Trigger Warning: This program includes discussion of personal violence and may be difficult or distressing for some viewers and readers.
Zakiya Lathan, News Editor, Digital and Audio
Whitley Strieber says a recent communication attributed to the visitors challenged him to reconsider decades of fear and pain surrounding his contact experiences. His response was strikingly vulnerable: an offer of mercy, a request for mercy in return, and an invitation to seek reconciliation rather than conflict
Whitley Strieber has made public what he describes as a recent communication from the beings he has long called “the Visitors,” offering an unusually vulnerable response to a message that was at times accusatory and deeply personal. Rather than answering anger with anger, however, Strieber ultimately arrived at a different response: mercy.
Strieber said the communication reached him through a person he describes as possessing strong telepathic abilities. He believes the message is authentic, while acknowledging the inherent uncertainty of any purported telepathic transmission. Its claimed non-human origin cannot be independently verified.
The distinction matters because Strieber himself emphasized uncertainty about precisely what the visitors are. Although they are often described as aliens or non-human intelligence, he said humanity does not actually know their nature.
The communication challenged Strieber’s interpretation of some of the most painful events he has associated with contact, including experiences he has described publicly for decades. Strieber disagreed with portions of the message and maintained that some actions taken against him were wrong. But he also did something more difficult: He examined his own fear, anger and failures rather than assigning responsibility entirely to the other side.
“Don’t give up on me and don’t give up on us,” Strieber said. “We want to make the relationship work.”
That willingness to remain in dialogue became the heart of his response.
Subscriber Video Room Chat:
A Discussion of Whitley’s August 30th Statement about Friction with the Visitors
Session date:On September 4, Whitley will be in the subscriber video room to discuss the video he posted about a violent communication from some element of the Visitors that is angry with him. Please watch or listen prior to the discussion.
Watch Whitley Strieber’s complete statement on YouTube →
Strieber described a longstanding emotional wound connected to his experiences and his inability to reconcile with a young man he believes resulted from the Visitors’ use of his genetic material — another extraordinary claim that remains unverified. Reflecting on the pain surrounding that relationship, Strieber arrived at a simple formulation: “I offer them mercy, and I ask for mercy in return.”
He connected that idea to his Christian understanding of forgiveness. Strieber cited the Gospel of Thomas’ teaching to love another as one’s own soul and the early Christian text known as the Didache, which instructs believers to pray the Lord’s Prayer three times daily. Those textual references are independently supported by surviving translations of both works.
But Strieber was careful to distinguish forgiveness from denial.
“The past cannot be edited and must not be suppressed, but it can be left behind,” he said. Forgiveness, in his formulation, means acknowledging a wrong while nevertheless attempting to “go down the road together as best we can.”
That distinction may be the most consequential element of his message. Strieber is not asking experiencers to erase trauma, abandon discernment or declare every encounter benevolent. He is asking whether contact can mature beyond a cycle of fear, injury and retaliation.
His answer is reconciliation — not as sentiment, but as a practical requirement for communication.
Strieber has repeatedly described his larger goal as helping humanity become what he calls a “cosmic species.” In this latest statement, he argues that such a future cannot be achieved through hostility alone. Humanity and whatever intelligence may be interacting with it would have to learn to communicate across profound differences and, eventually, collaborate.
The communication itself was angry. Strieber nevertheless saw hope in the fact that it came at all.
“If they don’t think it can be better, why bother to complain?” he asked.
For Strieber, the answer points toward the possibility that the relationship remains unfinished — and therefore capable of change. He closed by returning to a teaching he attributes to his late wife, Anne: “Enlightenment is what happens when there is nothing left of us but love.”
His invitation extends to both sides: “Let’s get on that path.”
Subscribe to Unknown Country today. Keep the truth coming! Click here to learn more.
