Alien Abductions in the Gingerbread House 

by Karla Turner, Ph.D. 

World renowned UFO researcher Jacques Vallee has repeatedly referred to the
similarities between UFO and abduction reports and the stories of folklore
and fairy tales. I disagree with Dr. Vallee on many, many points of ufology,
but here I will grant that there is one fairy tale which does have something
important to tell us about the alien abduction phenomenon. It is not,
however, what Dr. Vallee might think.

The story of Hansel and Gretel presents a lesson that every abductee should
heed. These innocent children, wandering lost and frightened in the forest,
came upon a gingerbread house that seemed to offer them shelter and
sustenance. The owner of the house, a wizened old woman, was frightening to
them at first, but their hunger pushed the children to accept her offer to
come inside and be fed.

They entered the gingerbread house and promptly became the old woman's
captives. Kept in cages, the two children were abundantly fed. It was not
for their benefit, though. In fact, they were being fattened up for the
oven! The deceptive nature of the gingerbread house and of the old woman's
offer of food worked quite well.

It is the deceptive quality of this story that holds a warning for humans
who are abducted by aliens. Like Hansel and Gretel, we are initially
terrified by our encounter with aliens, but in too many cases, our fear is
overcome by the words of our abductors and by the thoughts and experiences
they present to us.

I, too, am an abductee, and my quest to discover the nature of my own
experiences led me into abduction research over the past four years. Working
with many other abduction cases, I have learned just how basic the deception
of alien actions can be.

My family and I also delved into our own experiences, both past and present.
Barbara Bartholic, a dedicated UFO investigator from Tulsa, Oklahoma, worked
closely with us and helped us fill in the gaps in our recollections of
strange encounters through hypnotic regression. Ms. Bartholic, by the way,
began her own research as an assistant to Jacques Vallee in cattle
mutilation investigations, so her expertise in ufology is wide-ranging. I
have recently written a book, Into the Fringe, about the startling and often
disturbing results of our personal investigations, and it [was] published by
the Berkley Publishing Group in November 1992.

My interest soon expanded past the merely personal, and for the past several
years I have worked as Ms. Bartholic's research associate, exploring
literally hundreds of sighting and encounter cases with her. And what I've
learned through this work has raised far more questions than answers. In
fact, it has taught me to be wary of those researchers who do claim to have
answers. I have yet to hear of a single theory or explanation that accounts
for all of the data.

Some researchers have pointed out patterns of events in the abduction
experience, such as the physical examination, the taking of sperm and ova,
and the later presentation of a hybrid baby to the abductee. Other patterns
include the training of the abductee in some way and the delivery of a
warning of some upcoming global disaster. Yes, these events are frequently
reported, as one researcher has said in boring repetitious accounts, and it
is tempting to think that the explanation for alien abductions may lie in
these patterns.

So the researchers announce that the problem is solved. The aliens are doing
cross breeding experiments, ufologists tell us. Never mind the overwhelming
evidence against the viable commingling of different species. Or, we are
told, the aliens are here to save us from destroying ourselves and our
planet through violence, drug use, epidemic disease, pollution, and resource
depletion. Never mind that these problems have grown worse, not better,
since the ETs began visiting us.

Most infuriating of all, we are assured that there are no actual aliens,
that our experiences spring from our own subconscious turmoil or from our
need for fantasy fulfillment. Never mind that many abductees are young
children, too young to be suffering from such psychological disturbances.
Well, then, the resourceful researcher counters, the imagined aliens must
spring from some collective human super-psyche that is mirroring our
failures and dangers back to us. This particular theory adores the
archetypal gray ET, because it resembles some sickly fetal form of humanity
and must therefore be an objectified warning of what our species is in
danger of becoming if we don't mend our ways. Never mind that many, many
abductees have no dealing with grays, but instead are victimized by robust
reptoids and insectoid-type aliens. Not to mention the totally human-looking
blond beauties and black-headed, black-robed clan with the widow's peak
hairline.

No, too many researchers seem to find a theory and cling to it in spite of
data that contradict it. And it is the ideas of these researchers that
dominate ufology. But if the public had access to the raw data, to the
first-hand reports of abductees, especially those unfamiliar with
UFO-oriented books, magazines, and lecturers, they would find a much less
neatly organized set of patterns. These "virgin" cases - people
uncontaminated by ufological literature - supply a staggering picture of
human-alien contact events.

What follows here is an overview of these "virgin" reports, a list of
recurrent experiences that, taken together, gives us a close-up view of what
the aliens are doing here on earth. This data doesn't tell us for certain
just what sort of creatures the aliens are, or what their purpose here may
be. But it does tell us what humans are experiencing and what they are
observing in the actions and capabilities of the aliens. Every detail in the
following list has been reported by more than one abductee, and in many
cases the details have turned up quite frequently.

