UFOs In the Sture Johansson Channeling

When Meade Layne met deep trance medium Mark Probert in the Autumn of 1946 he could hardly envision that this relationship would profoundly influence his newly founded, informal group, Borderland Sciences Research Associates (BSRA). The channeled information coming through Mark Probert was of an unusual, unique intellectual and philosophical quality when compared with what is usually produced at seances. Several years of discussion with the members of the so called Inner Circle finally resulted in Meade Layne presenting the 4-D or Etheric Theory of ”flying saucers” or Aeroforms as they were then called.

Mark Probert

In the Autumn of 1973 I was invited to participate in a meditation group formed by my friends and UFO close encounter witnesses Sture and Turid Johansson, then living at Lidingö, Stockholm. The group consisted mainly of members of the Stockholm UFO-Center. We met every Friday night for several years and became a very tightly knit group and close friends. On November 19, 1976 our meditation session was interrupted by Sture who suddenly began to shake, gasp, rise from his chair and a completely foreign voice said: ”I greet you. Do not be afraid. It is not as dangerous as it looks. What you call the instrument does not suffer from this… But the instrument is still afraid so please tell him that he represents no hazard to you. I am very glad to be here.” Then followed a short explanation of how trance channeling worked and assurance that the man speaking through Sture would be back again many times.

Sture and Turid Johansson during a trance session

In 1976 and 1977 I participated in many deep trance sessions with Sture och his wife Turid. I taped them all as my hope was that, like Meade Layne and Mark Probert, this could prove to be a serious source of information about UFOs and esotericism, affording help in my research. The first individual channeled by Sture called himself Simeno, whom Sture had encountered during an out-of-body experience, that affected him so deeply that he wrote a book about what happened, Resan till ljuset, 1974, (Travel To the Light). Simeno was later replaced by Ambres, who claimed that his latest incarnation was as an Egyptian merchant, Rameno Charafez, living around 1,000 years B.C. He was a member of secret society, The Tarsus Order.

The teachings of Ambres became very popular and soon a group formed around the couple. In the 1980s Sture och Turid moved to the north of Värmland, building a center attracting many followers who came from all over the world to listen to the Ambres teachings. Sture became very famous in the 1980s when celebreties like Shirley MacLaine and Dennis Weaver visited the center in Sweden. Sture and Turid travelled around the world and I have letters and postcards posted from California, Hawaii and Mexico. Sture also figures in the miniseries Out On a Limb from 1987, based on the bestselling book by Shirley Maclaine.

Following are transcriptions with my comments from some of the first private seances in 1976-1977.

Seance, December 17, 1976
”Håkan: I am very interested in what is called flying saucers.
Sture (Simeno): I know that.
Håkan: And I am doing some research trying to find out the deeper answers. How do you view this issue from your side?
Sture (Simeno): We are not unfamiliar with the existence of these beings. Believe me, as well as there are what you call saucers existing on the material, earthly level, we are also aware of them at our level, and not only in a positive way… what you call saucers and look upon as a phenomenon is a reality. They exist, be sure of that, and can exist also in a non-material state… I have also heard the expression that these so-called saucers have their origin on other planets in your solar system. There is a possibility, yes. But then hardly visible to the human eye.”

Sture and Turid Johansson had a wide experience of UFO close encounters and paranormal phenomena, which I have related in several blog entries. The basic ideas presented by Simeno are in accordance with the views shared by Sture och Turid.

”Håkan: Are there any secret spiritual brotherhoods utilizing saucers in their acitivities?
Sture (Simeno): At present, no. At the physical, material level now today – No. But as I said earlier, they existed in ancient times.”

This is classic Theosophical teaching, that anti-gravity aircraft, Vimanas, were used by the planetary guardians in Atlantis.

”Håkan: I am thinking about the negative entities that my friends Sture and Turid encountered. What are they, where do they come from?
Turid: The ones at Väggarö.
Sture (Simenon): Yes, the negative forces appear in many shapes. They are created by humans themselves and have a certain intelligent life. As long as they are nurtured they live… A sort of vampires, you could say.
Turid: Thought energies with no soul maybe – from us?
Sture (Simeno): Yes, and they can also appear in physical shape. We know of these thought creations.”

Illustration of the Väggarö encounter 1965

What happened at the frightful encounter at Väggarö on October 29, 1965 was further explained during a seance January 29, 1977.

”Håkan: May I ask, was it a magician that created the thought forms Sture and Turid observed at Väggarö?
Sture (Simeno): I am aware of this, yes.
Håkan: Were these entities created or did they simply exist at this place?
Sture (Simeno): Are you defining a magician as someone evil?
Håkan: No, not necessary. But was there a magician behind this event, someone who had sent them?
Sture (Simeno): Yes.
Turid: We were very frightened and then you often have a black-out, paralyzed. Did we leave the car?
Sture (Simeno): No.
Turid: Yes, that was an assurance to hear.”

