Alien Society and the Abduction Phenomenon by David M. Jacobs

Speculating about the inner workings of alien society has always been the
special preserve of philosophers, science-fiction authors, and scriptwriters for
motion pictures and television dramas. Their fanciful depictions are usually
imaginative projections derived from their personal upbringings, their creative
powers, and the societies and technological cultures in which they have lived.

These representations have been fascinating, frightening, and entertaining. For
the audiences, their plots' fictional genesis has never been in question. The
discourse between the audience and the inventor has been an agreed upon fiction
in which aliens are portrayed according to cultural norms of the times. Aliens
are benevolent and have come to help humans, aliens are malevolent and have come
to take over and/or destroy human society, aliens have come to share in human
society because of their own planetary problems, or aliens are angry at
spacefaring humans whom they wish to destroy to protect themselves. These ideas
have permeated entertainment in the 20th century from the early pulp
science-fiction magazines like Amazing Stories and Galaxy, to the first
alien-themed movies of the early 1950s and to similar science-fiction television
shows of the 1950s and 1960s.

Now, for the first time, another way of constructing an alien society has
developed�one that may be fascinating, frightening, and even, on some level,
entertaining, but not necessarily fictional. I am, of course, referring to
abductee descriptions of aliens and their interactions aboard UFOs. It is from
these descriptions that a picture of alien society can be drawn that portrays a
very different society than one based on culturally derived fictional
representations.

The new authors of these alien accounts are not, for the most part, professional
writers, producers, directors, actors, or others in the entertainment and
literary industry. The vast majority of them are not prompted to fashion their
stories in the hopes of celebrity or remuneration. Often they are reluctant
storytellers who would sometimes prefer not to tell their accounts rather than
either to confront these stories consciously with their potential psychological
ramifications for the narrator, or to have to suffer the ridicule that might
result for themselves and their families if the stories were to become
publicized. Indeed, many say they have had experiences that they remember but
have no desire to relate them to anyone.

In spite of this, thousands of individuals have come forward to tell their
private stories�although one suspects that the vast majority have not done so
even though they might want to because they have found no sympathetic and
competent listeners. For the ones who have come forward, their narratives
comprise an extraordinary body of evidence revealing a generally consistent
account of alien life that is on the one hand science-fiction like and on the
other hand original and ingenuous. The distinctiveness of these fantastic
stories coupled with nonfiction makes them striking in their verisimilitude.

Of course, the evidence for their reality is largely anecdotal and often
incomplete, and each account often presents more questions than it answers, as
is to be expected with new and still emerging data that have not yet been fully
analyzed. Using these accounts to generalize about the kind of society in which
extraterrestrials might dwell is obviously intellectually risky because the
information is so controversial. We are in the position of formulating
hypotheses mainly on accounts derived from memory, often filtered through
hypnosis usually administered by amateurs. It is difficult to imagine a weaker
form of evidence.

Furthermore, abductees, from whose memory our knowledge of alien society comes,
will sometimes confabulate and relate events during their abductions that either
did not happen or happened in very different ways from the ones they remember.
Thus, using this information to construct an alien society is a difficult and
perhaps even pointless pursuit and presents the danger of being a unique form of
collective science fiction�perhaps a bizarre offshoot of the much-reviled
collective-unconscious theory.

In spite of these problems, the consistency of detail and of narrative line, and
the extraordinary circumstances in which these abductee stories are fashioned
add a sense of authenticity to them that cannot be matched by fiction authors.
With this information generalizations can be made, although partial, that might
give us a clearer view into the extraordinary world of alien society.

According to my analysis of abductee testimony, the structure of alien society,
like any human society, is complex. Abductees describe a highly evolved and
advanced I technological society that gives the appearance of a smooth running,
hierarchical, technocratically ordered culture. The beings are obviously very
advanced technologically. This requires a mental capacity (either from
biological manufacture or from evolution) commensurate with the ability to
advance science and thus, in some respects, similar to that of humans. Although
their mental ability is on a par or even higher than humans, abductees give no
evidence to suggest that aliens' physiological mechanisms and the processes
within their anatomical and genetic make-up are the same as humans.

