Alien abductions: A critical reader

81 Pages·00.216 MB·English

by  Jeff Carney

A L I E N
ABDUCTIONS
A CRITICAL READER
EDITED BY JEFF CARNEY
CONTENTS
1. The Hill Abduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Loy Lawhon
2. Abduction: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
John E. Mack
3. Communion (excerpt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Whitley Strieber
4. The Incubatorium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
David M. Jacobs
5. Kidnapped by UFOs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Budd Hopkins
6. The Use of Hypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
David M. Jacobs
7. The Virginia Horton Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Budd Hopkins
8. Sara: Species Merger and Human Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
John E. Mack
9 An Astronomer’s Personal Statement on UFOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Alan Hale
10. Kidnapped by UFOs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Carl Sagan
11. Kidnapped by UFOs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Philip J. Klass
12. Alien Implants: The New “Hard Evidence” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Joe Nickell
13. The Man from Outer Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
James Willwerth
14. Hypnosis and Memory: A Hazardous Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Joseph Barber
15. Creating False Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Elizabeth F. Loftus
16. A Study of Fantasy Proneness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Joe Nickell
17. Sleep Disorder May Explain Alien Abduction Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Nicholas D. Kristof
18. Abduction by Aliens or Sleep Paralysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Susan Blackmore
The Hill Abduction
[about.com, July 29, 1997]
Loy Lawhon
19 September 1961. developed an ulcer, perhaps from stress
New Hampshire is a marvelous and at work, and when the opportunity came
mysterious place. In the southern part of for a few days’ vacation, he took it. Betty
the state is North Salem, near which lies was able to schedule her vacation for the
Mystery Hill, “America’s Stonehenge”, a same time, so they decided to go to
collection of stone structures with a Canada. They took their little dachsund,
mysterious origin. Also in the south, near Delsey, with them, staying in motels that
New Hampshire’s small strip of coastline, would allow the dog in their room.
is Exeter, the site of a large number of They went to Niagara Falls and to
UFO sightings in 1965, which I will feature Montreal, and on September 19th, they
at a later date. were on their way back home to Ports-
In the eastern central part of the state mouth. They stopped in Colebrook for a
is Ossipee Lake, an area sacred to the burger and then wound on down
Indians. In 1800, an Indian burial ground Highway 3 through Lancaster.
was discovered in the area that contained At about 10:15 PM, just south of
over ten thousand bodies arranged in Lancaster, Barney noticed a light in the
concentric circles. There are numerous sky below the moon, and called Betty’s
“kettle” lakes in the area that were carved attention to it. At first they thought it was
out by glaciers during the ice ages, and a planet, but then they noticed it was
the area is ringed by ancient volcanoes. moving. Barney began trying to convince
Some of the ponds are considered himself that it was only a satellite or a
bottomless and may be connected to each plane, becoming more and more agitated
other by volcanic vents. It is said that at anything that contradicted this view.
UFOs have been seen plunging into these Betty, whose sister had seen a UFO, was
deep ponds. Further north and in the convinced from the start that the light in
center of New Hampshire lies the White the sky was something unusual. They
Mountains National Forest. In the stopped the car to let Delsey do her
summer, the area is filled with vacationers business, and observed the object with a
and campers and hikers and fishermen. pair of binoculars they had.
There are various sights to see, such as By the time they reached the Flume,
the Flume, The Old Man of the Mountain, north of North Woodstock, the object had
Mount Washington, and Indian Head. In grown in size and Barney noticed that it
the winter, skiers flock to the slopes and had an unusual motion in that it would
hunters to the forests. But during the in- dart away to the west and then back,
between times, the early fall and the early closer each time. At Indian Head, Barney
spring, the area is quiet, resting. stopped the car again and looked at the
It probably wasn’t easy having a object with the binoculars. He could now
mixed marriage in 1961, even in liberal see multi-colored lights and rows of
New Hampshire, but the Hills seemed to windows on the pancake-shaped object,
have adjusted well. Betty Hill was a white which was huge and was only a hundred
social worker, and Barney Hill was a black feet away. He walked closer to the craft,
postal employee. Barney was working in and could see occupants standing inside,
Boston, commuting back and forth daily one of which he said seemed to be the
from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, “leader”. He became very frightened and
where the couple lived. Barney had ran back to the car, where Betty was
1
waiting. He started the car and took off Boston. Webb was a scientific advisor for
quickly. They could no longer see the NICAP (National Investigations Commit-
object, but they heard a beeping noise. tee on Aerial Phenomenon), Kehoe’s UFO
Sometime later, they heard the organization. Webb was asked to
beeping noise again, and noticed that they interview the Hills. He drove up to
were thirty-five miles south of Indian Portsmouth and spent several hours
Head, at Ashland. They drove on home to interviewing them. He was much
Portsmouth without further incident. impressed with their sincerity and with
They slept until afternoon, and when the detail they provided, and he wrote a
they awoke, Betty called her sister Janet long report for NICAP.
