TROUT LAKE — Seeing a spaceship can be part of a spiritual journey toward enlightenment, according to reports from a group of area travelers, who took a trip to a UFO ranch near the base of Mount Adams last weekend.
James Gilliland claims to have enlightened contact with extraterrestrial intelligence and beings from higher dimensions at his ranch near Trout Lake, which purportedly is an internationally known UFO and paranormal hot spot.
Gilliland, a self-proclaimed contactee, hosted nearly 30 travelers organized by Yelm’s Triad Theater at his ECETI ranch.
After signing up for the outer space adventure, I didn’t know what to expect — or if I believe in extraterrestrial contact at all.
If we did spot a spacecraft, could I report it and still maintain a shred of journalistic credibility? And if we encountered nothing, would I have a story to tell?
Upon learning the real-life story of the woman responsible for the trip, who now refers to herself as Lady Jayne, I knew things would be interesting, UFO or not.
Lady Jayne is better known as Calamity Jayne, a title she earned by playing her guitar at her knees while alternating between tears and laughter, after eating magic mushrooms during a 1974 performance in Del Mar, Calif. The local newspaper dubbed the incident a “calamity” featuring “Jane Doe,” after her band left her on stage amid the drug-induced freak out.
The punk rocker wearing her signature cowboy hat went on to reign as the queen of the Las Vegas music scene, opening Sin City’s original rock club, and hosting the first UFO seminar.
But, Calamity Jayne soon found her outlaw persona becoming a reality.
She landed an 18-month prison sentence for her interactions with a George Jung-like character who flew massive amounts of cocaine into the country.
Upon her release, Jayne took on a few new business ventures, before heading to Yelm to attend Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment, and open the Triad.
For those unversed in Yelm counterculture, J.Z. Knight founded the school, where she claims to channel a 35,000-year-old being named Ramtha, who teaches humans they have the ability to create their own reality.
Last weekend marked Jayne’s latest adventure, the theater’s first bus trip.
Upon boarding the bus, Jayne first introduced me to her “political activist,” Preston Collins, a theater volunteer and a former Ramtha student.
The retired electrical engineer became interested in spacecraft after Roswell and has since investigated the work of political activist Stephen Bassett, of the Paradigm Research Group, and Dr. Steven Greer, a medical doctor, working to uncover the government’s alleged knowledge of UFOs, extraterrestrial intelligence and classified energy propulsion systems through The Disclosure Project.
Collins cited the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, which included a group of 40 researchers, government employees and other individuals’ testimony on extraterrestrial contact before six former members of the U.S. Congress earlier this year.
“Why are we hushing things up? This is the key,” Collins said. “If we don’t take charge of the political process, the extraterrestrials might have to take over.”
Extraterrestrials, the 72-year-old said, are concerned humans will disrupt galactic progress or destroy the planet.
Oil and gas companies, Collins said, have a vested interest in getting the government to cover up extraterrestrial activity — a conspiracy.
“They don’t’ want us to have all the knowledge because that keeps us in their little prison,” the North Carolina native said. “Man’s search on this Earth is a search for truth.”
As the bus wound through the Columbia River Gorge, I met Natalina Banfi, a Venezuelan native who came to Yelm seeking truth through Ramtha’s teachings. Before the school, the 50-year-old said, she did not believe in extraterrestrials and orbs, or unexpected, usually circular, artifacts that occur in flash photography.
“Your eyes see what you believe,” she said. “So if you don’t believe it, they’re not going to show.”
The scene changed as we neared the ECETI ranch from forest land with Douglas-firs to a dry, desert area full of sage and grasshoppers. As the bus pulled in, the driver, David Hare, noted signs prohibiting federal agencies from entering.
“It’s real sovereign nation stuff,” the Rochester resident said.
After setting up camp at the ranch, which features views of Mount Adams and a herd of domicile yaks significant to Tibetan culture, the group listened in as Guilliland broadcasted his internet radio show.
Gilliland left a career in commercial real estate after a near-death experience more than three decades ago to begin a spiritual journey, studying various religions, he claims.
Gilliland said he established the ECETI ranch to further his dedication the “awakening and enlightenment” of humanity.
