Abductions: Incubi and Succubi

Incubi and Succubi Alien abduction inevitably encourages conjecture about extraterrestrial interest in human sexual behavior. Ordinary criminal abduction is an intimate crime: abductors manhandle their victims, deprive them of their liberty, and force them to submit to an unsympathetic agenda. Alien abduction heightens the intimacy factor, particularly insofar as the victim endures confinement to a … Read more

Abductions: “The Fantastic Imagination”

“The Fantastic Imagination” In the 1970s and ’80s, psychologists led by Josephine Hilgard, and closely followed by Cheryl Wilson and Theodore Barber, became intrigued by what they termed “the fantastic imagination.” They found that as many as 4 percent of Westerners have vivid imaginative fantasies. Further, these people secretly conduct the business of their lives … Read more

Abductions: The Betty Andreasson Story

The Betty Andreasson Story South Ashburnham lies in the center of Massachusetts, fifty-eight miles northwest of Boston. In 1967, as today, the village had a Little League team, some small restaurants, and a homogeneous white population. Because a larger town, Ashburnham, lay directly to the north, residents made a point to stress South Ashburnham in … Read more

Abductions: Where Did the Time Go?

Where Did the Time Go? The notion of “missing time” is a standard abductee complaint. Subjects report, variously, that time seems truncated, compressed, or missing (in chunks) altogether. One normal-life parallel is so-called highway hypnosis, a fugue state caused by fatigue, boredom, daydreaming, or, especially, over-familiarity with one’s route. Commuters often pull into their driveways … Read more

Eyes Only: The Three Familiar Types of Abduction Narratives

The Three Familiar Types of Abduction Narratives Extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH), by which the aliens and spacecraft are real, physical objects that come from worlds other than our own. Psychosocial hypothesis, by which behavior (the giving of an account) is cued by the dominant culture, and the biases of abductees. In addition, biases of hypnotists, hypnotherapists, … Read more

Abductions: Who Are Abductees?

Who Are Abductees? The UFO Contact Center International, established in Washington State by certified hypnotist Aileen Bringle in 1978, initially served two functions: as think tank and research center, and as a haven for traumatized abductees. The importance of support groups to survivors of trauma is obvious, and even more obvious when the trauma inspires … Read more

Abductions: The Alien War Against Personal Liberty

The Alien War Against Personal Liberty Accounts of alien abductions originated in the United States, and continue to come from there more frequently than from any other part of the world. In this, Barney and Betty Hill set a course for the future just as surely as they annihilated assumptions from the past. Because America … Read more

Abductions: Living Special Lives

Living Special Lives Barney Hill was African American; at the time of the abduction, he was thirty- nine years old. Betty Hill, forty-one, was Caucasian. When Barney and Betty met in New Hampshire in the mid-1950s, both were nearing the end of what would be their first marriages. Barney and Betty wed in the late … Read more

Abductions: Unwilling Trailblazers

Unwilling Trailblazers During the first thirty years of the world’s intense postwar interest in UFOs, the objects themselves absorbed the attention of most researchers and laypersons. But UFO investigation grew circular, going round and round with the same syllabus of sightings, close encounters, and unacceptable official explanations. Alien abduction was a longtime staple of pulp … Read more

Abductions: Helplessness, Pain, and Fractured Memory

Helplessness, Pain, and Fractured Memory Since the 1990s, reported abductions of human beings by extraterrestrials have become increasingly common, and in a variety of ways: anecdotally (a wealth of isolated accounts); philosophically (what do they want with us?); sexually (“and then they inserted the probe . . .”); and institutionally (reflecting a common theory that … Read more