The terms alien abduction or abduction phenomenon describe "subjectively real memories of being taken secretly against one’s will by apparently nonhuman entities and subjected to complex physical and psychological procedures."[1] People claiming to have been abducted are usually called "abductees" or "experiencers." Typical claims involve being subjected to a forced medical examination that emphasizes their reproductive system.[2] Abductees sometimes claim to have been warned against environmental abuse and the dangers of nuclear weapons.[3] Consequently, while many of these purported encounters are described as terrifying, some have been viewed as pleasurable or transformative.
Due to a lack of any substantial physical evidence, most scientists and mental health professionals dismiss the phenomenon as "[d]eception, suggestibility (fantasy-proneness, hypnotizability, false-memory syndrome), personality, sleep phenomena, psychopathology, psychodynamics [and] environmental factors.".[4] Skeptic Robert 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.[5]
The first alien abduction claim to be widely publicized was the Betty and Barney Hill abduction in 1961.[6] Reports of the abduction phenomenon have been made around the world, but are most common in English speaking countries, especially the United States.[5] The contents of the abduction narrative often seem to vary with the home culture of the alleged abductee.[5]
Alien abductions have been the subject of conspiracy theories and science fiction storylines (notably The X-Files) which have speculated on stealth technology required if the phenomenon were real, the motivations for secrecy and that alien implants could be a possible form of physical evidence.
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| CUFOS Definition of an Abductee[7] |
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| A person must be taken: |
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| The beings must take the person to: |
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| In this place, the person must either: |
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| These experiences may be remembered: |
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Mainstream scientists reject claims that the phenomenon literally occurs as reported. However, there is little doubt that many apparently stable persons who report alien abductions believe their experiences were real.[8] As reported in the Harvard University Gazette in 1992, Dr. John Edward Mack investigated over 800 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."[9] "While psychopathology is indicated in some isolated alien abduction cases," Stanley Krippner et al. confirmed, "assessment by both clinical examination and standardized tests has shown that, as a group, abduction experients are not different from the general population in term of psychopathology prevalence."[10] 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.[11]
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.
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[12] 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.)
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.[13]
The UFO contactees of the 1950s claimed to have contacted aliens, and the substance of contactee narratives is often regarded as quite different from alien abduction accounts.
An early alien abduction claim occurred in the mid-1950s with the Antonio Villas Boas case, which did not receive much attention until several years later. Widespread publicity was generated by the Betty and Barney Hill abduction case of 1961, 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 claimant described beings that later became widely known as the Greys, and in which the beings were said to explicitly identify an extraterrestrial origin.
If fictional sources such as science fiction movies and pulps are taken into consideration, the phenomena might be traced back to the 1930s.
Dr. Ronald Sprinkle (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, sculptor and raconteur by profession—had been interested in UFOs for some years. In the 1970s he became interested in abduction reports, and began using hypnosis 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 Edward 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 that 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.
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 over 800 people, and eventually writing two books on the subject.
In June 1992, Mack co-organized a five-day conference at MIT to discuss and debate the abduction phenomenon.[14] 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.
A variety of types of abductors are proposed, including Greys, Nordic aliens almost indistinguishable from humans, humanoid reptiles, energy beings and more.
A variety of motivations are attributed to alleged abductors. These include:
The precise number of alleged abductees is uncertain. One of the earliest studies of abductions found 1,700 claimants, while contested surveys argued that 5–6 percent of the general population might have been abducted.[4]
As a category, some studies show that abductees have psychological characteristics that render their testimony suspect.[5] 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.[5]
According to Yvonne Smith, some alleged abductees test positive for lupus, despite not showing any symptoms.[16]
Alleged abductees are seen by many pro-abduction researchers to have a higher incidence of non-abduction related paranormal events and abilities.[17] Following an abduction experience, these paranormal abilities and occurrences sometimes seem to become more pronounced.[17] According to investigator Benton Jamison, abduction experiencers who report UFO sightings that should have been, but are not, reported by independent corroborating witnesses often seem to "be 'psychic personalities' in the sense of Jan Ehrenwald."[17]
After what has been reported to be extensive poling and research, IFHRAA of London has postulated that the incidence of paranormal activities either contributing to, or resulting from, alien abduction/contact is significantly higher than previously imagined owing to a strong reluctance to fully disclose the facts and thereby inviting exposure. Further, it is believed that such alien contributed paranormal activity is frequently initiated by an interest in, and practice of, a learned paranormal activity such as Remote Viewing. In such instances, the subject often finds that the scientific endeavor quickly strays beyond its prescribed boundaries and entices the subject into a new arena where contact can more freely utilize the potency of the science. While there have been few verifiable examples of this, the most notable remains the extensive communication experienced over four decades by SUBJECT 9. During his prolonged and occasionally painful contact experiences, he was given three lengthy, complex, and baffling manuscripts that have yet to be decoded.[18], and[19],and CESG Paper.[18]
In a study investigating the motivations of the alleged abductors, Jenny Randles found that in each of the 4 cases out of 50 total where the experiencer was over 40 years of age or more, they were rejected by the aliens for "what they (the experiencers) usually inferred to be a medical reason."[15] Randles concludes "[T]he abduction is essentially a young person's experience."[15] Given the reproductive focus of the alleged abductions it is not surprising that one man reported being rejected because he had undergone a vasectomy.[20] It could also be partially because people over the age of 40 are less likely to have "hormonic" or reproductive activity going on.
