Pioneering Alien Abduction researcher Budd Hopkins was joined by abductee, "Frank M.," on Tuesday night's program. A resident of upstate New York, Frank gave an account of how he videotaped a "peanut shaped" UFO in daylight in front of his house and then a few moments later, was horizontally floated from inside his kitchen into the craft. (Related website: Flying 'Peanut' UFO report by Bruce Maccabee)

Under hypnosis by Hopkins, Frank retrieved memories of being aboard the ship which he said was around 75 ft. long and populated with slender humanoids who were "moving around purposefully." A law enforcement professional, Frank described another craft he encountered as having huge squarish windows that were lit up with an amber color.

Hopkins said it was not unusual for the UFO phenomenon to follow abductees throughout their lives. A common denominator in the cases was the alien's interest in their subjects' central nervous and reproductive systems. They have never shown any interest in other areas such as the circulatory system Hopkins pointed out. He mentioned a case he was currently working on with a British man, who had a curious abduction experience, where he went to bed in one house and woke up inexplicably in another home. Hopkins forthcoming book Sight Unseen due out this fall, will look at UFO invisibility and cloaking among other things.

Abduction Face Off

Budd Hopkins and other researchers have long faced scrutiny for bringing to light controversial reports of alien abduction that many find too incredible to believe. For instance the 1996 PBS documentary program Kidnapped by UFOs? produced by NOVA was considered by many in the ufological field to be a hatchet job, deliberately ignoring research. Now in an article penned by Hopkins on his website, he outlines how the abductees themselves have come under attack by various debunkers. One newer report of skeptical research comes from Professor Richard McNally of Harvard who concludes that while abductees show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, it may stem from their strong beliefs in their alien encounters which he suggests are based on fantasies and sleep disorders.

I examined the phenomenon of sleep paralysis (SP) for After Dark in 2001 and found that it was widely cited by skeptics as the cause of alien abduction reports. Susan Blackmore posited in the Skeptical Inquirer that "alien abduction is our modern sleep paralysis myth," suggesting that many people are unaware that SP is a natural physiological occurrence, and thus susceptible to misinterpretations. Yet what doesn't jibe is the fact that in most SP cases unique entities or presences are conjured during that person's partial REM state. Reports of these beings generally don't match with the common pattern of the small greys and their repetitive examinations and experiments aboard UFOs. And certainly abduction cases involving people driving their automobiles, land traces, lost time, and scoop marks on the body do not correlate with the profile of sleep paralysis reports.

--Lex Lonehood