1989 00 00 Journal of American Folklore - UFO Abduction Reports - Bullard

Magazine Overview

This document is an article titled "UFO Abduction Reports: The Supernatural Kidnap Narrative Returns in Technological Guise" by Thomas E. Bullard, published in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 102, No. 404, in April-June 1989. The publisher is the University of Illinois Press on behalf of the American Folklore Society. The article examines UFO abduction accounts as a modern form of folklore, analyzing their structure, content, and cultural significance.

UFO Abduction Reports: A Modern Legend Type

The article begins by noting the growth in the number of first-person abduction reports in recent years, describing them as an unusually well-structured legend type. These accounts blend motifs from supernatural encounters and otherworldly journeys with the idea of alien technology, fitting comfortably within UFO lore and updating the function of traditional supernatural kidnap narratives. The author references a Mutual UFO Network Symposium in Washington D.C. in June 1987, where the subject gained national prominence due to books by Budd Hopkins and Whitley Strieber. Folklorists are increasingly paying attention to these narratives, seeing them as supplanting older beliefs about anomalous lights and fitting into a growing body of memorates.

The author highlights the secularization of legends, where paranormal manifestations are subjected to scientific investigation, and UFOs are seen as a safely mechanical explanation for the fantastic, gaining credibility from scientific speculation about extraterrestrial life. However, these technological narratives increasingly incorporate supernatural elements, with UFOs defying physical laws and beings resembling traditional supernatural figures like fairies or devils appearing.

The article is based on a comparative study of approximately 300 abduction and abduction-like reports for the Fund for UFO Research. The focus is on the narratives themselves—their form, content, and relationship to supernatural encounter accounts—rather than the objective reality of the experiences.

The Emergence of Abductions into Public Awareness

The article traces the public emergence of abduction stories, starting with the widely publicized case of Barney and Betty Hill in 1961. Their experience, involving a UFO sighting, a time lapse, and subsequent hypnotic regression therapy with Dr. Benjamin Simon, revealed details of an examination by short, large-headed beings. This case was popularized by John G. Fuller's book "The Interrupted Journey" and subsequent media coverage.

• Other significant cases discussed include:
• Antonio Villas Boas (1957, Brazil): A farmer who reported being taken aboard a UFO and coerced into sexual relations with an alien woman.
• Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker (October 1973, Pascagoula, Mississippi): Two workmen who claimed to have been floated aboard a UFO and examined by mummylike beings.
• Travis Walton (November 1975, Arizona): A logger who disappeared for five days after being struck by a beam of light from a UFO, later recounting an examination by humanoid beings.

The article notes that increased publicity led more people to come forward with their own experiences. It mentions the case of Betty Andreasson, whose childhood encounters were revealed through hypnosis, and the work of Budd Hopkins in investigating cases like that of a young Indianapolis woman who reported impregnation by aliens and the subsequent removal and later viewing of a hybrid offspring.

The publication of Whitley Strieber's "Communion" in 1987 significantly boosted public awareness of abduction experiences.

Scope and Demographics of Abduction Reports

UFO researchers have received at least 600 abduction reports, with a 1987 OMNI magazine questionnaire drawing 1200 responses. The majority of reports are from North America, with a substantial number from South America, and smaller counts from England and Australia. Continental Europe and the Soviet Union have yielded a few reports, but none are known from Asia or black Africa. Most abductions involve a single witness, but group abductions (two to seven individuals) occur. The reports come from both males and females across all income levels, occupations, and education levels. Psychological tests show no overt mental illness. Abductees span all ages, but most first encounters are reported by individuals under 35.

Witnesses' recall varies: some are fully conscious, others recall through dreams or spontaneous memory, and many require hypnosis to access or clarify details. Hypnosis is the common technique for exploring these cases, sometimes revealing a full abduction underlying vague anxieties.

The Folkloric Character of Abduction Reports

The article identifies two main groups interested in abductions: ufologists (and skeptics) and the abductees themselves. Ufologists generally hold absolute belief or disbelief, interpreting experiences based on prior convictions. Abductees, however, respond with less certainty, often trusting the reality of their experience but feeling puzzled about its nature and reluctant to settle on a single explanation. They may embrace the extraterrestrial interpretation as a way to articulate the ineffable.

