His Name Is Elijah. One mother’s account, the documentation behind it, and the haunting question that remains… how is this possible? Interview.
Maria Cuccia is the author of His Name Is Elijah, a memoir that explores a lifetime of extraordinary experiences that challenge conventional understanding of reality. Central to her story is a life-altering encounter in the early 1990s involving a child identified by non-human beings, as her son, Elijah, and a message that would shape the course of her life.
Maria’s experience is grounded by meticulous journaling, preserved dates, and medical documentation confirming her pregnancies, details recorded long before she ever spoke publicly.
It was a rocky road. At one extreme moment of vulnerability, doubting her sanity and desperate for insight, she received unexpected validation in the form of the two-part television miniseries Intruders. The show mirrored details of her own experience. Following that thread, she connected with researcher Budd Hopkins, and later received additional support from hypnotherapist Barbara Lamb. While neither could offer definitive answers about her experience, they confirmed she was not alone.
On a positive note, she senses an ongoing musical and meditative connection with Elijah. I included a sample from one of her performance meditations, Maris, in our interview linked at the top of the page. Website: https://mariacuccia.com/
Counter balance – The Threat
Not all researchers interpret the hybrid accounts through a hopeful or spiritual lens. Historian and former Temple University professor David Jacobs has argued for a far more troubling explanation. In his book The Threat, Jacobs draws on more than 700 hypnotic-regression interviews and large-scale survey data to propose that reported abductions are part of a long-term hybridization program aimed at planetary integration, or acquisition.
His work challenges the view that these encounters are benevolent, suggesting instead a covert agenda in which human–hybrid beings are trained to function within society. Notably, Jacobs has never claimed personal contact or sightings; his conclusions emerged reluctantly from patterns he says he encountered repeatedly in others’ accounts. While controversial and widely debated, his perspective underscores how radically interpretations of the same reported experiences can diverge, and how unresolved the mystery remains. Link.
Now retired, David Jacobs has largely stepped away from the field. “I don’t watch a lot of stuff about UFOs on television,” he has said. “I try to avoid that now. I need to lead a happy life.”
The Uplift – and the Photograph
For a more hopeful interpretation, read UFO of God by Chris Bledsoe, which frames non-human encounters as catalysts for spiritual awakening and moral growth. Bledsoe’s experiences emphasize healing, humility, and a renewed sense of responsibility toward one another and the planet. In this view, contact is less about control and more about consciousness, an invitation to expand awareness rather than fear the unknown.
Returning to the work of Jacques Vallée, whose nearly six decades of investigation and writing continue to shape serious inquiry into UAP, one sobering point remains consistent: whatever intelligence is involved, it appears to retain the upper hand. Vallée has long cautioned against assuming we understand intent, structure, or agenda, suggesting instead that the phenomenon operates as a complex system interacting with human perception, culture, and belief.
That imbalance was echoed in a recent interview on Breaking the Silence with host Steve Neill, where experiencer Michael Pagel discussed a photograph he captured of an apparent non-human figure—an image featured in this follow-up episode.
Whether viewed as evidence, symbol, or provocation, such moments reinforce Vallée’s central warning: certainty may be the least reliable response to a phenomenon that consistently stays one step ahead of human interpretation.
Elusive
Seen through the lens of Jacques Vallée’s long-standing framework, Maria Cuccia’s story becomes more about encountering an intelligence that operates beyond human leverage or comprehension. Vallée has repeatedly warned that the phenomenon does not yield its motives to us—and that assumption itself may be part of the interaction.
Maria’s experience reflects this imbalance precisely: an encounter rich in meaning and consequence, yet resistant to resolution. She was shown something profoundly personal, given no control over its terms, and left to integrate its impact across a lifetime. In that sense, her story is a lived example of Vallée’s central insight—that whatever is engaging humanity does so on its own terms, shaping perception, belief, and transformation while remaining fundamentally elusive.
Whatever the ultimate explanation, Maria Cuccia has most definitely been moved forward rather than diminished by her experience. She is now at work on a second book shaped by musical inspiration and a felt sense of guidance, translating encounter into creativity. Her meditative compositions resonate with me. I look forward to listening to what emerges from that ongoing collaboration—where mystery is transformed into connection. Maria’s music.
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