Talking Close Encounters

Mary Rodwell RN is the founder and principal of Australian Close Encounter Resource Network (ACERN). Since 1994 Mary has worked in private practice as a professional counsellor, hypnotherapist, metaphysical teacher, researcher, author, Reiki master, and international speaker. A thrice-published author in the field, Mary is recognised internationally as one of Australia’s leading researchers in the UFO and contact phenomenon.

She spoke with The Echo in the leadup to her keynote presentations at the Close Encounters Conference.

Mary, how did you come to be working in such a unique area?

I was working in private practice counselling when I was approached by a client who had heard I was open-minded and said that for this there are no support groups, for this they just think you are a loony. He proceeded to say that he and his family were having ‘visits from extraterrestrials’ and taken… he often woke up with marks and shaved areas on his body and his family were very frightened. He asked if I could help.

Fortunately I had read two books on this phenomenon. Abduction – Human Encounters with Aliens (former professor of Psychiatry at Harvard University) Dr John Mack, who believed those he worked with this experience, and Communion by author Whitely Streiber (who had extraterrestrial experiences throughout his life). This enabled me to be supportive and help the family. From that time I researched this phenomenon and now have worked with more than 3,000 cases globally.

When people ask you what do you do, what do you say?

I normally will just mention I am a counsellor and hypnotherapist. If they want me to share more I say I help people with their ‘anomalous’ paranormal experiences. If they ask for more information I say experiences where someone believes they have had contact or encounters with extraterrestrials

How do you deal with sceptics or people who are reticent to believe in alien abduction or contact experiences?

I suggest they become ‘informed’, as there is a huge amount of whistleblower evidence by credible military personnel, pilots, and even two presidents, Reagan and Carter, who have  said they have seen UFOs. Every six minutes around the globe someone sees a UFO; they have been seen on footage taken by NASA. What it really says is that they are just uninformed.

As a therapist, did you ever consider that these experiences were delusions or some sort of projection? 

No. As a counsellor one can easily tell when someone is being truthful and authentic. It is very obvious when someone is unstable or delusional. It can hardly be delusional when a whole family are having similar experiences even as young as four or five years. In some cases these people don’t even believe in aliens except their experiences leave little doubt that’s what they are experiencing. My clients range from MDs nurses, and social workers to psychologists (they know full well how this may sound) but they also know this is real.

What caused you to come to a point of view that these were ‘real’ experiences?

Video and photographic evidence (I will be showing images of craft at the Close Encounters conference). Marks on the body that appear after these  experiences… these fluoresce under ultra-violet light. Implanted objects seen on X-ray and removed surgically and show magnetic anomalies. Ground EMF traces.

Missing time periods they cant explain. And major changes in the individual. For some it may create trauma such as PSTD; for others changes in lifestyle, focus on holistic lifestyles with heightened psi senses; they may write and draw unusual scripts and show healing abilities… this does not occur unless something very real has happened.

What are the commonalities in the stories that you have been told?

There are many patterns that evidence the experiences.

• Sighting an anomalous bright light moving in a strange sequence in the sky, or a cigar- or saucer-shaped object  etc.
• waking up with a bright light/blue or white in the room at night and sensing beings/presences in the room
• feel paralysed… aware of being taken somewhere…
• aware of being in a room having medical procedures
• waking up with marks, strange triangular dots, bruises and scars on the body
• feeling very tired and exhausted the next day after the experience
• wake up with nightclothes in strange places or outside with all the doors locked
• find you are writing unusual scripts or drawings
• become more psychic… may see people’s energy fields.

Is alien abduction and contact more common than we think… do some people just not tell because they’re worried someone will think they’re mad?

Correct. I believe there are probably thousands or even millions of people who are having contact/encounters but are too fearful of sharing their experiences because they will be judged as unwell, or attention seeking etc.

How can extraterrestrial contact transform your life?

In our latest in-depth surveys one and two (600 questions) with almost 3,000 surveyed and conducted by The Dr Edgar Mitchell Foundation for Research into  Extraterrestrial Encounters (FREE) www.experiencer.org co chaired by Dr Bob Davis neuroscientist (another keynote speaker at Close Encounters Conference) and Dr Jon Klimo, former professor of psychology. Eighty-five per cent of those surveyed said their encounters had been positive, transformative and life changing. There are many reasons for this and I will explain why in my presentations at the conference. But simply these contacts expose people to information and experiences that change their understanding of themselves. They learn who they really are, why these beings are interacting with them, and how we are all connected.

In films I have seen, ET contact is generally negative and harmful, except of course for the gorgeous ET. Is this a common representation of life beyond the stars? Why is it presented like this? Can it be benevolent and positive?

Only 25–30 per cent of those surveyed said they had negative experiences; more than 75 per cent had loving and positive encounters. This is new information and I suspect it’s only the fear-based ones that catch public attention.

What do you believe ETs have to teach us?

I believe we are a hybrid species and intelligently designed with some DNA from the beings that are interacting with us. This DNA evidence of intelligent design I explore in my presentation. If they are our creators then of course they are still interacting and monitoring us. The children and adults speak of being taught a range of subjects on spacecraft and the origins of who we really are. Much of what we are taught as to our ancient history I believe is inaccurate; the ‘gods’ of old were extraterrestrials. The indigenous peoples know this as they also know our ancestors came from the stars.

What should we expect from your presentation at the Close Encounters Conference?

A panel that shares the FREE research data on what we have found on our surveys globally so far and how this information has changed how we understand contact with these intelligences.

I have been working on three Powerpoint presentations; one is for the Afterlife conference, which primarily shares stories from children and their encounters, which is in my second book The New Human that I am launching at the conference.

I have two presentations on Sunday and Monday; one is called Triggers of Consciousness and shows the many ways we are being awakened and activated by these non-human intelligences. Real footage of UFOs, whistleblower info, paranormal phenomena, orbs and strange artwork/scripts, languages etc that are expressed after contact with similar information coming from China…

Transformation: my final Powerpoint covers adults who have had such powerful ET contacts that have changed them forever. One is a molecular biologist; another a medical doctor. I show evidence in our DNA that we are intelligently designed and how this dormant DNA is being activated as we are evolving now.

Mary Rodwell is a guest speaker at the Close Encounters Conference at the Byron Theatre on Sunday and Monday. For program and ticket information go to closeencountersconference.com.au.