Through the years of repetitious enquiry seeking answers to a mystery that only seems to get larger at every step, one other truth clearly emerges, and that is numerous smaller irritating questions remain. They hang around like prairie mosquitoes, won't go away and you can't dispatch them. It is not possible to perceive a central theme, they just remain on the memory horizon. If you wish, like Everest, temptingly in sight, but frustratingly difficult to conquer. So maybe it is time to hang some of them out on the line for a public viewing.

As the alleged abduction account is my main focus of research, it may well be a good place to start.

We are aware that various "selected" people are removed from their beds at home, also cars, canoes, and in Holland, even bicycles!₍₁₎ But why don't we ever get reports of abductions from hospital residents, prison inmates, boarding schools and orphanages. What about passengers on board cruise ships, naval vessels, freighters and lengthy air line flights?

A noteworthy "blip" in the above described format is a personal visitation account that took place in a hotel in Florida, during Dec. 1989. Not only did the hotel guest see an "embryo" that was all energy and light, rather like an elongated light bulb, but the visitor announced it had arrived "to tell you something". The astonished hotel guest responded telepathically, saying, "I am not ready to hear it", and with that turned over and went to sleep!₍₂₎

Another odd story that came my way many years ago was from a person who attended boarding school and found himself in a location the following morning other than the bed he had entered the night before. Also an officer in the U. S. navy told me that during the Persian Gulf war they "lost" about four personnel a month to apparent suicide, (i.e.) jumping over-board during the night? Presumably heat and stress being the motivator. The reality being they couldn’t be located anywhere on the vessel.

Many readers will no doubt recall the classic case of the Mary Celeste discovered in sea worthy condition and crewless on Nov. 7th 1872, 950 kilometres west of Gibraltar!₍₃₎ Theories abound, solutions are in short supply. However this is anything but an isolated case.

OK, missing is bad enough, but what about invisible…. how does that grab you? Take the lady I know who lives on Vancouver Island, an "experiencer" going way back. Had a group photograph taken one day during a get together, she and hubby weren’t in it! … honest! Will it come as a greater surprise if I add that they also know a married couple who participated in a logging protest which was filmed by a T.V. crew on the scene. When the two protestors watched the news cast that night they were astonished to see they weren’t in the crowd that had been filmed. Yes, this couple have also had their share of the strange and unusual.

If the casual anecdote is not concrete enough, then I offer the published account reported by Budd Hopkins on an Australian case which he investigated whilst on a lecture tour in that country. A Mrs. Washburn produced four photographs which should have included the whole family but did not. The couple had been at a Brisbane, Queensland playground. Budd Hopkins regressed the two adults and Mr. Washburn spoke of seeing a "ball" take his family away. In Hopkins view, all four members became invisible to everyone present at the site. The UFO and its accompanying "balls" also could not be seen by others.₍₄₎

It is all too apparent that "experiencers" can be found everywhere, in the past fifteen years I have spoken to more that two hundred abductees. In some cases at great length and still maintain regular communication with a small number, ten and twenty years after our first meeting. Mentally scanning all these people, predominantly women, I can't help but notice that none are in any way handicapped. None are in wheel chairs, have false limbs or blind.

Suppose you are deaf, need a hearing aid, contact lenses or eye glasses for daily operational routine. Don't these things matter when an abduction scenario commences? "Yeah, yeah I know", deaf people don't have that kind of problem because we are told that telepathy is the standard communication technique.

Incidentally I have yet to meet the hero who calls out, "hold on a minute you turkeys, I need my glasses" Most certainly curiosity was displayed by the "visitors" when they discovered Barney Hill's false teeth during his on-board examination.₍₅₎

Maybe in passing it might be worth raising that other small flag, people who are colour blind. Does that also fall into the "not needed on board" list? We receive descriptions of computer type panels with all sorts of flashing lights. Did a colour deprived abductee discover he/she achieved an instant and temporary miracle? I'm still waiting to find out.

Speaking purely for myself, I long since learnt that when it gets really cold I head for the bathroom more than usual. Now I have read and heard many stories from anxious participants who relate accounts of finding themselves naked, immobile, on a cold table in a less than warm room, whilst being subjected to a variety of unpleasant and painful ( in some cases) examinations. Any and all of the above is sufficient to send the participant heading off in search of a toilet. Yet, they never seem to express that urgent need. "OK., I agree with you", that body function is mentally telegraphed by the head honcho to the most recent "specimens" low priority list. Fair enough, but when the story continues at the point of returning to "normal" in bed at home, nobody ever mentions an urgent need to head for the John. How come? As many participants have already provided me with a multitude of personally embarrassing details I fail to understand why that very minor one would be excluded.

