Investigating abductions by Elaine Douglass

Very interesting essay written by Elaine Douglass. It is posted below in both a PDF reader and as an the body copy of this blog post. Her conclusion, after decades of investigation, is that perhaps as many as 50% of the people who see UFOs are also abductees. This same speculative insight is echoed from most abduction researchers. Well worth reading.

Investigating abduction cases - by Elaine Douglass

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Investigating abduction cases in your state:

Just use common sense

By Elaine Douglass

Mufon State Director, Utah

This article was originally posted in the MUFON Journal, exact date unknown
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Recently a Mufon state director told me: “We haven’t had an abduction case in our state since the year one. I am not interested in abduction cases. My investigators are not interested in abduction cases. I think you have to be a trained psychologist to look into these cases.” Next, the state director was kind enough to tell me of his own experiences with grey aliens in his childhood. After that he said, “I’m mainly interested in disclosure through which I hope all the mysteries will be explained.”

He justified his position, but it is not mine. I want to find out what the aliens are doing, here and now, and the best way to get information on that is the abductions. And you don’t need to be a trained psychologist to look into abduction cases. All you need is common sense.

Sighting witnesses may be abductees

Here in Utah, where I am state director, I find the majority of sighting witnesses are abductees or probables. This is extremely significant and if true nationwide it is an insight that should inform us throughout the ranks of Mufon. In Utah, I’d say at least 50% of sighting witnesses are abductees. How do I find this out? By asking the simple question: “So, what else, in your whole life, has ever happened to you that you cannot explain?” Frequently when I ask this question of sighting witnesses, a big story comes out.

 read more below 

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Why do many Mufon investigators believe only a trained psychologist/hypnotherapist can look into abduction cases? Probably it is the books of renowned abduction investigators who use hypnosis in the investigation of cases.

Hypnosis not wanted

When I first began to speak with abductees 25 years ago, I was shocked that virtually none wished to undergo hypnosis. From reading the books, I had the impression individuals who suspect an abduction history are eager to get into hypnosis to find out as much as possible. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Eventually I realized the books were based on the cases of abductees who were willing to undergo hypnosis—and there are a few.

Today’s Mufon investigators have the same impression I once had. They believe “investigating” abduction cases consists of doing hypnosis, and since most of us are not hypnotherapists (I’m not) we feel we cannot deal with these cases. But once we discover that most of the sighting witnesses who are abductees are unaware, and those who are aware are decidedly not interested in hypnosis, that puts the problem in a new light. What then does “investigating” an abduction case consist of for Mufon field investigators?

First, remember the mission of a field investigator is twofold. One part of our job is counseling the witness. The other part is gathering and reporting information.

Counseling is common sense

Counseling the witness is a vital humanitarian aspect of what we do, and the biggest part of counseling is listening to and believing the witness. Many times the only person interested and who believes the witness is the Mufon investigator. When we listen and believe this is extremely reassuring to the witness, even more so if we are dealing with a person with memories of “paranormal” events in addition to the sighting they just reported.

Here is one case from Utah as an example. In 2007 a lovely young mother of three reported to Mufon that for four years she had observed anomalous lights poised above the mountains across a valley from her home. The lights were real; my ASD saw them. The woman was deeply troubled by the lights and her husband offered no support.

After getting the full rundown on the lights, I asked her what else there was and she told me a great deal, which I abbreviate here. She described malfunctioning appliances and streetlights; being blinded by light when she attempted to videotape the mountain top lights; feeling someone is in her house watching her; empty phone calls in the middle of the night; childhood terror of her bedroom; episodes of childhood vertigo, nosebleeds, severe tonsillitis, unexplained high fevers, scars of unknown origin and identical scars on her mother; migraines lasting up to a week; undiagnosable ovarian conditions; her nonchalance and unconcern during a childbirth medical emergency; infertility and anomalous responses to fertility drugs; missing pregnancy; inability to remember to take medication prescribed for herself and her children; dreams of someone taking her children; night paralysis; extreme disturbances among her children during the night; inability of her children to awaken her during the night; a sister obsessed with sky watching; feeling the presence of a departed relative; UFO sightings; falling asleep in the middle of the day; her son missing for 2 ½ hours. Without doubt, I feel this woman and her children are being abducted.

