by Sean Esbjörn-Hargens PhD

I have always been fascinated by reports of people having encounters with non-human intelligences be they extraterrestrial, nature spirits, bigfoot, ghosts, DMI entities, etc. One of the fascinating aspects of the UFO experiencer literature is that it contains basically all the above and more. In other words, we don’t just find “aliens” in the UFO contactee/abductee/experiencer reports we find a whole range of creatures and beings. However, I’ve yet to come across a useful taxonomical system for making sense of this wide variety. For at least six months I’ve been trying to figure out a better way to approach this controversial issue. This has led me to create a table (see below) and develop a new taxonomical approach to NHIs.

Below is an excerpt from the article I’m working on currently entitled “A Metaview of the Ontological Status of Non-Human Intelligences (NHIs): An Exo Studies Exploration of the Mutual Enactment Hypothesis” The below content also appears on the What’s Up with UFOs site under the article: “ET’s are not all “grays” with their big black eyes. Nor are they all the monsters battled by Sigourney Weaver. Contact reports indicate dozens of types of non-human intelligence.”

33 Types of Non-Human Intelligences (NHIs)

Literally, tens of thousands of encounters with various types of non-human intelligences (NHIs) have been documented over the last 2000 years. Volumes and volumes of books are filled with these reports. Thus, it appears that humans have always been interacting with these mysterious beings and they seem to come in all shapes and sizes. Some are associated with folk lore (e.g., gnomes, fairies, and strange creatures), others with religious contexts (e.g., angels and demons), and some with UFOs.

In order to get an accurate sense of how many types of NHIs are encountered by humans in a UFO context, I identified twelve primary sources that aimed to provide an overview of NHIs or that contained numerous examples of various types of encounters. Sources arrived at their lists either through research and analysis of the UFO literature, channeling NHIs, or talking directly with experiencers. Some sources were systematic in their efforts while others were more idiosyncratic. A few sources dated back to the mid 1990s the rest have occurred since 2012 and as such are quite recent.

The various authors and artists used for creating the table below often devised their own systems of categorizing or organizing non-human intelligences (NHIs). Thus, they almost all use different labels or distinctions from each other – though there was a lot of overlap among the more commonly reported NHIs (i.e., the top 5-8 types listed in the table) with more divergence in labels occurring among the less reported types.

I’ve done my best to create a general framework that can accommodate both the sources I have used here as well as additional sources not represented in the table. Some of the categories from the twelve sources used here overlapped with mine whereas others required that I translate their system into a more general set of distinctions. However, even these overlap a bit and sometimes a description of a NHI could be placed into more than one category.

The goal of this table is to help illustrate the variety and distribution of NHIs found in the UFO literature from various sources (channeled, direct encounters and first-person testimony, and research). Though I can imagine that this table or a slightly revised version could be useful for researching and understanding encounters with NHIs in other non-UFO contexts (e.g., folklore, psychedelics, cryptozoology, OBEs).

After the table an annotated bibliography of the twelve sources used is provided for those who want to explore in more details the primary sources used for this analysis.

SOURCE: This table is the result of a meta-analysis of 12 different sources of NHI descriptions and encounters (see list and commentary below). We will continue to update this table as needed.

Annotated Bibliography for Table Sources

1. Hernandez, R., Klimo, J., & Schild, R. (2018) Beyond UFOs: The Science of Consciousness and Contact with Non Human Intelligence. FREE Inc.

• A five-year (2012 – 2017) quantitative and qualitative study with over 3256 individuals from more than 100 countries who had single or multiple encounters with non-human intelligences. The descriptions of NHIs feel into ten distinct types. One of those types was the catch all category of “Other”. In the context of NHI encounters that took place within a UFO/UAP 30% of all NHIs fell into the category of “other.” This was the fourth largest category out of the 10. Similarly, in the context of NHI encounters that took place not in a “craft” but in a “matrix-like reality” 39.4% of all NHIs feel into the category of “other.” This was the second largest category out of the 10. Within this category of “other” there around 1350 responses representing “hundreds of types” of NHI that didn’t easily fit into the other 9 categories. (Rey Hernandez personal communication March 2nd, 2020). This underscores the wide variety of NHIs encountered and highlights that while there are around 8-10 common types of NHIs encountered by people there still is a lot of diversity in what these NHIs look like (i.e., their phenotype).

