(June 2) -- Dennis Hopper may have passed away, but along with his
many film appearances, he has left an important legacy to UFO
researchers.
That's the belief of Vancouver-based paranormal
researcher Jon
Kelly, who says the script that Hopper and "Easy Rider" co-star
Peter Fonda wrote for the 1969 counterculture classic helped introduce a
lot of information about UFOs to a massive audience.
Kelly
points to the campfire scene where Hopper (who played Billy) and cast
member Jack Nicholson (George) discuss extraterrestrials and their
presence on the planet.
CSU Archives / Everett Collection
In the 1969 film "Easy Rider," actors Dennis Hopper,
pictured, and Jack Nicholson discuss the possibility of alien visitors
to Earth.
In the film's dialogue, Hopper states, "I saw a
satellite, man. And it was going across the sky. And it flashed three
times at me and zigzagged and whizzed off, man. And I saw it."
To
which Nicholson replies:
"That was a UFO, beamin' back at ya. Me
and Eric Heisman was down in Mexico two weeks ago -- we seen 40 of 'em
flying in formation. They, they, they've got bases all over the world
now, you know. They've been coming here ever since 1946, when the
scientists first started bouncin' radar beams off of the moon. And they
have been livin' and workin' among us in vast quantities ever since. The
government knows all about 'em."
In spite of Billy's protests
to the contrary, George continues:
"Well, they are people, just
like us -- from within our own solar system. Except that their society
is more highly evolved. I mean, they don't have no wars, they got no
monetary system, they don't have any leaders, because, I mean, each man
is a leader. I mean, each man -- because of their technology, they are
able to feed, clothe, house and transport themselves equally, and with
no effort.
"Why don't they reveal themselves to us is because if
they did, it would cause a general panic. Now, I mean, we still have
leaders upon whom we rely for the release of this information. These
leaders have decided to repress this information because of the
tremendous shock that it would cause to our antiquated systems.
"Now,
the result of this has been that the Venutians have contacted people in
all walks of life -- all walks of life. [Laughs.] Yes. It, it, it would
be a devastatin' blow to our antiquated systems -- so now the Venutians
are meeting with people in all walks of life, in an advisory capacity.
For once, man will have a god-like control over his own destiny. He will
have a chance to transcend and to evolve with some equality for all."
Interestingly
enough, during the scene, it's Nicholson's character, a straitlaced
ACLU lawyer, who is the true believer that ETs are here on Earth, while
Hopper's character, a drugged-out biker, is the skeptic.
Kelly
thinks this scene is very significant to modern UFO research for a
variety of reasons.
Continues here
