Linda Sigman’s Illustrations of her Experience
Illustration of red flying orb by Linda Sigman.
I wanted to do a post sharing these illustrations, because while you hear Linda show them to us on Episode 4 of our podcast, you can’t SEE them, and that seems a mite bit unfair to me.
The recording software we use, Squadcast, has a video component that is only there to facilitate ease of communication between hosts and guests. It helps the hosts, who are in three different houses during the pandemic, communicate non-verbally with each other, and if the internet connection lags with anyone, it gives us a visual cue to keep everyone from talking over the laggy person.
It also really helped out with the concept of a “Virtual Kitchen Table” when we talked with Linda and Michael. Seeing each other’s faces and gestures made it feel very like we were just sitting around chatting, and it seemed to put us all at ease. (We also got to say hello to their dog and cat, which is always a plus for me!)
The video isn’t recorded; only the audio is, so that also gives it the ephemeral quality that a face to face meeting would.
Illustration of the dark flying creature Linda witnessed on the night she saw the UFO and orbs. The UFO is on the left with the red lights on the bottom. Art by Linda Sigman.
The other reason I wanted to make sure that our listeners could see these illustrations is because of what Greg Bishop said in his presentation at the Strange Realities Virtual Conference this September.
He said that he thought it would do more good to give art materials to UFO witnesses and leave them alone for a while to see what they could express visually -before- talking with them and asking a lot of questions, many of which may not really be relevant to the crux of the UFO phenomenon.
I happen to agree with him. I’m an artist and have done a lot of therapy work with art journalling that has lead to a deeper understanding of myself and my life.
What I found in that art therapy journey, was that sometimes words couldn’t reach the intense feelings produced by an event that lay dormant in my memory, but lines, symbols, textures and especially colors could bring meaning to those memories. After the images came, -then- the words followed, and integration of the experience was much more complete.
An image of the creature seen close up by Linda after undergoing hypnotic regression. Illustration by Linda Sigman
I think that Linda’s sketches helped her solidify the images she experienced in her mind and I think they help those who hear her stories understand what she went through on a more visceral level. You can hear by the sound of her voice in the podcast the emotional impact of these experiences. With her art, the colors tell other aspects of her story, adding to the clarity of her remembrances.
I like the idea of sending an art therapist along with a UFO investigation team to hand out art supplies and then step back, and let the witness process and pour out what they saw onto paper. Then after the art is created, let the art therapist ask questions along with the investigators, to see what other information can be gleaned with a different investigative approach.