Abductees have indicated that alien gross morphology is humanlike but their
appearance is nonetheless different. Several varieties of aliens appear to be
involved in the abduction phenomenon. The most common ones are the . gray aliens
who seemingly do the bulk of the abduction work. They come in two varieties:
small and taller. Abductees also report seeing reptilian beings, insect beings,
and human beings. Little is known about the reptilian-like beings, and I have
found their reporting to be less common than the other types. Human-like beings
are almost certainly adult hybrids, of which more will be said later. Abductees
indicate that the insect-like beings are taller than the other aliens and at the
top of a hierarchical structure of authority; they give orders, while all others
take them. For the purposes of this article, all aliens, except hybrids, will be
considered as one group. 

In spite of their anatomical and hierarchical differences, the beings all have
certain common and important ~ characteristics: They are all seen together on
board the same UFOs, they all do more or less the same procedures, and most
importantly, they all appear to be working together for the same goal. Thus, one
can surmise that they all come from the same society. But they have another
aspect in common that might help to define the society in which they dwell: They
all can communicate telepathically with each other and with abductees.

TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION	

Telepathic communication has been a more or less constant feature of the
abduction phenomenon since the earliest investigations.

Like all consistent aspects of the abduction phenomenon, this is remarkable. One
would expect that in a phenomenon derived from the human psyche, a wide variety
of communication styles would be reported, which most certainly would involve
verbal-aural communication emanating from the aliens' mouths, being heard
through the abductees' ears, and vice versa. Sign language might be a common
feature of communication that deluded abductees would seize upon. However, these
more commonsensical reports are quite rare. In fact, the constancy of reported
telepathy for over 35 years from all over the world strongly suggests that it is
the normal mode of communication for all aliens and humans during abduction
events.

Abductees inadvertently bolster the idea that telepathy is the main
communication mode by providing indirect evidence that alien physiology is
consistent with mental, rather than spoken, communication. Their descriptions
indicate that insect aliens have no noticeable mouths or noses, making the
aspiration of air difficult if not impossible. The more commonly reported small
and tall gray aliens appear to have mouth-like structures with no tongues or
teeth. Aliens do not use these structures for sound formation, and the mouths
are almost always closed. There is little evidence that their jaws open and
close (or, indeed, that they have jaws). Although some abductees report that
their mouths are open in a fashion, these accounts are rare, and because of the
confabulation problem, one must be wary of them. Facial musculature, which would
allow for ~ expressiveness, is not reported. 

Finally, abductees do not report anything resembling a respiratory system, nor
do they describe any apparent larynx, esophagus, lung capacity, or aspiration
essential for sound formation for either the gray aliens or the insect beings.
On the receiving end of communication, the insect aliens do not have ears or any
apparent apparatuses for collecting sound waves. Abductees often see a tiny hole
where the ears should be on the gray aliens. If these are used for receiving
sound, they do not, at least on the surface, appear to be very sophisticated
organs.

As can be expected, sounds emanating from the aliens are not reliably reported
in abduction reports. Without ears, one cannot know the extent to which the
aliens are capable of hearing. That they do hear something is possible because
they apparently discern the direction of communication. For example, when an
abductee physically creates a disturbance on board a UFO, it attracts the
aliens' attention even when they were not originally looking at the abductee,
although it still is difficult to tell whether the ruckus mentally attracts
their attention or whether the physical commotion causes their notice. Also,
when an abductee speaks, the aliens will frequently turn and face the one who is
communicating. All of this, of course, might well be consistent with telepathy,
and whether the aliens have any sense of hearing is still unknown.

Although telepathy is the main method of communication, abductees indicate that
the aliens have a written culture as well. For example, on board a UFO abductees
will sometimes see what appears to be reading material�books, papers, and other
graphical representations of language.

They occasionally describe symbols on the walls and on various equipment or
machines. In some abductions, people have reported being required to memorize a
set of symbols, which they assume to be an alphabet or pictographs. Thus,
although we cannot at this time know all that occurs within alien society, it is
difficult to imagine a technologically advanced society without a written form
of communication, and, at least for the purposes of their abduction activity, it
seems probable that aliens use primarily both a nonspoken and graphical symbolic
language for their communication.