16 Responses
In regards to forgiveness, I’m not sure that is the right word. Other non-human beings, including animals on this planet, do things that we define as ‘wrong’. But their’s is a different consciousness, and maybe it’s not fair if forgiveness is thrown into the mix. A dog, for instance, your beloved pet, just accepts you, warts and all. If you harm the dog, over and over, it becomes wary, and may no longer accept you, possibly lashing back in self defense. Forgiveness seems to be a human quality and a human need, but acceptance may be more universal.
By ‘forgiving’ beings, we imply a ‘wrongness’ as to who or what they are. That’s not our job to do. They may not see what they are doing as ‘wrong’, by their standards. So, maybe acceptance of other beings is more important than forgiveness, and it keeps judgment out if it. I realize that others may not agree with anything I’ve just said, but I feel it is important. With acceptance, there is no need for mercy.
I’m not a religious person, but this has always resonated with me:
Matthew 7:1 states, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”
I look forward to the talk on Saturday, and others points of view.
To add more about us and this planet regarding forgiveness:
As humans, we often do things to other beings on this planet that are meant to help them, and in some cases, save them. We tranquilize a Big Horn sheep, knowing that their environment is no longer optimum for them. After we tranquilize them, we examine and measure them, and take samples to ensure their health. We then secure a harness on them, lift them, dangling from a helicopter, and take them to a new location. We examine them one more time, and make sure that the drugs have worn off and see them run free in the new location. We don’t expect ‘forgiveness’ from them for what we have just done. All we expect is that they continue to thrive…and not go extinct.
Dear Whitley, after seeming a bit rattled in the beginning (and who wouldn’t be?), you proceeded to respond with the characteristic calm, balance, nuance, humility, deep insights, multidimensional perspectives, and determined optimism that has kept me a subscriber for decades.
While listening to the Visitor’s angry diatribe, a thought crossed my mind that is so strange I have to share it. The resentful overtones gave me the feeling your possible hybrid son may have had at least some involvement in that communication.
Your own reflections over the years and a recent JeffMara Podcast interview titled “An Alien Abductee Shared The GREYS Message For Humanity” may shed light on how The Visitors could be so clueless about dumping your hybrid son off on the property in NY with zero preparation for anyone involved.
Whitley’s hybrid son…I have a personal connection that I won’t go into, but suffice to say these beings are clueless about the son. They aren’t stupid, however. They do not perceive and express the wide range of emotions that we (humans) do…no other beings on this planet do either. Believe it or not, elephants may be closer to us than the apes are in this regard, and without the attitudes. We humans have problems with each other. Throw in cultures and norms, disagreements and wars, even within a nation like the USA, and it’s no wonder that beings from ‘somewhere else’ are such a mystery to us. Likewise, we are mysteries to them.
This sounds to me like an important point. If this message in whole or in part comes from the son, the tone would make far more sense.
I want to post a few things that feel important to me after watching, “Whitley Strieber Responds to a Difficult Communication With a Call for Mercy.”
1…In my darkest times, prayer and friends have always been sustaining/constant.
2…My prayers, “Father, please have MERCY for your children living on this planet and please have MERCY for planet EARTH. Humankind is suffering and so is our planet.” We are living on a planet out of balance, is it all caused by human ignorance, I do not know?
3…Will we receive divine help? Are there individuals ready to step in, in the pending time of crisis??
4…Will humankind reach enlightenment before it is too late? No boundaries to separate us?
5… “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” — Proverbs 13:20
💖Thank you
The thing that struck me about the message purportedly conveyed from the Visitors is that its tone is every bit as whiny and sour as they accuse of Whitley of being. Whoever or whatever they are, they do not seem to occupy a high moral or spiritual plane. Is there any reason to necessarily give credence to anything they say?
I had a similar reaction. The message, whomever it’s from, sounded childish and vindictive. A bit like an angry child’s tantrum.
I’m wondering how much of the emotional tone is the original message (assuming it is valid and genuine), and how much is a matter of filtering through the mind of the human who received it. Because no matter how skilled a telepath or medium is, there is filtering.