The ranch includes a vortex, which Gilliland purports to be the center of the most powerful energy.
Even as the activity continues, he said, opposition forces censor information related to contact with extraterrestrials and higher beings from other dimensions.
Next, the group listened to a lecture by Jon Kelly, who uses photos and video, including some shot during previous visits to the ranch, to reveal UFO secrets.
“Powerful things happen here,” he said, noting we may soon see for ourselves.
Yelm resident Pamela Roberts, a veteran orb and paranormal photographer, said while contemplating the many things she has seen in the sky, extraterrestrials and other beings have responded to her thoughts by showing various light patterns to her.
“It’s something that transcends one’s simple human experience,” she said. “I know they can hear us.”
Extraterrestrials and orb beings reveal things to an individual, she said, depending on the human’s level of consciousness.
As a trained observer, Roberts said, she will photograph these phenomena better than a skeptic such as myself. Much like how a trained eye can identify wildlife more easily in the landscape, she explained.
At dusk, Gilliland returned to prepare us for an evening of sky watching through a meditative entry process.
“The real experience happens on an inner level,” Gilliland told us as we circled our chairs to clear our collective and individual energy. “It’s through the heart you connect with these higher beings.”
Gilliland began channeling beings from other dimensions, rocking a table back and forth inside the circle.
“Be really aware of how you feel in your body,” he instructed. “Beings will come into the room and bless whoever wants to experience it. The most important thing here is to focus on love and bliss.”
First, Gilliland said, an eighth dimension being entered, followed by an Andromedan from the seventh dimension.
Several people in the group reported feeling, calm, light, peaceful or cool energy as the beings entered.
Anna Buerger, of Yelm, said she felt her neck stiffen as energy passed through her body.
Antonia Wood, of Rainier, said she felt a positive energy hit her in the face, which she felt changed her on a personal level.
I, however, remained skeptical and distracted by two seemingly out-of-place kittens roaming at our feet.
Following the meditation, we went outside to view the night sky illuminated by a nearly full moon on the 44th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first landing.
Gilliland said he and others at the ranch often see spaceships drop material that lights up. He speculatively quipped that aliens could simply be flushing their toilets, exciting earthlings.
A few of my fellow trippers brought laser lights to lure aliens to engage with us. Gilliland said flashing lasers often results in responses from spacecraft, though he did warn against pointing lights at regular aircraft.
Belinda Kachlein stayed up until dawn, reporting she flashed a laser at a UFO, which flashed back, seemingly in response.
The Tenino resident reported seeing lights become suddenly brighter, what Gilliland calls “powering up,” before disappearing about a dozen times.
In a meditative state, Kachlein said, she felt as if something was closer to her, but she couldn’t quantify it.
“That’s when you become aware of other phenomena,” she said.
Sophie Sykes, a Rainier elementary school teacher, said she saw three UFOs and felt intense energy in the vortex.
“It’s an awakening experience to see a UFO,” Sykes said. “It’s not a question of whether UFOs are here, it’s who they are and why they’re here.”
John Swetz, a Morton chiropractor, said he did not see anything unusual at the ranch of feel any different in the vortex.
“I’m one of those people that need to see it to believe it,” the longtime Lewis County resident said. “I didn’t necessarily feel anything stronger than in our own county.”
I saw three UFOs, according to my fellow spectators, though I would have called them falling stars.
Still, it remains possible that I did witness extraterrestrial activity. And as my travel mates might attest, my skepticism and lack of perceptiveness could indeed have prevented me from fully understanding the experience.
As strange as ECETI concepts may seem, upon investigation, I found many no different than beliefs held by the hard-core Yoga crowd, grown-up flower children, or, in some cases, Christians.
A lot of these ideas come from Eastern philosophy, Taoism, Buddhism, even paganism and psychedelic thought.
With varying reports of extraterrestrial action coming from each individual on the trip, it seems the concept, taught by both Ramtha and my high school English teacher — of reality being what one perceives it to be — is truly in play here.
And while my some of my new friends’ decidedly intense ideas may seem a little out there, we are talking about space.
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Amy Nile: (360) 807-8235
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