Difference between revisions 561380534 and 579252787 on enwiki

'''Alien abduction entities''' are the beings alleged to secretly abduct and subject experiencers to a forced [[medical]] examination which often emphasizes their [[reproductive system]].<ref name="medicaldiff">  Miller, John G. "Medical Procedural Differences: Alien Versus Human." In: Pritchard, Andrea & Pritchard, David E. & Mack, John E. & Kasey, Pam & Yapp, Claudia. ''Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference''. Cambridge: North Cambridge Press, 1994. Pp. 59-64.</ref> Mainstream scientists and mental health professionals overwhelmingly doubt that the phenomenon occurs literally as reported and instead attribute the experiences to "[d(contracted; show full)
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Experiencers sometimes claim to have been given information regarding the motivations and goals underlying the bizarre procedures of the abduction event by their alleged abductors. Dr. John G. Miller says that in the cases he's studied, abductees report that when they ask their captors why the invasive and humiliating medical procedures are being performed on them, the entity will often express sentiments like "We have the right to do this."<ref name="medicaldiff">
  Miller, John G. "Medical Procedural Differences: Alien Versus Human." In: Pritchard, Andrea & Pritchard, David E. & Mack, John E. & Kasey, Pam & Yapp, Claudia. ''Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference''. Cambridge: North Cambridge Press. Pp. 59-64.</ref>

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==Types==
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Sometimes a single abduction claim will report multiple types of entities appearing to work together cooperatively.<ref name="varietyofabductionbeings" />
  

===Brazilian types===
{| class="wikitable" align="center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="4" align="center" |'''Claudier Covo's Brazilian Alien Typology (based on a study of 138 alleged abductions)'''<ref name="brazilabductions">Moura, Gilda. "The Abduction Phenomenon in Brazil." In: Pritchard, Andrea & Pritchard, David E. & Mack, John E. & Kasey, Pam & Yapp, Claudia. ''Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference''. Cambridge: North Cambridge Press. Pp. 186-190.</ref>
|-
! Type
! Description
! Percentage
|-
| Alpha
| Humanoids 0.8 to 1.4 meters tall.
| 67%
|-
| Beta
| Human-like beings 1.4 to 2 meters tall. 
| 19%
|-
| Gamma
| Human-like beings more than 2 meters tall. 
| 8%
|-
| Delta
| Animals, robots, etc.
| 3%
|-
| Omega
| Energy beings.
| 2%
|-
| Sigma
| Very short beings about 0.15 meters tall.
| 1%
|-
|}

==Reported technology==
⏎
⏎
===Weapon===
According to [[Nick Pope]]'s book ''[[The Uninvited (book)]]'', the [[Grey alien]]s use a device that is black, cylindrical, is the size of a US No.#2 pencil, has a bluish light on one end. It is used as a weapon on combative abductees to make them more compliant, by numbing the Will. It looks like a ''[[Star Trek|Star Trek "phaser"]]'' being fired, only that a bluish-white beam is being fired at the combative abductee.

===Medical===
(contracted; show full)e as "opening the body with sound."<ref name="panelonculture">Hall, Dick & Randles, Jenny & Basterfield, Keith & Moura, Gilda. "Panel on Cross Cultural Patterns in Abductions." In: Pritchard, Andrea & Pritchard, David E. & Mack, John E. & Kasey, Pam & Yapp, Claudia. ''Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference''. Cambridge: North Cambridge Press. Pp. 193-195.</ref>

