Abduction phenomenon: Encyclopedia II - Abduction phenomenon - Interpretations analyses and proposed explanations

Abduction phenomenon - Interpretations analyses and proposed explanations

There have been a variety of explanations offered for abduction phenomenon, 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 or experts.

• Proposed psychological alternative explanations of the abduction phenomenon have included hallucination, temporary schizophrenia, and parasomnia—near-sleep mental states (hypnogogic states 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 it is also theorized to be a confused memory of past events (such as sexual abuse).

• 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.

• 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. 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 imaginers accounts." (Bryan, 49)

• 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. (Others have argued against this idea; folklorist Eddie Bullard asks, "If Hollywood is responsible for these images, where are the monsters? Where are the robots?" (Bryan, 50)

• 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 feature a strong a 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.

• In The Demon-Haunted World astronomer Carl Sagan wrote about the theory 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 (a.k.a. DMT). The description of Machine Elves is often consistent with the description of aliens. In a 1988 study conducted at UNM, psychologist Rick Strassman found that approximately 20% of volunteers injected with high doses of DMT had experiences identical to purported Alien Abductions.

The alien abduction phenomenon has been the subject of conspiracy theory and as such has become a staple of popular science fiction works such as The X-Files.

An inventor by the name of Michael Menkin claims to have had success in stopping alien abductions with the creation of a hat known as the Thought Screen Helmet.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Interpretations analyses and proposed explanations", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki