Questioning Alien Abduction Research Methodology

Dr. Ellen Tarr recently posted some thoughts on UFO-related survey results as conducted and presented by FREE (Foundation for Research into Extraterrestrial Encounters). Tarr holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Immunology, is an Associate Professor at Midwestern University, and graciously offers analysis from time to time on such topics as Project Core and alleged Sasquatch DNA. She interpreted survey results as reported by FREE to be unclear on details like numbers of respondents and exactly how FREE arrived at some of its figures. Tarr's pointed observations included "the myriad problems with the survey itself and the analysis," as well as "the lack

By Jack Brewer ufotrail.blogspot.com 4-16-17

of controlling which respondents answer follow-up questions." As she explained:

There are numerous cases within the survey where more people responded to follow-up questions about a specific type of experience than had claimed to have had the experience. For example, 211 respondents reported having sex with an ET and 236 gave answers regarding what type of ET they had sex with. The likelihood that many items include responses from people who did not have the experience calls many results into question.

Tarr also noted survey results were represented by FREE as specifically including people who reported UFO-related contact experiences with a non-human intelligence, yet it is unclear if all who responded actually interpreted that to be the case. For instance, fewer people reported a craft or ship associated with their experiences than participated in the survey.

Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs at a
2004 Intruders Foundation Seminar

Hopkins, Jacobs and Westrum

Such challenges with surveys and their interpretations have long plagued the UFO community. The design of a 1991 Roper Poll funded by Robert Bigelow and conducted by Budd Hopkins, David Jacobs and Ron Westrum was competently called into question by qualified professionals. The trio arrived at the stunning conclusion 3.7 million Americans had been abducted by aliens through a survey of less than 6,000 people who were never even asked. Instead, those surveyed were subjected to a series of questions of which Hopkins and Jacobs felt themselves qualified to interpret if the responses indicated abductions had occurred. To directly ask respondents if they'd ever been abducted, it was rather incredibly rationalized, would give false results because many people were unaware of their abductions until after hypnosis.

Of a total of 5,947 people interviewed, 119, or two percent, were identified as likely alien abductees. It was from there the conclusion was drawn that about two percent of the American population, which at the time equated to 3.7 million people, had been abducted by aliens.

Critical review was provided by parapsychologist Susan Blackmore and sociologist Ted Goertzel, among others. The work of the late psychologist Robyn M. Dawes and political scientist Matthew Mulford, the latter of which became an expert in research methodology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, showed how questions on the survey were poorly constructed in ways known to produce flawed results. Goertzel wrote:

This conclusion is also strongly supported by Dawes and Mulford's (1993) innovative study at the University of Oregon which demonstrated that the dual nature of Hopkins, Jacobs and Westrum's first item, which asked about waking up paralyzed and about sensing a strange person in the room in the same item, actually led to an increased recollection of unusual phenomena as compared to a properly constructed single-issue survey item. Textbooks on questionnaire writing universally warn against "double-barreled" questions of this sort because they are known to give bad results. Dawes and Mulford confirm this and further offer the explanation that the combination of the two issues in one item causes a conjunction effect in memory which increases the likelihood of false recollection.

While the Hopkins, Jacobs and Westrum scale is not a valid measure of UFO abduction, they have inadvertently constructed a useful measure of another phenomenon: the tendency to have false memories.

The poll and its questionably interpreted conclusions continue to be cited in UFO circles in spite of its flawed construction. The problematic aspects of its methodologies are typically not addressed when claims are made of some 4 million Americans being abducted by aliens. The objectivity of Budd Hopkins was further questioned due to such circumstances as his claims surrounding alleged alien symbols purported to have been seen by abductees while aboard alien craft. His questionable interpretations and desire to "stack the deck," as he put it, were documented in the 13-minute video clip below shot by Carol Rainey.

Standards of Evidence

An important point, in my opinion, is that Dr. Tarr and other qualified experts demonstrate a willingness to address the UFO phenomenon and offer review of research produced by ufology. The scientific community is often criticized for dismissing the topic out of hand, and the complaint may be justified at times, but there are clearly exceptions.

