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edited to fix apostrophe]
I have a more parsimonious explanation that the admittedly speculative argument by Martin Cannon that memories of alien abductions might have been created in the "abductees" by a secret government mind control program. My more parsimonious explanation is: child abuse! Just take a look at the skeptical view of Colin Ross about Satanic Ritual Abuse, and to the Wikipedia article on Abduction phenomenon, of which I'll quote a couple of sentences:
Quote:
California based therapist Gwen Dean noted forty-four parallels between alien abduction and satanic ritual abuse (SRA). Both emerged as widespread phenomena in the late 1970s and early 1980s, both often use hypnosis to recover lost or suppressed memory. Furthermore, the scenarios and narratives offered by abductees and SRA victims feature many similar elements: both are typically said to begin when the experiencer is in their youth; both are said to involve entire families and to occur generationally; the alien examination table is similar to the satanic altar; both phenomena focus on genitals, rape, sexuality and breeding;
And also:
Quote:
It is worth noting that many events reported during purported abductions often have parallels in anthropology, folklore and religion: Especially frequently correlate with certain imagery persistent in shamanic experiences (e.g., surgery-like procedures, foreign objects implanted in the body) and faerie contact stories, for instance. John Edward Mack, for one, suggested that modern abduction accounts should be considered as part of this larger history of visionary encounters