In 2011, Denise Stoner and I met to discuss the commonalities that alien abduction experiencers share. As longtime abduction investigators/researchers, we were aware of certain repeating patterns of information and characteristics. The pertinent literature, the academic social science studies and the works of David Jacobs, PhD, Thomas Bullard, PhD, and the late Budd Hopkins, John Mack, MD, and others had identified several commonalities among abduction experiencers. But we had not been able to locate an academic study that was specific to our particular interests. I earned a B.A. degree in social work from the University of New Hampshire in 1971, and participated in graduate studies in education at the University of Cincinnati and U.N.H., while working as a teacher and education services coordinator. My primary academic interest has been in social research and psychology. I left my job in 1990 to pursue a career as a UFO investigator, researcher and writer. As the niece of Betty and Barney Hill and witness to the primary evidence and aftermath of their alien abduction in 1961, I had been aware of the UFO phenomenon for more than fifty years. My book (with nuclear physicist/scientific ufologist Stanton T. Friedman), Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience was published in 2007 and our second book Science Was Wrong was published in 2010. I had surveyed the psychological studies on self identified abduction experiencers for a chapter on alien abduction in SWW and a research paper I prepared for the MUFON 2010 International UFO Symposium Proceedings. In addition to my independent research, I am also Florida MUFON's Director of Abduction Studies and the National Director of the Abduction Research Team.
Denise has an educational background in business and psychology, and is a certified hypnotist specializing in regressive hypnosis. For 12 years Denise did background investigations for the military on recruits seeking highly classified clearances for work on nuclear submarines. Prior to retirement, Denise moved to a military research facility where she was the training coordinator for several hundred military and civilian employees. For the past several years, Denise has expanded her work with UFO research and investigation. She is an independent abduction researcher and hosts a study group for abduction experiencers and public interest meetings on the UFO phenomenon in general. She is Florida MUFON's Asst. Director of Abduction Studies and the former Chief Investigator for the state.
At our study's inception our stated goals were to benefit abduction experiencers by identifying specific traits that they have in common with other experiencers, and to expand the UFO research community's knowledge of alien abduction phenomena. The most efficient scientific method for obtaining this information, in our opinion, was through the use of simple straightforward questionnaires, designed to identify commonalities among the UFO abduction experiencers. Each of us brought to the table knowledge of several unique, unpublicized characteristics of the alien abduction experience. The commonalities study would ascertain how widespread these commonalities are across the abduction experiencer population. We developed three questionnaires: The "UFO Abduction Experiencer Questionnaire" listed 45 multiple choice questions pertaining to experiencer's demographics, abduction memories, emotional responses, physiological responses, and psychic phenomena. The second questionnaire, the "Abduction Experiencer E.T. Technology Questionnaire" would increase our knowledge of E.T. technology. The third, "Commonalities among Non-Abductees Questionnaire" queried individuals who denied having been abducted by aliens. It was developed after the first two questionnaires had been available for several months, and a commonalities trend had emerged. The 16 multiple choice questions would determine whether or not some of the commonalities among abduction experiencers are common across the general population. We established a minimum sample size of 50 completed questionnaires for abduction experiencers (AE) and 25 for non-abduction experiencers (NAE). There were 54 participants in the "UFO Abduction Experiencer Questionnaire", but 4 questionnaires could not be tallied because they were too incomplete.
The "Abduction Experiencer E.T. Technology Questionnaire" study is not yet complete, as there have been only 24 responses to date. This can be attributed to the fact that a much smaller percentage of experiencers have clear recall of the craft's interior and the technology observed. This part of the study is ongoing. Participants for our study were solicited via the MUFON UFO Journal and several alien abduction and UFO oriented websites. We also appeared on several radio shows and invited listeners to participate. Last, there were questionnaires at my vendor table at several UFO conferences and at Denise's meetings. I posted the questionnaires, a letter of explanation, and an informed consent notice on my website at www.kathleen-marden.com. We communicated to participants that all questionnaires would be kept in a locked and secure location and destroyed at the end of the study. All personal identifying information that was volunteered would remain confidential. As a cautionary measure, we advised all potential participants that they should only complete the questionnaire if they could do so without feeling uncomfortable.
Nearly twice as many women (32), as men (18) completed the "Abduction Experiencer Questionnaire". Does this indicate that abduction is far more prevalent among women? Not necessarily so. Statistical evidence indicates that men are less likely than women to answer surveys of any kind. But this trend was not supported when we tallied the results of the "Commonalities among Non-Abductees Questionnaire". The majority of respondents were men (15) as opposed to women (9). If trends in human behavior have not skewed the results, it suggests that more women than men have been abducted by aliens. This finding has been widely reported by other researchers. We were interested in identifying possible trends among age groups, partly due to the fact that a significant number of abduction experiencers in the 50+ age group had reported their experiences to us within recent months. Our intuition was correct. 44% of the AE Group participants were born in the 1950's, although only 20% of the NAE Group was in the same age group. This figure drops dramatically for those born in the 1940's (18%) and the 1960's (26%). Could these statistics indicate that the human abduction program began slowly, perhaps during the 1950's and 60's, and was in full swing beginning in the 1970's? Could this signify that the alien abduction program is winding down? Or could it be that younger people are less likely to fill out questionnaires? Only 12% of the AE Group respondents were under age 40. Yet 24% of the NAE Group was under 40.
We asked each group to identify the size of their area of residence. A survey of the relevant literature indicated that more UFOs were sighted in less populated areas than in large cities in the 1960's and 70's. Also, the majority of well investigated, famous abduction cases (Villas Boas, Hill, Walton, Buff Ledge, Casey CO., etc.), took place in rural areas. Yet the late Budd Hopkins wrote of alien abduction in New York City. We wanted to test whether or not a trend could be established. . AE Group—Area of Residence: Rural (15), Small Town (13), Suburban (13 ), Urban (9) . NAE Group—Area of Residence: Rural (3), Small Town (5), Suburban (12), Urban (5) The AE participants' area of residence was fairly evenly divided among abduction experiencers, with 30% residing in a rural area, 26% in small towns, 26% in suburbs, and 18% in an urban area. 12% of the NAE group resides in a rural area, 20% in a small town, 48% in the suburbs and 20% in an urban area. These statistics indicate that no trend could be established. Slightly more experiencers (12%) are taken from a rural environment than from an urban area. But the difference is not statistically significant.
We wanted to determine if alien abduction is more prevalent one area of the US than another. . AE Group—Time Zone: Eastern (33), Central (10), Mountain (2), Pacific (4), Eastern Australia (1) . NAE Group—Time Zone: Eastern (20), Central (4), Mountain (0), Pacific (0), British (1) 66% of the AE group resides in the Eastern Time Zone, 20% Central, 4% Mountain, 8% Pacific, and 2% in foreign countries. These statistics are a bit perplexing. We asked, "Are there more abduction experiencers living in the Eastern US than in all other regions combined? Or did more people in the Eastern US listen to our radio interviews?" The NAE questionnaire answered this question. 80% reside in the Eastern Time Zone, 16% Central, 0% Mountain, 0% Pacific, and 4% in Great Britain. The majority of participants in both groups reside in the Eastern US. Therefore, the AE group presents no valid evidence that more experiencers reside in the Eastern US than elsewhere. The majority of abduction experiencers believe that they have been taken repeatedly over a number of years or throughout their lifetime.
We wanted to determine how frequently contact occurs. How many times do you think you've been taken?
25 of 39 of those who could quantify their abductions stated that they have been taken more than 10 times.The next largest group was those who could not state a specific number, followed by the 2-5 range. This is a significant finding because the majority of abduction experiencers believe that their alien contact occurs periodically throughout their lifetime. Only two participants stated that they had been taken only one time. This is interesting because their answers on the questionnaire revealed that they had little in common with multiple abduction experiencers. Many experiencers believe that they have been taken since they were small children. We asked for this information.
35 of 42 of the respondents who could qualify their age at the time of their first abduction indicated that they were under age 20 when their first abduction occurred. 51% (18 of 35) were under 5. In another question we asked how frequently their visitations had occurred. 68% stated that their abductions occurred most frequently when they were under age 30. However, a surprising 21% of the over 40 group stated that their contacts are still frequent. A clear pattern of frequency across all age groups could not be established. Only 20% stated that they had been taken more than one time per month. An equal number are not sure how often they've been visited by ETs. Others replied from one time per month to 2-3 times per year.
* 88% stated that their abduction memories were consciously recalled; 56% through dreams; 36% through hypnosis; 16% through other means such as flashbacks.
* 67% stated that they consciously recalled (not with hypnosis), the observation of an unconventional craft at less than 1000 feet prior to an abduction. . 56% stated that they consciously recalled (not with hypnosis), the observation of non-human entities immediately prior to an abduction while they were outside their home. 76% indicated that they were not alone when they were taken.
* 62% of the witnesses had conscious recall for at least part of the experience.
* 43% stated that witnesses reported the observation of a UFO near their house, vehicle, tent, etc. prior to or during their abduction.
* 58% stated that they are aware of having been examined on an alien craft.
These highly significant statistics reveal that the majority of the respondents had conscious recall of at least one abduction experience and were not alone when it occurred. More than half remembered observing a craft at less than 1000 feet and non-human entities prior to at least one abduction experience. We are often led by media sources to believe that the majority of abduction experiencers are procured exclusively from their bedrooms and have no witnesses. The Marden-Stoner study indicates that this perception is false.
*We asked, "How did you feel after an abduction experience?" 15 stated that they felt angry. 15 felt tired, exhausted or physically drained and unwell. 11 were fearful. Only 3 felt peaceful.
We wanted to test several hypotheses pertaining to emotional stability as a factor in alien abduction experiences. Is there an increased sense of sadness among experiencers? Are there more mood swings among this group? Is there mood consistency throughout one's lifetime? Respondents were permitted to check more than one answer.
* NAE Group –On a daily basis, how would you describe your mood? Happy (15), Sad (0), Frequent mood swings (4), Without unusual highs and lows (6).
* AE Group—As a child, how would you describe your mood? Happy (13), Sad (13), Frequent mood swings (5), Without unusual highs and lows (14), Anxious (7).
* NAE Group—As a child, how would you describe your mood? Happy (10), Sad (0), Frequent mood swings (4), Without unusual highs and lows (10), Anxious (2).
The majority of respondents in both groups stated that they are happy or do not have unusual highs or lows. It is interesting that a higher percentage of the NAE group reported frequent mood swings on a daily basis than the AE group. But a small percentage of the the AE group reported that they experienced more sadness as adults. Several of the "sad" and "frequent mood swings" AE respondents reported that they had been the victims of childhood abuse. Their feelings of sadness and their mood swings have persisted throughout their lifetime. This group was more likely to report abuse by their ET captors. Additionally, those who reported traumatic memories of being abused by ETs are more likely to feel sad as adults. The majority of respondents reported that they used one or more coping mechanisms to deal with their fear or anxiety due to their abduction experiences. Only 3 reported that they have no fear. Coping mechanisms that give relief to experiencers include talking with a supportive, non- judgmental person, meditation or relaxation exercises, prayer and writing about their experiences.
We were interested in the sleep patterns of abduction experiencers. Did they have difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep? Could this be related to a fear of abduction? Or were other factors involved?
* NAE Group—Have you awoken with unexplained marks on your body? Yes (5), No (20).
A highly significant 83% of the AE Group stated that they had awoken with unexplained marks on their bodies, whereas only 20% of the NAE group replied in the affirmative. Long, thin bruises were most often found on women's calves, thighs or buttocks, suggesting finger marks. Patterned bruises were found on the upper arm. Scoop marks were reported on arms, ankles, behind knees, or on feet. Puncture wounds were found on hands and rib cages, although one woman reported a vaginal puncture wound. Burn marks were on upper backs and sunburn like rashes were reported, sometimes on the entire body.
Several participants mentioned plastic-like filaments, the size of a strand of hair, coming from various locations on their bodies.
* We asked," Has your nose bled immediately following an abduction? Yes (26 ), No (23), not sure (1) A significant 52% replied in the affirmative. Several mentioned significant scarring in their nasal cavity that had been of concern to their physicians. One mentioned that his physician found a strange metal object high in the respondent's nasal passage.
37% of those who answered yes or no have noticed rashes on their body following an encounter. Earlier in the history of alien abduction, burns on one's neck or upper back, hair loss and conjunctivitis were reported. An example of this is the 1976 Casey County, KY abduction of Elaine Thomas, Louise Smith and Mona Stafford. We wanted to know if these problems have persisted.
22% of the respondents stated that they had suffered burns, hair loss or conjunctivitis following an abduction experience. One participant stated that her sunburn-like rash was accompanied by a pins and needles tingling sensation after an abduction in 1978. She and several others reported that one or both eyes were red and swollen following a contact experience. One participant stated that she suffered a combination of all three physical affects in 1988. We were interested in determining whether or not participants had undergone changes in their blood chemistry or bleeding disorders after an abduction experience.
One respondent was diagnosed with a clotting disorder. Another mentioned problems with vitamin D and iron absorption. Others mentioned consistently high white blood cell counts.
Our next question did not pertain specifically to our research findings and we did not anticipate the result.
62% of the AE Group craves salt, whereas only 12% of the NAE Group does. Dehydration is the most common cause of salt cravings. Although rare, Addison's disease is caused when the adrenal gland does not produce enough of the hormone cortisol. One might speculate that if the adrenal glands are continually tapped by ongoing stress due to alien abduction, it could lead to adrenal distress that is characterized by symptoms of fatigue, insomnia and salt cravings. However, this is another condition that is best studied by the medical community.
The following questions regarding physical affects were on the questionnaire. The answers are self explanatory.
20 of 46 of the AE Group suffers from migraine headaches (moderate to severe pulsing headaches that last 4-72 hours and worsen with physical activity, whereas only 8% of the NAE Group does. Medical studies indicate that only 10-12% of the general population suffers from migraines. This is a highly significant finding indicating that abduction experiencers suffer from migraine headaches at a considerably higher rate than the non-abduction experiencers that participated in our study, and the general population.
Gynecological problems among female abduction experiencers have been widely reported in UFO abduction literature. We wanted to obtain statistics on the prevalence of these disorders.
A significant 69% of the AE Group reported that they had experienced gynecological problems, whereas 33% of the NAE Group made the same report. Two respondents from the AE Group mentioned that they had tested positive for pregnancy, but then were not pregnant, and there was no cramping or bleeding. The sample size in the NAE Group is too small to draw an acceptable comparison. We found it interesting, however, that three of the women in this group that answered "yes" had more in common with the AE group than the NAE group on all of the questions.
Several years ago, a study revealed that a high percentage of abduction experiencers suffer from Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, sometimes called Chronic or Reactivating Mononucleosis. Affecting less than 1% of the US population, CFIDS can be a devastating disorder. 2.5% of the US population has the symptoms, but no formal diagnosis. These include debilitating fatigue that is not improved by bed rest; problems with concentration and short term memory; flu-like symptoms; word finding problems; reading retention difficulties; and ambulation difficulties due to balance problems. It is not a depressive disorder. Medical researchers have noted immune, neurological, and endocrine abnormalities in CFIDS sufferers.
* Have you been diagnosed as having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Reactivated Mononucleosis? Yes (18), No (30).
2 respondents stated that they CFIDS symptoms but no formal diagnosis. 38% of the participants in our study have a CFIDS or RM diagnosis, whereas less than 1% of the US population has this diagnosis. This is a highly significant finding. Reports of such a high rate of CFIDS among abduction experiencers should be taken seriously by the medical community. One has to wonder if the alien environment is causing illness among humans. Are the ET's experiments passing this syndrome to experiencers? Could it be caused by the alien technology that allows the transfer of a human body through a solid structure? Is it an adrenal response caused by one's persistent fear of abduction? Is it the result of a sleep disorder? Is it a retrovirus created by ETs?
Psi phenomena, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, psychic healing, out of body experiences, etc. have long been associated with the alien abduction phenomenon. It is both perplexing and troubling to investigators. Many are not inclined to investigate reports of events that seem more like imagination than reality. Some consider it an embarrassment to the scientific study of UFOs and would prefer to sweep it under the rug. Others feel that they are not equipped to investigate psi phenomena. Yet, abduction experiencers consistently report being transported through solid surfaces, telepathic communication, light orbs that expand into non-human entities, poltergeist activity in their homes (soon after a contact experience), and new psychic abilities. In an attempt not to lead the participants to specific information we referred to these phenomena as "paranormal" rather than ghost related, mystical or psychic. The Free Dictionary defines paranormal as "Beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation." We developed 7 questions pertaining to these phenomena.
* AE Group—Have you witnessed paranormal activity in your home? Yes (43), No (6), No answer (1). If so, please describe it.
* NAE Group—Have you witnessed paranormal activity in your home? Yes (11) 44%, No (14) 56%. If so, please describe it.
It is significant that 51% of the participants reported that their paranormal activity began after their first abduction experience. Many commented that this activity is not ongoing, but occurs immediately prior to or after a contact event.
The next question pertains to telepathic communication. We were interested in determining whether or not all communication between the "visitors" and the experiencers was telepathic.
A statistically significant 88% of the AE Group reported telepathic communication with their visitors, whereas only 32% of the non-experiencers reported telepathic communication. Many experiencers reported that they "sensed" a contact experience was about to occur or received a telepathic message prior to its onset. It is interesting to note that 2 of those who answered "No" reported having only one abduction experience.
* We asked those who answered yes, "Was the telepathic communication related to an abduction experience? Yes (30), No (2), not sure (1), No answer (11).
91% of those in the EA Group that answered the question replied in the affirmative. The next two questions are closely related.
72% stated that they are more sensitive or intuitive than they were prior to contact. 79% stated that they developed new psychic abilities after a contact experience. One person reported that they have always been psychic and another noted that his or her psychic abilities increased. The following question was worded to ask whether or not abduction experiencers discovered that they had the ability to heal others following an abduction experience.
50% stated that noted that they were able to heal others for at least a short period following an abduction experience. This gift persisted for an extended period of time for some of the participants, but not for others. 2% mentioned that they had always been healers.
Kay Wilson, a well-known abduction experiencer, had written about her "invisibility" experience in an airport and two additional abduction experiencers reported to us that they, at times, felt literally invisible. We decided to determine whether or not others have experienced this sensation by asking, "Do you ever feel that you are literally invisible and others can't see you? It is interesting that 25% answered in the affirmative.
Blood types, Rh factors, and ancestral genetic links have long been of interest to alien abduction researchers. We decided to inquire about blood types. . AE Group—What is your blood type? A (17), B (1), O (10), AB (1) Positive? (15) Negative? (8 ) . NAE Group—What is your blood type? A (9), B (1), O (6), AB (2). Positive? (10) Negative? (2 ) 29 AE Group participants responded to the question. Of these 59% is type A and 34% is type O. Because 66% of the respondents reside in the Eastern Time Zone, we researched the distribution of blood types throughout the US. It is estimated that 20-25% of the US population residing in the Northeast and East-Central has type A blood and 70-80% are type O. Does this indicate that there is an elevated percentage of A blood types among abduction experiencers? We compared our statistics to the NAE Group and found that 50% are type A and 33% type O. This indicates that the majority of participants in both groups are type A regardless of whether or not they have experienced alien abduction. We then evaluated the Rh factor knowing that 85% of all humans have Rh+ blood types. We found an elevated percentage of Rh- Factor (35%) among abduction experiencers. The Stanford School of Medicine Blood Center reports that 6.3% of their collected blood types are A negative and 6.6% are O negative. This elevated percentage among abduction experiencers could be significant. Among the NAE Group 83% had a positive Rh factor and 17% were negative indicating that both groups had elevated Rh negative blood types. It is interesting that a significantly higher percentage (18%) of AE Group reported a negative RH factor than in the NAE Group. However, many participants did not know their blood type, so the sample size is too small to be considered statistically reliable.
Throughout the history of alien abduction electrical malfunctions have been widely reported. We decided to address this issue in our questionnaire.
68% of the AE Group reported experiencing malfunctions of electrical equipment, whereas only 32% of the NAE Group had the same experience. The AE Group reported malfunctioning computers, watches, appliances, radios, televisions, cameras and compasses. Some reported that light bulbs blow out or blink off and on and the hands on their watches spin. One participant stated that the time clock at his place of employment malfunctions only for him. The NAE group mentioned that street lights blink out when they drive or walk under them. This has also been reported to me by abduction experiencers. Another stated that when she became emotionally upset light bulbs would "shoot in the room I was standing in." Both groups reported that televisions, appliances and computers would automatically switch themselves off and on.
After we had excluded the demographic information and the open ended questions, we were left with 37 questions that could be analyzed for correlating information. Of these we found 23 positive, statistically significant correlations among abduction experiencers. A pattern emerged indicating that the majority of abduction experiencers had conscious recall of at least one event and were with a witness who also recalled the experience. They had a close encounter with an unconventional craft and sometimes observed its occupants. They are aware of having been examined aboard a craft and were left with perplexing, unexplained marks on their bodies. Slightly more than half had a nose bleed immediately after an experience. Women reported an elevated percentage of gynecological problems that appear to be related to reproductive procedures performed by alien entities. The vast majority was revisited—some more than 10 times—and was taken from their homes to an alien craft. Often the abduction experiencers sensed an impending visitation by alien entities before it occurred. The mode of communication between alien entities and humans is almost entirely telepathic. A new psychic awareness has emerged in the majority of experiencers and about half have found that they now have new healing abilities. Immediately before or soon after a visitation they become aware of paranormal activity in their homes, such as light orbs, objects flying through the air or from walls, doors opening and closing without assistance, etc. The majority noticed malfunctioning electrical equipment, appliances, watches, computers, TVs, radios, cameras, etc. Slightly more than half developed a new sensitivity to light and now crave salt. They feel a foreign object in their body and are fearful of being abducted again. Most have difficulty falling asleep and remaining asleep throughout the night. Those who have resolved their fearfulness are more likely to sleep restfully.
Finally, we want to express our sincere gratitude to those who participated in this study. It wasn't an easy task. We asked them to visit my website and copy the 45 question or 16 question form. Then we requested that they fill in the multiple choice questions and add their comments and accounts of their personal experiences that would elucidate us regarding their specific information. They were then asked to mail their questionnaires to me or to return them via email. Although it required some effort on their part, it reduced the possibility that hoaxers would intentionally sabotage the study. In the end, we were very pleased with the knowledge we gained and the opportunity it gave us to support abduction experiencers and expand the UFO research community's knowledge of the alien abduction phenomenon.
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Wilson, Kay. I Forgot What I Wasn't Supposed To Remember. Free Mobi Ebook at http://www.alienjigsaw.com.
Wilson, Sheryl C. and Theodore X. Barber. "The Fantasy Prone Personality: Implications for understanding imagery, hypnosis, and paraphysiological phenomena". Imagery, Current Theory, Research and Applications. New York: Wiley. 1983. 340-390.
I have personally been embroiled in the UFO abduction debate for 46 years and professionally involved for the past 21 years. As the niece of Betty and Barney Hill, the first abductees to gain public recognition in the United States, I find this unsolved mystery fascinating. On February 22, 1966, I observed an unconventional flying object hovering approximately less than 1000 feet above me. There were five other witnesses. I have observed additional anomalies that have been linked (by some researchers), to alien abduction phenomena. I have, however, never experienced sleep paralysis. I wish that I had so that I could describe it from a personal perspective. Without firsthand knowledge of this psycho-physiological process, I must rely upon information from those who study it professionally and the testimony of those who have experienced it.
Several skeptical scientists have suggested that sleep paralysis is the best explanation for nocturnal bedroom abductions. Nearly all abductees/ experiencers (depending upon one's emotional response to the event), disagree. Those who were initially taken from an external environment (car, campsite, forest, field), after having a close encounter with an unconventional flying object and/or observing non-human entities, and experiencing approximately two hours "lost" time, are not convinced that that their subsequent bedroom abductions are sleep related anomalies.
Many abductees/experiencers have no memory of being taken from an external environment. They have only vivid memories of being taken from their beds during the night by humanoid figures and later returned with new, unexplainable marks on their bodies. Others wonder if they might have been abducted because they have observed strange lights in their bedrooms at night or observed the floating face of an alien figure above their beds.