Furthermore, it should be noted that such critical review is part and parcel of the path to establishing fact-based evidence. The critiques of qualified professionals should be embraced and addressed, not discarded with aversion. It is when standards of evidence are recognized, and professional research protocols are collectively respected and implemented, that the UFO community will mature and begin to gain the credibility it has long claimed to seek.

Please join me this summer in Roswell at a conference themed 70 Years Later: Modern Challenges to the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis. I'll be discussing exploitation in ufology, the intersection of the UFO and intelligence communities, and related topics.

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See Also:

Emerging Technologies Could Make or Break Alien Abduction Cases

The Singer's Hybrid Daughter -Pt 1-

Ufology Talking Points

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

Emerging Technologies Could Make or Break Alien Abduction Cases

Excerpt from Chapter 5 of The Greys Have Been Framed:
Exploitation in the UFO Community

Tyler Kokjohn, who holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, warned the UFO community that investigators' hypotheses should be tested and evolve accordingly, not chronically remain stagnant and unchallenged.1 Such tests could include the use of emerging genetic analysis technologies that could swiftly and cost effectively identify alleged genomic adulterations. Nonetheless, opportunities for such testing appears to be of minimal interest to investigators of alleged alien abduction who would potentially benefit enormously from the results. It seems reasonable to suspect such investigators failed to foresee and were unprepared for the current era in which scientific advances would allow them to actually validate or negate their fantastic claims. Rather than eagerly seek the potential validation of hypotheses, investigators often seem instead to fear those very tests and what the results would actually indicate.

By Jack Brewer ufotrail.blogspot.com 4-2-16

Microbiologist works with DNA samples

Addressing the alleged disappearing fetus syndrome of abduction lore, Kokjohn explained that, during gestation, mother and fetus exchange cells which may remain for years or even decades after birth or termination of pregnancy.² Powerful genetic analysis methods now allow examination of such circumstances via a simple blood draw from the mother. This would obviously enable investigators claiming to know such women, as well as those who claim to have experienced such occurrences, to attempt to obtain supporting physical evidence. It is reasonable to critically question their apparent collective lack of interest.

Podcaster and former publisher of UFO Magazine Don Ecker addressed the topic of alleged missing pregnancies during an online discussion in early 2011.³ He explained that during the 1990's he and his wife knew a practicing gynecologist, Dr. Richard Neal. The doctor was very familiar with the work of Hopkins and Jacobs, Ecker indicated, including the alleged missing fetus syndrome. The gynecologist wanted to try to scientifically establish the extents of validity of the reported circumstances. He requested that Ecker and his wife introduce him to Hopkins and Jacobs, which they did. Explaining what happened next, Ecker wrote:

After the intro Neal told Hopkins and Jacobs that what he wanted to do was to interface with "abductees" that Hopkins and Jacobs were working with, that claimed having been pregnant and then the fetus disappeared. Neal wanted to speak and share information with the abductees [sic] doctors of record. The bottom line? (and I am not suggesting anything beyond what I am saying here...) neither Hopkins nor Jacobs had any interest in working with Neal nor introducing him to any of these abductees.

Ufology hypnotists and investigators continue to regularly make claims that have long since worn old in their simultaneous sensational content and complete lack of supporting physical evidence. In 2013 I emailed Barbara Lamb and inquired about her pending MUFON appearance in which she was scheduled to discuss her claim that “ET-human hybrids are real and they are here.”⁴ According to a series of MUFON promotional emails that were circulating and contained the assertion, Lamb had hypnotically regressed over 900 people, some of which, with her “help,” discovered themselves to be ET-human hybrids.

Barbara Lamb

When asked via email if medical tests were conducted by qualified third parties on such alleged hybrids, Lamb replied that she was in a huge rush and provided minimal information during a subsequent exchange of messages. When urged to directly address if physical exams were conducted, and if any such data was available for public review, she ceased corresponding.

I also emailed Jan Harzan, eventual executive director of MUFON, about the matter. At the time of my emails, which was March, 2013, Harzan held a MUFON leadership role in Southern California, where Lamb was scheduled to appear at the time. I pointed out that MUFON emails were distributed containing assertions of the reality of ET-human hybrids and that Lamb claimed to personally know some of them. I asked Harzan to please comment on how an organization such as MUFON, claiming to be dedicated to scientific study, could promote such unsubstantiated and fantastic claims. He failed to respond to multiple emails.

