Alien Abduction :A Global Analysis

The alien abduction phenomenon is a problematic area in the already controversial field that is ufology.
Stories date back to antiquity of strange creatures snatching innocent human beings. Stories that continued well into the middle of the twentieth century. With some then re-framed in a modern light as ‘alien abductions. Although what constitutes an ‘alien abduction’ also seems to be a grey area . Evidence is almost purely anecdotal and to date, no one has produced proof aliens exist, never mind aliens visiting Earth and capturing human beings.

The History

The first modern case of ‘alien abduction’ is difficult to pinpoint. There were many stories of varying reliability circulating in the mid 20th century.

But the 1957 Antônio Vilas-Boas case in Brazil eventually received wide publicity in UFO literature. So could conceivably have been called the first ‘alien abduction’. Vilas Boas was a 23-year-old Brazilian farmer. He claimed to have been abducted by 5’ (1.5m) tall humanoids in grey coveralls and helmets. Vilas-Boas also reported being seduced by a female extraterrestrial during the encounter!

The 1961, Betty and Barney Hill case has long been embedded into the lore. A fascinating story of a roadside abduction by aliens from Zeta Reticuli. Although it too would take a few years for the story to became public knowledge. Then we had the 1973 Pascagoula abductions and the 1975 Travis Walton story.

Yet, major doubts hang over all these stories.

Outside of the Americas, the disappearance of Australian Fred Valentich in 1978 over the Bass Straits and the bizarre 1979 ‘alien assault’ case in Scotland involving Bob Taylor could both be described as ‘possible’ abduction events. But the details remain frustratingly hazy on what exactly happened to Valentich and Taylor respectively.


Betty and Barney Hill : No relation to English comedian Benny

In the 1980s the subject gained a higher prominence in America as people like Budd Hopkins, John Mack, David Jacobs and Whitely Streiber publicised their claims. A Roper Poll was commissioned by Hopkins, Jacobs, and sociologist Ron Westrum in 1991. Around 6,000 Americans participated and from the results Hopkins estimated that nearly four million Americans might have been abducted by extra-terrestrials.

During the 1990s more stories surfaced. Some publicity hungry celebrities laid claim to being alien abductees. But the general trend since the 1990s into the age of the camera phone has been a decline in both public and media interest in the alien abduction phenomenon.

Causes

Psychological trauma and mental health disorders can lead to reports of people being abducted by aliens. Numerous other cases are the product of pranksters and hoaxers. Yet people continue to claim that they have had some form of contact with extra-terrestrials or at least non-human entities to this very day. Many struggle with fuzzy memories of bizarre experiences, temporary paralysis and humanoid creatures hovering over them. Sometimes appearing to be conducting bizarre medical procedures.

Hypnopompic hallucinations, sleep paralysis and certain temporary psychological conditions have all been proposed as the cause of this phenomenon.

Psychological evaluations also confirm that alleged ‘abductees’ are not necessarily psychotic or mentally ill but may have what is termed a fantasy prone personality. People who have a strong belief in the paranormal and gravitate towards a paranormal explanation.

Further problems can occur after hypnotic regression. Seen by many as a solution to retrieving lost memories of an abduction event. But a method proven to have been extremely unreliable since the 1980s. Hypnosis was proffered as a useful method to retrieve repressed memories of child abuse. But biased, inexperienced and unqualified hypnotists can often lead witnesses to confabulate. Worse still the witness often believes these false memories.

That’s the historical background. People are still reporting that they have been abducted by aliens.

What sort of picture can be painted in 2022?

Publicly available UFO reports from Blue Book, MUFON, NICAP, NUFORC and others and the U* UFO database were searched for references to the word ‘abduct, abduction’ and similar between 1896 to the first half of 2022 (with one exception from 1593). Resulting in just short of 4000 reports spanning 125 years.



So what do these raw statistics illustrate?



The most glaring revelation is that almost 80% of abductions are reported to occur in the United States.

US nationals also frequently reported being abducted abroad. Four of the cases reported in Germany can be confirmed as Americans living there. With similar reports from Japan & Korea.

