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Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens
They're tiny. They're tall. They're gray. They're green. They survey our world with enormous glowing eyes. To conduct their shocking experiments, they creep in at night to carry humans off to their spaceships. Yet there's no evidence they exist at all. So how could anyone believe he or she was abducted by aliens? Or want to believe it? To answer these questions, psychologist Clancy interviewed & evaluated abductees--old & young, female & male, religious & agnostic. She listened to their stories--how they struggled to explain something strange in their remembered experience, how abduction seemed plausible, & how, having suspected abduction, they began to recollect it, aided by suggestion & hypnosis. She argues abductees are intelligent, sane people who've unwittingly created vivid false memories from a toxic mix of nightmares, culturally available texts (abduction reports began only after stories of extraterrestrials appeared in films & on TV) & a powerful drive for meaning that science is unable to satisfy. For them, otherworldly terror can become a transforming, even inspiring experience. "Being abducted may be a baptism in the new religion of this millennium", she writes. This book is not only a subtle exploration of the workings of memory, but a sensitive inquiry into the nature of belief.
191 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
November 14, 2020
This is a readable study of persons who believe they've been abducted by aliens conducted by a Harvard-educated psychologist who treats the whole matter, a priori, as absurd. To her, abductees are, in large part, otherwise normal persons who, often through the experience of sleep paralysis, have mistaken subjective fantasy for objective reality--a tendency exacerbated by hypnotic "therapies" and suggestion.
While I enjoyed Clancy's sense of humor and personable style, I found her treatment of the UFO phenomena to be poorly informed. For instance, in her overview of its history she has Kenneth Arnold flying a private jet--in 1947! Furthermore, she treats the phenomena as though there has been no evidence beyond the testimony of individual witnesses, ignoring the mass sightings, the photographs, the films, the radar and sonar records and the physical traces. Clearly, on this she hasn't done her homework.
However, as regards the abduction reports, here she may be right on if one discounts the several cases supposedly involving multiple witnesses. I, too, have noted the similarities between the child-abuse-satanic-ritual reports of the eighties and the alien abduction flap of the nineties. Many cases of both might be accounted for as she suggests. Still, such explanations may not account for every report. Some children are abused. Some persons (though I personally strongly doubt it) may have been abducted...
While I enjoyed Clancy's sense of humor and personable style, I found her treatment of the UFO phenomena to be poorly informed. For instance, in her overview of its history she has Kenneth Arnold flying a private jet--in 1947! Furthermore, she treats the phenomena as though there has been no evidence beyond the testimony of individual witnesses, ignoring the mass sightings, the photographs, the films, the radar and sonar records and the physical traces. Clearly, on this she hasn't done her homework.
However, as regards the abduction reports, here she may be right on if one discounts the several cases supposedly involving multiple witnesses. I, too, have noted the similarities between the child-abuse-satanic-ritual reports of the eighties and the alien abduction flap of the nineties. Many cases of both might be accounted for as she suggests. Still, such explanations may not account for every report. Some children are abused. Some persons (though I personally strongly doubt it) may have been abducted...
January 31, 2008
Overall, this book contains a lot of really excellent information. Clancy firmly believes in taking weird beliefs seriously, but not literally; she is not a believer in alien abduction, but she is deeply curious about why abductees choose alien abduction as the explanation for weirdness in their life, when there are so many other more plausible explanations. She outlines the typical process by which abductees come to believe they have been abducted, and discusses a number of explanations, including false memories exacerbated by poor hypnosis techniques, sleep paralysis, and her findings that abductees score high on scales that measure schizotypy (which is characterized by a certain amount of fantasy-prone-ness and a tendency toward magical thinking).
One of the unexpectedly interesting things for me about this book is that it turns out she assisted Richard McNally in the research described in his book Remembering Trauma, which I read earlier this year. In Remembering Trauma, McNally (assisted by Clancy, as it turns out) used alien abductees as a less controversial alternative to those with recovered memories of sexual or ritual abuse in many of his memory studies.
The reason I didn't rate this book higher is that it ended up being much more lightweight than I had hoped, in terms of the tone and the detail of discussion. Clancy adopts a slightly humorous, conversational tone throughout, which occasionally feels forced and did not always make me feel that she was treating her subjects with respect. Granted, it is sometimes difficult to take some of the abductees stories seriously, but I sometimes felt she took a bit too much glee in relating stories of particularly weird encounters. By and large, interesting stuff, but I wanted more.
One of the unexpectedly interesting things for me about this book is that it turns out she assisted Richard McNally in the research described in his book Remembering Trauma, which I read earlier this year. In Remembering Trauma, McNally (assisted by Clancy, as it turns out) used alien abductees as a less controversial alternative to those with recovered memories of sexual or ritual abuse in many of his memory studies.
The reason I didn't rate this book higher is that it ended up being much more lightweight than I had hoped, in terms of the tone and the detail of discussion. Clancy adopts a slightly humorous, conversational tone throughout, which occasionally feels forced and did not always make me feel that she was treating her subjects with respect. Granted, it is sometimes difficult to take some of the abductees stories seriously, but I sometimes felt she took a bit too much glee in relating stories of particularly weird encounters. By and large, interesting stuff, but I wanted more.
March 12, 2021
The conclusions of this author were not what I expected. I come away from this book with a new perspective. I no longer think people who claim to be abducted are just nut cases. This is a well thought-out, well researched study, and at the same time, easy to read. Recommended for people interested in the paranormal.
May 29, 2020
Wow! An unexpectedly outstanding book - extremely well-written, engaging, respectful of abductees, psychologically perspicacious, and scientifically informed. The thoughtful reflections of the author on her abductee research have delightful and surprising implications for talk therapists and broader understandings of human meaning systems. A monumentally memorable book (and I read a lot of books). Highly recommended!
