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From: Kevin Randle KRandle993@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 16:00:34 EST
Fwd Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 16:58:24 -0500
Subject: Re: Abduction Hypotheses


>From: John W. Ratcliff <jratcliff@worldnet.att.net>
>To: UFO UpDates - Toronto <updates@globalserve.net>
>Subject: Abduction Hypotheses
>Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 22:18:19 -0600

>Hmmmm... Kevin, I guess it's just a tiny quibble about semantics,
>but I wonder about your choice of the word 'explanations', as
>opposed to 'hypotheses..'

Of course. Hypotheses is a much better word.

>I've read some of your books and think you've made some nice
>presentations on nuts & bolts UFOs. If I recall correctly, I
>don't believe you have ever claimed to have been abducted by
>aliens. Neither have I. However, I do know a bunch of people
>who have had anomalous experiences which fall into this
>category.

Have not claimed to be abducted, have not claimed to have seen
super-secret reports by various military organizations, have not
claimed to have witnessed the craft or bodies. Have interviewed
a bunch of people who believe they have been abducted. Have
talked to, interviewed, and discussed the topic with those who
investigate abductions.

>The only conclusion I have been able to draw is that other
>people have different experiences than I have. I wouldn't claim
>to speak with any authority about the experiences of a rape
>victim, or the holocaust, and I'm uncomfortable doing the same
>for my alien abductee friends.

>The 'explanations' I have heard put forth in the past almost all
>presume a form of mental illness, which makes me a bit
>uncomfortable. More to the point, most 'explanations' offered
>haven't been endorsed by the victims themselves.

>You can ignore the abduction phenomenon, that is if it ain't
>happening to you. The evidence for the phenomenon is at the same
>level as the proffered by my Christian friends who claim their
>faith is valid because Christ has touched them in their lives. I
>note that Christ is a 2,000 year old dead Jew, and has never
>touched _my_ life, and can easily dismiss their proposal. The
>same thing can be said about the abduction phenomenon. Ignore
>it, it has nothing to do with Roswell, nuts & bolts UFOs, and
>any physical evidence which might be related to it. Without
>having been personally abducted by an alien, I don't know how
>much you or I can really say about the subject.

If we accept the idea that we must have had the experience to
comment on it intelligently, aren't we suddenly rejecting
science to a certain extent? It isn't necessary to have the
experience to understand it. Research is based on the idea of
the outside observer. If we have interviewed hundreds of
abductees, then can't we comment intelligently on the
information recovered?

And, if we can't, then isn't the work of Hopkins, Mack, Jacobs,
et.al (and I've used those three for no other reason than they
have been among the most vocal, I could have easily included,
Carpenter, Smith, Sprinkle, for example) going to waste? I don't
think any of them claim to have been abducted either (though
Sprinkle has, as has Richard Boylan).

I believe that we can comment, intelligently on the things we
haven't experienced. While I did not live through the Civil War,
I can understand the hardships of the soldiers and the
motivations of them by studying history, reading their journals
and diaries, and reading the newspapers from the time. That is
all part of research.

>Like I've said in previous messages, whenever I get abducted by
>aliens, contacted by Jesus, or have a Roswell UFO crash in my
>front yard, I'll be sure to give you a more refined hypothesis
>based on my new set of experiential data.

 If the UFO crashes in your front yard, or even the back, please
let me know.

KRandle