This type of prediction is abundant throughout most religions and is one of the most powerful mythologies throughout the human race but when examining the alien abduction phenomena, one of the most common traits to emerge, is the conveying of a similar apocalyptic type message by the alien beings “Scenes of the earth devastated by a nuclear holocaust, vast panoramas of lifeless polluted landscapes and waters and images of giant earthquakes, firestorms and floods even fractures of the planet are shown by the aliens” (Mack.Dr. J.E, 1994, P.40). This unnerving message of mass destruction is a dominating factor conveyed by the alleged alien beings and echoes the prophesy set out by the Mayan civilization over 5000 years ago. Therefore, the primal belief of -the day of judgment’ now seems to be reemerging, in an age were some poles show that more people are prepared to believe in aliens, than believe in God.
Consequently, it seems that aliens are now perceived by many, as the modern day equivalent of the horsemen of the apocalypse and it is they who are the armagedonists of the twentieth century, reanimating the prophecies of cultures like the Mayan, seemingly preparing us for annihilation. But why for the past fifty years, have the so called gods from the stars, ever increasingly made their presence known to mankind an increase that is seemingly reaching its zenith. The human race appears to have been intensively scrutinized by extraterrestrial beings for the past fifty years. The advent of this curiosity could be attributed to the first detonation of an atomic bomb in 1945. Once man had solved the enigma of splitting the atom, he may then have sent out a calling card to the rest of the universe, announcing that planet earth can no longer be considered a primitive civilization. Some theorists believe that in all likelihood this is the case and many governments throughout the world know this and are collaborating in a “cosmic” cover up “There has been a tremendous amount of security put around the subject.
I could go and meet with the deputy director of NASA and they know the subject is real but they would never go in front of a camera and talk about it, because it would be the end of their careers professionally” (Greer, 3/2/99) This theory could help to answer the question of why the alien abduction phenomena is a relatively new occurrence with almost all cases being reported in the last fifty years. With the development of nuclear weaponry and the exploration of space, it therefore seems fair to assume that beings from around the universe would be casting a worried eye on the advancement of mankind. At the end of the second world war, man kind was technologically evolving at a staggering rate, with the invention of the atom bomb, rockets and powerful radar. On a cosmic time scale, this technological evolution could lead to man visiting the stars, in the not so distant future. The ability to achieve interstellar travel might therefore be viewed as a potential threat by any extraterrestrial race that might be living in the locale “If we make an assumption of the aliens that they are concerned with their own survival and security, we would expect them to check out all primitive societies in the local neighborhood and from their view point, we are a primitive society whose major activity is tribal warfare” (Friedman, 1988, P.67).
Ergo, it would seem plausible that mankind is being scrutinized by extraterrestrial beings for the purpose of their own preservation and to make sure that we do not bring our brand of friendship which they might call hostility. Chapter 3 Questionnaire (Results and interpretation) There is no tangible evidence to conclusively prove that people are being surreptitiously removed from their beds at night by a race of super intelligent extraterrestrial beings but despite this fact, there are some people who implicitly maintain that these events are undoubtedly authentic. Even with the most precarious evidence, many individuals are willing to except that UFOs and alien abductions are the results of visitations from beings from outer space, rather than being of an earthly origin, in essence they “want to believe” which is a doctrine that is as old as mankind. Throughout the ages man has instinctively pursued the belief that a higher being or beings exist and their existence has an overall influence on their lives, a concept collectively known as religion. Therefore the aim of this study is to establish a sample group of peoples personal views of the paranormal and to then interpret the findings. This survey was conducted using opportunity samples with 32 people taking part, eighteen women (56%) and 14 (44%).
Their ages ranged from 20 to 70 of age with 21 (65%) coming from the 30 to 40 age group. Fifty percent of the people surveyed, said they did not have any religious beliefs with only one person (3%) declaring they had no beliefs what so ever (religious and paranormal). Of the fifty percent of people who had religious beliefs only two people (6%) subscribed to the alien abduction theory, which might suggest that from a religious point of view, God created man in his own image and therefore man can be the only intelligent life form in the universe “And God proceeded to create man in his image, in Gods image he created him, male female he created them” (Holy Scriptures 1984). Seven (21%) of the religious people polled acknowledged the possibility of life on other planets, this could be attributed to the media once again, with the recent and highly publici sed “ALH840071, Rock from Mars” which purports to contain fossilised life forms (Bacteria). Only two (6%), were open to the possibility that we had actually been visited by extraterrestrial beings. But the majority of religious people tended to be superstitious, ten (31%) and believe in ghosts five (15%) the superstition could emanate from biblical events such as good Friday and its connection with Friday the thirteenth and the number disciples at the last supper could be equated to the number thirteen.
