Introduction
I recently counted how many of Jenny Randles' books I had on my 'Paranormal' bookshelf, and to my immense surprise I discovered I have four books in total! So I thought I'd give one of them a read to get a taste of what her books were like. And I was in for another, but delightful, surprise...
Aliens and Abductions by Jenny Randles
Jenny Randles' book is like no other I have read. I was in for another surprise. Whilst I am a member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), I am also a member of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP). So naturally I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the author was one of the founder members of ASSAP. Its sceptical approach was like a breeze compared to the previous books I'd read on the other, more Fox Mulder-minded end of the viewpoint spectrum. Intrigued, I ploughed forward.
The book began with an introduction which spun, like a spider's web, a fascinating history of UFOs and abductions which captivated my interest to the extent that I thought I was caught by a spell. It outlined the author's uncertainty about whether she should get involved with investigating certain cases, as well as describing the types of requests for help she would receive on a typical day. She then goes on to describe an example of a particular abduction-type case in which "Alan" from Stirlingshire experienced a series of events in which, whilst he was in a dreamlike state, he would go through physical attacks on his body. He began, after witnessing the magnitude of the depth of interest in aliens that the general public at the time was going through, to suspect that either he had undergone a series of experiments by aliens (and obviously survived) or that he had '...been taken away on some fantastic craft' (and obviously survived). There was, naturally, no physical, substantial evidence to prove either possibility, but the pull towards sharing the belief that an alien abduction had occurred with several million members of the public was strong.
Randles explains how she responded, and discusses how witnesses like Alan often keep their abduction experience secret and do not tell others about it. This, Randles points out, goes against the common notion amongst sceptics that abductees seek the limelight in regard to their abduction. The author cements this point by relating the results of a study she conducted which used 74 British abductees. Out of this group, only 4 admitted that they would be willing to tell members of the public about their abduction. This, Randles explains, is because they feel 'tainted, blame themselves, are certain that nobody can understand what has happened and that if they talk they will be locked away as a lunatic.' This is, of course, understandable. But why do sceptics still, according to Randles, think that abductees seek the limelight when it comes to their experience?
Alan further relates how he had emotionally felt about the experience, which went along the lines of feeling complete terror at the same time as quiet acceptance of what had just happened. Not surprisingly, he also needed help to come to terms with the trauma of it.
Randles then discusses the problems that abductees face when looking for someone or somewhere that will help them cope with having gone through the terrifying experience. There are many problems with the profession of the individual who is consulted, as each is approaching the abduction from their own point of view, regardless of whether they have medical knowledge or experience with dealing with abductees. Of course, if one was to consult a closed-minded person, they might end up worse off than before the consultation. Interesting stuff. And I was still hooked like a fish on a fishing line.
I certainly agree with Randles' line that one must suspend belief (and I'd add 'disbelief' onto that too) and follow where the evidence leads. I eagerly turned over the page, curious as to what Randles was going to suggest would be a helpful way of viewing the abductions as a whole. But first, an analogy.
Although I do not watch soaps on television, reading the analogy that Randles gave was certainly deja vu. It was like the monkey illusion video by Daniel Simons (which I have watched five times): I'd read about it before and could immediately recall what point she was going to make. So the tale about the uproar the public made about Deirdre Rachid going to jail in a fictional television drama was something I could easily recall. But without a doubt, it was a good point that Randles made using it: that it (p.9) '...shows people can at times find it hard to see the dividing line between fact and fiction, or between real people and strongly portrayed characters.' In Sociology, this phenomenon is explored by postmodernist sociologists and is referred to as 'hyper-reality'. It is also well understood, in my opinion, by horror movies such as The Exorcist. Although most people do not have a real experience of possession or poltergeist/PK events (except, of course, from a lucky or unlucky few), they will naturally draw knowledge or information from that presented to them in horror moves such as The Exorcist since they have usually no experience of the phenomena portrayed. However, when they experience real possession - if that's possible in the true sense of the word - or real poltergeist or PK events, their viewpoint of the situation will be drawn from that which they had made of it from the product of the mass media (which was made at an unconscious level). A friend of mine, for instance, wouldn't let her daughter play with my tipping-table because of fears that it was like the Ouija board. Yet the family are not believers in the paranormal. So the mother's concern for her daughter is clearly drawn from negative assumptions created through watching fictional films about people getting possessed by Ouija boards (since she herself has not had any real experience of one).
