Spartacus01

I hate the post-1999 EU Jedi with every all of myself.

As far as the Prequels are concerned, I think that, given time, we would get an alternate take on the Prequel Trilogy and Anakin Skywalker’s story after the conclusion of the New Jedi Order series, as to not complicate things lore-wise during production. Once that’s wrapped up, I believe that’s when authors and other executives will turn their attention to create a project dedicated to telling the full story of the Clone Wars, the fall of the Republic, and Anakin’s transformation into Darth Vader. It would be like the Clone Wars Multimedia Project, but it starts at the very beginning of the alternate PT’s story and goes from there, expanding Anakin and Obi-Wan’s characters while introducing new characters that are connected with already-established material. I believe the Clone Wars here would follow something along the lines of Timothy Zahn’s envisioned version of the Clone Wars, while taking some artistic liberties of cut content from decades prior (such as the scrapped Kenner toy-line with Atha Prime). We would see Republic soldiers against enemy cloned warriors in a war that would last for many years, devastating the galaxy and whittling the Jedi Knights’ numbers over time. Whether or not the Jedi are destroyed during or after the war’s conclusion is up in the air, along with how quickly the Republic transformed into the Empire. The authors would probably try to focus on what the films set up first with backstories (Anakin and Owen’s brotherhood, Obi-Wan convincing Anakin to leave Tatooine to fight in the war, etc.) and then the rest is filled in with EU stories (some of which are quickly rectified to avoid continuity problems). Plus, the Jedi would be allowed to marry and have families; in fact, I reckon we could see some GoT-style conflict between Jedi dynasties and their views on the Force, Clone Wars, etc. It could even pave the way for a Jedi civil war but set in the Clone Wars era, with the survivors later hooking up with Palpatine’s Inquisitors or going into hiding

As far as the NJO is concerned, had Lucas decided to give the keys of the franchise over to EU authors, I believe Star by Star wouldn’t have killed off Anakin Solo and things would progress from there. The Solo Kids would reunite and lead the charge to retake Coruscant from the Yuuzhan Vong, each sibling goes off on their own path to find their calling (Anakin to become Luke’s successor, Jacen to explore the mysteries of the Force, and Jaina to continue being the “Sword of the Jedi”) and the post-Endor stuff would conclude there. If not, then it would probably focus more on the recovery aspect of the galaxy following the war’s end or Jacen’s journey to learning about the Force while Anakin and Jaina deal with some small crisis back in their galaxy. Without the PT films, most of the stuff the post-NJO had to work off of (Dark Nest with the Padme subplot, LOTF with the Mando shit, and Legacy comics with Krayt’s backstory) would result in a massive change and/or overhaul of plans following this.

As far as the post-Tales of the Jedi Old Republic is concerned, I think that without the PT films, KOTOR’s aesthetic would follow more of what we see in TOTJ. I think the story would remain the same, however, regarding Revan and Malak. SWTOR would also have the aesthetic change thing, and the Bane books would remain the same. However, I think that the Darth title would have been introduced in the Bane books themselves, as well as the rule to have a red lightsaber. But before the Bane books, I think the Sith would have been depicted the same way they’re depicted in TOTJ.

Overall, I think this would be a better universe for Star Wars as a whole, as the fandom would be more united. Instead of having OT fans against PT fans against ST fans against EU fans against Canon fans, we would only have film purists against those who accept both the films and the EU. And that’s it. There wouldn’t be as much division as there is today.

Interstellar is overrated.

Am I the only one who likes the idea of a consistent Canon? Lol.

And I utterly and completely loathe the Padme character, both in how she’s written and performed.

I don’t share your opinion. I love Padmé the way she is. In fact, in my Prequel rewrite she’s basically the same character, I don’t change anything about her.

In my opinion, George Lucas should never have done the Prequel Trilogy, and he should have gave the responsibility of writing the Prequel story to the Expanded Universe authors from the 90s and 2000s. Instead of having a Prequel Trilogy, I would have liked the entire Clone Wars and Anakin’s fall to be developed in a very long comic series, like Tales of the Jedi but even longer. Like, I would have loved to see Lucas abandoning his plans for making the Prequels in 1996/1997, and giving Tom Veitch the task of writing a long comic series to tell Anakin’s fall and his adventures during the Clone Wars. This way, we could have had both Tales of the Jedi and a long Prequel comic series. I would have still liked the current Prequel actors to serve as models for the appearance of the characters, though. So, Hayden Christensen would still be Anakin, Natalie Portman would still be Anakin’s wife/girlfriend, and Ewan McGregor would still be Obi-Wan.

The Big Bang Theory is overrated as fuck. I mean, I like the first three seasons, but after the third season the show becomes bad, in my opinion. Ever since they decided to give Sheldon a girlfriend, the show became bad. I can kinda accept Howard having a girlfriend, and I think Penny and Leonard are cute in the first three seasons. But then they introduced Amy, and I really can’t stand it after that. I liked it when the jokes where mostly about science and science fiction, not about couples, marriage, sex and the usual bulshit.

