Inquiry with Kelly Chase: Daily Summaries Delivered

The Weaponized Wound: Trauma, Belief Engineering & the Fatal Flaw in the Control Mechanism

Why do anomalous experiences so often arrive in the wake of trauma? And what happens when the people who understand that connection decide to use it as a weapon? This episode of Inquiry follows trauma as the hidden throughline connecting UFOs, consciousness, psychological operations, and the engineering of belief at scale. Kelly Chase starts with how human perception actually works, drawing on Donald Hoffman's "The Case Against Reality," James Madden's umwelt and über-umwelt from "Unidentified Flying Hyperobject," and Jeffrey Kripal's Filter Thesis, then grounds it all in the predictive processing model of the brain and Karl Friston's free energy principle. The picture that emerges is unsettling: trauma doesn't only wound a person, it makes them porous, loosening the filters that hold consensus reality in place. From there the conversation turns toward how that vulnerability has been exploited. It traces belief manipulation from the 1980 "From PSYOP to MindWar" paper by Michael Aquino and Paul Vallely, through MKULTRA and Operation Mockingbird, to the declassified reality of Operation Northwoods and the manufacturing of consent. It brings in Jacques Vallée's control system hypothesis and Colm Kelleher's concept of bidirectional mimicry to ask whether human institutions and the phenomenon itself may be using the same lever: disruption, destabilization, and the reshaping of belief in the rupture's aftermath. Then it turns the dread on its head. Research on openness to experience and Post-Traumatic Growth suggests the architects of mass stress made a critical miscalculation. Trauma creates openings, and openings go both ways. You can crack the shell of consensus reality to make people malleable, but you cannot control what hatches. Topics explored: Trauma and anomalous experience | experiencer patterns | the Filter Thesis | Donald Hoffman | perception as interface | umwelt and über-umwelt | James Madden | Jeffrey Kripal | predictive processing | Karl Friston | free energy principle | belief malleability | shattered assumptions | meaning violation | belief engineering | MindWar | Michael Aquino | Paul Vallely | psychological operations | MKULTRA | Operation Mockingbird | cognitive sovereignty | bidirectional mimicry | Colm Kelleher | black triangle craft | Jacques Vallée | control system hypothesis | Operation Northwoods | manufactured consent | openness to experience | Post-Traumatic Growth | consciousness-level immune response | non-human intelligence | contact experiences Inquiry with Kelly Chase is brought to you by SpectreVision Radio.Produced in partnership with Voltage.fm. Referenced In This Episode The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes — Donald Hoffman (2019) Unidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the World — James Madden (2023) How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else — Jeffrey J. Kripal (2024) The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge — Jeffrey J. Kripal (2019) "The Free-Energy Principle: A Unified Brain Theory?" — Karl Friston (2010) "Trauma or Drama: A Predictive Processing Perspective on the Continuum of Stress" — Valery Krupnik (2020) "Predictive Processing and the Varieties of Psychological Trauma" — Sam Wilkinson, Guy Dodgson & Kevin Meares (2017) "Assumptive Worlds and the Stress of Traumatic Events" — Ronnie Janoff-Bulman (1989) Shattered Assumptions: Towards a New Psychology of Trauma — Ronnie Janoff-Bulman (1992) "PTSD as Meaning Violation: Testing a Cognitive Worldview Perspective" — Crystal L. Park, Mary Alice Mills & Donald Edmondson (2012) "Making Sense of the Meaning Literature: An Integrative Review of Meaning Making and Its Effects on Adjustment to Stressful Life Events" — Crystal L. Park (2010) From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory — Paul E. Vallely & Michael Aquino (1980) MindWar: The New Battle for the Mind — Michael Aquino (2016) Project MKULTRA, the CIA's Program of Research in Behavioral Modification — U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1977) MKULTRA Collection — CIA Reading Room Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans, Book II (Church Committee Report) — U.S. Senate (1976) Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba (Operation Northwoods) — Joint Chiefs of Staff (1962) "The Anxious State: Stress, Polarization, and Elections in America" — The Conversation (2025) "Politics Is Taking a Toll on People's Well-Being" — Psychology Today (2025) "Stressful Life Events and Openness to Experience: Relevance to Depression" — Chiappelli et al. (2021) "The Social Psychology of Responses to Trauma: Social Identity Pathways Associated with Divergent Traumatic Responses" — Orla Muldoon et al. (2019) "Posttraumatic Growth: Conceptual Foundations and Empirical Evidence" — Richard Tedeschi & Lawrence Calhoun (2004)