I am very moved by this encounter/dialogue Whitley is having with this communication. Pain clearly on both sides. I am currently reading “The Super Natural” by Whitley & Professor Kripal & find it a useful teaching aid as I think about what the message given to Whitley was & how he is opening himself to respond. I have lots of thoughts. I am looking forward to more consideration on the video meeting tomorrow.
I missed the talk on Friday, thinking it was today. I really wanted to hear others questions about this…Something is off, and I can’t quite figure out what it is. I hope Friday’s talk was recorded.
Yes. Something does seem off.
I want to double up on that. I had to work on Friday and was very disappointed that I could not join this discussion. Please post a recording for subscribers. I hope future video meetings will go back to Saturdays for those of us working folk.
I would sure love to see a recording of that discussion if it exists. This is a subject of vital interest.
Whitley, I’ve been mulling over this disturbing message ever since you posted it. I wish I could have been at the subscriber meeting, and am wondering what the community came up with. I’ve had no known contact with the Visitors myself, so my impressions may not mean much, but I hope they may be of some value to you and others.
I’m looking at this empathically, the way I often do with my own patients. You of course are not my patient, and if I’m overstepping, please feel free to slap me down. My first thought was “I call BS.” But then, your acceptance of the message as being like what you know of Them, and your profound message in return, quickly convinced me that there was something real going on.
Still, I have to wonder, why didn’t they just tell YOU??? Why give a message for you to another person? Even if you are lacking in telepathic ability, they’ve known you for so long, surely there must be a way to get through to you?
You said that the message is as reliable as telepathy can be— this is crucial. A channeled message is always colored by the mind of the receiver, no matter how skilled that person is or how diligently they try to stay objective. In this case, my sense is that there is a bump or glitch in the line from Them to that person, which caused some interference. Not just because I would like that to be the case, but because it’s what I genuinely perceive.
I wonder, too, if the message is supposed to represent ALL of the Visitors? Their group mind perhaps? Or just one, or one faction, of them? Is it supposed to be from the Woman whose picture is on your wall? And what about Visitors who may be in opposition or have darker motives? Do we know it didn’t come from them? It sounds like you’re sure this sounds like the Grays— is that correct?
As at least one other subscriber pointed out, the message sounds surprisingly human. There seem to be very human emotions and reactions at play. I wouldn’t have expected that, but maybe I should have. We humans think and feel so many things at once, that are often at cross-purposes with each other. My sense is that similarly tangled thoughts and feelings are behind this message.
I thought about the Woman and wondered what she might have in mind, if the message represented Her. It seemed like this to me— expressed as well as I can put into words:
She: anger, but because she loves you and expects a lot from you or expects you to be on her side or aligned with her.
You: great fear, but love, and wonder, and a desire to connect.
So many conflicting, swirling emotions from both of you.
They want communion, that perfect word that I think you said Anne came up with, and they fear they may not be able to achieve it. There is a wistfulness in the way they look at you, at least the way She looks at you.
I’ve been surprised how many people I know have told me lately that they believe They are us, in a different form. This keeps coming up on Dreamland and all over the place. I have come to have a strong feeling that it’s true, even though I don’t really understand what that means. (And I feel a strange longing to be united with Them, which I suspect They feel as well.) So this is a kind of family fight.
Speaking of family— regarding your son, they expected you to do things no human could be expected to manage, and with no help or guidance. And they apparently dropped him off and expected him to just manage in the human world somehow. I don’t know what to make of him or what you could have done differently under the circumstances. This must be immensely painful for you. (Spiritwolf’s conjecture that the message came from your son is intriguing.)
The part where They were said to be upset because you are saying bad things about them, possibly bringing attacks upon them, seems genuine, and the aspect that most rings true about this message. The anger comes from fear; you are accurately assessing that, I’m sure.
You have handled this as well as anyone could have, with great compassion and clarity. I hope there will be more clarity to come about the significance of this message in the flow of your relationship with Them, and Her, over the years. I wonder what Anne may have to say about all this.