Alien abduction experiences.

Abstract

Ms. Jessica White (a pseudonym) is a quiet, retired lady of 60 years who lives alone in her small home near Lake Placid, New York. One morning she experienced a horrifying nightmare in which she felt a "creature" with cold hands and large eyes pressing down on her with a suffocating and paralyzing force. She tried to move, but her body did not respond; in fact, she had the strange sense that her consciousness was out of her body, watching her rendered helpless. She tried to scream, but words would not escape her mouth. She heard humming and strange noises and experienced an eerie sense that other creatures were nearby, watching in a cold, detached way. The feeling that she was somehow violated, surely emotionally, possibly physically, lingered throughout the day and returned in what she called "flashbacks" during the week.The only stories to which Jessica could relate her bizarre experience were accounts she had read about people abducted by aliens. Perhaps that

The psychology of anomalous experiences: A rediscovery.

“…Whereas some studies have supported a link between fantasy-proneness and alien abduction experiences (Bartholomew, Basterfield, & Howard, 1991), others (Rodeghier, Goodpaster, & Blatterbauer, 1991; Spanos, Cross, Dickson, & DuBreuil, 1993) have not. Definitive conclusions are limited as well in other attempts to understand the role of trait-like attributes in AEs because some studies have relied on ad hoc measures and small sample sizes (Appelle, Lynn, Newman, & Malaktaris, 2014).…”

“…Some AEs, particularly alien abduction experiences, may represent misattributions of sleep-related phenomena, grounded in culturally prevalent beliefs and expectations (cf. Appelle, Lynn, Newman, & Malaktaris, 2014), whereas others, such as synesthesia, are more uniquely embedded in the individual’s psychological and physiological makeup.…”

“…Alien abduction experiences might also appear to be indicative of psychopathology, given some of their distressing features, yet research has not found a clear link between them and psychopathology, although some studies have found individuals with AAEs who have serious psychological problems (Appelle et al, 2014). With regard to out-of-body experiences (OBE), some research has found an association of OBE with "positive" schizotypy (McCreery & Clar-idge, 2002; but schizotypy is not necessarily pathological, see below), but not to negative symptoms such as physical anhedonia (McCreery & Claridge, 1995), and still others have found no relation between OBEs and various indices of psychopathology (reviewed in Cardeña & Alvarado, 2014).…”

Anomalous Psychedelic Experiences: At the Neurochemical Juncture of the Humanistic and Parapsychological

“…Typical features are capture, examination, communication with abductors (usually telepathically), an otherworldy journey, theophany, return, and aftermath (Bullard, 1987). For an overview of theories explaining the experience see Apelle et al (2014). Prevalence figures are hard to ascertain, but certainly many thousands of Americans, in particular, believe they have been abducted by aliens (Apelle et al, 2014).…”

“…For an overview of theories explaining the experience see Apelle et al (2014). Prevalence figures are hard to ascertain, but certainly many thousands of Americans, in particular, believe they have been abducted by aliens (Apelle et al, 2014). There are no figures available for the prevalence of the experience with psychedelics and no known systematic research has been done.…”