Although abduction and other UFO-related reports are usually made by adults, sometimes young children report similar experiences.[21] 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.[21] Often these young abductees have family members who have reported having abduction experiences.[21] Family involvement in the military, or a residence near a military base is also common amongst child abduction claimants.[21]
Although different cases vary in detail (sometimes significantly), some UFO researchers, such as folklorist Thomas E. Bullard[22] argue that there is a broad, fairly consistent sequence and description of events that 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.
Bullard argues most abduction accounts feature the following events. They generally follow the sequence noted below, though not all abductions feature all the events:
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.[23]
Abduction claimants report unusual feelings preceding the onset of an abduction experience.[24] 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.[24] Abductees also report feeling severe, undirected anxiety at this point even though nothing unusual has actually occurred yet.[24] This period of foreboding can last for up to several days before the abduction actually takes place or be completely absent.[24]
Eventually, the experiencer will undergo an apparent "shift" into an altered state of consciousness.[24] 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.[24] They report feeling introspective and unusually calm.[24] This stage marks a transition from normal activity to a state of "limited self-willed mobility."[24] As consciousness shifts one or more lights are alleged to appear, occasionally accompanied by a strange mist.[24] 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.[24]
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.[24] Alternatively, they may experience rising through a tunnel with or without the abductors accompanying them into the awaiting craft.[24]
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 of 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.[2][25]
Miller notes different areas of emphasis between human medicine and what is allegedly being practiced by the abductors.[2] The abductors' areas of interest appear to be the cranium (see below), nervous system, skin, reproductive system, and to a lesser degree, the joints.[2] 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.[2] The abductors also appear to ignore the upper region of the abdomen in favor of the lower one.[2]
There are also differences in procedure as well as emphasis between human medicine and that claimed to be practiced by the entities. The abductors do not appear to wear gloves during the "examination."[2] Other constants of terrestrial medicine like pills and tablets are missing from abduction narratives although sometimes abductees are asked to drink liquids.[2] Injections also seem to be rare and IVs are almost completely absent.[2] Dr. Miller says he's never heard an abductee claim to have a tongue depressor used on them.[2]
After the so-called medical exam, the alleged abductees often report other procedures being performed with the entities.[23] Common among these post-examination procedures are what abduction researchers refer to as imaging, envisioning, staging, and testing.[23]
"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.[23] "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.[23] "Staging" procedures have the abductee playing a more active role, according to reports containing this element.[23] 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.[23]
"Testing" marks something of a departure from the above procedures in that it lacks the emotional analysis feature.[23] During testing the experiencer is placed in front of a complicated electronic device and is instructed to operate it.[23] The experiencer is often confused, saying that they do not know how to operate it.[23] However, when they actually set about performing the task, the abductee will find that they do, in fact, know how to operate the machine.[23]
Abductees of all ages and genders sometimes report being subjected to a "child presentation."[23] As its name implies, the child presentation involves the abduction claimant being shown a "child."[23] Often the children appear to be neither human, nor the same species as the abductors.[23] Instead, the child will almost always share characteristics of both species.[23] These children are labeled by experiencers as hybrids between humans and their abductors, usually Greys.
Unlike Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs, folklorist Thomas E. Bullard could not identify a child presentation phase in the abduction narrative, even after undertaking a study of 300 abduction reports.[20] Bullard says that the child presentation "seems to be an innovation in the story"[20] and that "no clear antecedents" to descriptions of the child presentation phase exists prior to its popularization by Hopkins and Jacobs.[20]
Bullard also studied the 300 reports of alien abduction in an attempt to observe the less prominent aspects of the claims.[3] He notes the emergence of four general categories of events that recur regularly, although not as frequently as stereotypical happenings like the medical examination. These four types of events are:[3]
Chronologically within abduction reports these rarer episodes tend to happen in the order listed, between the medical examination and the return.[3]
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.[3] They become more relaxed and hospitable towards their captive and lead him or her away from the site of the examination.[3] The entities then hold a conference with the experiencer, wherein they discuss things relevant to the abduction phenomenon.[3] Bullard notes five general categories of discussion that occur during the conference "phase" of reported abduction narratives: An interrogation session, explanatory segment, task assignment, warnings, and prophecies.[3]
Tours of the abductors' craft are a rare but recurring feature of the abduction narrative.[3] 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.[3] Sometimes the abductee report traveling on a "journey" to orbit around Earth or to what appear to be other planets.[3] 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.
