When do abductions begin? The evidence indicates that, with the exception of opportunistic abductions, all abductees have their first experience in childhood. The youngest case I have found was that of an abductee who reported her eight-month-old child being taken, although most abductees remember their first episode occurring when they were between the ages of four and seven. The aliens then in some way “tag” the person and mentally and physically “mine” him or her for a good part of their lives. I have no record of a series of abductions that begin when the abductee is an adult.
Abductions sometimes take place in “clusters.” They may increase as the child approaches and goes through puberty, continue through the teens, and then abruptly stop. Long periods of time may pass without an abduction and then they begin again—intensely. Sometimes the abductee can have as many as one experience every few nights for a week or two. For some women, frequency is linked to their menstrual cycle. Abductions increase during ovulation and decrease during menstruation. The frequency of abductions for men has not yet been adequately researched, but it appears to be less predictable than for women.
Does location matter for an abduction? We used to think that UFOs were sighted more often in secluded areas than in densely populated locations. This may still be true for the sightings, but it makes no difference for abductions. With certain exceptions, abductions can occur anywhere and location is no determinate.
An abductee cannot hide from the abductions. They occur in the middle of Manhattan or in a farmhouse in Kansas. They occur within an apartment complex or in a single dwelling in the suburbs. If an abductee travels to other states or countries, he or she is often abducted there. However, the specific locale might make a difference. For example, being in a room full of sleeping people at night makes no difference, but being in a crowd of people at a sporting event, in a market, or in a workplace seems to give some protection against an abduction at that time. Methods have been found that, in some cases, might postpone abductions, but no one has been able to find a way to stop them permanently.
What do the aliens want? The reports indicate that they want to use the ability humans have to recreate themselves. They want human sperm and eggs. They want human physical involvement with the offspring. They want complete knowledge of the reproductive areas of human life. They also want knowledge of our mental and nonreproductive physiological processes. With Mindscan and other mental procedures they might also want knowledge of how humans function within society.
What do the aliens not want? They appear not to want human advice or consultation. They do not want to disclose information about their origins and purposes. Neither do they impart much information about the technicalities of what they are doing during the various procedures they conduct on humans. They do not want to be discovered. They do not want to be stopped.
How long have the aliens been doing this? It is possible that aliens have been abducting humans for hundreds of years, but we have found no evidence for it. It is very difficult to say exactly when the phenomenon began, but there are indications that it might have begun in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. We have collected some reports suggestive of abductions in the 1900s, and we have investigated abductions that occurred in the early 1930s. The main bulk of the abductions seems to have begun in the mid-twentieth century, perhaps coinciding with the first UFO sighting waves in the 1940s. Our knowledge is limited by the age of the people who explore their experiences; most abductees who have come forth in the last five years are under sixty years old.
If we are dealing with a generationally based abduction program, then it could have started on a relatively small scale one hundred years ago; it may have grown exponentially as the children of the original abductees were themselves abducted, then their children in turn became abductees, and so on. The amount of time and effort that the aliens put into the breeding program would have grown as the abductee population increased. Such a scenario would account for the widespread abduction phenomenon of today.
How long will aliens continue abductions? The abduction program appears to be vast. Abductees routinely report rooms with as many as two hundred tables holding humans in various stages of examination. The aliens hustle them out as soon as possible after the procedures are completed, presumably so that more humans can be brought in. The evidence suggests that this goes on twenty-four hours a day, month after month, year after year. The amount of time and energy invested in the breeding program is enormous. This might indicate that the aliens will be here for a long period of time—possibly forever. It is also possible that the aliens could cease their operations tomorrow and never bother us again.
Are aliens malevolent or benevolent? The aliens appear to be neither malevolent nor benevolent. They do not seem to be here to help us or to harm us. They are here for themselves. They are doing what they want to do, without consideration for our wishes. They appear to have no concern with the central issues and problems of human survival. They do not share technology, impart knowledge, give advice, warn us about our course for the future, or tell us how to cure disease.
Modern anthropologists employ a policy of ethnical noninterference when they encounter a newly found tribal society so that it can survive without the disruptive shock of modern cultural and technological intervention. It is possible that the aliens are acting in the same way, although little evidence exists for this. However, it is also possible that they have instituted the practice of nonintervention so that they can continue to execute their program without threat of human attempts to prevent it.
