Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien … (2025)

I have read several books on the the UFO and abduction phenomenon, but John E Mack brings more than a credible insight to this subject:

I am inquisitive and open minded, but have to say was slightly cynical of the the abduction subject, and in hindsight certainly ignorant of it prior to buying this book. It took me longer than it should to read this excellent book as after each paragraph I found myself cross referencing my own reading and beliefs.

The book is very well structured with a subtle pace that has your mind drawing on your own wider understanding of life experiences and spirituality into this phenomenon without suffocating you in sensationalism. You begin to realise this subject is so much more than cranks and attention seekers looking for a fix.

The book is as 'deep' as you you want to interpret it, personally I found it remarkably, and totally unexpectedly, pulling together other issues I have read about on science, astrophysics, spirituality, the afterlife, near death experiences, and other issues such as those raised in 'Thinking and Destiny' (by Harold Percival).

John E Mack has a gentle and articulate delivery yet remains unbiased as a research paper should, and brings a gravitas to this body of work and a genuine credibility that has in one way transformed, but another reinforced my personal world view. A great and intellectual work on this often overlooked subject indeed, and one I urge you to read as it may resonate with you like you never expected - mores the pity that one of the most credible voices on the matter is no longer with us.

This is a book that I would recommend as #1 on a reading list surrounding the entire ufo subject, but also the last one too. Every time you come back to it and re-read a section you will reveal another layer of knowledge and enlightenment whether by design (genius) or coincidence (our good fortune). This is a seminal piece, and dare I say it, it may well have helped changed my outlook on life itself.

Initially, the author's academic and seemingly critical approach to the subject of alien abduction irritated me. It appeared to me that the most important factor for him was the presentation of material evidence of the existence of these aliens and the veracity of the "experiencers'" accounts in the sense that it could be proven that these abductions had actually taken place on the physical plane in some way or another, which of course is hardly possible. It was as though what mattered most was what his peers thought. The author was new to me, since I hadn't read his previous book "Abduction".

Later in the book Mack convinced me of his belief in the various accounts of the abductees he'd worked with, owing to the depth of their experiences, perhaps particularly their emotional response to them, even though these may not actually have occurred or be occurring on the physical plane - which in fact is of no significance (my comment).

As opposed to Dolores Cannon, for instance, who presents us with the experiences of individual abductees and the like, one at a time, by interviewing them under deep regression, Mack gifts us with an overview of the various aspects of abductee experiences, collating and comparing the individual experiences.

This is the first book I've read in which the author availed himself/herself of an academic, professional and ontological approach to the subject, and I ended by deeply appreciating his modus operandi.

We're offered the information that these experiences, though often physically invasive, occasionally to the point of torture, and thus terrifying, have as a potential end result great spiritual development, in fact total transformation. Actually, as far as I understand, it is precisely owing to the terrifying nature of the abductees' experiences that their total belief system and world view are "shattered", transformation practically being forced upon them.

New to me was the implication that despite the negative factors of these experiences, the true meaning or aim of the aliens' behaviour towards us is their desire to provide us with advanced knowledge and to aid us in raising our vibration/consciousness so we better can survive the challenging times ahead culminating in the earth changes at the end of 2012. The matter is somewhat unclear, but it appears that the aliens come not only to help us but to help themselves. Some abductees report that the aliens may have breeding problems and need humans for their long-term survival. hence their use of us to create hybrids to "replenish their stock." These hybrids are more highly developed than us, while having emotional qualities which the aliens seem to lack, Others report that we humans, who are in the process of destroying our own planet. may need a new planet to live on, and it might be easier for these hybrids to exist in another world. (And the aliens themselves may stand in need of a new planet.)

This book presents information about beings vastly more developed than ourselves, and many experiencers have attained remarkable, altered states, a higher vibration and virtual Samadhi-like states, They feel that they have been blasted into a total transformative experience.

It is as though the more terrifying the experience, the greater the capacity for personal growth, "a very deep heart opening" and "an incredible love for people", this being what Whitley Strieber experienced. Reptilian beings can be particularly frightening, and one woman responded by bombarding the beings with love energy. They began to "shriek", ran and "backed off through the wall". In short, the vile actions of these beings can "provoke" us into resorting to the power of love, the greatest force in the universe, and thus regaining contact with the Source. This is what engenders true healing.