Canada, Australia and the UK all appear in the top 5. Meaning 90% of all global reports occurred in just four countries.

If we compare reports with current population sizes, America leads again. Almost 10 per every million (0.000001%) Americans having reported an alien abduction spanning 120 years. Across its northern border almost 6 in every million Canadians reported an alien abduction. The rest of the world lags way behind.

The figures are far lower than the Roper Survey estimated in the 90s. Somewhere close to 1000 times lower!!! But still significant in illustrating the large proportion of reports coming from North America.




The final statistic is perhaps the most surprising at first glance.



Reported abductions were relatively low until a massive increase in the 21st century. The reason for this is more likely due to the spread of the world wide web than aliens snatching people from the major English-speaking nations!

It should also be noted that many countries have large English speaking populations yet generate few reports. Nigeria has more English speakers than the UK, Canada and Australia collectively. Iceland has a small population (about 350,000) but almost everyone there speaks English. Neither nation has registered a single alien abduction report!

Conclusions

Despite collating almost 4,000 of them, many of these ‘reports’ do not actually describe an abduction event. Taking a random sample of 140 of these cases, 46 contained no details of an abduction at all. As an example one from January this year in Sweden says:

To be honest I didn't really see anything but I felt and heard vibrations on the sea. and I can also here very strange vibrations I haven't heard before the coming from the sea. But I cant see anything. It's too much snow. Shape: Unknown Duration: Possible ufo Characteristics: There was an aura or haze around the object, The object made a sound, There were electrical or magnetic effects, This is a possible UFO abduction case

Or another from Massachusetts, USA from the same month.

It was quick headed on a downfall to fast for airplane, and then after a short time disappeared but if it was visible you could see. I was going sledding, then I looked up and South east from the sun was sort of a silvery aluminum egg shaped object, headed too fast for plane/rocket. Did not look like any kind I've seen and then It sort of went towards the sun and then back down into the East. It was the size of an egg from where I looked at it but if I was up close it would probably be 1000 times that size. then after there was a brief echo that was louder than normal and the people around me did not talk that loud. Shape: Egg Duration: Around 20-40 seconds Characteristics: There were lights on the object, The object changed color, This is a possible UFO abduction case

Others are incredibly vague or mention abduction without it directly referring to the experience they are reporting.

One factor may be confusion with online reporting systems. NUFORC prompts users to tick that “This is a possible UFO abduction case”. Similarly, MUFON prompts to check a tick-box for “Abduction” prior to commencing a report. Why people would confirm this and then not report an abduction is a mystery. But the data sample suggests that around a third have done this.

There are also obvious hoaxes and pranks. Over 60 of these reports were already classed as a hoax by the receiving organization. Two that were missed are from Mauritius in 2009 (obviously a joke in bad taste) and another from Uruguay from 2020 which appears to be nothing more than someone monkeying around).

Are there some interesting stories buried amongst the thousands of reports? A handful. If you really dig deep.

There’s a particularly rip roaring story from Sweden in the 1980s involving Ante Jonsson that is probably unfamiliar to most reading this.

But overall the quality of reports is extremely poor. Beyond a sociological study such as this, there is little to be gleaned. We can't completely discount the possibility that an alien civilization would be interested in our blue planet and the life that inhabits it. But why a certain tiny and specific sub-set of our species?

Alien Abduction Reports come from a tiny proportion of the global population. Most of them from the USA and then nations with close ties to the US.

However, the overwhelming percentage of reports generated by US nationals would suggest a sub-culture in America that is predisposed to both believing in paranormal potentialities and propagating them. Rather than making any serious attempt to get to the root cause.

Sources/References


The Alien Abduction Reports used as source material

The Global Alien Abduction Map

The excellent UPDB UFO Database

How America Lost Its Mind

Alien 'abductees' show real symptoms

A Report on the Roper Analysis Data

a reply to: mirageman

I would guess If you experience something extraordinary it's a normal reaction to apply the labels most people are familiar with.
We also don't know how 'fresh' the memories still are when they come around to report it.
But the main issue I think is the wish for it to be relatable to the 'audience'.
I mean if you don't know what has happened it's easy to be tempted into calling it what the listeners/website offers you.

