Ever since US Air Force Pilot Kenneth Arnold coined the term Flying Saucer, on 24th June 1947, after allegedly encountering nine disk shaped objects while out flying over the Cascade Mountains, the world wide sightings of such objects, has increased logarithmically. By 1957 the furor over UFO sightings showed no sign of abating and the sightings had now been awarded levels of classification by US Astronomer, Allen. J. Hynek.
Hynek created three categories for UFO encounters: Close encounters of the first kind: nocturnal lights, daylight disks, the second kind: Physical affects left by UFOs, marks on the ground, car engines stalling and finally close encounters of the third kind: the actual witnessing of beings emerging from their craft. But on September 20th 1961, the categorization of this phenomena took on a fourth dimension when Betty and Barney Hill claimed while driving home one night, they were allegedly abducted by alien beings.
The Hills were the first individuals in modern history to state publicly that they had been abducted by extraterrestrial beings, leading to a new era, with reports of alien abductions occurring world wide. But to be abducted whilst outdoors like the Hills is considered to be extremely rare, with almost all cases being reported at night, while the abductee was in bed and without any independent witness corroboration. The description of the alleged alien abductors varied widely throughout the world but in the last ten years or so the descriptions of the abductors have become almost indistinguishable.
Therefore, the object of this project is to try and establish the possibility that a minority of the human race, could conceivably be being abducted from their beds at night, by a super intelligent race of extraterrestrial beings or do these people just perceive that they have been abducted and there is a more down to earth answer for the abduction phenomena. The first part of this project contends that alien beings do not come from out a-space but a lot more closer to home or more specifically inside the human brain.
The project’s debate, is that the reason behind the vast majority of abduction cases might be temporal lobe epilepsy, epilepsy which triggers a condition known as hypnogogic sleep disorder. When a person is in the midst of hypnogogic sleep they are almost always completely paralyzed and suffer hypnopompic hallucinations, hallucinations which give the sufferer the impression of a presence around their beds with the secondary effect of floating.
When a person reaches this stage of the hallucination they then interpret it as being an alien abduction experience. The project will then look at outside influences that might trigger temporal lobe epilepsy, influences like electrical trauma and or electromagnetic fields, fields that are higher in density in more areas than others, areas that are located close to radio masts and electricity pylons.
The essay will then look at Dr. Michael Persinger’s experiments with electromagnetic fields experiments were Persinger was able to recreate hypnogogic type hallucinations. The next part of the project will then debate, that a section of the human race is being systematically taken from the planet, for reasons that are not clear. It will tell of the advantages of night time abductions and tell of an exceptionally rare case of an abduction with multiple and credible witness.
The project will then reveal the striking similarities of alleged alien beings and the mythical beings portrayed throughout different cultures, similarities that are particularly evident within the prophetic messages given to these said cultures by their gods from the stars. The second part of the debate will close by putting forward a theory for the attention we seem to be receiving from our extraterrestrial inquisitors, suggesting that the emergence of the human race into the nuclear age, might in part be responsible.
The aim of chapter three, is to analyze and evaluate it’s primary sources of research (Questionnaire and Little Gray Man Experiment) looking at the statistics and their relationship to the alien abduction phenomena. The project will then give an interpretation of the findings, starting with the questionnaire, revealing that there is a pattern throughout the questionnaire, a pattern showing that the vast majority of people are willing to believe in un-provable beliefs.
The interpretation of the little gray man experiment, helps to demonstrate the power of the media and the influence it has in giving people preconceived ideas of what an alien life form might look like, which might explain why people nearly always see the same being. Chapter three will then examine the relationship between the mass media and its effects on peoples opinions and how people appear to be led by the media, contending that the emergence of alien abductions has become more prolific since the advent of television and extraterrestrial beings are the result of a war of the ratings as opposed to a the war of the worlds.
The final part of this project will sum up the subject matter that has been debated (are people being abducted from their beds at night by extraterrestrial beings or are these people suffering from a neurological disorder that might be being agitated by the media) and then draw a conclusion from the debate.
Alien abductions are not as straight forward as they seem, do the answers lie in outer space or is it all in the mind? The vast majority of all alleged alien abductions, occur at night in bed, just as the potential victim is about to enter into a deep sleep. Could there be a connection, some theorist believe there is and one hypothesis suggests, that alien abductions are strongly connected to sleep paralysis syndrome.
Sleep paralysis syndrome, is believed to be a form of epilepsy or to be more specific, temporal lobe epilepsy “temporal lobe epilepsy is important to emotions and other sensations, it is possible that disturbance in this part of the brain is responsible for the sleep disorder narcolepsy” (Chadwick. , 1988, P. 14). Narcolepsy manifests its self in several different ways, depending on the individual sufferer but the most common outcome is a seizure taking place, whilst the sufferer is still sleeping, to a rare condition known as hypnogogic sleep.
Hypnogogic sleep is the medical term for sleep paralysis syndrome and this condition is thought to be closely associated to Rapid Eye Movement sleep (REM), which is a phase of sleep closely related to dreaming. When in REM sleep, the body is believed to be paralyzed, this is thought to be an in-built safety mechanism to stop people physically carrying out there dreams, like being violent or trying to run.