Some abductees are aware that these negative beings reflect dark sides of their own nature, and it seems to me that it may not be everyone or anyone who is likely to experience abduction, but precisely those who have lacked a connection to Source, have not initially believed in the existence of aliens, and have in some way had a "need" to be "ripped from reality" in order to establish or re-establish this connection.

In the final end it is as though the whole point of the abduction experience, at least as regards the individual abductee, is to be provoked to return to Source. Some experience that they have always known the aliens, that they in fact have a deep, inner connection. In personal relationships with aliens, a deep love can arise, much deeper than is possible in human relationships.

There is much talk of Home, another word for Source, and the incredible love to be experienced there.

This book goes deeply into the spiritual experiences of the abductees and has given me an insight into the etiology of the phenomenon that I could not have imagined. I knew nothing of the spiritual side of the matter before. This is an important work which has expanded my world view, thus contributing to my own personal development. I strongly recommend that you read it.

John Mack won a Pulitzer Prize and was the head of psychiatry at Harvard and was one of the first people to take seriously alien abduction claims and I just think that’s the most interesting thing ever!

Also interesting ~ abductees form legit recorded PTSD from their alleged experiences, so whether or not you believe, their PTSD and trauma is v real

Passport to the Cosmos is a book that needs to be read; before it is judged. It has a very important message that needs to be considered and thought through. The continuity of so many people across the world and in all walks of life, saying very similar things from their experiences and being transformed in their understanding of our world and the creative universal force is something to behold. John E Mack, MD is an intelligent respected researcher who looks at all sides and leaves you to make up your own conclusions from the accounts by the people who have had these life changing experiences. The last part of the book is defining and very insightful in my opinion. Anyone who takes this book on with an open mind will get the very important spiritual message that is a theme throughout the book. Well done John Mack.

I've read Mack's alien abduction books in order, this being the second, and saw the Christopher Walken film based on the Strieber's Communion. The authority of the author is, in both cases, more impressive than the content of the books. A tenured faculty member of the Harvard Medical School and a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mack is undoubtedly intelligent. His exposition of cases of supposed alien abduction indicates, furthermore, that he is a compassionately client-centered therapist. His treatment of this whole business remains, however, unsatisfying. One would hope for some light being thrown on the subject. Instead, one gets some hopeful speculation on the order of grasping at straws.

In this book Mack chooses a slightly broader approach to study and understand the main characteristics and ultimate purpose of the alien abduction phenomenon. Mack structures the book around thematic chapters which delve deeper and deeper into the metaphysical and cosmic as the book reads on. While “Abduction” dealt with the wider topics of Earth’s ecological destruction and the expansion of human consciousness, “Passport” goes further to examine the connection between the abduction experiences, alien beings, the human soul and the universal energy of the cosmos.

The main focus of this book is to provide a different narrative perspective for the phenomenon by sharing and analyzing the life stories and experiences of two Native American and one South African man. Mack often contrasts the Western materialist-scientific worldview (of which he himself is born out of) and the spiritualism of indigenous peoples to show how differently humans around the world can interpret the phenomenon.

Mack goes on to analyze the experiences and the resulting “ontological shock” (his term for the worldview shattering his clients report) which brings about an expansion of conciousness and thus irreversibly changes the lives of the experiencers. As a result, the experiencers start leading much more ecologically sustainable lives, become more tolerant and understanding of other people and generally feel much more spiritually aware of themselves as human beings. He argues that this is the main purpose of the phenomenon – to make us think about the bigger issues our race is facing and act on it to make a positive impact for the planet.

Overall, I strongly recommend reading this book as it presents compelling testimonies by credible eyewitnesses and gives important insight into the abduction phenomenon experienced by many thousands of people all over this planet. The late John E. Mack has done a great service for the field by writing this book full of intelligent analysis, compassion and heart.

The section on shamans and extraterrestrials is especially insightful. Really shows the racism around UFOs. Indigenous people have known about them for years and very deeply. But why ask them?

crazy stuff

Dr John E. Mack's second and final book on the alien abduction phenomenon details a number of case studies of supposed abduction experiences he had been working with in the past decade (1990’s) through his PEER group (Program for Extraordinary Experience Research). The book touches on connections with indigenous beliefs and attempts to assess the paradigm-shifting effect such experiences have on the predominant worldview of Western society.

