Alien abduction

For other uses of related terms, see abduction.

The term "abduction phenomenon" describes claims of non-human creatures kidnapping individuals and temporarily removing them from familiar terrestrial surroundings. People alleged to have been abducted are called "abductees" or "experiencers." The abductors, usually interpreted as being extraterrestrial life forms, are said to subject experiencers to a forced medical examination that emphasizes the alleged experiencer's reproductive system. Some aspects of the phenomenon are more benign, however, as the alleged entities often warn against environmental abuse and the dangers of nuclear weapons.

While many of these purported encounters are described as terrifying, some have been viewed as pleasant or transformative. Reports of the abduction phenomenon have been made around the world, but are less common outside of English speaking countries, especially the United States. The contents of the abduction narrative often seem to vary with the home culture of the alleged abductee.

Mainstream academics and members of the skeptics movement generally doubt that the phenomenon occurs literally as reported, and have proposed a variety of alternate explanations. Such skeptics often argue that the phenomenon might be a modern-day folk myth or vivid dreams occurring in a state of sleep paralysis. The alien abduction phenomenon has been the subject of conspiracy theories, and as such it has become a staple of popular science fiction works such as The X-Files. At the present time no generally accepted empirical scientific evidence exists to corroborate the claims of abduction proponents.

Overview

CUFOS Definition of an Abductee
A person must be taken:
Against his or her will. From terrestrial surroundings. By non-human beings.
The beings must take the person to:
An enclosed place. Not terrestrial in appearance. Assumed or known to be an alien spacecraft by the witness.
In this place the person must either:
Be subjected to an examination. Engage in communication (verbal or telepathic). Or both.
These experiences may be remembered:
Consciously. Or through methods of focused concentration (e.g. hypnosis).

Few mainstream scientists believe the phenomenon literally occurs as reported, and most people contend the field is rife with kooks and pseudoscience. However, there is little doubt that many apparently stable persons who report alien abductions are sincere: as reported in the Harvard University Gazette in 1992, Dr. John Edward Mack investigated over 60 claimed abductees, and "spent countless therapeutic hours with these individuals only to find that what struck him was the 'ordinariness' of the population, including a restaurant owner, several secretaries, a prison guard, college students, a university administrator, and several homemakers ... 'The majority of abductees do not appear to be deluded, confabulating, lying, self-dramatizing, or suffering from a clear mental illness,' he maintained. He has encountered only one person who showed psychotic features." Other experts who have argued that abductees' mental health is no better or worse than average include psychologists John Wilson and Rima Laibow, and psychotherapist David Gotlib.

Some abduction reports are quite detailed. An entire subculture has developed around the subject, with support groups and a detailed mythos explaining the reasons for abductions: The various aliens (Greys, Reptilians, "Nordics" and so on) are said to have specific roles, origins, and motivations. Abduction claimants do not always attempt to explain the phenomenon, but some take independent research interest in it themselves, and explain the lack of greater awareness of alien abduction as the result of either extraterrestrial or governmental interest in cover-up.

Perception of the abduction phenomenon

Others are intrigued by the entire phenomenon, but hesitate in making any definitive conclusions. Emergency room physician Dr. John G. Miller asks, "How can a person have any firmly held belief about this when it's so mysterious? The opinions of the true believers are hard to swallow; and the opinions of the die-hard skeptics are not based on reality either. There is some middle ground ... It's clear that this is some sort of powerful subjective experience. But I do not know what the objective reality is. It's as if the evidence leads us in both directions." (Bryan, 162) Similarly, the late Harvard psychiatrist John Mack concluded, "The furthest you can go at this point is to say there's an authentic mystery here. And that is, I think, as far as anyone ought to go." (emphasis as in original) (Bryan, 269)

Putting aside the question of whether abduction reports are literally and objectively "real", literature professor Terry Matheson argues that their popularity and their intriguing appeal are easily understood. Tales of abduction "are intrinsically absorbing; it is hard to imagine a more vivid description of human powerlessness." After experiencing the frisson of delightful terror one may feel from reading ghost stories or watching horror movies, Matheson notes that people "can return to the safe world of their homes, secure in the knowledge that the phenomenon in question cannot follow. But as the abduction myth has stated almost from the outset, there is no avoiding alien abductors." (Matheson, 297)

Once hypnotized and supposedly recalling an abduction event, some people relate the event calmly, while others may beg pathetically for the event to stop, cry in apparent horror, shout angrily or tremble with fear.

Matheson writes that when compared to the earlier contactee reports, abduction accounts are distinguished by their "relative sophistication and subtlety, which enabled them to enjoy an immediately more favorable reception from the public."

The abduction narrative

Although different cases vary in detail (sometimes significantly), some UFO researchers, such as folklorist Thomas E. Bullard argue that there is a broad, fairly consistent sequence and description of events which make up the typical "close encounter of the fourth kind" (a popular but unofficial designation building on Dr. J. Allen Hynek's classifying terminology). Though the features outlined below are often reported, there is some disagreement as to exactly how often they actually occur. Some researchers (especially Budd Hopkins and David Michael Jacobs) have been accused of excluding, minimising or suppressing testimony or data which do not fit a certain paradigm for the phenomenon.

Bullard argues most abduction accounts feature the following events. They generally follow the sequence noted below, though not all abductions feature all the events:

1. Capture. The abductee is forcibly taken from terrestrial surroundings to an apparent alien space craft.
2. Examination. Invasive medical or scientific procedures are performed on the abductee.
3. Conference. The abductors speak to the abductee.
4. Tour. The abductees are given a tour of their captors' vessel.
5. Loss of Time. Abductees rapidly forget the majority of their experience.
6. Return. The abductees are returned to earth. Occasionally in a different location from where they were allegedly taken or with new injuries or disheveled clothing.
7. Theophany. The abductee has a profound mystical experience, accompanied by a feeling of oneness with God or the universe.
8. Aftermath. The abductee must cope with the psychological, physical, and social effects of the experience.

Abduction researcher Joe Nyman has composed a similar but alternative model for abduction narratives.

1. Anxious Anticipation of Something Unknown. The abductee feels that something "familiar yet unknown" will soon occur.
2. Transition of Consciousness and Immediate Aftermath. An altered state of consciousness overtakes the abductee rendering them docile and incapable of resistance.
3. Psycho-physical Imposition and Interation. Apparently alien beings forcibly perform medical and scientific procedures on the abductee.
4. Reassurance, Positive Feelings, and a Sense of Purpose Given. The captors suddenly act more benevolently and the experience takes a turn to the positive.
5. Transition of Consciousness to Normal Waking. The altered state of consciousness induced in the second step ends.
6. Rapid Forgetfulness of Most or All Memory of Experience. Most memories of the experience fade.
7. Marker Stage. Missing time noted, bizarre but seemingly non-sensical memories of being abducted by aliens are present. Sometimes there are recurring nightmares.
8. Cycle Interval. Normal life resumes until the next experience.

When describing the "abduction scenario", David M. Jacobs says:

The entire abduction event is precisely orchestrated. All the procedures are predetermined. There is no standing around and deciding what to do next. The beings are task-oriented and there is no indication whatsoever that we have been able to find of any aspect of their lives outside of performing the abduction procedures.

Alleged alien abductions are often closely connected to UFO reports, and are sometimes supposedly conducted by so-called Greys: Short, grey-skinned humanoids with large, pear-shaped heads and enormous dark eyes, although many different types of abducting entities have been reported, and the reported abductors seem to vary by the culture and place of origin of the experience.

Capture

Abduction claimants report unusual feelings preceding the onset of an abduction experience. These feelings manifest as a compulsive desire to be at a certain place at a certain time or as expectations that something "familiar yet unknown," will soon occur. Abductees also report feeling severe, undirected anxiety at this point even though nothing unusual has actually occurred yet. This period of foreboding can last for up to several days before the abduction actually takes place or be completely absent.

Eventually, the experiencer will undergo an apparent "shift" into an altered state of consciousness. British abduction researchers have called this change in consciousness "the Oz Factor." External sounds cease to have any significance to the experiencer and fall out of perception. They report feeling introspective and unusually calm. This stage marks a transition from normal activity to a state of "limited self-willed mobility." As consciousness shifts one or more lights are alleged to appear, occasionally accompanied by a strange mist. The source and nature of the lights differ by report, sometimes the light emanates from a source outside the house (presumably the abductors' UFO), sometimes the lights are in the bedroom with the experiencer and transform into alien figures.

As the alleged abduction proceeds, claimants say they will walk or be levitated into an alien craft, often through solid objects like walls or a window. Alternatively, they may experience rising through a tunnel with or without the abductors accompanying them into the awaiting craft.

