Located on an unmarked trail within the nettle-strewn forests of Whidbey Island, WA, this centuries-old Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum) can teach the curious researcher everything she may need to know about the provenance of "UFOs."  Adorned with epiphytic strands of licorice fern and decorated with native mosses, the tree pulses with Life Force. How does this tree relate to the UFO phenomenon? Society Cartograpers suggest meditation upon the tree as the macrocosm reflected in the microcosm-- "As Above, So Below." Just as the maple contains a multitude, so it connects with its surrounding neighbors via the mycelium running throughout it, a vast network of fungal biochemistry. This almost invisible mesh connects the botanical denizens of the forest, sending pulses of living information throughout the biotic community, with ripple effects that impact all of its members. Is it any wonder that trees such as this one are associated with fairies and fae, beings who also may manifest as living information, in the same sense that UFOs seem intended to deliver a message? The message isn't that passed along by the peace-loving-yet-apocalyptic Star Brothers of the Contactee scene; nor is it the message delivered by the freaky experimenters reported by abductees. No, the UFOs themselves are the message. They are instantiations of Living Information-- attempts by the Cosmic to communicate with those of us "on the ground," so to speak. Sit beneath this tree, or another like it. Learn its biology, the science behind the community of which it is a part. Consider, very seriously, how it is influenced and affected by everything around it. What other plants live with it? What grows on it? How does it reach for the sun? Where does its water come from? Where do the portals appearing between its branches lead? How does one become an initiate into its mysteries? When you have done so, you'll know far more about UFOs than any government agency or sensationalist TV series can tell you.