Nevertheless, the eventuality it would seem has not been completely ignored. for example, one youthful abductee recalls not only being provided with various instructions for his future, but also given a brief tour of the craft which included of all things being shown how to work the bathroom! The guide explained that there was no gravity in space, and how this worked for that purpose. The youngster recalled, "the bathroom reminded me of a cross between a shower unit and a refrigerator", adding, "I know this sounds completely crazy!"₍₆₎

So regardless of apparent scarcity of reports from those with the urge to go, it would seem that sufficient is the need, so the facility is built in for those who are caught short, be it abductees or crew members.

Staying on track with body functions for a moment. More than anything I recall in the past, is the recounting of the extreme fear element experienced by abductees. Generally it centres on having "chief, big head", placing his face almost nose to nose and looking into the eyes of the unfortunate, immobile, captive and commanding co-operation for whatever purpose, or retrieving life memories from the brains storehouse. Each and everyone has stated that their heart was beating so loudly and violently with fear, that they fully expected to have a heart attack, yet the thing that doesn’t seem to have been reported as happening in any of these numerous accounts is that the terrorised subject loses control of his or her bowels. Strictly a reflex action brought on by extreme fear.

Literature is replete with personal comments about various people who either in battle situations or encountering grizzlies, snakes, etc. have reacted spontaneously in this personally embarrassing manner.

I recently watched; a lady relate to a viewing audience that she lost control of her bladder when she discovered her child missing from its bed! ₍₇₎

So why don't we hear of this happening on board the craft, are they able to predict and regulate this natural body re-action too?

Equally clearly this abduction routine must get rather hectic at times for the kidnappers. We are aware of "experiencers" awakening to find night clothes are apparently back to front or inside out or piled neatly on top of the bed. All are convinced they didn’t go to bed like that.

An amusing, (but only in the telling) story describes the lady who went to bed attired in baby doll pyjamas only to awake wearing a male T shirt with a slogan inscribed, announcing a marathon event at some distant and unknown location. Ponder on that story if you will. One even less fortunate male found himself dumped alongside a road, without any clothes, two hours after he claimed to having been abducted. This event took place in March of 1978. ₍₈₎

Which brings me to sleep walking, for long enough I have harboured a nagging feeling that these accounts contain more depth than is either generally realised or suspected. Has anyone I wonder ever attempted to discover if these afflicted night travellers have ever recounted UFO type "dreams", or reported lights or craft in the nearby sky, at other times.

The published literature contains accounts of abductees finding grass, soil and leaves on the bed sheets next day. One story I read even described dried muddy footprints of the unfortunate victim leading across the floor from her front door to the bed.₍₉₎ This took place in 1967 in Britain.

In April of this year (1998) I spoke to a Surrey, British Columbia, resident who, in the course of a lengthy conversation, described a variety of personal events that included orange size balls of light within his home that appeared to be intelligently controlled. But of far greater interest to me was his story of finding himself in his basement workshop, early one morning, yet he had not tripped the motion sensor within the house! This gentleman presumes he had been sleep walking. His wife woke him up by calling his name because she could see a light in the downstairs room although he claimed not to have turned it on.

Another recorded story concerns the young man who during the fifties experienced a series of disturbing events, the nature of which we are today all too familiar with. His account also includes episodes of actually leaving the house and going into the yard, adding that even to this day he remembers "how the night felt so vast". "On most occasions, I would be awakened by my mother, once she stopped me from walking down the neighbourhood street. But I do not recall leaving my bed".₍₁₀₎

Then we have the case of Jason Andrews (14) of Hawksworth Farm, in rural Kent, England, who also suffers from bad dreams and sleep walking. Both he and his brother Daniel told their mother (Ann) they had seen things in the night.₍₁₁₎

Over the years I have met and also read about small children who exhibit what would seem to be unreasonable and irrational fear of anyone wearing a white coat (i.e. a doctor or dentist). Two cases come to mind where several young adults were required to hold the screaming, fear crazed child in place, whilst simple routine events were carried out. 0f those stories I am familiar with, one took place in a hospital, - the other at a dentist’s office. Interestingly enough, the mother of the child who created such turmoil at the hospital, told me that she had a "dream" in which she was lying on a table with her head hanging over the end as someone was drilling into the top of her mouth. In fact she could feel bits of tissue and bone falling into her throat area making her gag. On coming to from this nightmare she hurried into the bathroom experiencing a sore and dried mouth. A careful mirror examination however could show no signs of blood or interior damage.

For the past fifty years I have read and heard numerous accounts from abductees who in the course of events, frequently ongoing, or sometimes just a "one shot deal", have come away with a deep seated feeling that he/she has been given a mission they have to accomplish. In a few such instances that person can describe with conviction that their assigned job is to "look after the children", or "awaken the world to its potential destruction". What I find puzzling here is that some of these assigned participants are beginning to die off. So when is, or was, that special moment they were chosen for. Perhaps their next lifetime? Or merely another example of the convoluted deception that the "visitors" engage in so frequently.

Should you the reader have had the opportunity to travel to Europe, or failing that, ever been interested in architecture, you will no doubt have noticed the grotesque figures that adorn many ancient buildings. Are these figures merely figments of someone’s imagination, bearing in mind that they crop up in widely dispersed areas and communication as we know it today simply didn’t exist in those days. We are, after all, referring to stone masons. Master carvers, but very likely totally illiterate. So where did the uniformity of imagery originate? Was it from an experience they underwent and the "people" they encountered?

My reason for raising this issue is due to having met two people who involved it would seem, albeit reluctantly, in visitor interaction describe the inevitable "dream" which instead of containing the little grey guys, portrays a different player, far more scary, if indeed that is possible. Someone who conveys a greater sense of malevolency and also very convincing in its actions of evil intent. The medieval gargoyle, no less.

Do other strange things remain to discuss? Yes, how about the "experiencer" who has webbed feet! Or the person who admits to being afraid of water but paradoxically informs me that when in a swimming pool she can swim extraordinary distances underwater. So much so that companions are congregating at the pool's edge greatly concerned they are about to witness a drowning. This "mermaid" nonchalantly adds that she has a strong inner feeling that at one time she (we?) could breathe underwater.

Are these isolated cases? I really don't know, I suspect not. Another person told me that when it gets cold her own built in thermometer goes into overdrive and her body becomes hot. Piling clothes on is not the explanation in this case. Something else that I have been struck by is the "relationship contamination effect". What am I babbling about here, you ask? Well, a number of times I have come across women who in the course of normal events meet up with an appealing male and eventually move into a semi-permanent living together life style. However what is vastly different in this case is that invariably the woman is an on going "experiencer", very likely has been all her life. The male claims to have had no such interaction, and is scornfully sceptical of such ideas but within a very short time of sharing the same space, he begins to report vivid "dreams" that have either a UFO content and/or greys included. In addition the male companion discovers strange body "injuries" that he is not able to account for.

Being of a suspicious mind I must ask was it "coincidence" that the two came together? 0r was it an arranged meeting for someone else’s ulterior motives? It should also be noted that I find these relationships are not of a durable nature. So again I wonder if when they each go their separate ways does the "contamination remain" attached to the newly infected recipient and was it intended that way?

Adding to this litany of "that’s incredible", I must mention the two hours or more I spent listening to a lady describe her own travel trip to Venus. This Langley resident was really amongst the privileged. Not only did she inform "them" she wasn’t going without her dog, but they agreed to take it along. 0n the way she was offered filter tip cigarettes and coffee in a styrofoam cup! Both of which she accepted. I would have been tempted to let all this go in one ear and out the other, except she included in her account the details of an on board accident, the likes of which I have never previously come across. As it had a ring of truth I gave her remaining tale the benefit of doubt. Particularly as prior to her return home a crew member said to her, "everything is an illusion". ₍₁₂₎

In conclusion I should touch upon another fascinating speculation. In reading various publications I came across two cases where small boys who, from details provided, had a typical history of visitations. But what struck me as rather interesting was that in each case both youngsters came within a fatal accident scenario, yet were miraculously saved! How and by whom? I will leave it to the reader to decide. In a similar vein I should include Alan Godfrey, the Yorkshire policeman who claims to have been abducted whilst on official duty. He too relates that in his youth he eluded a speeding car by leaping into the air, as he played with friends on the street. ₍₁₃₎

Permit me to climb out to the very end of the limb and ask the much larger question. Are the "chosen ones" provided with twenty four hour security protection? If someone somewhere has them listed for a future task in the long term plan, then watching them get "rubbed out" by some hair brained driver would be more than irritating, it may be extremely inconvenient. So may I propose that we apply for a government grant to conduct a study on the mortality ratio of "experiencers". In conjunction with that we might well discover that they live to a ripe old age. For all those interested, please form a line to the right of the main door. Meanwhile, don't go away, I'm sure there are more thought provoking mysteries to be unearthed from this veiled realm.

References

1. Sightings (Magazine) May 1997
2. The Communion Letters, Whitley & Anne Strieber, Harper Prism, 1997
3. The World Atlas of Mysteries, Francis Hitching, Pan Books I978
4. Invisibility and the UFO Abduction Phenomenon, Budd Hopkins, MUFON’s 1993 Symposium proceedings
5. The Interrupted Journey, J. G. Fuller, Dial Press I966
6. The Communion Letters, Whitley & Anne Strieber, Harper Prism, 1997
7. Oprah Winfrey T. V. Show, Jan. 1998
8. Times & Democrat, Orangeburg, S. C. 6 July 1997
9. Daily Mail, Britain, 9 Dec. 1997
10. The Communion Letters, Whitley & Anne Strieber, Harper Prism, 1997
11. Abducted, Anne Andrews & Jean Ritchie, Headline Book Publ. I997
12. Ms. J. S. (Abducted Dec. I985) Langley, B.C., taped interview by G. Conway & D. Powell Aug. 1986
13. Beyond (Magazine) Oct. 1997

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