What we encountered when we did regression session with contactees is that often there was a symbolic aspect to the experience, where the subject would often perceive things that have a symbolic meaning.
It confirms the theories that in at least some contact experiences there is a 'altered states of consciousness' aspect to it.
(I'll add that in the majority of cases I've come across, there was an 'altered states of consciousness' aspect to it).
The moment you start dealing with exploring other states of consciousness, the nature of "reality" changes: it becomes 'enhanced' where more layers are added to it that were not perceivable before.