Skeptics and scientific ufologists remind us that in the absence of substantial evidence, we cannot accept anecdotal abduction accounts as real. Our perception of the events that occur during the night, while we are sleeping or partially awake, could possibly be distorted by our sleeping minds. REM sleep, visual imagery, and sleep hallucinations can be confusing.
One thing is clear. All of us experience paralysis as a function of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. More dreaming occurs during REM sleep than in another stage of sleep. The paralysis prevents us from acting out our dreams and harming ourselves or others. It is most frequently reported to occur when we are falling asleep. But it can also occur upon waking. Some people have a sleep disorder that that interferes with normal REM sleep, causing them to act out their dreams. This condition requires medical treatment because REM sleep disorder sufferers have injured themselves or family members while in acting out in REM sleep.
Sleep paralysis is related to REM but is a different entity. It can occur just before falling asleep or waking up. You will have conscious awareness of your surroundings but not be able to move anything except your eyes. You might observe shadowy figures in your bedroom and your heart might pound, as a sense of fear jars you into wakefulness. About 30-40% of those queried by sleep study scientists report that they have experienced sleep paralysis. It is simply a sign that their bodies are not moving smoothly through the stages of sleep.
People with narcolepsy, a condition characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and REM activity within ten minutes of falling asleep, are more likely to experience sleep paralysis accompanied by hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations than the general population. Sleep paralysis alone is characteristically different than the colorful imagery described by people who have experienced H/H hallucinations.
There is conflicting information about H/H hallucinations and I have not been able to find conclusive answers with regard to its prevalence among human populations. HH ahllucinations can last up to several minutes and affect an estimated 5% to over 12% of the normal population. However, David J. Hufford wrote in The Terror That Comes in the Night, that 50% or more of Yasuo Hishikawa's narcoleptic subjects reported that they had experienced H/H hallucinations.
Hypnagogic (between waking and sleeping) and hypnopompic (between sleeping and waking) hallucinations occur when factors such as stress, extreme fatigue, medications, and mental illness cause the part of the brain that distinguishes between conscious perceptions and internally generated perceptions to misfire. This results in internally generated visions, sounds, feelings, smells or tastes. H/H hallucination experiencers often see colored geometric shapes or parts of objects. Others might observe the full image of a person, monster or animal. Sometimes lines or the outlines of figures are observed. Sensations of floating or flying are common, along with hallucinated buzzing sounds. H/H hallucinations can be frightening. The hallucinations can last from seconds to minutes and are usually accompanied by a brief period of sleep paralysis. They are experienced as being as real as real.
I once personally experienced a hypnopompic hallucination, without sleep paralysis. My husband and I were sleeping soundly when the telephone jarred me into partial wakefulness in the middle of the night. I didn't answer the phone because I "saw" my husband walk toward it, as if he were going to answer it. Even though the room was dark I perceived that he was clothed in a brightly colored red and black plaid flannel shirt. The almost fluorescent colors were brighter than what can be observed in natural sunlight. I was perplexed because the phone continued to ring even though I "saw" my husband lift the receiver from the cradle. Almost immediately I was startled by the awareness of his presence in the bed next to me. My hallucination vanished and I answered the phone. It is the only hypnopompic hallucination that I have ever had, but as a lifelong student of human perception, I found it interesting and informative.
Some sleep scientists contend that an experiencer's perception of alien abduction while sleeping or awake in bed is most likely attributable to sleep paralysis, perhaps with hypnopompic hallucinations. They suspect that extraterrestrial entities are generated in hypnagogic and hypnopompic sleep states. Sleep hallucinations might be related to dreams because they are more elaborate and enduring than sleep paralysis alone. Hypothetically, we might be sleeping and perhaps dreaming about alien entities. When we start to move up out of REM sleep we might experience a hypnopompic hallucination and "see" nonhuman entities in our bedroom that we perceive as real. After a few seconds or minutes, we become fully awake but remember the onset of an abduction/contact as if it were real.
If we experience a combination of sleep paralysis and H/H hallucinations, we will suffer intense fear and wake up paralyzed, unable to move anything except our eyes. We might observe shadowy figures standing beside our beds or hovering overhead. If we attempt to cry out we find that we can't utter more than a nondescript sound. We're locked inside paralyzed bodies, unable to speak or move, except for our eyes. Our hearts pound and we strain to breathe as if there is a weight upon our chests. We are acutely aware of surroundings. Shadows transform into frightening shadowy images and sounds intensify. We struggle to break free from our dreadful predicament, and within seconds we are fully awake. This occurs to some of us when we emerge from REM sleep and our natural paralysis continues for a few seconds. I have never met an abductee/experiencer who believes that their ET contact experience was sleep related.
I have, however, spoken with individuals who have experienced HH hallucinations throughout their lifetime. Most report the observation of geometric shapes or disconnected body parts. One observed the upper torso and face of a monster. Two have observed alien heads that were not connected to bodies. These details are not consistent with the reports that I have received from abductees/experiencers.
Many abductees/ experiencers have described distinctly different demarcations between sleep paralysis, H/H hallucinations and real abduction experiences. They insist that they were fully awake at the onset of an alien abduction or visitation. They might even have received a telepathic message earlier in the day that they would be visited. They did not wake up paralyzed. It was only after they cried out or attempted to fight or flee that they became paralyzed. Some might even remember being transported through solid objects, such as a wall, roof or window, to a craft. Most have observed non-human entities and might even retain a complex memory of being examined on the craft and/or being taught a lesson. They are later returned to their beds. Prior to their experience some witnesses report that they were nervously glancing at their alarm clocks, unable to sleep due to their anxiety about an impending abduction. Having noted the time on their alarm clocks prior to and after their experience, they can think of no prosaic explanation for the lost time. Sometimes bed partners and family members sleeping in the house recall identical experiences on the same night.
Sleep paralysis and HH hallucinations are not an acceptable explanation for "Jennie Henderson's experiences. At age 16, she and a companion were in route to a high school basketball game when they were stopped and immobilized by an unconventional craft and "lost" two hour's time. At first the craft resembled a helicopter in rapid pursuit of their vehicle. The silent teardrop shaped object hovered directly overhead and the engine of the Volkswagen died. As if only a moment had passed the car restarted and the teens were once again on their way to their destination. Jennie anticipated meeting her younger brother there and transporting him home at the end of the school event. Upon their arrival, they discovered that the event had ended nearly two hours earlier. There was no prosaic explanation for their "lost" time, and the family decided not to make a formal report of the event.
Years later, Jennie sought help after she experienced a series of frightening nocturnal bedroom visitations. Occasionally, she would awaken during the night and observe nonhuman entities in her bedroom. Shortly thereafter, a wave of paralysis crept up her body. Several times, she was fully awake when an unseen force suddenly and unexpectedly ripped her body from her bed. Her next conscious memory was of finding herself in a holding area aboard a strange craft accompanied by short non-human entities with grayish skin and large eyes. As time passed, she was able to recall many of the details of her visits with extraterrestrial entities, without hypnosis. Her husband and children's memories of the events added support to Jennie's suspicion that she had not experienced a sleep anomaly or vivid dream. On two occasions, her neighbors observed a silent disk-shaped craft hovering over her rural home.
Many abductees believe that their experiences are real because they and others in their homes retain the same experiential memories. When there is unusual physical evidence attached to these memories, it is difficult to find an adequate prosaic explanation such as sleep paralysis and H/H hallucinations. Abductees are often awakened by a rushing sound and activity in their bedrooms. At the onset of their experience they are not paralyzed, and often cry out, attempt to escape, or even throw objects at the intruders. Small entities, often with glistening eyes, move about their bedrooms. The abductees' partners sometimes attempt to fight back, but are quickly immobilized and returned to their beds in a seemingly deep sleep.
Some abductees/experiencers are returned to their beds, but others end up locked outside of their homes. Some awaken on their roofs, in their vehicles, or even in someone else's home. Sometimes they find mud and vegetative matter in their beds. Others find they are no longer dressed in their own clothing, but in a stranger's nightshirt. Sometimes experiencers find landing trace evidence on their property.
Most academic psychologists ignore these unique characteristics associated with nocturnal bedroom abductions. Instead they attempt to squeeze reports made by abductees/experiencers into sleep paralysis and HH hallucination categories, despite the evidence to the contrary. There are several reasons for this. One is that HH hallucinations and sleep paralysis are often experienced as real as real and can contain complex imagery and physiological responses. Another is that when Occam's razor, the principle that among competing hypotheses, the simplest explanation within accepted scientific paradigms is the most plausible, HHHs and SP are the scientifically acceptable explanations. Political agendas have relegated UFO and alien abduction to the fringe science category. Officially, ufology is a pseudoscience lacking the respectability required for serious scientific study. A few courageous scientists have stepped outside politically acceptable constraints and have advanced our scientific knowledge of UFO related phenomena. However, some have experienced the professional consequences of thinking outside the box. Young scientists who wish to advance their professional careers are fearful of investigating these taboo subjects. To do so might lead to professional suicide.
Blackmore, Susan. "Abduction by Aliens or Sleep Paralysis?" Skeptical Inquirer Magazine.
Friedman, Stanton & Kathleen Marden. Chapter 14. Science was Wrong. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page Books. 2010.
Hufford, David J.. The Terror that Comes in the Night. Philadelphis, PA: .University of PA Press. 1982.
Abduction". Psychological Inquiry (7:2) 1996.
Marden, Kathleen. "The Conundrum of Alien Abduction", MUFON 2010 International UFO Symposium Proceedings. July 2010.
Randle, Kevin D., Russ Estes, & William P. Cone, PhD. The Abduction Enigma. New York, NY: Tom Doherty Assoc., 1999.
"Sleep Paralysis". January 26, 1999. www.stanford.edu/~dement/paralysis.html. Visited 3/2010.
"Sleep Paralysis". www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-paralysis Visited 12/2011.
"Sleep Paralysis and Lucid Dreams Research". Visited 12/2011.
"What are Hypnopompic Hallucinations?". www.wisegeek.com/what-are-hypnopompic-hallucinations.htm. Visited 1/2012.
This footage of a bright lights flying across the night sky above Phoenix in Arizona was filmed on 10th December 2016.
My brother and I saw these really strange lights over Phoenix, AZ. It was approximately 2 AM and the lights were in the Western sky.
What do you imagine when you hear the word extraterrestrial or UFO? Do you visualize a science fiction novel or an image of bizarre bluish lights illuminating down the road? Have you thought about going home late at night, and you witnessed a flashing light, wondering what it was, only to realize that what you saw was not an alien or extraterrestrial object, but just the lights of a plane. Do you think of little green men, movies, cartoons, or you have just started shaking your head? Despite the arguments regarding UFO's existence, there are still multiple recorded sightings in the UK. Yes, these sightings are reported by credible witnesses.
According to MUFON, 23 spotted objects were encountered since January 2015 in Manchester, and 25 sightings in Wales. Witnesses described the object as a large craft with a white dot traveling. Throughout the UK, 476 sightings were reported between January 2015 to the middle of February 2016. The objects range from triangular-shaped metallic objects to a red-green ball hovering at greater speed. After M.E.N had published the footage, which shows a strange craft flying, the figures were revealed. Though discussions of these sightings continue, and there has been photo documentation, it is still difficult to know whether or not the unidentified flying objects were indeed from space because such photos are not enough to separate fact from fiction. Extraterrestrial objects have been recorded in America. In fact, 1,177 sightings were reported on the ABC news.
Both the believers and the skeptics obtain evidence to support their claims. Those who believe in UFOs and alien visitations give facts that cannot otherwise be explained. Those who are skeptical offer their explanations and supporting evidence. Which side is right? For now, that is up to you to decide. Sometimes, it is a matter of belief.
Giorgio Piacenza interviewed Kathleen Marden at the VII WORLD UFO FORUM at Foz Iguaçu in Brasil, held from 3-6 December 2015.
Kathy examines the evidence and reveals what Experiencers have told her about the ET's reasons for engaging human experimental subjects and their personal interactions with Grey, Reptilian, Nordic and Insectoid types.
The UK House of Lords is being questioned about the stalled release of their remaining UFO files. That and other space and UFO stories on this episode of Spacing Out!
Open Minds UFO Radio: Kathleen Marden is an abduction researcher and author. As the niece of Betty Hill, she had an early and unique introduction to this field. Betty Hill and her husband, Barney, were the victims in the first widely publicized alleged alien abduction in the United States. Kathleen's worked with the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) for years as an investigator and as their Director of Field Investigator Training. She then went on to publish several books. Her first couple were co-written with well-known UFO researcher Stanton Friedman, and her last with Denise Stoner. In this interview we talk to Kathleen about her work, and her recent revelation that she too has had extraterrestrial experiences.
For more about Kathleen and her work, visit her website at Kathleen-Marden.com.
A news channel released an allegedly classified UFO video. The problem is that this news channel is fake. Also, another video has emerged that shows a UFO in the vicinity of Popocatepetl in Mexico. That and other UFO news on this episode of Spacing Out!
Floating saucer-shaped object has been caught on the photograph in the sky over Manchester. Craftsman John Hindley photographed the mysterious outline. Hindley claims that he felt a magnetic pull towards the saucer-shaped object while he took a picture of it.
Being a perfectly rational man, the 35-year-old insists that he tried to figure out what looked like a glitch in the cloud. However, he believes he saw what could have been a UFO after zooming in on the picture.
Mr. Hindley was in Middleton, Manchester at his friend's house on November 7, 2014 when he got up at around 10 a.m. and felt a pulling sensation. He looked up into the sky and spotted unusual flying object drifting above the Pennines, approximately two miles away.
From the third floor of the house, Mr. Hindley took a picture of the UFO using his mobile phone.
Mr. Hindley explained the he felt a pull in taking the picture out of the window. It seemed that something pulled him to the window, added Mr. Hindley.
When he remembered that pulling feeling after two days, he thought of taking a look of that photo. That was the only time he looked at the picture again.
Mr. Hindley said that he felt the same pull when he took the picture, a magnetic pull or a lunar pull. He revealed that he never felt the same feeling before, so he was certain that the mysterious object caught in the photo was not a Chinook helicopter.
He firmly believes that it could have been a UFO, and he thinks that there is an increasing number of people realising that the mankind is not alone around the vicinity.
He explained that the photo exhibits the lights shining in the bright sky. He doesn't think that the object is the cause of a reflection.
The object, according to the witness, stayed in one position in the sky for approximately 30 minutes before it disappeared.
New amazing Crop Circle was found near The Long Man of Wilmington, East Sussex, United Kingdomon 3rd July 2014.
New amazing video footage of a strange Black UFO ring recorded in the sky above Warwickshire, England in April 2014.
A schoolgirl was stunned when when she looked into the sky to see this enormous unexplained black ring. Georgina Heap, 16, was playing tennis with mum Jo when she was stopped in her tracks by the fascinating sight. Gazing into the sky, the pair saw a clearly defined black circle which looked like a giant smoke ring. The ring remained there for around three minutes before disappearing completely. The spectacle, which took place near Leamington Spa on Friday evening, has stumped officials.
New interesting video footage of a huge bright UFO recorded in the sky above Turin, Italy on 4th March 2014.
New amazing video footage of UFO cluster recorded in the daytime sky above Sydney, Australia on 9th February 2014.
I was this time in my swimming pool When I saw this shiny object high altitude I grab my camera took it off the I R filter off and I am was lucky to captured this large Cluster object on the camera.
Have UFOs visited Southern New England?
In February, a former radio reporter related his encounter in 1979 at the so-called Bridgewater Triangle in southeastern Massachusetts.
I tracked down the other radio reporter in the car at that time, and there's some starling new information that will have you wondering what really took place.
Until I tracked him down, now a television reporter at NBC17 in Raleigh, N.C., Sbraccia said he hadn't really talked about what happened to him and then fellow Boston radio reporter Jerry Lopes on March 23, 1979. After a long day at work, in the same car, they were heading to the Raynham dog track, coming down Route 24 where it meets Route 106 in West Bridgewater.
"And I was driving and I said, 'Ah gee, you see that?' As we're getting off the exit, it's a strange object in the sky. It looked like sort of a baseball home plate," Sbraccia said.
Sbraccia said it was as big as three Boeing 707s, wingtip to wingtip. It hovered for a couple of minutes, and then took off.
If that first close encounter wasn't bizarre enough for Steve and Jerry — and apparently many others along where Route 24 meets Route 106 — wait until you hear what happened next.
Sbraccia at the time lived in Newton, Mass., about 30 miles away, and Jerry, about 20 miles away in Braintree, Mass.
"It was about 10 o'clock at night, and I was out jogging, and I saw the, I saw the same thing again. Now, I'm figuring at this point I must be crazy. I must be. How could I see the same thing within two days?" Sbraccia said.
"Flash forward two more days from that … and he is coming back from a friend's house. It's about 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, he sees the same thing. He sees the light and so forth. But Jerry, because he was mobile and because he was in an urban area, he was able to get to the Braintree police station. He goes into the police station, he talks to the police officers and drags three of them out to the parking lot of the police station, and all four of them sit there and observe the thing," Sbraccia said.
A reporter for The Enterprise of Brockton picked up the story and discovered that two credible radio news reporters weren't the only ones who saw this thing.
Steve and Jerry started digging deeper. They checked with nearby Air Force and Navy bases.
Until a few years later, it was revealed the U.S. had stealth technology, the ability to hide aircraft from radar. Its development went back to 1977.
"One of the thoughts I had was 'Hey, maybe this was some kind of stealth technology that we have.' The problem that I have with that is the shape and the size of the object. It doesn't look like anything that we still are flying right now even with stealth technology," Sbraccia said.
Then in 1990, mass UFO sightings over Belgium — 13,000 reports in all — caught Sbraccia's eye.
What if it is "ours" and the public just doesn't know about it?
"Why would they be flying it over Route 24 in Raynham? Why would they be flying it all over Europe, which would get all the public in a tizzy?" Sbraccia said.
Rick welcomes Kathleen Marden, the niece of Betty Hill, and author of the book Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience. Kathleen discusses what actually happened the night of September 19th, 1961.
Pieter Hendrickx a partagé un lien.
This is not the end of the story. The statement "Later, after newer data was compiled, she determined that the binary stars within the pattern were too close together to support life; so as a true skeptic, she issued a statement that she now felt that the correlation was unlikely." is inaccurate. Stanton Friedman and I have been communicating with Marjorie's niece and she issued a statement regarding the inaccuracy. I sent this statement to the man that sent the obituary to me. He had been touting the obituary as evidence that Marjorie had concluded the correlation was unlikely. It had originally raised a red flag with me, because she had never made this statement to Stan Friedman or to Betty Hill. I forwarded Marjorie's niece's letter to the man who promoted the inaccurate statement. Marjorie's family had requested that the accurate information be disseminated to the public, but it appears that it didn't travel beyond the man that I mailed it to.
When I wrote Aunt Marj's obituary, it was a short statement for the local community. The pastor who officiated at the funeral only met with us once and got some of the basic facts turned around, but since only the family attended and I thought he would no longer be involved, I did not correct him. Someone at the funeral home offered to send an announcement of Marjorie's death to organizations he thought she had been involved in (from some of the various printouts we had shared from the internet). I have not inquired what was sent to whom. After being ignored by the public as a person for so many years, I did not think Marjorie's short obituary would receive such interest or provoke a word-for-word examination.
Marjorie's work on Betty Hill's map is still viable and worthy of consideration. To clarify what I was referring to, I remember Marj talking about a binary system that would not allow for the development of life – the source was not a newly issued star catalog. While working on the obituary for Marjorie, my father recalled that Marj wrote a letter/statement to the effect that new data indicated that a system could not support life so her matching of the Betty Hill map was incorrect. Perhaps she and/or the recipient(s) realized that the published interpretation of the data was in error – not Marjorie's work. In any case, Marj did not tell my father who was not involved anyway. If one wishes more details, please see the attached notes from Stanton Friedman. Our current knowledge allows for planets and possible life where Marjorie had indicated.
The larger point, that Marjorie was a true skeptic willing to let go of projects she was deeply involved in if the evidence was to the contrary, also remains. We will see how many people using my obituary for Marjorie to say her work is "debunked" will make corrections to their sites, etc.
Of course, Marjorie built more than one three-dimensional representation of our stellar neighborhood. She started her quest with one, built another with more data, others as newer star catalogs became available, ones with selected data, and so forth. I built the first of the type using suspended beads (1968). I would like to make clear that Sol is in a lonely position between two clumps of like (type G – yellow) stars: our system is of interest.
Marjorie suffered the worst end for a person of her intellect and her life-long cultivation of knowledge and artistic skills. Alzheimer's disease stole more than a decade of her life, her memory, and her brilliant yet loving mind. Playing the piano was one of the abilities she retained the longest. Many of her former students (first and third grade) shared with us their memories of how she started each day playing patriotic songs (on her own tiny piano) for them to sing. Later she worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where it was left to her to make sense of data from disparate sources and methods. Her only sibling, my mother, had slipped away from us earlier, also due to Alzheimer's disease. The constant, continuing loss of a loved one's essence is painful. The final end is more so, even the second time.
I think it might be useful if I chimed in on this discussion. My first contact with Marjorie was at the request of Coral Lorenzen, Director of the Aerial Phenomenon Research organization in the early 1970s. Marjorie was looking for a scientist who might be able to assist some in her search for truth about the Betty Hill Star Map. I had already met Betty and Barney and was intrigued. I was lecturing a lot and managed to visit her in Ohio, besides our letters. I also was present at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago when she made a presentation to Dr. J. Allan Hynek and Dr. David Saunders as well as at a MUFON Conference in Akron, Ohio. I was part of the team that interviewed her in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for my documentary "UFOs ARE Real" which also included an interview with Dr. Mitchell, Chairman of the Ohio State University Astronomy Department. Dr. Mitchel had helped her gain access to star catalog data and testified on camera to the accuracy of her work. With Bobby Ann Slate Gironda, I prepared and published the first article about her work which appeared in SAGA Magazine. I also instigated an investigation by Terence Dickinson then editor of ASTRONOMY Magazine whom I had previously met. His article The Zeta Reticuli Incident" in Astronomy had more response than anything else they had ever published.
Ralph Blumenthal, a non-fiction author and award winning journalist for the New York Times (1969-2009) interviewed a group of abduction researchers, and several experiencers, in Newport, RI last July, on the porch of Anne Ramsey Cuvelier's blue Victorian inn on Narragansett Bay, in Rhode Island. Also present were astrophysicists from a leading institution and the director of the McLean Hospital Southeast.
Blumental interviewed Kathleen Marden, the director of abduction research for the Mutual UFO Network and niece of Betty and Barney Hill. She discussed her research on her book Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience, coauthored with Stanton T. Friedman, and her work as an abduction researcher.
Blumenthal also wrote of Barbara Lamb, a psychotherapist and family counselor, well known for her with experiencers and Linda Cortile, whose 1989 alien abduction from her 12th-floor window overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge was brought to fame by Budd Hopkins.
The article's primary focus is upon the life and work of John Edward Mack, a prominent Harvard psychiatrist who had the courage to investigate the alien abduction phenomenon and express his belief that this is real.
Kathleen Marden's new book with Denise M. Stoner, The Alien Abduction Files (introduction by Stanton T. Friedman), will be officially released on May 20. It is currently available at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.indiebound.org . Autographed books can be purchased at www.kathleen-marden.com and www.denisemstoner.com.
I received an email from Kathleen Marden (which is not to say that it came just to me, but one that she had sent to many of us interested in UFOs), niece of Betty Hill, about a statistical study she and Denise Stoner had been working on. "The Marden-Stoner Study on Commonalities Among UFO Abduction Experiencers," as it is called, was a multiple-choice survey of those who believe they have been abducted by aliens, and a core of non-abductees as a control group.
This is something that should have been done years ago, after it was clear that something was happening to these people. It is not necessarily alien abduction, but there is something going on there. When Russ Estes, Bill Cone and I conducted our research in the mid-1990s, we had noticed some trends and wondered if there was any significance to them. If a trend could be spotted, then we might learn something that would help understand this aspect of UFOs or, at the very least, the people who were reporting it.
The vast majority was revisited—some more than 10 times—and was taken from their homes to an alien craft. Often the abduction experiencers sensed an impending visitation by alien entities before it occurred. The mode of communication between alien entities and humans is almost entirely telepathic. A new psychic awareness has emerged in the majority of experiencers and about half have found that they now have new healing abilities.
Immediately before or soon after a visitation they become aware of paranormal activity in their homes, such as light orbs, objects flying through the air or from walls, doors opening and closing without assistance, etc. The majority noticed malfunctioning electrical equipment, appliances, watches, computers, TVs, radios, cameras, etc.
Slightly more than half developed a new sensitivity to light and now crave salt. They feel a foreign object in their body and are fearful of being abducted again. Most have difficulty falling asleep and remaining asleep throughout the night. Those who have resolved their fearfulness are more likely to sleep restfully.
Those who wish to read the entire report, who want to see the statistical breakdown and the questions addressed, should visit her web site, address noted above. It is under the tab labeled "Commonalities Study Final Report," directly under the banner (at the end of a list of places on the site). It is an interesting read.