Maybe Vilas-Boas read a lot of scifi for recreational purposes?
Maybe the Hills were scared by some military exercise they stumbled into?
How could we ever know?


Aside from that I could imagine the reason why USA & Co are targeted is because they're the cultural circle with the biggest footprint.

We went from witches to demon possession to alien abductions; the latest craze/fad seems be gender issues nowadays.

a reply to: mirageman


In general, when I hear or see the word “abduction” …..I immediately think …. Against one’s will, forcibly.

In terms of UFOlogy…..what about studies, metrics, statistics of non-abductions cases, but of voluntary leaving cases? This is where people willingly go with entities….these are people that are invited to go with the entities and accept the invitation. Does such a thing exist.. and is it measurable?

Abduction cases by virtue of using the word abduction, will always have negative connotations.

Yet, I suspect there are positive …..agree to go…cases that the person expects to experience and participate in a once (or more) in a lifetime adventure.

Imo……not all “abductions” are abduction…..but like a phone game ….at the final report will be listed as so.

👽

a reply to: mirageman

So, the alien abduction claims, according to your graph have risen over the years with the two exceptions of the 70s and the 2000s, and since 2010 they’ve gone way up.

Is anything on after 2010?

a reply to: Peeple

Well we do know some things about both cases as they pre-date the modern internet by aroound 4 decades.

In regards to Vilas Boas, Vallee claims in hos FS4 volume that

I have secured a document confirming that the CIA simulated UFO abductions in Latin America (Brazil and Argentina) as psychological warfare experiments." ...

However, when asked to substantiate his claims by other researchers he woukd not substantiate such a claim by providing the said document. So it may or may not be true that it was a MILAB (military abduction).

The Hills cases has been well documented and there is evidence that Betty was fantasy prone. But a wider discussion of the case is beyond the scope of this particular thread.

a reply to: Ophiuchus1

Imo……not all “abductions” are abduction…..but like a phone game ….at the final report will be listed as so.

Yes it would seem that people are easily confused and became apparent after checking a sample of so called "abduction" reports. Around a third of the people appeared to select it when filing the report and then went on to tell a story that doesn't mention abduction at all. Many others were obviously pranks.

In terms of UFOlogy…..what about studies, metrics, statistics of non-abductions cases, but of voluntary leaving cases? This is where people willingly go with entities….these are people that are invited to go with the entities and accept the invitation. Does such a thing exist.. and is it measurable?

I don't really think it's of much value. Considering how long this analysis took me including creating the web page with and abductions map with the supporting data, it's certainly not a project I am interested in pursuing.

a reply to: peaceinoutz

If you check the graph in full screen mode you'll note that the abduction reports topped the 200 mark in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

You can also do a search on the Alien Abduction Web Page I created. By putting in the year, country, state/town or a combination to view the specific reports. Then just click on the flag to view the full report.

a reply to: mirageman

Great work, thanks

I didn’t realize abduction claims had gone up recently.


BTW, if you care to comment, what is that Arabic there? I can barley see some of those letters. I see a Kaf, meem, maybe ya, maybe the word malik or Malak, a nun, or a ra or zay, but I cant make out all the letters

a reply to: peaceinoutz

BTW, if you care to comment, what is that Arabic there? I can barley see some of those letters. I see a Kaf, meem, maybe ya, maybe the word malik or Malak, a nun, or a ra or zay, but I cant make out all the letters

It's an Urdu commentary on the lyrical inaccuracies of the British national anthem

I didn’t realize abduction claims had gone up recently.

Claims went up yes. But they are of poor quality. Many are probably juvenile pranks prevalent since the advent of the smartphone.

I also wonder about the nature of the data we have to work with. I'm not denigrating the collection, but I am driven to be concerned that the data has been 'sanitized' or poorly journalized and thus might lead us in the wrong directions.