I caught up with David Jacobs at the 2012 Ozark UFO Conference. The resulting interview was included in my three-part blog post, The Bizarre World of Doctor David Jacobs: An Interview and Review.⁵

Jacobs claimed, among other things, that hybrids have progressed through multiple stages. He was apparently referring to hybrids created directly by aliens and housed somewhere in Alien Land, as opposed to those that seemingly have birth certificates and participate in hypnosis sessions with Barbara Lamb. At this point, he asserted, they are “human in every way except for sleep cycle and ability to control others.”

Those are obviously some extremely questionable claims, considering we have no reasons to believe any of the beings have ever been physically examined. As a matter of fact, they cannot be demonstrated to so much as exist, but that did not stop Jacobs from confidently purporting to be qualified to inform me of their physical and mental conditions.

Jacobs may have been implying there were no reasons to attempt to obtain DNA and related evidence of the beings because they had become so similar to humans. Some people of course found that stance to be a rather convenient way of keeping one's hypothesis non-falsifiable, even if it does not actually make sense. I wrote at the time that I found such a notion – hybrids being physiologically nearly identical to humans - to be mentally unhealthy. I might add that I found it an insult to intelligence.

I urged Jacobs to comment on how he could perpetually be unable to obtain physical evidence of hybrids allegedly using a computer at the home of Elizabeth, one of his research subjects as described earlier. He offered me excuses such as Elizabeth lived 125 miles away from him, and that the curtains on the windows of her home did not allow anyone to see inside. He also mentioned there would be no fingerprints for some unspecified reason or other. I remain very unconvinced and found the lines of reasoning to be absurdly inadequate, as well as rather irrational directions to take.

The person lives 125 miles away and their curtains don't allow anyone to see inside? That's what makes it impossible to obtain supporting physical evidence of ET-human hybrids frequenting the premises? I will reiterate that I found many of Jacobs' claims to be insults to intelligence.

*       *       *       *

Jacobs has continued his assertions that a currently active wave of hybrids is virtually indistinguishable from human beings, at least physically.⁶ While that conveniently makes points related to purpose and procreation more convoluted and confusing than ever, numerous additional questions continue to arise.

How old are these alleged hybrids? If they are any older than mere children, say, in their 20's or 30's, that would mean they were being developed from pretty much the outset of when Jacobs began writing and lecturing on the topic. We might reasonably ask how he missed it all this time, or why he failed to mention the circumstances until recent years.

And what kinds of vaccination programs do these aliens administer to these hybrids that are physiologically just like humans? It's potentially pretty serious from an immunology standpoint to even travel from one continent to another, so I would think being released to earth from the mother ship could stir up some pretty nasty bugs. If the hybrids are physiologically just like us, let's hope their alien handlers know more about ebola than we do.

Would the antibody profile of such a hybrid reflect the full complement of vaccinations humans currently administer to children, or would it indicate pediatric vaccines licensed and available 20 to 30 years ago? Along the same lines of considerations, each encounter with a pathogen leaves a record in the immune system, so qualified examination of forensic evidence would still prove potentially important. The antibodies of such alleged beings would help reveal how long they have been hanging around our neighborhood.

Unfortunately for David Jacobs, his assertion that some hybrids are “human in every way except for sleep cycle and ability to control others” does not exempt his hypothesis from potential validation or falsification. Forensic evidence might very well continue to be extremely important, and his failure to take advantage of cost effective technological advances now available likely speaks volumes in and of itself.

