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Contents 1 Introduction 2 Overview 3 History 4 Theories 5 Cases 6 Investigators 7 Organizations 7.1 Skeptical 8 Nonfiction 8.1 Books 8.2 TV and Movies 9 Appearances in Fiction 9.1 Books 9.2 TV and Movies 9.3 Comic Books 9.4 Related Terms and Articles

Introduction

Humans. The dominant vertebrate on planet Earth. Safe within our homes, protected by our technology, the bone-crushing muscles and flesh-tearing fangs of our co-habitant competitors are rendered impotent. Our mind-driven abilities to create and combine have more than made up for our physical inferiorities.

But.

What if there is another intelligence, equal to or greater than our own, to whom our alarm systems, fences, and even the solid walls of our bedrooms are meaningless? What if they can enter our most private areas at will, extract us for their own purposes, and there is nothing we can do about it?

That is the fear that comes from reports of Alien Abductions.

Overview

People say that non-humans take them (often from bedrooms, but from many other places), against their will, typically to an unknown environment (which they may perceive as a spaceship), interact with them in some way, and then (most often) return them to the same place.

Some common elements:

• The person is paralyzed at the beginning of the abduction
• The memory may only be recovered after hypnosis, but this is by no means universal
• Physical examinations or medical procedures may be performed
• The abductors are most commonly described as the grays, small, thin, hairless humanoids. However other types, such as reptilians or Nordics, are reported

History

In 1947, when the term flying saucer came into use, reports of occupants at all were rare. By the early 1950s, contactees were reporting friendly interactions with the Space Brothers.

In 1966, the Betty and Barney Hill case gained widespread notice. It contained many of the elements of modern abduction accounts.

In the 1970s, more reports appeared in newspapers. The Travis Walton case in 1975, and the Pascagoula abduction in 1973, both involved multiple witnesses and were front page news. However, they each contained points at variance with “modern” abductions.

1987 changed everything. Two books, Communion by Whitley Strieber (which was hugely successful) and Intruders by Budd Hopkins, sparked public and even academic interest.

Theories

• Aliens from other planets are abducting human beings. This may be for research and/or reproductive purposes. One conspiracy theory is that they were given permission to do this in exchange for high technology.

• Other intelligences which have inhabited the Earth with humans for many years, are abducting humans. In the past, they were interpreted as (or presented as) fairies, who traditionally abduct humans.

• Witnesses are experiencing hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations, which occur when falling asleep or waking up respectively. This is a well-known phenomenon which encompasses some (but not all) elements of abduction cases.
• The memories are implanted by investigators during hypnosis.

Cases

Betty and Barney Hill
The first widely publicized case, covered in The Interrupted Journey (book)
Betty Andreasson
Pascagoula
Travis Walton
Linda Cortile
The Allagash Abductions
Ed Walters

Investigators

David Jacobs
Temple University Historian
Raymond Fowler
UFO investigator
Budd Hopkins
Artist who has been arguably the most influential person in the field since the 1980s
John E. Mack, MD
Pulitzer-Prize winning Harvard psychiatrist
Derrel Sims
Known as the Alien Hunter, former CIA, former Military Police Sims is out to get proof to mobilize resistance.
Yvonne Smith
Founder of the Close Encounters Resource Organization (CERO)
Whitley Strieber
Fantasy novelist whose first-person account of his own abduction experiences was ground-breaking

Organizations

The Intruders Foundation
MUFON
OPUS

Skeptical

CSICOP

Nonfiction

Books

For more detail, see the Alien Abduction Books category.

Abducted! (1977)
Coral and Jim Lorenzen of APRO
Abduction 1994
John E. Mack, Harvard psychiatrist, presents case studies of abductees
Breakthrough 1995
Strieber
Communion 1987
Whitley Strieber's best-selling first person account
Intruders 1987
Budd Hopkins
Missing Time
Budd Hopkins Secret Life 1992
David Jacobs' book that established a "typical abduction" scenario

TV and Movies

Fire in the Sky
Docudrama based on the Travis Walton case

Appearances in Fiction

Books

TV and Movies

• Taken
  
• The X-Files

Comic Books

Related Terms and Articles

Please click the Alien Abductions category link at the bottom of this article for additional information.