July 29, 2019
A really insightful and conversational read about the susceptibility of the human mind. I appreciate the author's sympathetic view of abductees while remaining scientifically oriented. It's incredible just how easy it is for our minds to be influenced, and even more interesting to see why some people land on alien abduction as an explanation for their experiences.
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May 1, 2015Here might be a good summary of the author's intentions:
"This book has tried to do just that: to take alien-abduction accounts seriously, but not literally. I began by pointing out that psychologists were slow to devote their thoughts and research efforts to understanding how sane people can come to believe they were abducted by aliens. At last, in the 1990s, explanations and theories began to appear. But while I applaud and fawn on this growing body of research, I do think there's a whole self-congratulatory tone to much of it—a sense that the whole ridiculous issue of aliens has now been addressed and answered, and can be dismissed an another example of mass foolishness.
Though individual researchers naturally incline toward their own explanations for the alien abduction experience, I would hope they'd be receptive to my multilevel synthesis of these disparate contributions. I am arguing that alien-abduction memories are best understood as resulting in a blend of fantasy-proneness, memory distortion, culturally available scripts, sleep hallucinations, scientific illiteracy, aided and abetted by the suggestions and reinforcement of hypnotherapy. **But this analysis is still insufficient for an understanding of the phenomenon.** As the abductees themselves say, 'If you're telling me it didn't happen to me, that I made it up, why in God's name would I WANT to?'
...
But Donald Spence also argues that the validity of our conclusions–the HISTORICAL truth of our explanations–is irrelevant. The important question is: Do our beliefs have NARRATIVE truth? Do they provide us with meaning and value? When people believe they were abducted by aliens, does this help them to understand perplexing or upsetting aspects of their lives [finding a measure of similarity to PTSD victims]? If so, the explanation is going to be persuasive, satisfying, and resistant to argument [concluding these stories give them peace because of some relative knowledge of some cause, are transformative for their lives in giving them perspective, a worldview, orients them to the banality of living in relation to this world]."
"This book has tried to do just that: to take alien-abduction accounts seriously, but not literally. I began by pointing out that psychologists were slow to devote their thoughts and research efforts to understanding how sane people can come to believe they were abducted by aliens. At last, in the 1990s, explanations and theories began to appear. But while I applaud and fawn on this growing body of research, I do think there's a whole self-congratulatory tone to much of it—a sense that the whole ridiculous issue of aliens has now been addressed and answered, and can be dismissed an another example of mass foolishness.
Though individual researchers naturally incline toward their own explanations for the alien abduction experience, I would hope they'd be receptive to my multilevel synthesis of these disparate contributions. I am arguing that alien-abduction memories are best understood as resulting in a blend of fantasy-proneness, memory distortion, culturally available scripts, sleep hallucinations, scientific illiteracy, aided and abetted by the suggestions and reinforcement of hypnotherapy. **But this analysis is still insufficient for an understanding of the phenomenon.** As the abductees themselves say, 'If you're telling me it didn't happen to me, that I made it up, why in God's name would I WANT to?'
...
But Donald Spence also argues that the validity of our conclusions–the HISTORICAL truth of our explanations–is irrelevant. The important question is: Do our beliefs have NARRATIVE truth? Do they provide us with meaning and value? When people believe they were abducted by aliens, does this help them to understand perplexing or upsetting aspects of their lives [finding a measure of similarity to PTSD victims]? If so, the explanation is going to be persuasive, satisfying, and resistant to argument [concluding these stories give them peace because of some relative knowledge of some cause, are transformative for their lives in giving them perspective, a worldview, orients them to the banality of living in relation to this world]."
May 31, 2019
Clancy does a great job of laying out her ideas and building on them from chapter to chapter, it makes for a very nice flow of reading and keeps you invested. I also appreciated that she took alien abduction as seriously as she could and was honest and gentle with her subjects when talking about their experiences.
I loved that each chapter name addressed questions by believers and firmly laid out the flaws in logic and supplied more scientific ones to consider instead. Chapters like “Why do I have the memories if it didn’t happen?” “Why are abduction stories so consistent?” “If it didn’t happen, why would I want to believe it did?” Speak directly to those effected without condescension.
I’m extremely tired of the easy trend of mocking people with outrageous ideas. It does nothing but inflate the superiority complex of the mockers and further alienates those who hold their beliefs. Rejection will only make people double down on their beliefs and retreat from society further for their pseudo-science communities. Because that is what people with outrageous believes want, a community, support, just like every other human on the planet. Clancy’s book is a breath of fresh air and I can only hope it inspires others to treat people with outrageous beliefs with empathy and respect.
I loved that each chapter name addressed questions by believers and firmly laid out the flaws in logic and supplied more scientific ones to consider instead. Chapters like “Why do I have the memories if it didn’t happen?” “Why are abduction stories so consistent?” “If it didn’t happen, why would I want to believe it did?” Speak directly to those effected without condescension.
I’m extremely tired of the easy trend of mocking people with outrageous ideas. It does nothing but inflate the superiority complex of the mockers and further alienates those who hold their beliefs. Rejection will only make people double down on their beliefs and retreat from society further for their pseudo-science communities. Because that is what people with outrageous believes want, a community, support, just like every other human on the planet. Clancy’s book is a breath of fresh air and I can only hope it inspires others to treat people with outrageous beliefs with empathy and respect.
August 1, 2012
This short book could have been condensed into a long article - but that's ok, if it had been, I never would have found it. It's an interesting and entertaining study conducted by author of how and why otherwise normal people can come to believe they have been abducted. Having long been interested in memory, especially false memory syndrome, this was right up my alley, and I enjoyed it greatly. The author is very respectful of the people she interviews, and finds that she likes the majority of them. She has eliminated the truly mentally ill from being part of her study, which makes it all the more fascinating. The personality traits she isolates that may make a person susceptible to this belief are personality traits I myself have ... so, I am a little nervous - I sure hope someone intervenes if I start believing I have seen little green guys in my bedroon at night!