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from The Next January 6th held on January 6, 2022
The Next January 6th
The threat to American democracy and the U.S. electoral system did not end when the U.S. Capitol building was cleared and the presidential vote was certified on January 6, 2021. In fact, because of actions taken in states around the country throughout 2021, the threat today is as serious as it was one year ago, according to one prominent writer.
In his new and troubling cover story article for The Atlantic's January/February 2022 issue, journalist Barton Gellman explains that the collapse of America's democratic principles and underpinnings is already underway and that the country is close—closer than most ever thought possible—to losing not only the country's constitutional democracy, but what's left of America's shared understanding of civic reality.
Gellman's new article, "January 6 Was Practice," builds on an article he wrote before the 2020 election for The Atlantic. That piece, "The Election That Could Break America," focused on the ways that then-President Trump was weakening the norms and structures of American democracy. In many ways, Gellman predicated what would happen on January 6, 2021. What he could not predict is that though the system held one year ago, former President Trump and his supporters would continue their attack on America's electoral system by enacting restrictive new voting laws, removing nonpartisan election administrators in key states, and shifting how elections are administered at the state levels. He says what the country may find in 2024 is that what happened in 2021 was, indeed, just a practice run toward the end of American democracy as it is known, in favor of autocracy.
Please join us for a special conversation with Gellman on the one-year anniversary of the January 6, 2021 attack, and hear why he is more concerned than ever about the future of America democracy, and what he sees as the very real threats to the country's constitutional order.
This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Future of Democracy Series.
Staff Writer, The Atlantic
Roy Eisenhardt
Lecturer, University of California Berkeley School of Law—Moderator

