The Alien Abduction Survey

This alien abduction survey surprised me a little. Given the nature of this blog, I suspected that alien visitation would receive the most votes, but I didn’t think that sleep paralysis would do quite so well.

Since I allowed multiple answers, quite naturally, the percentage totals add up to more than one hundred. And, of course, this is not a scientific poll, though it certainly suggests something about what those interested in these paranormal topics think.

So, what did we learn. There are a large number of people who believe that sleep paralysis can explain some of the alien abductions. Given that the symptoms of sleep paralysis mirror the symptoms of alien abduction, this is no real surprise. What we need is a way to discriminate between abduction and sleep paralysis. Kathleen Marden (seen here), the niece of Betty Hill, has told me that abductions are described in color but sleep paralysis is in black and white. I haven’t verified this, but it shows that Marden is searching for an answer and that is a good thing.

Few thought that hypnotic regression had much to do with abduction but I think that might be a misunderstanding of what hypnosis is and what it does, both good and bad. Too many regressions of the same subject can lead in all sorts of unreliable directions and I fear that too few abduction researchers understand this.

Imagination received more votes than I expected because imagination is suggestive of hoax. You could have an imaginative episode that you believe to be abduction that is not part of a conscious hoax. I say it that way because the abductee might believe in the abduction but imagined the circumstances without the help or guidance of an abduction researcher. I suppose we could call this confabulation in the truest sense of the word.

In the end it seems that many people understand there is not a single explanation for alien abduction. What we’re going to find in the end is a combination of answers that will account for everything. It’s just that we don’t have the proper combination figured out yet. When we get there, then we’ll have something important.

Alien Abductions, Sleep Paralysis and MUFON

For those of you who might have missed it, I was just at the 40th MUFON Symposium in Denver (The Speakers Panel at the Symposium seen here). I had the opportunity to give a talk about using the scientific method to upgrade the evidence that we gather, but that’s not the point here.
During the question and answer period after my talk, someone, naturally, asked me about alien abductions. I pointed out that I believe that there is a terrestrial explanation for most abductions and like it or not, sleep paralysis is a viable answer to many cases. I attempted to make it clear that I don’t believe that all cases of abduction are actually episodes of sleep paralysis, but some are. I suggested that we needed to develop a protocol to separate sleep paralysis from alien abduction and was aware that some work along those lines was being done.

In fact, in a brief discussion with Kathleen Marden (seen below), the niece of Barney and Betty Hill, she told me that you could tell the difference because abduction descriptions were in black and white and sleep paralysis was in color. What she was saying was that because it was normally dark in the room when the abduction took place, the abductee described the events there in black and white. During sleep paralysis, which is often accompanied by the feeling that something is in the room, the descriptions are in color because this is, essentially, a hallucination.

That was an intriguing point and it suggests other ways to develop the protocol to separate sleep paralysis from abduction. But that’s not the point here either. Just a taste of something I learned at the Symposium, which proves the worth of such gatherings, but as I say, I digress...

I went out of my way to explain that while it was clear to me that some cases of sleep paralysis were offered as evidence of abduction, I didn’t believe that this was the end all solution. It was clear to me then, as it is now, that there will be many diverse answers to this problem and sleep paralysis is just one of them...

Or, I suppose I could say, "Get it?" Not all sleep paralysis ends with a belief that the person was abducted and not all abductions are explained by sleep paralysis.

I tried to make that distinction, but, of course, as there is in any large group, there were those who didn’t listen. They heard, "sleep paralysis" and then were so busy forming their response, they lost the rest of the message. They didn’t listen, and, of course, wouldn’t believe that sleep paralysis solved any case even if the witness came forward and said, "I experienced sleep paralysis and not abduction."

To make that point, all we have to do is look at the knee-jerk reaction to Susan Clancy’s book about abductions and sleep paralysis (called Abduction: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens, if you must know). Of course, she was so busy trying to prove her theory that she didn’t bother to see the flaws in it, but then again, I digress.

The next day, one of those in the audience came by and handed me a short list of statements by John Mack that he thought refuted the whole idea of sleep paralysis. I told him that not only had I read Mack’s book, but I had a signed copy given to me by Mack. I didn’t even have to pay for it.

For those interested in such things, the inscription says, "To Kevin, with admiration for your pioneering work. All the best wishes. John Mack."

So, yes, I understand that sleep paralysis won’t explain everything. But I also know that its part in abduction can’t be dismissed with a couple of words of derision. To understand abduction we’re going to have to understand sleep paralysis.

And when we dismiss sleep paralysis with a smart-ass response, then we’re doing exactly what we accuse the debunkers of doing. Not looking at the evidence. Not willing to learn something new. And not bothering with research because our minds are made up. After so many years of this, shouldn’t we be a little more open to solutions and a little less closed minded about the work of others, even if we don’t like where it is going?