Customer Reviews

The Abduction Enigma: An Investigation of the Alien Abduction Phenomenon

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Since Randle is one of the leading proponents of the view that the Roswell incident may have indeed been the crash of an alien craft, he can hardly be accused of being a debunker. That being said, this book does present a very harsh and dismissive -- BUT EXTREMELY VALUABLE -- perspective on the "alien abduction" phenomenon. The core phenomenon (as represented by cases such as Villa-Boas, the Hills, Travis Walton and the Allagash Four) has become buried beneath so many layers of psychobabble and silliness that I had the feeling the authors were intentionally being overly harsh and dismissive in an effort to restore some semblance of balance. There is quite a bit of overlap and repetition from chapter to chapter; I feel certain that each of the chapters was written by one of the three authors and that the final product perhaps wasn't edited as carefully as it might have been. Nevertheless, the book is extremely valuable as a warning against the dangers of hypnotically recovered "memories" and researcher contamination. The authors effectively analogize the abductee phenomenon to the bogus Satanic Ritual Abuse phenomenon, which likewise relies almost entirely on hypnotically recovered "memories." The chapter on abductee "support groups" should be required reading for everyone involved in any type of "experiencer" group. The authors absolutely hit the nail on the head with their analysis of the dynamics and pitfalls of these dangerous groups, where the "support" is of a perverted type that only exacerbates the attendees' problems and fosters an unhealthy dependency on the group. Whatever flaws this book may have, it is highly readable, serves as an important counterbalance to the "abductee" fluff that dominates the market, and effectively makes its key points. (I'm not a debunker either. I've studied UFOs for nearly 40 years and had a close-up disc sighting myself -- but I'd bet everything I own that these authors' perspective on the abduction phenomenon is far more accurate than that of Budd Hopkins, David Jacobs, Whitley Streiber, et al.)

The reviewers who criticized the quality of the writing and editing in "The Abduction Enigma" were right on the mark. The book is filled with typos and grammatical errors and the authors have an annoying habit of repeating themselves. This book needed a good editor and these flaws are distracting.

The writing is slanted and the authors' biased point of view is increasingly apparent as you read deeper into the book. They are quick to jump to conclusions and I often found their logic faulty. They do a good job of supporting some of their opinions and theories but a terrible job of supportng others, particularly their conclusions about the influence of pop culture on abductees.

However, the book has it's convincing, and disturbing, moments. The chapter on Satanic Ritual Abuse, and it's relationship to the Abduction phenomenon, is an eye-opener. The criticisms of abduction researchers are also interesting.

However, I think the most telling aspect of this book is what was left out. The authors launch an all-out attack on the reality of alien abduction but they fail to address some of the most famous and important cases in the field. Travis Walton, Whitley Strieber and the Allagash Four are mentioned but not addressed in-depth. I don't think the Debbie Jordan ("Intruders") case is mentioned at all, even though it is one of the most significant, and most publicized, abduction cases to date. The authors ignore this case and use the Budd Hopkins chapter to focus on the Linda Cortile case and on a few cases from his first book, "Missing Time". The Andreasson case is not touched on either and although Ray Fowler is mentioned, he is not covered in the "Researchers" section.

The Travis Walton and Allagash cases involved multiple witnesses. The Debbie Jordan case involved multiple abductees and a landing trace. The Whitley Strieber case is among the field's strangest and most complex. If the authors wanted to be thoroughly convincing, they should have tackled some the most difficult, high profile cases to prove the strength of their own theories. They chose easier targets.

It's a good book, and despite it's flaws, I think it's a must-read for anyone interested in alien abduction. I have no doubt that the theories presented in "The Abduction Enigma" explain many abductee cases, but the authors have left the door open for other explanations and that was clearly not their goal.

The authors have presented a clear cut case that says that alien abduction claims are the result of a combination of problems. They examine a wide range of factors including the influences of pop culture, folklore, dreams, and the current mental health climate. They find and present good evidence that tales of alien abduction are an outgrowth of problems inside UFO studies. Those looking for abductions find it where none seem to exist.

This book provides the evidence in the form of the words of the abduction researchers themselves, showing how they find the answers and then ignore them. It is this aspect of the book that I found most convincing.

This book is a must for those who are interested in alien abductions whether they believe in it or not. It has to change the opinion of those who come to it with an open mind.

I have begun to hesitate in looking at any books about alien abduction because they are all the same. Someone is taken on the ship, examined, returned, and has no memory of it until the researcher finds the truth. No evidence of this truth, just the statements of the victim.

Now there is a book that looks at all that and asks some hard questions. How can alien beings that are so smart in some areas of science be so stupid in others. They try to hide their activities by screening the memories and yet I know of no case where the researcher wasn't able to penetrate that screen. We can find out all we want even thought the aliens are supposed to be hiding all of this from us.

These guys make sense of all the nonsense out there. If you read this book with an open mind, think about the evidence, you'll learn that alien abduction is really just a figment of the imagination.

Of all of the books on Alien Abduction that I have read, this is the first to explain abductions intelligently, rationally, and logically. These authors have researched the phenomenon in depth and found the work of the big names in the field to be lacking. If you are a true believer you might have a problem with their conclusions, however I find that the information supplied by the authors support their conclusions. It was a great read and I can't understand how another review that I read on amazon.com not only missed the point of the book but also the point of the Kirkus review. I strongly reccomed this hook.

