Barry Shriver, an ex-U.S. Air Force UFO buff.

So far so good, a few more odd things happen to Michael and his girlfriend and the story runs along like a slow-burning psychological thriller. Then around the page 100 mark the author apparently got sick of the book he was trying to write and throws caution to the wind. Soon there are flying cars, Muslim Sufi mystics, saggy-baggy aliens and secret bases on the moon. Into this melange he also adds the revelation of the ultimate answer to the UFO mystery and (why hold back?) the secret of the universe itself. Characters are moved around the map like game pieces and the story never really recovers. Eastern religion and theoretical physics are plundered willy-nilly.

Some of the theorising about UFOs as perhaps an altered state of consciousness and the discussions about how the phenomena as always been with us are genuinely interesting and reflects the writing of those such as Jacques Vallee who became popular around the time this book was written. Moving to an explanation beyond the ETH (extra-terrestrial hypothesis – i.e., real aliens flying real spaceships) was somewhat brave in that era and is refreshing to a point.

However, “Miracle Visitors” becomes too heady a mix and represents little in the end except for pure distilled 1970s. It might have been startling on release in 1978 but now it just seems oh so dated.