Most abductees report being taken from their bedroom prior to falling asleep. Typically, at the onset of the abduction experience, the abductee will report paralysis, sighting a bright light, and the appearance of humanoid figures.

In many abduction reports, the individual(s) concerned are traveling by automobile at the time of the incident, usually at night or in the early morning hours, and usually in a rural or sparsely populated area. A UFO will be seen ahead, (sometimes on the road) and the driver will either deliberately stop to investigate, or the car will stop due to apparent mechanical failure. Other forms of mechanical failure and interference are also common, such as a car radio producing static or behaving abnormally. Such descriptions match that of an EM pulse, which can be both naturally and artificially induced. In the occasions when they have been present, animals such as dogs usually also display a heightened fear response.

Some reports indicate the alleged aliens, often the Greys using a pencil sized, black device with a light on the end of it, to make the abductee compliant (From Nick Pope's book The Uninvited (book))

Upon getting out of the vehicle, the driver and passenger(s) often will experience a blank period and amnesia (see Missing Time), after which they will find themselves again standing in front of, or driving their car. While they frequently will not consciously remember the experience, either subsequent nightmares or hypnosis will reveal events interpreted as having occurred during the period lacking memory.

Examination

The examination phase of the so-called "abduction narrative" is characterized by the performance of medical procedures and examinations by apparently alien beings against or irrespective to the will of the experiencer. Such procedures often focus on sex and reproductive biology. However, the literature holds reports of a wide variety of procedures allegedly performed by the beings. The entity that appears to be in charge of the operation is often taller than the others involved.

Physician and abduction researcher Dr. John G. Miller explains that among abduction reports what stands out is the contrast between procedures performed by the alleged entities and those performed by doctors practicing typical earthly medicine. He says "we're not hearing about 'our kind of medicine'" Millers believes these differences add credibility to claims of alien abductions because if they were hoaxes or confabulations the reports should more closely resemble the earthly medicine familiar to the claimants.

Miller notes different areas of emphasis between human medicine and what is allegedly being practiced by the abductors. The abductors' areas of interest appear to be the cranium (see below), nervous system, skin, reproductive system, and to a lesser degree, the joints. Systems given less attention than a human doctor would, or omitted entirely include cardiovascular system, the respiratory system below the pharynx and the lymphatic system. The abductors also appear to ignore the upper region of the abdomen in favor of the lower one.

There are also differences in procedure as well as emphasis between human medicine and that claimed to be practiced by the entities. Interestingly, the abductors don't appear to wear gloves during the "examination." Other constants of terrestrial medicine like pills and tablets are missing from abduction narratives although sometimes abductees are asked to drink liquids. Injections also seem to be rare and IVs are almost completely absent. Dr. Miller says he's never heard an abductee claim to have a tongue depressor used on them.

Cranial procedures

Yvonne Smith, a certified hypnotherapist and abduction researcher, notes that "startling similarities" between abductees reporting procedures performed on the head arise when comparing reports of hypnotically retrieved abduction memories. She states that the most commonly reported sensations and procedures performed to the head are feelings of pressure in or on the head and the insertion of needles into the scalp. During cranial procedures the abductee's head is often restrained by a strap or metal bar drawn across the forehead. The abductors sometimes will touch the forehead of the experiencer, which strangely, seems to ease their anxiety and whatever physical pain they may be experiencing.

Reports of the entities drilling into the skull have also been given by several of Smith's clients. In one instance the claimed site of the drilling corresponded with an actual red mark on the back of experiencer's head. An attempt to document this mark photographically was made, but turned out unsuccessful. The same client reported smelling something burning upon the termination of the procedure. Smith has wondered if this could represent the being cauterizing the wound left by the drilling procedure by the abducting entities.

Other common cranial procedures involve the ears. Reports of pressure or intense heat being experienced with in one or both ears are the most common given during the hypnotic retrieval of memories. Experiencers have compared these sensations to the insertions of long needles and to having a high powered laser aimed into the ear.

The insertion of long needle-like objects into the nasal passages is also common in reported abductions, and always allegedly performed without the aid of a speculum. This is quite unlike typical earthly medecine where a speculum would be used to allow doctors to see what they're doing. John G. Miller asserts "We [terrestrial medical practitioners] certainly do not 'blindly' insert long objects into our patients' noses." He speculates that this probing may represent a biopsy of the olfactory mucous membrane. However, sometimes it is reported that these long probes are used to insert spherical metallic "implants" into the nasal cavity. Abductees reporting these implants often claim to experience nosebleeds after the alleged abduction.

One of Smith's clients reported the removal of his skull cap and some sort of procedure being performed to his exposed brain with a needle-like instrument. The procedure reminded him of welding. One of his abductors tried to reassure him verbally while the apparent neurological procedure was being performed.

Reproductive, Gynecological and Urological Procedures

Although many female abductees report a "gynecological" aspect to the abduction experience, staples of terrestrial gynecology such as the bimanual pelvic exam are missing from the alleged abduction experiences. Sometimes reports are made where the abductees are made to have sex with apparent human-alien hybrids or other abductees. David M. Jacobs says that sex with full-blooded aliens "is not a feature of the abduction scenario." Males report that sperm is either taken and/or they have sex with the aliens. (From Nick Pope's book The Uninvited (book))

Reported devices and instruments

Although the chest is not an area of emphasis to the alleged abductors, it is sometimes reported that a device of some sort is placed on the chest. Physician and abduction researcher Dr. John G. Miller says that he can't distinguish whether this device is an EKG, chest X-ray or echocardiogram. Experiencers also sometimes report the being targeted by "diffused colored lights" during the examination. John G. Miller notes that phototherapy is rare in human medicine.

When the abductors appear to use devices analogous to those used in human medicine, they are often quite different, for example, alleged alien syringes are often reported as being "three pronged."

Subsequent Abduction Procedures

After the so-called medical exam, the alleged abductees often report other procedures being performed with the entities. Common among these post-examination procedures are what abduction researchers refer to as imaging, envisioning, staging, and testing.

• "Imaging" procedures consist of an abductee being made to view screens displaying images and scenes that appear to be specially chosen with the intent to provoke certain emotional responses in the abductee. Commonly the images will show frightneing scenes with themes of nuclear war, environmental disasters or similar calamities. Sometimes, though, the screens will display pleasant or mundane scenes.

• "Envisioning" is a similar procedure, with the primary difference being that the images being viewed, rather than being on a screen, actually seem to be projected into the experiencer's mind. While this occurs a small gray stares deeply into the abductee's eyes.

• "Staging" procedures have the abductee playing a more active role, according to reports containing this element. It shares vivid hallucination-like mental visualization with the envisioning procedures, but during staging the abductee interacts with the illusionary scenario like a role player or an actor. The abductors are alleged to be monitoring experiencers' emotions during this procedure.

• "Testing" marks something of a departure from the above procedures in that it lacks the emotional analysis feature. During testing the experiencer is placed in front of a complicated electronic device and is instructed to operate it. The experiencer is often confused, saying that they don't know how to operate it. However, when they actually set about performing the task, the abductee will find that they do, in fact, know how to operate the machine.

Child Presentation

Abductees of all ages and genders sometimes report being subjected to a "child presentation." As its name implies, the child presentation involves the abduction claimant being shown a "child." Often the children appear to be neither human, nor the same species as the abductors. Instead, the child will almost always share characteristics of both species. These children are labeled by experiencers as hybrids between humans and their abductors, usually Greys. It has been speculated that these children are the products of the reproductive procedures performed during the medical phase of the abduction.

Unlike Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs, folklorist Thomas Bullard could not identify a child presentation phase in the abduction narrative,even after undertaking a study of 300 abduction reports. Bullard says that the child presentation "seems to be an innovation in the story." And that "no clear antecedents" to descriptions of the child presentation phase exists prior to its popularization by Hopkins and Jacobs.

The hybrid children appearing in reported presentations vary in age and are often encountered over the course of several abductions. It is reported that they seem to age normally over the course of repeated alleged abductions. In reported abductions, after reaching adolescence the hybrids begin assisting the strange entities in administering the abduction procedure. Furthermore, when they reach adulthood, the hybrids become completely involved in the operation and will not be the subject of "presentation" to the abductee. Some abductees have reported being made to have sex with hybrids.

The hybrid children are sometimes described as being kept in nurseries. There are usual 10-50 hybrids present, but some claimants have reported greater numbers. Interestingly, some alleged abductees have reported "incubatoria," where the walls are lined with fluid filled containers where developing hybrid fetuses are kept.

