Academic analysis of abduction/UFO experiences

[Ninshub]

Some talks on the topic from the Society of Scientific Exploration conferences:

Why are there so few in France?
Ron Westrum Department of Sociology Eastern Michigan University - 2015




Alien Abduction Syndrome: A Critical Analysis S. Peter Resta, 2015

So-called alien abduction syndrome (AAS) has been studied by a variety of academic scholars, including from Harvard University (e.g., Susan Clancy, Ph.D., and the late John Mack, M.D.). Similarly, it has been discussed in several scholarly publications (including in a book published by the APA), and the focus of empirical research which has been presented in such journals as the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. AAS has been linked with a host of possible explanatory factors, including sleep paralysis, fantasy prone personality, dissociative reactions, and false memory syndrome (to name a few). The precise mechanism(s) which satisfactorily and conclusively explain AAS are elusive, however, and often equivocal or speculative. This presentation will examine some of the explanations which have been proffered for AAS, with particular attention paid to the role that hysteria may be playing with the phenomenon. The possibility of veridicality will also be incorporated in the presentation.So-called alien abduction syndrome (AAS) has been studied by a variety of academic scholars, including from Harvard University (e.g., Susan Clancy, Ph.D., and the late John Mack, M.D.). Similarly, it has been discussed in several scholarly publications (including in a book published by the APA), and the focus of empirical research which has been presented in such journals as the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. AAS has been linked with a host of possible explanatory factors, including sleep paralysis, fantasy prone personality, dissociative reactions, and false memory syndrome (to name a few). The precise mechanism(s) which satisfactorily and conclusively explain AAS are elusive, however, and often equivocal or speculative. This presentation will examine some of the explanations which have been proffered for AAS, with particular attention paid to the role that hysteria may be playing with the phenomenon. The possibility of veridicality will also be incorporated in the presentation.

From 2008:
The Common Elements of Parapsychology and UFO Experiences: Lessons for Physics
Dr. Claude Swanson

There are many common phenomena that are observed in UFO research and parapsychology. These include the out-of-body experience, time travel (both in consciousness and physical), levitation, telepathic communication, psychokinesis, and experiences in higher dimensions with lessons about the soul and reincarnation. Many of these phenomena cannot be explained by current physics, and call for a reconsideration of some of its foundational assumptions. “Best evidence” will be reviewed for many of these phenomena, summarizing the new principles which appear to occur. The beginnings of a theoretical model will be discussed which may be able to address these anomalies, and an application of the model to some typical cases will be discussed.

Dr. Swanson was educated as a physicist at MIT (’69) and received his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University (1976). He has worked as a consultant in applied physics for more than two decades, as well as pursuing research into the physics of anomalous phenomena. His primary interest is in identifying areas of anomaly and developing an expanded physics model which can account for such phenomena. He has written a book, “The Synchronized Universe-New Science of the Paranormal,” summarizing some of his findings.