The following article appeared in the JUNE 1996 issue of FATE Magazine, and has been reproduced here with express permission from FATE. This article, "The Reptilians: Humanity's Historical Link to the Serpent Race" is copyright FATE Magazine and cannot be reproduced without the express permission of FATE. Visit the FATE web site located at www.llewellyn.com for more 'True Reports of the Strange and Unknown'! "The Reptilians: Humanity's Historical Link to the Serpent Race" c FATE Magazine, June 1996. by Joe Lewels, Ph.D. Did humans evolve from reptiles? As long as humanity has kept records of its existence, legends of a serpent race have persisted. These myths tell of a mysterious race of superhuman reptilian beings who descended from the heavens to participate in creating humankind and to teach the sciences, impart forbidden knowledge, impose social order, breed with us, and watch over our development. The serpentlike beings were not alone, but were part of a retinue of super beings thought to be gods by the ancients. Yet, in cultures as widespread and diverse as those of Sumeria, Babylonia, India, China, Japan, Mexico, and Central America, reptilian gods have been feared and worshipped. To this day the dragon or serpent signifies divine heritage and royalty in many Asian countries, while in the West, the serpent represents wisdom and knowledge. The symbol of two serpents coiled around a staff (originally signifying the tree of knowledge of ancient myth), known as the caduceus, is today used by the American Medical Association as its logo. Interestingly, stories of reptilian beings who exercise mind control over human captives while performing medical procedures on them have been emerging from the research of some of the best known UFO investigators, such as Budd Hopkins, John Carpenter, Linda Moulton Howe, Yvonne Smith, and others. These stories, told by average, mentally competent Americans, have emerged independently of one another in different parts of the country, but have not yet received much public attention. They tell of human encounters with creatures that have distinctly reptilian features: webbed, clawlike hands, large golden eyes with vertically slit pupils, and scaly, greenish-brown skin. Such stories have circulated around the UFO research community for years, but few experts have had any idea of how to interpret the tales. So unbelievable and so frightful are they that in the past, many researchers merely filed them away in their minds for future reference rather than risk looking foolish or being ridiculed. Little by little, at UFO conferences around the country, abductees and researchers learned of each other's similar experiences with reptilian creatures, and gradually the stories become public. Today, researchers agree that there is a variety of entities involved in the alien abduction scenario, including the familiar greys; tall, human- looking blondes; the reptilians; and hybrids (half-human and half-alien). In addition, there seem to be variations of each of these that imply crossbreeding and considerable diversity. It is not clearly understood how each type interacts with the others, although they are often reported seen together. MUFON's FINDINGS John Carpenter has kept close track of the abduction phenomenon. He is the director of abduction research for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), one of the largest and most credible organizations dedicated to the scientific study of UFOs and abductions. Carpenter holds a master's degree in social work and is a highly qualified hypnotherapist who works as a psychiatric social worker in Springfield, Missouri. Since the late 1980s, he has worked with more than 100 abductees and compiled information on hundreds of others. In addition, he is in contact with other researchers in the field. He has been involved in 10 cases where experiencers have described reptilian entities and he is aware of researchers in other parts of the country with similar cases. Abductees often have distinct clawlike cuts and bruises on their bodies after their apparent abductions. Carpenter summarized what he knows of these beings in his regular column, "Abduction Notes," MUFON UFO Journal, April 1993:"Typically, these reptilian creatures are reported to be about six to seven feet tall, upright, with lizardlike scales, greenish to brownish in color with clawlike, four-fingered webbed hands....Their faces are said to be a cross between a human and a snake, with a central ridge coming down from the top of the head to the snout. Adding to their serpentlike appearance are their eyes which have vertical slits in their pupils and golden irises." Perhaps the most frightening and most controversial part of these stories are claims that the creatures occasionally are reported to have sex with abductees. Supporting Carpenter's findings is a MUFON study that had financial assistance from the Fund for UFO Research. This massive study, known as the "Abduction Transcription Project," is an attempt to collect and correlate information on hundreds of abduction cases through the use of a sophisticated computer database. In July 1995 at the organization's symposium in Seattle, Washington, Dan Wright summed up the findings based on 142 separate cases and 560 transcripts. Wright said, "A fair reading of those sessions indicates strongly that multiple groups of entities have been routinely intruding into the lives of Americans--children as well as adults ....When a so-called reptilian is repeatedly described as having the same scaly skin tone, claws for fingers, and an extreme interest in sexuality, one must pay attention." The study's preliminary results indicate that reptilian types have been reported in a relatively small percentage (less than 20 per cent) of the cases being studied. NOT OF THIS GALAXY Whether the beings reported by abductees are Greys, blondes, reptilians, or any other variety, the scenario of the abduction phenomenon is fairly consistent among the thousands of cases studied thus far. In addition to having numerous medical procedures performed on them, abductees also report receiving information in the form of symbols or images, the meaning of which is often unclear, but much of it has to do with future Earth disasters. The beings sometimes refer to themselves as the "Watchers," "custodians," or "guardians of mankind" and all living things on Earth, and they say they are preparing for the time in the near future when global changes will