This book does a decent job of debunking claims of alien abduction, setting the problem squarely in the psyches of the abductees and their frequently misguided therapists. However, the book is so badly copyedited that at times it is difficult to puzzle out the meaning of a sentence. Sometimes, through a missing word, a sentence even has the opposite meaning to that intended! Really, when will publishers stop relying on spellcheck programs and get back to actually reading the texts they publish? While it offers a needed corrective to the abduction melee, I would more highly recommend Patrick Harpur's "Demonic Reality," which treats the whole gamut of "other worldly" experiences and comes to rather different conclusions. It's also beautifully written and edited. So, on the whole, "The Abduction Enigma" is fine, but not brilliant.

Several months ago, I managed to obtain Kevin Randle's "The Abduction Enigma" at a local used bookstore and read it thoroughly. My thoughts on it are quite upsetting yet few data are interesting.

There are couple of things to point out here. I was able to finish reading Karla Turner's works, such as Masquerade of Angels, Into the Fringe, and Taken: Inside the Alien-Human Abduction Agenda. Knowing that Turner was one of the individuals was taken apart by Randle et al in this "The Abduction Enigma," I went to search where she was mentioned and I have noticed how she was 'taken apart.' Randle has used Karla's dreams from her book "Into the Fringe" to support his theory that her alien abduction was only a 'dream.'

From reading Karla's "Into the Fringe," I do not think that she wanted to believe in alien abductions. However, Randle seems to have implied that she (as well many other alien abductees) does believe in alien abductions when the 'dreams' started. Randle was stressing that alien abductions are only dreams and nothing more. I am not certain if Randle is aware of a possible theory called 'soul abductions' which might be relating to 'dream' experiences. Physical abductions are really rare, but soul abductions are known to be common. This "soul abduction" goes into detail in Laura Knight-Jadczyk's The High Strangeness of Dimensions, Densities and the Process of Alien Abduction.

Secondly, Randle pointed out that half of all alien abductees are homosexuals. It is an interesting theory, but his research did not reveal more details. I was looking at a specific part in the book where Randle has discussed homosexuality and there was no list of questions was being used for interviews that Randle, et al has conducted. But, I think he should have included a sort of questionnaire in order for us as readers to understand what was being asked.

Thirdly, a certain part from this book (p. 99-101) made me a bit uneasy where he may be implying that the 'evidence' would lead to common human problems, not alien problems. If the evidence pointed out that it is a human problem, would the individuals be ignored as alien abductees? And, he also said that 90% of the abductees seemed to have 'sexual dysfunction.' Would he have ignored those 90% as evidence of alien abductions if the individuals were 'discovered' to have some sort of 'sexual dysfunction'? What I mean to say is that if the abductees were discovered to be homosexuals or having some kind of 'sexual dysfunctions,' would he ignored them as real alien abductions and labeled them under "psychological problems?"

And, while reading Karla's "Into the Fringe" and I came across a section in her book where Budd Hopkins and Turner discussed alien interests in human sexuality. I am somewhat surprised that Randle did not include it or discussed about it in his 'study' of homosexual issue in his book.

What made me uneasy most of all about "The Abduction Enigma" is the fact that Randle et al have 'tear apart' the very people who have asked the same questions as they did, except theirs were considered to be 'new' questions. In my opinion, this book is considered to be biased.

There is voluminous evidence, much of it from government files retrieved through the Freedom of Information Act, which makes it quite certain that we are, and likely have been for a very considerable time, being visited by one or more types of beings from places unknown.

To think that these 'visitors' are benign just because they are obviously vastly superior technologically is ludicrous. One thing that is probaly true is that they have their own agenda, and this is NOT necessarily to the benefit of the human race, but to theirs.

The idea proposed by the authors that most researchers have been using leading and suggestive statements or questions in their examinations of those who claim abduction is simply not the case. Quite often, the subject of abduction experience only comes up when someone is in therapy for vague fears and unusual feelings and seeks such therapy to discover the cause of it.

I find the way that most of the material is presented by the authors does not represent open enquiry, but a presumed outcome which they attempt to twist the facts around to make a fit.

The authors of The Abduction Enigma are debunkers. They try to lure you in by making you think they are serious UFOlogists and that they are sympathetic to the study of UFOs. They have slanted all the "evidence" to prop up their arguments rather than give a balanced view.

I must concede that they make a very good point about the use of hypnosis for investigation of UFO abductions. In the hands of even the most skilled, hypnosis is a tricky approach. When used by unqualified people, it can be downright dangerous.

Unfortunately, in this argument they have thrown out the baby with the bath water. UFO abductions are a real phenomenon of some sort. What is needed is people to rise to the challenge of doing real research in the attempt to find out what causes this syndrome. What we don't need is more iconoclastic claims that abductions are nothing more than hysterical responses to the influence of pop culture. These men really know this is a lie, and they are purposely pursuing an agenda against the furthering of serious UFOlogy.

"Abduction Engima" is the referee's whistle that should call a halt to the progressively bizarre abduction stories.

The stories do not reflect actual events but, as the authors convincingly show, are modern relatives of folklore, confabulations promoted by faulty hynotic techniques, sleep paralysis, a manifestation of sexual dysfuntion, and/or symptoms of mental disorders. There are more theories too, which taken singly or in the aggregate, knock some long-needed sense into this purported phenomena.

Anyone who read Budd Hopkins' "Witnessed", or David Jacobs' "The Threat", or John Mack's "Abduction" and found them unbelievable and over-the-top will appreciate "Abduction Engima". It has the force of logic that may well drain away the frantic energy associated with the subject matter.

Congratulations to the three authors for their excellent research and writing. A salute too for having the courage to take on this complex and controversial issue.