The idea that possibly a magician could have created the entities encountered by Sture and Turid was a theory I had proposed during our many discussions of the event. As the couple lost time during this close encounter Turid was afraid that they may have been abducted, hence her last question.

It was Sture and Turid who first told me of their involvement in the controversial Richard Höglund contact case, which I later spent many years investigating. During a seance on April 3, 1977 I asked about this case.
”Håkan: Who are the individuals behind Richard? Do they belong to this earth or come from some other planet?
Sture (Simeno): Well, they belong outside this planet. But I have told you before, do not acquaint yourselves with this. There is nothing good in it… Look upon this as some type of foreign bacteria. It should not be there.”

This is essentially the view we all in the meditation group shared regarding the Richard Höglund contacts and it was also the opinion of Sture and Turid. Another issue often discussed in the group was the nature and manifestations of devas and nature spirits. Turid Johansson was clairvoyant and often told of her observations of ”the little people”. One evening during the Summer of 1976 the group made a visit to a spot where Turid claimed she had witnessed nature spirits. While walking in the woods Turid pointed to a place where she said a deva was visible. To me it looked like a luminous dress hanging a bit above ground.

Turid Johansson 1974

During a seance on January 29, 1977 I asked about devas and UFOs.

”Håkan: Am I right when I suggest that some of the phenomena we call UFOs are actually  higher types of devas?
Sture (Simeno): Yes, and I have also stated that the higher deva parallell evolution, as guardians of the planet, can manifest as saucers.

During the seven or eight seances in 1976-1977 I participated there was no really new or unknown facts regarding UFOs or paranormal phenomena presented by Simeno. It was essentially a summary of the views discussed in the meditation group, although expressed in a somewhat novel form. I do not state this fact to belittle the Sture Johansson channelings. The teachings of Simeno and Ambres are in many respects inspiring and beautiful, a combination of Theosophy, spiritualism and Advaita mysticism. There is no fanaticism, life-negating ascetiscism or political extremism in the messages.

Book with Ambres teachings, published 1985

Mainstream materialist, reductionist psychology usually regard the channeling phenomenon as the effect of a subconsciously created personality. This may be the answer in some cases. The esoteric explanation is somewhat different. Here the view of Swedish esotericist Henry T. Laurency:

”What most characterizes spiritualists is that they permit themselves to be guided by beings in the emotional world, highly developed “spirits in the spiritual world”. The only comment necessary here is that even the most highly developed beings in the emotional world lack a true knowledge of reality and life. That knowledge cannot be acquired in the worlds of man… Spiritualists think that the medium is protected by so-called controls, who see to it that no unworthy beings use the physical envelopes of the medium. However, these “controls” have never reached beyond the emotional stage, the stage of the mystic, and they lack the requisite esoteric knowledge. They have no other knowledge of reality than the one they acquired once when in physical incarnation, and the one they receive through “pupils” who have studied esoterics. Usually, these “controls” are old Indian yogis who are detained in the emotional world through the philosophical systems they have accepted.” (Henry T. Laurency, Knowledge of Life Three, chapter on Spiritualism).

In spite of the critical comments by Laurency it is interesting to note that according to The Esoteric Tradition the Spiritualist movement in the 19th century was in fact inaugurated by a secret lodge of esotericists affiliated with the planetary guardians. The object was to combat the materialist worldview by creating ”unexplained” phenomena. That a secret lodge of esotericists could have been behind the Inner Circle of medium Mark Probert is a theory I have advanced, as the messages were of a definitely unusual quality. My hope that I would receive new information on UFOs and paranormal phenomena through the channeling of Sture Johansson was unfortunately not realized.

Even though the information from Simeno was not what I had hoped for regarding UFOs he did give two predictions that proved very accurate. One regarding two events in my future life that really happened many years later and one to my mother, Gun Blomqvist, during a seance in January 1977. My father, Maths Blomqvist, at that time worked as a plumber combined with singer and guitarist in a small dance-band. But he had also become interested in natural therapy. During the seance Simeno gave the advice that my father should develop his abilities as a healer as he had great gifts in this direction. This soon became reality and from the beginning of the 1980s my father worked as a natural therapist and healer. He still today, at age 86, continue this work.

Turid, Sture, me and my mother Gun Blomqvist, January 1977

I refrain from speculating on the identity of Simeno and Ambres. Sture and Turid claimed to have met Simeno during their out-of-body experience together. Whatever the truth in this matter I am deeply grateful for the unique experiences shared with Sture and Turid Johansson and for the varm friendship and good times together.