The reporting of the aliens' unique communication qualities is so pervasive and
consistent that any in-depth study of alien culture must assume that telepathy
is one of the most influential features. A culture's communication style
profoundly influences the type of society in which its inhabitants live. For
example, tribal societies without written language rely heavily on memory, oral
tradition, storytelling, and demonstration to pass knowledge through the
generations. As a consequence, historical memory plays a much more important
role in cultural transmission than it does in literate societies. Social
relations are often organized around those special people who are entrusted to
keep the memory of the past. This may not be the case with alien culture, but an
examination of the effects of telepathy and its consequences might yield, along
with other known factors about their behavior, some insight into the kind of
society in which they live.

ACTIVATING TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION

Researchers do not know how telepathic communication is activated between humans
and aliens. At least three scenarios are possible.

The first suggests that each human has an innate physiological ability to
communicate telepathically with other humans, and the aliens in some way tap
into that normally unused facility. In fact, it is not uncommon for ordinary
people to claim that they can read people's minds. Researchers engaged in
testing whether extrasensory perception is genuine have long debated the
existence of these abilities. So far the evidence, while suggestive, is
inconclusive, and these claims have not been consistently validated. If this
ability is authentic and all humans share it even slightly, it would have become
a central feature of human thought, culture, and life. The profound effect it
would have had on almost all human relations would most certainly have made
human history radically different from what it has been. In fact, little
evidence exists that every human has a biological ability to communicate
telepathically. And the majority of humans do not claim to have innate
telepathic powers. Therefore, telepathic communication is not and has not been a
valid and recognized form of human communication.

If telepathy is not physiologically innate, a second scenario may apply:
Abductee telepathy is artificially stimulated by neurological manipulations
and/or alterations. Thus, aliens provide humans with telepathic abilities by
biologically affecting permanent changes in brain chemistry. If this were the
case, one would expect that this telepathic ability would continue after
abduction events. In fact, some abductees do claim this happens. They say that
after some abductions they have a gradually decreasing ability to read people's
minds for as long as two weeks afterward.

Unfortunately, virtually no scientific studies have been mounted to substantiate
this, and the abductees have not checked with those people who are the object of
their mind reading to ascertain their accuracy. But even if this were true, one
would expect that telepathic abilities would last over the course of an
abductee's lifetime and not exist only sporadically.

It is, of course, possible that the biological changes causing telepathic
capacity respond to stimuli only originating with alien causative factors. This
would mean that telepathy could be activated for an abduction event and then
deactivated after. If the deactivation is in some way incomplete, and a residue
of it lingers and wanes, abductees might gain a sense of telepathic
communication with other humans in everyday life. This could explain the
abductee reports of post-abduction teIepathic abdities.

The third possibility for telepathic response is that it is caused by
manufactured devices implanted into abductee brains. The implantation of such a
device might take place during infancy or early childhood. It could be activated
and deactivated automatically during an abduction. Sometimes these devices might
be faulty in some way and, like the faulty deactivation of biological changes,
cause the telepathic response to continue for a period after the abduction.
However, researchers have yet to discover any such implant in a characteristic
region of the brain, recover it, and then demonstrate its function.

Whatever the causative factor, a form of telepathic communication starts at the
very beginning of virtually every abduction event. While it is not necessarily
converted into words, the abductees know what is conveyed to them. Aliens can
initiate this type of telepathic communication even before the abductees see
them. For example, abductees "know" that they must go to bed, get out of bed, go
downstairs, go outside, drive somewhere, stop the car, or do whatever activities
the nonverbal orders have them do so that the abduction can begin.

It is important to understand that all reports of personally directed telepathic
communication between abductees and aliens from a great distance that are not
involved with abduction activity are usually examples of channeling. The
evidence strongly suggests that aliens are not in communication with abductees
apart from abductions. Thus, accounts of people having personalized dialogues in
their normal environments with aliens on a continuing basis are to be taken with
extreme caution. In the same sense, "messages" to abductees should also be
viewed with extreme skepticism.

TELEPATHIC DEACTIVATION

Telepathic communication is deactivated just as mysteriously as it begins.
Abductees do not report procedures whereby the aliens cause telepathic
communication to cease. If this were the case, researchers would be seeing it at
the end of every abduction event. Thus, the closest we can come to understanding
the origin of the implementation of telepathic communication in the abductee is
that it is the result of some sort of neurological engagement, artificial or
biological, with the aliens. It starts with the alteration of consciousness and
perception that engages neurologically at the beginning of all abduction events
and usually ends when the abduction is completed.