December 14, 2014
Susan Clancy raises important points about alien abduction, turning a discussion from what many would find a frivolous topic to something relevant. For people who are interested in psychology, and want to maintain an open mind towards seeming absurd experiences, this book was both enjoyable and informative. It debunks many popular myths while credibly and fairly assessing different claims. Lastly, I enjoyed the ending's tie-in with religion, something I myself have been interested in, by discussing the "transformative" effects of spiritual experiences. A conclusion I have drawn for myself is, in many ways, alien abduction is similar to the belief in god. However, the latter is more socially acceptable in today's societal context. This may change soon.
June 30, 2012
This book is essential to understanding the phenomenon of alien abduction. Susan Clancy, while researching false recovered memory syndrome, was looking for a control group. As she recounts her experiences with self-proclaimed alien abductees, she introduces many important observations and concepts. Chief among them is the role of the culturally available explanation - we interpret our experiences in the light of what we expect to see. Well written and an important book for anyone who is interested in alien mythos and culture.
May 27, 2023
Alien abductions are not real, therefore the subjects' accounts of them are not real.
This is the scientific rigor that the author brings to this topic.
She ignores UFO sightings and discounts people's testimony of this phenomenon. For her, such testimony is not scientific evidence. The book was published in 2005 and so maybe the author did not have access to the US military videos of UFO sightings that we have today and have been published in the NY Times and discussed on 60 Minutes and elsewhere.
Here are a few of my contentions:
In discussing the Roswell incident, why does the author omit the fact that the US government first admitted, then recanted, that the event involved a UFO?
In chapter 2, she writes that we do not accept anecdotal evidence for murder cases. Yes, courts do accept anecdotal, eyewitness testimony of murder. In fact, much of court evidence of murder and other crimes is simply people's accounts of what happened.
She attributes seemingly all abduction narrations as starting with sleep paralysis. But she totally ignores those abduction accounts that do not begin with sleeping. Though she discusses the Betty and Barney Hill case, she ignores the fact that the couple was driving at the time and that their account can not be explained by sleep paralysis.
She states that only one animal, humans, possesses conscious intelligence. But she does not define this phrase. To date, science records many animals that possess consciousness, at least through the mirror test of self-recognition.
The scientist in the author states it is "downright silly" that aliens take eggs and sperm from abductees. Again, her prejudices come to light.
She states that cross-species mating defies the laws of biology. This is only partially true. Scientists still are not clear on the definition of a species. Moreover, humans have Neanderthal DNA, and it is debatable whether we belong to the same species. And today scientists are able to insert specific genes into vastly different life forms to impart specific traits, such as cold-resistance.
Nowhere in the book does the author state what minimal evidence she would accept as proof of UFOs, aliens, or alien abductions. She discounts all the narratives by labelling them as anecdotal.
She attributes much of this phenomenon to exposure to cultural tropes without evidence that the subjects had indeed been exposed to them. Did the Hills actually watch the Outer Limit episode before the incident? If they had seen Invaders from Mars, then the author must show a causal link between the watching of that movie and the narratives that the Hills produced. This goes for this whole argument, that abduction narratives stem from such tropes. She can argue they might, but she cannot prove it.
She gives her own personal account of a false memory. But this is anecdotal evidence. She wants to have it both ways: when abductees give their personal accounts she labels it as anecdotal, but when she gives her own account, she offers it as evidence of how easy it is to create false memories.
She labels "flying saucer" sightings as a social construction without delving into the evidence. If UFOs exist, and according to the US government (and many other sources) they do, then they are not social constructs, but an actual phenomenon. The race is on to see who will be the first to state publicly that the UFOs constitute an extraterrestrial phenomenon.
She argues that if two narratives are similar, they must have copied from each other. So if people on opposite sides of the earth say they saw the sun rise in the east, they must have conversed with each other before hand.
Having said all that, I would like to add that the author has made me reconsider the technique of hypnosis for recovering memories. I am not much in a position to judge this approach. I have read Mack and Hopkins, whose accounts of alien abduction narratives through hypnosis ring true, but without more knowledge and experience in this field, it is difficult to draw conclusions.
It would have been good if the author first considered the phenomenon of UFOs before moving on to abductions. She ignores, for example, the Ariel school sighting in Zimbabwe in 1994, in which about 60 children claim to have seen the UFO, some claim to have seen the aliens, and still some claimed to communicate with them telepathically. But since she has shown her scientific colors, she most likely would have dismissed these claims as "downright silly." Her mind was already made up before she embarked on this research and writing the book.
I would urge the author to write a follow-up book in light of the scientific evidence supporting the UFO phenomenon and to consider those cases of alien abduction that do not begin with sleeping, to rule out sleep paralysis as one of the main factors at play here. Perhaps the N=11 was the best she could do and did not have access to other non-sleeping origins of abduction, and she did not have any plausible explanation for those. As with her omission of the US government's admittance that the Roswell incident involved a UFO, the author clearly cherry-picks her data.
This is the scientific rigor that the author brings to this topic.
She ignores UFO sightings and discounts people's testimony of this phenomenon. For her, such testimony is not scientific evidence. The book was published in 2005 and so maybe the author did not have access to the US military videos of UFO sightings that we have today and have been published in the NY Times and discussed on 60 Minutes and elsewhere.
Here are a few of my contentions:
In discussing the Roswell incident, why does the author omit the fact that the US government first admitted, then recanted, that the event involved a UFO?
In chapter 2, she writes that we do not accept anecdotal evidence for murder cases. Yes, courts do accept anecdotal, eyewitness testimony of murder. In fact, much of court evidence of murder and other crimes is simply people's accounts of what happened.