Does the breeding program involve genetic interbreeding? Dr. Michael Swords, a professor of natural sciences at Western Michigan University, has argued that it would be biologically impossible for aliens to join their DNA with ours—assuming that they have DNA—just as it is impossible for humans to interbreed across animal species. Moreover, the lack of genitals on the aliens (some sexual reports notwithstanding) makes it clear that they are not interbreeding with us in the most usual sense.
It seems more likely that genetic alteration is taking place instead of interbreeding. The evidence seems to indicate the following sequence: (1) eggs and sperm are taken; (2) they are fertilized in vitro; (3) the fertilized egg is genetically altered; (4) the fertilized egg is implanted in utero; (5) after a short period of from two to ten weeks of gestation, the fetus is removed; and (6) the fetus is incubated externally. However the effect is achieved, the babies look like crosses between humans and aliens.2
Why do aliens need humans to touch offspring? Budd Hopkins has posited that the point of holding the offspring is for nurturance—to give them human love, just as humans do with their own children. However, touch seems to be more important than love. Experiments with premature human babies have shown that without touching the babies develop at a slower rate than premature infants who have been regularly massaged. Touching can stimulate hormones essential for physical and psychological well-being. For all human babies, the absence of touching can cause physiological deficiencies that lead to the serious condition of psychosocial dwarfism. If this is the reason the alien offspring need touching, then why the aliens cannot supply it is a mystery, as is why the offspring would need human touch so infrequently.
Are the offspring sick? Although abductees commonly report that the offspring look sickly or even close to death, we cannot substantiate the fact that they are ill. In fact, most abductees only see “sickly” babies and few, if any, see “healthy” babies. Thus, we must assume that either all the babies the abductees see are sick, or, more probably, that the babies’ appearance of “wasting” is normal for them.
Why do aliens repeatedly abduct the same people? We do not know the answer to this. The abductee obviously fits some sort of criteria for use. It has been speculated that if the abductees’ offspring cannot themselves reproduce in sufficient numbers to maintain the population, then repeated mining of abductees for reproductive material might account for the recurring nature of the abdu
ctions.
Do abductees take trips in the UFOs? Over the years researchers have reported cases of abductees traveling in UFOs. I have not uncovered an abduction-related trip to another planet in my research. I have had abductees say that they had the definite feeling of movement in the object as if it were traveling. Others have said that they could see the planet Earth outside a window. Some have seen stars against a black background outside a window. The travel that I have investigated has seemed incidental to the abduction, and I have found no procedures related to it. Further investigation may reveal deliberate travel experiences, but, based on what we know, it seems likely that some reports of travel might be due to envisioning or staging procedures.
Are aliens ultimately going to take over the planet? Based on everything we know, the aliens could have taken over many years ago if they had wanted to. The program they have instituted does not seem to be one of conquest, at least not in the common meaning of the word. The apparent lack of systematic interest in our culture and society probably precludes any type of program to “colonize.” However, the aliens’ meticulous attention to human thought processes and physiology suggests a far more serious interest in humans than just the mechanical production of babies. The clandestine character of the abduction event suggests that they do not want us to know what they are doing. This might mean that in the future they could make a sudden, widespread public appearance when they are ready. Of course, it could also mean that eventually they will complete their program and disappear.
What happens to the babies? This is the central question of abduction research. If the abduction phenomenon has been going on for at least fifty years, then the first of the offspring must be around fifty years old by now. But where are they? There is no evidence that the offspring are on Earth. We can surmise that the offspring are being taken somewhere else.
Some abductees have suggested that the babies are being taken elsewhere to populate another planet. Others have suggested that the babies are being used as workers somewhere. In one regression, Karen Morgan recalled a child-presentation procedure in which a voice came over the “telepathic P.A. system” summoning her to “behold the children of the future.” She was shown ten children standing together. The voice told her they were playing.
And I think, “They’re not playing. This is all manipulated. [Something bizarre is] happening here.” But they’re saying, “The children are playing.” Or, “Observe the children at play. These are our children, and they’re your children. They’re the children of the future. Together we have done… built something.” I’m looking at the children, saying, “I don’t like this.”“ Observe the children of the future.” It’s like a speech. Everything’s like a speech, you know? And the children are under a soft, yellow light, like a spotlight on them.
Can you kind of [remember] anything else?
Yes, I do remember. It said, “We’re on the verge of a new horizon” or “beginning,” or something. “We’re on the verge of new ‘something.’”…
What else do they say?
Nothing that I’m aware of. They just walk out of the room.
These babies have something to do with the future, then?
