UFO Religions

Aliens in the Academy

Such is the title of this essay from the Journal of Popular Culture, a peer-reviewed resource. The article deals with alien abduction researchers like David Jacobs and John Mack, and it’s fairly sympathetic to them. I post it here so you know that this kind of stuff does indeed get discussed in mainstream scholarly journals.

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6th and 7th Articles from Psychological Inquiry

I think the highlights of the last few articles are page 134 (3^rd page of the PDF) from “The Ordinary Nature of Alien Abduction Memories” and pages 140-141 (pp. 2-3 of the PDF) from “The Construction of Space Alien Abduction Memories.”

The former details the very small percentages of those who experience at least four of Jacobs’ five “abduction events” and how the small percentage (2%) can be accounted for by equally rare but less spectacular explanations. This points to the need among abduction researchers to provide some form of corroborative evidence that rules out the alternative explanations. Only then can ANYTHING out of the “terrestrial” range of possibilities be entertained with coherence.

The latter deals with how humans can indeed construct false memories. Especially interesting is the role of hypnosis in the formulation of those false memories, since abductions are overwhelmingly “remembered” under hypnosis.

On the other hand, I haven’t seen any of these researchers deal with physical evidence of some physical event (e.g., marks on the body). The phenomenon of luminescence on the body discovered by Derrel Sims of course came along much later than these articles.

Here are the next two articles:

6. Escaping the Self or Escaping the Anomaly? By: Hall, Robert L.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p143, 6p; Abstract Focuses on the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Newman and Baumeister’s explanation for claims of UFO abductions; Factors that lead to the development of false memories.

7. When Explanations Fail: Science and Pseudoscience in Psychology. By: Hull, Jay G.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p149, 3p; Abstract Presents comments on the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Lack of internal coherence in Newman and Baumeister’s explanation for claims of UFO abductions.

Technorati Tags: abductions, alien abductions, psychiatry, psychology

Professional Psychiatry and the Abduction Phenomenon

Well, I’m finally back at blogging after some brief travel. I had meant to go into the third group that would use UFO beliefs as propaganda, but to be honest, I’m more interested now in the next trajectory. For those who are curious, I may go back to this in detail. For now, suffice to say that the third group is one that, in the future, I see using the UFO paradigm as a means to redefine and displace theism (of any ordinary variety) and use the myth of alien visitation to prop up the idea that it is human evolutionary destiny to move toward transhumanism. This will affect all our basic social institutions, which are based on the idea that human life has some sort of sanctity or (without religion) special status. Without that, our basis for ethics, law, political theory, and religion are all fundamentally altered — and not for the better if we aren’t in the elite ruling or privileged classes.

But now let’s shift gears. I want to introduce all of you to a fairly hefty amount of peer-review literature (here, in psychiatric / psychological literature) on alleged alien abductions. In 1996 the professional journal Psychological Inquiry devoted an entire issue to alien abductions (vol. 7, issue 2). I have reproduced the contents below, with abstracts of each article. I have PDF files for all the articles, and I want us to begin reading through them together in order. I hope to stimulate some comments from readers, obviously. My goal is to show options for the abduction phenomenon. I hope readers of all persuasions have an open mind, because the spectrum of explanations (other than ETH) is pretty wide. All of the views have their points of coherence and problems.

Two things should be specifically noted in view of where our discussions have been in the recent past. First, there are other explanations for abductions besides the psychological explanations presented in this issue and other literature.As I and others have noted, abduction experiences can be filed in many categories. Second, the work of psychologists in this area does not undermine the demonic option as a possible explanation for some abductions. However, it does undermine the notion that the experiences of people are likely predominantly spiritual or demonic.

Here is the Table of Contents. Note that the first article has a live link, since we’ll start with that article in our reading.

1. Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories. By: Newman, Leonard S.; Baumeister, Roy F. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p99, 28p; Abstract Offers a prototype of the unidentified flying object (UFO) abduction experience and presents an assessment of the frequency of such reports. Cognitive-motivational explanation for the creation of spurious memories of UFO abductions; Parellels between UFO abduction accounts and masochistic fantasies; Elaboration of hallucinations, general knowledge and contextual cues; Role of hypnosis in false-memory creation.

2. Fantastic Accounts Can Take Many Forms: False Memory Construction? Yes. Escape From Self? We Don’t Think So. By: Arndt, Jamie; Greenberg, Jeff. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p127, 6p; Abstract Comments on the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Implausibility of the escape-from-self explanation of UFO abduction memories.

3. The Ordinary Nature of Alien Abduction Memories. By: Banaji, Mahzarin R.; Kihlstrom, John F.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p132, 4p; Abstract Presents comments on the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Psychological explanation of UFO abduction experiences in terms of both cognitive and motivational processes.

4. On the Edge of Science: Coping With UFOlogy Scientifically. By: Bowers, Kenneth S.; Eastwood, John D.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p136, 5p; Abstract Critiques the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Application of intrapsychic determinants of experience and behavior to the UFO abduction experience.

5. The Construction of Space Alien Abduction Memories. By: Clark, Steven E.; Loftus, Elizabeth F.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p140, 4p; Abstract Presents reactions to the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Argument that UFO abductions are a variety of false memories reconstructed with the suggestion of hypnosis.

6. Escaping the Self or Escaping the Anomaly? By: Hall, Robert L.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p143, 6p; Abstract Focuses on the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Newman and Baumeister’s explanation for claims of UFO abductions; Factors that lead to the development of false memories.

7. When Explanations Fail: Science and Pseudoscience in Psychology. By: Hull, Jay G.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p149, 3p; Abstract Presents comments on the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Lack of internal coherence in Newman and Baumeister’s explanation for claims of UFO abductions.

8. Alleged Alien Abductions: False Memories, Hypnosis, and Fantasy Proneness. By: Lynn, Steven Jay; Kirsch, Irving I.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p151, 5p; Abstract Comments on the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Effect of hypnosis on human memory; Relationship between hypnosis and fantasy proneness.

9. A More Parsimonious Explanation for UFO Abduction. By: McLeod, Caroline C.; Corbisier, Barbara; Mack, John E.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p156, 13p; Abstract Presents a critique of the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Arguments regarding the relationship between fantasy proneness, masochistic fantasy and hypnotic elaboration.

10. “Memories” of Anomalous and Traumatic Autobiographical Experiences: Validation and Consolidation of Fantasy Through Hypnosis. By: Orne, Martin T.; Whitehouse, Wayne G.; Orne, Emily Carota; Dinges, David F.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p168, 5p; Abstract Responds to the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Cognitive-motivational explanation for claims of UFO abductions; Validation of fantasy through hypnosis.

11. Distinguishing Memory From Fantasy. By: Ross, Michael; Newby, Ian R.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p173, 5p; Abstract Presents comments on the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Relationship of UFO abduction memories to ‘recovered’ memories of childhood sexual abuse.

12. Abduction Tales As Metaphors. By: Spence, Donald P.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p177, 3p; Abstract Reacts to the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Analysis of UFO abduction tales as metaphors for cultural crisis; Themes of powerlessness, uncertainty and alienation in abduction stories.

13. The Truth Is Out There. By: Strube, Michael J.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p180, 5p; Abstract Presents a critique of the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ by Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister, which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Limitations of the ‘escape from self’ explanation for claims of UFO abduction.

14. Not Just Another False Memory: Further Thoughts on the UFO Abduction Phenomenon. By: Newman, Leonard S.; Baumeister, Roy F.. Psychological Inquiry, 1996, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p185, 13p; Abstract Responds to various comments made on the article ‘Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories,’ which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal ‘Psychological Inquiry.’ Role of hypnosis in the creation of abduction memories; Characteristics of a fantasy-prone person.

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