She attributes seemingly all abduction narrations as starting with sleep paralysis. But she totally ignores those abduction accounts that do not begin with sleeping. Though she discusses the Betty and Barney Hill case, she ignores the fact that the couple was driving at the time and that their account can not be explained by sleep paralysis.
She states that only one animal, humans, possesses conscious intelligence. But she does not define this phrase. To date, science records many animals that possess consciousness, at least through the mirror test of self-recognition.
The scientist in the author states it is "downright silly" that aliens take eggs and sperm from abductees. Again, her prejudices come to light.
She states that cross-species mating defies the laws of biology. This is only partially true. Scientists still are not clear on the definition of a species. Moreover, humans have Neanderthal DNA, and it is debatable whether we belong to the same species. And today scientists are able to insert specific genes into vastly different life forms to impart specific traits, such as cold-resistance.
Nowhere in the book does the author state what minimal evidence she would accept as proof of UFOs, aliens, or alien abductions. She discounts all the narratives by labelling them as anecdotal.
She attributes much of this phenomenon to exposure to cultural tropes without evidence that the subjects had indeed been exposed to them. Did the Hills actually watch the Outer Limit episode before the incident? If they had seen Invaders from Mars, then the author must show a causal link between the watching of that movie and the narratives that the Hills produced. This goes for this whole argument, that abduction narratives stem from such tropes. She can argue they might, but she cannot prove it.
She gives her own personal account of a false memory. But this is anecdotal evidence. She wants to have it both ways: when abductees give their personal accounts she labels it as anecdotal, but when she gives her own account, she offers it as evidence of how easy it is to create false memories.
She labels "flying saucer" sightings as a social construction without delving into the evidence. If UFOs exist, and according to the US government (and many other sources) they do, then they are not social constructs, but an actual phenomenon. The race is on to see who will be the first to state publicly that the UFOs constitute an extraterrestrial phenomenon.
She argues that if two narratives are similar, they must have copied from each other. So if people on opposite sides of the earth say they saw the sun rise in the east, they must have conversed with each other before hand.
Having said all that, I would like to add that the author has made me reconsider the technique of hypnosis for recovering memories. I am not much in a position to judge this approach. I have read Mack and Hopkins, whose accounts of alien abduction narratives through hypnosis ring true, but without more knowledge and experience in this field, it is difficult to draw conclusions.
It would have been good if the author first considered the phenomenon of UFOs before moving on to abductions. She ignores, for example, the Ariel school sighting in Zimbabwe in 1994, in which about 60 children claim to have seen the UFO, some claim to have seen the aliens, and still some claimed to communicate with them telepathically. But since she has shown her scientific colors, she most likely would have dismissed these claims as "downright silly." Her mind was already made up before she embarked on this research and writing the book.
I would urge the author to write a follow-up book in light of the scientific evidence supporting the UFO phenomenon and to consider those cases of alien abduction that do not begin with sleeping, to rule out sleep paralysis as one of the main factors at play here. Perhaps the N=11 was the best she could do and did not have access to other non-sleeping origins of abduction, and she did not have any plausible explanation for those. As with her omission of the US government's admittance that the Roswell incident involved a UFO, the author clearly cherry-picks her data.
September 13, 2023
This is a very good study of the phenomena of alien abductions or, more accurately, the popular delusion of alien abductions that first emerged in the 20th century. In 1964 to be exact. Susan A. Clancy is a cognitive psychologist and brings evidence-based knowledge of the human mind and the flaws in human memory to her study, along with in-depth interviews and experiments with many abductees. She also brings plenty of humor and historical insight to the book - there have been countless other strange popular delusions in recorded history. Clancy summarizes her theory this way:
However, she recognizes that this is not the full story:
People who report that they were abducted by space aliens almost all say that it was deeply traumatic, with humiliating sexual experiments being commonplace. It is in the final chapter of that Clancy gets really insightful about this phenomena and the human condition in general. Some people argue that individuals go to alien abduction stories - real or imagined - to get notoriety and be special, or make money. However, Clancy argues that, “Proponents of such explanations are missing something profoundly important about abduction belief—perhaps the most salient factor underlying its formation: people’s desire to find meaning for their lives” (p. 140).
She goes on to write:
*
This is a very interesting book that has made me think of even larger issues than alien abductions.
Title: Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens
Author(s): Susan A. Clancy
Year: 2005
Genre: Nonfiction - Social science, popular delusions
Page count: 192 pages
Date(s) read: 9/10/23-9/11/23
Reading journal entry #171 in 2023
I am arguing that alien-abduction memories are best understood as resulting from a blend of fantasy-proneness, memory distortion, culturally available scripts, sleep hallucinations, and scientific illiteracy, aided and abetted by the suggestions and reinforcement of hypnotherapy. (p. 138).
However, she recognizes that this is not the full story:
But this analysis is still insufficient for an understanding of the phenomenon. As the abductees themselves would say, “If you’re telling me it didn’t happen to me, that I made it up, why in God’s name would I want to?” (p. 138).
People who report that they were abducted by space aliens almost all say that it was deeply traumatic, with humiliating sexual experiments being commonplace. It is in the final chapter of that Clancy gets really insightful about this phenomena and the human condition in general. Some people argue that individuals go to alien abduction stories - real or imagined - to get notoriety and be special, or make money. However, Clancy argues that, “Proponents of such explanations are missing something profoundly important about abduction belief—perhaps the most salient factor underlying its formation: people’s desire to find meaning for their lives” (p. 140).
She goes on to write:
The best part of science, the thing that makes it work, is the fact that it is impartial and unbiased. It doesn’t care what you want; it cares only about the truth. Science is a process of inquiry aimed at building knowledge—testable knowledge that is constantly open to rejection. I had to acknowledge the truth that was revealed in the evidence: the abductees had derived profound benefits from their dreadful experiences. I was struck by the fact that all of the subjects, without exception, said that they felt “changed” because of their experiences, that “they were better people,” that “life improved” after they were abducted. (p. 148).