dramatically affect life on our planet. In some cases they have indicated that they come from various parts of the universe, including other galaxies, or from "a very distant place." In what is certainly the most disturbing aspect of the procedures reported, both men and women abductees, but most often women, report being shown rooms filled with hundreds of glass tubes where hybrid fetuses are being grown, much like a hydroponic garden. In many cases, experiencers are shown nurseries of hybrid infants or rooms full of hybrid children of varying ages. Often the beings bring an infant or a child to the women to be held and loved, and they are told that it is their child. These events were reported by alien abductee Betty Andreasson Luca, whose case has been the subject of investigation for more than 20 years, and who has been the subject of four books by UFO investigator Ray Fowler. In his book *The Watchers*, Fowler reports on a hypnosis session in which Betty remembered being told by the beings who had taken her aboard their ship that "Man will become sterile" because of the polluted environment. Further, she is told that there are "good and bad Watchers," which Betty refers to as "angels." She is warned that there are some who are "against man, that will hurt man and destroy man." DEAD SEA SCROLLS EVIDENCE References to Watchers, good and bad angels, and hybrid babies can be found in many ancient texts including the Old Testament, which borrowed much from older documents, including the books of Enoch. The prophet Enoch is mentioned in Genesis as the son of Cain and the father of Methuselah, and he is believed to be one of the antediluvian (pre-flood) patriarchs who, along with Noah, "walked with God" (Genesis 5:24; 6:9). Books written by anonymous writers but credited to Enoch were given great credence by early Jewish scholars and thus influenced the writers of the Old Testament. Parts of the books of Enoch written in Aramaic were found among the scraps of parchment in the caves of Qumran in 1947, having been placed there nearly 2,000 years ago by a Jewish sect known as the Essenes. These, of course, are the Dead Sea Scrolls. Another version exists in Ethiopian. According to the Aramaic texts, "Enoch was the first among the children of men born of the Earth who had learned writing, science, and wisdom" from the angels. In one writing, the *Book of the Watchers*, we learn that the Watchers are angels and that there are good and bad Watchers. We are told that the Watchers are angels of the Lord, "come down to Earth to instruct the children of men and to bring about justice and equity on Earth." But in the case of the wicked or bad angels, the science they teach turns to wicked ends because of their sins. Their sin is that they permit their sexual appetite to dominate them: "When the evil Watchers descended and beheld the daughters of man, they began to corrupt themselves with them. When the sons of God saw the daughters of man, they could not restrain their inclination." These Watchers fall from grace with God when Enoch travels to heaven in physical form to testify against them. He tells God that the Watchers "had begun to go unto the daughters of men, so that they became impure." As punishment for the sins of the evil Watchers against humankind, God destroys humanity, including the hybrid race of beings who are the offspring of humans and Watchers, by causing a great flood. The evil Watchers are put into a fiery pit and imprisoned by the four chiefs of the good Watchers, the archangels Michael, Sariel, Rafael, and Gabriel. Another interesting reference to the Watchers was found in the same cave as the books of Enoch, but was not known until 1992, when two Biblical scholars, Robert Eisenman and Michael Wise, published their book *The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered.* Among the 50 documents released for the first time in this book is a reference to the Watchers that is unique, for it provides one of the few physical descriptions of them. The text, called "The Testament of Amram," describes the experience of a person named Amram in which "an angel and a demon" were wrestling over his soul: "[I saw Watchers] in my vision, the dream-vision. Two [men] were fighting over me. I asked them, 'who are you, that you are thus empowered over me?" They answered me, 'We [have been em]powered and rule over all mankind.' They said to me, 'Which of us do yo[u] choose to rule [you]?' I raised my eyes and looked. [One] of them was terrifying in his appearance, [like a s]erpent, [his] cl[oak] many colored yet very dark...[And I looked again], and ... in his appearance, his visage like a viper ... [I replied to him,] 'This [watcher,] who is he?' He answered me, 'This Wa[tcher,] ... [and his three names are Belial and Prince of Darkness] and King of Evil.'" What makes this testament even more intriguing is the fact that this little-known character named Amram is quite an important personage. Amram, it turns out, was the father of one of the most famous contactees in history, the man who delivered the Jews from slavery in Egypt. This person is, of course, none other than Moses! EXTRATERRESTRIAL REPTILE GODS If that were the only reference to reptilian beings in ancient texts it could easily be dismissed, but the stories of such creatures date back to the earliest human writings, those of Sumer (meaning "land of the guardians"), Babylon (meaning "gate of the gods"), and other civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia. Among the thousands of clay tablets that have been recovered and translated dating from the earliest recorded history, are documents that record events dating back 240,000 years. One of these, the "Sumerian King" list, tells the story of the god, An, chief god of an extraterrestrial race called the Annunaki, and his sons, Enki and Enlil. It is clear from the texts and the illustrations left by the Sumerians that at least some of these "gods," including Enki (also known as EA), were reptilian in appearance. It is Enki who gave the first people the fruit of the tree of knowledge and who later saved humanity by warning a Noahlike figure of the great flood. These stories are so similar to the Old Testament that one can only conclude that the Old Testament authors borrowed heavily from them. In the Sumerian tale, Enki is given the task of creating a worker force to help the Annunaki till the soil and mine the ore for which they came to earth. This he does through