Abductees are unaware

Except that I asked her, ‘What else?’ I would not have learned this information. The case would have consisted of nothing more than anomalous lights on a mountaintop. Now, the investigator might ask, what do we do with this witness and the information? The information we write up and submit to Mufon, just like all the info we gather. And the witness? We counsel. We ask questions, listen, and believe. It is simply common sense. I hope there isn’t any Mufon investigator who can’t listen, ask questions, take notes, and express interest.

But notice this. I did not tell this witness I think she is being abducted. She did not ask, and I did not tell. I spoke to her several times by phone (I never met her) and always told her to call me anytime she got upset or worried. She never did call me, and I don’t expect she will. That is what I have learned—most abductees partake of a limited contact with an investigator; then they go away and I don’t hear from them again. So if any Mufon investigator worries he or she will have many abductees becoming dependent on them, my experience is that will not happen.

In time you will see patterns

In the meantime, I learned a great deal from this witness. You may wonder how I obtained the medical information. That comes from taking a “medical history.” Do you have to be a nurse to take a medical history? No. You simply say, “Let’s look at your medical history. Tell me what kind of illness or injuries you had in the first five years of your life.” Then continue on age 5 to age 10, etc. At first you will not know what significance to attach to what you are told, but over time you will see patterns.

Now, why do we do this, i.e., look into the possibility a sighting witness may be an abductee? Because we’re trying to find out what is going on! That’s why we’re UFO investigators. And since we’re on the topic, what is going on? If a large proportion of UFO witness are abductees, what is the significance of that?

Abductees being awakened

I have come to believe abductees see UFOs a lot more often than non-abductees, and the reason is the aliens are signaling these people. The aliens are engaged in a process of waking these individuals up to the reality of hidden contact in their lives in order to bring them into a state of conscious realization. Often I feel the aliens are using investigators as someone on the ground who plays a role in waking up the unaware abductee. I also notice the aliens prefer to work with abductees alone. They prefer the abductee be isolated and subject only to their, the aliens’, influence, and that I believe is the reason the abductees generally go away after some limited contact with the investigator.

My approach to UFO sighting witnesses, after I gather the details of the sighting, is to ask the question, ‘What else?’ However, I don’t push it. If the witness does not report anything “else,” I may say, “So you never had the feeling anyone was in your house, did you? And you were never missing as a child? And you don’t have scars you don’t know how you got them?” Yes, these are leading questions, but these individuals are not under hypnosis and I don’t find witnesses particularly anxious to say ‘Yes’ to my questions. If a witness does not report any other experiences he or she “cannot explain” and says no to my questions, I drop it.

Many witnesses fall into a grey area. One man had three notable UFO sightings, including one in which the objects put on a major performance for him on a trip across the Utah desert. My suspicions were aroused, but the only unusual thing he reported was to say he is extremely psychic, able to anticipate events correctly and regularly—not enough for me to conclude he is an abductee.

OPUS will help if necessary

Some Mufon investigators think an abduction case will be one where the witness calls and says, “I’ve been abducted.” That almost never happens. Some investigators think an abductee may call and say “I’ve been abducted and I want to undergo hypnosis.” That definitely will not happen, and the final thing that will not happen is the witness says they will pay for professional hypnosis. If it did happen, a hypnotherapist can be found. That is why Mufon has a relationship with OPUS, the California-based organization that maintains a list of therapists nationwide (www.opus-net.org).

Some investigators feel the reason for investigating an abduction case is to prove the abduction took place. Once in a while a case may afford that opportunity. Assisted by Jeff Sainio, I am working on a case now in which the abductee was taken in his fishing boat which had a GPS mounted in it. The GPS recorded a “trail” of the man’s movement during the abductions. Obviously, that is a rare case.

Proof is not available

Generally there is no “proof,” just as there is no proof in most sighting cases. So what’s left? Remember, we are trying to figure out what is going on—at least that’s what drives me. The invaluable people who tell me what is going on are the abductees, which is why I cannot go along with the state director who told me neither he nor his investigators are interested in the abductions.

How can this be? Not interested in the abductions? What could be more important than finding out what the aliens are doing with our fellow citizens?

Just ask, “What else?”

To find abduction cases in your state, all you have to do is ask the question, “So, what else has ever happened to you in your whole life that you cannot explain?” The witness will benefit from being heard. And the investigator will benefit by becoming aware how widespread the abduction phenomena is, and the strong relationship between sightings and abductions. Most of all, the investigator will begin to learn what the little grey aliens in the spaceships are doing on planet earth. All it takes is common sense.

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