*
Belief in alien abduction is not just bad science. It’s not just an explanation for misfortune and a way to avoid taking responsibility for personal problems. For many people, belief in alien abduction gratifies spiritual hungers. It reassures them about their place in the universe and their own significance....We live in an age of science—of data, facts, experiments, and experts. The fact that pseudo-scientific beliefs are proliferating more than ever clearly indicates that, for many people, science just isn’t working. It is failing to meet their needs, concerns, and longings. (p. 150).
This is a very interesting book that has made me think of even larger issues than alien abductions.
Title: Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens
Author(s): Susan A. Clancy
Year: 2005
Genre: Nonfiction - Social science, popular delusions
Page count: 192 pages
Date(s) read: 9/10/23-9/11/23
Reading journal entry #171 in 2023
October 25, 2009
I'm a sucker for that certain kind of meaty nonfiction tome that renders its reader an instant expert on the history and influence of some random subject (ie. Born To Run -- long distance running! who knew?), but this slim entry on alien abductees, clocking in at 150 large-font pages, reads more like the layman's version of a doctoral psych thesis than a full-blown intro to alien-enthusiast culture. And for good reason -- the author is a university psych researcher who sees no reason to approach the modern phenomenon of alien abduction from anything but a bluntly clinical viewpoint. That's all fine and good, but Susan Clancy has a whole universe of interesting at her fingertips, and I wish she had broadened her authorial horizons even a wee bit. Her explanation of alien abduction as a strictly psychological experience is intensive and fascinating, but her treatment of the greater "alien abduction" culture and community remains less than thorough. This topic deserves the full magazine-writer-on-sabbatical treatment: how, for instance, could Clancy have written a book on abduction and NOT pilgrimmaged down to Roswell!? I like my nonfiction authors to serve as my own personal Virgil, guiding my descent into the ever-murky intricacy of a given topic, and Clancy merely delivers a dry analysis of the abductees' mental states. There is more to this business, even if her subjects' delusion is the bottom line. In the name of psychology, how could she not have spent just a single night out in the southwestern deserts where so many of these "abductions" have, at least in so many minds, occurred?
Clancy addresses alien abduction as a dedicated skeptic (the subtitle, "How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens," indicates this from the outset), which is fine, as I am one as well, and furthermore consider upfront authorial honesty to be a virtue -- shouldn't a reader know what they're dealing with before they invest the energy? Clancy, however, insists that she is attempting to understand, not belittle, mock or deride, her subjects -- and even cites the William James maxim to take weird beliefs seriously but not literally as her guiding light -- but still ends up confirming that alien abductees generally gravitate towards massage therapy and yoga and New Age health food. They are "creative types." They are influenced by their emotional needs. They deviate considerably from the "norm" of East Coast intellectuals. This is the wrong narrative standpoint from which to evaluate delusion.
Anyway, I do not mean my criticism of her cultural bias to be a condemnation of her work. Clancy divides her chapters into rough, typical questions about abductions, and then answers them convincingly, albeit repetitively (the same smattering of points do appear again and again):
- Q: How Do People Come to Believe That They Were Abducted by Aliens?
- A: A mixture of cultural suggestion, emotional need, and sometimes sleep paralysis. Clancy points out that the alien abduction conviction didn't become widespread until after aliens were introduced to the cultural mainstream via radio, TV and movies, and that the spread of abductee tales only added to the pile of potential material to draw from. She further suggests that abductees tend to believe themselves to be "different" to begin with (ie. socially awkward, spiritual, what-have-you), and that "alien abduction" provides them with an explanation for that differentness. My favorite explanation is sleep paralysis, that icky feeling between dreaming and wakefulness when the substance of your hallucinatory dream joins with physical reality while your body physically remains in its paralysis sleep mode. Ever not been able to scream or move in the tail-end of a nightmarish dream, when everything gets scary? That's it. Clancy points out that sleep paralysis is a common phenomenon that's somehow rarely discussed in common science literature or classrooms, leaving widespread confusion about it, which is totally true, because I get this all the freakin time and it drives me up a wall and now, after how many goddamn years of higher education, I finally have a name for it....jeez.
- Q: Why Do I Have Memories If It Didn't Happen?
- A: Because false memories can be created in the process of "retrieving" repressed ones. Apparently many of these abduction memories come out in hypno-therapy, which Clancy suggests is a matter of developing a memory through the combined powers of suggestion and creativity. Interesting stuff, especially when she discusses how discrediting retrieved memories in an abduction setting further questions the merit of memories retrieved in a childhood abuse case.
- Q: Why Are Alien Stories So Consistent?
- A: They're not. This is my favorite point. Clancy acknowledges that alien stories all follow the same basic "script" (abduction, probing, safe return), but that they vary significantly in the description of the encounter -- the setting, the transport method, the nature of the physical/sexual experimentation, the aliens themselves. In fact, this stuff isn't consistent, at all, and largely influenced by the abductee's exposure to various cultural depictions of aliens.
- Q: If It Didn't Happen, Why Do I Believe It?
- A: Clancy again broaches emotional need, although this time she broadens her scope. Haven't Christian martyrs been receiving alien visions (aka angels) for centuries? There's a measure of personal importance thrown in here -- I've been chosen, the aliens visited me, I'm special. The kicker comes when she compares the religious ecstasy of St. Theresa (orgasmically speared through the heart) with one tale of abduction (a probe inserted into the abductee's stomach that's so painful it's pleasurable). Clancy ultimately suggests that belief in aliens is just another on faith form of belief in a higher, grander power.