ABDUCTION "CHECKLIST".

If these reports can be believed - and there is no reason to doubt the
honesty of the reporters - the abduction phenomenon includes the following
details.

Aliens can alter our perception of our surroundings. 
Aliens can control what we think we see. They can appear to us in any number
of guises, and shapes. 
Aliens can take us--our consciousness--out of our physical bodies, disable
our control of our bodies, install one of their own entities, and use our
bodies as vehicles for their own activities before returning our
consciousness to our bodies. 
Aliens can be present with us in an invisible state and can make themselves
only partially visible. 
Abductees receive marks on their bodies other than the well-known scoops and
straight-line scars. These other marks include single punctures, multiple
punctures, large bruises, three and four-fingered claw marks, and triangles
of every possible sort. 
Female abductees often suffer serious gynecological problems after their
alien encounters, and sometimes these problems lead to cysts, tumors, cancer
of the breasts and uterus, and to hysterectomies. 
Aliens take body fluids from our necks, spines, blood veins, joints such as
knees and wrists, and other places. They also inject unknown fluids into
various parts of our bodies. 
A surprising number of abductees suffer from serious illnesses they didn't
have before their encounters. These have led to surgery, debilitation, and
even death from causes the doctors can't identify. 
Some abductees experience a degeneration of their mental, social, and
spiritual well-being. Excessive behavior frequently erupts, such as drug
abuse, alcoholism, overeating, and promiscuity. Strange obsessions develop
and cause the disruption of normal life and the destruction of personal
relationships. 
Aliens show a great interest in adult sexuality, child sexuality, and in
inflicting physical pain on abductees. 
Abductees recall being instructed and trained by aliens. This training may
be in the form of verbal or telepathic lessons, slide shows, or actual
hands-on instruction in the operation of alien technology. 
Abductees report being taken to facilities in which they encounter not only
aliens but also normal-looking humans, sometimes in military uniforms,
working with the alien captors. 
Abductees often encounter more than one sort of alien during an experience,
not just the grays. Every possible combination of gray, reptoid, insectoid,
blond, and widow's peak have been seen during single abductions, aboard the
same craft or in the same facility. 
Abductee "virgin" cases - report being taken to underground facilities where
they see grotesque hybrid creatures, nurseries of hybrid humanoid fetuses,
and vats of colored liquid filled with parts of human bodies. 
Abductees report seeing other humans in these facilities being drained of
blood, being mutilated, flayed, and dismembered, and being stacked,
lifeless, like cords of wood. Some abductees have been threatened that they,
too, will end up in this condition if they don't cooperate with their alien
captors. 
Aliens come into homes and temporarily remove young children, leaving their
distraught parents paralyzed and helpless. In cases where a parent has been
able to protest, the aliens insist that "The children belong to us." 
Aliens have forced their human abductees to have sexual intercourse with
aliens and even with other abductees while groups of aliens observe these
performances. In such encounters, the aliens have sometimes disguised
themselves in order to gain the cooperation of the abductee, appearing in
such forms as Jesus, the Pope, certain celebrities, and even the dead
spouses of the abductees. 
Child abductees sometimes show a new and obsessive interest in their own
genitalia after alien encounters, saying that their abductors who come at
night have been touching these parts of their bodies. 
Aliens perform extremely painful experiments or procedures on abductees,
saying that these acts are necessary, but giving no explanation why.
Abductees' eyes are painfully removed from the sockets, allowing the aliens
to scrape the area or implant devices into the area before the eyeballs are
replaced, for instance. Some abductees are subjected to painful
constrictions, often around the head, chest and extremities. Painful
genitalia and anal probes are performed, on children as well as adults. 
Aliens make predictions of an imminent period of global chaos and
destruction. They say that a certain number of humans- -and the number
varies dramatically from case to case--will be "rescued" from the planet in
order to continue the species, either on another planet or back on earth
after the destruction is over. Many abductees report that they don't believe
their alien captors and foresee instead a much more sinister use of the
"rescued" humans. 
In every instance from this list, there are multiple reports from unrelated
cases, confirming that such bizarre details are not the product of a single
deranged mind. These details are convincing evidence that, contrary to the
claims of many UFO researchers, the abduction experience isn't limited to a
uniform pattern of events. This phenomenon simply can't be explained in
terms of cross-breeding experiments or scientific research into the human
physiology. 
Spritually Enlightened?

It becomes clear from these details that the beings who are doing such
things can't be seen as spiritually enlightened, with the best interest of
the human race in mind. Something else is going on, something far more
painful and frightening, in many, many abduction encounters.