They definitely do. They said they’re the children of the future. Whose future? I don’t know.
(Karen Morgan, 38, 1987)
In another episode, Karen was once again in the media room when she heard more information about the possible purposes of the aliens.
Do they say anything about babies?
Children. There’s some bullshit, David, I hear like, “Children of the future” or something. Children of the future, children of the world, children of the… it’s like, these are impressions now, but it’s something like, “This will be brought into being or inherited by children of the future.” And something like, “the future that you help create,” or “the future that you are part of,” or “the future that…” I’d like to think that this was just wishful thinking on their part, but I’m not sure it is.
Now, are you sure that they’re talking about Earth, or are they talking about another planet?
It looks a lot like Earth to me…. I have the feeling that it’s not another planet, but it’s a highly idealized version and a too-pretty picture of this planet.
(Karen Morgan, 38, 1987)
In one of Lynn Miller’s abduction experiences, a Taller Being told her that the babies were being produced to be workers. She received the impression that he wanted her to have babies.
Why do you think he might want that? He needs babies….
When he says that he wants you to have babies, can you get a sense of why he needs babies?
No.
Can you get a sense of what he’s going to do with the babies?
They need them for work.
For work?
Yes.
You mean they’re growing babies to be workers?
Yes.
How can you get a sense of that?
I just get a sense of it.
Do you get a sense of what kind of work they’ll be doing?
No.
Do you get a sense of where they’ll be doing the work?
Not on Earth….
So you suggest, then, that the babies will be in another place.
Yes.
By another place, does he mean another planet?
Another solar system.
So not in our own solar system?
No.
(Lynn Miller, 32, 1988)
A depressed Lynn said she felt as if she was being used as a babymaking machine for their purposes.
If the aliens’ focus is on producing babies, then what do all the physical and mental procedures mean? Unfortunately, we do not have enough information about the purposes of these procedures to understand exactly how they fit into the larger context of abductions. The mental procedures suggest that the aliens are far more interested in human mental and emotional lives than the production of babies would warrant. It is possible that some Mindscan procedures might utilize human memories to learn about human culture and society. The aliens’ meticulous physical examination of men and women also suggests greater curiosity than what might be assumed is necessary for physiological reproduction. The nonreproductive mental and physical procedures represent one of the more important, and perhaps ominous, mysteries in the abduction phenomenon.
Is it risky to investigate abductions? No investigator has ever been abducted as a result of his research. Yet, since we do not know the consequences of investigating abductions, it is necessary to proceed cautiously. For instance, the clandestine nature of abductions has been in effect since the beginning. But if abductions become commonly known through the work of investigators and are therefore no longer clandestine, we do not know what response the aliens might have to that situation.
What does the abduction phenomenon mean? We have been invaded. It is not an occupation, but it is an invasion. At present we can do little or nothing to stop it. The aliens have powers and technology greatly in advance of ours, and that puts us at a tremendous disadvantage in our ability to affect the phenomenon or gain some control over it. We do not know what is going to happen in the future, just as we do not know what the aliens’ ultimate purposes are. We do know that the effect on abductees’ lives can be devastating. The net effect of the abduction phenomenon on our society and culture at large could very well be the same over a long period of time.
Contact between the races is not taking place in a scenario that has been commonly envisioned by scientists and science fiction writers: two independent worlds making careful overtures for equal and mutual benefit. Rather, it is completely one-sided. Instead of equal benefit, we see a disturbing program of apparent exploitation of one species by another. How it began is unknown. How it will end is unknown. But we must face the abduction phenomenon squarely and begin to think rationally about what to do about it.
Afterword
Final Thoughts
When I first became
involved with abduction research, it was easy to keep it at arm’s length and treat it as an intellectual puzzle. But the more I learned about the abduction phenomenon, the more frightening it became, both personally and in the larger context of its potential effects on society.
This book is, in one sense, a warning. We must realize that the abduction phenomenon is too important to dismiss as the ravings of prevaricators or psychologically disturbed people. I hope the extraordinary lack of scientific concern to date does not in the long run prove to be a mistake with undreamed-of consequences.
We are just at the beginning of a systematic study of abductions. Amateur investigators and professional therapists are also beginning to do abduction research. Extreme caution is necessary. The researcher must protect the abductee from further harm. Abductees can be emotionally fragile, and incompetent memory recovery techniques can cause them psychological damage. The risk of the further victimizing of the abductees by well-meaning but unqualified individuals is high. Special training is required.
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