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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New Mexico In Depth (https://nmindepth.com/tag/national-rifle-association/)
Golf gifts up lobbyist spending to nearly $250K, other spending not reported
By Sandra Fish, New Mexico In Depth | March 8, 2017
Lawmakers can look forward to some golfing once the legislative session ends, thanks to $28,000 in gifts from the New Mexico Golf Tourism Alliance. That's just a portion of the nearly $250,000 lobbyists have reported spending on lawmakers during the session through March 8. The number only includes spending of $500 or more at a time, which lobbyists or their employers are required to report to the Secretary of State within 48 hours. But some lobbying groups question what must be reported now or later when more comprehensive reports are due in May. For instance, neither ProgressNow New Mexico nor Everytown for Gun Safety has reported spending on canvassing to encourage support of House Bill 50, which would expand gun background checks in the state.
Gentry spurns campaign donor with gun background check vote
By Sandra Fish and Trip Jennings | February 14, 2017
A gun control advocacy group that poured $216,500 into New Mexico's 2016 legislative elections is finding at least one of its beneficiaries is a tough sell on expanding background checks for gun sales. Everytown for Gun Safety donated $5,000 to then House Majority Leader Nate Gentry, R-Albuquerque, last June. The group also sent a mailer supporting Gentry, who is now the minority leader after Democrats regained control of the House. But late Friday, Gentry joined other Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee in voting against House Bill 50, which would require background checks at gun shows or online, including gun sales by private individuals. After extensive debate in two committees, the measure next goes to the House floor.
NRA boosts lobbyist spending
By Sandra Fish, New Mexico In Depth | February 13, 2017
Reported lobbying efforts to influence New Mexico legislators neared $178,000 this week. A new big spender took over, as the National Rifle Association spent more than $44,000 on an internet campaign aimed at stopping two gun background check bills. That effort created by Starboard Strategic is aimed at generating public opposition to House Bill 50 and Senate Bill 48. Lobbyists and their employers are required to report any spending of $500 or more within 48 hours during the legislative session. That typically encompasses dinners, breakfasts, receptions and gifts doled out to lawmakers, as well as interest group spending such as the NRA's.
"1.7.22 Lamy, NM As an old (very old age 89) newspaperman myself...we all know the guaranteed way to bring tears…"
— Ronald S. Ross on Indigenous feminism flows through the fight for water rights on the Rio Grande
"In regards to Laguna Pueblo's uranium mining problems, Ms Lorenzo failed to mention her Teibal officials role in this activity.…"
— F. Phillips on 'Like a demon that's always behind us', the Jackpile Mine toxic legacy continues
"Thank you, Elizabeth Miller, for this important story. It will help people understand new threats posed by the Utah uranium…"
— Diane Joy Schmidt on 'Like a demon that's always behind us', the Jackpile Mine toxic legacy continues
"I recently heard from a vaccinated friend who got Covid from his 5 year old preschooler, that when he went…"
— Cynthia Madden on NM COVID surge spurs emergency public health meeting