When we will have the technology to replace all the original voices with artificially created voices that sound exactly like those of the original actors (and thus basically redoubing all the dialogue), then I would like to bring these radical changes to the plot of the Trilogy:

• Making attachment partially accepted by the Jedi, thus turning Anakin and Padmé’s relationship into something public, of which everyone is aware.
• Changing the reasons behind Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side.
• During the fight on Mustafar, let Obi-Wan try to bring Anakin back.
• Making the dialogue more consistent with the Original Trilogy (Anakin wanting to give is son his lightsaber, etc).

The Origins and Expansion of Humanity in the Universe

Around 7 billion years ago, the Milky Way Galaxy was a vast, lifeless expanse. Despite the presence of countless habitable planets, no intelligent life had emerged anywhere. However, on a distant Earth-like planet on the opposite side of the Milky Way, the first intelligent beings — Humans — evolved. These “Original Humans” were the pioneers of life, the only intelligent species in the Galaxy. After developing advanced technology and exploring the Galaxy, the Original Humans realized their unique position as the sole intelligent life form. Faced with this knowledge, they embarked on an ambitious mission: to spread life throughout the Milky Way. They established billions of colonies on habitable worlds and sent out robotic probes containing organic material to seed life on other planets. Over billions of years, the Original Human Race eventually went extinct, but their legacy persisted. The Milky Way Galaxy became populated with countless Human civilizations, each identical in appearance to the Original Humans. One of these civilizations is us — the Humans of Earth. We evolved from the organic material left by one of those ancient robotic probes. Our civilization’s appearance and biology mirror that of the Original Humans because they are our distant ancestors.

The 27th Century and the Human Powers of the Milky Way Galaxy

By the 27th century, Earth’s Human Race has discovered many other Human civilizations spread across the Milky Way Galaxy. These civilizations, though identical in appearance, have diverged culturally, politically, and religiously. Some are engaged in conflicts over power and resources, while others dispute over their perceived closeness to the Original Humans. These are the four primary Human interstellar powers in the Milky Way:

1. The Terran Federation: The Terran Federation is an Interstellar Federal Republic that originated on Earth. It encompasses Earth, its colonies within the Solar System, and numerous Human civilizations from nearby star systems that have voluntarily joined the Federation. In this universe, the Nemesis theory was revealed to be correct: the Sun is orbited by a brown dwarf star, which in turn has a habitable planet colonized by Earth’s Humans in the late 2100s. This planet, along with colonies on Mars, the Moon, Venus, and others, forms part of the Federation. With a population spread across 5,000 planets, the Federation’s political and administrative capital is located in Rome. The Federation is a diverse and democratic society, emphasizing cooperation and technological advancement.
2. The Alcobata Empire: The Alcobata Empire is an authoritarian military dictatorship rooted in the star system of Theta Persei in the constellation Perseus. This civilization is characterized by its aggressive militarism, conquest-driven ethos, and extreme xenophobia. Historically, the Alcobata conducted dangerous bacteriological warfare experiments, which resulted in their entire population becoming infertile. In order to sustain their Empire, they resort to kidnapping individuals from other Human civilizations, erasing their memories, and brainwashing them into becoming new citizens of the Empire. The Alcobata Empire, known for its isolationist policies and hostile demeanor, controls around 1,000 planets and operates under a strict, militarized regime.
3. The Karistus Community: The Karistus Community is a civilization with an economic and political system that resembles State Socialism. Originating from the planet Kepler 442b in the constellation Lyra, the Karistus faced near-annihilation after a devastating war with the Alcobata Empire. Forced to abandon their home planet, they migrated to the Hyades star cluster, where they established a classless and hyper-technological Socialist society. Although the Karistus Community prefers to remain neutral in interstellar conflicts, it maintains a strong relationship with the Terran Federation. Their society is focused on collective welfare and technological innovation, and they govern a network of planets within the Hyades.
4. The Zeta Theocracy: The Zeta Theocracy is a theocratic civilization originating from the double star system of Zeta Reticuli. They worship the Original Human Race as divine beings and believe themselves to be the direct descendants of the first colony established by the Original Humans billions of years ago. This belief fuels their conviction of superiority over all other Human civilizations in the Galaxy. The Zeta Theocracy is highly expansionist, seeking to unite the entire galaxy under their rule. Recently, they have ended a long-standing war with the Alcobata Empire and are now engaged in a Cold War with the Terran Federation. The Zeta Theocracy governs over 6,000 planets, ruled by a religious elite who impose strict control over their vast domain.