When the child is presented to the abductee, the abductors appear to have specific expectations of what the abductee is to do with the child. Sometimes the abductee will be required to show affection towards the children by hugging them, or if presented with younger hybrids, to cradle them close to the body. Sometimes the hybrid will engage in a "mindscan" of the abductee. Female abductees have reported being ordered to breastfeed hybrid infants. The alleged experiencers' reaction to this command varies, sometimes they comply, but some women are horrified by the thought.

Less common elements

Folklorist Dr. Thomas E. Bullard conducted a study of 300 reports of alien abduction in an attempt to observe the less prominent aspects of the claims. He notes the emergence of four general categories of events which recur regularly, although not as frequently as stereotypical happenings like the medical examination. These four types of events are:

1. The conference.
2. The tour.
3. The journey.
4. Theophany.

Chronologically within abduction reports these rarer episodes tend to happen in the order listed, between the medical examination and the return.

Conference

After allegedly displaying cold callous disregard towards the abduction experiencers, sometimes the entities will change drastically in behavior once the initial medical exam is completed. They become more relaxed and hospitable towards their captive and lead him or her away from the site of the examination. The entities then hold a conference with the experiencer, wherein they discuss things relevant to the abduction phenomenon. In Dr. Bullard's study, 79 out of 300 studied abduction claims included a conference narrative. Not all conferences are reported to occur in the same manner. Bullard notes five general categories of discussion that occur during the conference "phase" of reported abduction narratives:

1. Interrogation session.
2. Explanatory segment.
3. Task assignment.
4. Warnings.
5. Prophecies.

During an interrogaton session one party involved in the abduction will question the other. This can mean that the witness is permitted to ask questions of his captors or that the entities will ask questions of the experiencer. The entities usually ask about aspects of human life that appear to puzzle them. Dr. Bullard notes, "Time, life-spans, emotions and the individuality of humans seem to be recurrent topics." The aliens also sometimes question the abductees about life on earth, or on their reproductive practices. In some cases, the aliens make inquiries about advanced scientific concepts, such as theoretical physics or neutron bomb technologies, apparently under the assumption that all humans are familiar with these concepts.

The explanatory segment is a phase where the abductors will explain their motives to their captive, why the abductee was chosen as opposed to another human, or other things relating to the abduction phenomenon. Sometimes the entities will apologize for the cruel treatment they gave the abductee when they subjected them to being kidnapped and the medical examination. The entities often appear reluctant to disclose certain pieces of information, especially regarding their origins. Sometimes it seems like the entities are being dishonest towards the alleged experiencer. No two abduction claimants in the three hundred studied by Dr. Bullard gave identical places of origin for the aliens that allegedly abducted them.

The task assignment phase, if present, involves a request or command from the abductors to the experiencer to be performed on their behalf. Usually the assigned task is some form of reconnaissance or information gathering, often related to human emotion or everyday life. Implicit in the assignment is the idea that the experiencer will be abducted again in the future.

Warnings are sometimes given by the entities about the possibilities of future calamity resulting from current trends in human society such as warfare and the development of weapons of mass destruction or pollution and environmental concerns. Sometimes the entities go a step farther and issue specific prophecies of future disaster. The entities often claim that they will attempt to help humanity recover in the aftermath of the prophesied calamity. At times abduction claimants have reported that specific dates were given to them for a disaster to occur yet none of these specific prophecies has ever come to pass.

Tour

Tours of the abductors' craft are a rare but recurring feature of the abduction narrative. Thomas Bullard reports that in a study of 300 reported abduction events, only 16 contained some sort of tour. The tour seems to be given by the alleged abductors as a courtesy in response to the harshness and physical rigors of the forced medical examination.

Abduction claimants often feel that the "engine room" is the most memorable aspect, although control rooms and in very rare cases living or recreation areas have been visited in some reports. The "engine" of the craft is sometimes described as being composed of "crystals and rotor-like devices."

Journey

Although being transported from familiar terrestrial surroundings is an inherent part of the abduction phenomenon, some reports make claims of further transport when taken into the abductors' vessel. Sometimes the abductee reports that this journey is constrained to earth or in orbit around it. However, there are reports of journeys to what appear to be other planets.

When an otherworldly journey starts in these reports, the abductors often put the abductee in some sort of protective environment usually described as a chamber filled with liquid. In some bizarre cases, the travel isn't accomplished by means of the abductors' vessel at all, but rather through some sort of out-of-body state.

Once in motion, the vessel (often described as a UFO) will enter a "mother ship" or end up traveling underwater or underground to a strange, otherwordly location. This "otherworld" is often described as being a desert wasteland with a futuristic city. Occasionally the landscape is quite different from this, almost jungle-like, although the futuristic city is also present. Abductees have reported encountering other humans on these foreign worlds, or visiting zoos and museums.

Theophany

While some abductees find that the experience is terrifying, particularly if the aliens are of a more fearsome species, or if the abductee was subjected to extensive probing and medical testing, other abductees experience "theophany"— a sense of oneness with the universe or with God. Theophanies are a rare feature of abduction reports. Only 6 of 300 reports in a study by Thomas Bullard contained this feature. Abduction-induced theophanies have been accompanied by visions or insight into alien religions. It is not known whether this is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within the abductee due to their own beliefs, or if it is externally "transferred" into the mind of the abductee using an alien mind-transference or "mind-melding" technology.

Return

Eventually the abductors will return the abductees to terra firma, usually to exactly the same location and circumstances they were in prior to being taken. Usually, memories of the abduction experience will not be present, and the abductee will realize they've experienced "missing time" upon checking a timepiece.

Sometimes the alleged abductors appear to make mistakes when returning their captives. Famed UFO researcher Budd Hopkins has joked about "the cosmic application of Murphy's Law" in response to this observation. Hopkins has estimated that these "errors" accompany 4-5% of abduction reports. One type of common apparent mistake made by the abductors is failing to return the experiencer to the same spot that they were taken from initially. This can be as simple as a different room in the same house, or abductees can even find themselves outside and all the doors of the house are locked from the inside.

David M. Jacobs recounts an interesting report of a more severe "wrong location" mistake. She claims that she was driving and the next thing she knew, about 5 hours had passed. She was standing in the middle of a cornfield with her car nearby. There was no evidence that she had driven there as the stalks of corn were all intact and upright. Suddenly she loses consciousness briefly and then finds herself on the road driving again. It was as if the abductors had accidentally returned her to the wrong place, realized what they had done, and then corrected their mistake.

Some abduction claimants have reported being returned to the correct location, but in a different circumstance. Common reports will have the abductee clothed when they went to bed, but nude when they awaken. Sometimes their clothes will be folded by their bedside, missing, or in rare cases, someone else's clothes will be there and their own clothing lost. Reports have been made of people awakening to find that their clothes are being worn improperly in bizarre ways (e.g. a long sleeve shirt apparently forced up over the legs like a pair of pants).

It should be noted that some have speculated that these apparently bizarre, pointless behaviors were not mistakes at all. The abductors may be trying to discredit those who report their alleged experiences or be acting under unknown motives.

Missing time

Further information: Missing time

Dr. Don C. Donderi writes that "In many of these abduction accounts, there is independent confirmation of missing time--emotionally stable people arriving hours late after long or short automobile journeys. There is independent confirmation of abduction events reported under hypnosis, sometimes by non hypnotized observers and sometimes by other hypnotized witnesses" (Donderi, 66)

Realization event

Physician and abduction researcher John G. Miller sees significance in the reason a person would come to see themselves as being a victim of the abduction phenomenon. He terms the insight or development leading to this shift in identity from non-abductee to abductee the "realization event." The realization event is often a single, memorable experience, but Miller reports that not all abductees experience it as a distinct episode. Either way, the realization event can be thought of as the "clinical horizon" of the abduction experience. Dr. Miller has compiled an incomplete list of common triggers for the realization event in a paper presented at the 1992 alien abduction conference held at MIT:

1. Tanigble evidence, such as unexplained wounds or bodily changes or modification to the abductee's environment.
2. Conversations with other abductees or exposure to abduction claims.
3. Exposure to depictions of the abduction phenomenon in popular culture or the media.
4. Hypnotic retrieval of abduction memories.

Sometimes the advent of the realization that one is an abductee can cause a "flood" of previously hidden memories of one's perceived encounters with "the entities." Although the realization event is sometimes triggered by an attempt to hypnotically retrieve memories, it is frequently remembered consciously without any such assistance. Consequently, Miller sees it as a good "starting point" for a researcher investigating an individual subject.