ALIEN-TO-HUMAN COMMUNICATION

When one asks abductees what they mean by "telepathic communication," they
generally say that they receive an impression in their mind, which automatically
converts into words for comprehension. Reports from people of different
nationalities indicate that the abductees convert telepathic communication into
whatever language they speak.

Thus, and this is important in understanding the global nature of the
phenomenon, the aliens circumvent the problem of having to communicate in the
vast variety of human languages. When in rare instances an abductee reports that
the telepathic communication he or she is receiving contains an "accent," one
can surmise that this has more to do with the abductee's expectations than with
the reality of the situation (this observation my not apply to hybrid
communication).

One of the great problems encountered by abduction researchers is the way in
which abductees recount alien telepathic communication. Not only can it be very
difficult for abductees to remember exactly what has been "said," but
remembrance is also complicated immeasurably by the problem of the abductee
deciding exactly where the communication originated. Many abductees routinely
mistake their own thoughts for thoughts put in their mind by the aliens.

The question is, how does one distinguish between hearing impressions from the
aliens, or hearing one's own thoughts? This problem, akin to channeling, has
provided the rocks upon which many inexperienced abduction researchers have
foundered. Mistaking human thought for alien communication, researchers have
often developed poor and misleading data. Because of the human origination of
this communication, channeled messages of societal concern and benevolence often
make their way to the public and cause confusion among abductees and researchers
alike.

Most of the time, abductees have no difficulty identifying and understanding
alien communication, although they often have problems describing accurately
that conversation for the researcher. Because of trouble converting the
communication back to spoken or written language when remembering it, they
generally add the phases, "or . something like that" and, "or words to that
effect," to indicate that they cannot translate the telepathic dialogue with
total accuracy. Therefore, some imprecision, at least in recall, might be a
somewhat constant feature of alien-to-human communication.

Although the aliens are generally not forthcoming about their goals and
purposes, in some instances conversations take place with abductees in which the
aliens are more substantive and focus on those issues. These conversations are
infrequent, but when they occur, they can be significant, giving insight into
the abduction program as a whole. However, the majority of the aliens'
conversations with abductees are either directive or palliative. They tell the
abductee to remove his clothes, to get up on a table, to follow them, to get
dressed, that it is time to go, and so forth. They tell the abductee that he
will not be hurt, or that he will not be there long, that everything is going to
be all right, to calm down, and so forth.

HUMAN-TO-ALIEN COMMUNICATION

Humans communicate with aliens in much the same way as the aliens communicate
with them. Abductees report that they were unable to fashion words with their
mouths. They indicate that they were paralyzed and could not speak even if they
wanted to. Just as often they say that it does not even occur to them to use
their voices.

But in order to engage aliens in conversation, they know that it must be
accomplished from mind to mind. Usually, humans report communication with aliens
that relate to their situation on board the object: the purpose of procedures
administered to them, how long they will be there, and if others abducted with
them are all right. They might even ask general questions about the purposes and
meaning of the abduction program, although this is not usual.

Asking questions, however, does not mean that the aliens will answer; the
question does not necessarily provide psychological pressure for an alien to
answer. If they i answer at all, it is often with vague generalities. Thus,
responding to a question does not necessarily mean that valuable information
will be imparted, although it sometimes does occur.

Although virtually all communication is telepathic, abductees report that at
times they find that they can verbalize. Usually this comes out in the form of
shouts, cries, moans, and other vocalizations. It is sometimes a shock for an
abductee to hear the silence pierced by the screams of another abductee on board
a UFO. Therefore, vocalization is possible at times, but word formation is not.

ALIEN-TO-ALIEN COMMUNICATION

In order to develop and maintain a scientifically advanced society,
alien-to-alien telepathic communication must, by logic and necessity, be
precise. The aliens must be able to convey advanced scientific concepts and
mathematical equations on a sophisticated level. Accuracy, clarity, and
flexibility in communication would be essential for their accomplishments. Thus,
sophisticated "intra-communication" between aliens is critical. And it parallels
the requisites that human languages possess.

Aliens are often seen communicating with each other in private conversation, and
they are seen in group situations in which all participants are communicating.
How rich their communication skills are is unknown, but they are able to convey
all that is needed to create their civilization.