Skeptics explain abduction stories as hypnotically induced fantasies, hoaxes, or products of familiarity with published accounts and science fiction. Other theories include birth trauma, waking dreams, Jungian archetypes, or subjective effects of electromagnetic radiation. Protestant fundamentalists interpret them as demonic, while New Age advocates see them as a transition to higher consciousness. UFO researchers often view abductions as part of a scientific survey by extraterrestrials, with debates on whether they are for genetic material or a prelude to cosmic citizenship. Some thinkers propose unseen intelligences or cosmic consciousness influencing humans.

The author notes that abduction experiences challenge conventional explanations, leading to a questioning of established understanding. Abductees themselves offer diverse interpretations, ranging from extraterrestrial to religious viewpoints.

Structure and Content of Abduction Narratives

The article details the structure of abduction reports, which typically consist of up to eight episodes in a specific order: Capture, Examination, Conference, Tour, Otherworldly Journey, Theophany, Return, and Aftermath. While not all episodes are present in every report, the sequence is generally maintained. Capture and examination are the most common episodes.

The capture episode itself has four parts: alien intrusion, entry into a zone of strangeness, onset of time lapse/mental impairment, and procurement by beings. Procurement involves a beam of light, a drawing force, beings approaching, a brief conversation, pacification, escorting, and a momentary memory loss upon entering the craft.

Examinations follow a progression from general to specific, involving manual exploration, scanning devices, and instruments. Specimens are taken, reproductive areas examined, and a device may be implanted in the brain. The return episode reverses capture, beginning with a farewell and ending with the witness resuming normal activities, often with a loss of conscious memory.

While a stereotypical sequence of events exists, it lacks apparent aesthetic function or literary sophistication, appearing more as a straightforward report of the alleged experience. The order is dictated by the content rather than artistic shaping.

Stable Content Elements

• Striking content motifs recur throughout abduction reports. Common descriptions include:
• Craft: Disk-shaped, sometimes cigar or wedge-shaped.
• Examination Room: Circular and domed, with diffused lighting, spare furnishings, and an examination table. Temperatures are cold, air is heavy, misty, or hard to breathe. Doors are seamless.
• Beings: Humanoid, three to five feet tall, with large, hairless heads, tapering chins, enormous wraparound eyes, vestigial other facial features, and ashen or gray skin. They may be frail or robust, with thin limbs and three-fingered hands. Clothing is typically tight-fitting one-piece uniforms.
• Communication: Often telepathic, with one being acting as a leader or liaison.
• Emotional Range of Beings: Generally unemotional, but capable of surprise, anger, irritability, and excitement.
• Physical and Mental Effects: A surreal quality surrounds the experience, including silence, traffic cessation, drivers losing control, beings passing through solid objects, and humans acquiring temporary powers of levitation. A common attribute is the time lapse, a period of amnesia imposed by hypnotic control.
• Witness Reactions: Paralysis, loss of will, artificial euphoria alternating with terror, a desire to close eyes, and intense pain (as in Betty Hill's case).
• Aftereffects: Immediate physical effects like burning eyes, sunburn, puncture wounds, and thirst. Intermediate mental effects include nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, and panic. Long-term effects can include personality changes, development of new interests or abilities, erratic behavior, and further paranormal contact (ESP, poltergeist activity, Men in Black, further abductions).

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The article consistently frames UFO abduction reports as a modern folkloric phenomenon, akin to traditional supernatural encounters but updated with technological elements. It emphasizes the narrative structure and content motifs that recur across diverse accounts, treating them as a distinct legend type. The author's stance is analytical and scholarly, focusing on the folkloristic aspects of these reports rather than validating or debunking the experiences themselves. The recurring themes include the blending of the mundane and the extraordinary, the vulnerability of the innocent, the challenge to conventional understanding, and the diverse interpretations offered by witnesses, researchers, and skeptics. The article suggests that these narratives serve a function in helping individuals process extraordinary and often disturbing experiences within a cultural framework.

This issue of the Journal of American Folklore, Volume 102, Number 102, published in 1989, features an in-depth exploration of UFO abduction reports. The content focuses on analyzing the narratives, themes, and cultural significance of these accounts, drawing connections to folklore, mythology, and popular culture.

