Alien abductions

Harpur, Patrick. Daimonic reality a field guide to the other world. Viking, 1994 reprint, London, New York Arkana, 1995. xxi, 330 p. ISBN 0-14-019485-1 "Mysterious lights in the sky, phantom animals, visions of the Virgin Mary, UFO s, fairies, alien abductions Daimonic Reality makes sense of these apparitions and... 

Hester, Jan, Mantis Creatures Join Alien Troops, UFO Magazine and Phenomena Report, 12(4) 25, July/August, 1997. (Discusses the praying mantis in alien abductions.)... 

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, you already understand our natural tendency to dissociate—to be in one conscious state but to experience in it properties of another. I will show that when amplified this normal process can lead to such exceptional states as sleep walking and hypnopompic hallucinations, and that these exceptional states can become models for understanding out of body experiences, extrasensory perceptions, or alien abductions All of these exotic experiences can— and usually do—occur in the privacy and safety of our bedrooms. 

My astonishment at the credulity of many fellow dreamers who deny the instruction of their didactic dream illusions is exceeded only by my amazement at my even better educated colleagues, like John Mack, who collude with their patients inferences about the veracity of alien abduction. The critique offered here is based on the testimony of the subjects that Mack describes in his book, Alien Abduction. However, I believe that the illusion hypothesis will apply equally well to other cases, even those that occur outdoors in the daytime. Remember, the capacity of the brain-mind for dissociation is a natural and universal talent. 

When told to most people, alien abduction stories cause winks and laughter whether or not the people know anything about the mind s dependence on the brain and the striking correlation between sleep and altered states of consciousness. Why, they ask, should the aliens visit only at night Why doesn t anyone else ever see them, photograph them, or even capture them Where do the abductees go Why do they come back ... 

That is why it is wise for therapists and counselors to listen carefully to accounts of alien abduction and all other probably illusional alterations of consciousness. Even physician-scientists have an interest in eliciting an unguarded report, because we need to know the whole domain of altered consciousness if we are to explain it using physicalistic concepts. But it is more than unwise for any counselor, let alone a physician-scientist, to credit such accounts with objective veracity, especially when no other competing hypothesis is taken seriously. 

By the time that John Mack published his book Alien Abduction, sleep research was not only clearly established, it was mature enough to provide powerful, credible alternative explanations for many of the fascinating conscious experiences that occur on the margins of sleep. In fact, John Mack is also the author of an earlier book, entitled Children s Dreams and Nightmares, which, even as it expresses the author s psychoanalytic preferences, also reflects his awareness of modern sleep and dream science. 

Mack, J.E., MI) (1993). "The Alien Abduction Phenomenon," Venture Inward, March/April, p.38. 

Find out what else the filmmakers have produced. There is diversity in most filmmakers portfolios, but if someone has made a career out of films that focus on alien abductions and conspiracies, the chances are good that the climate change film they re producing is not going to be scientifically rigorous. 

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