The Mysteries of the Original Human Legacy

While the existence of the Original Humans is a well-accepted fact, much about their civilization and ultimate extinction remains shrouded in mystery. Archaeologists, historians, and scientists from various Human civilizations across the Milky Way are dedicated to uncovering the secrets of the Original Humans. Their ruins, scattered across countless planets, are often seen as sacred sites, and their advanced technologies continue to baffle even the most advanced modern scientists. The Original Humans left behind a plethora of artifacts and technologies that hint at their incredible advancements. These relics range from colossal structures on remote planets to highly sophisticated devices capable of manipulating energy and matter in ways that modern science can scarcely comprehend. Many Human civilizations view these relics with reverence, while others seek to unlock their secrets to gain a technological edge. Some notable relics include:

1. The Gates of Solaris: A massive ring-like structure found on a planet orbiting a distant star. Believed to be a portal or teleportation device, its operation remains a mystery. Numerous expeditions have attempted to activate it, but none have succeeded.
2. The Cradle of Genesis: An underground facility on an uncharted planet, filled with advanced genetic engineering equipment. It is thought to be where the Original Humans first developed the technology to seed life across the universe.
3. The Star Forge: An immense space station capable of constructing entire fleets of starships. It is heavily guarded by automated defense systems and has become the focal point of many conflicts among Human civilizations seeking its power.

The Schism

Millions of years ago, a major event known as the Schism fragmented the Original Human Empire. This event, whose causes are still debated, led to the dispersion of the Original Humans across the Galaxy. Some factions of the Original Humans became more insular and isolated, while others continued to spread and colonize. The differing ideologies and philosophies resulting from the Schism have influenced the diverse cultures and political systems seen in Human civilizations today.

The Enigma of the Great Extinction

The extinction of the Original Humans is one of the universe’s greatest mysteries. Various theories abound:

1. Technological Overreach: Some believe that the Original Humans’ relentless pursuit of advanced technology led to their downfall, possibly through an artificial intelligence uprising or a catastrophic experiment.
2. Cosmic Catastrophe: Another theory posits that a massive cosmic event, such as a supernova or gamma-ray burst, wiped out their central civilization, leaving their colonies scattered and isolated.
3. Self-Destructive War: A darker hypothesis suggests that internal conflicts, possibly related to the Great Schism, escalated into a war that annihilated their civilization.
4. Ascension or Transcendence: A more speculative theory is that the Original Humans evolved to a higher plane of existence, leaving the material universe behind. Proponents of this idea often cite strange, seemingly supernatural phenomena encountered near ancient relics.

The Search for the Directive

A legend persists among many Human civilizations about the Directive — an ultimate set of instructions or a guiding philosophy left by the Original Humans. It is said to contain the secrets of the universe and the key to achieving true unity and peace among all Human civilizations. Scholars and adventurers tirelessly search for clues, hidden in ancient texts and relics, hoping to uncover the Prime Directive and fulfill the legacy of the Original Humans.

Just my personal opinion, I don’t expect you guys to share it:

Episode I: Attempt on Padmé’s life. Obi-Wan is tasked with finding out who the killer is, and Anakin is tasked with escorting Padmé to Naboo. The Jedi are free to have romantic relationships, so Anakin and Padmé are free to be in love. Obi-Wan’s investigative plot is the same as in Attack of the Clones, but with more clarity (the Syfo-Dias plot is explained better). The Clone Wars begin, and Anakin, though initially uncertain, is convinced that the war will end very soon. But before leaving to fight, he and Padmé get engaged officially (no marriage, just a normal engagement).

Episode II: Anakin has a traumatic experience during one of the battles, similar to what he experienced on Jabiim in the “Star Wars: Republic” comics. This traumatic experience leds him to become increasingly desperate and to want to stop the war at any cost. He also begins to think that the Jedi are not efficient enough and that their rules will never allow the Republic to win the war and the chaos to end.

Episode III: Padmé is pregnant. More war PTSD for Anakin. Padmé tries to comfort him as much as she can, but it doesn’t work. Palpatine seduces him and tells him that embracing the Dark Side is the solution to stop the war, to restore order and peace. So, Anakin falls to the Dark Side, then we have Order 66, the duel on Mustafar (Obi-Wan tries to bring Anakin back, though), and Padmé dies after giving birth because of the injuries Anakin gives her on Mustafar.

AND YES, YODA IS PRESENT.

Sometimes I feel the Star Wars universe is unnecessarily big and confused, and that it contains a disproportionate amount of material, although there’s no need to. If I were George Lucas, this is the way I would have organized the Star Wars universe from the beginning:

• A “Down of the Jedi” style long comic series to explore the birth of the Jedi and the Republic.
• A “Tales of the Jedi” style comic series to explore the birth of the Sith and the Great War between the Jedi and the Sith, which leed to the Sith “extinction” at Russan.
• A trilogy of comics to explore Darth Bane’s story.
• A “Star Wars: Republic” style long comic series to explore the whole Prequel Era, the Clone Wars and Anakin’s fall. No Prequel films, everything Is made in comics.
• A “Star Wars: Dark Times” style comic series to explore the Dark Times.
• The Original Trilogy.
• A “Tales of the Jedi” style long comic series to explore the post-ROTJ period, at least until the definitive defeat of the Empire.

That’s it. This way, there wouldn’t be too much material, the universe outside of the movies wouldn’t be so big, and perhaps people would be less confused.

I want to propose a thought experiment.

Let’s suppose for a moment that, instead of erasing all the old EU, Disney decided to delete only the books set after the Young Jedi Knights series, deciding to rewrite everything that come after it and to set the Sequel Trilogy after the YJK series.