Abductors

Motivations

Entities Reported in a Survey of 203 of pre-1985 Abduction Claims
Type	Description	Number of Reports
Short Humanoids.	Includes short Greys and similar entities.	51
Average (Human) Height Humanoids	Includes tall Greys and similar entities.	25
Tall Humanoids	Beings similar to, but much taller than a normal human. Considered an atypical abduction category.	23
Mummy-like	Beings that resemble the reanimated mummies of horror movies.	5
Miscellaneous Humanoids	Includes reptoids, hairy dwarves and others.	33
Human-like	Includes Nordics and similar entities.	52
Non-human	Bullard described them as "Monstrous" and resembling science fiction creations.	14

Although the alien abduction phenomenon, assuming it corresponds with objective reality, seems to be an enigma, sometimes the alleged abductors give information regarding the motivations and goals underlying the bizarre procedures of the abduction event. Dr. John G. Miller says that in the cases he's studied, abductees report that when they ask their captors why the invasive and humiliating medical procedures are being performed on them, the entity will often answer with a statement expressing sentiments like "We have the right to do this."

Author and ufologist Jenny Randles conducted a study focused on the motivations given by the abductors for the abduction phenomenon to alleged experiencers. Her study sampled about 50 abduction claims and found that in about 60% of the alleged cases, the abductors had offered the experiencer insight into their motivations for performing the abduction. She found that similar motivations were reported by abduction claimants irrespective to whether or not memories of the event were assisted by hypnosis.

Randles says that the reported motivation formed a loose narrative centered on long term surveillance and interaction. The entities target certain individuals for some unique quality and abduct them repeatedly. During the abductions information is supposedly being subconsciously implanted to be "activated" by the entities at some later time. This time is sometimes claimed to correspond to some major change on earth that the entities desire to assist us in dealing with. She notes that different types of reported entity are said to have differing motivations, with the "Nordic" type being more benevolent than the "Grays."

Types

Sometimes a single abduction claim will report multiple types of entities appearing to work together cooperatively.

Regarding the various types of reported abducting beings, folklorist and abduction researcher Thomas E. Bullard says "The small showing for monstrous types and the fact that they concentrate in less reliable cases should disappoint skeptics who look for the origin of abductions in the influence of Hollywood. Nothing like the profusion of imaginative screen aliens appears in the abduction literature."

Bullard, in something of a concession to skeptics, has noted that the presence or absence hypnosis as a method for memory retrieval in abduction claimants seems to effect descriptions of the abductors themselves. Hypnotically assisted recall is more likely to produce descriptions of the "standard" Grey humanoid while cases where hypnosis was not used "include more variety."

List

This is a list of extraterrestrial beings that have been reported in close encounters, claimed or speculated to be associated with unidentified flying objects (UFOs) (not to be confused with the meaning of the term "alien species" in the biological science of ecology).

List

Flatwoods monster	Tall humanoid with a spade-shaped head.
Greys/Ebens Also spelled "grays" (in American English). Roswell incident	Grey (sometimes green)-skinned humanoids, usually 1 m (3.3 ft) tall, hairless, with large heads, black almond-shaped eyes, nostrils without a nose, slits for mouths, no ears and 3–4 fingers including thumb. Greys have been the predominant extraterrestrial beings of alleged alien contact since the 1960s.
Hopkinsville goblin	Small, greenish-silver humanoids.
Little green men	Diminutive green humanoids. Even though a few abductions have referred to green skin, no report has ever involved anything that would fit the classic cultural stereotype of "little green men". They are included here only for cultural reference.
Nordic aliens Sometimes called Space Brothers Plejaren (previously known as Pleiadeans from the Pleiades) Venusians Tall whites Agarthans from Agartha	Humanoids with stereotypical "Nordic features" (tall, blonde hair, blue eyes) and which have featured in several cases of contact.
Cryptozoological animals and cryptobotanical plants, including those from folklore, religion (e.g. golem), mythology (e.g. dwarf (see also dwarfism); giants from Atlantis (see also gigantism), etc.), and some reports of ghosts, poltergeists, and time travellers (alleged) Mothman (see also American folklore) Jersey Devil Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) (dinosauroid) African Nommo Mokele-mbembe Yokai (many varieties) Quinametzin Rephaite Loveland Frogman	Some claim that many of the allegedly real creatures from the Fortean archives (see also: Fortean Times and William R. Corliss) and related reports of anomalous phenomena are actually of extraterrestrial or mixed origin, such as in the extraterrestrial hypothesis, the interdimensional hypothesis, or the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis. Sometimes these creatures are associated with the occult or with esotericism, or linked with supernatural or paranormal phenomena. Others dismiss these explanations in favor of skepticism, cultural tracking, or the psychosocial hypothesis such as in cases of mass hysteria. Some of these alleged encounters have turned out to be hoaxes or scams to boost local tourism, sell more newspapers or more fringe science books.
Reptilians and reptiloids (sometimes spelled as reptillians) Ancient astronauts (see ancient astronauts in popular culture, Ancient Aliens) Draconians Orion reptillian-humanoid matriarchy (see reptilian conspiracy theory) List of reptilian humanoids Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp Fictionalized portrayals: They Live, V, Stargate, Star Trek, Worldwar, Gamehendge , etc.	Tall, scaly humanoids. Reptilian humanoid beings date back at least as far as Ancient Egypt, with the crocodile-headed river god Sobek. The reptilian conspiracy theory has been advocated by David Icke.
Rods or skyfish	Elongated visual artifacts appearing in photos and video recordings, sometimes claimed to be extraterrestrial beings. Generally thought to be caused by motion blur from flying insects.

See also

• Alien abduction
• Alien abduction entities
• Alleged extraterrestrial beings
• Ancient astronauts
• Chimera
• Conspiracy theory
• Contactees
• Cryptoterrestrial hypothesis
• Evolutionary biology
• Extraterrestrial hypothesis
• Genetic mutation
• Horizontal evolution
• Interdimensional hypothesis
• List of conspiracy theories
• List of cryptids
• List of humanoid aliens
• List of occult terms
• MUFON (United States) and Kosmopoisk (Russia)
• New World Order

In fiction

• Template:Fictional biology
• Category:Lists of fictional alien species
• List of fictional extraterrestrials
• Lists of fictional species
• Template:Science fiction
• Babylon 5
• Battlestar Galactica
• List of alien races in DC Comics
• List of alien races in Marvel Comics
• Mass Effect
• Stargate
• Star Trek
• Star Wars
• The Twilight Zone

External links

• Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens (2005) by Susan A. Clancy

Abductees

As a category, abductees have some psychological characteristics that render their testimony suspect. Dr. Elizabeth Slater conducted a blind study of nine abduction claimants and found them to be prone to "mildly paranoid thinking," nightmares and having a weak sexual identity.

Children as abductees

Although abduction and other UFO-related reports are usually made by adults, sometimes young children report similar experiences. These child-reports often feature very specific details in common with reports of abduction made by adults, including the cirumstances, narrative, entities and aftermaths of the alleged occurrences. Oftentimes these young abductees have family members who have reported having abduction experiences. Family involvement in the military, or a residence near a military base is also common amongst child abduction claimants.

Deborah Truncale, a pro-abduction researcher believes that the reports made by children should be taken similarly seriously to those made by adults. She notes several characteristic behaviors of children fictionalizing stories, such as pausing to think, attempting to anticipate the reaction of the listener, or trying to fake convincing eye contact. Truncale sees child abduction claimants as lacking these mannerisms, instead, she says, they can be described as "generally more animated [than children making up stories] and speak[ing] quickly, [they recall] an account without the behavior that involves...story telling."

Children seem to react differently to their alleged abduction experiences than adult claimants. Many alleged adult experiencers report doubting their sanity or the veracity of what they believed happened to them. Children, by contrast, never seem to doubt that their experiences happened to them. For an adult, an abduction experience can challenge much of what they believe about the world. Children however, by virtue of being in a formative stage of development, more readily assimilate the experience into their developing worldview.

Demographics

In a study investigating the motivations of the alleged abductors, Jenny Randles found that in each of the four cases out of fifty total where the experiencer was over forty years of age or more, they were rejected by the aliens for "what they (the experiencers) usually inferred to be a medical reason."Randles concludes "[T]he abduction is essentially a young person's experience." Given the reproductive focus of the alleged abductions it is not surprising that one man reported being rejected because he had undergone a vasectomy.

History

As noted below, the Antonio Villas Boas case (1957) and the Hill abduction (1961) were the first cases of UFO abduction to earn widespread attention.