==Plausibility and veracity==

⏎
⏎
===Hypnosis as an influence on abductor descriptions===
Regarding the various types of reported abducting beings, folklorist and abduction researcher Thomas E. Bullard says "The small showing for monstrous types and the fact that they concentrate in less reliable cases should disappoint skeptics who look for the origin of abductions in the influence of Hollywood. Nothing like the profusion of imaginative screen aliens appears in the abduction literature."<ref name="varietyofabductionbeings(contracted; show full)f the abductors are points of drastic divergence between the home countries of different abduction claimants.<ref name="skepticalperspective">Sheaffer, Robert. "A Skeptical Perspective on UFO Abductions." In: Pritchard, Andrea & Pritchard, David E. & Mack, John E. & Kasey, Pam & Yapp, Claudia. ''Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference''. Cambridge: North Cambridge Press. Pp. 382-388.</ref> Robert Sheaffer observes:
  

<blockquote>
"In North America large-headed gray aliens predominate, while in Britain abduction aliens are usually tall, blond, and Nordic, and South America tends toward more bizarre creatures, including hairy monsters."<ref name="skepticalperspective" />
</blockquote>

As noted above, the so-called [[grey alien]]s are most popularly associated with abduction reports. Again, however, this seems to be a North American paradigm best-known since the 1980s. On the contrary, some researchers (such as [[Kevin D. Randle]] in his 1997 book, ''Faces Of The Visitors: An Illustrated Reference To Alien Contact'') have noted a vast variety of alleged creatures have been reported in abduction accounts worldwide, with some of the alleged creatures not even described as [[humanoid]].

Although in North America, "aliens" of extraterrestrial origin are the most commonly blamed in these incidents, in Europe and other parts of the world, the beings involved are as often perceived to be [[demonic possession|demonic]] or [[supernatural|spiritual]] in origin.{{FactCitation needed|date=August 2008}} Common elements in the descriptions of abductions and visitations vary by region and local culture, with only a very few elements being the same worldwide, such as an otherworldly sensation, reports of [[mind control]], [[repressed memory|repressed memories]] being rediscovered, and [[human sexuality|sexual experiences]]. These elements, and many aspects of what witnesses describe, are very common in old stories of encounters with [[fairy|faeries]], [[demon]]s, and other [[magic (paranormal)|magical]] creatures.

In Brazil, there are strong links between the abduction phenomenon and [[spiritist]] traditions.<ref name="brazilabductions" /> Brazilian abduction researcher Gilda Moura reports that following an increase in spiritism in the 1980s, there was a surge in the popularity of "Spiritist Centers" where paranormal healings occurred that "involv[ed] actual surgical cutting".<ref name="brazilabductions" />  

These kinds of centers first appeared in the 1950s where claims of medical practitioners operating out "of a space laboratory" spread among the Brazilian population, especially among the spiritist community.<ref name="brazilabductions" /> Descriptions of these alleged healing experiences share much common imagery with the alien abduction and medical examinations reported in the anglophone world.<ref name="brazilabductions" /> Moura notes that the critical difference between Brazilian reports of spiritual space surgeons and "typical" abductions is that Brazilians perceive the phenomenon as "pleasant and spiritual" while abductees report "terror."<ref name="brazilabductions" />

====Science fiction as an influence====
Sheaffer also sees similarity between the aliens depicted in early science fiction films, in particular, ''[[Invaders from Mars (1953 film)|Invaders From Mars]]'', and those reported to have actually abducted people.<ref name="skepticalperspective" /> Commonalities exist in the appearances, behavior, technology and societies of fictional and allegedly real abductors.<ref name="skepticalperspective" /> Furthermore, the contents and structure of the "abduction narrative" as outlined by researchers like Nyman and Bullard was already established in fictional form by 1930 in a [[Buck Rogers]] strip.<ref name="skepticalperspective" />  

However, Bullard does not see evidence for influence on abduction claimants from science fiction sources.<ref name="varietyofabductionbeings" /> In an essay, Bullard writes that "The small showing for monstrous types and the fact that they concentrate in less reliable cases should disappoint skeptics who look for the origin of abductions in the influence of Hollywood. Nothing like the profusion of imaginative screen aliens appears in the abduction literature."<ref name="varietyofabductionbeings" />

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Alien abduction phenomenon]]
[[Category:Alleged UFO-related entities| ]]