Given this premise, how do you think an alternative post-YJK Sequel Trilogy could have been developed without the Yuuzhan Vong, Darth Caedus, Abeloth, the Lost Tribe of the Sith, etc? What ideas could they have used?

Let’s talk about it!

Since I don’t like the way the Jedi are portrayed in Lucas’ Prequel Trilogy, then I don’t accept the Old Republic Era the way it was made in the post-1999 EU either, because the Jedi from the modern Old Republic Era are nothing but a copy and paste of Lucas’ Prequel Jedi. So, I created my own head-canon for the Old Republic Era, which rewrites a lot of stuff.
These are the major events:

• The Tales of the Jedi comics happen. After the end of the comics, there are several millennia of peace and prosperity in the Republic, until 2000 BBY.
• In 2000 BBY the Mandalorian Wars take place. The reasons of why the Mandalorian Wars happen are the same reasons of why they happened in the original Knights of the Old Republic lore, before The Old Republic MMO retconned everything. The major events of the Mandalorian Wars are the same that are described in the Knights of the Old Republic comics. However, Cassus Fett is replaced with a new character, as my Old Republic head-canon (just like my Prequel rewrite) respects Boba Fett’s pre-Prequel backstory, and so the Fett family doesn’t exist as such.
• After the end of the Mandalorian Wars, Revan and Malak fall to the Dark Side, revive the Sith cult and unleash the Jedi Civil War. The following events are similar to those described in the first Knights of the Old Republic game. However, the Jedi are more similar to the Jedi from the Tales of the Jedi comics, and look nothing like the Jedi from Lucas’ Prequels. Apart from this, Revan and Malak’s story is similar to what’s depicted in the first KOTOR. So, we still have Bastila and the other characters, Malak is still defeated, Revan is still redeemed, etc.
• After Revan’s redemption, the Republic continues to fight against the remnants of the New Sith Empire founded by Revan. The war goes on until 1000 BBY, when the Sith are definitively defeated in the Battle of Russan. However, a Sith survived the battle, and this Sith is Bane. So, after the defeat of the old Sith, Bane created the Rule of Two, established the use of the Darth title (which didn’t exist before him) and also established the red lightsaber rule for the Sith.

So, in my head-canon Palpatine and Vader are still Sith, but the Darth title and the red lightsaber rule were born with Bane. They didn’t exist before. Also, the Jedi Civil War and the New Sith Wars are merged into one single conflict.

I think that the overwhelming majority of UFO sightings reported over the years can be explained in conventional terms. People often see things in the sky that they can’t immediately identify, and what might be a commercial aircraft reflecting sunlight at a strange angle, or a weather balloon caught in unusual wind patterns, can easily be interpreted as something extraordinary. Celestial bodies like Venus, Mars, or bright stars can also appear unusual to an untrained observer, especially when atmospheric conditions distort their appearance.

That said, I believe there’s a small percentage of cases that can’t be explained so easily. These cases usually involve credible witnesses, such as military pilots, radar operators, police officers, or scientists, and sometimes come with physical traces, radar confirmation, or even photographic evidence. I think these specific incidents represent a real mystery, and I don’t believe they can be explained as mere misidentifications or hoaxes. For this subset of reports, I find the extraterrestrial hypothesis to be the most reasonable explanation. I don’t claim to know which planet or star system these craft come from, nor how they travel here, but I believe they’re not of human origin.

However, I personally don’t believe that any alien spacecraft has ever crashed on Earth, been recovered by the U.S. military, or reverse-engineered to develop advanced weapons and aircraft. I understand that this may sound surprising, especially given how common these stories are within UFO literature. But in my opinion, once you take a closer look at the evidence behind most of these claims, they simply don’t hold up.

The overwhelming majority of UFO crash stories are based on hearsay, second-hand testimony, or accounts that only emerged decades after the event supposedly occurred. And when a UFO crash-retrieval report doesn’t turn out to be a hoax, it often turns out to be something mundane, such as the fall of a bolide or the crash of a classified military aircraft.

This skeptical stance is shared by many researchers who aren’t, in principle, opposed to the idea of UFO crashes. A good example is Kevin Randle, who’s considered one of the most prominent advocates of the Roswell incident. Despite his opinions on Roswell, he has acknowledged that the vast majority of alleged UFO crashes don’t hold up to scrutiny. In his 2015 book Crash — When UFOs Fall from the Sky, Randle examined dozens of crash-retrieval stories and concluded that nearly all of them could be explained through conventional means, lacked convincing evidence, or were demonstrable hoaxes.

Speaking of Roswell, I believe that this UFO crash, like all the others, has a perfectly reasonable terrestrial explanation. Specifically, I side with the explanation provided by the U.S. Air Force in its two official reports, The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert (1994) and The Roswell Report: Case Closed (1997). According to these investigations, the debris recovered near Corona, New Mexico, in July 1947 came from a top-secret balloon project known as Project Mogul. This program was designed to detect Soviet nuclear tests by using high-altitude balloons equipped with microphones and radar reflectors made of unusual materials. To someone without technical knowledge, these materials could easily have looked strange or even otherworldly.