and told her about their experience. Janet After talking to Kehoe, and after
urged her to report the UFO sighting to reading Webb’s report, two technical
nearby Pease Air Force Base. Over writers who were interested in UFOs,
Barney’s objections, Betty called the base Robert Hohman and C.D. Jackson, made
and gave a report to Major Paul W. arrangements to interview the Hills in
Henderson of the 100th Bomb Wing. November. It was during this interview
When asked to do so by the Major, that one of the writers asked a key
Barney reluctantly gave his version of the question: Why had it taken the Hills so
sighting. Curiously, Pease AFB was the long to get home? Calculating the time
home of the 509th Bomb Wing in 1961, and the mileage from Colebrook to
the same 509th Bomb Wing whose home Portsmouth showed that they should
had been Roswell AAFB at the time of the have gotten home two hours sooner than
“Roswell Incident” in 1947. According to they did, even allowing for stops. Also
Jacques Vallee in Dimensions, the Hills’ present at this interview was Major James
sighting was corroborated by a radar MacDonald, a former Air Force Intelli-
sighting at Pease AFB on 20 September gence officer and close friend of the Hills.
1961, but his reference for this is unclear. It was he who first suggested hypnosis to
It’s an excerpt from Report No. 100-1-61, recover their memory of the missing time
that says simply: “. . . a strange incident period.
occurred at 0214 local on 20 Sept.” No In March of 1962, they spoke to a
importance was attached to the incident at psychiatrist about hypnosis, but decided
the time. to put it off until a later date. That
After reporting the incident, Barney summer, Barney’s ulcers returned, and his
preferred to forget about the event, but recurring hypertention returned. Feeling
Betty went to the library to look up books that his problems were emotional in
on UFOs. She found Major Donald origin, he began therapy with a psychia-
Kehoe’s The Flying Saucer Conspiracy trist in Exeter, Dr. Stephens. He continued
and read it avidly. She even wrote Kehoe this therapy through the next year, but
a letter detailing their sighting. A few the UFO sighting was not explored as part
days later, ten days after their sighting, of this treatment at first. But, not long
Betty began to have a series of night- after Betty and Barney had been asked to
mares that lasted five days and then speak to a church group about their
stopped. The nightmares involved she sighting, Dr. Stephens decided that the
and Barney being stopped at a road block sighting was important. He also decided
and then being taken inside some large that hypnosis was needed to help Barney
craft. At the urging of a friend, Betty deal with the incident. Not being profi-
wrote down the dreams. cient in hypnosis himself, he referred
Meanwhile, Betty’s letter to Kehoe had Barney to Dr. Benjamin Simon, a well-
been passed to Walter Webb, a lecturer known Boston psychiatrist and neurolo-
on the staff of the Hayden Planetarium in gist.
2
Dr. Simon quickly determined that he also point out that Betty’s nightmares
should treat both Betty and Barney for an began after she read Keyhoe’s book.
anxiety syndrome that could be traced That’s true, but Barney had not read
back to the incident on the night of Kehoe’s book when he saw the UFO with
September 19-20, 1961. He began by double rows of windows with “people”
hypnotizing Barney, then Betty. Over the behind them on the night of the sighting.
next six months, the story of the two Even if the dreams and the hypnotical-
hours of missing time began to emerge. ly recalled “abduction” are excluded for
Betty and Barney Hill told of being whatever reason, the sighting itself still
stopped at a roadblock and being taken stands as one of the most reliable and
onto the UFO, where they were given inexplicable on record.