The FAA-PMA approved SlickSTART™ magneto booster system integrates solid state electronics with conventional ignition hardware to deliver optimum spark energy for improved engine starting under all operating conditions. SlickSTART™ delivers over 400% more spark energy during start than conventional impulse coupled or retard breaker systems.
The FAA-PMA approved SlickSTART™ magneto booster system integrates solid state electronics with conventional ignition hardware to deliver optimum spark energy for improved engine starting under all operating conditions. SlickSTART™ delivers over 400% more spark energy during start than conventional impulse coupled or retard breaker systems. This added energy enables the magnetos to fire partially fouled spark plugs, ignite less than optimum fuel mixtures, improve hot engine restarts, and improve starting performance during extreme cold weather operations.SlickSTART™ is designed to replace all TCM/Bendix starting vibrators used in conjunction with Slick Aircraft Products magnetos. SlickSTART™ is also approved for use with Slick impulse coupled magnetos to enhance engine starting performance. SlickSTART™ is not approved for installation on any airframe equipped with TCM/Bendix 20, 200, D-1200*, D-2000*, or D-3000* series impulse coupled or retard breaker magnetos.
SlickSTART™ can be installed with either impulse coupled or retard breaker magnetos and can be used with either 12 volt or 24 volt electrical systems. Fits all Slick impulse coupled and retard breaker 4200/6200 Series and 4300/6300 Series magnetos.