I'm generally suspicious about the larger databases, most of which have been monetized in one way or another. Then there are definite records that seem so poorly reported as to appear worthy of suspicion.

The phenomenon aches for a truly clinical and conscientious research effort. That the data sets are questionable would invite, in my opinion, the consideration of fabrication and misinformation. But - what else is new?

Remember it was not long ago that saying the word "alien" in public dialogue would have got you shut down and shunned in any conversation - anywhere.

a reply to: mirageman
Great thread mirageman! I didn't realize there were that many low quality reports but it's not surprising.

I was thinking of making a similar thread but I never got around to it.
Each case must be evaluated on its own merits, and as with UFOs, there isn't a "one size fits all" explanation for abductions either, like the Walton case being a hoax but the Hill case not being a hoax, though it also wasn't an abduction (almost certainly).

A large number of abduction experiences could be the result of a type of sleep paralysis, and before modern times the same kind of sleep paralysis resulted in experiences other than alien abductions, such as experiences more suited to the cultural context of the times (Maybe demons entering the room, instead of aliens), see these slides for examples:





Here's one article I thought was interesting which I didn't see in your links:

Alien Abduction? Science Calls It Sleep Paralysis

That article mentions that the Japanese call sleep paralysis "kanashibari" which they think can explain many abduction claims. Here's another interesting article:

Alien abduction claims explained

The second article from the Harvard Gazette mentions the Harvard researcher Susan Clancy, who has researched the topic and also made an interesting presentation on the topic to Microsoft, which is available on youtube:

Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens

psychologist Susan Clancy interviewed and evaluated abductees -- old and young, male and female, religious and agnostic. She listened closely to their stories -- how they struggled to explain something strange in their remembered experience, how abduction seemed plausible, and how, having suspected abduction, they began to recollect it, aided by suggestion and hypnosis. Clancy argues that abductees are sane and intelligent people who have unwittingly created vivid false memories from a toxic mix of nightmares, culturally available texts (abduction reports began only after stories of extraterrestrials appeared in films and on TV), and a powerful drive for meaning that science is unable to satisfy. For them, otherworldly terror can become a transforming, even inspiring experience.

She also wrote a book on the subject:
Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens

By her own admission she's often not popular with the "abductees" if she tells them what she thinks happened, but she thinks that's because she didn't get to the people who had these experiences soon enough after the experience. Right after such an experience, Clancy says people are often still trying to figure out what happened, and their thinking is more receptive to analysis. But after a while of thinking about it (not necessarily critical thinking), many people come to a realization about the experience that can be "life-changing" even if it's not rational, and by that time they don't want to let go of what the experience has morphed into in the "abductee's" mind.

originally posted by: Peeple
Maybe the Hills were scared by some military exercise they stumbled into?
How could we ever know?

"Charlie Wiser" did some intriguiging research into the Travis Walton and Barney and Betty Hill abduction cases.

The Walton case was likely a hoax and while the Hill case is not a hoax, it's almost certainly not an abduction. How can we know? Betty's experience according to her doctor matches a dream she wrote down almost exactly, and the Wiser website describes what the Hills likely experienced rather convincingly, though some good research.

Betty & Barney Hill analysis by Charlie Wiser

So we have lots of hazy details short on hard evidence. If we are to study some dangerous animals in the jungle, using tranquilizers is one common approach. So if there is some advanced species studying us, using some kind of similar technology is thick in the literature.

As for what they want, some kind of breading / hybridization program is one possibility. Looking deeper into it and it is not just one species, culture or group, but many in a universe expressing and exploring life in many ways. Some good, some bad, lots in between.

With the US Navy recent release of the Tic Tac video, it is not just outer space that has alien issues, but under sea as well. As for some kind of sub terrainian or inner Earth thing too? It would not be prudent to dismiss it too quickly.

One reason I see why we have not publicly gone back to the Moon, public attention is not welcomed there. I guess this is another hazy one with lots of theories as for what is really going on.