Themes of the Abduction Story

The article identifies four primary themes within UFO abduction narratives:

1. Focus on Reproduction: Beings consistently show a keen interest in human reproduction. This is manifested through the taking of sperm samples, 'pregnancy tests' involving needles, and examinations of the genital area. Some abductors explicitly state their mission is to create a better being by combining their qualities with humans, with some accounts mentioning nurseries and hybrid children. Less direct references, such as rejection due to vasectomy or old age, reinforce this theme.
2. The Dying Planet: Abductees frequently describe the beings' home world as dim, desolate, or devastated, often with little or no plant life. If the 'otherworld' is lush, it is depicted as an underworld. The beings may confess to a catastrophe on their planet and seek Earth as a new home, or gather plants and animals as breeding stock. This theme is linked to reproductive interests, with beings complaining of infertility and seeking human genetic materials to rejuvenate their species.
3. Prophecies and Warnings: During encounters, beings often deliver messages, primarily warnings that humans are on a path to nuclear, ecological, or moral destruction. These prophecies mirror the fate of the aliens' own planet. The beings may offer hope by promising to help prevent this apocalypse and assign the abductee a mission of salvation, encouraging study of religion, philosophy, or occult wisdom, and asking for help in understanding human emotions.
4. Deceit and Indifference: While beings may appear altruistic, a surprising number of abductees sense a cold indifference or a lack of understanding of human suffering. Some feel treated like 'guinea pigs.' Manipulativeness is common, with instructions phrased as requests but compelling obedience. The beings' motives are often questioned, with veiled threats, broken promises, and an aversion to human gaze noted. The examination appears to be the primary purpose, and specific prophecies often fail to come true.

Parallels in Folk Tradition

Abduction reports are presented as a modern legend with no close antecedents in earlier UFO lore, unlike the airship wave of 1897 or the Venusian contacts of the 1950s. However, they are seen as rewrites of older supernatural encounter traditions, with aliens fulfilling the roles of divine beings or nature spirits.

1. Visits to and from the Otherworld: This theme mirrors the widespread assumption of an 'otherworld' in various traditions (gods, demons, fairies, spirits of the dead). This otherworld can be subterranean or at an inaccessible distance. Abductees' otherworlds are described with similar characteristics to traditional fairylands, featuring crystal forests and transparent flowers. The beings themselves share attributes with fairies and dwarfs, such as large heads, piercing eyes, and sometimes a limp or clumsy gait. Some beings float or fly, similar to fairies and spirits.

2. Initiations, Conversions, and Final Judgments: While fairyland visits may lack direct equivalents for the examination episode, religious traditions highlight physical ordeals. Abduction experiences are compared to near-death experiences and puberty rituals or initiations, involving transformation, dismemberment, and reassembly. The Siberian shaman's experience, including trance, dismemberment, and organ removal, bears striking similarities to abduction reports. Abductees often emerge 'rebuilt' or 'improved,' gaining new knowledge or a sense of purpose, akin to religious conversions like that of Saul to Paul.

3. A Modern Tradition? The article posits that abduction themes are closer to modern cultural influences than ancient myths. It discusses the influence of science fiction, citing Percival Lowell's theories on Martian canals and H. G. Wells's 'The War of the Worlds.' Movies from the 1950s, such as 'This Island Earth' and 'Invaders from Mars,' are noted for visualising themes that later appeared in abduction reports, including capturing humans, seeking new homes, and memory manipulation.

Influence of Popular Culture: The article highlights how popular culture, through media like the National Enquirer, Saga magazine, Official UFO, OMNI magazine, and television movies (e.g., 'The UFO Incident' based on the Hill case), has played a crucial role in bringing abduction experiences to public awareness and facilitating contact between abductees and investigators. Skeptics suggest that media dramatizations might even plant abduction imagery in people's minds.

The Folkloric Significance of Abductions

Abduction reports are presented as a complex modern legend. The mass media's role in disseminating awareness of abductions is undeniable, reaching the public through books, movies, and tabloids. The UFO community actively investigates and spreads these reports, creating a receptive channel for their interpretation as alien visitations. Skeptical organizations counter these claims.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes throughout the issue emphasize the intersection of UFO abduction narratives with ancient folklore, religious traditions, and contemporary popular culture. The editorial stance appears to be one of academic inquiry, analyzing abduction accounts as a modern folkloric phenomenon rather than solely as literal extraterrestrial encounters. The article explores the psychological, cultural, and narrative dimensions of these experiences, suggesting that they tap into deep-seated human archetypes and anxieties, amplified by modern media and scientific speculation.

This document is an excerpt from the "Journal of American Folklore," specifically issue 102 from 1989, featuring an article titled "UFO Abduction Reports" by Thomas E. Bullard. The article delves into the phenomenon of UFO abduction narratives as a form of contemporary legend and folklore.