Though these two cases are sometimes viewed as the earliest abductions, skeptic Peter Rogerson notes this assertion is incorrect: the Hill and Boas abductions, he contends, were only the first "canonical" abduction cases, establishing a template that later abductees and researchers would refine, but rarely deviate from. Additionally, Rogerson notes purported abductions were cited contemporaneously at least as early as 1954, and that "the growth of the abduction stories is a far more tangled affair than the 'entirely unpredisposed' official history would have us believe." (The phrase "entirely unpredisposed" appeared in folklorist Thomas E. Bullard's study of alien abduction; he argued that alien abductions as reported in the 1970s and 1980s had little precedent in folklore or fiction.) See "external links" for all four parts of Rogerson's article.

Paleo-abductions

While "alien abduction" did not achieve widespread attention until the 1960s, there were many similar stories circulating decades earlier. These early abduction-like accounts have been dubbed "paleo-abductions" by UFO researcher Jerome Clark. This same two-part article ( and ) makes note of many paleo-abductions, some of which were reported well before the 1957 Antonio Villas Boas case earned much attention, or even before the UFO report claimed in 1947 by pilot Kenneth Arnold that first generated widespread interest in UFOs:

• There was at least one case of attempted abduction reported in conjunction with the mystery airships of the late 1800s. Colonel H. G. Shaw's account was published in the Stockton, California Daily Mail in 1897: Shaw claimed that he and a friend were harassed by three tall, slender humanoids whose bodies were covered with a fine, downy hair. The beings tried to accost or kidnap Shaw and his friend, who were able to fight them off.
• In his 1923 book, New Lands, American writer Charles Fort speculated that extraterrestrial beings might have kidnapped humans: "One supposes that if extra-mundane vessels have sometimes come close to this earth, then sailing away, terrestrial aëronauts may have occasionally left this earth, or may have been seized and carried away from this earth."
• The 1951 case of Fred Reagan, which was publicized by Flying Saucer Review in the late 1960s based on news clippings from 1952. Bizarre even by alien abduction standards, Reagan claimed to have been piloting his small airplane, which was struck by a UFO; the occupants (who resembled metallic stalks of asparagus) apologised, and tried to cure Reagan's cancer. Reagan reportedly died of a brain disorder not long after the alleged UFO encounter.
• In 1954, Paris Match printed a story said to have occurred in 1921, when the anonymous writer was a child. The writer claimed to have been snatched by two tall "men" who wore helmets and "diving suits" and who took the boy to an "oddly shaped tank" before being released. Rogerson calls this story "the earliest known abduction survivor report."
• A 1958 letter to NICAP asserted that two U.S. Army soldiers witnessed two bright red lights near their base. The soldiers had a strange sense of dissociation, and found themselves in a new location, with no memory of how they arrived there.
• Rogerson writes that the 1955 publication of Harold T. Wilkins's Flying Saucers Uncensored declared that two contactees, (Karl Hunrath and Wilbur Wilkinson) had disappeared under mysterious circumstances; Wilkins reported speculation that the duo were the victims of "alleged abduction by flying saucers".
• The so-called Shaver Mystery of the 1940s has some similarities to later abduction accounts, as well, with sinister beings said to be kidnapping and torturing people. Rogerson writes that John Robinson (a friend of ufology gadfly Jim Moseley) made a 1957 appearance on John Nebel's popular overnight radio program to tell "a dramatically spooky, if not very plausible, abduction tale" related to the Shaver Mystery: Robinson claimed that a friend of his had been held captive by the evil Deros beneath the Earth, and to have been the victim of a sort of mind control via small "earphones"; Rogerson writes that "in this unlikely tale that we first encounter the implants ... and other abductionist staples."

Contactees

The UFO contactees of the 1950s claimed to have contacted aliens, and the substance of contactee narratives are often regarded as quite different from alien abduction accounts.

However, Rogerson contends that it is often difficult to determine the division between contactees and abductees, with classification sometimes seeming arbitrary.

Two landmark cases

Allegedly genuine stories of kidnap by extraterrestrials goes back at least to the mid-1950s, with the Antonio Villas Boas case (which didn't receive much attention until several years later).

Widespread publicity was generated by the Betty and Barney Hill abduction case of 1961 (again not widely known until several years afterwards), culminating in a made for television film broadcast in 1975 (starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons) dramatizing the events. The Hill incident was probably the prototypical abduction case, and was perhaps the first in which:

• The beings that later became widely known as the Greys (who also went on to become the most common type of extraterrestrial to feature in abduction reports) were encountered.
• The beings explicitly identified an extraterrestrial origin (the star Zeta Reticuli was later suspected as their point of origin.)

If we include such clearly fictional sources as science fiction movies and pulps, the phenomena might be traced back to the 1930s.

Neither the contactees nor these early abduction accounts, however, saw much attention from ufology, then still largely reluctant to consider close encounters of the third kind, where occupants of UFOs are allegedly interacted with.

Undoubtedly, the Barney and Betty Hill case is one of, if not the most famous case of purported abduction ever. Barney and Betty were driving home on a road free from other cars late one night. They both saw an odd light coming at them from above. They then blacked out and found themselves back on the road, driving. The only thing odd was it was two hours later than when they had seen the light. They both went to psychologists and hypnotists. They learned of the Grey on board the ship that had abducted them. See Barney and Betty Hill for more depth.

Later developments

Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle (a University of Wyoming psychologist) became interested in the abduction phenomenon in the 1960s. For some years, he was probably the only academic figure devoting any time to studying or researching abduction accounts. Sprinkle became convinced of the phenomenon's actuality, and was perhaps the first to suggest a link between abductions and cattle mutilation. Eventually Sprinkle came to believe that he had been abducted by aliens in his youth; he was forced from his job in 1989. (Bryan, 145fn)

Budd Hopkins—a painter and sculptor by profession—had been interested in UFOs for some years. In the 1970s he became interested in abduction reports, and began using hypnosis in order to extract more details of dimly remembered events. Hopkins soon became a figurehead of the growing abductee subculture. (Schnabel 1994)

The 1980s brought a major degree of mainstream attention to the subject. Works by Budd Hopkins, Whitley Strieber, David M. Jacobs and John Mack presented alien abduction as a genuine phenomenon. (Schnabel 1994)

Also of note in the 1980s was the publication of folklorist Dr. Thomas E. Bullard's comparative analysis of nearly 300 alleged abductees. The mid and late 1980s saw the involvement of two esteemed academic figures: Harvard psychiatrist John Mack and historian David M. Jacobs.

With Hopkins, Jacobs and Mack, several shifts occurred in the nature of the abduction narratives. There had been earlier abduction reports (the Hills being the best known), but they were believed to be few and far between, and saw rather little attention from ufology (and even less attention from mainstream professionals or academics). Jacobs and Hopkins argued that alien abduction was far more common than earlier suspected; they estimate that tens of thousands (or more) North Americans had been taken by unexplained beings. (Schnabel 1994)

Furthermore, Jacobs and Hopkins argued that there was an elaborate scheme underway, that the aliens were attempting a program to create human–alien hybrids, though the motives for this scheme were unknown. There were anecdotal reports of phantom pregnancy related to UFO encounters at least as early as the 1960s, but Budd Hopkins and especially David M. Jacobs were instrumental in popularizing the idea of widespread, systematic interbreeding efforts on the part of the alien intruders. Despite the relative paucity of corroborative evidence, Jacobs presents this scenario as not only plausible, but self-evident. Hopkins and Jacobs have also been criticized for selective citation of abductee interviews, favoring those which support their hypothesis of extraterrestrial intervention.

The involvement of Jacobs and Mack marked something of a sea change in the abduction studies. Their efforts were controversial (both men saw some degree of damage to their professional reputations), but to other observers, Jacobs and Mack brought a degree of respectability to the subject. Joe Montaldo

John Mack

Matheson writes that "if Jacobs's credentials were impressive," then those of Harvard psychiatrist John Edward Mack might seem "impeccable" in comparison. (Matheson, 251) Mack was a well known, highly esteemed psychiatrist, author of over 150 scientific articles and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his biography of T. E. Lawrence. Mack became interested in the phenomenon in the late 1980s, interviewing dozens of people, and eventually writing two books on the subject.

Mack was somewhat more guarded in his investigations and interpretations of the abduction phenomenon than the earlier researchers. Matheson writes that "On balance, Mack does present as fair-minded an account as has been encountered to date, at least as these abduction narratives go." (Matheson, 251) Furthermore, Mack notes when alternative interpretations are viable; throughout Abduction, his first book on the subject, he allows and even considers likely that alien abductions are a new type of visionary experience.

Matheson notes that unlike earlier abduction researchers, Mack is generally quite cautious in his interpretations of physical evidence and corroborative testimony. He places little value in the scars and scratches often attributed to alien "medical" exams, and argues that trying to prove the actuality of alleged "implants" placed in abductees is largely a futile effort.

