Secret Life

by David M. Jacobs

  Investigating the abduction phenomenon has demonstrated to me how brave and resilient people can be. I am continually astonished to see people who come back from these terrifying experiences and retain their sense of humor and their optimism. I admire their fierce determination to gain control over their lives and the abduction experiences. It is the triumph of the human spirit that is most remarkable in dealing with the abduction experience. And in the end, I believe, the human spirit will prevail.

  I am often asked how I would react if the entire abduction phenomenon should prove to be the internally generated product of people’s imaginations—if there are in reality no abductions and no aliens, and never have been. If that were true, I would weep with joy. I want to be wrong.

  If you think you may have been involved with the abduction phenomenon, I would like to learn about your experience. Please write to:

  Dr. David M. Jacobs

  Department of History

  Temple University

  Philadelphia, PA 19122

  All communications will be confidential.

  Appendix A

  A Few Words about Methodology

  Anecdotal Data

  For the most part, the material in this book is based on anecdotal evidence—stories that people relate. The quality of evidence of this nature has been a point of contention ever since the public began to make UFO sightings. But we must do the best with what we have. Wishing for better evidence does not advance knowledge; dealing with the evidence at hand does. No single book, no matter how much or what quality of evidence it marshals, is going to convince the majority of people that alien abductions are happening as described. Most probably, it will be the accumulation of evidence over a long period of time that ultimately will persuade people of the importance of the abduction phenomenon.

  Recruiting Subjects

  People who have had abduction experiences have come to me in a variety of ways. Some were referred by Budd Hopkins and other UFO researchers, others heard me discussing the subject on radio or television or saw newspaper articles about my work, and still others heard of my abduction work through word of mouth. I have also had abductees referred to me by mental health professionals who had them as clients.

  When a person first contacts me and tells me that she thinks something might have happened to her, I first ask a set of twenty-five questions that enable me to discern whether her memories might be related to the abduction phenomenon. I try to get a “feel” for the person and gauge whether she is motivated by a sincere desire to find out what has happened or is simply inquiring on a lark. If the person demonstrates genuine concern, if she does not have serious mental problems, and if she has had unusual experiences that might be related to the abduction phenomenon, I give her a strong verbal warning about the psychological consequences of finding out that something might have happened to her, and I then send her an abduction information pamphlet that outlines the pros and cons of memory collection. The pamphlet emphasizes the problems that can be engendered from memory recovery and stresses that for some people it might not be the right time to explore these events. If the person still wants to go forward, I give her a second verbal warning detailing more of the problems that she might face. If she still wants to participate, then the memory recovery process begins.

  Recall

  Abductees have a wide range of conscious recall about any given abduction event. If I am investigating a series of abductions that have taken place over the course of the abductee’s life, the subject may be able consciously to remember bits and pieces of some abductions, virtually nothing of other abductions, and virtually everything about still other abductions. The process seems dependent on the degree of consciousness alteration that occurs during the abduction. When abductees remember entire episodes consciously, hypnosis on that same abduction event often reveals that some of the details might be different and that entire parts are sometimes left out of the conscious recall. The consciously recalled elements of the abduction are often accurate, sometimes even to minute details. Just as often, however, they are untrustworthy because of the problems of screen memories, confabulation, dream material, and the visualization procedures.

  The Use of Hypnosis

  When I first begin the memory recovery process with a subject, I obtain a case history of the abductee, outlining many of the “suspicious” occurrences in that person’s life that might be indicative of an abduction. I do not discuss anything about the specific content of abductions with the subject. Then, with the abductee’s accord, I select a memory to be probed. The abductee then consciously relates all that she remembers about the incident, sometimes in surprising detail. We discuss this and then we begin a hypnosis session to ascertain the origin of the occurrences.

  Hypnosis is an indispensable tool in unlocking the memories of an abduction. Ever since 1963, when Dr. Benjamin Simon first used it on Betty and Barney Hill, UFO researchers have employed it to learn about abductions. It is the best method available to gain detailed access to people’s hidden abduction memories. Hypnosis, however, is not foolproof. Some abductees simply do not remember; when they do remember, especially details, it may be an incorrect memory that they are “filling in.” This can be particularly true when the subject is asked to supply details of an event from childhood.

  It is easy for a hypnotist to ask (consciously or inadvertently) leading questions that steer the abductee into an answer that may not reflect reality. This can be a problem for suggestible subjects. Confabulation, or the unconscious invention and filling in of memories, can become an easy way of providing information to the eager hypnotist-investigator. In hypnosis, even asking questions about a specific event can put pressure on the subject to invent details of that event to provide the answers to those questions. This problem is compounded by the fact that in abduction research, questions about details are routinely asked in order to gather as much information as possible.

