The
other day as I was working on something else, I came across a note that
triggered (or in today’s world, with triggered having degenerated into a
political term, maybe I should say inspired… or inclined, but I digress…) a
random thought or two. The discussion centered on the Barney and Betty Hill
abduction and the comment suggested that the tale was based in reality because
it had remained so consistent throughout the years. This wasn’t quite accurate
and I thought I would comment on it.
In
The Interrupted Journey, Betty Hill,
in the Appendix, in which her dreams about the abduction are recalled in detail
tells us about the alien creatures she saw. These are notes from her dreams, as
written down by her and, “…are printed here for those readers who would like to
compare in detail the content of her dreams with her recall of the amnesic
period as it came out under hypnosis.”
 |
| Jimmy Durante and his nose. |
On
page 298 of the hardback edition of the book, she wrote (or said) of the aliens,
“Their chests are larger than ours; their noses were larger (longer) [parentheses
in the original] than the average size although I have seen people with noses
like theirs – like Jimmy Durante’s.”
But
now, it seems that the description is more in line with the grays from the Zeta
Reticuli star system. Little noses that are more like slits rather than noses.
So, what happened here?
 |
| A Zeta Reticulan? |
Well,
it seems that the look of the alien creatures has evolved over time. We can
blame Whitley Strieber for some of it. The cover of Transformation seems to have cemented the large-eyed, big-headed,
nearly noseless aliens into our consciousness so that here, in the US, that is
the dominant alien… but not so much in other parts of the world. I draw no
conclusion here, merely point out something that I have noticed.
14 comments:
As per the inclusion of the photo evidence of Jimmy Durante's prominent nose, should we surmise, theoretically, that some such alien cousins may, as in the Hill case, upon touch-down to earth, utter the inimitable phraseology of "hot cha cha cha!" with an expressive grin? 8^}
Long noses, slit noses, reptilians, blonde Nordics, even Bigfoot-like creatures. I tell ya, everyone wants to get in the act!
Wind Swords
I am astonished that anyone remembers all this from the 1950s... good for you. It's nice to see that a few have a fondness for nostalgia.
Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.
"I am astonished that anyone remembers all this from the 1950s..."
I was not born until very late 1959 - just 2 weeks away from 1960. But I like the 50's and shows from that era. So for me it's not memory of the first run but memories of re-runs!
Wind Swords
I would think it was the cover of "Communion", which went to the top of the New York Times bestseller list in the late 1980s, that had the most widespread cultural influence and led directly to the embracing of the big-eyed, noseless, gray alien meme in the US. The book about the Hills' experience (whatever it might truly have been), was 20 years prior and while popular, wasn't widely influential nor did it spawn an alien abduction craze. We can lay that at the feet of Strieber and, shortly thereafter, The X-Files, which picked up that ball and ran it downfield.
To me it seems the Hills and Strieber are two distinct phenomena, with Strieber borrowing heavily from and greatly embellishing the Hills' story to make it his own. Yes, one is dependent on the other, but in this case, the child is more influential the father. Hence, the noseless alien meme.
Dreams as evidence is a new one to me. Freud would advise detective work rather than literalism. He talks of the repressed emerging into the conscious through processes such as condensation and displacement. The absence of a distinct nose might therefore occur in a dream as a large nose? Freud also had something to say about our diminished sense of smell re human development into civilised but neurotic adulthood, I think, so the nature of an alien nose might tell us more than we realise! Potentially there is much more than a story of mere contradiction in the evidence here. The parallel with Durante for example invokes the whole cosmic joker meme beloved of Vallee and Hansen. Whether we can rely on dreams at all, that is another question.
What did the aliens look like in the 1975 movie "UFO INCIDENT" based on the Hill case? It seems the typical gray was already around long before Strieber.
While I agree that Betty Hill’s description of the aliens may have changed after the initial report, the 1975 theatrical depiction of the Hill case titled “The UFO Incident” starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons depicts the abductors as grey skinned, large eyed beings without noses. Also, the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind(1975) as well as the book titled the Andreasson Affair (1979) by Raymond Fowler depicts aliens with grey skin, large eyes, and without a nose.
Furthermore, Bud Hopkins’ book Missing Time describes abduction cases involving such entities; in fact the entire book builds it’s case around the eerie similarity of these beings(grey skin, large black eyes, small or nonexistent noses) as described by alleged abductees. Several of the beings that abducted Travis Walton are also depicted as typical greys - I’m not sure when Mike Rogers drew the particular illustration in question, but it’s shown the 1985 HBO documentary titles “UFO’s: What’s Going On?”
I could go on; I just want to make the point that the image of the greys has been around since 1975, and was firmly entrenched in UFO lore years before Whitley Strieber’s Communion was published in 1987. When that book was published, I had already been following the subject for several years, and my first reaction upon seeing the being on the cover was “Hmm...beige colored skin...that’s original”.
A correction to my previous post: Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released in 1977, not 1975.
I have a copy of Fuller's book on the Hills' experience. None of the illustrations look to me like the gray alien meme with which we've all become familiar. Meanwhile, Strieber's "Communion" was featured in the window of almost every bookstore in my city (back at a time when bookstores were common as dirt and there was one in every shopping center, mall, and shopping district). With that kind of exposure, to even casual passersby, it's very hard to deny that image would become a widespread cultural phenomenon as a result (remember, it was followed by a Christopher Walken movie version, where the aliens were depicted thus).
Just to be straight up here, I don't believe anyone has ever been abducted by aliens . . . ever. However, a lot of people have made a lot of money (collectively) selling the alien abduction fantasy to the gullible and wannabes. And their logo of choice for this strictly commercial enterprise has been the now-familiar, big-eyed, noseless, gray alien face.
purrlgurrl said...
'Strieber borrowing heavily from and greatly embellishing the Hills' story to make it his own.'
Where is you evidence for this? Do you feel any need for evidence, or are you entirely comfortable with making sweeping claims like this with nothing to support it being right?
'Vinca culture figurines have been researched numerous times and among one sphere of scientists and scholars some have come to the conclusion these mysterious ancient objects found in Serbia could depict extraterrestrial visitors! Possibly of Gods, or any similar superior life form that pushed our civilization to advance to the point where we are today. These ideas have been ridiculed by general media coverings, however still there are many individuals that believe these old archaeological objects could give us some answers that we as human civilization seek from our existence. Just as pyramids and other ancient megalithic objects that inspire thinkers even till this day, in same manner Vinča figurines too inspire open minds around the globe! Mostly due to specific looks of figurines many think this is how aliens looked like in their encounters with our civilization....'
http://www.slavorum.org/serbian-vinca-figurines-evidence-of-ancient-extraterrestrial-contact/
The being depicted on the cover of Communion is beige, not gray, and the other beings he claims were part of his abduction were short, pudgy blue creatures that wore cloaks. To my knowledge, Strieber never claimed to have encountered a typical gray alien himself, so it’s hardly fair to say he invented or intentionally promoted the image of the gray alien. The blame for that should mostly go to Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs, since they were actively promoting the meme in the years before Strieber's book was even published.
I wonder what Stanton or Betty's niece has to say about this discrepancy in Betty's testimony? It is one of the few things about this case that bothers me. Nevertheless, i still accept the case as real. When did Betty attain her alien bust, which depicts the little nose? If she writes about the Jimmy Durante nose in 1995 then she wasn't changing her story right after 1980 "Communion". I bet she read "Communion" as soon as it came out too. When did The bust come about?
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