Mack argued that the abduction phenomenon might be the beginning of a major paradigm shift in human consciousness, or "a kind of fourth blow to our collective egoism, following those of Copernicus, Darwin and Freud." (Bryan, 270) Mack also noted that, after an initial period of terror and confusion (a phase he dubbed "ontological shock"), many abductees ultimately regard their experiences more positively, saying that their experiences broadened their consciousness.

In June 1992, Mack co-organized a five-day conference at MIT to discuss and debate the abduction phenomenon. The conference attracted a wide range of professionals, representing a variety of perspectives. (In response to this conference, Mack and Jacobs were awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 1993).

Writer C. D. Bryan attended the conference, initially intending to gather information for a short humorous article for The New Yorker. While attending the conference, however, Bryan's view of the subject changed, and he wrote a serious, open-minded book on the phenomenon, additionally interviewing many abductees, skeptics, and proponents.

Prevalence

Reports of the abduction phenomenon have been made around the world, but are less common outside of English speaking countries, especially the United States.

The Roper Poll

In 1991, Hopkins, Jacobs and sociologist Dr. Ron Westrum commissioned a Roper Poll in order to determine how many Americans might have experienced the abduction phenomenon. Of nearly 6,000 Americans, 119 answered in a way that Hopkins et al interpreted as supporting their ET interpretation of the abduction phenomenon. Based on this figure, Hopkins estimated that nearly four million Americans might have been abducted by extraterrestrials. The poll results are available at this external link: The Roper Poll: UFOs & Extraterrestrial Life, Americans' Beliefs and Personal Experiences

Criticism

However, critics have argued that there were significant problems with the poll's methodology which should invalidate the results. Writing in Skeptical Inquirer, psychologist Susan Blackmore notes that based on her analysis, "I conclude that the claim of the Roper Poll, that 3.7 million Americans have probably been abducted, is false."

Favorable perspectives

There have been a variety of explanations offered for abduction phenomena, ranging from sharply skeptical appraisals to uncritical acceptance of all abductee claims. Others have elected not to try explaining things, instead noting similarities to other phenomena, or simply documenting the development of the alien abduction phenomenon.

• Some have argued that alien abduction is a literal phenomenon: extraterrestrials kidnap humans in order to conduct studies or experiments. This is a well-known popular explanation, but has seen very little support from most mainstream scientists.
• UFO researcher Jenny Randles cited "an interesting study in which individuals were asked to describe imaginary alien abductions." (Bryan, 49) If these invented scenarios were similar to allegedly genuine abduction accounts, it might demonstrate that supposedly genuine accounts were indistinguishable from invented accounts. The study, however, found little in common between the two types of narratives, and the intense emotional reactions of actual abductees when recounting their experience, are absent. Bryan writes "Randles's findings strike me as significant: people who are asked to describe imaginary abductions do not come up with the scenarios, sequences or beings described by the overwhelming majority of abductees. The 'medical examination,' such a major, recurring aspect of the abductees stories, is entirely absent from the imaginer's accounts." (Bryan, 49)
• In a lengthy article, Martin Cannon makes the admittedly speculative argument that memories of alien abductions might in fact have been created in the "abductees" by a secret government mind control program, such as MKULTRA.
• Inventor Michael Menkin claims to have had success in stopping alien abductions with the creation of a hat known as the Thought Screen Helmet.
• Various authors, for example Jacques Vallée and John Mack have suggested that the dichotomy, 'real' versus 'imaginary', may be too simplistic; that a proper understanding of this complex phenomenon may require a reevaluation of our concept of the nature of reality.

Skeptical perspectives

Skeptical perspectives on the abduction phenomenon are those opinions which assert that reports of people being kidnapped and subjected to forced medical examinations by non-human creatures do not occur literally as reported. Although being only one of many competing explanations for the phenomenon, it is the only one that is widely accepted by mainstream scientists. Alternative explanations, such as the extraterrestrial hypothesis, are dismissed by academics as being pseudoscientific.

Various hypotheses have been proposed by skeptics to explain reports without the need to invoke non-parsimonious concepts such as intelligent extraterrestrial life forms. These hypotheses usually center on known psychological processes that can produce subjective experiences similar to those reported in abduction claims. Skeptics are also likely to critically examine abduction claims for evidence of hoaxing or influence from popular culture sources such as science fiction.

Some skeptical perspectives

• Proposed psychological alternative explanations of the abduction phenomenon have included hallucination, temporary schizophrenia, epileptic seizures and parasomnia—near-sleep mental states (hypnogogic states, night terrors and sleep paralysis). Sleep paralysis in particular is often accompanied by hallucinations and peculiar sensation of malevolent or neutral presence of "something," though usually people experiencing it do not interpret that "something" as aliens. Occasionally the abduction phenomenon is also theorized to be a confused memory of past events (such as sexual abuse).
• It is possible that some alleged abductees may be mentally unstable or under the influence of recreational drugs, though, as noted above, at least four mental health experts have argued against this explanation.
• In The Demon-Haunted World astronomer Carl Sagan (who failed to cite some other authors, including Schnabel) pointed out that the alien abduction experience is remarkably similar to tales of demon abduction common throughout history. "...most of the central elements of the alien abduction account are present, including sexually obsessive non-humans who live in the sky, walk through walls, communicate telepathically, and perform breeding experiments on the human species. Unless we believe that demons really exist, how can we understand so strange a belief system, embraced by the whole Western world (including those considered the wisest among us), reinforced by personal experience in every generation, and taught by Church and State? Is there any real alternative besides a shared delusion based on common brain wiring and chemistry?" (Sagan 1996 124)
• It has also been noted that Terence McKenna described seeing "Machine Elves" while experimenting with Dimethyltryptamine (also known as DMT). The description of Machine Elves is often consistent with the description of "grey" aliens. In a 1988 study conducted at UNM, psychiatrist Rick Strassman found that approximately 20% of volunteers injected with high doses of DMT had experiences identical to purported Alien Abductions.

Impact of geography and culture on abduction reports

Although proponents have argued that there is a core narrative consistent across abduction claims, there is little doubt that variation occurs in the details of reports across cultures and geographic boundaries. Skeptics like Robert Sheaffer assert that this variation supports a psycho-social hypothesis as an explanation for the origin of the abduction phenomenon. The quantity and not just quality of reports appears to be affected by culture as abduction reports are made less frequently in non-English speaking countries.

The biology and attitudes of the abductors are points of drastic divergence between the home countries of different abduction claimants. Robert Sheaffer observes:

"In North America large-headed gray aliens predominate, while in Britain abduction aliens are usually tall, blond, and Nordic, and South America tends toward more bizarre creatures, including hairy monsters."

Sheaffer also sees similarity between the aliens depicted in early science fiction films, in particular, Invaders From Mars, and those reported to have actually abducted people. Commonalities exist in the appearances, behavior, technology and societies of fictional and allegedly real abductors. Furthermore, the contents and structure of the "abduction narrative" as outlined by researchers like Nyman and Bullard was already established in fictional form by 1930 in a Buck Rogers strip.

The strip depicts an alien craft piloted by martian "Tiger Men" which capture a female character and subject her to similar treatment as those in real-world abduction claims. The story is structurally more similar to the archetypal narrative outline devised by Bullard than the vast majority of those in Bullard's own catalogue of cases!

However, Bullard does not see evidence for influence on abduction claimants from science fiction sources. In an essay, Bullard writes that "The small showing for monstrous types and the fact that they concentrate in less reliable cases should disappoint skeptics who look for the origin of abductions in the influence of Hollywood. Nothing like the profusion of imaginative screen aliens appears in the abduction literature."

In his books on the subject, Harvard Medical School professor Dr. John Edward Mack explained that common features of alien abduction experiences in North America include the feeling of paralysis; the perception of having been transported immaterially, frequently through a beam of light; the sense of having been surgically probed or implanted with devices; the freezing or slowing of time; and sexual or reproductive contact or manipulation by the aliens.

There are however cultural differences in perception of these reported incidents. The frightening "terror abduction" experience is reported mainly in the USA, while in the rest of the world, the ET encounters are said to be largely benevolent -- this apparent incongruity perhaps raising a question as to the phenomenon's origins.

As noted above, the so-called Greys are most popularly associated with abduction reports. Again, however, this seems to be a North American paradigm best-known since the 1980s. On the contrary, some researchers (such as Kevin D. Randle in his 1997 book, Faces Of The Visitors: An Illustrated Reference To Alien Contact) have noted a vast variety of alleged creatures have been reported in abduction accounts worldwide, with some of the alleged creatures not even described as humanoid.

