126: The History of Alien Abductions, Part 1: 1957-1969 with Rich Hatem

This episode marks the beginning of a L O N G series about the history of the alien abduction phenomenon. Our premise, in part, can be summarized by Thomas Bullard, “UFO abductions in the strict sense of the term usually include a visible UFO and require involuntary capture or coercion to get witnesses on board. Once they are inside the crew examines them and turns them out after about two hours, and during that time the witnesses usually suffer some impairment of memory, consciousness or ability to act. Failure to remember the encounter often persists long after the abduction is over. The earliest case of this general description occurred as early as 1929 (see Table I-1) and a few others date prior to 1947, but abductions begin to roll only in 1949. A low incidence persists until 1967, but the high rate of that year did not survive the decline in UFO activity or interest current around 1970. The number leaps to new highs during the flap year of 1973 and this time the level holds, with 1979 topping the chart with two dozen cases. A drop-off in the 1980s may follow the general decline in UFO activity during this decade, but delays in reporting, investigation and publication may be responsible. Time will tell whether the poor turnout applies to actual abductions or abduction reports. “At this point a word of caution is necessary: Many witnesses claim abductions back into the 1940s and 1950s, but a glance at the upper half of Table I-1 shows that no one reported an abduction before 1957. Abductions as a matter of record are 20 years old at best (for the listener, this volume was published in 1987), and most only half that age with 1980 being the peak year with 42 reports.” With Rich Hatem along for the ride we dive into the earliest modern abduction case in print, the accounts that The Interrupted Journey brought out, the stories of Flora Evans and Gerry Irwin, and strange cases of spontaneous teleportation. Sources: UFO Abductions: The Measure of a Mystery, Vol. 1 by Thomas E. Bullard “Fantasy or Truth? A new look