Their belief in ghosts could possibly have its origins with the holy ghost but in all likelihood, religious peoples beliefs could be affected by the society in which we live, like everyone else they are not exempt from the exposure of such mediums as the mass media. All but one of the non religious people had a combination of beliefs but predominantly they tended to be superstitious, 12 (37%) and believe intelligent life on other planets 11 (34%). The roots of superstition are as old as mankind and they have been passed down through generations over the centuries. Consequently, longevity of superstitious beliefs could account for the high proportionate number of believers, an overall of 22 (69%). Of the 32 people poled, 18 (56%) held the view that there might be life on other planets this also could be attributed to the media. Coverage of the alleged Roswell incident and the countless UFO based documentaries that are shown to the nation on a regular basis help to shape peoples perceptions of reality leading people to believe what the media wants them to believe.
People who subscribe to the extraterrestrial theory for an answer to the alien abduction phenomenon, state that one of the strongest pieces of evidence to substantiate their claims, is no matter where the abduction takes place, the same scenario is nearly always played out. They particularly contend that regardless of were you are in the world, the being who is kidnapping you, will almost always be small, gray with a large head and large almond shaped eyes. They claim, it is no coincidence that these encounters are virtually identical, theorizing that we are being observed by a race of gray alien beings and therefore the vast majority of reported abductions are being carried out by that said race. This theory appears to be plausible and would answer the question of how different people from a variety of locations around the world, seem to be experiencing the same occurrences but there could be another more down to earth reason for people witnessing these same events, namely the media. The mass media reaches out to the far corners of the earth and it is the media which helps us build our perceptions of the world around us “The mass media tells people that most things are okay and that radical change would be bad.
This view suggests that the media do not merely report what is happening, but actively try to influence people’s opinions and behavior” (Davernport. G.C, 1996, P.288). It would therefore seem more tenable that it is the influence of the media that predominates our perceptions of extraterestrials and not actual eye witness accounts as some people believe. The Little Gray Man Experiment The little gray man experiment, was an investigation to try and establish if there could be a connection between the description of the alleged alien abductors that people claim to have encountered and the media.
For the past ten years or so, the media has predominantly portrayed alien life forms as being little gray men with large heads and this portrayal has perhaps influenced the description of alleged sightings of such beings. Therefore, this experiment theorized that the media’s portrayal of these creatures, could conceivably have an affect on the collective psyche of a group of eight to ten year old children “Other children and the media provide powerful models from which children draw their ideas about what to do and think” (Davernport, 1996, P.174) Because this age group of children has grown up through the media’s fashionable (and profitable) “Gray period” for alien beings, it hypothesized, that when asked to draw a picture of an alien being, the majority of the children would draw a little gray man. This survey was conducted using the opportunity sampling method with 18 children taking part, 12 (66%) girls and six (33%) boys. Of the 18 children surveyed nine (50%) drew a little gray type man and nine (50%) drew a multitude of creatures with no two alike, the only similarities among these creatures was the multiple appendages emanating from the creatures bodies. The lack of consensus among this group of drawings, might suggest that these particular children had no pre conceived ideas of alien beings, implying that they were not influenced by the media. Of these nine drawings, seven (77%) were drawn by girls and girls seem not find science fiction as interesting as the boys, resulting in fewer preconceived ideas about alien life forms.
In contrast, the other nine drawings were all similar and showed consistencies with each other. They were all humanoid in design with large heads and large dark eyes, helping to prove the hypothesis of this experiment. If this experiment had been conducted more than ten years ago, the chances are, that virtually no one would have drawn a gray alien. Therefore, the origins of these composite drawings may have been acquired through the fairly recent and on going feeding frenzy over the alien abduction phenomena, which might account for the similarities in the description of the beings throughout the world. Since the 1950s, the media has systematically bombarded a large portion of the worlds population with stories of beings from outer space, which now seems to be reaching a crescendo with the arrival of television programs like the X Files. This onslaught by the media, appears to be helping to fuel peoples insatiable appetite for the UFO phenomena, which is good news for the television produces as their ratings skyrocket “Our love of novelty is proving to be a menace and our aesthetic sense-the basis of all our culture-is likewise being exploited in order to force our desires along channels which serve a commercial interest of some kind” (Hass.
H, 1970, P.183) This observation by Hass suggests, the media has an influential effect on our insight into the world around us, shepherding us into what they would like us to perceive as reality. If you asked people to describe what an alien being from another world might have looked like before the advent of such shows as the X Files, you would have got a mixed bag of answers, with the predominant description being that of a little green man with an antenna on his head. But if you ask the same question today, you will almost always get the same answer, a little gray man with a large pear shaped head. The media has helped to shaped peoples perceptions of what an alien life form might look like, these resulting preconceptions might help to answer the question of why people all over the world predominantly see the same image of an alien being. Therefore, the promoting of the little gray alien by the media, seems to have led to the staid image of the pre-90s little green man giving way to the more fashionable little gray man of the 90s.
Summary and Conclusion This project has looked at the much publicized alien abduction phenomena or more specifically, it has looked at the nocturnal aspect of these alleged occurrences. The project described how these nocturnal incidents are reported world wide and how most of them appear to follow a set pattern. The project showed that it was the repetition of this widespread pattern that helped to substantiate the theories of both alien abduction advocates and skeptics alike with both camps maintaining that it is the parallels between each abduction scenario that helps to prove their hypothesis. Chapter one of the project stated that the alien abduction phenomena could, in part be as a result of temporal lobe epilepsy. It contended that this condition is fairly prevalent throughout the human race and has varying effects on each sufferer.