Endnotes

1). JayVay: I'm Sorry, Your Hypothesis Appears to be Dead
https://jayvay.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/im-sorry-your-hypothesis-appears-to-be-dead/

2). JayVay: Try a New Hypothesis, Sherlock
https://jayvay.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/try-a-new-hypothesis-sherlock/

3). The Paracast: Hopkins Ex-wife Dumps
http://www.theparacast.com/forum/threads/hopkins-ex-wife-dumps.7891/page-2

4). Examiner.com: Barbara Lamb and MUFON: ET-human hybrids: They are real and they are here
http://www.examiner.com/article/barbara-lamb-and-mufon-et-human-hybrids-they-are-real-and-they-are-here

5). The UFO Trail: The Bizarre World of Doctor David Jacobs: An Interview and Review, Part One of Three
http://ufotrail.blogspot.com/2012/04/bizarre-world-of-doctor-david-jacobs.html

6). YouTube: Contact In The Desert - David Jacobs - New Findings In Abduction Research
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUMPDtD4hfA

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See Also:

Ufology Talking Points

The Greys Have Been Framed: Exploitation in the UFO Community

MUFON, Sham Inquiry and the Woods/Jacobs Scandal

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

Ufology Talking Points

Let's start with qualifying that I don't consider myself an expert on UFOs and the state of ufology. Like many, I developed an interest in the subject matter and came to know much more about it than the average individual. Of the things I learned, a lot of it is probably not worth knowing. Just ask the people that tolerate me. My descent into ufology resulted in my book, "The Greys Have Been Framed: Exploitation in the UFO Community,"which contains a lot of the things I think are relevant about the genre. I'm very pleased with the reviews it has received, and I'm grateful for the websites, radio shows and podcasts which have interviewed me about it. Thank you!

By Jack Brewer ufotrail.blogspot.com 3-17-16

Those interviews and related circumstances have provided me opportunities to reflect. Following are a few points that typically come up and I've recently been giving particular consideration:

Kinds of Information

I think there are essentially three kinds of information when we're discussing UFOs, aliens and the related claims and research:

1) That which can be verified to be correct and accepted

2) That which can be confirmed to be incorrect and rejected

3) That which cannot be conclusively confirmed one way or the other, requiring suspension of judgment

While we can often take a pretty good guess at which category a claim or researcher's thesis might fall in, there is no substitute for verification. We then have responsibilities (if we are going to purport to be conducting professional research or scientific investigation) to follow protocols, and particularly the recognition of standards of evidence, as established by the professional research community and academia. We also have responsibilities to recognize those standards of evidence if we purport to be advocates of professional research when promoting various investigators and their work as credible. Which brings us to:

Belief vs. Fact

I think, therefore I recognize
standards of evidence 

We're entitled to believe pretty much anything we choose, but if we desire others to share and embrace our beliefs, we have responsibilities to present those people with factual information to sway their perspectives. To expect or demand the agreement of others while providing no credible information, as described above, is unreasonable. The reasonable and intelligent person is not convinced by anecdotes, repetition and volume, but by facts and verifiable evidence.

We have responsibilities to accurately differentiate between beliefs and facts when arguing our points. We are allowed to believe as we choose, as well as disagree with one another and debate with passion, but if we neglect to respect professional standards of evidence, we promote confusion rather than clarification.

Hypnosis

I find it rather insulting that hypnosis as a memory retrieval tool even continues to be an issue at this point - and is a glaring example of disregard for the points made in the above paragraphs. Here's the bottom line, guys: If a researcher or organization claims to promote scientific investigation and conducts hypnosis, they are incorrect; the two stances are mutually exclusive of one another. That's not my opinion, but the platform of the current scientific paradigm. I just cite it.

What's more, work conducted by professionally qualified researchers concludes that not only are memory enhancing techniques unreliable, but their use may be detrimental. It has additionally been conclusively demonstrated - repeatedly - that the manners questions are asked greatly alters the responses. See the work, which includes clinical trials and peer review, of Shaw, Loftus, French, Lilienfeld, Morgan, etc., etc., etc. All of this and much more is addressed in my book and references are thoroughly provided.

The cow is long out of the gate on this one. Let's move on and recognize unsubstantiated assertions for what they are.

Mind Control

The big MC. I find the topic of interest and I try to write about it responsibly. I think that can be defined as clarifying my opinions, citing facts as to how I form my opinions and suspicions, and differentiating between those and facts.

Director of Project MKULTRA,
Dr. Sidney Gottlieb

It is my opinion that unethical activities conducted by intelligence agencies, such as now declassified documents confirm about the CIA, may have become enmeshed with the UFO subculture and resulted in reports of alleged alien abduction. I form this supposition, pending further information, based on the fact the mind control projects existed, combined with the fact the involved agencies were manipulating the topic and public perception of UFOs during the same era. Given such profiles that can be made of CIA, additional intel agencies, and their activities, I am of the opinion that further research is justified into the possibilities. I suspect some of the targets of behavior modification projects misinterpreted the circumstances as alien abduction, particularly with the encouragement of so-called and often overeager ufologists.