This is the cake pop book you've been waiting for: not a cute panda or robot in sight, but jam-packed with hilarious projects on how to turn your favourite pop icons into edible treats. Featuring basic cake pop recipes, as well as fun step-by-step pictures on how to construct your celeb of choice, Top of the Cake Pops have even the most novice bakers whipping up a star-studded line-up of cakes on sticks. If you're sick of baking that boring Victoria Sponge for birthdays, let Mochadonna or Vanily Allen do the talking. Dazzle your friends with the likes of Michael Flapjackson, Lady Goo Goo, Justin Timbercake and more. With step-by-step instructions, and hints and tips on how to really get the likeness spot-on, this humorous book will take cake pops from sweet to cool. So what are you waiting for? Let them eat cake!


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SIAI Seminar Series
HomeResearch & Entrepreneurship Research Centers & Labs Stevens Institute for Artificial IntelligenceSIAI Seminar Series
Stevens Institute for Artificial Intelligence
SIAI Launch Event
The SIAI seminar series will feature speakers from academia, research labs, government agencies and the industry in topics of interest to the SIAI community.
Last lecture on DECEMBER 9:
Index Codes for Cyber Physical Systems: Machine Learning Meets Source Coding
Lakshmi N. Theagarajan
We shall discuss the problem of constructing index codes that maximize a data network's throughput and minimize power consumption. In this setup, multiple users, with some side information, demand certain subsets of data from a central node. This scenario is the basic model of the data sharing network in various cyber-physical systems and connected networks. The goal of the index code is to minimize the required transmission rate while ensuring that the users can recover the demanded data using an encoded broadcast message from the server. Thus, minimizing the power expended for communication while maximizing throughput. We shall discuss a generalized version of the index coding problem, where both the side information and user-demanded data can be coded. The problem of index code construction, for a given set of side information and users' demands, can be modeled as a matrix completion problem. Traditional machine learning algorithms used for matrix completion do not take advantage of the inherent structure in the index codes to construct efficient index codes. We shall discuss novel techniques proposed by us for low-rank factorization of structured matrices. We shall see that the proposed machine learning methods for structured matrix completion construct efficient index codes compared to the traditional methods known in the literature so far.
Martin Slawski
Assistant Professor of Statistics, George Mason University
Learning from Integrated Data under Mismatch Corruption
Ceren Budak
Assistant Professor of Information and Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Examining Political…
Anastasia Loukina
Research Scientist in the Research and Development division at Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Algorithmic Fairness and Bias in Automated Test Scoring
Stephanie Dinkins
Transdisciplinary Artist
Artificial Intelligence, Race, Gender & Future Histories
Dr. Anup Kalia, Dr. Jin Xiao…
Research Staff, IBM
AI-Infused Service Management and Optimization
Ching-Hua Chen
Manager and Research Scientist, IBM
Computational Health Behavior Research at IBM Research
25 Jan 2021 1:00PM – 2:00PM
Let's Talk About the Future of AI at Stevens and Beyond
With Jason Corso, Director of SIAI and CS Professor


