Abduction Digest, Number 67 Monday, July 13th 1992 (C) Copyright 1992 Paranet Information Service. All Rights Reserved. Today's Topics: Silent Invasion What's happening Intruders Silent Invasion Workshops MIT Conference Omega Project Who is an abductee? Ambiguities Workshops Omega Project Ambiguities Who is an abductee? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (David Jacobs) Subject: Silent Invasion Date: 4 Jul 92 07:04:15 GMT I would like to think you for your kind words about my book, it is always nice to hear positive feedback. I am afraid that I have to agree with you about the possibility of invasion on a more overt level. One of the things that historians learn very quickly is that you cannot predict the future. While it is certainly true that if invasion is on the aliens minds, they could have accomplished it a long time ago. It is also true that the end-product of the abduction scenario could be a full-scale invasion in the future. It is also true that a more sinister, covert, invasion could also be in the works. Anything is possible. Right now we have to stick to what is known. They could have invaded if they wanted to and they didn't. I think that is a positive note in our favor. Via SPITFIRE Bulletin Board System - Version 3.2 -- David Jacobs - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John.Hicks@f29.n363.z1.FIDONET.ORG (John Hicks) Subject: What's happening Date: 4 Jul 92 03:24:00 GMT > conducting a series of workshops around the country for psychiatrists > and psychologists who are interested in learning more about the > subject. Please post a schedule for the workshops when you're ready to hold them. I know a local psychologist who'd be very interested, plus I know a psychiatric staff chief whose curiosity might just get the better of him. jbh -- John Hicks - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: John.Hicks@f29.n363.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David.Brune@f816.n107.z1.FIDONET.ORG (David Brune) Subject: Intruders Date: 6 Jul 92 04:37:00 GMT Keith, Please do! It will be interesting to see if 'Intruders' does anything for the UFO phenomena in your neck of the woods. I would be especially interested in any sighting or abduction data that may come up. David -- David Brune - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: David.Brune@f816.n107.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Alan.Decker@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Alan Decker) Subject: Silent Invasion Date: 7 Jul 92 06:51:00 GMT One of the things that your work brings to the surface is the "bonding" process. I have wondered for some time at what point the abductee's terror and fear suddenly change to "love and compassion" for their abductors. I mean, It seems perfectly natural to feel abject horror over what you are being subjected to, but once you are on the "table", suddenly all is forgiven, everything is fine, and you feel just peachy- keen! I imagined it to be either drugs or technology or a combination. I suspect the "bonding" procedure to be the main culprit in molding the hostage's feelings towards the "visitor's" favor. Alan -- Alan Decker - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Alan.Decker@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (David Jacobs) Subject: Workshops Date: 7 Jul 92 05:44:20 GMT John, the workshops are being given to interested psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric social workers who mailed in a special card that was included in the Roper Poll booklet. The first one will be in New York City in mid-July. After that they will be held around the country, we hope. It means a lot of work for Budd and I but we feel that this is worth it. Via SPITFIRE Bulletin Board System - Version 3.2 -- David Jacobs - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (David Jacobs) Subject: MIT Conference Date: 7 Jul 92 05:50:40 GMT The MIT conference was set up by Dave Pritchard and John Mack. It had several goals. The first, I guess, was to bring together the major researchers in the abduction area and have them share data to see what everyone has been able to come up with. The second goal, I think, was to produce the proceedings which will, it was hoped, act as a scientific guide to the abduction phenomenon that scientists and professionals could refer to for solid information. My guess is that the third goal was to allow the abduction research community to find out where the state of art is these days. I am not sure that all these goals were met, but at least it was a good, and valuable, attempt that can only be seen as another step in the important goal of professionalization. Via SPITFIRE Bulletin Board System - Version 3.2 -- David Jacobs - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (David Jacobs) Subject: Omega Project Date: 7 Jul 92 05:55:01 GMT Doug, I wrote a detailed critique of Kenneth Ring's article on the Omega Project in the current issue of the JOURNAL OF UFO STUDIES. I am afraid that I was not very impressed with the article or his findings. I thought that the study was ill-conceived and told us very little about anything. The only point that was interesting is that he could not find any evidence that the Fantasy Prone Personality theory was a major player in abductions or Near Death Experiences. However, the study was so poor, that I am not even sure that he established that. Via SPITFIRE Bulletin Board System - Version 3.2 -- David Jacobs - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (David Jacobs) Subject: Who is an abductee? Date: 7 Jul 92 06:23:43 GMT Pony, Thank you very much for your message. I certainly