It told how people who are afflicted with this condition experience effects from seizures to hypnogogic sleep disorder and it is this disorder which could be the causes of people believing that they have undergone an alien abduction experience. Chapter one also examined experiments conducted by Parapsychologist Albert Budden and Dr. Michael Persinger, Budden and Persinger both theorized, that external electrical activity such as electricity pylons could trigger an hypnogogic episode, this led Persinger to build an apparatus to test his theory. With his machine, Persinger was able to show how weak electromagnetic fields sent to the temporal lobe area of the brain could trigger hypnogogic hallucinations, consequently, Persinger hypothesized that naturally occurring electromagnetic fields and the widespread coverage by the media of the alien abduction phenomena could be the root cause for people believing that they have been involved in an alien abduction experience. Chapter two of this project, examined the nocturnal alien abduction phenomena from the point of view of the alien abduction advocates. It told of the similarities in alien abductions all over the world and theorized why the vast majority of abductions take place at night while the victim is in bed at night.
It stated that, a minimum amount of fuss would be created at this time of day, as the potential abductee and potential witnesses were likely to be sleeping. It then looked at a seemingly watertight case of an abduction which had a multitude of credible and influential witnesses, witnesses who were deemed so credible, that one researcher, Bud Hopkins wrote a book about the whole event, a book which claimed that the alleged abduction, was the best case ever documented. The next part of chapter two looked at the alien abduction phenomena of today and the night creatures that seemingly traversed the worlds of mankind throughout history, revealing the striking similarities of alleged alien beings and the mythical beings portrayed throughout different cultures, similarities that are particularly evident within the prophetic messages given to these said cultures by their gods from the stars. Chapter two then speculated that one reason for our visitations could be as a result of mans technological evolution and emergence into the nuclear age.
It theorized, that any intelligent life living in the cosmic neighborhood, might be apprehensive about mans technological ascendance and therefore they might be monitoring us as a precautionary measure. Chapter three, examined the primary research, it assessed the findings of the questionnaire and the little gray man experiment. The primary aim of the questionnaire was to establish peoples beliefs religious, paranormal and the existence of non terrestrial intelligence. The main aim for trying to amass this information was to show that even though nothing on the questionnaire could be conclusively proved, people would still want to believe. The hypothesis of the questionnaire was, if the results of the questionnaire tended to show that people believed in non tangible entities such as ghosts, then it might be possible that they would believe in alien abductions suggesting that abductions are the modern day equivalent of the incubus.
The questionnaire revealed, 97% held unprovable beliefs but only 6% subscribed to the alien abduction theory, helping to disprove the questionnaires hypothesis. The questionnaires hypothesis made some crude assumptions and thought it would get a definitive answer, consequently, the survey demonstrated the diverse complexity of human beings. The little gray man experiment, was an attempt to show how the media’s recent portrayal of alien beings as being gray as opposed to their more conventional colour of green, could be the reason why alleged alien abductees report the same beings throughout the world. When this media induced image of an alien life form is coupled with hypnogogic sleep disorder, the sufferer might then have the ideal circumstances to interpret the event as an alien abduction.
The little gray man experiment theorized, when asked to draw an alien life form, a group of eight to ten year old children (who had only been exposed to the media’s recent depiction of alien beings) would predominantly draw a little gray man. Fifty percent of the children drew a little gray man with the others drawing a mixture of creatures, the gray creatures all resembled each other suggesting that the children who drew them had preconceived ideas for alien beings, ideas possibly generated by the media. Chapter three further explored the psychological link between nocturnal alien abductions and media, looking at the mass media as a source for peoples perceptions of the world around them. chapter one explained how it was physically possible for people to believe that they had been abducted from their beds at night, through hypnogogic sleep disorder and chapter three suggested that the media dictated the imagery that they experienced while suffering an hypnogogic episode.
Chapter three gave an account of our developing obsession with non terrestrial intelligence an obsession which culminated in the production of such shows as the X Files. Therefore chapter three hypothesized that, the homogeneous accounts of nocturnal alien abductions might be the result of the ever growing media attention given to this controversial subject. This project has looked at both sides of the argument of nocturnal alien abductions and after much deliberation, it concludes that they are not extraterrestrial in origin but terrestrial. The reason the essay has come to this conclusion, is that the only evidence that these events have taken place is anecdotal evidence, there is no tangible evidence that can conclusively prove that these events are taking place. However, there is evidence that suggests that these alleged events are neurological in nature, with a high proportion of abductees showing anomalies within the temporal lobe region of their brains. When coupled with the media attention that this subject has received over the past twenty years, these neurological abnormalities offer an answer that is not speculation but actual evidence that can be studied, unlike the extraterrestrial theory which appears to have a more prosaic explanation.
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