While Randles concludes that something need not be truly reality in order for a large number of people to perceive it to be so, I might contemplate that this may be due to a type of placebo effect. If a person believes that the sugar pill is the desired medicine and that it will cure them of their illness, the result of them making a full recovery would work in one of two ways:
a) their belief that the medicine works makes it appear so (a kind of pseudo-remission perhaps)
or
b) their belief that the medicine works makes it happen on a literal level (i.e. the belief makes the recovery really happen because the belief made it a real change, not simply making it seem as if a recovery had happened).
In the same way, perhaps the people's level of belief was so great that it made it real to them on some level - perhaps not necessarily on a physical level however.
Randles' further discussion is nonetheless interesting: even if people were deluding themselves, the evidence suggests that there is something really happening, regardless of whether it involved real aliens abducting people or not. Indeed, the Ufologists claiming to believe that real-life cases were caused literally by aliens would increase sales, as clearly this would entice mystery-loving groups of book lovers to buy the book, due to the sheer immensity of the intrigue created.
I enjoyed reading the 'History' section that followed. Although I've never been one for the existence of fairies, I've loved - and still love - the idea of elves. Perhaps I've watched The Lord of the Rings too often. How these mythical beings may be interpreted as aliens was an idea that I was keen to explore. But there was more intrigue in store for me. Why is it that sightings of 'flying saucers' was only made in 1947? Why did tales of alien abductions only commence in 1957? I was confused: if aliens really existed, why was this the case? This can of course be clearly explained by the fact that not every experience or abduction is necessarily reported. But even so, why aren't some reports in existence from before 1947 and 1957?
Randles then explains about why hypnosis is not a good tool to use to excavate out an abduction experience. As a student of psychology, I know that hypnosis is dubious. When it comes to eyewitness testimony, the cognitive interview provides a rich and more accurate account of what was seen and experienced than hypnosis which provides an almost excessively elaborate account. Again, it was no surprise to me that hypnosis wasn't necessarily a good way to get reliable information about what happened when the strange lights or UFO was spotted. Hey presto, after the regression, there is now an elaborate tapestry of how in the time lapse the witness was abducted by aliens. Of course, if the experience was so traumatic that it had to be shoved into the back of one's mind, then the repressed memory would be retrievable through hypnosis. But false allegation of sexual abuse have been made by individuals on the basis on initial idea and then substantiated by trawling through the tonnes of memories -both real and fabricated - locked away in the recesses of their mind.
Randles looks at the similarities and differences between historical and more modern cases of abductions. Consistency in details hinted at something 'real' going on, whatever that might be, whilst general similarities and slight differences indicated something going on at a more mental level, influenced by cultural differences. Historical accounts of fairies, such as the case experienced by teenager Anne Jeffries in 1645 are described and analysed in detail. Although it concerned entities that were described as fairies, it shared some features with modern day alien abductions, such as loss of time and an interest in her body (resembling, of course, the loss of time often reported by abductees as well as the often reported interest taken in the abductee's body by aliens).
Another interesting area Randles probed was the differences between cultures, where encounters with aliens are replaced by those of 'little people' (hobbits, I wonder?). Another case Randles highlights involves a woman who experiences sensory deprivation whilst in an altered state and reports having been abducted. To me, there seemed some correlation between altered states of consciousness and abduction cases. Perhaps ASCs are a most convenient time for aliens to abduct the witnesses?
More compelling cases of abductions are related. I loved how jam-packed the book was with all these cases - there are too many to describe here. It was interesting to read about the experiences witnesses had during the war, as one of the areas of Ufology I am most interested in are the reports of the 'foo fighters' which the pilots of both sides of the war - the Allies and the Germans - reported seeing. I was hoping these would be included later on.
The case of Eileen proved interesting, too. Her abduction seemed to share many of the features of the typical abduction scenario, but also some slightly different ones. Again, she saw a UFO, which is described in a rather captivating way: the huge 'thing' as it was termed was 'a large oval filled with light emerging from holes in the side and with quills like those of a porcupine on its edge.' I can relate to how the witness might have felt at the bizarreness of what she saw, since I had seen an unidentifiable object (which wasn't saucer-shaped) up in the sky, amongst the clouds in December 2010. But I try not to think about it too much in order to preserve my memory of it.
Another aspect of the book that I was rather enjoying was the immensity of Ufology-type jargon that I was learning: from the 'Oz Factor' (named after the Wizard of Oz story which features Dorothy being "abducted" by a tornado and taken to a strange land called Oz), which the author used to refer to the typical features of abductions - time lapse, dizziness, 'spiritual enlightenment' or development of psychic abilities after the experience. Eileen's experience, like that of other abductees' proved life-changing and after it occurred, she changed career.