Mack documents seemingly ordinary members of American society who recount these extraordinary experiences either willingly or under hypnotic regression. He meanwhile illuminates wise men/mystics of aboriginal societies around the world and important resemblances can be gleaned. These men are Bernardo Peixoto, a Brazilian shaman, Sequoya Trueblood, a native American, and Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, an African medicine man. Each of them has encounters with entities, in which such experiences are generally integrated into their own culture's worldview, as spirits or star people. Mack details these witnesses' attempts to build bridges between the aboriginal and westernized societies in response to their experience, aiming to re-integrate a spiritual connection with nature which they believe Western societies have lost. These witnesses can help act as control when attempting to rule out the abduction phenomenon as a product of Western imagination, suggesting, I would add, that it is entirely the opposite, that such ideas can be found present in societies’ imaginations since the earliest evidence of human artistic expression.

This question though, of how real really are these experiences still persists; could they be a product of hallucination, pathological conditions, or even poorly conducted hypnotic regression? The latter, a known method of Dr. Mack’s, is one of the predominant criticisms of his work, as it is possible that the hypnotist (or even cultural fantasies) could consciously or unconsciously implant false memories in the subject when in such an impressionable state, and it is difficult to assess how serious a problem this could be in Mack's work. Nevertheless, Dr. Mack asserts the experiencers are no product of hallucination or pathology, that something really did occur. And for better or for worse, as we will begin to discover, the entire nature of the phenomenon seems to put into question what is real in the first place.

There are many similarities between the experiences which help make the case, particularly I find compelling the more fundamental phenomenal descriptions over the more literal, such as sensations of vibrations, as well as symptoms of trauma which the subjects exhibit succeeding the experience. Abby recounts that she was ‘shaking all morning [due to a] sensitivity to the air’ and Andrea describes ‘going through a tunnel…I’m expanding, my whole body filling with light, tremendous energy all around’. Karin describes her ‘vibratory level raised to the level of the beings’ and ‘her body seems to shake and even vibrate when [she relives her experience] and she may cry out loudly as the tension moves through her’. Isabel states ‘it’s all energy’ and Bernado Piexoto describes the experience as ‘millions of molecules being disintegrated within myself’. Seemingly a recurring factor among all these experiences are these accounts of vibration through the body, an intense light and energy. A comparison ought to be made with, for example, the likes of out of body experiences, near death experiences, meditation, psychedelic experiences and altered states of consciousness, which all describe similar effects. This comparison can’t be ignored and I would have perhaps liked Mack to have touched upon this side of things. Furthemore, the residual memory felt in the body, described by Karin when reliving the experience points to a real trauma inducing experience in the body.

Here I find it appropriate to touch upon the case of Vusumuzula Credo Mutwa, in which he describes being raped by a ‘cold creature’ and in which his semen was taken and what looked like a fetus in a specimen jar observed. This experience is horrific and absurd, contrasting the more benevolent descriptions of many of the other witnesses, although doesn’t stand alone in its implications. Credo Mutwa describes the ‘Mantindane’ (as his culture refers to them) as parasitic and almost technological entities, curious as to our own earthly natures and perhaps taking from us what they lack. In fact, literal descriptions range from these more soulless entities as just described to more benevolent beings offering communion with a reality beyond our wildest dreams, sexual experiences beyond comparison, even the nurturing of hybrid babies. Prevailing many of the descriptions is a warning of environmental disaster and a view to the sacredness of planet Earth. But treading carefully with these literal assumptions, as Mack admits, perhaps more significant is the worldview one begins to exhibit after such experiences. Mack describes it as an ‘ontological shock’, in which one’s entire worldview and belief in reality is shattered. Carol describes the experience as ‘mind rape’ and others a separation of one’s soul from the body. After these experiences, abductees may feel isolated from society and unable to integrate their experiences into the life they formerly lived. Many do however, advocating for environmental change and finding relief in meeting other experiencers and reliving the experience itself. They may undergo a personal transformation, a transformation of consciousness.

Because of how totally outlandish and absurd some of these accounts can be, I had to put the book down at times and continue on with my own life, unwilling to confront the implications of this ‘ontological shock’. If true, that ‘non-human intelligence’ is in contact with us, observing us since time immemorial, are genetically related to us, perhaps created us even, experiment on us and undertake a hybrid breeding project, how incredibly earth-shattering and existential could this knowledge be for the prevailing worldview?

