Customer Reviews

Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference Held at M.I.T. Cambridge, Ma.

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This edited volume is undobtedly THE comprehensive guide to the alien abduction phenomenon. It includes arguments for the both sides of the debate, all of which are presented by knowledgable, educated persons. This is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the subject matter. The volume includes all proceedings of the discussion, including graphs and charts shown: nothing is left out. An edited/abriged version of this volume is available from a diffrent publisher--aviod it. The abridged versiion, though it may be an eisier, faster read, is FAR inferior to this complete text.

I'm not well read in this field, but the coverage was pretty good and lots of hard statistical data were presented. Skeptics' ideas were given fair hearing and evidence inconsistent with paranormal and conspiratorial interpretations of the phenomenon were also presented. By far not a perfect volume, but the best I've encountered. Certainly more accurate, thorough and even handed than any "skeptical" treatment of the subject.

An appendix of a sampling of abductee accounts would have been neat. And sometimes references are made to symposium content that didn't make it into the book, but over all pretty well. Good enough that I would call it "necessary reading" for anyone interested in the phenomenon regardless if they're a believer, skeptic, or just curious.

This 680-page double-columned hardcover tome is the complete proceedings of the Study Conference on the Alien Abduction phenomenon held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between June 13 & 17, 1992. This remains, to date, the largest conference on this subject ever organised globally, and virtually every serious academic involved in researching the abduction issue at the time attended and participated.

The conference was chaired by Professor David E. Pritchard (PhD Physics) of MIT and co-chaired by Professor John Mack (MD) of Harvard University Medical School. Participants included specialists from multiple academic disciplines: physics, biology, psychiatry, medicine, astronomy, history and sociology among them. The 54 academic participants and speakers included (in addition to Professors Pritchard & Mack): Jerome Clark, Stuart Appelle, Col John Alexander (a real surprise), Budd Hopkins, David Jacobs , John Carpenter, Joe Nyman, Walter Webb, Michael Swords, Mark Rodeghier, folklorist Thomas "Eddie" Bullard, hypno-therapist Yvonne Smith, Richard Haines, Don Donderi, Michael Papagiannis, optical physicist Bruce Maccabee and many others.

In 118 academic papers, just about every aspect of the abduction phenomenon is investigated and discussed. The book contains a mass of data: tables, graphs, charts and drawings; full transcriptions of the presentations, lectures, seminars and round-table discussions. The testimonies of abductee-participants are also transcribed in full.

It must have been a substantial enterprise to bring it all together, and credit goes to Andrea Pritchard, Pam Kasey and Claudia Yapp for taking on the editing job and producing such a fine result.

Much can be learned from reading this book, but don't expect easy answers: it's an ordered collection of the research and resulting discussions between every serious academic investigating this subject in 1992, so there are differing and wide-ranging perspectives.

If you have more than a casual interest in this subject and want a substantial academic overview from different perspectives then this volume is indispensable. A good copy will cost you dear, and take up some shelf space; but it's worth it.