There are a number of additional possible scenarios which could be relevant to the UFO community. I think that angle of research deserves more attention than it typically receives, and I find it interesting. Much more about this is offered in 'The Greys Have Been Framed'.

What Should Be Done for "Abductees"

First of all, I'm not sure anything should be done. I'm a rather big advocate of allowing people to find their own ways and their own solutions. People usually don't want suggestions until they become convinced they need them, so "alien abduction" might not be much different.

That stated, if I were to make recommendations, based on my own observations and in my admittedly professionally unqualified opinion, I'd say the first thing to do would be to encourage treatment for trauma. Alleged abductees, as well as a number of UFO witnesses, describe the circumstances as traumatic. It therefore stands to reason that professional treatment for trauma would be appropriate regardless of the possible origin of the perception.

Next, I'd say that witnesses, as well as investigators and their organizations, should consciously identify the kind of support they are seeking and providing. Emotional support, therapeutic treatments, and objective investigation are different activities, require different areas of expertise, and should not be intermingled haphazardly for many reasons. All too often, fragmented simulations of such activities are provided by groups and individuals who are qualified at none of them, mix them all together without even realizing it, and the quality suffers of both the life of the witness and the investigation.

So-called "UFO investigation" appears to me, based on years of observations and the work I conducted while writing my book, to frequently become some bastardization of mental health therapy, particularly in the alien abduction genre. However, the investigators typically are neither therapists nor any kind of mental health professional. It would therefore be very beneficial to the community and the well-being of the witnesses if all involved made intentional decisions as to what type of support, be it emotional, therapeutic or investigative, was being sought and offered, and conducted themselves accordingly.

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See Also:

Alien Abduction Research Expands

New, 'Rigorous Scientific Research to The Study of UFOs'

Project Core, the UFO Community and Professional Research

REPORT YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE

Whither UFO-Alien-Abduction Research?

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By Larry W. Bryant UFOview 11-8-13

      Note: If there be anything essential to one’s becoming a seasoned UFOlogist, it’s that (s)he ought not to relegate the UFO-alien-abduction experience to a marginalized status of inquiry, analysis, and tracking.–LWB

Indeed, it comforts me to see seasoned UFOlogist Billy Booth’s blog "UFO Casebook" cataloging accounts of the Ultimate Close Encounter — e.g., the case summarized at Alien Abduction Experience of Carolyn Z. This first-person narrative can serve as a primer for those just entering the ranks of UFOlogical scholarship; it also offers veteran abductionologists a mini-refresher course in their specialty. Its prose traces an Alabama mother’s frustrative coping with abduction encounters that have included some of her children.

COPING … that word was uppermost in my mind when I created, on Nov. 7, 2013, an online petition titled “Bring Justice for Victims of UFO-Alien Abduction!” at tinyurl.com/m7rkcue. During the crafting of this petition (now hosted by the web site of moveon.org), I was asked by the formatting instructions: ”Why are you starting this petition?” My answer: ”This petition aims to empower the citizenry’s quest for official answers to the worldwide problem of UFO-alien abduction. It thereby can help us mitigate (and cope with) the threat to public safety posed by this criminality.”

The petition’s text concludes by referring to the latest installment of my series of UFO-cover-up-whistleblower solicitation ads, now posted at www.classifiedads.com under the title “Blow the Whistle on the Government Cover-up of the UFO-Alien Abduction Experience!”. When I added my own signature to the petition, I supplemented it with this comment: ”UFO-alien abductees who’ve yet to put summaries of their accounts on public record might find this comments block suitable for their doing so now — and thus act as a force multiplier for others to come forward as well.”

Continue Reading . . .

See Also:

Alien Nation: Have Humans Been Abducted by Extraterrestrials?

VIDEO | Two Women Recount Alien Abduction To CNN's Anderson Cooper

Travis Walton Shares New Theory His Alien Abduction | VIDEO

SHARE YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE