Alien abduction phenomenon

Note: The so-called "alien abduction" phenomenon seems to be virtually defunct according to many researchers. In Jun-2002 Dr. Mark Rodeghier of CUFOS remarked that the number of abduction reports have been down and continuously declining over the last few years (compared to 1980s-1990s), despite much greater publicity and awareness. This has been stated by others, such as John Velez (comment) and The Mack Institute. However, Dr.D.Jacobs of ICAR in a 2007 interview suggested that he doesn't see any significant change in numbers and that "since the change in 2003 any discussion of it is considered non-compliance" (SDI446 @ 1:27:20).
Summary: The abduction phenomenon is an umbrella term used to describe a number of assertions stating that alien beings (typically the ones popularly known as "Greys", but occasionally very tall (2.1m / 7ft) and slim "praying mantis"-like, and shorter (1m / 3ft) "reptilian" brown-skinned hooded beings are mentioned) take humans against their will, to an unknown environment (which they may perceive as a UFO), for "medical testing" with a focus on reproductive issues, after which they are returned to the same place they were taken from, with their memories clouded or erased (hence the "missing time"). The history of abduction reports seems to start in the 1960s. The 1980s brought a major degree of mainstream attention to the subject, in the USA. Stigma and self-doubt may be obstacles to more widespread study and/or reporting of the phenomenon, whatever its origins or explanation. Several abduction reports have been quite detailed and there is a persistent structure (what follows what) to them. Typically such memories are recovered under hypnosis, which has been the main point of contention. However, according to T.E.Bullard, PhD folklorist, "abduction reports bear extensive similarities to one another, no matter who investigates, how abductees recall the encounter and in what year or country the story originates." (src: MUFON Journal Jun-1998) The mixture of social patterning, medical effects, the evident post-traumatic stress syndrome and the remarkable consistency of abduction reports all argue for a complex phenomenon, which cannot be reduced to simple perceptual contangion or individual psychopathology.
There are two schools of thought among proponents of the alien abduction phenomenon: The one championed by Hopkins and Jacobs argues that they are a physically real events. To liberally paraphrase the other, many people report having been abducted, and many folkloric legends refer to small magical creatures, but there is no corroborating physical evidence for first-hand accounts of alien abductions, therefore, the best explanation is that these events are real, but take place on a different plane of reality, and involve something which contemporary victims only interpret as aliens.

About 2% of the American public have had possible abduction-like experiences (questionable estimate taken from a 1991 Roper poll of 6,000 people, of which 119 answered "Yes" to 4 out of 5 "key indicator questions", rather than report actual alien abductions), other estimates put it at 0.3% of the population. Those who make the case that alien abductions are a physically real phenomenon, cite as evidence "scoop marks" (see google-images -- layers of skin removed, similar to what doctors call "punch biopsy"), unexplained scars where people remember undergoing operations, missing pregnancies, leftovers of fluorescent substance found on bodies of claimants, "alien implants" (though per Prof.D.Prichard's comments, none of the extracted objects has ever been proven to be of exotic origin) etc. Abduction researchers report that alien abductions occur within family lines, i.e. different members of the same families at different stages of their lives. Water connection: According to John Velez, who considers himself an abductee, and who over a period of 6 years had been in touch with 600-700 people via the quarterly meeting groups of B.Hopkins and D.Jacobs, "the frequency of abductess who live near water" was often brought up and "an awful lot of abductees who have memories of being taken underwater" (src: SDI#412 @ 45'30")

"In all, by 1987, some 1200 North American abductions were filed under the name of the abductee; 600 to 700 narratives had been collected; 300 of these were carefully studied by the folklorist Thomas E. Bullard, Ph.D, with 103 considered by Bullard to be "high information cases." Bullard's comparative studies suggest that there is a persistent structure to Abduction Reports, with the same episodes recurring in invariant order in 80% of the "high information" narratives. "A single deviation accounts for failure of sequence in almost all of the remainder." Bullard distinguishes eight episodes in alien abduction: Capture, Examination, Conference, Tour, Journey, Return, Aftermath."
-- extract from Close encounters of diverse kinds, Princeton University Press.