Perhaps in time humanity will evolve to the stage where it can accept that life does exist outside of this atmosphere. It is good there are a lot of people asking hard questions about it to get a clear picture of it. There has also been a well funded organization to suppress it, kinda rightly so with the military advantage and technological dangers associated to it.

It is known this policy of non disclosure cannot last forever if human civilization here is to continue to grow. It can remain suppressed for a long time if we are to become some dumb, slave species for a parasitic alien agenda. The WEF look well on track for this option.

As for how it all plays out is bigger than me, I am just one spectator with some pop corn.

a reply to: Arbitrageur


People who have not been abducted, like Susan Clancy, should not claim to be experts in the field.

I was abducted in the 70s with my friend/neighbor. I never reported it officially (MUFON), etc, as I had a strong belief that we were not suppose to talk about it. I’m getting older so would like to know why?.

Also, we were missing for about 6 hours, the neighborhood searched for us. We reappeared in a driving rainstorm on our bicycles at night with no shoes or any recollection as to what occurred after the abduction.

I will never forget the grey’s eyes two inches from my face.

a reply to: Maxmars

...I also wonder about the nature of the data we have to work with. I'm not denigrating the collection, but I am driven to be concerned that the data has been 'sanitized' or poorly journalized and thus might lead us in the wrong directions.

We can't really prove something didn't happen. We know BAASS had access to MUFON's database as part of their agreement with them in 2009 and there were some accusations from inside MUFON that certain reports were removed by BAASS.

However, some reports were duplicated across 2 or more of the sourced databases. The duplicates I was able to spot have been removed. The historical 'abduction' reports (from before the age of the internet) have been sourced from telephone /written reports, plus UFO literature and news reports.

I'm generally suspicious about the larger databases, most of which have been monetized in one way or another. Then there are definite records that seem so poorly reported as to appear worthy of suspicion.

The databases used were from MUFON, NICAP, NUFORC, Project Blue Book and Larry Hatch's U* UFO Database.

MUFON allowed some of their archives to be used in the Hangar One TV series and you have to be a member to access archived files. Larry Hatch sold a floppy disc version of his database some 20 years ago or more. But the raw data is freely available now. I'm not aware of anything done by NICAP or NUFORC to monetize their files.

The phenomenon aches for a truly clinical and conscientious research effort. That the data sets are questionable would invite, in my opinion, the consideration of fabrication and misinformation. But - what else is new?

The datasets are questionable because of the human beings who wrote them. Especially since the smartphones became common place. A lot of the reports are clearly silly juvenile jokes, others are the product of confused and disturbed minds. Some are just badly written and omit important things like times, dates and specific locations.

a reply to: KTemplar

I have some missing time occasionally as well, cannot prove anything to any skeptic. Have an inner knowing it's all good. Well kinda, lot of messed up stuff around. Life has a way of sorting it out, got us this far. Do the right thing and hopefully it continues?

Did look into making a MUFON report a while back. The lack of disclosure of results so far put me off.

As of people like John Lear and that rocket car man. They started off just calling it as they saw it. As public attention grew, national security done the heavy. Killing people is messy, can get lots of attention and preferred to be avoided. As for other cohesive methods to direct the public narrative are used a lot more regularly.

So, early the late 40s and early 50s, when the solid-body metallic UFOs seemed to be in their heyday, there were little to no abductions. Of course, the space brothers, Adamski et al., started their supposed contacts during the mid to late 50s. I don’t think was one abduction report.

And indeed, that suspicious one of the Brazilian guy and that Chinese blond lady on a spaceship horny as hell might be the beginning of maybe—Milab? Speculative.

But interestingly, the early metallic UFO period 47-8 through the 50s had no few abductions.
So, can we conclude the ETs got pissed off they were nixed and apparently decided, “hey, let’s start snatching these bastards!”

a reply to: mirageman

MM is there a way to turn off what appears to be a redundant feature on your abductions map?

At first glance….it looks like there are more abductions then there really are……..and that’s because parts of the world map are being duplicated.

Just an observation…..

👽