In the latest Indiana Jones movie, Indie runs into Soviet scientists and agents investigating psychic warfare, UFOs and the presence of extraterrestrials.

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" takes viewers into topics that blend fact and fiction, rumor and classified information, fantasy and surprising reality.

As the movie begins in 1957, a Soviet team dressed as U.S. Army personnel breaks into a Nevada military base.

They are after the body of an apparent extraterrestrial recovered from the 1947 Roswell incident – the crash of a UFO.

Jones' adversary is female Soviet scientist Dr. Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett). She is conducting research into ESP and psychic warfare as well as extraterrestrial visitors to Earth.

Later, under questioning by FBI agents, Indie confirms that he had been part of a response team to the 1947 Roswell incident, though he claims ignorance about the details.

We also learn that Jones did some work with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. The OSS was the intelligence and unconventional operations agency that evolved into the CIA and U.S. Army Special Forces.

ROSWELL AND REMOTE VIEWING

The story of the Roswell incident is familiar to many people due to the books, movies, TV shows and articles referencing the alleged event.

In this recent Indiana Jones film, Dr. Spalko states that there had been other UFO crashes. This, too, has been claimed to have actually happened.

Parts of these stories include accounts of the recovery of apparent non-humans, both deceased and alive.

In the movie, Spalko and her Soviet associates are trying to make the connection between extraterrestrial or extra-dimensional beings and technologies and knowledge about psychic warfare.

Is there such a connection in real life? There have been claims of communication via telepathy in the context of alleged extraterrestrial and extra-dimensional beings, but for the average person, these are just anecdotal stories.

If technologies have been created or borrowed that have something to do with mind control, ESP, telepathy and other kinds of "anomalous cognition," this is not public knowledge. Again, though, there are rumors of such things.

Apart from the alien-psychic warfare connection of the movie, there is the real-life history of remote viewing – what eventually became known as Project STAR GATE.

And it is true that the motivation of the U.S. military and intelligence community to conduct research about ESP was the discovery that there was intense interest and activity in this area by the Soviet Union.

Although Indiana Jones and his colleagues and adversaries are delving into this field in 1957, we know that modern U.S. efforts in this area started in the mid-1970s and continued until the 1990s. Some people theorize that these kinds of military and intel activities have continued in a more low-key manner. They may have also preceded Project STAR GATE-related programs.

Millions of people in the U.S. and around the world have read about Project STAR GATE operational missions and related scientific research that has reportedly demonstrated clearly that ESP, at some level and in some way, seems to exist.

The methods, techniques and protocols that the U.S. military and intel researchers called "remote viewing" are just part of larger and deeper phenomena.

And, it is probably safe to say that visitors to Earth from other galaxies and/or other dimensions would also constitute a larger and deeper situation than most of us generally think about.

As physicists and other scientists try to understand how the Universe works, we often read or hear that there may be other communications channels in Nature that we are not always aware of.

People and events may be connected in ways that are not clear or entirely logical to us. Even transportation of spacecraft and intelligent beings might occur in ways that are surprising.

Indiana Jones and his associates face these kinds of anomalies as they race to find answers that are partially revealed in the film's climax.

HOLLYWOOD AND ACCLIMATION

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas teamed up on this movie and their combined skills and those of their co-workers create an exciting adventure that ties in with fundamental real-life mysteries.

Movies about extraterrestrial and/or extra-dimensional visitors have been around for decades. Spielberg and Lucas have contributed their fair share of wonderful films in this genre.

Some people have even speculated or whispered that Spielberg, through technical advisors and other sources, became aware of special classified activities actually going on in these areas.

It has been rumored that when President Ronald Reagan saw "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," he stated that most people did not realize how true certain aspects of the movie really were.

According to some sources, Reagan may have been referring to the idea that a team of specially trained and prepared U.S. personnel were sent aboard a visiting ET spaceship for a multi-year "exchange program."

Now, Spielberg and Lucas have presented us with an Indiana Jones movie that in many ways seems to again align alleged classified activities with a Hollywood blockbuster being enjoyed by millions kids, teens and adults of all persuasions around the world.

Is "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" another form of "acclimation" – that is, a way for us to get adjusted to new developments that are not only interesting, fun and scary, but also extremely important for us to be aware of?

This could be.

It has been stated in certain circles that letting the general public in on unusual and surprising developments was a necessary part of the larger picture.

Preparing and informing people about interesting discoveries and activities is something that can be done in many ways – including films and other creative platforms.

When we sit in a theatre and watch Indie in this new movie handle difficulties and the unknown with his usual courage, experience and intelligence, we might also wonder if he is now exploring things that affect us all – today.

NOTE TO READERS: Hammons is author of the novels Mission Into Light and the sequel, Light's Hand. Please visit his Joint Recon Study Group site at http://jointreconstudygroup.blogspot.com and Transcendent TV & Media site at http://tvtranscend.blogspot.com.