What do Kingfisher, Marks & Spencer (M&S) and Unilever have in common? Yes, they are all FTSE 100 firms. Yes, they are all headquartered in London. And yes, their products can be found in households across the globe. But there is one rather more impressive and shrewd characteristic that binds this triumvirate of corporate giants: they are all sustainability leaders.
The story of sustainability for each of these leaders follows a similar narrative, and has similar central characters involved. It begins with a chief executive or senior board member that has a genuine passion for doing business better – Ian Cheshire at Kingfisher, Stuart Rose at M&S and Paul Polman at Unilever. This then paves the way for the organisation to set a series of highly ambitious sustainability targets under an industry-leading blueprint – Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan and M&S's Plan A in 2007, and Kingfisher's Net Positive programme in 2012. These targets are then worked towards through an ongoing programme of pioneering, often collaborative, initiatives and, once hit, are extended to a whole new set of goals that are perhaps even more audacious than their predecessors. And the story goes on. And they lived happily ever after.
It is no surprise, then, that when Heathrow airport began thinking about embarking upon a defining chapter of its own sustainability story, the group's chief executive John Holland-Kaye and director of sustainability Matt Gorman met with the sustainability team at Kingfisher, M&S and Unilever to heed some advice.
"They have all done a great job in the sustainability space, and we wanted to understand exactly how they've done it," Gorman explains. "We received two key messages from those discussions. One was to be bold – you might not always be clear about the specific detail of how you're going to get there, but it's important to set out some bold ambitions. It's amazing how much you can mobilise an organisation just by having a clear-sighted, long-term vision.
Just over a year on from those discussions, Heathrow has this week launched Heathrow 2.0, a 70-page document outlining the airport's plan for sustainable growth.
Of course, it is impossible to read through the new strategy without the constant reminder of the potential negative impacts caused by Heathrow's controversial expansion. The 260,000 extra flights a year anticipated from the third runway, which is backed by the Government, would make the airport the UK's largest source of carbon emissions. Critics have therefore been arguing that Heathrow could dash hopes of meeting the UK's climate change targets, rather than helping the world stay within 2.0 degrees of climate change.
But a candid foreword by Holland-Kaye sets a tone of authenticity to this new document, and a broad spread of bold intentions leaves the reader with a feeling, a belief, that this business is serious about sustainability. The document is in fact packed with more than 200 targets across a range of social, environmental and economic issues.
By 2020, all growth from the airport's new runway will be carbon-neutral, the last 5% of flights made by the most polluting aircraft will have been removed, NOx emissions from airport-related traffic will have been reduced by at least 40% from a 2013 baseline, and a new Centre of Excellence for sustainable aviation will be developed. By 2030, more than half of all airport passenger journeys will be made via public and sustainable transport. By 2050, Heathrow will be zero-carbon and zero-waste, and all of the water consumed by the airport will come from sustainable sources. This sustainability super-strategy is the real deal – so long as it is successfully achieved.
Heathrow recruited two consultancies to help formulate this report: Robertsbridge Group, whose previous partners have included the likes of APP, Nestle and Unilever (and whose Twitter profile picture is of a person taking a leap into deep water – perhaps reflecting the level of ambition it helps to instil in its clients); and Futerra, whose co-founder Ed Gillespie has previously written books on how to travel around the world without flying – not the first person one might think of turning to when seeking help delivering an airport strategy underpinned by expansion.
"The consultants we've worked with on this have been critical friends throughout," Gorman says. "They are not afraid to challenge us and we felt we need to be challenged in this space to ensure we put the right aspirations out there. We know we still don't have all of the answers right now but we think this strategy is the right approach to take and I think it has the potential to stimulate a lot of thought and innovation within the company and within the sector.
Indeed, one of the biggest questions Gorman and his 12-strong sustainability team at Heathrow don't yet have all of the answers to is exactly how the airport is going to achieve that "aspirational" goal of carbon-neutral growth in flights and infrastructure following the opening of its third runway in 2026 (if all goes according to plan).
One potential method of offsetting future carbon emissions that Heathrow is exploring is the restoration of UK peatland. Bogs accounts for around 12% of the UK's surface area but 80% of them are degraded and are therefore not sequestering any carbon from the atmosphere. Stopping these peat bogs from drying out means they would begin to capture carbon again.
Gilthorpe explains the benefits of taking such an approach: "The great thing about it is the minute you invest in peatland regeneration; the carbon footprint reduces straight away. It also carries several wider environmental benefits – you're not only reducing carbon footprint, you're regenerating those areas and creating new habitats for wildlife.
Part of that carbon offsetting research will be driven by the new Centre of Excellence, which will facilitate the development of new innovations in sustainable aviation. Heathrow has put an initial £500,000 into the project, with a chunk of this money going towards academic research and the development of a funding awards scheme for SMEs and individuals with bright ideas on how to minimise noise and carbon emissions from flights.
The Centre of Excellence will, like many other targets outlined in the Heathrow 2.0 document, be largely driven by the airport's controversial expansion – the level of investment required to fulfil the sustainability strategy remains largely dependent on permission to build a third runway being granted. Which begs the question: how much of this plan would remain in place if the expansion did not go ahead?
"We absolutely would have done some of this, but not all of it," Gilthorpe replies. "Some of the things we are talking about would just not be possible if we weren't expanding – we physically cannot expand our academy as things stand today, we wouldn't have the business case from a financial point of view.
And there are some shorter-term goals that Heathrow says it will achieve this year regardless of expansion. Chief among them is a pledge to source 100% renewable power for its operations by next month, as committed to through The Climate Group's RE100 programme. This will initially be through the purchasing of Renewable Obligation Certificates from offshore wind farms, but going forward the business is looking to maximise on-site renewables, with solar PV, ground-source heat pumps and sewage waste energy all cited by Gorman as hot prospects.
The airport has also set its short-term sights on the development of more sustainable business models to reduce energy and waste – namely the sharing economy and the circular economy. This year, for example, Heathrow will be launching a new car club for passengers that promotes the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs), with the potential creation of a dedicated car-club zone in the airport's short-term car park.
So, we have the senior management buy-in and we have the ambitious targets. But to become a true sustainability 'leader', an organisation must look beyond its own operations and help to tackle broader issues across industry, and incentivise other businesses to make changes. Heathrow is keen to do just that: the airport has just expanded its 'Fly Quiet' league table, which publicly ranks airlines according to their noise, to also incorporate emissions. And on carbon-neutral growth, Gorman is keen to "have a conversation with other leading European hubs to explore if this is something we can work on collectively".
Heathrow 2.0 is a genuine step-change in the airport's level of ambition. This is, in essence, "a strategy fit for the future," as Holland-Kaye writes in the document. Of course, this Strategy is relatively scant on detail as to the specific technologies and solutions that will be required to actually achieve the major targets within. Of course, it will cost a lot of money – the business will be ploughing around £40m a year into projects "where sustainability is a significant benefit", according to Gorman. And of course, it will require constant creativity and innovation. But the airport does, at the very least, deserve respect for stepping up and making such an ambitious, public commitment in a sector that has not been eager to embrace the reality of carbon cuts.
As the three wise men of Kingfisher, M&S and Unilever have all proved, setting bold targets that you don't know exactly how to reach is the first step to sustainability leadership. To reach these new targets, Heathrow is now fuelled by the greatest motivator of them all: the unknown.


