A number of years back I read Whitley Strieber’s book “Communion,” which for those who don’t know is the first book he wrote about how he thought he had been abducted by space aliens. I don’t believe space aliens are real, and to a large extent I think the poor man was duped by hypnotherapy quacks, but I thought the book was awfully good; as an account of a man who was going through something he did not understand, it was excellent writing, better than his fiction by a mile.
Just a couple of months ago I read one of his sequels - I can’t remember which - and I think the poor guy’s gone nuts. There was lots of conspiracy nonsense in it and persecution complex writing. I’d bet a month’s salary the guy is paranoid schizophrenic.
I think Cecil sort of answered this once - it might have been a reference to sleep apnea or something - but my question is: Has anyone ever done any studies on a representative population of alleged “abductees” to see if they’re disproportionately likely to have any particular mental disorder? Anyone can see a UFO; getting “abducted” is quite something else, isn’t it?
Ah, Whitley. Wrote an interesting novel back in the early 80’s entitled “Nature’s End,” about the world ecology going into early collapse in the 2030s. I do recommend it, even if Whitley did later go nutcase or start a huge hoax. As for Whitley is doing now, he has a new book out entitled “The Coming Global Superstorm” (read the Amazon description here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671041908/o/qid=962746276/sr=2-1/102-0881530-5274552). Warning: it was co-written with Art Bell. So, don’t expect anything close to fact or sense.
I don’t think it was a hoax at all. I broadly agree with Rick’s view, that Communion is a fascinating book about a man who is going through experiences he doesn’t understand.
I also agree that he was duped by hypnotherapy quacks, rather like the past life regression people and some of the satanic ritual abuse people.
I think he’s written about four books on the subject now, but after Communion, which was admirably sceptical/inquiring in parts, he bought into the “nuts and bolts space aliens are kidnappinbg me in the middle of the night to warn me about impending environmental doom” hypothesis and none of his later stuff has been as good.
FWIW, one of the best books on the subject of alien abductions is UFO Abductions: A Dangerous Game by Philip J. Klass (Prometheus Books, 1989).
I vaguely recall seeing a PBS show (NOVA?) in which a scientist showed that certain electrical discharges could cause feelings of intense paranoia, paralysis, and feelings of being watched by vague shadowy figures. These feelings only occured in some test subjects. The show claimed that similar discharges occured in the earth, and hypothesized that they might account for some UFO abduction stories. I have no idea how well supported this hypothesis is, but the scientist and the experiments looked pretty credible on the show, and NOVA is generally reliable.