There is a theory current in ufological research that says abductees who
perceive their experiences in a negative way only do so because they
themselves aren't spiritually or psychically advanced. Persons with higher
cosmic development have positive alien encounters, so the theory goes, and
those who have painful or frightening experiences are merely spiritual
Neanderthals. This is a pet theory of researchers who claim that aliens,
whether objectively real or not, serve as "mirrors" of our spiritual nature,
on an individual or a species-wide basis. Strieber has voiced this theory,
for instance, in Majestic, where he says, "In the eyes of the others [the
aliens], we who met them saw ourselves. And there were demons there."

Having worked with so many decent, honest, positively oriented abductees,
however, I believe this theory is wrong. It is worse than wrong - it is
despicable, as despicable as blaming a rape victim for the violence
committed against her. This attitude leaves many abductees feeling doubly
violated, first by the aliens who took them and then by the UFO researchers
to whom they turn for explanations and help.

Perhaps it is easy to understand why such a theory would be so popular.
Humans have a deep need to believe in the power of good. We need for the
aliens to be a good force, since we feel so helpless in their presence. And
we need for some superior force to offer us a hope of salvation, both
personally and globally, when we consider the sorry state of the world.

I think the aliens know this about us--they know that we want and hope for
them to be benevolent creatures - and they use our desire for goodness to
manipulate us. What better way to gain our cooperation than to tell us that
the things they are doing are for our own good? Looking at the actions, the
results of alien interference such as the long list above, there is a great
discrepancy between what we desire from them and what they are doing to us.

Not all abduction reports are filled with frightening or painful events, of
course. Many people say that their alien encounters felt benevolent, that
their abductors treated them kindly or at least with a scientific
detachment. Some abductees recall being told that they were "special," that
they were "chosen," and that they have an important task to perform for the
benefit of humanity.

Given such a positive message, the abductees may ignore the fear and the
pain of their encounters and insist to themselves and to others that a
higher motive underlies the abduction experience. And, in some cases, all
that an abductee remembers is a benevolent encounter, and so has no reason
to assume any negative action has occurred.

Intensive research now shows that at the core of the human-alien interaction
there is a clear pattern of deception. We know, for instance, that "screen
memories" are often used to mask an alien abduction. Such accounts abound,
in which a person sees a familiar, yet out-of-place animal, like a deer or
owl, a monkey or a rabbit, and then experiences a period of missing time.
The person often awakens later to find a new, unexplained scar on his body.

Uneasiness about the encounter will persist, however, and far different
memories may start to surface in dreams or flashbacks, and then the person
seeks help to explain the uneasiness. Quite often, hypnotic regression is
used to uncover the events behind the "screen memory," and that is when a
typical alien abduction surfaces.

The most recent research in which I've been involved has turned up yet a
second sort of screening process. If it turns out to be accurate, then
thousands of abduction cases are in urgent need of re-examination.

The typical scenario of undergoing the regressive hypnosis usually results
in penetration of the initial blocked memories.

The abductee then recalls an encounter, hitherto un-remembered, such as
undergoing a physical examination of some sort, perhaps having body tissues
removed or having a gynecological exam. Other typical reports include the
taking of sperm and ova, of being told of an important task to be carried
out, or of receiving a warning of upcoming disaster.

In most cases, both the abductee and the investigator come away from the
hypnosis session feeling that they have discovered the truth about the
experience. Rationalization leads them to believe that the aliens' purposes
must be scientifically objective or benevolent. The less threatening and
more benevolent the hypnotically recalled event seems, the more satisfied
are the investigator and the abductee. "That wasn't so bad, now, was it?
These beings are our friends, or at least they are not our enemies." And
everyone goes away with a sense of relief. I have yet to hear of a
researcher who actually questions the uncovered scenario.

However, from several recent cases, it is apparent that these recovered
memories may well also be yet another screen, masking events that are much
more reprehensible. I will explain one such case, to make the point clear.

A Strange Report

A man in his late 40s came to us to explore several alien-related events in
his life, and in the interview he told of a strange, although not apparently
alien-oriented episode that had haunted him since childhood. When he was ten
years old, his grandmother came to visit in his home, and since the house
was small, she shared his bed on the first night of her visit.

During the night, the boy was awakened by a loud male voice. He couldn't
understand what the voice was saying, but it sounded angry and was
addressing the grandmother lying beside him.

The next morning, he asked his grandmother, "What was that voice in the
bedroom last night?"

His grandmother, with tears in her eyes, pulled him tightly to her and said,
"That was the devil." She said nothing more about the episode, but she did
insist that her son take her back to her own home immediately. It was an
unreasonable request, and her son tried to talk her out of it. But the
grandmother was adamant, and finally her son agreed to take her home the
following day.