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Q: MVC 4 - routes turn into a query string I downloaded the Chinook sample database and I'm trying to build a simple application to teach myself MVC 4 and EF. Chinook is basically a bunch of artists, their albums and tracks in each album. I wanted to create a REST-like URL structure for displaying each artist, their albums and tracks. This is what I was envisioning:
Chinook/Artist                              <- List of artists
Chinook/Artist/{id}                         <- Artist details
Chinook/Artist/{id}/Album                   <- List of albums for artist
Chinook/Artist/{id}/Album/{id}              <- Details for an album
Chinook/Artist/{id}/Album/{id}/Track        <- Track listing for album
Chinook/Artist/{id}/Album/{id}/Track/{id}   <- Track details

This is what my Route.config looks like:
 routes.MapRoute(
    name: "chinook_artist",
    url: "Chinook/Artist/{id}/{action}",
    defaults: new { controller = "Artist", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);

routes.MapRoute(
    name: "chinook_album",
    url: "Chinook/Artist/{ArtistId}/Album/{id}/{action}",
    defaults: new { controller = "Album", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional, ArtistId = UrlParameter.Optional }
);

routes.MapRoute(
    name: "chinook_track",
    url: "Chinook/Artist/{ArtistId}/Album/{AlbumId}/Track/{id}/{action}",
    defaults: new { controller = "Track", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional, ArtistId = UrlParameter.Optional, AlbumId = UrlParameter.Optional }
);

routes.MapRoute(
    name: "Default",
    url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
    defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);

My idea was to have Edit, Delete and Add actions as well for all three types of objects, and Index would serve as listing.
This works well enough, however this is what my URLs look like:
http://localhost:57264/Album/?ArtistId=8&AlbumId=10&TrackId=70

In all cases I'm using Html.ActionLink with controller, action, etc. To generate links in views. But I can't get my URLs to start with "Chinook" and be "clean" rather than use a query string, like this:
http://localhost:57264/Chinook/Artist/8/Album/10/Track/70

So I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here. Am I going against the grain of how MVC is supposed to work? Are my routes defined incorrectly?

A: Looking at the last 2 routes
Chinook/Artist/{id}/Album/{id}/Track
Chinook/Artist/{id}/Album/{id}/Track/{id}

Your route definitions would need to be
//Chinook/Artist/{artistid}/Album/{albumid}/Track
routes.MapRoute(
  name: "chinook_track",
  url: "Chinook/Artist/{ArtistId}/Album/{AlbumId}/Track",
  defaults: new { controller = "Track", action = "Index" }
);

//Chinook/Artist/{artistid}/Album/{albumid}/Track/{id}
routes.MapRoute(
  name: "chinook_trackdetails",
  url: "Chinook/Artist/{ArtistId}/Album/{AlbumId}/Track/{id}",
  defaults: new { controller = "Track", action = "Details", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);

and your controller
public class TrackController : Controller
{
  public ActionResult Index(int ArtistId, int AlbumId)
  {
    ....
  }
  public ActionResult Details(int ArtistId, int AlbumId, int id)
  {
    ....
  }
}

and in the view, generate the links as
@Html.ActionLink("Index", "Index", "Track", new { ArtistId = 5, AlbumId  = 3 }, null)
@Html.ActionLink("Details", "Details", "Track", new { ArtistId = 5, AlbumId = 3, id = 7 }, null)

Then if you wanted a route to edit a track in a similar format
//Chinook/Artist/{artistid}/Album/{albumid}/Track/{id}/Edit
routes.MapRoute(
  name: "chinook_trackedit",
  url: "Chinook/Artist/{ArtistId}/Album/{AlbumId}/Track/{id}/Edit",
  defaults: new { controller = "Track", action = "Edit"}
);

public ActionResult Edit(int ArtistId, int AlbumId, int id)
{
  ....
}

@Html.ActionLink("Edit", "Edit", "Track", new { ArtistId = 5, AlbumId = 3, id = 7 }, null)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


3D Virtual Showcases can be used for a wide variety of industries.
See below for some of the possibilities, but really, it is only limited by your imagination. If you have a "space" you would like scanned and turned into a 3D Virtual Showcase, contact us and we can discuss the possibilities.
Weddings or large business meetings are important events, and event planners would really benefit from being able to see and walk through the 3D VIrtual Space that they are considering to rent for a real world event. Is it big enough? Does it havae the right atmosphere? Show them how large the space really is, or how big the stage is. Show off any included equipment like lighting, speakers, etc. There's nothing quite like being there to see it in person, but a 3D Virtual Showcase is the next best thing, as it is like being there!
Entice the public with a 3D Virtual Showcase of what your gallery or museum offers. Show off an intruiging new exhibit, or show off the entire space... it is completely up to you.
Wellness and Fitness centers can benefit from showing off exactly what they offer. Show off the ambience of a wellness center, or the variety of fitness equipment in a fitness center. Show your customers exactly what you offer.
Show the progress of construction to an off island investor. Or, how about a 3D Virtual Showcase of your show suite while the rest of the property is still under development?
Though a little trickier with not entirely enclosed spaces, there are still many situations where a 3D Virtual Showcase can be used on a boat, yacht, ship or airplane.
A 3D Virtual Showcase could show potential customers what type of products you have, the size of the store, and of course, the ambiance as well.
Show off a private party room, your seaside terrace, or show off the entire restaurant.
Any interior or somewhat enclosed space can be scanned and turned into a 3D Virtual Showcase. Caves, submarines, outdoor terraces, monuments... and more. Use your imagination, and contact us if you have something in mind that is not mentioned here.
Why use 3D Virtual Showcases ?
Statistics show that offering 3D Virtual Showcases on your web site will generate 97% more leads, and web site visitors will stay on your site upt to 4½ times longer!
That all equates to more customers visiting/using your physical business and increasing your revenues.
Immersive 3D tours allow potential customers to experience each speace and explore every feature within the space. This will result in a lot fewer questions from the guest and save the owner/manager of the space a lot of time when dealing with the customer. Plus, customers are much more likely to choose a space that they can see and experience, over one that they cannot.
People have a choice as to where they visit, rent, eat, play, etc Give yourself an advantage over your direct competition. If you use 3D Virtual Tours, and your competitor does not, you will come out on top. Its as simple as that!
There are always questions about certain features that are not clear in photos or descriptions. Offering your customers online 3D Virtual Showcases of your space, allows them to move through and explore every aspect of the space in 3D from the comfort of their own home.
See our pricing tables. Ask us about multi unit discounts!