They Know Us Better Than We Know Ourselves: The History and Politics of Alien Abduction

256 Pages·2007·1.18 MB·English

by  Bridget Brown

They Know Us Better Than
We Know Ourselves

They Know Us
Better Than We
Know Ourselves
The History and Politics of
Alien Abduction
Bridget Brown
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
new york university press
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2007by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brown, Bridget, Ph. D.
They know us better than we know ourselves : the history and
politics of alien abduction / Bridget Brown.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-9921-5(cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8147-9921-3(cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-9922-2(pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8147-9922-1(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Alien abduction. I. Title.
BF2050.B762007
001.942—dc22 2007006143
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 Elusive Shreds of Memory: The Trauma and
Recovery of Alien Abduction 21
2 The Invisible Epidemic: Abduction Traumatists 37
3 Good Subjects: Submitting to the Alien 52
4 My Body Is Not My Own: The Intimate Invasion of
Alien Technology 70
5 An Ongoing and Systematic Breeding Experiment 83
6 They Have the Secrets: Conspiracy Theory as
Alternative History 100
7 This Is Worse Than Friggin’ Aliens: Conspiracy
Theory and the War against Citizens 121
8 Look and See What You Have Done: Abductees and
the Burden of Global Consciousness 142
9 You Have a Sensitivity: The Limits of Chosenness 160
10 Reality Gets Exploded: Abductee Culture,
Abductee Belief 177
Conclusion: Alien Abduction and the
New Face of Terror 207
Notes 211
Bibliography 239
Index 243
About the Author 247
v

Acknowledgments
First, thanks to the abductees who were, for the most part,
extremely willing and helpful participants in this project. I am grateful
also to the folks at The Center for UFO Studies for complete access to
their fabulous archive.
I also offer my profuse thanks to many willing and astute readers.
These include Andrew Ross, Lisa Duggan, Toby Miller, and Cyrus Patell
of New York University. Thanks also to my colleagues Sandie Fried-
man, Rebekah Kowal, Leslie Paris, and Deborah Williams. And to Peter
Knight, coordinator of the conspiracy cultures conference held at King
Alfred University, at which a version of chapter 4 was presented in
1998, and editor of Conspiracy Nation: The Politics of Paranoia in
Postwar America (NYU Press, 2002), in which a related version of
chapter 4appears. And to Eric Zinner and Emily Park at NYU Press for
their patience and faith in the project.
I dedicate this book to my family and friends for their support dur-
ing the long haul, for the innumerable alien cartoons, articles, pho-
tographs, and related ephemera they sent me, as well as for the endless
opportunities to discuss my project and fine-tune my arguments. And fi-
nally, to my husband, Lawrence Lipkin.
vii

Introduction
The salient characteristic of the traumatic event is its power to in-
spire helplessness and fear. —Judith Herman1
It starts with fear and opens up into exploration.
—Jean, alleged alien abductee
Welcome to SPACE
In the summer of 1999Henry, one of the alleged alien abductees I inter-
viewed for this project, invited me to attend a meeting of the SPACE
(Search Project for Aspects of Close Encounters) support group for ab-
ductees and other experiencers of paranormal phenomena. Henry has
been facilitating such SPACE meetings since 1992. SPACE’s Statement
of Purpose, as it appears in the organization’s newsletter, the SPACE
Explorer, reads:
The support and research group gives UFO experiencers a chance to
share openly in a comfortable social setting and to explore experi-
ences on the unknown frontier of close encounters. This interactive and
proactive program tries to help by providing understanding; caring sup-
port; nonjudgmental, meaningful feedback unencumbered by belief sys-
tems; and professional resources. In our search for truth, we hope to en-
courage experiencers toward real empowerment by overcoming fears;
creating new life skills; nurturing transformation; and, for those who
wish, conducting proactive interaction with the unknown.
The meeting that I attended took place in the apartment of a member
who lives in a doorman building on the Upper East Side of New York
City and focused on open sharing with other experiencers. I was struck
by the sense of fellowship among attendees. There were eighteen people
at the meeting I attended, including me. Attendees were asked to bring
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