The aliens' logical minds suggest that the interactions and thought processes
with abductees are quite similar to those of humans. We are able to understand
their commands, their desires, their motivations, and their procedures. Most
areas of alien life are still mysterious, but the evidence suggests that given
enough information, everything they do is amenable to human understanding, both
through direct communication with abductees and by deduction afterward by
researchers.

HUMAN-TO-HUMAN TELEPATHY

Abductees can sometimes carry on conversations with other abductees whom they
encounter on board a UFO. Human-to-human communication can either be by
telepathy or by voice. When talking to another human, the abductees do not
consciously chose telepathy or voice. They simply do one or the other. Why
humans can communicate aurally with one another is a mystery, given that it is
apparently very difficult in other abduction contexts. It is possible that they
only think they are talking normally but they are actually communicating
telepathically.

When humans converse with one another, their conversations typically often focus
on how they can escape from the UFO or what the aliens are going to do to them.
Often one abductee tries to calm or reassure other abductees, saying that the
aliens will not hurt them and they will be leaving soon.

In effect, they do the aliens' work for them. Whether this is because of alien
design or because it stems from human compassion remains to be seen. Although
these types of conversation seem reasonable on the surface, in fact they are
somewhat frustrating for the researcher. Only rarely will the abductees exchange
their names and addresses.

They seem unaware that they will most likely forget the experience directly
afterwards, and it does not occur to them that it might be important to locate
the person whom they saw on board for verification of their experience. Much of
this has to do with the aliens' abilities to neurologically alter the mechanisms
of memory and consciousness that is beyond the scope of this discussion.

INDIRECT HUMAN-ALIEN TELEPATHY

Frequently abductees report that they can tap into communication between two or
more aliens and between other humans and other aliens. Although it is difficult
for them to be precise about everything the aliens say, they generally
comprehend the context of the discussions, which often involve mundane exchanges
about the best way to go about performing a procedure upon the abductee, the
nature of the next procedure to perform, or aspects of the abductee's
physiology. Sometimes abductees can be quite specific, detailing what each alien
said. Therefore, aliens and humans in proximity to hear telepathic communication
can receive at least some of it. It is not known if the aliens can privatize
their communication by whispering or by in some way preventing others from
hearing their thoughts.

As yet, I and other researchers have found no evidence to suggest that abductees
can hear or monitor alien thought processes apart from those specifically
employed for communication. They cannot listen in on the private mental world of
thoughts that the beings might possess. Abductees are unaware of the ideas that
lurk behind the aliens' conversations directed at them. Thus, the abductees
probably have only limited abilities to listen to the aliens' thoughts. But
testimony exists to suggest that the reverse might be true� aliens can
understand what abductees are thinking privately.

For example, when one abductee was forced to hold a hybrid baby, she threatened
to throw it to the floor. She said, however, that the aliens knew she did not
mean it. Similarly, when an abductee is worried about another family member
abducted with him, the aliens will tell him that the relative will be all right,
even though the abductee did not directly address the alien about his fears.
When abductees are becoming frightened just before a procedure is administered,
the aliens will sense the anxiety and take measures to calm him. Abductees
appear not to have these abilities, and therefore the aliens might well have
stronger powers of telepathic communication than abductees possess.

CONSEQUENCES OF ALIEN COMMUNICATION

The evidence suggests at least two possible scenarios for the character of alien
society. The first is based on the idea of total telepathy: All aliens can
monitor all other aliens' thoughts. There are no barriers or limitations. The
second is based on limited telepathy: Aliens can monitor only selected
(filtered) thoughts. The second scenario suggests that the aliens have a choice
about whether or not they desire to have all thoughts open to monitoring. The
two scenarios reflect societies that might differ in the degree of personal
privacy allowed, but are nonetheless still extremely dissimilar to human
cultures.	

The totally telepathic society, while having logic and rationality in common
with human societies, would, by ' necessity, be profoundly different. Although
an uncontrollable full exposure of all thoughts would be considered horrifying
in most human societies, it could be the norm for a totally telepathic society,
and its consequences would be enormous. In effect, one would be forced to share
one's innermost private life with all others, and therefore individual freedom
of thought would be diminished or even nonexistent.