The Rise and Transmission of UFO Abduction Legends

The article begins by noting the widespread dissemination of UFO abduction claims through publications like the MUFON UFO Journal, International UFO Reporter, and Skeptical Inquirer, as well as electronic means. It suggests that while oral transmission still plays a role, its importance has diminished in favor of print and electronic media, allowing for the formation of legends among participants who may never meet face-to-face.

The author highlights the rapid trajectory of the abduction legend, noting that after the initial public awareness generated by the Hill case in 1966, reports did not immediately flood in. It took seven years for another case to make national news and about ten years for reports to become common. Today, they are described as springing up "like dandelions."

Abductions within UFO Mythology

Within the broader context of UFO lore, abductions are presented as a logical development stemming from beliefs about technologically advanced aliens studying Earth. The narratives often incorporate familiar elements such as disk-shaped craft, diminutive beings, and electromagnetic effects on vehicles, thus rooting them in established UFO tradition while introducing new aspects. Abductions are seen as a significant expansion of the UFO belief system because they allow for detailed answers to questions about the aliens' appearance, intentions, origin, and the nature of their craft. This provides a more elaborate and thrilling narrative than simple reports of unexplained lights.

Flexibility and Integration of Abduction Narratives

The abduction narrative is characterized by its exceptional flexibility in its relationship with other UFO lore. The core abduction account remains stable, but its fragmented nature, typical of legends, allows it to expand into subsequent UFO sightings, meetings with aliens, and repeat abductions. This can lead to new syntheses as abductions merge with other UFO beliefs, such as Men in Black phenomena or government coverups of crashed saucers, and even incorporate current events into the evolving mythology.

The abduction legend is described as "imperialistic and accommodating," capable of imposing new meanings on older lore while also adapting to existing beliefs. This harmonious merging of old and new elements makes abductions appear as a natural and convincing part of the UFO phenomenon.

Public Arena vs. Private Beliefs

The article contrasts the private beliefs of abductees with the publicly debated beliefs of ufologists and skeptics. In the public sphere, abductions become points of contention in an ideological dispute over the interpretation of UFO events. For the ufological community, abduction narratives lend support to their cherished beliefs, as these unsolicited reports from individuals with no vested interest in confirming an extraterrestrial origin for UFOs seem to validate the theory with minimal interpretation.

Skeptics are often forced to rely on psychological explanations, which the author suggests are unconvincing to the general public. Even if abductions were disqualified as folklore, a "folklore of abductions" would still exist, comprising the tangle of beliefs surrounding the basic testimonies.

Experiential Core and Cultural Influence

The article explores the idea that the recurrent characteristics of abduction narratives might stem not just from cultural transmission but from different narrators sharing similar experiences. Drawing on the work of Hufford and Rojcewicz, it suggests that extraordinary encounter traditions may share a stable, experiential core, differentiated by cultural surface features. The consistency of abduction accounts, even from individuals unfamiliar with abduction literature, is seen as evidence for this experiential assumption.

Emotional Impact and Psychological Affinity

Regardless of whether the experience is objectively or subjectively real, many claimants react with profound emotion. The experience can be as real and upsetting as a crime or accident. The author posits that abduction reports may owe their emotional impact to a fundamental psychological concern, providing an emotionally affecting alternative to a literal alien encounter.

The Role of Tradition and Experience

The article questions the precise balance between experience and tradition in shaping abduction reports. While a raw experience might be too confusing to report, an evolving UFO tradition provides a ready-made language for description and interpretation. The experience compares well enough with UFO ideas to fit into the larger UFO mythology. This well-developed tradition then helps shape personal experiences into a viable public form, first in the abductees' thoughts and then as the accounts are shared.

Technological Supernaturalism

Abductions are seen as indicative of a rise in "technological supernaturalism" within UFO reports, where alien technology fulfills the role once occupied by magic. The article draws a parallel between these modern alien encounters and older beliefs in creatures lurking in the dark, suggesting that the fear and psychological dramas associated with them have found a new outlet in the form of alien abductions.

References Cited

The latter part of the document consists of an extensive "References Cited" section, listing numerous works related to UFOs, folklore, legends, and related phenomena, indicating the scholarly basis of the article.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue of the Journal of American Folklore revolve around the analysis of contemporary legends, particularly the UFO abduction phenomenon, through the lens of folklore studies. The editorial stance is academic and analytical, treating UFO abduction narratives as a subject of cultural and folkloric interest, examining their origins, transmission, characteristics, and psychological and cultural significance without necessarily validating or dismissing the literal truth of the claims. The journal appears to be a scholarly publication dedicated to the study of folklore in its various forms.