Addressing the Allegations Against My Former Creative Partner, Jay Christopher King

I recently received an email from an individual who said they wanted to share a concerning series of online interactions they had with my former creative partner, Jay Christopher King. This person shared that they are an experiencer who started a correspondence with Jay on Instagram after seeing him on Cosmosis. They allege that, in the course of this conversation where they also shared vulnerable details of their history, Jay crossed sexual boundaries and sent an explicit photo. Screenshots were shared with me in support of these claims. They said they were reaching out because they were concerned by the brazenness of this behavior, particularly given that Jay is a public figure. And given his role working with vulnerable people in The Experiencer Group, they were concerned that others might be at risk. I initially didn’t believe it. Jay is someone I have worked with very closely over the last three years. He’s been my business partner and my closest friend. We have spoken extensively about his work as the director of The Experience Group, and had many conversations—often initiated by him—about how vulnerable people can be when processing anomalous experiences, and how important it is to maintain clear boundaries and ethical standards. It is only because we’d had these conversations at length that I was ever comfortable recommending that people join The Experiencer Group. I did not think it was possible that the person I knew could have done something like this. But as someone who has been the victim of sexual assault that went unpunished, and as a woman in this community who has publicly endorsed Jay as someone safe, this was not something I could ignore. From the moment I first allowed for the possibility that this might be true to the time I was on the phone with a woman sharing another deeply distressing account involving Jay was just a few hours. I have since heard from multiple women who have described concerning behavior. These stories are not mine to tell. But I want to be clear about the nature of what has been reported to me: I have heard from multiple individuals who have described concerning experiences, including allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior involving Jay. Some of these accounts come from individuals who describe having approached him while seeking support for their anomalous experiences. I cannot independently verify these accounts, but given their seriousness, I felt it was important to take immediate action. I am taking the necessary steps to permanently sever all ties with Jay The Cosmosis podcast, “Inquire Anomalous Presents” content, and any content featuring Jay has been permanently removed from all public feeds Production of Season 2 of Cosmosis has been permanently suspended At the time of this posting, I’m still not sure what’s going on with season 1 of the docuseries, but I will not be promoting it moving forward. I am devastated and mortified to have to come to the community that has inspired, held, uplifted, supported, and, at times, truly saved me, and tell you this. This is my greatest nightmare, and I’m sitting with the heartbreak and complexity of having given my endorsement to Jay over these past few years. For that, I want to apologize to the entire community, and to the experiencer community, in particular. I want to thank the person who reached out to me with the initial allegations. Your bravery and intuition broke a spell and helped a lot of people—including me. And thank you to the other brave women who have shared your stories with me in the interest of helping others. You all have my eternal gratitude. I am here for you, and you have my full support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[Field Notes] Why Do Experiencers Have Visions of Apocalypse? Meaning, Memory, and Manipulation