The 1994 Air Force report concluded that what rancher Mack Brazel found on his property were fragments from one of these balloon trains that had come down after a long flight. The odd combination of foil-like radar reflectors, balsa wood beams, and rubber balloon remnants likely gave the debris an appearance that local witnesses could not identify, which led to the initial belief that something extraordinary had fallen from the sky. The confusion grew worse because of how the military handled the information. The head of the public information office at the Roswell Army Air Field issued the first press release about the recovery of a “flying disc” prematurely and without authorization, which generated misunderstanding and led to the later retraction of the announcement.

The 1997 report addressed the claims about recovered alien bodies. It explained that many of those stories likely originated from memories of Air Force recovery operations in the 1950s involving anthropomorphic dummies. These dummies were used in high-altitude parachute and ejection tests across New Mexico and often resembled human figures. Over time, as memories faded and different events were combined in people’s minds, these sightings were linked to the 1947 Roswell incident, giving rise to the idea that alien bodies had been found.

I find this explanation to be the most coherent and evidence-based interpretation of what happened at Roswell. It accounts for the debris, the witness confusion, and the way the story evolved over the decades. Karl Pflock’s book Roswell: Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe also offers an excellent and detailed analysis of the weaknesses in the popular UFO version of events. Pflock examines the inconsistencies in witness testimonies and the many contradictions that appeared as the story spread, concluding that the crashed saucer theory rests on a week foundation.

Therefore, I think that if there’s a government cover-up related to UFOs, it has nothing to do with crashed saucers, recovered alien bodies, or reverse-engineering programs. Rather, I believe the cover-up has probably taken place in two main ways.

On one hand, the U.S. military, especially the Air Force, has been quietly and covertly gathering evidence in the form of high-resolution photographs and detailed radar data, while simultaneously using debunking and ridicule to make the entire subject seem unworthy of attention. There’s a substantial body of evidence suggesting that the Air Force was quietly gathering data behind the scenes while using Project Blue Book as a public relations tool to dismiss and debunk as many UFO sightings as possible, often offering explanations that didn’t line up with the facts and ridiculing credible witnesses.

This was confirmed by General Carroll Bolender, who openly stated that Project Blue Book was essentially a farce and that all UFO cases with potential national security implications were kept out of the Blue Book system entirely, with the data from those incidents being collected through other, more restricted channels.

On the other hand, the Air Force has also promoted sensationalistic, implausible, and convoluted UFO stories with the goal of flooding the topic with so much confusion and absurdity that any serious investigation would be drowned in noise. In fact, there’s strong evidence suggesting that the Air Force Office of Special Investigations was heavily involved in the creation of the Roswell/Majestic-12 mythology and encouraged the spread of some of the wildest and darkest stories that have circulated within the UFO community since the early 1980s, including tales of underground alien bases where extraterrestrials carry out horrific experiments on human test subjects in collaboration with U.S. military personnel.

Alongside the stories of crashed and reverse-engineered flying saucers, another area commonly linked to the UFO phenomenon that I view with a great deal of skepticism is the phenomenon of alien abductions.

To me, alien abductions can generally be attributed to three main causes:

1. Psychological phenomena
2. Covert human experimentation
3. Genuine extraterrestrial encounters

The majority of alien abduction reports can definitely be traced back to sleep paralysis episodes, which are fairly common and can be extremely vivid and disturbing. Once a sleep paralysis experience gets filtered through a hypnotic regression session, it can end up being reshaped into something far more dramatic and detailed than it really was, especially when you consider how easily hypnosis can distort people’s memories or even create false ones, and how frequently hypnosis is used by abduction researchers to “recover” the memory of the abductee.

That said, there’s a small percentage of abduction accounts that are harder to dismiss. For example, cases where the testimony of the abductee is accompanied by physical evidence (such as marks on the body or cerebral implants) can’t be explained away with sleep paralysis. In these cases, I think it makes sense to suggest that the person was indeed abducted by someone. However, I believe that attributing the abduction to space aliens is too hasty, because there are perfectly plausible earthly explanations that can account for many of these incidents.

For instance, in his book The Controllers, Martin Cannon suggests that many abduction experiences could be the result of covert human experimentation carried out by certain intelligence agencies. He argues that as early as the 1960s, the United States already had some fairly advanced mind-control technologies.

Some of these technologies involved implanting electronic devices directly into people’s brains to induce trance states or deep hypnosis, making it possible to manipulate their perception of reality and create false memories. To back up his claims, Cannon cites extensive documentation related to the CIA’s MK-Ultra program and mind-control research, concluding that there are many similarities between what these technologies were reportedly capable of and the experiences described in alien abduction reports.

Cannon traces these technologies back to early experiments in psychoelectronics. One well-known example is the stimoceiver, a small brain implant developed by neuroscientist José Delgado. The device could send and receive signals through radio waves, allowing an operator to stimulate specific parts of the brain and trigger emotions or behaviors at will. With the right stimulation, a person could feel anger, fear, pleasure, or exhaustion for no reason.Delgado also showed that this kind of brain stimulation could produce vivid hallucinations or alter a person’s sense of time and memory, effects that resemble many of the experiences reported by abductees.