It's a lovely point, injecting some majesty into this otherwise intellectually degraded sub-culture, and I wish Clancy had somehow done more with it. She spends a whole weekend with a retreat of abductees, and all we get are six pages of her being startled and argumentative, rather than attentive. She doesn't take us to the matter, but rather digests it and offers up her somewhat stilted analysis. Have I just contradicted my own earlier appreciation of her persuasive take? I don't mean to; I appreciate the logical rigor of her conclusion. I guess I wished that she had more fully described the raw material that she subsequently interpreted. The "subjects" with whom she speaks are reduced to their shell of personal history (age, degree of education, number of spouses, etc), instead of fleshed out into characters that the reader can envision and contemplate and, frankly, relate to. I don't believe I've been abducted by aliens, but I would love to meet someone I can understand on a personal level who truly thinks that they have. That would bring home the impact of her reasoning all the more. Instead, Clancy treats her subjects as inherent others, even if she says in the text that she's not.
The fact that the first chapter is entitled "How Do You Wind Up Studying Aliens?" tells you enough about the distracting presence, and significant self-absorption, of the author. Clancy is always present, distancing herself as author from the bizarreness of the abductees, and it's not fair to them. Clancy fails her Jamesian objective -- she takes the abductees at face value instead of seriously. I don't believe their stories either, and I don't need to relate, but I would like to understand them as people instead of subjects, and this book is too slim to deliver that kind of immersion.
Clancy addresses alien abduction as a dedicated skeptic (the subtitle, "How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens," indicates this from the outset), which is fine, as I am one as well, and furthermore consider upfront authorial honesty to be a virtue -- shouldn't a reader know what they're dealing with before they invest the energy? Clancy, however, insists that she is attempting to understand, not belittle, mock or deride, her subjects -- and even cites the William James maxim to take weird beliefs seriously but not literally as her guiding light -- but still ends up confirming that alien abductees generally gravitate towards massage therapy and yoga and New Age health food. They are "creative types." They are influenced by their emotional needs. They deviate considerably from the "norm" of East Coast intellectuals. This is the wrong narrative standpoint from which to evaluate delusion.
Anyway, I do not mean my criticism of her cultural bias to be a condemnation of her work. Clancy divides her chapters into rough, typical questions about abductions, and then answers them convincingly, albeit repetitively (the same smattering of points do appear again and again):
- Q: How Do People Come to Believe That They Were Abducted by Aliens?
- A: A mixture of cultural suggestion, emotional need, and sometimes sleep paralysis. Clancy points out that the alien abduction conviction didn't become widespread until after aliens were introduced to the cultural mainstream via radio, TV and movies, and that the spread of abductee tales only added to the pile of potential material to draw from. She further suggests that abductees tend to believe themselves to be "different" to begin with (ie. socially awkward, spiritual, what-have-you), and that "alien abduction" provides them with an explanation for that differentness. My favorite explanation is sleep paralysis, that icky feeling between dreaming and wakefulness when the substance of your hallucinatory dream joins with physical reality while your body physically remains in its paralysis sleep mode. Ever not been able to scream or move in the tail-end of a nightmarish dream, when everything gets scary? That's it. Clancy points out that sleep paralysis is a common phenomenon that's somehow rarely discussed in common science literature or classrooms, leaving widespread confusion about it, which is totally true, because I get this all the freakin time and it drives me up a wall and now, after how many goddamn years of higher education, I finally have a name for it....jeez.
- Q: Why Do I Have Memories If It Didn't Happen?
- A: Because false memories can be created in the process of "retrieving" repressed ones. Apparently many of these abduction memories come out in hypno-therapy, which Clancy suggests is a matter of developing a memory through the combined powers of suggestion and creativity. Interesting stuff, especially when she discusses how discrediting retrieved memories in an abduction setting further questions the merit of memories retrieved in a childhood abuse case.
- Q: Why Are Alien Stories So Consistent?
- A: They're not. This is my favorite point. Clancy acknowledges that alien stories all follow the same basic "script" (abduction, probing, safe return), but that they vary significantly in the description of the encounter -- the setting, the transport method, the nature of the physical/sexual experimentation, the aliens themselves. In fact, this stuff isn't consistent, at all, and largely influenced by the abductee's exposure to various cultural depictions of aliens.
- Q: If It Didn't Happen, Why Do I Believe It?
- A: Clancy again broaches emotional need, although this time she broadens her scope. Haven't Christian martyrs been receiving alien visions (aka angels) for centuries? There's a measure of personal importance thrown in here -- I've been chosen, the aliens visited me, I'm special. The kicker comes when she compares the religious ecstasy of St. Theresa (orgasmically speared through the heart) with one tale of abduction (a probe inserted into the abductee's stomach that's so painful it's pleasurable). Clancy ultimately suggests that belief in aliens is just another on faith form of belief in a higher, grander power.
It's a lovely point, injecting some majesty into this otherwise intellectually degraded sub-culture, and I wish Clancy had somehow done more with it. She spends a whole weekend with a retreat of abductees, and all we get are six pages of her being startled and argumentative, rather than attentive. She doesn't take us to the matter, but rather digests it and offers up her somewhat stilted analysis. Have I just contradicted my own earlier appreciation of her persuasive take? I don't mean to; I appreciate the logical rigor of her conclusion. I guess I wished that she had more fully described the raw material that she subsequently interpreted. The "subjects" with whom she speaks are reduced to their shell of personal history (age, degree of education, number of spouses, etc), instead of fleshed out into characters that the reader can envision and contemplate and, frankly, relate to. I don't believe I've been abducted by aliens, but I would love to meet someone I can understand on a personal level who truly thinks that they have. That would bring home the impact of her reasoning all the more. Instead, Clancy treats her subjects as inherent others, even if she says in the text that she's not.