You're not hallucinating. This is a repost. This episode accidentally got deleted. New episodes of Inquiry are coming soon. Apocalyptic visions are one of the most persistent patterns in anomalous experience—and one of the least examined. Across abduction accounts, contact experiences, downloads, and altered states, experiencers consistently report visions of a coming cataclysm. The pattern holds across cultures, across centuries, and across radically different frameworks for understanding contact with non-human intelligence. And the prophecy never comes true. That doesn't make it meaningless. It might make it more significant. In this Field Notes episode, Kelly Chase lays out four theories for what these visions actually are—and what they're doing. Is this species-level PTSD, the trauma of civilizational collapses encoded in our collective psyche and mistaken for prediction? Are these translation artifacts—non-human intelligence reaching for the most legible human metaphor for an ontological rupture that has no literal equivalent? Is the phenomenon itself functioning as a control mechanism, using apocalyptic certainty to fragment, isolate, and neutralize experiencer communities at precisely the moments they begin to cohere? Or is something considerably more terrestrial at work? The apocalypse may not be coming. But understanding why so many people have been shown it—and who benefits from that vision—may be one of the most important questions in the field. Find the full transcript on my Substack. 🗒️ About Field Notes Field Notes are short-form episodes where Kelly thinks aloud—tracing patterns, chasing questions, and working through ideas that haven't yet reached their conclusion. The path of inquiry is messy and non-linear, and Field Notes is where that process lives out loud. For access to the full archive of written Field Notes, visit inquirywithkellychase.substack.com. Topics explored: Apocalyptic visions in anomalous experience | experiencer patterns | species-level trauma | collective unconscious | noosphere | Akashic record | ancestral memory | Younger Dryas | civilizational collapse | geological cataclysm | Jacques Vallée | Eric Davis | non-human intelligence communication | symbolic translation | ontological rupture | contact phenomenon | control mechanism | psychological operations | MKULTRA | Voice of God technology | anomalous cognition | experiencer communities | belief manipulation | abduction accounts | contactee testimony | field notes Inquiry with Kelly Chase is brought to you by SpectreVision Radio.Produced in partnership with Voltage.fm. Referenced In This Episode Incommensurability, Orthodoxy, and the Physics of High Strangeness — Jacques Vallée & Eric Davis (2003) Support The Show Patreon: inquirywithkellychase.com Substack: inquirywithkellychase.substack.com Connect with Kelly Website: kellychase.media X: @kellychasemedia Instagram: @kellychasemedia Watch Season 1 of Comosis: UFOs & A New Reality Prime Video Tubi TIMESTAMPS00:47 Apocalyptic Visions and Anomalous Experiencet 02:31 Theory One: Ancestral Memory 04:20 Theory Two: Translation Artifacts 05:56 Theory Three: Control Mechanism 08:08 Theory Four: Human Interference 11:01 What the Pattern Reveals 12:05 Closing and Where to Follow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[Field Notes] Why Do Experiencers Have Visions of Apocalypse? A Study in Meaning, Memory, and Manipulation

Apocalyptic visions are one of the most persistent patterns in anomalous experience—and one of the least examined. Across abduction accounts, contact experiences, downloads, and altered states, experiencers consistently report visions of a coming cataclysm. The pattern holds across cultures, across centuries, and across radically different frameworks for understanding contact with non-human intelligence. And the prophecy never comes true. That doesn't make it meaningless. It might make it more significant. In this Field Notes episode, Kelly Chase lays out four theories for what these visions actually are—and what they're doing. Is this species-level PTSD, the trauma of civilizational collapses encoded in our collective psyche and mistaken for prediction? Are these translation artifacts—non-human intelligence reaching for the most legible human metaphor for an ontological rupture that has no literal equivalent? Is the phenomenon itself functioning as a control mechanism, using apocalyptic certainty to fragment, isolate, and neutralize experiencer communities at precisely the moments they begin to cohere? Or is something considerably more terrestrial at work? The apocalypse may not be coming. But understanding why so many people have been shown it—and who benefits from that vision—may be one of the most important questions in the field. Find the full transcript on my Substack. 🗒️ About Field Notes Field Notes are short-form episodes where Kelly thinks aloud—tracing patterns, chasing questions, and working through ideas that haven't yet reached their conclusion. The path of inquiry is messy and non-linear, and Field Notes is where that process lives out loud. For access to the full archive of written Field Notes, visit inquirywithkellychase.substack.com. Topics explored: Apocalyptic visions in anomalous experience | experiencer patterns | species-level trauma | collective unconscious | noosphere | Akashic record | ancestral memory | Younger Dryas | civilizational collapse | geological cataclysm | Jacques Vallée | Eric Davis | non-human intelligence communication | symbolic translation | ontological rupture | contact phenomenon | control mechanism | psychological operations | MKULTRA | Voice of God technology | anomalous cognition | experiencer communities | belief manipulation | abduction accounts | contactee testimony | field notes Inquiry with Kelly Chase is brought to you by SpectreVision Radio. Produced in partnership with Voltage.fm. Referenced In This Episode Incommensurability, Orthodoxy, and the Physics of High Strangeness — Jacques Vallée & Eric Davis (2003) Support The Show Patreon: inquirywithkellychase.com Substack: inquirywithkellychase.substack.com Connect with Kelly Website: kellychase.media X: @kellychasemedia Instagram: @kellychasemedia Watch Season 1 of Comosis: UFOs & A New Reality Prime Video Tubi TIMESTAMPS00:47 Apocalyptic Visions and Anomalous Experiencet 02:31 Theory One: Ancestral Memory 04:20 Theory Two: Translation Artifacts 05:56 Theory Three: Control Mechanism 08:08 Theory Four: Human Interference 11:01 What the Pattern Reveals 12:05 Closing and Where to Follow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[Field Notes] What Happened in 2021? Analyzing A Hidden Wave of Consciousness Shifts