In 1992, a 5-day conference was held at M.I.T. to examine "the findings of various investigators studying people who report experiences of abductions by aliens, and the related issues of the phenomenon." The conference was chaired by M.I.T.'s Professor of Physics David Pritchard and late Harvard Medical School Professor of Psychiatry John Mack. Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference Held at M.I.T. Cambridge, Ma. The conference was covered by a well-regarded journalist, C. D. B. Bryan, who avowed non-belief in alien abduction. After the Abduction Study Conference, Bryan conducted extensive interviews. The work was published in the book "Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: A Reporter's Notebook on Alien Abduction, UFOs, and the Conference at M.I.T." (also audio cassette). At the end of a chapter reporting his interviews with two of the most credible "experiencers," Bryan stated:

During the days immediately following the conference, I am struck by how my perception of the abduction phenomenon has changed: I no longer think it a joke. This is not to say I now believe UFOs and alien abduction are real -- "real" in the sense of a reality subject to the physical laws of the universe as we know them -- but rather that I feel something very mysterious is going on. And based as much on what has been presented at the conference as on the intelligence, dedication, and sanity of the majority of the presenters, I cannot reject out-of-hand the possibility that what is taking place isn't exactly what the abductees are saying is happening to them. And if that is so, the fact that no one has been able to pick up a tailpipe from a UFO does not mean UFOs do not exist. It means only that UFOs might not have tailpipes. As Boston University astronomer Michael Papagiannis insisted, "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." (Bryan 1995, 230)

In my opinion as an abduction agnostic, the most illuminating review of abduction theories (ranging from the psycho-social to the literal) is "The abduction experience: A critical evaluation of Theory and Evidence" by psychologist and UFO researcher Prof. Stuart Appelle, Dept of Psychology, State University of New York College. It is also available in print from CUFOS - Journal of UFO Studies 6 (1995/1996) 29-78. Here's the abstract:

"Prevalent hypotheses regarding the etiology of the abduction experience are examined, especially in regard to the existing evidence. Deception, suggestibility (fantasy-proneness, hypnotizability, false-memory syndrome), personality, sleep phenomena, psychopathology, psychodynamics, environmental factors, and event-level alien encounters are each considered as origins of the abduction experience. The data are discussed in terms of what is and is not consistent with theory, the concept of parsimony, and the need for converging lines of evidence in establishing linkages between fact and theory. On the basis of this analysis, it is argued that no theory yet enjoys enough empirical support to be accepted as a general explanation for the abduction experience. The concept of the abduction experience as a multicausal phenomenon is discussed, and suggestions for future research are provided."

Abductions are a highly controversial subject. Even those who take an alien presence (as manifested by the UFO sightings) for granted, are often agnostics or skeptical on the subject of alien abductions. E.g. In the book "The abduction enigma" (also read blog), Kevin Randle (long-time Roswell investigator), Russ Estes and William Cone, write:

"Here's what it all comes down to. There is not a single shred of evidence that alien abductions are taking place other than the tainted testimony of the abductees. The physical evidence to support the claims is nonexistent. What has been offered as proof has been eliminated through testing by objective scientists or additional research by unbiased investigators." -- p. 359

Long-time Ufo researcher Jacques Vallee has often attacked the abduction investigators and the practice of hypnosis. He thinks that hypnosis should never be performed by "Ufologists", but only by "trained hypnotists who should be provided with a list of questions by the Ufologists" because, as Vallee believes due to his "long-term interest in parapsychology, it's a fact that hypnosis enhances thought-transference between the hypnotist and the witness" (src: Paracast 2008-03-08 @ 42min00). Some contend that there may be more complex, terrestrial explanations, e.g. involving the US "Secret Government" and/or US Intelligence Establishment (what could be followups to CIA's Project MKULTRA mind manipulation programmes of the 1950s and 1960s - more); others think we may be dealing with both alien and military abductions (MIL-ABs, ref Evidence for Military Kidnappings of alleged UFO Abductees by Professor Helmut Lammer, who is a space scientist with the Austrian Space Research Institute) or for TTL i.e. "Tagging, tracking, and locating", pursued by US DoD more) for counter-examination.