The fact that the first chapter is entitled "How Do You Wind Up Studying Aliens?" tells you enough about the distracting presence, and significant self-absorption, of the author. Clancy is always present, distancing herself as author from the bizarreness of the abductees, and it's not fair to them. Clancy fails her Jamesian objective -- she takes the abductees at face value instead of seriously. I don't believe their stories either, and I don't need to relate, but I would like to understand them as people instead of subjects, and this book is too slim to deliver that kind of immersion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2018
Vale, antes de que alguien diga: “Javier… Esta vez te has pasado con el frikismo.”, he de decir que este libro no está escrito por uno de esos que sale en “Cuarto Milenio”, sino por una psiquiatra de Harvard que decidió investigar el “fenómeno” de las abducciones extraterrestres.
El libro es muy, muy interesante ya que trata el tema de lo fácil que es influir y manipular la memoria y que, a pesar de lo que la gente piensa, no todas las personas que aseguran haber sido abducidas por extraterrestres son “casos clínicos”. Si, la mayoría son personas propensas a la fantasía y a proyectar sus miedos y deseos en sus propios recuerdos, pero no necesitan atención médica.
También introduce el fenómeno de la “parálisis del sueño”, un trastorno médicamente documentado en el que el sujeto no esta ni despierto ni dormido. Puede tener consciencia pero el cuerpo no responde todavía a los impulsos, de ahí que hablen de “no me podía mover”, “algo me sujetaba a la cama”, etc. Esto, unido a una situación personal complicada (ej: depresión, estrés…), produce la formación de un “recuerdo”. Hace siglos dirían que los espíritus o brujas les habían visitado.
La conclusión a la que llega la autora es que, con la enorme presencia de los OVNIs en la cultura popular, estas personas “escogieron” esta experiencia como via de escape o de “razonamiento” de sus problemas. En otras epoca quiza hubiera escogido el camino del misticismo o el fervor religioso.
Recomendado para aquellas personas interesadas en psiquiatría.
El libro es muy, muy interesante ya que trata el tema de lo fácil que es influir y manipular la memoria y que, a pesar de lo que la gente piensa, no todas las personas que aseguran haber sido abducidas por extraterrestres son “casos clínicos”. Si, la mayoría son personas propensas a la fantasía y a proyectar sus miedos y deseos en sus propios recuerdos, pero no necesitan atención médica.
También introduce el fenómeno de la “parálisis del sueño”, un trastorno médicamente documentado en el que el sujeto no esta ni despierto ni dormido. Puede tener consciencia pero el cuerpo no responde todavía a los impulsos, de ahí que hablen de “no me podía mover”, “algo me sujetaba a la cama”, etc. Esto, unido a una situación personal complicada (ej: depresión, estrés…), produce la formación de un “recuerdo”. Hace siglos dirían que los espíritus o brujas les habían visitado.
La conclusión a la que llega la autora es que, con la enorme presencia de los OVNIs en la cultura popular, estas personas “escogieron” esta experiencia como via de escape o de “razonamiento” de sus problemas. En otras epoca quiza hubiera escogido el camino del misticismo o el fervor religioso.
Recomendado para aquellas personas interesadas en psiquiatría.
September 27, 2017
Short (around a quarter of the book is made up of references and a handy index), Clancy's still-thorough, endlessly fascinating look at the psychology behind 'alien abductees' is an excellent, well-referenced read.
Detailing her years of research with dozens of people firmly of the belief they'd been, or continue to be, fiddled with by extraterrestrials of various sizes, shapes and intents, Clancy explains the main factors that shape their 'recollections'.
Predictably (because it's likely the best answer) she discusses sleep paralysis and the shaky 'science' behind retrieving suppressed memories through hypnosis but also gets into magical or fantasy-prone thinking and the cultural influences (1950s sci-fi films predate all known abduction stories) so many 'abductees' seem to surround themselves with.
Impressively, she finds space to debunk a few myths along the way, such as the idea that belief in alien life somewhere in the universe is somehow equivalent to believing they show up at your house to put things in you or the claim that alien abduction stories are consistent with each other.
True, her conclusion - that belief in alien abductions is some kind of new, technologically-inspired religiosity - seems overblown and there are times when the book feels frustratingly light on detail but overall, this is a fine, skeptical and compassionate look at some odd beliefs and the (often perfectly normal) people who hold them.
Detailing her years of research with dozens of people firmly of the belief they'd been, or continue to be, fiddled with by extraterrestrials of various sizes, shapes and intents, Clancy explains the main factors that shape their 'recollections'.
Predictably (because it's likely the best answer) she discusses sleep paralysis and the shaky 'science' behind retrieving suppressed memories through hypnosis but also gets into magical or fantasy-prone thinking and the cultural influences (1950s sci-fi films predate all known abduction stories) so many 'abductees' seem to surround themselves with.
Impressively, she finds space to debunk a few myths along the way, such as the idea that belief in alien life somewhere in the universe is somehow equivalent to believing they show up at your house to put things in you or the claim that alien abduction stories are consistent with each other.
True, her conclusion - that belief in alien abductions is some kind of new, technologically-inspired religiosity - seems overblown and there are times when the book feels frustratingly light on detail but overall, this is a fine, skeptical and compassionate look at some odd beliefs and the (often perfectly normal) people who hold them.
May 31, 2018
This book proved to be a really rewarding and thought provoking exploration of how and why people come to believe that they were abducted by space aliens. The book is written by a Harvard University trained psychologist and touches on a number of different aspects of the alien abduction phenomenon - how our memories can deceive us, how suggestible people can be under hypnosis, how ideas about space aliens have intrigued artists, philosophers, psychologists, scientists, and others throughout human history, the spiritual void that abduction narratives appear to fill in some individuals' lives, the way in which some people hit upon alien abduction as an explanation for things in their life they cannot or do not want to explain in other ways (like sleep paralysis or emotional problems), and how popular culture has shaped the alien abduction narratives that people come to believe happened to them. One thing I found very interesting in Clancy's analysis was that, according to her, almost no one in her experience straight up remembers being abducted by aliens. Instead, people go through a process of "getting their memories" usually under hypnosis or something like it. This book was a fascinating exploration of the phenomenon of alien abduction and a lot of other issues surrounding it such as how memory works and the spiritual or psychological needs that odd beliefs can fulfill for some people in our world.