Something shifted in 2021 — not just for Kelly, but for an unusual number of people all at once. In this Field Notes episode, she thinks aloud about a pattern she keeps running into: waves of consciousness-altering experiences that clustered around a single year, reported independently, with near-identical features and near-identical language. More than a few people, without any prompting, reached for the exact same phrase to describe what happened to them: a sleeper agent, activated. She traces the pattern outward — from veteran UFO researcher Stan Gordon's description of 2021 as the year "they opened all the cages at the Cryptid Zoo," to Edgar Mitchell's overview effect, to the measurable weakening of Earth's electromagnetic field and the approaching solar maximum — and keeps arriving at the same question: what changed? This episode doesn't offer a single answer, just a few working theories held together honestly and the growing sense that 2021 may have been a threshold rather than an anomaly. If you're a member of the anomalous class of 2021, this one's for you. Find the full transcript on my Substack. 🗒️ About Field Notes Field Notes are short-form episodes where Kelly thinks aloud—tracing patterns, chasing questions, and working through ideas that haven't yet reached their conclusion. The path of inquiry is messy and non-linear, and Field Notes is where that process lives out loud. For access to the full archive of written Field Notes, visit inquirywithkellychase.substack.com. Topics explored: Anomalous class of 2021 | consciousness shifts | sleeper agent activation | collective awakening | overview effect | Edgar Mitchell | space psychology | Earth's electromagnetic field | solar cycles | geomagnetic weakening | pandemic isolation | shared reality collapse | threshold events | hundredth monkey effect | cryptid surges | window areas | Stan Gordon | Kecksburg | high strangeness | collective observation | quantum mechanics and perception | reality porosity | precognitive dreams | non-human intelligence contact | experiencer testimony | field notes Inquiry with Kelly Chase is brought to you by SpectreVision Radio. Produced in partnership with Voltage.fm. Referenced In This Episode Here are the episodes where Kelly talks about her anomalous experience in 2021: Cosmosis: Origins Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube Through The Looking Glass [Pt 1]: My Initiation Into The Anomalous Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube Support The Show Patreon: inquirywithkellychase.com Substack: inquirywithkellychase.substack.com Connect with Kelly Website: kellychase.media X: @kellychasemedia Instagram: @kellychasemedia Watch Season 1 of Comosis: UFOs & A New Reality Prime Video Tubi TIMESTAMPS 01:43 Sleeper Agent Pattern 03:37 Is 2021 a Wave 05:09 Kecksburg Turning Point 06:34 Threshold Consciousness Theory 09:01 Overview Effect Clues 10:40 Earth Field and Solar Cycles 12:43 Pandemic Isolation Theory 15:53 What It Means Going Forward Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Truth Crisis: The Deliberate Collapse of Shared Reality with Philosopher James Madden

[Field Notes] The Fake Alien Invasion: How An "Impending Threat" Can Be Used To Manufacture Consent

[Field Notes] The Question of Evil: The Secret Theology of Ufology's Elite