  Even the milieu of the investigation might present problems. Certain expectations are inherent in this situation. The hypnotized person might unconsciously invent information about an abduction because that is what is expected. Even the investigator’s beliefs might subtly influence the subject to tell him “abduction” material. Intentional fabrication can be another problem. Even in deep hypnosis, the subject can consciously fabricate stories.

  Yet, despite these potential problems, hypnosis is a valuable instrument of data collection. The abduction accounts are recalled in a surprising manner. For many abductees, once the event is tapped into, the memories seem to pour out without much questioning. When the memories are finally out and discussed, they then are contained in “normal” memory and the abductees tend to forget them as they would any other more or less traumatic memory (thus, often these abductees find it difficult to recall details of the events later on without hypnosis). Other abductees, however, have a very difficult time remembering details of the abduction during the regression. Much of this depends on the specific abduction that they are trying to recall.

  The hypnosis I employ consists of light relaxation induction. Basically, I tell the subject to relax in several different ways, use a small amount of visual imagery to “deepen” the trance, and then begin to ask questions. My inductions are usually about fifteen minutes long. The hypnotized subjects have complete control and are free to challenge questions, refuse answers, or get up and go to the bathroom.

  I use a calm, informal style of inquiry, especially with those abductees who have had many sessions with me and with whom I have spent enough time to know their reactions to the questioning. When a person comes for her first session, my questioning technique is necessarily cautious and not pressing. With a new subject, I intentionally ask leading questions to ascertain whether she is “leadable” to any degree. The vast majority of the time she is not, demonstrating this by answering a definite “no” to my leading questions.

  During a regression session, I try to be as rigorously systematic as I can. I go throu
gh the abduction one step at a time, from just before the incident began until the very end. This requires expending a great amount of time on each abduction account. I have developed a technique through which I can move the abductee backward and forward through the event, slowly expanding memories. Sometimes I will go through the event twice, asking questions in a slightly different manner based on what has already been said. If a person cannot remember something, I do not press for recall. Each session lasts between three and five hours, with the hypnosis itself lasting between one and three hours.

  I use as nonconfrontational and supportive a manner as I can, often purposely not finishing questions so that abductees can “ease” into the line of questioning that I am developing or interpret the question for themselves. For the most part, I speak in low, conversational tones so that I do not in any way set up an environment that is hostile or suspicious. If I find what appear to be contradictions, I point these out and question them about it (e.g., “If you are lying on your back, how could you feel someone touching your back?”). If they say something that I have never heard before, I again question them very closely to make sure that it is not imaginary. It might appear in some of the transcript excerpts used in this study that a question is leading. In each case I have found that the abductee was not leadable; often the questions asked are from material that had already been discussed previously in the session.

  During a regression, all abductees are quite aware of what is happening on two fundamental levels: (1) the information that they are remembering, and (2) the questions and answers that they are required to deal with while they remember. If possible, the abductees learn to observe and analyze the events from a dispassionate and systematic point of view. When they have had a number of sessions, they become adept in questioning themselves and their remembrances, and they can distance themselves to a greater degree from the event. They become “participant-observers” rather than just helpless victims. This has proved to be invaluable for my own research and for the way that the abductees learn to cope with the problems engendered by the abductions. After I have had a number of sessions with them and am sure that they cannot be led while undergoing hypnosis, I can be more blunt in my questions and they can evaluate their memories for themselves. After I bring them out of the hypnotic state, we engage in a thirty-minute to one-hour “talk down” period when other details may be recalled.

  Occasionally I use a method I call “assisted recall,” in which close and careful questioning techniques enable the abductee to remember most of the abduction without the use of hypnosis.

  Questioning Techniques

  Disentangling “legitimate” information from unreliable memories involves techniques calculated to produce an understanding of the structure of the abduction and a recognition of anomalies within it. But this is not easy. The most systematic method is patient and thorough questioning, minutely examining every detail and going over every minor contradiction and gap in the account, no matter how irrelevant it might seem, in a second-by-second chronological order. But the problem of confused memory is complicated by the fact that not only is the abductee usually in a hypnotic trance while recalling her memories, but she was also in an altered state of consciousness during the abduction itself. Furthermore, complex mental procedures might have been executed on her that further clouded her perceptions and placed pseudo-images and “memories” in her mind.

