CHROI\lC CG\IMS OF ALIEN ABDCCTION A~1) SOME OTHER TRAU\,gS AS SELF­ VICTnnZATIO:\ SY~DROMES Jim Schnahel Jim Schnabel is a science writer with an interest in dissocia­ However, otherobservers (Evans, 1984; Ganaway, 1989~ tive phenomena. Noll, 1989; Powers, 1991) have noted thatthe phenomenology ofthe syndrome bears a strong similarity to the experiences For reprints writeJim Schnabel, 6000 Kennedy Drive, Chevy claimed by individuals who are prone to dissociation. Even Chase, MD 20815, (301) 907-2662. Ring (1992) ,who doesnotcontendthatthe etiologyofabduc­ tions is necessarily mundane, has noted from his own sur­ ABSTRACT veys that abductees tend to report a history of (mundane) childhood abuse or trauma, and tend to score highly on This paper discusses the case ofan alleged alien abduction victim measures of dissociative experiences. who claimed a wide range of dissociation-related and traumatic The following is a report ofa woman who has claimed experiences, with a heavy thematic emphasis upon sexual abuse, frequent abductions and manipulations by aliens; frequent extending back to a traumatic non-abuse incident in childhood, for rapes, abuse, and harassmentbygovernmentagentsandother which she apparently was never amnesic. Certain aspects ofher his­ men; and frequent mysterious ailments which have result­ tory seem consistent with dissociative disorders, organic mental dis­ edin inconclusive butexpensive and intrusive hospital tests. orders, andMunchausen 's syndrome. This case andthe alien abduc­ Her experiences are discussed in the context of a number tion syndrome as well as some orallnarratives associated with multiple ofdissociative andothersyndromes, includingMiinchausen's personality disorder and "Satanic ritual abuse, "do not derive exclu­ syndrome,anda frameworkforunderstanding the connections sively from severe exogenous trauma and may be viewed more use­ between these syndromes is proposed. ful~ as manifestations of manipulative self-victimization syn­ dromes. CASE REPORT INTRODUCTION "Annette" (a pseudonym) is a woman in her late twen­ ties, intelligent, with a university degree, and quite person­ Inrecentyears, numerousindividuals have claimedthat able, although apparently prone to depression and despair theyhave been,andperiodicallyare, abductedandsubjected as a result of her experiences. Her story was told to this to medical examination and manipulation by extraterres­ researcherwith the understanding thatitmightbe discussed trials. The phenomenologyofthe syndromeis complex, and in a book beingwritten about the history ofUFO-abduction has appeared to evolve continuouslysinceabduction accounts research (Schnabel, 1994). This story - which I must first began to appear widely in print in the mid 1960s. It cur­ emphasize is largely unverified - is as follows: rentlyinvolves claims offrequentamnesicfugues; unexplained Annette's mother developed measles when pregnant scars; suddenmemories (in adulthood) ofchildhoodabduc­ with her, and Annette was born with severe ear problems, a tion; mysteriously-originatingandmysteriously-disappearing heart murmur, and a cleft palate which subsequently was pregnancies; mysteriously-originating and mysteriously-dis­ reconstructed surgically. During her first year, she experi­ appearingneurologicalandreproductive monitoringdevices enced two minor convulsive seizures, but none thereafter. or "implants"; sudden awakening, paralysis, and a sense of When Annette was eight years old, a man in the neighbor­ presence in the early morning hours; poltergeist phenom­ hoodbegantoharass herfamily, andAnnette'sfatherbought enaand other mysterious electrical disturbances; eating dis-. and loaded a gun for protection. Annette'sfatherwas killed, orders and food allei:gies; and an anxiety syndrome which in Annette's presence, when he attempted to unload the hasbeen termed "post-abduction syndrome"by some abduc­ gun and it discharged accidentally. Annette's mother then tion researchers (Fuller, 1966; Keel, 1975; Hopkins, 1981; hastened her from the room, and Annette was not allowed Evans, 1984; Hopkins, 1987; Strieber, 1987; Bullard, 1987; to attend the funeral. Jacobs, 1992; Schnabel, 1994). Within a few monthsofthe incident,Annettewas abrupt­ The view of prominent abduction researchers in the lytoldby hermotherthatitwas time to attendsummercamp. U.S. is that this phenomenologyindicates a covert alien pro­ Shewas taken into thebackyardofthe house,where a coarse­ gram in which, among other things, human sperm and ova featured young man of about 16 took her hand and some­ are collected for the creation of human-alien hybrids how conveyed her to a remote cabin where he repeatedly (Hopkins, 1987;Jacobs, 1992). raped her over a period ofthree days. The man's name was 51 .b-- -----l _ CHRO~IC CLlli\IS OF ALIEN ABDUCTION -- -- -- "Luke n (a pseudonym). He told Annette thal in fact she had ferring to molest her psychologically instead. For example, killed herfather and thatfrom now on, no one buthe would he would arrive on her doorstep in the middle of the night truly befriend her or fully undersland her. When Annette and poundonherdoor,apparent1y to makeherpanic. Annette returned from "camp," her mother said, "Oh, look at you, also occasionally was visited by her dead father, although you've been sitting on some poison ivy! vVhat were you doing these visits seemed entirely benign. On at least one occa­ sitting on poison ivy without your underpants on?" sion, Annette noted that a pillow thrown at her dead father Annette had had imaginary playmates and a vivid imag­ went tluough him, indicating that he was only a ghost; her ination, but she knew the difference between such fantasies other visitors were unfortunately more substantial. and the reality ofLuke, who continued periodically to visit Annette's strange experiences, and in particular her her. Usually he lOok on a malevolent aspect, taunting her tendency to disappear suddenly, made relationships with ("You're going to like this") andsexuallyand physically abus­ men difficult; in one case, she disappeared from a house ing her, although on occasion, he seemed reasonablyplacid. onenight during a datewi th a potential boyfriend. Sheawoke He once allowed Annette to pull hair from his chest to ver­ in a remote part of the house in the morning, amnesic for ify that he was reaL Luke also claimed to be a member of the period ofher disappearance, and attempted to explain Annette's family, and although he was never specific about that she didn't know what had happened. The young man., this claim, Annette's mother appeared to recognize him. who had sleptalone for the night, called hera liarand angri­ 'When at age nine Annette drew his picture in school and ly departed. afterwards presented it to her mother, her mother burned One day in the late 1980s, at a bookstore on her uni­ the picture and told her never again to draw or to discuss versity campus,Annette saw a copy of'Whitley Strieber's best­ the person whom Annette had depicted. selling book Communion, with the face ofa gray alien on its As a teenager, one ofAnnette's brothers once under­ cover. The shock of recognition was so great that she sank went a strange experience, changing his voice and person­ to her knees and began sobbing uncontrollably. Later, she ality briefly when confronted at home with the news of a read Communion and other books about aliens and abduc­ grandparent's dealh. He reported afterwards that he had tions, andcontacted a prominent abduction researcher, ''Frank seemed to float out ofhis bodyacross the room, from which Taylor" (a pseudonym), who interviewed heraboutherexpe­ vanlage point he had observed his altered self. Annette also riences and began a series of regression hypnosis sessions had an uncle who was widely known to be a psychic. thatcontinues to this day. In each such session, Taylorwould Annette'soddexperiencesseemed to be far more numer­ elicitmemoriesofoneormoreofAnnette's numerousabduc­ ous than those ofanyofherrelatives. Shehadfrequentepisodes tion episodes, which apparently stretched back to her child­ of somnambulism. She had out-of-body experiences while hood, and continued with remarkable frequency in the pre­ in bed atnight, andexperienced occasional periodsofamne­ sent, occurring every few days. At first, Annette withheld sia, even in daytime, often awakening in a strange place, cov­ from Taylor the information about Luke andJuan, fearing eredwith scars and bruises. In one incident, which alarmed that he would not believe her story ifnon-alien beings were her family, she disappeared while snowmobiling in freezing involved. Taylor therefore interpreted Annette's odd expe­ weather and was discovered hours later, lying in the snow riences, fugues, and anxieties as relatively uncomplicated beside her snowmobile, with her scarffolded neatly next to alien-abduction experiences. The fact that Annette often her. Oddly, she was neither hypothermic nor injured in any awoke from heramnesic episodeswith bruises, scars, orother other way. On other occasions when she suffered minor, signs ofalien manipulation helped to convince him that her prosaic injuries, she noted that she had a remarkable insen­ experiences were real. sitivity to pain. In the early 1990s,Annette told Taylor about Luke and Annette also noted that machinery would sometimes Juan, but because they now often appeared in conjunction malfunction around her. Electric wristwatches - even with with the aliens, it began to seem to her, and lO Taylor, that new batteries - frequently ran slow or Slopped altogether.