considerable trial and error, in the process creating strange creatures. The legend implies that Enki possessed a highly advanced technology that included the capability of genetically altering the indigenous species. Using a mysterious process to create a claylike substance, he was able to "bind upon it the image of the gods," indicating that Enki used Annunaki genes to create a hybrid species. It also implies that some of the early humans may have had a reptilian appearance. This statue [not shown] of a biologically credible creature, created by Dr. Dale Russell of the Canadian National Museum of Natural Sciences, shows what evolution might have produced if dinosaurs had survived. Its appearance is similar to the beings reported by abductees. This photo [not shown] was taken from the book *The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence*, by Edward Ashpole, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. OUR REPTILIAN ANCESTORS As ridiculous and repugnant as this sounds, it is commonly accepted by modern science that humankind's early ancestors may have been reptiles. According to the Darwinian explanation of the origins of the human species, mammals evolved from reptiles and gained dominion over the Earth only after a great disaster of debatable nature destroyed the dinosaurs. It is theorized that only then were mammals able to proliferate and ultimately evolve into intelligent beings. It is rather remarkable that the ancient Sumerian story of creation should parallel so closely the Darwinian view. In both cases humans are said to be related to a superior reptilian race and, in both cases, a great cataclysm eradicates the earlier species. (In the Bible, it was the hybrid race of giants known as the Nephilim that God wished to destroy.) Finally, in both stories, the survivors of the disaster start anew, eventually evolving into humans. In his book *The Dragons of Eden*, the esteemed astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan speculates on the reptilian origins of humans and on the mysterious leap in brain evolution that can be found in the fossil record. He notes that if people had evolved naturally from reptiles, as Darwinists claim, it should have taken 200 million years for mammals to first evolve, and then another five to 10 million years for humans to evolve. But he notes with extreme puzzlement that the fossil record simply does not bear out this conclusion. In fact, the evolvement of mammals, and particularly humans, was accomplished very quickly, "in a major burst of brain evolution." The evidence for this is clear in the fact that stone tools do not appear gradually, but rather "they appear in enormous abundance all at once." In frustration Sagan concludes that "there is no way to explain this unless *Australopithecines* had educational institutions," to teach toolmaking. Of course there is another explanation, but not one any mainstream scientist would dare consider. That alternative is to admit that God or godlike beings had a hand in accelerating the evolutionary process. THE REPTILE PART OF THE BRAIN Sagan goes on to puzzle over the similarities between the reptilian brain and the human brain. He points out that at the core of the human brain lies a vestige of our reptilian past. This part of the brain, known as the R-complex (reptilian complex), is said to be the part of the brain that performs the dinosaur functions--aggressive behavior, territoriality, ritual, and establishment of social hierarchies. The middle layer is called the limbic system, and is thought to generate love, hate, compassion, and sentimentality--characteristics believed to be strictly mammalian. The largest part of the human brain, the neocortex or outer layer, is believed to be the home of reasoning and deliberation and "the place where we know the difference between good and evil." Once again, science seems to agree with the ancient creation myths, for it was the knowledge of good and evil (given to them by a serpent) that caused first woman and man to fall from grace with the creator. If the creator was reptilian, then it could be that by becoming mammalian--and developing a neocortex--humanity became less reptilian, thus falling from grace. Other ancient texts bear out this disturbing conclusion. In 1945, in a small town in Egypt, a clay jar was found bearing ancient scrolls similar to the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are known as the Nag Hammadi texts, named after the town where they were found. They tell the story of human creation this way: The bodies of Adam and Eve were overlayed with a horny skin that was bright as daylight, like a luminescent garment. Thus, it seems, they didn't need clothing. Further, these texts tell a far different story about the tree of knowledge than that told in Genesis:"She took some of its fruit and ate, and she gave to her husband also...then their minds opened. For when they ate, the light of knowledge shone for them. When they saw their makers, they loathed them since they were beastly forms. They understood very much." In another ancient Jewish document, known as the Haggadah, it is made clear that the serpent was not merely a snake:"Among the animals, the serpent was notable. Of all of them, he had the most excellent qualities, in some of which he resembled man. Like man, he stood upright on two feet, and in height he was equal to the camel....His superior mental gifts caused him to become an infidel. It likewise explains his envy of man, especially his conjugal visits....In punishment for tempting Eve, God said 'I created you to be king over all the animals...but you were not satisfied....I created you of upright posture...therefore you shall go upon your belly.'" These tantalizing clues from the dim past seem to give at least some support for the idea that today's UFO occupants, reptilian or otherwise, are exactly who they say they are--the ancient guardians of humankind. If that is so, then the theory that UFOs are piloted by aliens from other planets must be carefully re-evaluated. But whatever the answer is, it is clear that UFO researchers have their hands full in dealing with this enduring and perplexing mystery. Joe Lewels is an independent researcher currently working on a book dealing with UFOs and their religious implications. He is collecting stories about encounters with reptilians and invites readers with such experiences to write him in care of FATE. All letters will be forwarded to Lewels.