  Experience in investigating these problems makes it possible to unweave an abduction account and have a reasonable assurance that false recall has been eliminated. Through patient and extremely cautious questioning, the researcher and the abductee can recognize that the events abductees sometimes describe might either not have happened at all or have happened in a different way than they first thought. For instance, one man talked about a beautiful young woman who was coming over to him for what he thought would be a sexual liaison. He described her as having “black hair.” Through meticulous questioning about the minute details of her actions and her appearance (“If her head is on your upper chest, can you see the top of her head?”), the false memories fell away and the abductee independently realized that it was her black eyes that he had been describing and not her hair. In fact, she had no hair at all. He also realized that the sexual encounter that he thought he was having was not, in fact, taking place, and that he had been involved with sexual imagery before a sperm sample was taken.

  Uncovering abduction memories and helping people come to terms with them is not an easy task. My investigative techniques have evolved and become more sophisticated during the five years that I have been involved in this endeavor. As I learned more about the content of abductions and their effects on the victims, my questioning changed to incorporate my new knowledge. Thus, I conducted my first investigations somewhat differently from later ones. This is bound to happen in a dynamic field where the influx of information is rapid and overwhelming, and where there is no large body of precedent to guide the investigator.

  Multiple Sessions

  The process of systematic and careful delving into abduction accounts can yield much previously unknown information. When abductees decide to do a series of hypnotic regressions on many different experiences in their lives, each session can generate both material previously known and new material never before encountered. Thus, abductees can have myriad experiences that might not be discovered with only one or two sessions. The investigation of abduction material over the course of a subject’s lifetime can provide important information about whether the abductions have changed over time and demonstrates the full scope of activity that happens to each individual. Furthermore, multiple sessions allow for the establishment of the mutual trust that makes it easier for an abductee to reveal sensitive and sometimes embarrassing material, often sexual in nature, that might be difficult to discuss after only a few sessions.

  Developing the Scenario

  When I started this research, some events had been known for years and were easier to understand. For instance, since 1966 researchers have known about the physical examination. In the 1980s, Budd Hopkins’s pioneering work uncovered reproductive procedures, such as egg removal, sperm collection, and baby holding.

  Yet there were still many elements of abduction accounts that seemingly defied comprehension. Systematic questioning techniques and analysis have now revealed the origin of many of those incomprehensible events. Thus, some reports of extremely tall aliens might be the result of an abductee’s lying down and looking up at them, which gives them the appearance of height. Images of atomic explosions are due to visualization procedures. Scenes of alien landscapes might also have their origin in mental procedures. Published accounts of alien “councils” during which aliens discuss abductees probably reflect the abductee’s seeing aliens standing around the examining table. Even though the abductees may not understand the import of the information they are relating, I have found it to be amenable to rational explanation given enough data collected through correct questioning techniques.

  The Transcripts

  I have tape-recorded each abduction account I researched and then had it transcribed. These written documents, based on oral accounts, help in comparing and analyzing the reports. The transcripts are then analyzed, divided into constituent parts based on the type of event described, and stored in a computer for more detailed analysis.

  Reading the transcripts can present a problem. My questioning might sound harsh or abrupt in places, which is unavoidable when the spoken word is written down verbatim. Inflection, nuance, timing, pauses, and the like are lost in a transcript. Therefore, much of the impact of what the abductees are saying is unavoidably omitted. Rather than extensively annotating each transcript, however, I allow the abductees to speak for themselves as much as possible without editorial comment that might interject too much of myself into the accounts.

  Support Systems

  Abductees are victims who, having gone through incredible and traumatic events without the ability to d
eal with them consciously, sometimes need help in overcoming the stress from the abduction events. I provide as much support as I can based on my experience, and I hold support-group sessions to allow abductees to discuss their ideas and meet others who have had the same experiences.

  Some abductees find it very difficult to cope with their abductions. The tears and emotions that have emerged in many regression sessions from these often terrorized victims is a testament to the trauma they consciously confront for the first time. If a person is suffering emotionally from the effects of abductions and needs more help than I can give, it is important for them to have professional counseling from a sympathetic psychologist or psychiatrist. Dr. Stephen Greenstein in Merion, Pennsylvania, has proved to be invaluable in giving the support and therapy that some of the abductees require.

  The proper methods of abduction research are still in the formative stage. Methodological and ethical protocols are being established. While this is happening, the possibility of abuse exists both from well-meaning but incompetent abduction investigators and from mental health professionals. It is extremely important for anyone seeking to examine potential abduction experiences to be certain that the person she or he consults for help in recalling the memories is well qualified for that task.