2. Salla, M. (2013). Galactic Diplomacy: Getting to Yes with ET. Kealakekua, HI: Exopolitics Institute.

• Michael Salla presents 19 “extraterrestrial races” (12 positive and 7 negative types) from various planets and star systems presented in two tables summarizing their main activities and the positive or negative global impact they have. This overview appears to be based on Salla’s analysis of first-person testimony and the UFO literature in general. He focuses more on where these NHIs are from and their benevolent or malevolent orientation toward Earth humans than their phenotype.

3. Nidle, S. (2005). Your Galactic Neighbors. Pukalani, HI: Blue Lodge Press.

• A life-long experiencer, Sheldan Nidle was approached during a meditation in the early 2000s by a council of 22 beings representing their respective civilizations from “across the galaxy.” Their goal was to work with him “to help the peoples of Earth overcome their strong aversion to the appearance of many of this galaxy’s highly intelligent inhabitants.” (p. xxi) Nevertheless, these 22 “star-nations” allegedly represent only “a very narrow segment of the extraordinary array of cultures and species found throughout [the Milky Way Galaxy].” (p. xxi) Nidle explains that “Many species, however, are not represented in this initial sample. They were omitted for a reason: their physical appearance is less than pleasing to limited conscious humans…” (p. xxii). Thus, these 22 types of beings are predominately “galactic humans” or humanoid in appearance. Nidle’s chapters present an overview of each star-nation, it’s location and ecology, social organization and cultural dynamics, their physical appearance and language use, and a description of their ships.

4. Huyghe P. (1996) The Field Guide to Extraterrestrials: A Complete Overview of Alien Lifeforms – Based on Actual Accounts and Sightings. New York, NY: Avon Books.

• This was the first book of its kind providing a typological system based on the phenotype of NHIs encountered by people. Thus, each entry is based on an actual close encounter that was documented with enough detail about the phenotype of the being(s) to support the creation of an accurate drawing. Huyghe has been deliberate in his selection of cases so as to provide readers with a representative overview of the kinds of NHIs encountered. His classification system identifies 4 classes (humanoid, animalian, robotic, and exotic) with 14 types spread across those 4 classes. In total, he showcases 49 different NHIs.

5. Webre, A. L. (2014). The Dimensional Ecology of the Omniverse. Universe Books.

• Alfred Lambremont Webre presentation of NHIs draws heavily on the research of South African Manuel Lamiroy who has more than anyone mapped out the “exophenotypology” of NHIs. (see: https://www.exopaedia.org/Exophenotypology and http://www.exopoliticssouthafrica.org/phenotypes.htm) Below is a schematic of the 9 class exophenotypology that Lamiroy has developed to date. He is still in the process of incorporating dozens of new phenotypes into his system as the result of gaining access to a database of over 17,000 contact cases, which is most likely Albert Rosales database. Webre also includes and discusses at length three Martian humanoid exophenotypes.

6. Redfern, N. (2019). The Alien Book: A Guide to Extraterrestrial Beings on Earth. Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press.

• Nick Redfern provides an encyclopedic overview of 44 different NHIs many of which are more commonly associated with being cryptids or creatures of legends than with “aliens.” Nevertheless, he points out that “Aliens come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Some are friendly. Others are anything but friendly. They all have one thing in common: the human race has encountered them.” (p. xix). Redfern’s compendium serves to expand the categories beyond the stereotypical humanoid types of NHIs most commonly associated with “extraterrestrials.”

7. Howe, L. M. (1994). Glimpses of Other Realities: Volume 1: Facts and Eyewitnesses. Albuquerque, NM: LMH Productions.

• In Chapters 3 and 4 Linda Moulton Howe provides a variety of eyewitness reports and drawings by experiencers. She provides “different alien descriptions” of 10 types of beings each with numerous illustrations. Howe is an Emmy award winning investigative journalist who graduated from Stanford University with a MA in Communications. She is considered by many to be one of the most established and well-respected UFO investigators in the field of UFO studies.