It is true and necessary to admit that some of the claims taken at face value could be dangerous because it is so hard to establish how real they may be. Even if something happened, that’s not to say that ‘something’ is so incomprehensible to our psyche that what witnesses describe are the brain’s feeble attempt at pattern recognition in a sea of four dimensional noise, or even if the entities are masquerading as whatever they may choose, to push their own hidden agendas unbeknownst to us - it is difficult to speculate. The phenomenon questions what we believe to be real and forces us to confront the unknown. Perhaps it could be part of the collective psyche at work, a manifestation of psychic wholeness that occurs at the end of an age according to psychiatrist Carl Jung. Whatever it may be, perhaps a mix of all of the above, I feel it wholly worthy of serious study and consideration, and only hope more concrete answers begin to come through in the near future.

Mack was a pioneer to some, or a short sighted fanatic to others, but it is clear that he had great courage in tackling such a phenomenon with great risk to his professional career. Such eye-opening accounts provide a compendium of descriptions of humanitie’s confrontation with the beyond, experiences that purport to transcend the boundaries of human knowledge and understanding, and for that the book is at once fringe and essential.

Passport to the Cosmos is a must read for anyone interested in the alien abduction phenomenon, altered state contacts and interdimmensional encounters. Macks' approach to the subject is refreshing and dynamic. He approaches the material through the lens of personal transformation, instead of static data. In a world where we very quickly divide things into good or bad, this book reveals how embracing the unknown and tearing down ones long held belief systems (a sometimes painful process) can lead to transcendent awakenings and illuminate who we truly are as individuals and as humans.

Put aside your inner sceptic for a moment and explore the possibilities

The book presents an interesting, if difficult to accept, take on alien abduction phenomenon. Exploring it as more of a psychological rather than material matter

Well worth the read for those with an open mind

Thorough and compellingly authentic analysis and presentation of contactee testimony. An important book about a phenomenon whose absolute importance people foolishly deny. I love the spiritual lessons shared here. Read it!

Highly recommended for anyone interested in the alien phenomena and/or spirituality.

A book of impossible UFO anecdotes

Looking at the pompous title "Passport to the Cosmos", I expected it to be a comprehensive book regarding alien encounters. I expected there to be detailed narratives, theories and opinions of experts from all fields. So I was not prepared for what I found in the book: Long anecdotes of obscure people. And literally nothing else. You will find stories of alien encounters that include kidnappings, intrusive bodily scans all the way to alien sex and hybrid alien-human children. These people have their own theories of what is happening and why. Some have even spoken of the "hybrid project" and the alien plan to take over the world. These stories are very weird indeed and like the author says, very hard for the modern scientifically-minded humans to grasp. However, these abductees or "experiencers" are adamant that what they witnessed is real.

The author is well-known and I have no reason to doubt the veracity of his accounts. I believe he has reproduced truthfully what he has heard during his interviews with these people. As for the people themselves, I am not so sure. The author says that these people are ordinary and serious and have absolutely no reason to lie. Indeed they would actually be subjecting themselves to ridicule by going public with such stories. So I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that their experiences were real enough, but maybe the object of their hallucinations were not.

Here is my biggest gripe with this book. The author makes no attempt to form any rational, scientific theories of these phenomena. Instead he frequently makes trite observations like how western people are too materialistic and their mental block prevents them from seeing these things. Or how modern science cannot explain everything. And maybe we should maybe take a hint from Eastern philosophy and shamans. But then paradoxically he also says that these things are not to be taken literally and they do not occur in the physical plane. It's all very confusing.

Which begs the question what is actually happening? Unfortunately he keeps skirting around this point and he makes no effort to even offer a perfunctory hypothesis. There was no opinion or interviews with scientists. Not even a trace of modern scientific thinking exists in this work. This book is not for the skeptic. Instead we should all just take Mr Mack's words at face value: Aliens are real, goddamnit, whether in this plane or another.

I had not read an alien abduction book in quite a while, but this one was quite different from books like Secret Life by David M. Jacobs or Intruders, by Budd Hopkins. John E. Mack's book focused on the idea that there are unseen realms or different dimensions in which the abduction phenomenon is real in some sense of the word. The western scientific/materialistic world view, therefore, is ill equipped to provide an explanation for the strange accounts described by abduction experiencers. What does it all mean? Well, anything is possible in my view, and the world/galaxy/universe is certainly a strange place. What are we to make of reports of ghosts, near death experiences, crop circles, and other phenomena that challenge our hard science perspective? So, yeah, anything is possible.

