The Abduction Narrative

Although different cases vary in detail (sometimes significantly), some UFO researchers, such as folklorist Thomas E. Bullard^[29] argue that there is a broad, fairly consistent sequence and description of events that make up the typical "close encounter of the fourth kind" (a popular but unofficial designation building on Dr. J. Allen Hynek's classifying terminology). Though the features outlined below are often reported, there is some disagreement as to exactly how often they actually occur.

Bullard argues most abduction accounts feature the following events. They generally follow the sequence noted below, though not all abductions feature all the events:

1. Capture. The abductee is somehow rendered incapable of resisting, and taken from terrestrial surroundings to an apparent alien spacecraft.
2. Examination and Procedures. Invasive physiological and psychological procedures, and on occasion simulated behavioral situations, training & testing, or sexual liaisons.
3. Conference. The abductors communicate with the abductee or direct them to interact with specific individuals for some purpose, typically telepathically but sometimes using the abductee's native language.
4. Tour. The abductees are given a tour of their captors' vessel, though this is disputed by some researchers who consider this definition a confabulation of intent when just apparently being taken around to multiple places inside the ship.
5. Loss of Time. Abductees often rapidly forget the majority of their experience, either as a result of fear, medical intervention, or both.
6. Return. The abductees are returned to earth, occasionally in a different location from where they were allegedly taken or with new injuries or disheveled clothing.
7. Theophany. Coinciding with their immediate return, abductees may have a profound sense of love, a "high" similar to those induced by certain drugs, or a "mystical experience", accompanied by a feeling of oneness with God, the universe, or their abductors. Whether this is the result of a metaphysical change, Stockholm syndrome, or prior medical tampering is often not scrutinized by the abductees at the time.
8. Aftermath. The abductee must cope with the psychological, physical, and social effects of the experience.

When describing the "abduction scenario", David M. Jacobs says:

The entire abduction event is precisely orchestrated. All the procedures are predetermined. There is no standing around and deciding what to do next. The beings are task-oriented and there is no indication whatsoever that we have been able to find of any aspect of their lives outside of performing the abduction procedures.^[30]

CaptureEdit

Abduction claimants report unusual feelings preceding the onset of an abduction experience.^[31] These feelings manifest as a compulsivedesire to be at a certain place at a certain time or as expectations that something "familiar yet unknown," will soon occur.^[31] Abductees also report feeling severe, undirected anxiety at this point even though nothing unusual has actually occurred yet.^[31] This period of foreboding can last for up to several days before the abduction actually takes place or be completely absent.^[31]

Eventually, the experiencer will undergo an apparent "shift" into an altered state of consciousness.^[31] British abduction researchers have called this change in consciousness "the Oz Factor." External sounds cease to have any significance to the experiencer and fall out of perception.^[31] They report feeling introspective and unusually calm.^[31]This stage marks a transition from normal activity to a state of "limited self-willed mobility."^[31] As consciousness shifts one or more lights are alleged to appear, occasionally accompanied by a strange mist.^[31] The source and nature of the lights differ by report; sometimes the light emanates from a source outside the house (presumably the abductors' UFO), sometimes the lights are in the bedroom with the experiencer and transform into alien figures.^[31]

As the alleged abduction proceeds, claimants say they will walk or be levitated into an alien craft, in the latter case often through solid objects such as walls, ceilings or a closed window.^[31]Alternatively, they may experience rising through a tunnel or along a beam of light, with or without the abductors accompanying them, into the awaiting craft.^[31]

ExaminationEdit

The examination phase of the so-called "abduction narrative" is characterized by the performance of medical procedures and examinations by apparently alien beings against or irrespective of the will of the experiencer. Such procedures often focus on sex and reproductive biology. However, the literature holds reports of a wide variety of procedures allegedly performed by the beings. The entity that appears to be in charge of the operation is often taller than the others involved, and is sometimes described as appearing to be of a different species.^[5][32]

Miller notes different areas of emphasis between human medicine and what is reported as being practiced by the abductors.^[5] This could result from a difference in the purpose of the examination—routine diagnosis and/or treatment versus scientific examination of an unfamiliar species, or it could be due to a different level of technology that renders certain kinds of manual procedures unnecessary. The abductors' areas of interest appear to be the cranium (see below), nervous system, skin, reproductive system, and to a lesser degree, the joints.^[5]Systems given less attention than a human doctor would, or omitted entirely include cardiovascular system, the respiratory system below thepharynx and the lymphatic system.^[5]The abductors also appear to ignore the upper region of the abdomen in favor of the lower one.^[5] The abductors do not appear to wear gloves during the "examination."^[5] Other constants of terrestrial medicine like pills and tablets are missing from abduction narratives although sometimes abductees are asked to drink liquids.^[5] Injections also seem to be rare and IVs are almost completely absent.^[5] Dr. Miller says he's never heard an abductee claim to have a tongue depressor used on them.^[5]

Subsequent abduction proceduresEdit

After the so-called medical exam, the alleged abductees often report other procedures being performed with the entities.^[30] Common among these post-examination procedures are what abduction researchers refer to as imaging, envisioning, staging, and testing.^[30]

"Imaging" procedures consist of an abductee being made to view screens displaying images and scenes that appear to be specially chosen with the intent to provoke certain emotional responses in the abductee.^[30]"Envisioning" is a similar procedure, with the primary difference being that the images being viewed, rather than being on a screen, actually seem to be projected into the experiencer's mind.^[30] "Staging" procedures have the abductee playing a more active role, according to reports containing this element.^[30] It shares vivid hallucination-like mental visualization with the envisioning procedures, but during staging the abductee interacts with the illusionary scenario like a role player or an actor.^[30]

"Testing" marks something of a departure from the above procedures in that it lacks the emotional analysis feature.^[30] During testing the experiencer is placed in front of a complicated electronic device and is instructed to operate it.^[30] The experiencer is often confused, saying that they do not know how to operate it.^[30] However, when they actually set about performing the task, the abductee will find that they do, in fact, know how to operate the machine.^[30]

Child presentationEdit

Abductees of all ages and genders sometimes report being subjected to a "child presentation."^[30] As its name implies, the child presentation involves the abduction claimant being shown a "child."^[30] Often the children appear to be neither human, nor the samespecies as the abductors.^[30] Instead, the child will almost always share characteristics of both species.^[30]These children are labeled by experiencers as hybrids between humans and their abductors, usually Greys.

Unlike Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs, folklorist Thomas E. Bullard could not identify a child presentation phase in the abduction narrative, even after undertaking a study of 300 abduction reports.^[23] Bullard says that the child presentation "seems to be an innovation in the story"^[23] and that "no clear antecedents" to descriptions of the child presentation phase exists before its popularization by Hopkins and Jacobs.