Alien abduction
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 📖 Term
Contents 7
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| Type | Term |
|---|---|
| Also known as | abduction, abductions, abductee, abductees |
| On the Timeline | 11 events, 1952–1995 |
Alien abduction is the claim by some people that they were taken against their will by non-human beings, usually aboard a craft, and subjected to physical or psychological procedures. Since the 1960s thousands of such accounts have been collected, mostly in English-speaking countries and especially the United States. Most scientists and mental health professionals attribute them to sleep paralysis, suggestibility, false memories created under hypnosis and other psychological factors, though some researchers have argued they reflect real encounters.[1][2]
Early cases
Brazilian farmer Antônio Vilas-Boas reported in 1957 that he had been taken aboard a craft. The first widely publicised case was that of Betty and Barney Hill, who said they were abducted in New Hampshire in 1961; their story, told in John Fuller's The Interrupted Journey (1966) and a 1975 television film, set the pattern for many later accounts, including the grey-skinned beings with large eyes. Other well-known cases include the 1973 Pascagoula abduction in Mississippi and Travis Walton's 1975 claim in Arizona.[1][3]
Researchers
In the 1970s and 1980s, New York artist Budd Hopkins used hypnosis to explore people's memories and argued that abductions were common and often repeated; historian David Jacobs proposed that aliens were carrying out a "hybridisation program". Harvard psychiatrist John Mack interviewed hundreds of people who reported abductions, concluding in 1994 that their experiences were not explained by mental illness; a Harvard review of his work ended with his tenure intact. Psychologist R. Leo Sprinkle was among the first to link abductions with cattle mutilations, and folklorist Thomas Bullard compared nearly 300 accounts.[1][4]
Common elements
Bullard identified a typical sequence: capture, examination, a conference with the beings, a tour of the craft, loss of time, return, a religious or visionary experience, and aftermath. Examinations are often described as focusing on reproduction, the head, the nervous system and the skin, and some accounts describe being shown human–alien "hybrid" children.[1]
At a 1992 conference on abductions held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers Jenny Randles and Keith Basterfield noted that in cases where someone else was present when an "abduction" began, the experiencer had not physically gone anywhere.[1]
Explanations
Psychologists point to sleep paralysis, in which people wake unable to move and may sense a presence or see figures; to the creation of false memories through hypnosis, as described by Irving Kirsch and Steven Lynn; and to fantasy-proneness. A 2003 Harvard study found that people who believed they had been abducted showed physiological stress responses when recalling the events, similar to those of people with post-traumatic stress, without confirming the events occurred. Psychologist Susan Clancy's book Abducted (2005) examined how people come to hold such beliefs. Some studies, such as Richard McNally's, found no psychiatric illness among those interviewed.[1][2][5]
Cultural influence
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Abduction narratives spread through books such as Whitley Strieber's Communion (1987), the Hill case dramatisation, and television such as The X-Files, which combined abductions with government conspiracy. Reports have declined in recent decades, which some writers link to changes in popular culture and the ubiquity of cameras.[1][6]
On the UAP Timeline
- Whitley Strieber's childhood memories (October 1952) — Author Whitley Strieber says he may have been tested at a Texas air base during childhood encounters.
- Dan Sherman and the telepathy breeding claim (January 1963) — Air Force Sgt. Dan Sherman says he was told of a program breeding people with telepathic abilities.
- Pascagoula abduction (11 October 1973) — Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker say they were taken aboard a craft near Pascagoula, Mississippi.
- Spread of the Bennewitz disinformation (1980s Undefined) — Doty's fake document spreads to the public and into books and media.
- Doty's psychological operations claim (1980s) — Doty says an Air Force unit ran psychological operations on people who saw secret aircraft.
- Advanced Theoretical Physics group (20 May 1985) — A secure facility hosts a conference on whether UAP evidence supports a research program.
- Valdamar Valerian's Matrix books (January 1991) — A writer using a pseudonym publishes books claiming 'grey aliens' are involved in human affairs.
- Roper Organization abduction survey (1991) (22 May 1991) — Vallée says Liechtenstein's prince funded a study of alien abduction claims through Robert Bigelow.
- Dan Sherman's NSA analyst training (1992) — Dan Sherman claims his NSA analyst training was cover for communicating with extraterrestrials.
- Dan Sherman's July 1994 communication (July 1994) — Sherman describes a more intense communication with a non-human source.
- Dan Sherman and abduction messages (Mid 1995) — Sherman says his messages seemed to involve alien abductions.
References
- Alien abduction — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Susan Clancy, Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens (2005) — Google Books · books.google.com · archived copy
- Barney and Betty Hill incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- John E. Mack, Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens — Internet Archive · archive.org · archived copy
- "Memories of alien 'abduction' cause physical effects", New Scientist (2003) · newscientist.com · archived copy
- "Why alien abductions are down dramatically", The Boston Globe (2016) · bostonglobe.com · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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