Later researchers built on Delgado’s experiments and developed even more sophisticated technologies. One of them is RHIC-EDOM, which stands for Radio-Hypnotic Intracerebral Control and Electronic Dissolution of Memory. This technology was reportedly capable of inducing deep, recurring hypnotic states through simple radio commands, disrupting a person’s sense of time, and altering memory in ways that could make them genuinely believe they’d experienced events that never actually happened.

Essentially, Cannon suggests that intelligence agencies may have created the “alien abduction” myth as a cover for their secret operations. The abductions are real, the fear and pain are real, the forced instructions are real, but the little grey men from Zeta Reticuli are just a mask meant to disguise the true perpetrators and hide the human source of the trauma. While it’s difficult to verify everything he claims, I do think his hypothesis makes a lot of sense and could explain a great number of alien abduction reports, especially the ones involving the so-called “Greys.”

However, there are a few incidents that, in my opinion, are almost certainly of extraterrestrial origin. For example, I believe the abductions of Betty and Barney Hill, Fortunato Zanfretta, and Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker are not hoaxes, not the result of sleep paralysis, and not the result of covert human experimentation. The evidence and witness testimony in these particular cases make it very hard for me to believe they were anything other than genuine encounters with creatures from another planet. So, even though most abduction reports can probably be explained by psychological phenomena or human experimentation, I personally believe that a few (very few) of these cases reflect real encounters with extraterrestrials.

Another topic often associated with UFOs that I find hard to take seriously is the Ancient Astronaut hypothesis. I don’t believe that aliens had any role in creating the human race, building the megalithic structures we still see today, or guiding early civilizations. In my opinion, ancient human societies were perfectly capable of constructing megalithic structures and developing agriculture, writing, astronomy, and mathematics on their own, through intelligence, observation, and hard work. The idea that they needed help from spacefaring visitors not only lacks evidence, but also underestimates the ingenuity of our ancestors. I believe these cultures deserve full credit for what they accomplished independently.

For the same reason, I don’t believe that the gods described in ancient myths were extraterrestrials. I believe they were simply imaginary characters created by early humans to explain natural forces they couldn’t understand. Those who interpret ancient mythology as evidence of extraterrestrial intervention in ancient history are engaging in a form of retroactive reasoning, projecting contemporary concepts onto ancient cultures.

That said, there are a few historical reports of unusual aerial phenomena that I find interesting. I’m not referring to religious or mythological texts, but to official records describing sightings of strange lights or objects in the sky. For instance, Egyptian, Roman, and medieval chronicles mention incidents involving bright objects moving across the sky in formation. While these accounts are obviously open to interpretation and could have natural or atmospheric explanations, they remain intriguing and difficult to completely dismiss. Still, I think these events, if they truly occurred, were rare and isolated rather than part of any sustained or deliberate contact. I don’t believe they influenced human development in any meaningful way or changed the course of history. If extraterrestrial visitors did come here long ago, their presence was likely infrequent, brief, and subtle compared to the concentrated wave of activity that seems to have begun in 1947.

So all things considered, you could say that my approach to the UFO phenomenon combines healthy skepticism with open-mindedness.

Most sightings can be traced back to ordinary causes, such as aircraft, satellites, weather phenomena, or hoaxes. However, there’s a small percentage of genuinely puzzling cases involving credible witnesses and solid evidence. For those, I find the extraterrestrial hypothesis to be the most reasonable explanation, though I don’t claim to know where these alien visitors originate from or how they got here.

I’m not convinced that ancient aliens created the human race, built the megalithic structures, or guided the development of ancient civilizations. I’m also not very fond of tales involving crashed flying saucers, recovered alien bodies, and reverse-engineering programs, though I believe the governments of the major world superpowers are definitely hiding information about the phenomenon.

Overall, I maintain a balanced approach, ready to reconsider my views if compelling, verifiable evidence emerges. Until then, I rely on rational inquiry, neither rejecting the phenomenon outright nor accepting unfounded speculation.

For anyone interested in digging deeper into this subject, below is a list of what I personally consider to be the best books and papers on the UFO phenomenon and related topics:

• The Flying Saucers Are Real by Donald Keyhoe
• Flying Saucers From Outer Space by Donald Keyhoe
• The Flying Saucer Conspiracy by Donald Keyhoe
• Flying Saucers — Top Secret by Donald Keyhoe
• Aliens From Space: The Real Story of Unidentified Flying Objects by Donald Keyhoe
• The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by Edward Ruppelt
• The UFO Evidence by Richard Hall
• Report on the UFO Wave of 1952 by Richard Hall
• Report on the UFO Wave of 1947 by Ted Bloecher
• The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry by J. Allen Hynek
• The Hynek UFO Report: The Authoritative Account of the Project Blue Book Cover-Up by J. Allen Hynek
• UFO Reports Involving Vehicle Interference by Mark Rodeghier
• The UFO Casebook by Kevin Randle
• Faces of the Visitors: An Illustrated Reference to Alien Contact by Kevin Randle and Russ Estes
• The Spaceships of the Visitors: An Illustrated Guide to Alien Spacecraft by Kevin Randle and Russ Estes
• Project Blue Book Exposed by Kevin Randle
• The Best of Project Blue Book by Kevin Randle
• Invasion Washington: UFOs Over the Capitol by Kevin Randle
• Scientific UFOlogy: How Scientific Methodology Can Prove the Reality of UFOs by Kevin Randle
• Alien Mysteries, Conspiracies and Cover-Ups by Kevin Randle
• Encounter in the Desert: The Case for Alien Contact at Socorro by Kevin Randle
• Levelland by Kevin Randle
• UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record by Leslie Kean
• UFOs and Nukes: Extraordinary Encounters at Nuclear Weapons Sites by Robert Hastings
• Science in Default: Twenty-Two Years of Inadequate UFO Investigations by James McDonald
• UFOs: An International Scientific Problem by James McDonald
• Statement on Unidentified Flying Objects by James McDonald
• UFOs? Yes! Where the Condon Committee Went Wrong by David Saunders
• The UFO Enigma: A New Review of the Physical Evidence by Peter Sturrock
• Unconventional Flying Objects: A Scientific Analysis by Paul Hill
• Earth Lights: Towards an Understanding of the Unidentified Flying Objects Enigma by Paul Devereux
• Electric UFOs: Fireballs, Electromagnetics and Abnormal States by Albert Budden
• The Roswell Incident by William Moore and Charles Berlitz
• Crash at Corona: The Definitive Study of the Roswell Incident by Stanton Friedman and Don Berliner
• UFO Crash at Roswell by Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt
• The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell by Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt
• Roswell UFO Crash Update: Exposing the Military Cover-Up of the Century by Kevin Randle
• Roswell in the 21st Century: The Evidence as it Exists Today by Kevin Randle
• The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert by U.S. Air Force
• The Roswell Report: Case Closed by U.S. Air Force
• Roswell: Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe by Karl Pflock
• Body Snatchers in the Desert: The Horrible Truth at the Heart of the Roswell Story by Nick Redfern
• The Roswell UFO Conspiracy: Exposing A Shocking And Sinister Secret by Nick Redfern
• Crashed Saucers: Evidence in Search for Proof by William Moore
• UFO Crash Retrievals: The Complete Investigation – Status Reports I-VII by Leonard Stringfield
• Crash — When UFOs Fall From the Sky by Kevin Randle
• The Interrupted Journey: Two Lost Hours Aboard a UFO: The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill by John Fuller
• Encounters at Indian Head: The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Abduction Revisited by Karl Pflock and Peter Brookesmith
• Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Pascagoula Alien Abduction by Philip Mantle
• The Zanfretta Case: Chronicle of an Incredible True Story by Rino Di Stefano
• The Priests of High Strangeness: Co-Creation of the “Alien Abduction Phenomenon” by Carol Rainey
• The Abduction Enigma: An Investigation of the Alien Abduction Phenomenon by Kevin Randle, Russ Estes, and William Cone
• The Controllers: A New Hypothesis of Alien Abductions by Martin Cannon
• The Space-Gods Revealed: A Close Look At The Theories Of Erich Von Daniken by Ronald Story
• The Past Is Human: Debunking Von Daniken’s Gee-whiz Theories by Peter White
• The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture by Jason Colavito
• Faking History: Essays on Aliens, Atlantis, Monsters, and More by Jason Colavito
• The Legends of the Pyramids: Myths and Misconceptions About Ancient Egypt by Jason Colavito
• Theosophy on Ancient Astronauts: Helena Blavatsky, W. Scott-Elliot, Annie Besant, and Others by Jason Colavito
• Ancient Atom Bombs: Fact, Fraud, and the Myth of Prehistoric Nuclear Warfare by Jason Colavito
• Solving the 1897 Airship Mystery by Michael Busby
• The Great Airship of 1897: A Provocative Look at the Most Mysterious Aviation Event in History by J. Allan Danelek
• Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth by Greg Bishop
• Saucers, Spooks and Kooks: Disinformation in the Age of Aquarius by Adam Gorightly
• X Descending: Two Extraordinary Films Reveal Lies, Deception, and Truth About Unidentified Flying Objects by Christian Lambright
• Top Secret/Majic: Operation Majestic-12 and the United States Government’s UFO Cover-Up by Stanton Friedman and Don Berliner
• Case MJ-12: The True Story Behind the Government’s UFO Conspiracies by Kevin Randle
• The Secret Pratt Tapes and the Origins of MJ-12 by Brad Sparks and Barry Greenwood
• Mute Evidence: The Cattle Mutilation Mystery Solved! by Daniel Kagan and Ian Summers
• Dulce Base: The Truth and Evidence From the Case Files of Gabe Valdez by Greg Valdez

Hope this helps anyone looking for good reads on the topic.