medical examinations before being Dr. Simon, the psychiatrist who
returned to their car. Betty reported being worked through the post-traumatic stress
shown a “star map” that was later of the incident with the Hills, did not
interpreted to mean that the aliens came believe that they were lying. He was
from Zeta Reticuli. Their story was later unable to explain the sighting as anything
written into a two-part article in Look other than an actual occurrence, and
magazine, a book titled The Interrupted stated as much in a letter to the insurance
Journey by John G. Fuller, and later a TV company regarding the case. However,
movie aclled The UFO Incident starring he did not believe that the abduction took
Estelle Parsons and James Earl Jones as place. His final diagnosis was that Betty’s
the Hills. mind had created dreams of an abduction
The Hill’s story was the first “modern” to fill the amnesia period, and that
abduction story. There was no Communion Barney’s mind, when he heard the
back in 1961, and no X-Files. Abduction content of her dreams, had unconsciously
stories had not become part of the absorbed her dreams for the same
popular culture yet. People had claimed to purpose of filling the missing time period.
have contact with aliens, but they were None of this, of course, explains exactly
“contactees” in the mold of George what did happen and why it took the Hills
Adamski, who claimed to have been two hours longer than normal to drive
visited by friendly Venusians with long from Colebrook to Ashland.
blond hair who gave him a warning for
all mankind about nuclear war. Skeptics Loy Lawhon writes about paranormal
such as Martin S. Kottmeyer claim that phenomena for about.com, an Internet
the elements of the Hill abduction could encyclopedia.
be found in movies like 1953’s Invaders
From Mars and in the pulp science fiction
magazines. They also say that an alien
with wrap-around eyes such as Barney
Hill described was portrayed on an
episode of Outer Limits just 12 days
before the hypnotic session during which
he described the aliens. These claims
might be compelling if it had ever been
proven that Betty and Barney had seen
the movie or the Outer Limits episode or
that they were science fiction fans. But
investigators such as Karl Pflock say that
there is no evidence that they had been
exposed to any of those things. Skeptics
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Introduction
[from Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens, 1994, 1997]
John Mack
Nothing in my nearly forty years in the tics of real events: highly detailed
field of psychiatry prepared me for what I narratives that seemed to have no
have encountered in working with obvious symbolic pattern; intense
individuals reporting abduction ex- emotional and physical traumatic impact,
periences. I have always felt that my sometimes leaving small lesions on the
strong suit during many years of training experiencers’ bodies; and consistency of
in adult and child psychiatry and psycho- stories down to the most minute details.
analysis, and in the clinical work as a But if these experiences were in some
teacher and practitioner that followed, has sense “real,” then all sorts of new
been the discrimination of mental states, questions opened up. How often was this
the assessment of the nature and meaning occurring? If there were large numbers of
of patients’ communications. Yet here these cases, who was helping these
were individuals, reporting with appro- individuals deal with their experiences
priate feeling and self-doubt, experiences and what sort of support or treatment
which—according to generally accepted was called for? What was the response of
notions of reality—simply could not be. . . the mental health profession? And, most
. basic of all, what was the source of these
What struck me initially about the encounters? . . .
cases I saw . . . was the consistency of the
stories told by individuals who had not [THE ABDUCTEES SHARE NO
been in communication with each other, COMMON CHARACTERISTICS]
had come forth reluctantly, and feared the
discrediting of their accounts or outright None of the efforts to characterize
ridicule that they had encountered in the abductees as a group have been success-
past. Furthermore, most of the specific ful. They seem to come, as if at random,
information that the abductees provided from all parts of society. My own sample
about the means of transport to and from includes students, homemakers, secre-
spaceships, the descriptions of the insides taries, writers, business people, computer
of the ships themselves, and the proce- industry professionals, musicians,
dures carried out by the aliens during the psychologists, a nightclub receptionist, a
reported abductions had not been written prison guard, an acupuncturist, a social
about or shown in the media. Finally, worker, and a gas station attendant. . . .