Randles then goes on to explore how UFOs came to be saucer-shaped. I enjoyed reading this bit, as it was rather new to me and was interesting from a sociological viewpoint, because of the manner in which the media shaped people's perceptions of what UFOs might look like took shape as a consequence of a major newspaper article. This portion of the chapter was supplemented with a picture of the experient - Kenneth Arnold - whose publicised story molded and gave birth to, countless subsequent reports of saucer-shaped unidentifiable crafts. But whilst the trend in the subsequent increase of saucer-shaped UFOs is interesting, there are, in my opinion, many different ways of approaching it when it comes to arriving at an explanation. Perhaps people opened up to reporting their real experiences to the media, having realised that they will not be ridiculed so much for opening up. Or perhaps they did so for publicity. Alternatively, it was a real phenomenon which morphed into the viewers' expectation of aliens and/or a saucer-shaped craft. Andrew Collins' book, Light Quest suggests that they are plasma forms which morph from telepathy and shape-shifting into the object of what the experient expects to see. But I was getting ahead of myself.
There was so much intrigue that grabbed my attention within the book. I came to feel as if I was somehow reliving one of the UFO-based X-Files episodes. All the mystique and magic was here, within this book, whether or not the subjects in the case studies had seen a real UFO or not. A couple more cases were described before, to my delight, I started to read about Betty and Barney Hill and their supposed experience. All the suspense was here, and clearly their story was a good one. A flying pancake floating towards them with figures on a corridor clearly visible (with the aid of binoculars), with the necessary feeling that whoever was in the flying saucer was after them. Another usual feature of these abduction or UFO cases is that the experients tend to be in an altered state of consciousness (ASC). Strange abduction-type dreams plagued first Betty then her husband Barney, resulting in a kind of paranoia which is not untypical of abductees.
I was pleased to see that ghost-hunter Hanz Holtzer featured occasionally in the book. In a case concerning a teenage girl which he investigated, in 1968, physical abnormalities were reported after the girl had seen the cigar-shaped UFO: she suffered 'powerful migraines and two red rings formed on her abdomen' and unusual changes in her menstrual cycle were also experienced. Hypnosis was performed which dredged up "memories" of seeing a light in her bedroom, being struck by a beam of light and then being surrounded by aliens that took ova samples from her, to find out if she could give them a baby.
Because hypnosis was and is so often used in relation to abduction stories, hypnosis would feature quite often in the cases related by Randles. It was pause for reflection once more, since there are few tools available to UFOlogists that investigate real abduction cases - interviews with the witness can only provide so much information. But if experiences such as that investigated by Holtzer are brought up to the surface, one may wonder whether it is actually better to keep those "memories" hidden, under a metaphorical lock-and-key within one's subconscious mind, if memories they really are. Some witnesses' recollections under hypnosis prove to be so traumatic that they refuse to undergo anymore and go through serious consequences in their own lives as a result.
One concept that Randles' explains, 'cultural tracking' was an idea that was familar to me, even if the terminology used wasn't. It added a satisfactory sociological spin to the discussion about UFOs and abductions and suggested that such things may not be so extraterrestrial after all. It argued that whilst there was no evidence to prove concepts mentioned by the aliens encountered like 'advanced propulsion systems', there was evidence enough to prove that something real was happening, whatever that 'something' might be, since the similarities between cases were sufficient to suggest that there was 'something' going on. But what? Randles clearly explains that there is no easy way to explain what exactly might be the root of why there are so many similarities. But she gives an in-depth analysis of what some of the possible explanations might be, as well as speculating that the evidence from the witnesses' reports is reasonable to suggest that 'advanced alien technology' is in existence. But, as she points out, many of the features such as the person being transported by a beam of light can be imagined easily and occur in many science fiction films. She also compares some aspects of the more modern forms of technology which we more-or-less take for granted with how people only a century ago would have seen them - as merely possible in science fiction stories and films. In this way, she suggests that technology such as transportation through beams of light may one day be possible, even if they are currently seen as flights of fancy at the moment. Just like how the more incredible pieces of technology, like holographic imaging, were once only a thought, an idea, and nothing more.
Randles, in later pages, explores more historical cases of alien abductions, including cases that involve people such as Budd Hopkins and Alan Godfrey - as well as a tall bearded man called Yosef who abducts Godfrey. This chapter was also good because organisations of which I'd vaguely heard, were mentioned in passing, like BUFORA. It also mentioned an interesting case about how one man found 'a white hair coiled around his penis causing great pain.' DNA tests discovered that this hair was from one of the 'rarest genetic profiles on Earth'. Filled with enthusiasm for more on aliens and abductions, I read on into the next chapter, An Alien World.