In this type of society, uniqueness and individuality could be significantly
curtailed. Special characteristics of physiology, clothes, affect, and
expression, which can be important for human expression of individuality, would
have little, if any, use in a society where individual identity .~. is severely
diminished or altogether unnecessary. In human .r prisons and other institutions
an inmate's identity is systematically stripped away so that the controlling
powers can rebuild the member's identity to control him psychologically and to
satisfy the needs of the organization. Prisoners are given numbers instead of
names, they wear uniforms instead of freely chosen clothes, they eat the same
food, they sleep in the same quarters, and most other areas of choice are
severely limited.

In an alien society this rebuilding would not be necessary. The inhabitants
would be born into a public, or even corporate (rather than private) culture.
The aliens' identity would be reflective primarily of that society's needs and
of the specific function that they must perform within it. Individuality would
not be deemed a functional operative within this system.

Abductee reports appear to bear out the diminution of individual alien identity.
The gray aliens seem to have no names or personality characteristics that
separate them r from the others. Outwardly, they look alike, dress alike, act
alike, and, most probably, think alike. They appear to have few activities that
would give them personal satisfaction� they do not joke with abductees, engage
in dialogue about themselves, ask personal questions for their own satisfaction,
and so forth. All personality and individual activity is directed toward the
abduction goal in a clinical and dispassionate way.	

Because personal uniqueness, individuality, and one's r sense of self would be
significantly altered, a hive mentality would ensue as function and performance
become more important than creativity and initiative. The group rather than the
individual becomes the most important social unit, as the alien is less a
private than a public being. In effect, the government or the hierarchy of
authority becomes paramount as the individual is subordinated to group needs. In
this atmosphere, harboring thoughts opposed to the group's prevailing norms and
viewpoints might be undesirable and perhaps even unthinkable. The beings would
have little or no ability to become rebels or to struggle significantly against
the societal grain. Conformity and rigid truth would be the norm regardless of
nuance or the little white lies of normal discourse that allow for human society
to proceed smoothly and humanely without injury to others' feelings. In such a
society, good or evil do not exist, only function and compliance.

The second scenario suggests that alien society might be based on a reduced, or
partial, telepathy. In this type of telepathic society it is probable that the
aliens would have r, more control in their ability to be telepathic. It is
difficult to imagine a functioning society in which every thought is open to
everyone else (as noted in the first scenario). For example, the noise of other
beings' thoughts impeding upon one's mind would be detrimental to accurate
communication and possibly imperil survival. Without the critical capacity to
filter out what is not wanted, one's ability to perform tasks accurately and
efficiently would be impeded. Therefore, it is probably necessary for the beings
to have a mechanism to turn aspects of telepathy on or off or at least increase
or decrease its intensity. It is highly likely that they employ a filtering
method for clarity of communication, and thus telepathy might very well be
limited to purposeful communication.

Nevertheless, the ability to tap into another being's thoughts on any level
would significantly diminish the concept of privacy. Although the aliens would
have a more private inner life, their sense of self and their ability to express
individuality would be severely compromised. The salient factor would still be
the inner, rather than outer, mode of expression and communication, and that
might well have almost as severe a set of consequences on group versus
individual norms as total telepathy would have, and it would still be consistent
with abductee descriptions of their interactions.

Whatever the degree of telepathy, the chances are that it actively contributes
to a society that is more communal than private, more conforming than
individual. It is unknown to what degree the aliens can employ and manipulate
telepathy, but regardless of the degree of this method of communication, it
suggests even more profound differences between alien and human society.

ALIEN AND HUMAN SOCIETAL DIFFERENCES	

In human society, much of the quality of life is dependent upon the hearing
mechanism. In a society based on telepathy, it must not be assumed that the
aliens have lost their ability to hear through eons of evolution; their
communicative abilities might well have evolved and developed as a normal part
of their genetics (if, indeed, they have genetics). Thus, the nonhearing society
would not have the benefit of the aesthetic world that comes with hearing. All
music (and perhaps dance), which enriches and fulfills our lives in innumerable
ways and which are some of the earliest and most important art forms for all
human societies, would be nonexistent in a telepathic society. It also implies
that the aliens might have no genetically determined aesthetic sense and/or
inner emotions satisfied by rhythmic and melodic notes produced by patterned
tones and beats.