none of the experiencers seemed Efforts to establish a pattern of
psychiatrically disturbed except in a psychopathology other than disturbances
secondary sense, that is they were associated with a traumatic event have
troubled as a consequence of something been unsuccessful. Psychological testing
that had apparently happened to them. of abductees has not revealed evidence of
There was little to suggest that their mental or emotional disturbance that
stories were delusional, a misinterpreta- could account for their reported experi-
tion of dreams, or the product of fantasy. ences. My own sample demonstrates a
None of those I saw initially and in the broad range of mental health and
coming months seemed like people who emotional adaptation. Some experiencers
would concoct a strange story for some are highly functioning individuals who
personal gain or purpose. In short, the seem mainly to need support in integrat-
experiences reported had the characteris- ing their abduction experiences with the
4
rest of their lives. Others verge on being or humming sound, unexplained
overwhelmed by the traumatic impact apprehension, the sense of an unusual
and philosophical implications of their presence or even the direct sighting of
experiences and need a great deal of one or more humanoid beings in the
counseling and emotional support. . . . room, and, of course, the close-up
The effort to discover a personality sighting of a strange craft.
type associated with abductions has also When an abduction begins during the
not been successful. . . . night, or, as is common, during the early
Similarly, there is no obvious pattern hours of the morning, the experiencer
of family structure and interaction in the may at first call what is happening a
case of abductees. . . . dream. But careful questioning will reveal
An association with sexual abuse has that the experiencer had not fallen asleep
also been suggested in the abduction at all, or that the experience began in a
literature. But here too errors related to conscious state after awakening. As the
the misremembering of traumatic abduction begins the abductee may
experiences . . . can lead to falsely experience a subtle shift of consciousness,
overstressing the association. There is not but this state of being is just as real, or
a single abduction case in my experience even more so, than the “normal” one.
or that of other investigators that has Sometimes there is a moment of shock
turned out to have masked a history of and sadness when the abductee discovers
sexual abuse or any other traumatic in the initial interview, or during a
cause. But the reverse has frequently hypnosis session, that what they had
occurred—that an abduction history has more comfortably held to be a dream was
been revealed in cases investigated for actually some sort of bizarre, threatening,
sexual or other traumatic abuse. and vivid experience which they may
[On the other hand, I do] have the then recall has occurred repeatedly and
impression that abductees as a group are for which they have no explanation.
usually open and intuitive individuals, less After the initial contact, the abductee is
tolerant than usual of societal authoritari- commonly “floated” (the word most
anism, and more flexible in accepting commonly used) down the hall, through
diversity and the unusual experiences of the wall or windows of the house, or
other people. Some of my cases [even] through the roof of the car. They are
report a variety of psychic experiences, usually astounded to discover that they
which has been noted by other research- are passed through solid objects, experi-
ers. . . . encing only a slight vibratory sensation.
In most cases the beam of light seems to
[THE TYPICAL ABDUCTION serve as an energy source or “ramp” for
EXPERIENCE: A SUMMARY] transporting the abductee from the place
where the abduction starts to a waiting
Abduction encounters begin most vehicle. Usually the experiencer is
commonly in homes or when abductees accompanied by one, two, or more
are driving automobiles. In some cases humanoid beings who guide them to the
the experiencer may be walking in nature. ship. At some point early in this process
One woman reported being taken from a the experiencer discovers that he or she
snowmobile on a winter’s day. Children has been numbed or totally paralyzed by
have experienced being taken from a touch of the hand or an instrument held
school yards. The first indication that an by one of the beings. Abductees may still
abduction is about to occur might be an be able to move their heads, and usually
unexplained intense blue or white light can see what is going on, although
that floods the bedroom, an odd buzzing frequently they will close their eyes so
5
they can deny or avoid experiencing the The walls and ceilings are curved and
reality of what is occurring. The terror usually white, although the floor may
associated with this helplessness blends appear dark or even black. Computer-like
with the frightening nature of the whole consoles and other equipment and
strange experience. instruments line the sides of the rooms,
When abductions begin in the which may have balconies and various
bedroom, the experiencer may not levels and alcoves. None of the equip-
initially see the spacecraft, which is the ment or instruments are quite like ones
source of the light and is outside the with which we are familiar. Furniture is
house. The UFOs vary in size from a few sparse, limited generally to body-
feet across to several hundred yards wide. conforming chairs and tables with a single
They are described as silvery or metallic support stand that can tilt one way or
and cigar-, saucer-, or dome-shaped. another during the procedures. The
Strong white, blue, orange, or red light ambiance is generally sterile and cold,
emanates from the bottom of the craft, mechanistic and hospital-like, except
which is apparently related to the when some sort of more complex staging
propulsion energy, and also from occurs. . . .