Although in North America, "aliens" of extraterrestrial origin are the most commonly blamed in these incidents, in Europe and other parts of the world, the beings involved are as often perceived to be demonic or spiritual in origin. Common elements in the descriptions of abductions and visitations vary by region and local culture, with only a very few elements being the same worldwide, such as an otherworldly sensation, reports of mind control, repressed memories being rediscovered, and sexual experiences. These elements, and many aspects of what witnesses describe, are very common in old stories of encounters with faeries, demons, and other magical creatures.

• Skeptics argue that the raw details of abduction accounts have been featured in science fiction since at least the 1930s, and that these details have had widespread currency, thereby influencing and shaping expectations of what an encounter with extraterrestrials might entail. For example, a 1935 issue of Amazing Stories featured on its cover an illustration of a being with large eyes and a large head who was restraining a human from entering a room where another human was reclined on a table with another large-eyed creature examining her. See Rogerson's four-part article, and Martin Kottmeyer's "Entirely Unpredisposed" in external links.
  • Others have argued against this idea; folklorist Thomas E. Bullard asks, "If Hollywood is responsible for these images, where are the monsters? Where are the robots?" (Bryan, 50).

Michael Persinger's analysis

In a long article, Dr. Michael Persinger argues that most of the features of the abduction phenomenon can be explained as the manifestation of measurable functions of the human brain. Persinger writes that the "main theme" of his article "is to explore visitation experiences, now attributed by many people to UFO and implicitly "extraterrestrial' phenomena, from the perspective of modern neuroscience... From an operational perspective, the average visitation experience attributed to an alien entity is indiscriminable from average mystical or religious experience attributed to gods and to spirits. Instead we have been trying to isolate those areas of the brain and those electromagnetic patterns within the brain that are involved with the general visitation experience." (Persinger, 263)

He goes on to argue that "Nearly every basic element of mystical, religious, and visitor experience has been evoked with electrical stimulation" of test subjects' brains. (Persinger, 270). Individuals with some forms of epilepsy often experience vivid hallucination, and Persinger suggests that the same areas of the brain are activated in these individuals as in those who experience extraordinary visitations.

"Most people who report these experiences [alien abduction] display average to above average intelligence, are not 'crazy' and are very aware of the social and personal consequences of their experiences upon their families, friends and vocational opportunities." (Persinger, 278)

Persinger relates a specific case of a "thirty-five year old woman" who "reported ... the presence of multiple, elongated humanoids, in shimmering gray-silver clothes, that would surround her bed for a few nights every month." The woman hesitated to tell her regular physician of the encounters, for fear that she'd be seen as "crazy". (Persinger, 278) The woman was prescribed a low dose of "the antiepileptic compound carbamazepine" and after regular use of the medication, the visitations "disappeared". Persinger is quick to note that "This does not indicate that all people who report visitor experiences associated with UFOs are undiagnosed epileptics or that the phenomena will cease when with this particular medication. Instead, it indicated that well-formed and meaningful experiences, attributed to alien sources and sufficient in magnitude to disrupt the person's sense of self and adaptability, can be associated with periods of electrical activity that can be affected by treatments not typically associated with these types of experiences." (Persinger, 278)

He also cites polls indicating that up to one third of people have had some sort of similar experience: 39% of more than 1700 people polled over 20 years have answered "yes" to the question "At least once in my life very late at night, I have felt the presence of another Being." (Persinger, 280). Given that visitor experiences are somewhat common, and that worldwide, they tend to follow the same patterns, Persinger suggests that while underlying neurological factors give the experience its basic form, how such events are interpreted is shaped by cultural factors: "Because human brains are more similar than they are different, the themes of these experiences have been and remain remarkably similar across space and time. The details are simply punctuation from the person's culture." (Persinger, 296)

Persinger's hypothesis ties into another observation that alien abduction is in many regards similar to shamanic initiations.

James McClenon's hypothesis illuminates many similarities between alien abduction stories and the historical accounts of mythological encounters with incubi and succubi, i.e. sleep paralysis, small un-earthly intruders at night, sexual activity/abuse, etc. ... This is an indicator of our predisposition and our willingness to accept these modern day myths, stories, and beliefs.

Role of hypnosis and investigators

Skeptics Robert Sheaffer and Phillip J. Klass agree that individual abduction researchers appear to exert influence on the characteristics of narratives retrieved during hypnotic recall. This influence tends to shape recovered abduction narratives in a way that reinforces the preconceived biases of the individual researcher. Klass jokingly recommends those considering hypnotic regression to uncover abduction memories to vist Leo Sprinkle, whose regression sessions more frequently "uncover" reports of benevolent aliens. Sheaffer also cites research done into hypnosis as a method for enhancing memory that concludes that false memories, subjectively real to the patient, can be created merely through suggestions while they are in a hypnotic trance.

Thomas E. Bullard, while not an abduction skeptic per se, has noted that the presence or absence hypnosis as a method for memory retrieval in abduction claimants seems to effect descriptions of the abductors themselves. Hypnotically assisted recall is more likely to produce descriptions of the "standard" Grey humanoid while cases where hypnosis was not used "include more variety." Hoewever, rather than take a firmly skeptical position based on this observation, Bullard says "Whether hypnosis shapes and implants memories, or breaks through a surface screen memory to reveal the true appearance of the beings, remains a question in need of resolution."

• Especially criticised as unreliable is frequent reliance on hypnosis. It has been demonstrated that false memories are often very easily created, and that hypnosis can unintentionally aid in confabulation. Some abductees, however, report vivid, detailed accounts without hypnosis.
  • However, Budd Hopkins writes, " ... the Hill case bears upon one popular theory which has been widely but uncritically accepted by many skeptics: the idea that such accounts must have been implanted by hypnosis, consciously or unconsciously, or by manipulative practitioners who 'believe in' the reality of such events. Simon, who hypnotized the Hills, was avowedly skeptical about the reality of the Hills' abduction recollections. Yet the Hills stubbornly held to their interlocking, hypnotically recovered accounts despite Simon's suggestions at the end of treatment that their memories could not be literally true. It can therefore be concluded that the bias of the hypnotist had nothing to do with the content of their hypnotic recall." (emphasis as in original; Hopkins, 218) Hopkins also cites three therapists (Drs. Robert Naiman, Aphrodite Clamar and Girard Franklin) who were quite skeptical of the reality of abduction claims, yet who all uncovered detailed abduction scenarios from their patients. (Hopkins, 218)

Parallels with other spurious phenomena

Abduction skeptic Robert Sheaffer notes similarities between claims of witchcraft and claims of alien abductions. He notes similar imagery involving non-human creatures, uncovered memories and sex being involved in both the abduction phenomenon and the activities of those accused of witchcraft. Sheaffer finds the commonalities compelling and suggests that the two movements share a common underlying psychopathology.

• Researchers in the field of NDE and OBE notice the similarities between abduction experiences and OBEs, thus leading them to the conclusion that abduction experiences are closely related to out-of-body experiences.
• Author Carl Sagan, in a minor piece in Parade Magazine (1993), was among the first to examine the explicit relationships between the alien abduction phenomenon and historical narratives of abduction by demons and fairies.
• Science writer Jim Schnabel tied modern-day abduction narratives to those of 16-17th century demonic possession and witchcraft cases, some current Third World spirit-possession syndromes, and even the sexual abuse and "satanic ritual abuse" claims that mesmerized many American psychiatrists in the 1980s and 1990s. Schnabel pointed out that the social dynamics in all these cases also typically feature a male priest or therapist surrounded by a bevy of females competing for his attention -- and scandalous tales of these males succumbing to all this temptation and having sex with their "patients" are as old as the abduction-type narratives themselves. In his 1994 book Dark White and in a peer-reviewed paper in the journal Dissociation, Schnabel argued that the alien abduction phenomenon, at least as it has evolved around American "abduction therapists" like Budd Hopkins, David Jacobs and John Mack, is part of a spectrum of culturally-specific phenomena perhaps best known as "self-victimization syndromes."
• California based therapist Gwen Dean noted forty-four parallels between alien abduction and satanic ritual abuse (SRA). Both emerged as widespread phenomena in the late 1970s and early 1980s, both often use hypnosis to recover lost or suppressed memory. Furthermore, the scenarios and narratives offered by abductees and SRA victims feature many similar elements: both are typically said to begin when the experiencer is in their youth; both are said to involve entire families and to occur generationally; the alien examination table is similar to the satanic altar; both phenomena focus on genitals, rape, sexuality and breeding; witnesses often report that the events happen when they are in altered states of consciousness; both phenomena feature episodes of "missing time" when the events are said to occur, but of which the victim has no conscious memory. (Bryan, 138-139)
• It is worth noting that many events reported during purported abductions often have parallels in anthropology, folklore and religion: Especially frequently correlate with certain imagery persistent in shamanic experiences (e.g., surgery-like procedures, foreign objects implanted in the body) and faerie contact stories, for instance. John Edward Mack, for one, suggested that modern abduction accounts should be considered as part of this larger history of visionary encounters. Jaques Vallee has written extensively on the similarity between the present alien abduction phenomenon and the tradition of human encounters with fairies.

