UFO Abductions: Real, Fantasy or a Little of Both?

[Gene Steinberg]

Since we're going to have Dr. David M. Jacobs, a long-time UFO abduction researcher, on our September 24th episode, we thought it would be a great idea to open up this topic forum to coordinate all the messages on this one subject.

So what do you think, readers and listeners?

This is, by the way, only the first of a number of interviews we have planned with well-known investigators into the abduction scenario.

[jritzmann]

Well you know what I think. However I'm very much in doubt of Jacob's scenario of human/alien hybrid programs and such. To me, this is nothing but a regressive-hypnosis induced/cultural contamination issue. The dangers of regression hypnosis has long been a touchy subject with many therapists, as it deals with an area of the brain that pertains to fantasy or nightmare, and is highly prone to suggestability. There is also the issue of "pleasing the therapist".

Someone going into Jacob's office is already aware of the "typical" abduction scenario, therefore this is what they expect to find. I was always put off at the reports of such "consistency" within subjects...well I guess so, when nearly everyone knows the scene..I mean it's all over the place.

I have personally seen speakers at lectures go up to one another's rooms so one "abductee" can regress another, and vise versa. I was so uncomfortable because I watched them literally lead eachother on. I knew this was something I never wanted to do, and I knew it long before anyone asked me to.

I was asked countless times by therapists that I facilitated experiencer support groups for, to be "regressed". One was so offended he told me I must be a coward to not want to know the truth. I explained several times I didnt need regression to recall anything, and what I didnt recall clearly enough...I didnt care to know. (It wasnt much anyway that I didnt)

So, to answer Gene's question, I believe there is alot of fantasy, due to regression alone. As far as I'm concerned anyone's memories retrieved by regression alone are largely due to contamination. There are plenty like me who didnt need it to remember experiences...I mean you remember it like you remember putting your shoes on this morning. The problem is, we're not as good a story and dont fit into a preconcieved box...our accounts are just a hell of alot wierder then anyone wants to talk about. Myself, I dont care how bizzarre they sound or how unplausible they are to some...thats how it is, and thats how I'll tell it.

[Rick Deckard]

The the whole idea of abductions does seem plausible to me - we do the same thing with species that we are interested in. We put them through a traumatic experience when we capture them for examination or relocation. When they emerge from the experience they must wonder what happened to them. Wouldn't ET's do the same with us?

I once saw it reported that Whitley Streiber had admitted that his stories were pure fiction - is that true? His book 'Communion' scared the hell out of me - I think it did something to my psyche 'cos the image of the 'greys' really freaks me out. I can't look at it for very long.

Depictions of abductions in movie's has always been harrowing - I think these images play on people's minds. There is research to suggest that the part of the brain that interprets tv programs and movies treats the experience in the same way as real life experiences. I do wonder if these tv and movie 'experiences' taint people's recollections of events under hypnosis.


So, I guess my answer is that I expect that most of the recorded 'abduction' cases are 'something else' but a small percentage are probably 'real'.

I was surprised to see Jacobs seem to be un aware that the time travel paradox has been solved using theories that take into account the many worlds theory, and/or time being simultaneous. He seemed to use linear time in refuting the possibility that the aliens aren't time travelers.

David touched on the multi-verse which I was glad, however Jacobs still needs to know that time travel doesn't effect all time lines, just the ones in which you travel too (or create). So if we in the future go into a past the past won't really be THE past, but A past. That time line will be the same with the exception of including the time travelers presence. Any effects the time travelers make on that time line only effects that time line and not the others. Hope that made sense.

As for what I think, I think it's all of the above and maybe some other things we haven't figured out yet. Most abduction cases aren't impressive and can be explained in more mundane ways. Some are probably approximate recollections of a real abduction experience.

[legrand]

I do not believe in abductions even though I find them interesting. I am not a hardcore skeptic though since I do think anythings possible. I find the hill case pretty cool since it happened years before all the movies about "greys" came out. I have read the Strieber books and find them intresting as well. Rick you are not alone I am freaked out by the depictions of greys too. To me it is the eyes that seem real evil. Like anything else paranormal we should keep a open mind and seek the truth no matter how strange it is.

[Rick Deckard]

Originally Posted by legrand

I have read the Strieber books and find them intresting as well. Rick you are not alone I am freaked out by the depictions of greys too. To me it is the eyes that seem real evil.

Yeah, definitely the eyes - they don't appear to have an iris. Just two huge, cold, dark pupils.

I don't like watching wildlife documentaries about bugs and insects either. Perhaps seeing a closeup of a praying mantis enlarged to 2 feet across on my TV screen has a similar effect...

[CapnG]

Me three. I was just listening to the archive of Jeff's interview last night (why do I listen to these things before bed?....so stupid...) and apart from the general strangeness of his encounters what struck me was the way he reacted to seeing the cover of Communion in a book store. My reaction, while nowhere near as strong, was fairly similar. To this day, I have not read the book and probably never will (not that I really need to I can extrapolate pretty well from summaries and reviews I've read).

Now I do NOT consider myself an abductee/contactee/experiencer. I've had some odd experiences in my life but I would say these fall in the ghostly catagory, not the extra-terrestrial/dimensional one. And, I'll further qualify this by saying I'm not bothered by most of the depictions of aliens I have seen. But the one on the cover of that book and indeed any variation of the extremely large-eyed grey gives me the willies. My theory? Well, if these things have been around since time immemorial, perhaps even being the progentors or archetects of our spieces, I'd have to assume it's some sort of racial or genetic memory, pre-programmed to make fearful and obidient. Anyone else have an idea?

Question for Jeff: I realize you may not want to discuss your experiences beyond what was already revealed in the interview (tremendoulsy brave of you, by the way) but I have to ask something; Based on the evidence of this phenomenon to date, you know they're coming back for you eventually. What do you plan to do next time?