porthole-like openings that ring its outer Inside the ships the abductees usually
edge. After they are taken from the witness more alien beings, who are busy
house, abductees commonly see a small doing various tasks related to monitoring
spacecraft which may be standing on long the equipment and handling the abduc-
legs. They are initially taken into this craft, tion procedures. The beings described by
which then rises to a second larger or my cases are of several sorts. They appear
“mother” ship. At other times they as tall or short luminous entities that may
experience being taken up through the be translucent, or at least not altogether
night sky directly to the large ship and solid. Reptilian creatures have been seen
will see the house or ground below that seem to be carrying out mechanical
receding dramatically. Often the abductee functions. Nordic-looking blond human-
will struggle at this and later points to like beings are seen and human helpers
stop the experience, but this does little are sometimes observed working
good except to give the individual a vital alongside the humanoid alien beings. But
sense that he or she is not simply a by far the most common entity observed
passive victim. . . . are the small “grays,” humanoid beings
three to four feet in height. The grays are
INSIDE THE SHIPS: THE BEINGS mainly of two kinds—smaller drone or
insectlike workers, who move or glide
Sometimes abductees will report being robotically outside and inside the ships
taken into the ship through its underside and perform various specific tasks, and a
or through oval portals along its edge, slightly taller leader or “doctor,” as the
although often they cannot recall the abductees most often call him. Female
moment when they entered the craft. “nurses,” or other beings with special
Once inside they may at first find that functions, are observed. The leader is
they are in a small dark room, a sort of usually felt to be male, although female
vestibule. But soon they are taken into leaders are also seen. Gender difference is
one or more larger rooms where the not determined so much anatomically as
various procedures will occur. These by an intuitive feeling that abductees find
rooms are brightly lit, with a hazy difficult to put into words.
luminosity from indirect light sources in The small grays reported have large,
the walls. The atmosphere may be dank, pear-shaped heads that protrude in the
cool, and occasionally even foul-smelling. back, long arms with three or four long
6
fingers, a thin torso, and spindly legs. Feet PROCEDURES
are not often seen directly, and are
usually covered with single-piece boots. The procedures that occur on the ships
External genitalia, with rare exceptions, have been described in great detail in the
are not observed. The beings are hairless literature on abductions and will be
with no ears, have rudimentary nostril summarized only briefly here. . . .
holes, and a thin slit for a mouth which The abductee is usually undressed and
rarely opens or is expressive of emotion. is forced naked, or wearing only a single
By far the most prominent features are garment such as a T-shirt, onto a body-
huge, black eyes which curve upward and fitting table where most of the procedures
are more rounded toward the center of occur. The experiencer may be the only
the head and pointed at the outer edge. one undergoing the procedures during a
They seem to have no whites or pupils, particular abduction, or may see one, two,
although occasionally the abductee may or many other human beings undergoing
be able to see a kind of eye inside the eye, similar intrusions. The beings seem to
with the outer blackness appearing as a study their captives endlessly, staring at
sort of goggle. The eyes, as we will see in them extensively, often with the large
the case examples, have a compelling eyes close up to the humans’ heads. The
power, and the abductees will often wish abductees may feel as if the contents of
to avoid looking directly into them their minds have been totally known,
because of the overwhelming dread of even, in a sense, taken over. Skin and
their own sense of self, or loss of will, that hair, and other samples from inside the
occurs when they do so. In addition to body, are taken with the use of various
boots, the aliens usually wear a form- instruments that the abductees can
fitting, single-piece, tuniclike garment, sometimes describe in great detail.