This is a list of all the major changes I would make to the current Prequel Trilogy:

1. The Clone War that is fought during the Trilogy should not be the only Clone War. Before the Prequels, there should be another Clone War, in which the Clone Masters created an Army of Clones and tried to take over the Galaxy, just like the Thrawn Trilogy says. Thus, the First Clone War is the one that was fought against the Clone Masters, while the Second Clone War is the one that was fought against the Separatists and it’s the one that was fought during the Prequel Trilogy, and in which Obi-Wan and Anakin participated. This way, the Clone Wars from the Thrawn Trilogy could be seen as true and there would be no significant contradiction with the pre-1999 EU, but at the same time we could also have a war against the Separatists.
2. Anakin’s discovery, his taking by Obi-Wan and how he joined the Jedi Order should be themes that stay out of the movies, they should be themes for novels and comics set before the Prequel Trilogy, between the two Clone Wars. In the first movie, Anakin should be portrayed as Obi-Wan’s apprentice already. The first movie should be like Attack of the Clones, that is, a movie that serves to establish the beginning of the war (the Second Clone War) and the beginning of Anakin and Padmé’s relationship: the second movie should be like Labyrinth of Evil, that Is, an adventure that is set during the War itself; the third movie should be like the classical Revenge of the Sith, so it should show Anakin’s fall and the birth of the Empire.
3. Anakin and Padmé should meet for the first time in the first movie. They doesn’t marry in the movie, nor for the rest of the Trilogy. Their relationship is not a marriage, but just a normal romantic relationship. Thus, Padmé is not Anakin’s wife, but simply his girlfriend. Furthermore, Padmé should still be the Senator of Naboo, but she should not be the former Queen. Jamilia should be the Queen all along. So, Anakin and Padmé meet each other when he’s 20 and she’s 25.
4. There should be no rule forbidding the Jedi from having attachments, and the Jedi should be free to have romantic relationships. In general, the Jedi from the Prequel Trilogy should be more like the Jedi from the Tales of the Jedi comics. They should be heroes and should value positive feelings and positive relationships. Instead of teaching how to avoid relationships, the Jedi should teach how to have good relationships and should allow falling in love. Thus, Anakin and Padmé’s relationship should be public, and attachment management shouldn’t be the main storyline of the Trilogy, nor the reason of why Anakin falls to the Dark Side. I have nothing against the idea that the Jedi have their vision clouded by the Dark Side, and I’m also not against the idea that they have become a bureaucratized institution that puts itself at the service of corrupt politicians. I mean, I don’t want the Jedi to be portrayed as perfect through the Trilogy, but at the same time I’d like the audience to be able to share their basic philosophy, and I also don’t want them to forbid such a natural thing as falling in love.
5. Anakin doesn’t fall to the Dark Side to try to save Padmé, but simply to try to end the War. Yes, he’s a slightly rebellious and a little stubborn person, but at the same time he’s very peaceful and would not hurt anyone. In spite of this, the War eventually transform and radicalize him. Such a radicalization leeds Anakin to embrace authoritarian ideals as time goes by (he never treats Padmé badly, though). In the end, Anakin ends up getting so sick of all the War and all the suffering that he sees through the Galaxy on a daily bases, that he becomes willing to do anything to put an end to all of it. So, Palpatine reveals himself as the Dark Lord of the Sith who was always behind everything and offers Anakin to join him, to bring order to the Galaxy and stop the War. Anakin eventually accepts, but at the same time he becomes corrupted by the Darkness, to the point that he ends up doing things he never thought he would do, such as killing all the Jedi inside the Temple after the activation of Order 66. Then, he ends up killing Padmé (she dies in childbirth due to the injuries he gave her), and the duel on Mustafar would be the same, so he ends up being burned in lava.
6. I have nothing against the use of the Clones by the Republic, but I think the Separatists should use a Clone Army as well. So, Dooku and Palpatine would orchestrate the creation of the Grand Army of the Republic, but at the same time they would also create a Clone Army for the Confederacy, obviously using two different people to create the Clones. Also, Jango Fett should not exist. The Prequel Trilogy should respect the pre-1999 lore, therefore Boba Fett’s backstory shouldn’t change. So, the Clones used by the Republic are Clones of an important Mandalorian bounty hunter, which is not related to Boba Fett, though.
7. I have nothing against the idea of Yoda using a lightsaber to fight, but I think he should only use the lightsaber once, that is, during the final duel against Darth Sidious in the third movie. That should be the first and last time we see Yoda using his lightsaber in all of the movies.
8. Anakin is not the Chosen One. There should be no Chosen One in general. Anakin should have a biological father and mother like all normal humans, and he should be a normal human without any divine or special connotations. However, Anakin never knew his father, as he died before he was born. After Anakin left Tatooine to become a Jedi, Shmi married again. She married Cliegg Lars and lived with him, Owen and Beru for many years. However, she died before the Prequel Trilogy began, so we never see her. Sometimes Anakin mentions her during the course of the three movies, though, and throughout the trilogy Anakin should visit the Lars family at least once. This way, we have the opportunity to explore the frictions and differences between Owen and Anakin, of which Obi-Wan talks about in Star Wars (1977).

I’m currently planning to rewrite the Prequels by using this main concepts. My Trilogy will be based on the premise that most of the pre-1999 EU is Canon, and Rogue One will be considered Canon as well. If any of you are interested, maybe I could open a specific thread about it…