The entire family made the trip of over a hundred miles back to the
grandmother's farm, and within an hour of their arrival, the grandmother
suffered a massive stroke and died. Ever since that event, the man had felt
a heavy burden of guilt associated with his grandmother's death. Yet there
was no conscious reason for him to have felt that way. The entire event was
poignant and mystifying, but in all the alien encounters he had subsequently
undergone, he had felt that the aliens were his friends and were helping him
by expanding his psychic abilities.

A regression session was arranged, and in the course of the hypnosis, he was
asked to look at that childhood experience. What he recalled was an
abduction in which he and his grandmother were taken to a spacecraft in the
company of reptilian aliens. He remembered the aliens telling his
grandmother that they were interested in learning about her knowledge of
medicinal herbs, and they offered to exchange medical information of their
own.

They gave the boy and the grandmother a liquid to drink, explaining that it
was beneficial and would make the grandmother feel young and attractive
again. So both of them drank the liquid, and the man remembered seeing his
grandmother indeed looking much younger. That was the extent of his
recollection.

Both he and Ms. Bartholic, who was conducting the regression, were puzzled
by this, because there was nothing in the episode to account for the guilt
he had felt about the grandmother's death. So Ms. Bartholic deepened the
man's trance level and asked him to look at it again, with much clearer
vision. And what he then recalled was much more disturbing.

The abduction, at first, followed his initial recollection. But when the
liquid was drunk, he now remembered a very strong feeling of change in his
body. And he saw that the grandmother didn't actually look younger. Instead,
she was placed on a table and approached by one of the reptilian aliens who
wanted to have intercourse with her. The liquid had acted as an aphrodisiac,
yet the grandmother resisted and said that since her husband's death she
would not have sex with anyone. The reptilian laughed and disappeared from
the room momentarily. When he returned, he was accompanied by a man who
looked exactly like the dead husband.

At this point, the grandmother agreed to have sex, but as the act was in
progress, she suddenly realized that the image of her dead husband was a
cruel illusion. It was actually the reptilian on top of her, and she cried
out in great resistance for him to leave her alone. Once he was finished
with her, he lifted up the little boy and placed him on top of the
grandmother, forcing another sex act upon the both of them.

Then the grandmother was removed from the table and the little boy was
victimized himself by the reptilian, forced to have anal and oral sex. The
grandmother protested violently, pushing the reptilian away from her
grandson and interposing her body between them. "By Jesus," she shouted,
"you will not touch this boy!"

That must have been the wrong thing to say, because the reptilian became
very angry and threatened her. "You will die for that!" he told her, and the
two people were returned to the bedroom from which they'd been taken. The
next morning, the grandmother told the little boy that the devil had been
there the night before, and that was when she insisted upon being taken
home. And, as it turned out, she did die immediately thereafter.

This, then, was the cause of the man's lifelong sense of guilt about her
death. He had been forced to have sex with her, and her death had followed
shortly after. But none of this story would have emerged if Ms. Bartholic
had done as most investigators do and stopped the regression after
uncovering the story about the exchange of medicinal knowledge.

There are other cases in our files that show a similar deception at work in
the initial hypnotic recall. We cannot trust that first memory, it is clear,
for like so much else in the abduction experience, there may well be further
maskings of events.

Before we allow ourselves to believe in the benevolence of the alien
interaction, we should ask, do enlightened beings need to use the cover of
night to perform good deeds? Do they need to paralyze us and render us
helpless to resist? Do "angels" need to steal our fetuses? Do they need to
manipulate our children's genitals and probe our rectums? Are fear, pain and
deception consistent with high spiritual motives?

Reprinted with permission by Elton Turner and Kelt Works, Inc. This article
was first published in UFO Universe, Vol. 3 No. 1, Spring 1993. Copyright
1993 1700 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.


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Karla Kandace Turner, Ph.D. was a highly respected abduction researcher,
author, lecturer, and teacher. She received her Bachelor's degree from the
University of California in Sacramento, a Master's degree from the
University of Nottingham, Nottingham England, and her Ph.D. from the
University of North Texas in Denton. She authored three books about the
abduction phenomenon: Into The Fringe, Taken, and Masquerade of Angels. 

In 1995, Karla contracted a very dangerous form of breast cancer immediately
following an abduction experience. She lost her battle with cancer on
January 9, 1996 at the age of 48. Karla has been greatly missed by those her
knew her and by the many people she helped through her books and research.
If you are interested in learning more about her and her views about the
abduction phenomenon, we highly recommend that you read her articles on this
Web site and her books, which can be purchased through the two on-line book
stores listed on our Resources page.