Customer Reviews

Andreasson Affair

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although some of the facets of Betty Andreasson's abduction experience fit neatly into the common aspects of the phenomenon as it has been described in more recent studies, there still remain several enigmatic, uncommon aspects to her tale that set it apart. At the time of publication (1979) Budd Hopkins and Whitely Strieber had yet to publish their groundbreaking books, and the abduction experience was little known and even less accepted by society as a whole. The Andreasson Affair basically links the earlier account of Betty and Barney Hill with the numerous abduction stories introduced to the public in the years since 1979. The story of an apparent implant removed from Betty's sinuses in her experience seems pretty mundane to us now, but this was an exciting discovery for Fowler and his associates in the late 1970s. It is a little difficult to review this book as an entity in itself because of the series of related books Fowler would publish later, but I want to review the book on its own terms.

Basically, the whole book centers around a single abduction event. On a winter's night in 1967, a number of small, grey, large-headed beings entered the Andreasson home through the solid kitchen door, put all of the family members besides Betty and her oldest daughter Becky in suspended animation, and took Betty alone into their ship. Becky observed some of the events but was eventually "frozen" by the visitors during the ordeal. Betty describes the visitors--how they seemed to glide when they moved, how they seemed to communicate telepathically, etc.-- as well as the ship as it appeared from both outside and within. She then relates the extraordinary experiences she had on board the ship, illustrating much of what she saw and described in a series of excellent drawings she did based on her hypnotically retrieved memories.. Besides getting a physical examination (including the apparent retrieval of an implant and a reproduction-based test), she describes many unique events. She was put into a chair, covered with a human-shaped molding, and given oxygen to breathe while her chamber was filled with some type of liquid. She describes traveling through tunnels into strange vistas. After traveling through a red atmosphere and then a green atmosphere, she experienced an unparalleled event, wherein a phoenix-like giant bird literally burned itself up only to reappear as a giant worm from the ashes, at which point a presence told her that she had been chosen. This presence she finally understood to be God, and all of her fear turned to elation. Betty is a deeply religious person, and her Christianity adds a distinct quality to her experiences--she interprets the events in religious terms, and it is problematic to determine if her subconscious is skewing her experience or if she is interpreting it correctly. The concept of religion tied so closely to an abduction experience makes some people very uncomfortable and makes the Andreasson Affair of great interest and importance in the field of alien abduction studies. This book leaves many questions unanswered, as well, and it certainly provides no definitive answers about the subject at hand. Whatever the merits of the case, though, it is one of the most thoroughly researched cases in the literature, and Raymond Fowler is a long-time, well-respected member of the UFO research community. Anyone interested in the alien abduction phenomenon has to look at this case, and the best way of doing so is in reading this incredible book.

I read this book when it was initially published in 1978.The Investigator, Ray Fowler, was a nuts & bolts scientist at the outset. However strange the saga became he was courageous to publish all of the details. I think it addded to what we have learned in the present time by creating a path leading to it. Betty was one of the first to tell of Beings in Robes who seemed to be Space men, but as the tale progressed, another aspect was interwoven. The Beings who spoke through Betty, presented us with a riddle to solve. They gave information that seemed to be religious in nature, but is the ultimate in Spiritual teaching. I found that the message resonated within me. As the tale progressed it shares similarities with many of the present Authors books on the UFO-Spirit connection. Fantastic reading at any time.

Raymond Fowler gave us this book many years before Communion but I read it just a few years ago. It is simply one of the best books ever - so convincing, so real, so sincere! You can't help feeling compassion for Betty Andreasson and her family - what they have been through! Her drawings are quite impressive, and simply looking at them will raise the hairs on the back of your neck! All the Fowler books are superbly documented, researched, and fascinating!

What an amazing story - I can't believe it is entirely true (the Phoenix story), but all else seems to fit into place. It must rank as one of the classics of the UFO world. A very brisk introduction followed by a quick flow into the body of evidence leaves the reader wanting more, much more. Apart from the typographical errors, poor English and annoying American date format - it is a book that can hardly be put down. I can't wait to read the several sequels

No personal library of a reader interested in the UFO subject in general and the abduction phenomenon in particular is complete without Ray Fowler's books. One reason the so-called "Andreasson Affair" is important to the study of the abduction issue is because when the case was researched in the 1970s the patterns later uncovered by other independent researchers were unknown and much of this information was new. Some of the details described by Betty Andreasson still seem unique to this case, though increasing knowledge about the phenomenon in later years meant that when seen retrospectively many aspects are now seen to fit a common pattern.

The book describes in detail a single extended event which happened during the evening of 25 January 1967, when Betty Andreasson was apparently abducted by five small, hairless and large-eyed grey aliens from her isolated house in South Ashburnham, Massachusetts, whilst the rest of her extended family - with the exception of her eldest daughter Becky, who witnessed and remembered most of what happened inside the house - were "shut down" for the duration. The report of the resulting abduction qualifies as "high strangeness" by any standards and at the time was unique and extraordinary. There was extensive communication between Betty and the entities and she was subjected to a real rollercoaster ride, described in full in the book.