The normal visual cues that both deaf and hearing humans rely upon for complete
communication are, in telepathic communication, not present. The aliens do not
use their hands to gesture expressively. The subtle and wide range of expression
that humans can use�cynicism, irony, sarcasm, drama�seem to be limited for the
aliens, and the range of communicative expression that comes from subtle facial
movements is almost nonexistent. Abductees do not report the use of body
language to communicate subtleties and nuance, although it is possible that
aliens may have incorporated this into their telepathic communication without
abductees being able to recognize it.

EMOTIONS, TELEPATHY, AND VISUAL ARTS

Abductees report that alien emotional range seems to be greatly circumscribed.
Possibly, telepathy restricts the range of emotions that can be transmitted
and/or received. Whatever the reasons, abductee narratives suggest that aliens'
emotional life falls within narrow parameters. That they do have emotions is
widely reported. They seem to display satisfaction, excitement, a limited form
of happiness, and even a limited form of fondness. Conversely, they can become
frustrated, annoyed, surprised, peeved, and even irritated. Abductees sometimes
describe aliens as having an extremely rudimentary sense of humor, especially
when dealing with human children.

Although aliens obviously possess emotions, their feelings are not variable and
expansive enough to encompass what humans rely upon for a normal quality of
life. In general, abductees do not report instances when they see aliens
laughing, crying, becoming enraged, expressing sincere love, unrestrained joy,
feeling jealousy, or having their feelings hurt. In general, they do not display
a deep sense of humor, and abductees rarely report that they are laughing.
Virtually every emotion seems to exist within a narrow range. It is conceivable
that these emotions are present but the aliens hold them rigidly in check.
However, with the extremely wide range of abduction accounts now available, this
seems unlikely because abductees almost never report seeing slip-ups in which
the aliens exhibit wider limits of their emotions. Abductees have reported that
they can telepathically sense this limited range of emotions even under the most
trying times when they have physically attacked aliens, refused to cooperate
with them, actively resisted them by running, flailing, and so on. Under these
trying circumstances, one would expect a wider assortment of alien emotional
reactions, but none is forthcoming.

If the aliens actually have this restricted emotional sense, it has profound
implications for the telepathic society in which they live. Aliens obviously
have the sense of sight, but without the emotional range to gratify the senses
visually, it is doubtful whether they have developed an art form based on
vision. Thus, paintings, drawings, and graphics
are conspicuous by their absence within the interior of UFOs. Strong color,
which causes emotional reactions in humans, is almost nonexistent on the walls
of UFOs. In fact, abductees report little aesthetic sense whatever in their
surroundings on board the UFOs. The rooms, equipment, hallways, and most apparel
are functional, clinical, and devoid of artistic expression. The small gray
aliens and most of the taller gray aliens dress alike (if they wear anything at
all), and fashion design does not appear to be important. The exception to this
is the insect-like beings who sometimes wear robes with high collars (some
abductees have reported robes with a simple hem design on them). Abductees also
report that these beings will sometimes also wear an amulet around their neck
with a design on it. Whether the design or amulet is for decorative purpose or
for another, perhaps political, social, or technological purpose is unknown.

The aliens' lack of a nose and mouth (and with evidence of obtaining nutrition
by absorption) suggests the absence of the entire range of sensory satisfaction
in which humans indulge through the preparation and ingestion of food. The great
cuisine�s of the world and all the lore, mythology, and day-to-day enjoyment of
eating would not be a factor in the aliens' society. Fragrances by themselves
would have little or no meaning. For example, freshly mowed grass, flowers, and
the entire range of earthly and animal scents would be lost on aliens.

With a restricted range of emotions�coupled with their lack of ears, noses, or
mouths�their society would be less colorful than ours. One would expect that the
range of emotion-based interactions between the aliens would be limited; events
that generate enjoyment, laughter, awe, thrills, and so forth, would be either
severely restricted or nonexistent. In this dull world, the texture of alien
society would be flatter and emptier than that of human society and hence far
less stimulating.

The paucity of aesthetic sense means that the world of human art and design with
all its branches is unknown to the aliens and perhaps not understood. It also
means that they probably do not understand the role that aesthetics plays in
human life. This suggests that a complete understanding of human psychology may
be beyond their grasp. They might remain forever outsiders, partially grasping
human motivation, but unable to fully comprehend it. (But they can still use
human emotion for their own purposes as they have done so effectively in their
neurologically based staring and visualization procedures.)