That said, I did find a lot of the book sort of new-wavey and some accounts filled with rationalizations, for want of a better word. There was lots of talk of love between aliens/humans/alien-human hybrids. Also, much time was devoted to shamanism and native-American/indigenous peoples viewpoint that the beings we call aliens have been interacting with humans for thousands of years. Again, anything is possible. I'll say that this was an interesting read and offered a different perspective than other books on the abduction enigma.

This is a unique book. It was refreshing to read a discussion of UAPs written by someone who is capable of handling the topic with such maturity. Particularly after some of the recent sensationalism that's been going on in the media.

I wasn't surprised to learn that the author had experience with Buddhist practices, since something that is encouraged in many of them is training the skill of having equanimity with "don't know mind."
An aspect of what Mack calls "ontological shock" is the desperate attempt of the rational mind to place a radically novel experience within a familiar framework. To interpret it based on prior knowledge, rather than open up to the awe that might tear down the old framework.
It could be that the more we can resist taking a rigid position on these experiences, the more they have to offer. Or, as Mack puts it:
"...these experiences seem in the end to possess great transformative possibilities, whatever their ontological status may prove to be. Indeed, ontological distinctions themselves seem to pale in importance in the face of matters of such transcendent power."

The book does a great job of hinting at threads between UAP experiences and Jungian ideas about the emergence of the unconscious (see also Kastrup), as well as concordances with religious and shamanic interpretations of transcendent states.
Highly recommend!

I had some difficulties with this book, including with the writer's methodology and the conclusions that he drew from his investigations. In the introduction, he states that there isn't objectively verifiable evidence to prove the occurrence of the events described in the book. Yet, it appears he is drawing conclusions from the individuals' testimonials about the broader meaning of their experiences and the nature of reality. I think it would have been better to simply recount experiences, and let the reader draw his or her own conclusions about what those experiences might mean. Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be a way to bridge the gap between "subjective" experience and "objective" reality. I found it disconcerting when Mack states that he doesn't know to what extent the experiences occur in "physical reality" versus in the subjective experience of the experiencer, but then he states he doesn't think that matters so much. I disagree. I think it does matter a lot. What else is to distinguish a collective experience - which we name reality - with a subjective experience, which may be altogether different from what others experience?

The head of Harvard Medical School's psychiatry department for nearly 30 years does a long term study on people with UFO experiences and you don't want to at least hear him out? As soon as I came across the book I had to read it. Interesting, weird, thought provoking. I have no idea whether any of it is true or not but at least I have a greater understanding of the phenomenon. Easily the best thing I have read on the subject.

Aliens are spiritually helping abduction victims - really?

Well written. intelligent, but a ridiculous interpretation of alien abductions helping victims become environmentally and spiritually enlightened. This book attempts to make abductions, if real, as being beneficial instead of damaging.

A fascinating subject and Dr Mack does a great job of describing the extent of modern science on the topic while trying to find a scientific approach to describe epiphenomena. I wasn’t a huge fan of how the book was structured but I loved the content and Dr Mack’s insights.

I appreciated John E Mack’s non judgmental storytelling when talking with experiencers. I did think the books long the way becomes repetitive. A good read for those who are new to the alien phenomenon.

This book does break some ground, trying to focus on the spiritual/shamanic element of the abduction phenomena, but in doing so the author does try to embellish several disturbing elements of this phenomenon. There is a whole naive new-age tone to it. John Mack should know better.

Terribly repetitive and nothing I didn’t already know or have heard before, but I would still recommend it to anyone who is interested in starting to learn about ufology.

Definitely mind expanding material but written in a rather dry clinical style with little by way of flourishes.

If you have a driving interest in the abduction phenomenon, this one's for you.

John does a good job creating unconventional ways of thinking about alien encounters.

Professor Mack seemed to be a beautiful and compassionate soul. His experiences with abductees will have you believing in those who had the experiences and how profound they were to everyone.

This is a wild ride...

No common enemy will unite us, but the realization of a common Source might.

Not only a retelling of experiences as Abduction is, this one's going into detail about the ontological shock aspect & the transformative processes many abductees go through as a result of their experiences. Comes with a fuck-tonne of citations.

Includes a few chapters of Native American & South African mythology that overlaps with alien lore, based on interviews with spiritual leaders of the Choctaw Nation, the Uru-ê Wau-Wau/Ipixuma tribes, and the Zulu people, respectively.

Fascinating read. If you want to get into the "woo" of alien lore, read this.

Just miss Mack. What you don,t know can hurt you.