Attempts at confirmation

If actual "flesh and blood" aliens are abducting humans, there should be some hard evidence that this is occurring. Proponents of the physical reality of the abduction experience have suggested ways that could conceivably confirm abduction reports.

One procedure reported occurring during the alleged exam phase of the experience is the insertion of a long needle-like contraption into a woman's navel. Some have speculated that this could be a form of laparoscopy. If this is true, after the abduction there should be free gas in the lady's abdomen, which could be seen on an x-ray. The presence of free gas would be extremely abnormal, and would help substantiate the claim of some sort of procedure being done to her.

Corroborated accounts

Abduction researcher Brian Thompson claims that a nurse acquaintance of his reported that during 1957 in Cincinnati she encountered a 3 foot tall praying mantis-like entity two days after a V-shaped UFO sighting. This mantis-like creature is reminiscent of the insectoid-type entity reported in some abduction accounts. He related this report to fellow researcher Leo Stringfield. Stringfield told him of two cases he had in his files where separate witnesses reported identical circumstances in the same place and year.

Alien abduction research organizations

• ICAR International Community for Alien Research
• The organization UFO Casebook also conducts similar research, and has a list of the different entities people have reportedly been in contact with during abductions.
• The John E. Mack institute is described their "mission" as "to explore the frontiers of human experience, to serve the transformation of individual consciousness, and to further the evolution of the paradigms by which we understand human identity."
• The organization MAAR conducts research into alien abductions, especially about the aliens reported by abductees and witnesses.

Notable abduction claims

• 1957: Antonio Villas Boas (Brazil)
• 1961: Betty and Barney Hill abduction (United States)
• 1967: Schirmer Abduction (United States)
• 1973: Pascagoula Abduction
• 1975: Travis Walton
• 1976: Allagash Abductions (United States)
• 1979: Livingston Incident (Scotland)
• 1970s-1980s: Whitley Strieber
• 1988: Peter Khoury Incident (Australia)

Notable figures

• Mitch Renzi
• Brigitte Grant
• Budd Hopkins
• David M. Jacobs
• John Edward Mack
• Whitley Strieber
• Nigel Watson
• Linda Moulton Howe
• Hilda Musch
• Joe Montaldo[1]
• Anne Heche
• Karla Turner

Further reading

• http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4694075066240662837
• http://www.alienresistance.org
• http://www.bibleufo.com
• http://www.ufoartwork.com
• C.D.B. Bryan, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: Alien Abduction, UFOs and the Conference at M.I.T., Alfred A. Knopf, 1995, ISBN 0-679-42975-1
• Susan A. Clancy, Abducted: How People Come To Believe They Were Kidnapped By Aliens, Harvard University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-674-01879-6
• Don Donderi, "Science, Law and War: Alternative Frameworks for the UFO Evidence" (pp. 56-81 in UFOs and Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge, edited by David M. Jacobs, University Press of Kansas, 2000, ISBN)
• Guy Malone, Come Sail Away: UFO Phenomenon & The Bible, Seekye1 Publishing, 1998, ISBN 1-893-78800-8 Read online at http://www.seekye1.com
• Terry Matheson, Alien Abduction: Creating A Modern Phenomenon, Prometheus Books, 1998, ISBN 1-57392-244-7
• Michael Persinger, "The UFO Experience: A Normal Correlate of Human Brain Function", pages 262-302 in UFOs and Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge, David M. Jacobs, editor. University Press of Kansas, 2000; ISBN 0-7006-1032-4)
• Christopher F. Roth, "Ufology as Anthropology: Race, Extraterrestrials, and the Occult." In E.T. Culture: Anthropology in Outerspaces, ed. by Debbora Battaglia. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2005.
• Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark, Ballantine Books, 1996, ISBN 0-345-40946-9
• Jim Schnabel "Claims of alien abduction and some other traumas as self-victimization syndromes". Dissociation 7 (1): 51-62. March 1994. ISSN 0896-2863.
• Jim Schnabel, Dark White: Aliens, Abductions and the UFO Obsession, Hamish Hamilton/Penguin,1994, ISBN-10: 0241134153
• Jenny Randles, "My View of Abductions" (The Anomalist, edited by Patrick Huyghe) 1999; online at http://www.anomalist.com/commentaries/abductions.html
• Joe Montaldo Alien Abduction Investigator for 25 years International Director, and Spokesperson for I.C.A.R. the International Community for Alien Research. (www.icar1.com)
• Joachim D. Koch New Discoveries in Betty Hill's Star Map

Alien abduction literature

• Robert E. Bartholomew & George S. Howard: UFOs & Alien Contact: Two Centuries of Mystery (1998)
• Tony Dodd: Alien Investigator (1999) ISBN 978-0-7472-6141-4
• Bonnie Jean Hamilton: Invitation to the Self; journey with the star people (2005) ISBN 978-1-4116-2673-7
• Budd Hopkins: Missing Time (1983)
• Budd Hopkins: Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copley Woods (1987)
• Budd Hopkins: Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge Abduction (1996)
• Budd Hopkins: Sight Unseen: Science, UFO Invisibility, and Transgenic Beings (2003)
• David M. Jacobs: Secret Life: Firsthand Accounts of UFO Abductions (1992)
• David M. Jacobs: The Threat (1998)
• David M. Jacobs: UFOs and Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge (2000)
• Terry Matheson: Alien Abductions: Creating a Modern Phenomenon (1998)
• John Mack: Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens (1994)
• John Mack: Passport to the Cosmos (1999)
• Nick Pope: The Uninvited: An Expose of the Alien Abduction Phenomenon (1997)
• Nick Pope: Open Skies, Closed Minds (2001)
• Whitley Strieber: Communion (1987)
• Whitley Strieber: Transformation: The Breakthrough (1998)
• Whitley Strieber: Confirmation (1999)
• Joe Montaldo[2] Alien Abduction Investigator for 25 years International Director, and Spokesperson for I.C.A.R. the International Community for Alien Research. [3]

In fiction

• Independence Day - An abductee avenges himself by destroying a UFO hovering over Area-51.
• Fire in the Sky - Book and film. Fictionalized account of what allegedly happened to Travis Walton.
• The X-Files - This is one of the features of the television series.
• The Grays - Whitley Strieber's 2007 novel.
• The McPherson Tape & Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County - Hoax video recording of a family on the eve of abduction by aliens.
• Futurama - according to the show, by the year 3000 A.D., flying saucer abductions have become quite commonplace, and usually deemed a "harmless nuisance", except in cases when humans are illegally poached for body parts for sale on the black market- illegal as in without a licence.
• Star Wars - An alien abducts Palpatine in Episode III.

See also

• nightmare
• Incubus
• Succubus
• Grigori
• Nephilim
• Sleep paralysis
• Psychosis
• Demonology
• Demonic possession
• Spiritual possession
• Post-abduction syndrome
• Occult
• Contactees
• Recovered memory syndrome
• Recovered memory therapy
• Paranormal vanishing
• Alien Abduction Trauma and Recovery
• Coast to Coast AM
• Jeff Rense

External links

Extraterrestrial research

The International Community for Alien Research (I.C.A.R)[4] * http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4694075066240662837

• Alienhub.com- Abduction reporting forum
• Abduct.com - General informational site which favors ET interpretation
• UfoCasebook.com, List of Abduction cases
• Australian UFO Research Network
• Alien abduction claims examined: Signs of trauma found, by William J. Cromie (Harvard researcher on alien abduction)
• Watchtheskycampaign - List of abduction cases
• MAAR: SEARCH: "Alien Races/ Alien Species" - in relation to some of the alleged aliens

Skeptical research

• The Skeptic's Dictionary entry on abduction
• Alien abduction claims explained: Sleep paralysis, false memories involved, by William J. Cromie (Harvard researcher on alien abduction)
• Entirely Unpredisposed: The Cultural Background of UFO Abduction Reports, by Martin Kottmeyer (1990)

Alternative research

• Alien Resistance HQ - Resistance is Fertile
• Alien Mind - a Primer

Others

• [5]
• Black Hole News Space, UFOs/Aliens and Science Digest
• PBS NOVA: Kidnapped by UFOs? (presents both sides)