In mid-October 2024, under the stars of Big Sur, a group of the rich, the psychic and the curious allegedly gathered at the Esalen Institute — that legendary cliff-top spa of spiritual seekers — to “call in craft.”

That’s not metaphor.
They meant UFOs.

A Mystery in the Mist

Esalen, founded in 1962, has long been where California’s weirdness meets the Pacific. LSD sessions, naked encounter therapy, CIA visitors — the place has form. So when whispers began to spread online of a “psionic event” there between October 14 and 18, 2024, some ears pricked up.

The claim was outlandish even by Esalen standards: an invitation-only gathering of “psionics” (people said to be able to contact non-human intelligence through the power of their mind), scientists, ex-intelligence officers, Silicon Valley investors and mystics — all convened to open a channel between mind and machine, human and “craft.”

On Reddit’s UFO forums, posts appeared naming Australian journalist Ross Coulthart and entrepreneur Jake Barber as attendees, the latter said to be fronting a project called Skywatcher “funded by millions in Silicon Valley money to develop technology from NHI [Non-Human Intelligence] retrievals.” Reddit

No record of the event appears on Esalen’s official calendar — which that week listed yoga, trauma work and a meditation retreat. But that’s not unusual: Esalen regularly rents its grounds to private groups.

The Blue Orb Story

Here’s where it turns truly strange.

Multiple accounts claim that on one night, participants lay on yoga mats overlooking the sea while a so-called psionic asset went into trance. He allegedly announced, “I’m engaged,” meaning he had mentally connected to a craft. Moments later, someone higher up the hill shouted: “It’s here!”

What followed, according to several tellings, was the appearance of a blue, octagonal orb, hovering silently above the hot springs before drifting down toward the beach.

No clear footage has surfaced.
No independent witnesses have confirmed it.
But the story continues to glow online, refracted through podcasts, X posts and a Medium article accusing the organisers of mixing paranormal hype with elite networking.

Who (or What) Is Ennea?

A newsletter from a group called the Ennea Explorer’s Club openly states that it held “an extraordinary event at Esalen Institute” that month — calling it “a patron-funded peer network for scientists, mystics, shamans, and intelligence agents exploring the nature of reality.” Flodesk

That language — half-spiritual, half-corporate — is classic New Age venture speak: mysticism with a pitch deck.

The idea of “psionics” being treated as a technology, not a belief, has echoes of 1970s parapsychology, now rebooted for the AI age.

Esalen Institute was a location in Mad Men. Don Draper visits the Institute for some new age meditation. He did not try to summon a UFO.

The Stranger Allegations

Some online accounts make darker claims: that “psychic children from Germany” demonstrated telekinesis for the guests. Those details, while sensational, remain completely unverified — no names, no footage, no independent confirmation.

Still, the accusation has triggered uncomfortable echoes of Esalen’s past, when boundary-pushing “experiments” sometimes blurred into ethical grey zones.

So What Really Happened?

Here’s what can be said with confidence:

• Esalen did host a private event in October 2024 linked to the Ennea Explorer’s Club.
• Public figures like Coulthart and Barber have both been associated with UAP and “psionics” discussions elsewhere.
• Ennea publicly describes its mission as blending science, consciousness studies and mysticism.

What remains entirely unproven are the supernatural elements — the blue orb, the telepathic interface, the psychic prodigies.

No independent footage, radar data or official comment from Esalen has emerged.

The Freaky Truth

If real, the Esalen psionic event would mark the first time an elite spiritual-tech salon successfully established human contact with non-human craft.
If false, it’s something equally fascinating: the monetisation of mysticism, the latest iteration of California’s eternal dream of transcendence — now funded by venture capital.

Maybe that glowing blue orb wasn’t an alien at all. Maybe it was just capitalism, returning to Earth in its final form: enlightened, exclusive, and very, very weird.