agree that strange events happen to people that are not apparently related to the abduction phenomenon. When a person contacts me to find out the origin of these strange events, I usually talk with him or her for quite a long time on the phone at first. I want to ascertain whether that person is suffering from mental illness, delusions, or some other form of psychological generation of paranormal events. I do this by asking a series of about twenty-five questions designed to elicity most of the unusual experiences that a person can remember having occurred to him or her. The people who, in my judgement, are not abductees I do not work with. I tell them that the origin of their experiences lies outside of my expertize and I try to refer them to someone else. If they are seriously psychologically disturbed, I refer them to a therapist and tell them that I am not equipped to work with them. One person told me that he had had an out of body experience once. He was hooked up to umpteen IV's and medical equipment. He was in the hospital for a life-threatening illness. His mother was next to him. He floated up to the ceiling and saw his body in the bed and his mother looking up at him. I judged that this, obviously, had nothing to do with the abduction phenomenon. I have also had occassion to do hypnosis with several individuals who thought that they might be abductees. After the sessions, I judged that these individuals were not, in fact, abductees even though they were very suspicious that they were. I think that the publication of my book makes it easier for a person to fake an abduction, and it also makes it easier for a person to absorb abduction material and then repeat it back to the researcher as if it happened to him or her. It must be said, however, that in my experience, and in Budd Hopkins', the latter problem is not nearly as big or widespread as is thought. It is extremely important to screen each and every potential abductee so that the researcher knows what he or she is actually researching. It is also important to be very careful about how one does the screening. One must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Inexperienced researchers have said that good abduction cases were a hoax because various aspects of the case were found to be contradictory or the witness was not as helpful as the investigator desired. What is even more important, is that the abduction phenomenon is extremely widespread and its hints and clues can be easily overlooked by even the most experienced UFO investigators. My best guess is that thousands of abduction events are couched behind UFO sightings and have been filed away in the cabinets of hundreds of UFO researchers over the years. Pony, I cannot comment on what has happened to you personally. It is most probable that your explanation of the events is absolutely correct and I am going to leave it at that. Via SPITFIRE Bulletin Board System - Version 3.2 -- David Jacobs - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (David Jacobs) Subject: Ambiguities Date: 7 Jul 92 07:10:59 GMT Vladmir, I hope that we are finally moving to concensus. To clear up your puzzlement, I had assumed that if you adhered to the Rodeghier definition of abductees, then it would automatically mean that you agreed with propostion that anybody who claims to be an abductee is therefore an abductee. That is what the Rodgehier definition allows. If you do not feel that this is the case, then you and I are in agreement that the Rodeghier definition should be amended. I hope this clears it up for you. I could not help but notice that you appear to be rather centered on the idea that there would be such a thing as leading UFO researchers. You have made the leap into the idea that this is a self-serving statement on my part. To the best of my knowledge when the definition of abductions was conceived it was not done in consultation with Dick Haines, John Carpenter, John E. Mack, Budd Hopkins, or Dave Jacobs. I understand that Rodeghier had a perfect right to say anything that he wanted to in print. I also think that he could have avoided quite a lot of imprecision and problems if he had consulted with those individuals, and others. I certainly agree with your sentiments about sharing data and publishing in refereed journals. In the United States there are only two refereed journals that publish pro-abduction material, THE JOURNAL OF UFO STUDIES and THE JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION. Every once in a while a psychological journal will publish an article showing how UFOs or abductions are related to some other phenomenon, but for the main the normal channels of scientific information sharing are closed off to UFO reseachers. The same is true in the book publishing world. You might be aware of the fact that my first book, THE UFO CONTROVERSY IN AMERICA, remains the only authored book on UFOs that takes a pro-UFO stance ever to be published by a refereed press--and that was in 1975! I originally gave my manuscript for SECRET LIFE to Temple University Press--a very good press. They had it for three months and never even bothered to look at it. So the situation for abduction and UFO articles in refereed journals and presses remains fairly dismal. But, I am sure that you will join with me in hoping that the quality of our work will increase and that the arbitrary decisions of the refereed journals and presses will become more liberal so that we can meet in the middle and have a wider spread of scientific information. Finally, although I agree that a certain amount of information can be derived from conscious recollections