Are Alien Abduction Claims Rooted in Psychological Stress?

[Carlos Hernandez]

Alien Abductee Stress

Thousands of people claim that they have been abducted by aliens. Are they lying? Research suggests that, in many cases, those making the claim truly believe it happened.

"In case after case after case, I've been impressed with the consistency of the story, the sincerity with which people tell their stories, the power of the feelings connected with this, the self-doubt," John Mack, a psychiatrist at Harvard University who has worked with people who claim to have been abducted, told PBS' NOVA. " I worked with people over hundreds and hundreds of hours, and have done as careful a job as I could to listen, to sift out, to consider alternative explanations. And none have come forward. No one has found an alternative explanation in a single abduction case."

Complete text at http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?language=english&type=article&article_id=218392122

 

[radagast]

Had the same psychiatrist interviewed people of the middle ages, he would have found similar numbers who had reported being visited by a incubus/succubus while they slept. These people were also quite convinced of the truth of their experience.

Did that make it true?

Research has shown that about five percent of the population are highly suggestible. To ignore this is an injustice to sincere investigation.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by radagast
Had the same psychiatrist interviewed people of the middle ages, he would have found similar numbers who had reported being visited by a incubus/succubus while they slept.

This doesn't help your case. This only supports the assertion that this alleged alien abduction phenomenon goes back throughout recorded history.

 

[FZ+]

But this is nothing new. There has been plenty of research into false memory generation. In fact, Mack has borne the brunt of criticism in this regard, and has been known to employ dubious methods.

http://www.csicop.org/si/9605/mack.html

 

[Nereid]

The Economist, December 13th-19th

"Few readers of The Economist, one would imagine, have seen a one-eyed dwarf with bat-like wings, pointed ears and sharpened talons. Even fewer are likely to have been sodomized by one. Many of the people of Zanzibar, however, sincerely believe in Popobawa, an incubus who supposedly rapes men who doubt his existence. Isolated sightings are reported every year. Locals say that Popobawa appears accompanied by a puff of smoke, usually on Pemba, the smaller of the spice islands that make up this semi-autonomous part of Tanzania.[/color]"

If John Mack were to interview some of these people, would he again report "In case after case after case, I've been impressed with the consistency of the story, the sincerity with which people tell their stories, the power of the feelings connected with this, the self-doubt."

 

[einsteinian77]

An incubus, or succubus, is just an angel that has some sort of sexual relation with men, whether raping or at will.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by einsteinian77
An incubus, or succubus, is just an angel that has some sort of sexual relation with men, whether raping or at will.

Not quite, there is no sexual discrimination when it comes to such matters.

Incubus: A male demon who would visit women at night and engage in sexual activity. This belief was commonly held during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. There were also female demons, called succubi who were believed to visit men.


Succubus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In medieval legend, a succubus (plural succubi; from Latin succubare, "to lie under") is a female demon which comes to men, especially monks, in their dreams to seduce them and have sexual intercourse with them.

This legend was an explanation for the phenomena of wet dreams and sleep paralysis.

Lilith and the Lilin (Jewish), Belili (Sumerian) and Rusalka (Slavic) were succubi.

Compare: incubus.


Incubus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.



Demonology
In medieval legend, an incubus (plural incubi; from Latin incubare, "to lie upon") is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially on women in order to have sexual intercourse with them. A female version was called a succubus. There are several possible explanations for the incubus legends:


They form part of the well-attested Medieval preoccupation with sin, especially sexual sins of women.
Actual rapes of sleeping women were attributed to demons by rapists in order to escape punishment.
The feeling of smothering while sleeping is known to physicians. The modern term for this common disorder is sleep hypnosis or sleep paralysis.
Because of the weight given to sin in the Middle Ages, nocturnal arousal, orgasm or emission were explained away by the legends of creatures causing an otherwise guilt-producing and self-conscious behavior. Thus people could say they were not to blame for it; it was obviously outside of their control: they were a victim.
During the witchhunts, alleged intercourse with demons or with Satan was one of the purported sins for which women were killed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incubus

 

[Jonathan]

Very informative Ivan.
Radagast, are you sure it is only 5%?

Research has shown that about five percent of the population are highly suggestible. To ignore this is an injustice to sincere investigation.