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.[26] Usually, explicit memories of the abduction experience will not be present, and the abductee will realize they have experienced "missing time" upon checking a timepiece.[26]
Sometimes the alleged abductors appear to make mistakes when returning their captives.[26] Famed UFO researcher Budd Hopkins has joked about "the cosmic application of Murphy's Law" in response to this observation.[26] Hopkins has estimated that these "errors" accompany 4–5 percent of abduction reports.[26] 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.[26] 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.[26]
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.[27] He terms the insight or development leading to this shift in identity from non-abductee to abductee the "realization event."[27] The realization event is often a single, memorable experience, but Miller reports that not all abductees experience it as a distinct episode.[27] Either way, the realization event can be thought of as the "clinical horizon" of the abduction experience.[27]
Most people alleging alien abductions report invasive examinations of their bodies[28] and some ascribe psychological trauma to their experiences.[29] Alleged abductees claim their memories of the abduction events have caused posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "Post abduction syndrome" is a term used by abductees to describe the effects of abduction, though it is not recognized by any professional treatment organizations.[29] The difference between PAS and PTSD is described as the recurrence of the phenomenon and the inability to identify when the disorder started; furthermore, the medical community considers PTSD to be a severe and debilitating ailment whereas "PAS" has been promoted only by fringe researchers.
Support groups for people who believed they were abducted began appearing in the mid-1980s. These groups appear throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. Their members are primarily white married females with some college education.[30]
Many alien abductees recall much of their abduction(s) through hypnosis.[31] Because of this, it is claimed by some skeptics that the vast majority of evidence for alien abduction is based on memories 'recovered' through hypnosis. Due to the extensive use of hypnosis, the abduction narratives are frequently explained by skeptics as false memories and suggestions by the hypnotherapist.[32] Alleged abductees seek out hypnotherapists to try to resolve issues such as missing time or unexplained physical symptoms such as muscle pain or headaches. This usually involves two phases, an information gathering stage, in which the hypnotherapist asks about unexplained illnesses or unusual phenomena during the patients lives (caused by or distortions of the alleged abduction), followed by hypnosis and guided imagery to facilitate recall. The information gathering enhances the likelihood that the events discussed will be incorporated into later abduction "memories".[33] Seven steps are hypothesized to lead to the development of false memories:[32]
There have been a variety of explanations offered for abduction phenomena, ranging from sharply skeptical appraisals, to uncritical acceptance of all abductee claims, to the demonological, to everything in between.
Some have elected not to try explaining things, instead noting similarities to other phenomena, or simply documenting the development of the alien abduction phenomenon.
Others are intrigued by the entire phenomenon, but hesitate in making any definitive conclusions. 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)
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."
Skeptical perspectives assert that reports of people being kidnapped and subjected to forced medical examinations by extraterrestrial 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 and historians.
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. One example of a comprehensive, skeptical analysis that focuses on the effects of mass marketing is art historian John F. Moffitt's 2003 book Picturing Extraterrestrials: Alien Images in Modern Mass Culture[34]
Abduction researcher Brian Thompson claims that a nurse acquaintance of his reported that during 1957 in Cincinnati she encountered a 3-foot-tall (0.91 m) praying mantis-like entity two days after a V-shaped UFO sighting.[25] This mantis-like creature is reminiscent of the insectoid-type entity reported in some abduction accounts.[25] He related this report to fellow researcher Leonard Stringfield.[25] Stringfield told him of two cases he had in his files where separate witnesses reported identical circumstances in the same place and year.[25]
While some corroborated accounts seem to support the literal reality of the abduction experience, others seem to support a psychological explanation for the phenomenon's origins. Jenny Randles and Keith Basterfield both noted at the 1992 MIT alien abduction conference that of the five cases they knew of where an abduction researcher was present at the onset of an abduction experience, the experiencer "didn't physically go anywhere."[38]
Brazilian researcher Gilda Moura reported on a similar case, the Sueli case, from her home country. When psychologist and UFO researcher Don Donderi said that these cases were "evidence of psychological processes" that did not "have anything to do with a physical alien abduction," Moura replied "If the Sueli case is not an abduction, I don't know what is an abduction any more."[38] Gilda Moura noted that in the Brazilian Sueli case during the abduction UFOs were observed.[38] Later, she claims the experiencer had eye burns, saw lights and there seemed to be residual poltergeist activity.[38]
It has been argued that if actual "flesh and blood" aliens are abducting humans, there should be some hard evidence that this is occurring.[5] 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.[2] Some have speculated that this could be a form of laparoscopy.[2] If this is true, after the abduction there should be free gas in the female's abdomen, which could be seen on an x-ray.[2] The presence of free gas would be extremely abnormal, and would help substantiate the claim of some sort of procedure being done to her.[2]
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