JRP Report: Healthy Discernment and Skepticism Are Absolutely Necessary in the UFO Field

The UFO phenomenon is real. The problem is that most of what surrounds it isn’t.

Healthy Discernment and Skepticism Are Absolutely Necessary in the UFO Field

Healthy discernment and skepticism are absolutely necessary in the UFO field. Let’s be honest: the idea of UFOs, UAP, and non-human intelligence is extraordinary. It’s profound, reality-shifting, and fundamentally changes how we understand our place in the universe. And yes, this phenomenon does exist. Speaking as someone who has had multiple encounters and has documented them, I can say that clearly.

But precisely because this subject is so incredible, our discernment needs to be active at all times.

It would be nice if everyone could just hold hands and sing together, but that’s not how reality works. People come into this topic with very different motivations and agendas. History has shown us that real phenomena are often hijacked by deception. Take the iconic flying saucer image that many people around the world have seen, including myself, multiple times even recently. Some long-standing frauds and hoaxers have taken that imagery and tried to claim ownership over it by wrapping it in stories about galactic federations, prophetic identities, dogmatic teachings, wild conspiracies, and cosmic hierarchies.

That should raise immediate red flags.

There are people who will take something real, build a toy model or staged prop, film it convincingly, and present it as genuine. Many well-meaning people fall for this, burn out on the subject entirely, and eventually conclude that everything must be fake. Hoaxes don’t just mislead—they actively poison the well for serious inquiry.

Witness testimony is another double-edged sword. It can be valuable, but credibility matters. Someone deeply indoctrinated into rigid religious, political, or ideological frameworks is not an impartial interpreter of anomalous experiences. The same applies to those with serious mental and emotional issues. Even genuine encounters can become filtered through belief systems, cultural narratives, traumas, or psychological needs. That doesn’t mean experiences should be dismissed, but they must be approached carefully and critically.

The same applies to photos and videos.

It’s also important to distinguish real skepticism from pseudo-skepticism. Knee-jerk hostility, mockery, and character assassination are not skepticism. They’re just reactions. What we often see instead is a false binary: “believers” versus “skeptics.” That divide is artificial and unhelpful. It's left vs blue all over again. In truth, the UFO field needs both open-mindedness and critical thinking. Those two things are not opposites. There is a massive difference between respectful disagreement and outright ridicule. Logical debate strengthens understanding. Hostility, trolling, and nihilism do not.

Another serious issue in this field is spiritualism and New Age ideology. New Age belief systems are not harmless. In many cases, they are recycled theology; often rooted in outdated, racist, or hierarchical frameworks repackaged for modern consumption. Several UFO religions are based on theosophy and Vedic texts, which promotes caste systems and inequality subtly. Even if one or two ideas loosely touch something real, they tend to get buried under layers of myth, symbolism, identity, ideology, and dogma until the original signal is completely lost.

This is one of the biggest dangers in ufology: drifting away from the phenomenon itself and into belief systems, identity, dogma, and ideology. Once that happens, we’re no longer studying UFOs or NHI. In fact, some are building communities, doctrines, and narratives around themselves rather than trying to fundamentally understand what is going on. Increasingly, what may have started as harmless and seemingly helpful spirituality ends up becoming distractions and identity conduits that pull us away from exploring the original wonder.

Now let's talk about grifters and monetization. To be clear: serious UAP research takes a lot of time and resources. Some people do need funding, especially if they are doing it full-time. That’s understandable. Podcasts, books, and public work are not inherently bad. There are some good and valuable ones out there worthy of your time and attention. However, when the focus shifts entirely to branding, personality, content churn, and constant consumption, the phenomenon becomes secondary. The attention turns inward—toward the human—rather than outward toward the unknown.

Consumerism isn’t just about buying products. It’s a mindset. Endless lore, endless conspiracies, endless stories and endless seminars about the same thing, over and over again. This is especially true for "disclosure promises". At some point, you have to ask: what is this actually doing? One genuine encounter teaches more than a thousand recycled narratives, dogmatic spiritual teaching, and the usual conspiracy rabbit holes can ever provide. Secondary sources have their place, but they are not substitutes for grounded inquiry, especially when it comes to getting out there and doing it yourself.

This then brings us to conspiracies in general, including cosmologies and entertaining fantasies. They must be scrutinized. Stories about Nazi breakaway civilizations, galactic federations, Pleiadians (of all kinds and all spellings), Nordics, grey abductions, reptilians—it’s entertaining, sure, but let's be real: entertainment is not evidence. Real life does not operate like science-fiction mythologies and if it reads like Star Trek, it's probably fake. From my own experiences, I can say plainly: most of that stuff is noise. Even if non-human intelligence exists—and it does—that does not validate every narrative built around it, especially if it reads like unhinged human anthropomorphism.

Enabling is another major problem, especially when paired with sociopolitical ideologies and trauma bonding. Contactee support groups and experiencer-based communities may sound supportive on paper, but over time they often drift into identity reinforcement, social dynamics, in-house politics, and belief validation rather than investigation of the unknown and what real NHI actually are. Again, the focus shifts from UFOs and NHI to people, hierarchy, and group psychology. This gets even worse when the group has a general ideology or "spiritual truth" they hold to so tightly that it blocks them from the actual truth behind the phenomena itself.

That deserves scrutiny.

Human anthropomorphism is one of mankind's greatest weaknesses. Humans naturally project familiar structures—gods, angels, villains, saviors and the like—onto something that is clearly outside our existing knowledge base. To be fair, we do have to use our knowledge banks such as mathematics, language and symbols to communicate and build a bridge of understanding, but we also have to stay conscious of their limits. We must keep epistemological and intellectual honesty otherwise cults, dogmas, and New Age religions sprout up.

Finally, footage itself. Yes, hoaxes have created a hostile environment. Yes, credibility matters. Intent matters. Why is someone sharing what they’re sharing? What are they trying to gain? These are fair questions. But skepticism must remain disciplined not nihilistic. Healthy skepticism is not hostility. Healthy discernment is not cynicism. And openness is not gullibility. If we want to understand this phenomenon honestly, we need patience, discipline, self-honesty, and respect for the subject and for each other.

Ultimately, if this field is ever going to mature, it requires a level of discipline that goes beyond belief or disbelief. Intent matters more than ideology. Curiosity matters more than identity. Respect matters more than interpretation. Open-mindedness does not mean accepting everything, and skepticism does not mean dismissing everything. Both extremes fail in the same way: they replace inquiry with ego. If we genuinely want to understand UFOs and non-human intelligence, then we must stop speaking for the phenomenon and start listening to it through careful observation, honest self-correction, and restraint. This is not about building myths, cults, brands, or personal authority. It’s about allowing something real, strange, and unfamiliar to remain what it is long enough for us to learn from it. Truth in this field doesn’t reward impatience or certainty—it rewards maturity.

Support JRP, Gain Access to the Nexus

Join our inner research circle for early footage, extended analysis, and technical reports. Your support helps us sustain the ongoing research, cameras, and transmissions that become the Nexus. Inside, you’ll find deeper writings, footage, and behind-the-scenes disclosure.

Join us—and help anchor the Real.