06-20-90


David Jacobs


I would estimate that %99.99 of all abductees are unawares of what
has happened to them. Perhaps many of them know that they have had
strange, out of the ordinary experiences like missing time events, Out
of Body Experiences, "astral travel," seen ghosts, or even had deceased
relatives visit them at the foot of their beds, but these experiences
are chalked up to "normality" oftentimes. They have an available menu
of culturally determined explanations of strange occurrences and they
pick and chose among them to help explain what has happened to them.
Only a tiny fraction of abductees have systematically explored their
experiences with me or with Budd Hopkins and are fully aware of the
situation that they are involved in. I have handed out a questionnaire
geared toward helping me to gauge how many people might have had
abductions. I have given it to about 900 students at Temple university
over the past few years. Right now my statistics are running at about
%6.5 of potential abductees and that is being very conservative. When
the pressure gets too great on an abductee and he/she feels that
whatever has happened to them deserves some sort of an explanation,
they characteristically seek help or answers to their questions in
three main areas. The first is in the therapeutic community. They go to
psychologists and psychiatrists in search of help. They think that
there must be something wrong with them because they are having crazy
thoughts about being on board a UFO, etc. The therapeutic community has
not been very much help in this area. Usually they are given some sort
of a diagnosis that suggests childhood trauma of some sort or
pathology, in the case of psychiatrists. In fact some members of the
psychiatric and psychological communities have been damaging to these
people because of incompetence or avarice. The second area that people
migrate to in search of answers is evangelical or charismatic religious
groups or cults. In religion abductees are often given a "demonic"
explanation. They are told to pray and the demons will be excised. The
third area is New Age groups. Here they encounter channelers, and
believers in benevolent space brothers, and higher cosmic consciousness
and higher vibrational patterns, and universal love, and so forth. Many
of the abductees find solace and answers in any of these areas. For
many others, however, these areas do no provide satisfaction that they
have finally come to the end of their quest. When they come to either
Budd or me, however, and they finally uncover in more or less a
systematic way what has happened to them, the quest is over. They do
not go from us to another area still searching for answers. Now they
know and they may be frightened and freaked, but at least they have the
ability to gain some sort of intellectual and emotional control over
their lives--often for the first time.

This is not a complete answer, and there are many other ways that
abductees suspect that something has happened to them, for instance, a
"triggering" mechanism often works when they see a picture of an alien
on a book jacket, or read something, or hear something. A bell goes off
in peoples' minds that suddenly alerts them to the fact that something
might have happened to them. On of the most important things to say,
however, is that it is unethical and downright dangerous for anyone to
suggest that another might have been the victim of abductions. I allow
people to come to me in anyway that they can. Even when they come to me
I issue strong warnings to them about the consequences of opening the
Pandora's box of memory collection. I send them a pamphlet that Budd
and I put together about the downside of memory collection. When I talk
to them again I again warn them. If they still want to go ahead, then
and only then do I attempt regressive hypnosis. This is not something
to do on a lark. The content of abductions can be fairly strong and
without proper guidance and experience the possibility of harm to the
abductee is great.

The population of abductees that I have investigated is small. I have
worked with 49 individuals as of June, 1990. However, the way in which
I do abduction research is different than most investigators. I try to
spend as much time as possible with each abductee researching, on
separate occasions, as many abduction events as possible for each one.
We have found that all abductions begin in childhood and then continue
throughout one's life (with certain exceptions). I have discovered no
adult-onset abductions unless they are what I call "opportunistic"
abductions--the person is in close proximity to an abductee and is
therefore sometimes taken. Opportunistic abductions are uncommon. Thus
I have actually researched about 265 separate abduction events. People
have had as many as twenty-six sessions with me and as few as one. The
average length of my sessions is about five hours--from the time a
person walks in to the time he/she leaves. During the session I try to
bring out as much information as possible on a chronological basis--
what happens to the abductee from the time he realizes that something
is first happening to him, say in his bedroom, until the event is over
and he is returned. Actual hypnosis time varies from one hour to three
hours.

Generally speaking, we do not know why a particular person is
abducted. There appears to be no overt similarities, either mental or
physical between abductees. This appears to be a random phenomenon.
However, we have found a rather strong generational and familial link
with abductions. Abductions appear to begin in childhood and continue
throughout adulthood (there are exceptions to this). We have not found
a way to stop abductions.

During an abduction, characteristic procedures are run on humans that
are quite narrow in their range. Most people report physical, mental
and reproductive events. Without going into too much detail, the main
physical event is the examination (there are many other physical
procedures) which is carried on in a surprising manner. The main mental
procedure is an examination of an abductee's emotional state after
observing some sort of mental imagery. People's emotions are played
with and they may feel a calming effect. Likewise it is very common for
people to see scenes of atomic explosions, during which they might feel
anxiety. These are part of the mental procedures. In the reproductive
area, people report that sperm and eggs are harvested from them. They
are also shown odd looking babies that they are sometimes required to
hold.

Abductees are mentally altered during the abduction so that it is
extremely difficult to understand what is happening while it is
happening. A selective form of amnesia is most commonly in place
immediately after the abduction so that most people do not know what
has happened to them--except unconsciously, if that is "knowing."

Recovering the memories is a difficult task. Not only is there a
certain amount of trauma involved, but often there is heavy
confabulation, false memories, incomplete memories, and pseudo-memories
placed in the abductee's mind as part of mental procedures.
Furthermore, the physical aftereffects of the phenomenon can be severe-
-scars, internal scar tissue, eye damage, and so forth. It is, however,
the mental effects that are most important for people's lives--
affording the most damage and the most trauma. Thus investigating
abductions is a very delicate endeavor. One must know what to say, what
to ask, what is coming next, what is being skipped over, what is being
held back, what is going to be traumatic, and what is going to have the
biggest effect on the abductee whether he/she realizes it or not. Above
all, the investigator must have the psychological acumen to help the
abductee deal with the material both while the memories are being
recalled, and after the session is over. At the same time the
investigator must accumulate the most amount of data as is possible--
given the enormity and importance of the event. Unfortunately there are
few who can do this. Sometimes people who need help with abductions
seek advice and counsel from well meaning but incompetent
psyhotherapists and even some erstwhile UFO researchers. Unfortunately
not enough have been trained to service the vast number of abductees
who need this help. Budd Hopkins and I have been involved with trying
to train therapists to deal with abductees. This is an uphill battle
and although progress has been made, we have a long struggle ahead of
us. in the meantime, for those of you who think that you might have had
abduction experiences, think very carefully about whether you want to
open up the Pandora's Box of memories and if you decide to go ahead, be
extremely careful who you decide upon. The potential for harm is there.
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