January 15, 2019
Clancy does an excellent job of giving a grounded, skeptical perspective of 'general' abductees she corralled in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, she wasn't using any metric or form of filter to try and eliminate 'believers' or people who might actually have more complex experiences. In fact, her actual methodology and any quantitative aspects are completely absent throughout the book. I still enjoyed her criticism and formulations of the most common rebuttals to the phenomenon in general, even if entered with her own bias and didn't produce much than opinions.
I was also struck by how incompatible much of her conclusions might be with her previous (and intended) area of research, namely the sexual-abuse victims. The criticisms of hypnosis would obviously still stand, but the cultural mythology and 'desire to believe' occur in a entirely different contexts. Sadly, she did not comment on this either.
I would only recommend this book to people looking for critical perspectives in relation to John Mack, David Jacobs, and other abductee researcher's work. The are certainly limitations and dangers to their reliance on hypnotic-based accounts anyone should be aware of if they are studying the phenomenon in general.
I was also struck by how incompatible much of her conclusions might be with her previous (and intended) area of research, namely the sexual-abuse victims. The criticisms of hypnosis would obviously still stand, but the cultural mythology and 'desire to believe' occur in a entirely different contexts. Sadly, she did not comment on this either.
I would only recommend this book to people looking for critical perspectives in relation to John Mack, David Jacobs, and other abductee researcher's work. The are certainly limitations and dangers to their reliance on hypnotic-based accounts anyone should be aware of if they are studying the phenomenon in general.
October 19, 2020
Such a rich and detailed book. I loved every minute of this read. I was worried at first at how short it is, but its meaty and a good companion during a boring outing. It should come as no surprise that alien abductions are not real, and that Susan weaves a great ark in explaining how through her trials she uncovers why people believe and form these other worldly ideas. She is kind and respectful to the subjects but still maintains her scientific deminor and desire to find truth and meaning to their claims. The index is so perfectly encompassing, I want to read all the books she mentions. It's full of fantastic quotes and cross references to other studies about false memories, religious experiences, and the like. It ends with her discussing how aliens are just a new cloth to be draped over many people's need for meaning, a new belief to find and take comfort in.
December 28, 2020
I found this a very informative book by someone who has made themselves an authority on the subject. I too have often wondered what happened to people that claimed abduction by aliens? The author explains this through evidence-based trials and analyses. The author's conclusions make sense and provide a scientific answer to the question of what did these people experience. At the same time, the author seemed to respect the people that participated in her studies. I liked that. I think something happened to these people they can't explain. That doesn't mean I want them to be browbeaten in the process of explaining what happened. As the author suggests those that believe they were abducted probably won't agree with her conclusion, but I think they are valid and go a long way to explain this experience.
March 19, 2017
This is a good book, which seeks to find the answer to the question (in the title): How people come to believe they were kidnapped by aliens. Why do people come to this conclusion when there is little evidence to support their claim? I found the read interesting and thought provoking. Clancy states that she believes these stories to be untrue, and for this she has been criticized in reviews (and I"m sure in emails, papers, etc.). Some reviews I read, said that her position, that abduction stories were false memories, as she comes to the research is a flaw in her method. I disagree. Yes, scientist should keep an open mind; however, they all came to a project with ideas of how it will play out. Sometimes they are right; sometimes not. Yet, Clancy isn't seeking to determine if the stories are true; rather what are the causes, the situations in one's life, that make an alien abduction story the right story to be believed by anyone.
I think her ideas are solid. Furthermore, while it may seem that she isn't compassionate for her subjects, she is clearly compassionate. As the text moves to the end, it is clear that her research, while not proving to her that abduction stories are real, lead her to a deeper and more compassionate view of a group of people who all share the same "weird" belief.
I think her ideas are solid. Furthermore, while it may seem that she isn't compassionate for her subjects, she is clearly compassionate. As the text moves to the end, it is clear that her research, while not proving to her that abduction stories are real, lead her to a deeper and more compassionate view of a group of people who all share the same "weird" belief.
March 31, 2021
Very short & surprisingly superficial examination of the abduction phenomenon & its believers. For a book based on a scientific study, there really isn't much here that we haven't heard countless times already. If you're not very familiar with the topic and its main counterpoints from a scientific perspective, then this is a good read to quickly familiarize yourself. Likewise, anyone interested in the topic should be acquainted with the info in this book, especially if you're a believer. But if you're well read in this area, much of the book is just redundant rehashing of stuff you already know, along with the author being a bit snarky about people she claims to not talk down to.
January 20, 2017
I read this book for a religion class and as a psychology major I absolutely loved. It was so well written and well sourced which could help me on future research papers. One of the best books I have ever read
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March 13, 2020major takeaway: claiming to be an alien abductee is essentially a normal/useful religious belief that develops over time in response to psychological stressors (usually after a sleep paralysis incident) and usual patterns of spiritual indoctrination (especially through hypnosis)
June 5, 2021
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found this book that has so much to do with a lot of the subjects I’m interested in!
Makes connections between abuse, dissociation, repressed memories, false memory syndrome and memories of alien abductions. A very entertaining read.
Makes connections between abuse, dissociation, repressed memories, false memory syndrome and memories of alien abductions. A very entertaining read.
December 13, 2017
Psykologin omaelämäkerrallinen ja skeptinen näkemys ufosieppauskokemuksiin.
October 27, 2019
Fantastic book about the psychology of alien abductions. Basically it breaks down to sleep paralysis, lack of scientific knowledge, and exposure to UFO-related media.
December 5, 2019
Brief read Interesting research.
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November 11, 2020A book off a library top shelf
February 22, 2022
Super interesting and extremely well written. I learned a lot.
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