8. Mendonca, M. & Lamb, B. (2015). Meet the Hybrids: The Lives and Missions of ET Ambassadors on Earth. Scotts Valley, CA: Amazon CreateSpace; Mendonca, M. (2017). Being with the Beings: The How and the Why of ET Contact. Scotts Valley, CA: Amazon CreateSpace.

• These two books are quite unique in that they feature 13 human individuals who self-identify as an ET hybrid and/or who have had long term ongoing contact with an impressive variety of NHIs. Their descriptions of various types of beings, their encounters with them, and the nature of their worlds/planets is quite detailed and compelling. All of the hybrids interviewed claim to have multiple types of ET DNA. Descriptions of the NHIs though out these two books often include where they come from, their phenotype, and their specific group names.

9. Clarke, A. S. (2012). Encounters with Star People: Untold Stories of American Indians. San Antonio, TX: Anomalist Books; Clarke, A. S. (2015). Sky People: Untold Stories of Alien Encounters in Mesoamerica. Pompton Plains, NJ: The Career Press, Inc; Clarke, A. S. (2016). More Encounters with Star People: Urban American Indians Tell Their Stories. San Antonio, TX: Anomalist Books; & Clarke, A. S. (2019). Space Age Indians: Their Encounters with the Blue Men, Reptilians, and Other Star People. San Antonio, TX: Anomalist Books.

• Since the 1980s Ardy Sixkiller Clarke an ethnographic researcher and Professor Emeritus from Montana State University has collected over 4000 NHI encounter stories from American Indians and other indigenous people globally. She has published 157 of those accounts over 4 books totally 1100 pages of material. Her body of work represents one of the most unique and important collections of experiencer accounts – especially since they all were recalled consciously without the aid of hypnosis. Also, her work helps show that these encounters are occurring within populations often not associated with the abduction phenomena or experiencer literature. Many of the encounters she documents appear to validate the many indigenous traditions globally, which speak about the “Star Beings” as their ancestors.

10. Vashta Narada’s Galactic Art (www.vashta.com) https://www.vashta.com/my-product_category/commisions/ Accessed March 6, 2020

• Vashta Narada is a long-term experiencer and intuitive artist that uses a 3D graphic programs to “paint” pictures of “galactics.” She began doing this work around 2013 and to date she has done 148 portraits. Most of these are done on commission for people who want her to depict a NHI that they are in contact with. Vashta typically connects with these beings and then does their portrait based on her own encounter. She notes however, that sometimes these beings do give her directions and guidance around how best to depict them. She is clear that her artwork should not be taken as a literal “photograph” of these beings but rather capture the energetic quality or signature of each NHI. These portraits can be seen on her website or on her Facebook page. Her work is quite notable in that it uniquely provides a much more realistic depiction of what these NHIs look like and as such avoids the sometimes cartoonish style that can be associated with drawings done by experiencers who generally don’t have an artistic background. As a result, looking at her gallery can give people a better sense of the kinds of NHIs that are being encountered by people all around the world.

11. Boylan, R. (2012). The Human – Star Nations Connection: Key to History, Current Secrets, and our Near Future. Boylan LLC.

• Dr. Richard Boylan has been researching human encounters with NHIs since 1989 and during the 90s was considered one of the prominent abductee researchers. He claims there are nearly 1500 “Star Nations Species who are currently operating within Earth’s energy zone…”. In this book he focuses on those with whom humans have had the most frequent interactions. In total he discusses 23 different “races.” Though he notes there are at least 12 different races of Zetas or Greys.

12. McDaniel, D. E. (2017). The Illustrated Guide to Reported Alien Species. Scotts Valley, CA: Amazon CreateSpace.

• David Erik McDaniel inspired by the dearth of good visuals aids that accompany encounter stories decided to create illustrations of 32 types of extraterrestrials selected from various reports, sightings, and the UFO literature in general. He has aimed to depict each NHI accurately based on the reports and has only used a creative license to fill in details that were missing. His work does a great job of providing an illustration for 16 of the 25 humanoid NHIs listed in the table above.