which is sparsely adorned. A kind of cowl Instruments are used to penecrate
or hood is frequently reported. virtually every part of the abductees’
The leader or doctor is reported as bodies, including the nose, sinuses, eyes,
slightly taller, perhaps four and a half or ears, and other parts of the head, arms,
five feet at most, and has features similar legs, feet, abdomen, genitalia, and, more
to the smaller grays, except that he may rarely, the chest. Extensive surgical-like
seem older or more wrinkled. He is procedures done inside the head have
clearly in charge of the procedures that been described, which abductees feel may
occur on the ship. The attitude of the alter their nervous systems. The most
abductees toward the leader is generally common, and evidently most important
ambivalent. They often discover that they procedures, involve the reproductive
have known one leader-being throughout system. Instruments that penetrate the
their lives and have a strong bond with abdomen or involve the genital organs
him, experiencing a powerful, and even themselves are used to take sperm
reciprocal, love relationship. At the same samples from men and to remove or
time, they resent the control he has fertilize eggs of the female. Abductees
exercised in their lives. Communication report being impregnated by the alien
between the aliens and humans is beings and later having an alien-human
experienced as telepathic, mind to mind or human-human pregnancy removed.
or thought to thought, with no specific They see the little fetuses being put into
common learned language being containers on the ships, and during
necessary. subsequent abductions may see incuba-
tors where the hybrid babies are being
raised. Experiencers may also see older
hybrid children, adolescents, and adults,
7
which they are told by the aliens or know her pajamas on backwards or inside out,
intuitively are their own. Sometimes the or with certain garments or jewelry
aliens will try to have the human mothers missing. Sometimes the aliens seem to be
hold and nurture these creatures, who making a point, or a certain humor is
may appear quite listless, or will encour- involved. One two-year-old among my
age human children to play with the cases was tucked into his bed tightly after
hybrid ones. . . . an abduction, which the parents say that
Needless to say all of this is deeply neither they nor his older sister had done;
disturbing to the abductees, at least at he, of course, was incapable of doing this.
first, or when the material first surfaces. Hopkins tells of a case where two
Their terror may be mitigated somewhat abductees were returned to the wrong
by reassurances the aliens give that no cars. As they drove along the highway
serious harm will befall them, and by the drivers recognized each other’s cars.
various anxiety-reducing or anesthesia- They were “reabducted” and returned to
like means they use. These involve the appropriate vehicles.
instruments that affect the “energy” or After the abduction the experiencer
“vibrations” (words that abductees often may have varying degrees of recollection
use) of the body. These processes may of what occurred. Sometimes what
greatly reduce the abductees’ fear or pain, happened will be remembered as a
and even bring about states of consider- dream. The abductee may wake with
able relaxation. But in other cases they are unexplained cuts or other lesions (the
incompletely successful and terror, pain, mucous membrane was reported cut into
and rage break through the emotion- and tissue taken from inside the nose and
extinguishing devices used. . . . under the tongue in one of my cases),
In sum, the purely physical or small lumps under the skin, a headache,
biological aspect of the abduction or nosebleed. Generally experiencers are
phenomenon seems to have to do with quite tired afterwards and feel as if they
some sort of genetic or quasi-genetic have been through some sort of stressful
engineering for the purpose of creating experience.
human/alien hybrid offspring. We have
no evidence of alien-induced genetic [PHYSICAL EVIDENCE]
alteration in the strictly biological sense,
although it is possible that this has The physical phenomena that accompany
occurred. abductions are important, but gain their
significance primarily in that they
[THE RETURN] corroborate the experiences themselves;
for the effects tend to be subtle and would
The abductees usually report fewer details not by themselves convince a Western-
of their return to Earth than they do of trained clinician of their meaning. For
their abduction. Usually they are returned example, even though the abductees are
to the bed or car from which they were certain that the cuts, scars, scoop marks,
taken, but sometimes “mistakes” are and small fresh ulcers that appear on their
made. They may be returned quite a bodies after their experiences are related
distance, or even miles, away from their to the physical procedures performed on
home. This is rare, and I have seen no the ships, tbese lesions are usually too
cases of this kind, although Budd Hopkins trivial by themselves to be medically
has told me of such instances. Smaller significant. Similarly, abductees will often
mistakes are more common, such as experience that they have been pregnant
landing the experiencer facing in the and have had the pregnancy removed
wrong direction on the bed, with his or during an abduction, but there is not yet a
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