This chapter was also intriguing. However, since I live in the UK, I was mainly interested in cases that occurred in my home country, and perhaps cases that occurred in Europe too. But I dedicated myself to reading the entire book and read the abduction stories from the other countries too. It was interesting and somewhat surprising to discover that each country had a contrasting number in how many abduction stories were known to exist. Randles also includes in a box next to the country, how many alien contacts occurred and what type of alien was most dominant within that country. From a sociological perspective, these were interesting, as they suggested a strong link between where Western media was in existence or accessible (places such as the UK and USA) and a greater number of alien abductions. This wasn't too surprising, especially if one considers the reality of 'hyper-reality' as mentioned earlier. On page 81 is a large picture of an uncanny-looking alien which illustrates what the alien looked like when the witness saw it. What Randles notes extensively is how alien abductees often have a very vivid dream-life, are creative and usually artisitc. These are traits which are also found in psi-conducive individuals in ESP experiments. But whilst this may mean, as Randles says, that these individuals have essentially well-developed, active imaginations which therefore can easily visualise aliens and alien spacecraft, I discussed this with a spiritual friend, who argued that perhaps being imaginative and creative makes one more open to having experiences with "aliens", even if this occurs on another dimension of reality. It's a moot point, in my opinion. I'm certain there is more to reality than we realise, but whether or not different dimensions exist (i.e. parallel dimensions in which, perhaps, our "past lives" may actually be "current lives"which are simply happening on a separate dimension and where we may meet "aliens" which are in fact beings that exist on dimensions that co-exist with our own, 3rd dimensional one) is something which one either believes or not believes. Whether one is open to the possibility is a matter that rests on how open their mind is to it.
Perhaps the only disappointment with this chapter is that the photographs of extraordinary-sounding phenomena, like strange lights in the sky, do not do the phenomena justice. The artwork done by the witnesses are better, in my opinion, at truly demonstrating what the UFOs and aliens looked like. On page 104, I was astonished to discover that the previous owner had left a WHSmith receipt - not something that happens too often. I suppose it made a handy bookmark at the time.
The next chapter was all about aliens - a picture was supplemented with a description of what they looked like, their typical behaviour during abductions or contact experiences, as well as what a typical case is that involves them, with a quick examination of 'physical evidence'. A handy list of the percentage of cases that included each of these aliens through the centuries proved to be interesting. It was good to be able to see for myself how the number of sightings changed through the years, as well as which aliens were seen more often than the others. However, I was unhappy with the picture of the Nordic, because her eyes look like they are slits, which I know they shouldn't be when it comes to descriptions of this type of alien by contactees. At the end of this chapter, a quick look at the films which involve UFOs, aliens and/or abductions is taken and once again, these are listed with the corresponding years.
Then I was onto the next chapter, which was concerned with the possible explanations. From misperception, hallucinations, false memory syndromem altered states and sleep paralysis, this chapter made good reading too. I was familiar with all of these, but it was nice to read about them in a way that was less about spiritual phenomena like mediumship and "psychic" experiences, and instead in a manner that was more about UFOs, aliens and abductions. I especially enjoyed the bits concerning sleep paralysis, ASCs, and temporal lobe epilepsy due to my interest in those sorts of areas. Randles also explores the less mundane explanations like the possibility that the aliens seen are simply of our own kind that have time travelled from the future. I was pleased that the plasma and 'eath lights' phenomena were mentioned, but was puzzled when a UFOlogist by the name of 'Andy Collins' was mentioned - was this the Andrew Collins who had authored Light Quest'? Once again, this was an exciting chapter to read - it seemed to me that the possibilities for what the aliens seen might be were endless. Yet I was disappointed that the parallel dimensions idea was not included. On the bright side, however, at the end of this chapter was a list of 'alien hunters', about whom I could read, which was a welcomed opportunity to come back to earth once more. To read about people, rather than aliens and alien encounters.
So, in conclusion, a good read. It has kindled my interest in UFOs and aliens. Before I began reading Randles' book, it was a small flame that was flickering. Now, at the end, it's a massive, fall-blown fire. I want to read more about aliens, abductions and UFOs! A must-read for those interested in anything to do with aliens, abductions, UFOs or simply interested in the weird, the wacky and the wonderful.