The incident took many years to reach investigators because, as the author Ray Fowler states: "Where does someone go to report a UFO experience so bizarre that one hesitates to discuss it with either family or friends? Where does one turn when government officials have publicly decreed that UFOs do not exist? Such was the plight of the Andreasson family." Eventually a letter from Betty to J. Allen Hynek found its way to Ray Fowler and a local MUFON investigative team who thought it might be worth looking into. The case is still one of the best documented ever because of the large quantity of detailed recorded testimony, extensive polygraph testing of the key witnesses, detailed analysis of corroborative evidence, careful character checks and comparison with other CE3 cases. The eventual 528-page report, signed by five investigators, was distilled down to this 200-page book.

Betty Andreasson is a competent artist and the case is also unusual because she was able to render her memories of the aliens and their technology into detailed drawings which, reproduced in full, add much to the descriptive text in the book.

The story is problematic to some investigators because Betty, a committed Christian, sees her experiences through the prism of religious belief and of overriding importance to her is to know if the alien entities are "Angels" of God or "Demons" of The Devil. In recent years it has been learned that in order to ensure better compliance the aliens tend to play to the belief-system and values of the abductee to make the experience more acceptable, and they convinced Betty she was having a positive, God-inspired encounter.

Ray Fowler wrote at least two follow-up books on the Andreasson case, and it transpired that Betty's experience was in fact more similar to others than was evident when the story originally came to light, in that she turned out like most abductees to have serial experiences. The event described in this original book, the subject of this review, was the "trigger event."

This landmark book should be read by anyone interested in the abduction phenomenon and the history of its investigation. It stands out amongst the plethora of new-age mush and "channelled" nonsense in being cautious, grounded and non-judgmental about the "strangeness" aspects. Ray Fowler deserves major credit for sticking his neck out and publishing this original account at a time when he was virtually guaranteed controversy and even ridicule no matter how rigorous the scientific method employed and how careful the controls used. The foreword to the book is written by Budd Hopkins and that alone should tell the reader that the content is likely to be close to best scientific investigative practice, and so it proves.

I highly recommend this book. It is highly entertaining and well written for it's time. Let me say I would take it all with a grain of salt. I personally knew Ray Fowler the author. I worked at the same government contractor location that he did. (This information is in Ray Fowler's biography available on line and thus considered open source information.) We built the command and control for the ICBM missle systems. Coincidentally, many of the UFO reports in the Mid-West and West were over SAC ICBM Missle bases in the 60's, 70's and 80's... The government objected to Ray Fowler's extracurricular activities due to the sensitive nature of our work. Ray retired early, but I don't know if it were related to his UFO research and related FOIA requests. Before that however, in the September or October 1983 issue of "Boston" magazine there was an article about unusual societies in New England. One such discription of an unusual society and the accompanying photo was about a UFO research group based in New England. The photo of the society members was taken at ground level in black and white just after dusk to give it an erie effect. The members in the picture included Ray Fowler, the public relations director, the VP and GM, and another executive member of the government contractor that Ray Fowler and I worked for. The public relations director was well connected with the television, radio, and written print media groups in the Boston Area at that time. I sometimes wonder if it was done as an inside gag! It was also rummored that one of Andreasson's relations also worked with us. The defense contractor that we worked for no longer exsists in name, nor at that location where I worked with Mr. Fowler. It was bought by a larger defense contractor in the 1990's and relocated. Ray Fowler was a highly respected man at work and very keen on the UFO research movement.

I read this book when I was 10, it has a view of aliens that coincide with many peoples view of religion. A possible connection of Aliens to our own idea of a God? Read it for yourself and see what you think..

I grew up in Ashburnham, Mass and knew the Andreasson family very well (Lisa Andreasson used to be my babysitter in the 70's, Lori was a year behind me in school, Osa worked in the Post Office, Scottie was a cook in the restaurant where I washed dishes and Mark was in a band called La Peste). This book is a good account of a true alien abduction. Pictures too! I have no reason to believe that this is not a true story.

What an amazing story - I can't believe it is entirely true (the Phoenix story), but all else seems to fit into place. It must rank as one of the classics of the UFO world. A very brisk introduction followed by a quick flow into the body of evidence leaves the reader wanting more, much more. Apart from the typographical errors, poor English and annoying American date format - it is a book that can hardly be put down. I can't wait to read the several sequels

My first attempt at reading this resulted in my putting it down after the "Phoenix" vision; my BS indicator went on full-tilt overload. Later the revelation that Betty Andreasson-Luca's "star language" was actually a phonetic variant of Gaelic (the now dead language of the Celts) caused more suspiscion, and finally the revelation that author Raymond Fowler believes himself to also be an abductee, along with Betty's second husband, Bob Luca, killed whatever shreads of remaining credibility Fowler had in regard to the impartiality that his investigation had.

Other contactees exhibit a strange ability to pull others into their experiences; Betty Hill and Whitley Streiber come to mind. The conclusion that nearly everyone is involved in some facet of the abduction experience is often reached by many UFO investigators, Fowler is not alone.

Fowler writes well and may well be sincere (compare this book with his later work 'The Watchers'). His documentation and impartiality, are, I'm afraid, suspect.