(This article also appears on the Transcendent TV & Media and Joint Recon Study Group sites.)

The new ABC TV series "V" seems to be drawing a solid audience and may be helping us consider important issues facing our society today.

The original 1983 miniseries was reportedly related to the novel by Sinclair Lewis, "It Can't Happen Here," about the Nazis coming to power in Germany.

Yet, what if we look at the more literal context of the show – that extraterrestrial or unusual visitors of some kind have arrived, perhaps quite some time ago, and are among us?

In the original 1983 two-part miniseries, the 1984 three-part miniseries and the TV series that aired from 1984 to 1985, the visitors were portrayed as reptilian evil-doers who wanted to take over the Earth. Their human and friendly appearance was a cover for a more sinister agenda.

The new 2009 series, a "re-imagining" of the 1983 TV miniseries, presents a similar scenario.

What if there is some truth to a development like this? What if extraterrestrial or other kinds of visitors might arrive on Earth, or already have? Are they hostile? Are they friendly? Are there more than one kind? What might be their goals here? What activities are they conducting?

GOVERNMENT EFFORTS

In the new show, Elizabeth Mitchell plays FBI agent Erica Evans. Each week, she and her allies discover more about the visitors.

Does our real-life FBI take an interest in this topic? According to some UFO research, J. Edgar Hoover definitely had an interest and FBI agents have been involved in these kinds of investigations over the years. Hoover reportedly complained that he was cut out of the loop by other U.S. military and intelligence organizations on this subject.

The Air Force's "Project Bluebook," based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, investigated UFO sightings for many years. But some researchers claim that his project was a cover story for other research and activities regarding real UFOs and unusual visitors.

Some researchers say that a group of military and scientific officials called "Majestic" was formed in the late 1940s to investigate and handle an alleged real and serious UFO and visitor situation.

When audiences watch the "V" TV series, many viewers probably reflect on some of these reports and accounts of actual government interest in UFOs and alleged extraterrestrial visitation.

We might also wonder if this TV show, and many other movies, TV programs, books and related communications efforts are simply entertainment or something more.

GET READY

According to some researchers, efforts to prepare, orient and acclimate the American people and people around the world on this subject have been going on for decades.

Through carefully-crafted efforts by psychological operations experts to creative endeavors in the entertainment community, we may have been exposed to a wide array of orientation materials to get us ready to deal with surprising or even troubling situations in this area.

Are we ready? Are we prepared?

The impacts of such a situation could be mental, emotional, spiritual, social, governmental, military, economic, scientific, technological and maybe even biological. There could be many important, complex and sensitive aspects to such a scenario that would need to be handled carefully and safely.

If something like this was really going on, who are the good guys and bad guys? Who can we trust? What is the end game?

These are the same questions and developments playing out in the TV show "V."

We also see these kinds of elements in apparently increasing numbers of movies, books and other information platforms. Surf your TV channels, scan the movie section of your newspaper or check out the internet or local bookstore and you will find a significant number and variety of materials addressing these subjects.

If there is any truth to reports about UFOs and unconventional visitors, we might watch "V" with perspectives that helps us prepare for the possibility that this show reflects reality more closely than we may realize.

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.