of abduction material, I feel that being deprived of the very powerful weapon of hypnosis which is so uniquely suited for this type of work, places you are at a distinct disadvantage. Until Australian researchers learn to work around this problem, and there are ways to do this, or until medical professionals not only get interested in the situation but also learn enough about doing research in it to be competent at it, abduction research will be enormously more difficult in an area that is already extremely difficult. Via SPITFIRE Bulletin Board System - Version 3.2 -- David Jacobs - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John.Hicks@f29.n363.z1.FIDONET.ORG (John Hicks) Subject: Workshops Date: 8 Jul 92 17:06:00 GMT DJ> John, the workshops arfe being given to interested DJ> psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric social DJ> workers who mailed in a special card that was included in DJ> the Roper Poll booklet. Sounds _very_ worthwhile. I hope those docs are curious enough to set aside their preconceived notions and pay attention. jbh -- John Hicks - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: John.Hicks@f29.n363.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Doug.Morrow@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Doug Morrow) Subject: Omega Project Date: 10 Jul 92 22:16:00 GMT David, I have finished his book, and I am surprised that you feel it was ill concieved. From my understanding, he was trying to demonstrate that individuals who have UFO encounters and others that have NDEs share a number of common traits. It seemed that his statistical study did support that conclusion. Do you fault his basic hypothsis, his methods or his analysis? It seemed to me that all have some measure of value, and that it may be to early to dismiss his ideas and findings outright. Also, you said that he did not find any evidence of Fantasy Prone Personalities in his studies, which is true, but he did find what he called "Encounter" Prone Personalities. Do you accept that there may be something to that, or are you convinced that few abductees share any similar, pre-existing psychological traits? Thanks, Doug -- Doug Morrow - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Doug.Morrow@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael.Corbin@p0.f428.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Subject: Ambiguities Date: 11 Jul 92 05:57:01 GMT + I certainly agree with your sentiments about sharing data and + publishing in refereed journals. In the United States there are only + two refereed journals that publish pro-abduction material, THE JOURNAL + OF UFO STUDIES and THE JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION. Every once + in a while a psychological journal will publish an article showing how + UFOs or abductions are related to some other phenomenon, but for the + main the normal channels of scientific information sharing are closed + off to UFO reseachers. The same is true in the book publishing world. + You might be aware of the fact that my first book, THE UFO CONTROVERSY + IN AMERICA, remains the only authored book on UFOs that takes a pro-UFO + stance ever to be published by a refereed press--and that was in 1975! + I originally gave my manuscript for SECRET LIFE to Temple University + Press--a very good press. They had it for three months and never even + bothered to look at it. So the situation for abduuction and UFO + articles in refereed journals and presses remains fairly dismal. But, + I am sure that you will join with me in hoping that the quality of our + work will increase and + that the arbitrary decisions of the refereed journals and presses will + become more liberal so that we can meet in the middle and have a wider + spread of scientific information. David. I am wondering what should be done by the legit UFO researchers to bring this problem to bear in the right arenas? I agree: Temple University is a fine press. Given your status there, what could they possibly say to justify their inaction for publishing your material? Mike -- Michael Corbin - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@p0.f428.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bill.Skiles@p7.f29.n363.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Bill Skiles) Subject: Who is an abductee? Date: 10 Jul 92 03:38:00 GMT + The people who, in my judgement, are not abductees I do not work with. + It is extremely important to screen each and every potential abductee so that + the researcher knows what he or she is actually researching. + It is also important to be very careful about how one does the screening. David, is there any way a person can screen themselves, so that they don't have to bother researchers unless and/or until they can acertain that they are an abductee? Bill -- Bill Skiles - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Bill.Skiles@p7.f29.n363.z1.FIDONET.ORG ******************************************************************************** For permission to reproduce or redistribute this digest, contact: DOMAIN Michael.Corbin@paranet.org UUCP scicom!paranet.org!Michael.Corbin ****************A**B**D**U**C**T**I**O**N****D**I**G**E**S**T******************* Submissions UUCP {ncar,isis,csn}!scicom!abduct Submissions DOMAIN abduct@scicom.alphacdc.com Admin Address abduct-request@scicom.alphacdc.com FTP Archive grind.isca.uiowa.edu:/info/paranet/abduct Mail to private Paranet/Fidonet addresses from the newsletters: DOMAIN firstname.lastname@paranet.org UUCP scicom!paranet.org!firstname.lastname ****************A**B**D**U**C**T**I**O**N****D**I**G**E**S**T*******************