Thus, the world of art and aesthetics that occupy the lives of so many humans is
nonexistent in an alien society. It is entirely possible that there are no art
forms like painting, drawing, photography, literature, drama, and performance
art. The passionate and complex world of theater, entertainment, sports, or any
other area depending on the highs and low of human emotions does not exist in
their world. If this were true, they would live in a dull, joyless society
focused on work, obedience, subservience to the
group, and obedience to an authoritarian hierarchy.

TELEPATHY AND ALIEN EMOTIONAL LIFE

In a society based on telepathy and restricted emotional range, it might be
difficult to experience what we would call ~ love. Without a sense of self-love
that comes from a sense r of individuality, the aliens might have a diminished
capacity to have these feelings. They certainly have the ability to elicit
feelings of love and affection in abductees through neural stimulation, and
abductees often make the mistake of assuming that those feelings are reciprocal.
Although a taller alien being might show a sense of friendship or even intimate
that he likes someone, there is little evidence that he has any capacity to love
in the human sense.

The aliens' inability to love also suggests that theirr sense of morality and
conscience might be different. This complements their apparent lack of
individual personality, attributes, especially in the smaller beings, and the
steady pace of cooperation that abductees report. It also allows for their
apparent lack of moral qualms when they abduct people. For them, the ends
justify the means, and the concept of conscience does not seem to play an
important role in their abduction program.

Rationality and logic play a far more important role in r their society than
emotion, empathy, and sympathy. Thus, the human connection that one expects in
all human societ-, ies would be absent in alien society. When this connection is
lost and the dominant group identifies the other as the enemy or the lesser
species, it becomes easier for that group to subjugate or even eliminate the
subordinate group. The history of genocide in the world amply displays the
consequences of the objectification and demonization of the' other. The aliens'
activity in relation to the abduction and r exploitation of humans could well be
an indication of this mode of thinking.

TELEPATHY AND HYBRIDS

One aspect of alien society is especially important and deserves mention.
Significantly, hybrids appear to bridge the gap between alien and human both in
appearance and in communication. While the ones that look more alien (early- r
stage) communicate telepathically, the ones that look more human (late-stage)
can communicate both telepathically, and orally. When the late-stage hybrids
speak through their mouths, they are more communicative and more expressive than
the aliens. One can speculate that the more human they appear, the more they
display oral communicative abilities.

The hybrids live in the alien-dominated society, and their lives are ruled by
that dominant culture. When abductees describe disagreements and clashes between
aliens and r hybrids, the differences between a subordinate society with more
complete humanlike sensory abilities�hearing, tasting, smelling, and so on�and
thus a fuller emotional range, and the more restricted nonhearing alien society
are brought into sharp relief. For example, on one occasion a hybrid was engaged
in an argument with an alien over using an abductee as a special project. The
hybrid was anxious, angry, animated, and stubborn. The alien was cool, logical,
unruffled, and in control.

If late-stage hybrid emotions run the gamut from love to hate, they can present
special difficulties for the aliens. In one abduction event, an alien told the
abductee they were having difficulty controlling the hybrids because their
emotional needs constituted a serious problem that the aliens had not fully
understood before they embarked upon their reproductive program. If this is
true, the role of hybrid emotions looms as a significant problem for the aliens.
What the final results will be of the mixing of these two types of beings is
unclear.

CONCLUSION

The aliens (insect and gray) most likely represent a society based on different
sensate determinants than those of human societies. Their society appears to be
group- and work- oriented. They live in a colorless society, both literally and
figuratively. It has fewer diversions and entertainments, and less aesthetic
content than human society. On board a UFO, it is apparent that the aliens lead
a life of service and work in which individuality is subordinated to the group.

Their form of communication plays a significant role in the ordering of their
lives and culture. Privacy and individual expression are either nonexistent or
severely truncated. Telepathy both isolates and joins the aliens together in
ways that are very different than in human societies. The quality of the aliens
lives and the shape of their society as a whole is significantly formed by the
role that the interplay between telepathy and a restricted neurology of the
senses plays. It is a society in which humans would feel quite alien.  -- David
M. Jacobs, Ph.D., is associate professor of history at Temple University. He is
editor of UFOs and Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge (University
Press of Kansas, 2000) and author of The UFO Controversy in America (1975),
Secret Life: Firsthand Accounts of UFO Abductions (1992), and The Threat (1998).