>It seems to me that there is a mystery that deserves to be investigated
here, for >if all these people are lying or are mistaken about natural
phenomena, yet >consistently repeats the same hallucinatory details, then
that is surely >something that needs to be investigated by psychologists.
This is certainly a problematic manner. Scientifically, it's a win-win situation, yet no one seems game; the subject's been thoroughly hidden behind the laughter curtain for so long that even bright people scoff at it (though surveys show that the more highly educated one is, the more likely one is to accept the possibility of an otherworldy presence here on Earth. I didn't say "alien presence" because I don't remember the particulars of the survey, and anyway, "alien" usually translates to "extraterrestrial" in the typical Western mind, which only distorts the issue.)
Michael Persinger of Laurentian University is one of the few and the brave. He's devised an electromagnetic helmet that stimulates the temporal lobe and can cause some of the visionary strangeness that accompanies certain "abduction" episodes. His work builds on that of Paul Devereux, a critic of the ET Hypothesis who thinks UFOs are "earthlights" produced by electricity in the planet's crust prior to seismic activity.
Albert Budden goes even further and posits that people who come in close contact with these "electroforms" (not to be confused with ball lightening) experience abductions and other paranormal activity as part of their brain's organic response, in a sense dealing with accute distress by dressing it up in culturally relevant symbolism. _Earthmind_ and _Psychic Close Encounters_ are two recommended books on this approach (which has a lot going for it, though it doesn't satisfactorily explain mass sightings of structured craft, etc.)
A quote that huants me is from Strieber's "Communion": "Maybe the visitors are simply what evolution looks like when applied to a conscience mind."
--Mac (alintelbot@aol.com)