When people suffering from this condition awaken, they are fully aware of their surroundings but the paralyzing symptoms of REM sleep are thought to persist “people suffering from the hypnogogic sleep disorder, awaken from REM sleep but their body remains in a state of paralysis with the exception of the sufferer being only able to move their eyes” (Hufford, 1982, P. 107). When a person suffering from hypnagogic sleep disorder awakens into an altered state, as well as the paralysis, the sufferer will often encounter vivid and frightening dreamlike experiences.
These hallucinations are a major component of the hypnagogic sleep disorder and are so real to the sufferer, that they are unable to distinguish them from reality. In almost all cases, the same scenario is played out, beginning with the afflicted person realizing that they are unable to move any part of their body, this instinctively sends them into a blind panic. Typically, they then enter into the final stage of hypnogogic sleep and experience hypnopomic hallucinations.
It is at this hypnopomic stage, that the stupefied victim senses a presence in the room with them, this is usually coupled with the sensation of floating, making the circumstances ideal for the terrified recipient of the paralysis, to interpret the situation as an alien abduction “I was quite conscious of the fact I could not move, conscious of were I was going and the creature in front of me. I was floating and felt like a bear on the end of an invisible rope” (Hough. P, 1997, P. 50).
This is a fairly typical account of a nocturnal alien abduction experience and contains all the components to classify it as such. Some people have been so affected by what they perceive to be an alien abduction, they have then felt compelled to write about their experience. A good example of this is by the famous horror writer Whitley Strieber. Strieber was alleged to have undergone a classic alien abduction scenario “Is someone there? I wondered aloud. the door opened a few inches and I had a glimpse of a big and glistening black eye, belonging to a distinctly non human face.
Then there is something like a burst of lightning from above and the house was bathed in light” (Strieber. W, 1987) Strieber was so overwhelmed by his alien abduction incident, that he was inspired to write the best selling book Communion, Which allegedly portrayed his abduction ordeal. Strieber continued to experience what he perceived to be alien abductions after writing communion, therefore he decided to seek a medical explanation for his strange encounters.
“After undergoing a batch of psychological and IQ tests he was given a clean bill of health, he was then given a brain scan (M. I. R) and this also turned out to be negative. finally Strieber was subjected to a temporal lobe scan (E. E. G) but this time the test was positive and inconsistencies were found in this area of his brain” (Schnabel. J, 1994). Strieber past the rigorous psychological examinations set before him but the discovery of anomalies within the temporal lobe region of his brain, is symptomatic of narcalepsey. Therefore, what Strieber and thousands like him perceived to be alien abduction, could instead be TLE.
It seems more likely then, that the answer to the alleged alien abductions does not lie in out-a space but more likely in inner space, within the human brain. One possible source for the alien abduction phenomenon could be attributed to electrical activity, particularly electrical trauma to the brain. The human brain is a highly sensitive bioelectrical organ that continuously conducts millions of electrical impulses through it’s billions of neurons and in essence it could be described as a super computer “At any one time , the brain is a junction box alive with incoming and out going messages.
These are carried by thousands of millions of cells, these cells form such a complex arrangement that we have little chance of understanding what individual cells do” (Barnhard. C, 1984, P. 78). This statement illustrates that the human brain is a delicate electromagnetic organ and if it is exposed to electrical trauma, this then might lead to a malfunction.
Parapsychologist Albert Budden conducted a study of fifty alleged nocturnal alien abductees, to his amazement, he found that all fifty had one thing in common, they had all been exposed to a major electric shock “Almost invariably I have found that these abductees have had a major electrical event, they have been struck by lightning or been near lightning or have suffered major electrocution and this has changed their bodies permanently” (Budden A, 1998) This remarkable discovery by Budden, helps to show the ramifications of electricity on the human physiology.
Therefore, did all fifty people in Budden’s study suffer major electrical trauma and were then abducted by aliens or more realistically, did the electrical event somehow change the functioning of their brain, altering their perception of reality and if so could these changes be reproduced in the laboratory? Research carried out by neuropsychologist, Professor Michael Persenger suggests that the human brain is susceptible to certain kinds of natural occurring electrical energy.
Persenger theorized that weak electrical impulses sent to the temporal lobes of the brain would induce hypnopomic like hallucinations. To test his theory Persenger built a sound and light proof chamber, a subject was then placed in the booth and a purpose built helmet that was able to generate a weak electro magnetic field, was placed on the subjects head. Varying electrical impulses were then sent to the helmet, enabling Persenger to control the electromagnetic waves sent to the recipients brain.
He found that this generated differing kinds of mystical experiences amongst his volunteers “The kinds of things that people reported in the chamber when their experiences were amplified by applying these complex weak electro magnetic fields, would be feelings of floating through a tube, feelings of being detached, sensations of someone being in the chamber with them. One subject said he could feel someone tugging at his legs and genitals so he labeled it as an experience contributed it to the electro magnetic field.
But if you took the same experience when you are alone at night in bed, the cultural label is, alien abduction” (Persenger, 1998). This experiment by Persenger, helps to prove that under certain circumstances, electromagnetic fields can trigger hypnopomic Imagery, but this is in the laboratory, how could these events take place while we are in bed? The fact is, we are all bathed in strong electromagnetic radiation but some people are more susceptible to electro magnetic fields than others.
This is an environmental health issue and in fact alien abductions are just a very small part of a much broader issue which is electro magnetic pollution” (Budden, 1998). If people with discrepancies within the temporal lobule area of the brain, live in the vicinity of electricity pillions, electrical sub stations, radio masts or any other generator of strong electromagnetic fields, they then might be living near the very catalyst, that triggers an alien abduction event.